For my media culture project, I chose the revealing photos of Vanessa Hudgens from her 2007 scandal to examine through Ariel Levy’s perspective. I think Levy would look at this scandal as a prime example of the warped idea of empowerment that women today are buying into, and an example of the perceived need for sex and porn in our raunch culture.
Vanessa Hudgens, for anyone who does not know, is the actress who plays Gabriella Montez in the ever-famous Disney Channel Movie High School Musical. She is watched by millions of children and teenagers across the United States. In 2007, there were provocative pictures of Vanessa Hudgens leaked onto the internet. This stirred up some commotion and drew negative attention to the star. Parents of the children who watch her and idolize her were disappointed and some outraged that she posed so provocatively because of the influence and message it sent to their children.
At the peak of the hype surrounding these photos, Vanessa Hudgens came out with a statement saying that she was hoping to pose for a sexy magazine. According to Starpulse, an entertainment report website, Hudgens was also quoted saying, “I think being a woman and being able to show a sexy side is empowering. Being able to show we are comfortable in our skin is a good thing. I totally would pose for a sexy magazine. But not Playboy.” This is coming from the same teenager who was considering a $500,000 deal to become a Girl Gone Wild. In 2009, when another round of nude photos were leaked, Michael Sands, Hollywood’s lead imaging consultant reported to Fox News that “Vanessa wants to raise her visibility and become an 'A' lister, so by posing Vanessa is shedding her Disney image and becoming a serious actress. Vanessa feels her career is being held back and she wants to be ‘en vogue’.”
Why does to be ‘en vogue’ mean women have to pose naked or provocatively? Why do women have to wear less in order to be taken more “seriously?”
I think Ariel Levy would have a few things to say about the quotes from Vanessa Hudgens and Michael Sands.
First, I think she would look at Michael Sands’ quote and question why, like many other aspects of our raunch culture (GGW and Playboy), being naked comes with the territory of empowerment. She would argue that empowerment does not equal sex. Similarly, she would argue in response to Vanessa Hudgens’ quote that empowering does not need to be synonymous with showing “a sexy side.” Rather, her status and ability to be an “A-lister” should be determined by the quality of her acting or the success of her movie. Levy would suggest that Vanessa Hudgens represents many American women of that age who have what she would call a warped sense of empowerment. Her issue with Hudgens would be that she is using sex as power when there are so many other ways she would argue to have power. Likewise, she would question why Vanessa Hudgens is posing “sexily” for magazines when she is not getting any sexual pleasure from it. What kind of power does Hudgens really have when she is faking sexual pleasure for herself and simply giving pleasure to the men and other women who see her posing provocatively? Personally, I think it is ironic that in order to be taken more seriously, women of today need to wear less. When I think of someone I take seriously, I think of corporate executives, lawyers, doctors, and other highly educated people.
Levy would also look at the Vanessa Hudgens 2007 scandal as an example of the pornography phenomenon in American raunch media culture. Porn has become a way to “improve” oneself, and according to Vanessa Hudgens, it is a way to be considered an “adult” and taken more seriously. This is disturbing as it feeds into the sexualization of our culture, specifically the influence of sexualization on increasingly younger audiences. Levy would argue that Vanessa Hudgens is perpetuating the “disconnect between sexiness or hotness and sex itself” (20) because Hudgens is not getting any sexual pleasure from posing provocatively for pictures. She simply looks sexy. To Levy, Hudgens epitomizes how “sex appeal has become a synecdoche for all appeal” (30). When women pose like this they are objectifying themselves and are lying to themselves when they say it is empowering. That is not to say that men don’t play a role in this, but Levy would argue that women are objectifying themselves and calling it “empowerment.”
Vanessa Hudgens is the perfect example of how using pornography has become a sort of rite of passage into adulthood. Furthermore, Hudgens seems to be using it to gain acceptance and feel some sort of validation about her career as an actress. Rather than relying on the success of her movie, Hudgens is using her body for a feeling of acceptance and rite of passage into an “A-list” actress. I think Levy would be disappointed to see this and frustrated that she perpetuates this lie about what is empowering that our generation has bought into. I think when looking at the reasons behind our raunch culture, Ariel Levy would look back at the last wave of feminism and say that this is a rebellion against it
When I read the articles about Vanessa Hudgens’ 2007 scandal, I kept thinking how the idea of sisterhood could help the situation, and I think Levy would agree. Women like Vanessa Hudgens are role models for tweens and teens across the country. By posing provocatively in pictures, you are influencing younger generations who see this and will try to emulate it. We are therefore encouraging sexualization to a younger demographic. As the idea of sex appeal is projected on to younger girls, it is disconcerting to wonder if this will only magnify the porn phenomenon or if the pendulum will swing the other way and they will rebel against it.
http://a6.vox.com/6a00cdf3aaad25cb8f00e398a9d4160004-500pi
http://a3.vox.com/6a00cdf3aaad25cb8f00e398a9b5eb0001-500pi
http://www.zimbio.com/Vanessa+Anne+Hudgens/articles/0KoPwLvvKv7/Vanessa+Hudgens+leaked+Scandal+photo
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