The biggest point that I took away from the reading for Tuesday’s class was that the problem with inequality in our side comes from both males and females. The problem of gender roles is entirely ingrained in society to a point where women and men often don’t realize that the ways that they act are inherently because of their gender and the way that they have been socialized because of their gender.
I thought that the idea that there are two sides to a problem was true when looking at the “Raunch Culture” described in Female Chauvinist Pigs. The Girl’s Gone Wild videos wouldn’t exist if girls weren’t willing offering themselves to be part of it, but it also wouldn’t exist without a demand for the finished product. The part that I’m unsure of is the role that the GGW Company plays in this situation. Are they just as bad as the women because they make it a mainstream commercial product? This is also true for the pornography industry and magazines such as Maxim or Playboy.
The idea of confidence was also really interesting to look at. A lot of women claim that posing for playboy or other magazines displayed confidence and meant that a woman was okay with her own body, but this seems to be the only way that a woman can express this. If they aren’t okay with the industry, then they must not be confident with their body. Where these women derive confidence from is also an issue. They derive confidence from men thinking that they are “hot”, but it’s only one definition of hot. I remember this past weekend reading the People magazine with Heidi Montag on the cover. The inside story is about the plastic surgery that she went through and features a before and after picture. While sitting with a group of guys, every single one of them said that her “before” picture was more attractive. The real question is, whom are we trying to please with our looks? Are we constantly trying to dress and make ourselves look a certain way for others, specifically men? And if so, are we really achieving that? Or are we, like Heidi, altering ourselves and putting ourselves through pain for no reason at all?
It’s interesting to look at Liz’s question of whether Girls Gone Wild, Playboy, and other large business in the porn industry are to blame for creating or perpetuating raunch culture. One can argue that they simply manufacture products to meet an already present need, and if they ceased production, another identical company would spring up to fix the unmet demand. Because porn, aside from a few laws and regulations, is on the free market, it is controlled by supply and demand, which places responsibility with the consumer. It is increasingly made universally accessible by the internet, which allows viewers (of all ages) to see a huge volume of porn for free. But just because someone will buy a product doesn’t mean they should, there are many things that there is a demand for that should be carefully monitored. GGW pushing for women to show their boobs and make out with their friends is not ideal behavior, but even if the cameras weren’t there, those same types of social gatherings would not otherwise be angelic. Binge drinking is another factor creating the sexualized culture. Women are not wearing the tight sequined clothes and strappy white heels to their day job, they put these clothes on for the night at the bar or at the beach. Alcohol fuels these actions by lowering inhibition levels. It is quite obvious that the girls in the videos are wasted – they fall over, they laugh, they slur their speech. At the same time, they are middle class, educated women, who would likely not make the same decision if sober. The drinking culture also marks the separation of sex from our identities; that “sexiness needs to be something divorced from the everyday experience of being ourselves” (Levy, 2005, 44). Women have a certain time and place to be sexy. At the strip club, in a bar, on the beach, all places coupled with alcohol. It is completely separated from daily life and unreflective of who these woman are. Instead, they are sorted into various categories like blonde, brunette, or athlete.
ReplyDeleteFashion choices reflect the question of who we are trying to please without looks or clothes. A common thing I hear from my peer women is that fashion is mainly to look good for other girls. We assume that men don’t care about fashion and read from women’s magazines that they prefer jeans and a (assumedly tight fitting) t-shirt. It is interesting to see the difference between “going out” outfits and “day” outfits. A day outfit might be a blouse with a cardigan and boots, an outfit that would impress ones fellow females with style. A night outfit could be tight jeans, heels, a skimpy tank top that reveals cleavage and hoop earrings, an outfit that would draw the attention of a man. The difference between these two outfits and their intended audiences reflects the competitive tendencies of women, an issue Neuborn discusses it in “Imagine my Surprise” by describing how the community of feminine support is often a hostile and competitive place. Women compete over who is hotter, thinner, and gets male attention. Competition between women for looks is common, according to Women’s Health magazine, which said that 26% of women would immediately go on a diet if her friend lost weight. When being sexy means having power, women fight each other for that type of attention.
One aspect of the book that we didn't touch on in class is the role of the media in promoting and perpetuating the gender roles that are so engrained in society.
ReplyDeleteCelebrities, singers, olympian athletes and corporate executives are all role models to many girls and when they are appearing in raunch culture and their faces appear in the sex industry, I think it definitely influences the way in which those who look up to them feel about themselves. Why can't being a tremendous athlete and competitor be enough? Why do they need to appear in Playboy to be considered "hot" or "sexy"? The aspects of these athletes (muscular legs or broad shoulders) only appear sexy if the "whole package" can look good in a bikini or body hugging dress.
I think it relates to the idea of programming that we discussed in class. Girls don't look at a picture of a celebrity or athlete in playboy and say "wow, I'm not as good as her or I'm not as hot as her." Instead they take at face value how the media portrays them, which is the ability for athletes, women of all ages, of all colored hair, and of all skin colors to be sexy. And at face value, that seems fine and progressive and promoting equality. But because of programming, we don't see the subtle techniques behind it, and neither do men. We all take what the media portrays at face value and allow it to define what is considered attractive. This raunch culture and the way the media portrays it guides our actions and has the power to determine what is socially acceptable and what is "hot" and "sexy." Once the media projects what is hot and sexy, then it seems that women perpetuate it by dressing a certain way and acting a certain way like in GGW. These role models and celebrities need to be proud of their talents and confident in their talents and abilities that they can be photographed in a suit or a tennis outfit and wear it as if they were playing or working in their respective environment and limit the media's role in programming and misconstruing what is sexy about them.
I think both Elizabeth and Ariel Levy are correct to bring up how much celebrities, especially female, influence our opinions about how a woman should act, look, and behave. I, like Elizabeth, also saw the recent Heidi Montag cover, and additionally read the following Newsweek article, which counts down the eleven most disturbing elements of her plastic surgery: http://www.newsweek.com/id/231093/page/1. Elizabeth’s last point corresponds with the number four most disturbing element of Heidi’s new transformation, which is that she is conforming to the male standard of beauty. Heidi is quoted by saying, ‘”I just love boobs… they make me feel womanly”’ (Newsweek page 2). Newsweek retorts this comment by asking “womanly by whose standards?” (Newsweek page 2). Women received a lot of mixed messages about sexuality, and celebrities certainly perpetuate some of these ideas. Heidi’s logic that she got plastic surgery to make herself more beautiful (when she is actually conforming to the male standard of what is beautiful) is misconstrued.
ReplyDeleteLevy gives another example of a celebrity sending mixed messages about sexuality when she discusses Paris Hilton’s sex tape. Women are only encouraged to be sexual up to a certain point. Women should look sexy, but for a woman to project the enjoyment of sex is considered taboo. In her sex tape, Levy states that Paris enjoyed posing and looking sexy for the camera, but in the actual act of sex, looked bored and uninterested. Levy states “She is the perfect sexual celebrity for this moment, because our interest is in the appearance of sexiness, not the existence of sexual pleasure” (Levy 30). In my opinion, ;ooking sexy but not being sexual is one of the biggest contradictions about women’s sexuality that women must contend with.
A third celebrity that I think is important to include in this discussion is Christina Aguilera. While Christina Aguilera is known for her ultra sexy music videos, she is also a celebrity that thinks of herself as a strong powerful female. Her mom says she is a wonderful role model because she is “’trying to change society so that a woman can do whatever men do”’ (Levy 31). In one of her most popular songs, Can’t Hold Us Down, she sings “If you look back in history/ It's a common double standard of society/ The guy gets all the glory the more he can score/ While the girl can do the same and yet you call her a whore” (Lyrics123.com). It seems that while Aguilera is on track with this sentiment, her solution of being overtly sexual is not the way to get power. Levy discusses how women try to have the same power as men by being overly sexual, but you never see men posing nude to get power. This is yet another misconstrued way women try to gain power.
ReplyDeleteGreat work on this first round of posts! You've done a nice job of both articulating parts of Levy's arguments that are compelling, and applying these arguments to other examples. Let's talk more in class about the ways in which our media culture participates in the phenomena that Levy discusses!
ReplyDeleteEmma, your exploration of Ariel Levy’s chapter, “Raunch Culture,” evokes key concepts that have continued to be examined throughout the course curriculum. Gender bias is a multi-dimensional problem. Men are at blame for their promotion and consumption of “raunch culture.” On the other hand, women are partially at blame for participating in this culture. One must consider that for “raunch culture” to stop, society needs to discontinue consumption as well as endorsement of this type of behavior. Simultaneously, individuals should cease participation in this venue. You present multiple important questions near the end of your post which all focus on one concept; who are women trying to impress? It seems that this answer is multifaceted. One may initially believe that the majority of women who partake in “raunch” culture as well as plastic surgery are trying to gain attention from men. While this may partially be the case, it does not seem that the answer is this simple. Would a woman partake in such behavior if her self-esteem was solidified? Due to societal pressures, women have often become more critical of themselves and their peers. At times, it is difficult to differentiate surgery to improve their looks from self-mutilating behaviors. One must also consider that money does play a significant role in participation within “raunch culture.” Posing for Playboy or other adult magazine provides a substantially higher salary than working at McDonalds. It seems that the answer to your questions differ for each individual and no single answer is correct.
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