Feminists are widely believed to be women who favor gender equality in all facets of social class. In the past, feminists often excluded men and attempted to exhibit behavior and appearance that would be considered gender neutral. This ultimately resulted in the stereotypes of feminists as women who burn their bras, wear flannel clothing and hide their physically feminine features, as we alluded to in our previous class discussion.
Levy's chapter on "raunch culture" immediately drew my interest with her analysis of current pop culture and the increased role of sexuality in pop culture. Levy spent a good part of the chapter merely pointing out the well known popularity of girls gone wild, playboy, porn stars, and the ridiculous amount of attention paid to Paris Hilton. These trends are in no way surprising and the increased freedom of sexuality spur much enthusiasms for modern pop culture over the past conservative era. It may sound superficial, but the modern assertions of these sexually explicit organizations have been widely accepted by men and male beliefs on these issues have probably not changed that much over over the recent time period. What is surprising is that many women believe, as levy claims, that participating in sexually explicit ads or attending strip clubs is pro-feminist. The basis ion these presumption is understandable as women want equality in all sectors, so they want to be included in business meetings where men go to strip clubs or smoke cigars. However, the claim that women appearing in sexual photographs is proving that they are comfortable with their body only furthers the notion of women as sexual objects. Levy discusses the nude photos of female Olympians who wanted to prove that athletes can be sexy. However, I agree with her that this only diminishes their athletic achievements. This is not to say that these women cannot discuss their personal lives or even reflect on their feminine sexuality, but the basic claim that appearing nude is the only way to express their femininity is blatantly false. I do not disagree with current pop culture expressing female sexuality or even devalue the women that do so, I merely think we should call it what it is and not pretend that such campaigns are done in the name of feminism.
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Levy's first chapter on woman's raunch culture highlighted a number of interesting issues. Most important was the role of pop culture on young women and the way they behave and view themselves. Specifically, Levy believes that many young women have drawn the wrong conclusions from the sexual revolution of the 70's and have begun to participate in raunch culture. Furthermore, pop culture has only reinforced the practice of viewing women as sexual objects. She noted that breast augmentation procedures went up by nearly 700 percent over a 10 year period in America. Furthermore she sites the willingness of young women to bare their bodies for pornographic videos for money, and the creation of such programming as the victoria's secret fashion show. Such developments are very telling of American culture, a culture in which "bimbos enjoy a higher standing in our culture than olympians".Modern pop culture only make women more self conscious about their bodies, as shown by the vast increase in breast augmentation surgeries. Furthermore these developments are disturbing in terms of future impact, as these trends will no doubt have even greater effects on the young women growing up surrounded with images which promote women acting in such a manner. Women cannot be respected in American culture if they are only viewed as sex objects.
ReplyDeleteNice work on these initial posts! You've all done a good job of elucidating Levy's arguments, and pointing out what you find to be her most compelling points. The next step (for future posts): how does this relate to your own experiences? Can you think of additional examples? Do you agree with Levy, or are there problems with her argument, in your mind?
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