Female Chauvinistic Pigs
March 16th 2008 10:16
I recently finished reading the book 'Female Chauvinistic Pigs', and let me tell you, it really opened my eyes.
I have always been interested in gender studies, gender roles and the way women have been treated and thought of. I am a feminist, and one of the things which annoy me the most is the persistant gender inequality we experience in not only our culture, but also many cultures across the world.
I picked up this book while I was browsing at the uni book shop, and because I'm not only majoring in gender studies, but also really interested in it outside of the university, I thought I'd get it. Well, the book is basically based on the fact that women are now taking feminism to a new low. The author, Ariel Levy, explores the rise of raunch culture and how women and girls in Western society are apparently 'embracing' feminism by constantly exposing and sexualising their bodies, clothes and actions.
For instance, one of the exmples given was the 'Girls Gone Wild' show, which basically revolves around girls being prompted to expose their breasts and engage in other lewd and highly sexual activities just for the sake of getting a t-shirt and a baseball cap with the show's logo. It's apparently 'all about the fun and sexual liberation' and people who disapprove are 'boring and uptight.'
Well I guess I'm one of the uptight people then, becuase I don't see how making out with other girls for the sake of entertaining guys is sexually liberating. Or feeling themselves up in front of the camera. Most of these girls are usually drunk and quite young, so at the time, they do not realise the consequences of their actions.
Another thing which really surprised and kind of scared me was the chapter about American middle school to high school students , and what they do to 'be cool'. These 13 - 17 year olds hold Rainbow Parties, where each girl is required to wear a different coloured lipstick and bring a boy with her. Then, every girl takes a turn to perform fellatio on the boys, in turn giving them a rainbow penis. Wow, what an amazing idea! I wonder who came up with it. Aside from that, a lot of the girls start having sex very early because it is the popualr thing to do, and not particularly from desire to actually do it for the right reasons.
Yet another fascinating chapter revealed how a lot of women dream to be fetaured in Playboy, and how Hugh Hefner is a 'feminist' who believes that women should be soft, loyal and cuddly. Awww, JUST like a bunny!!! It also seems that a lot of very career driven and powerful women feel the need to 'act like men' to be accepted into this high powered corporate society, to the point where they degrade women who show emotion, like to shop etc.
I don't believe that there should be a standard for femininity, or a classification for sexuality and the way people are catgorised in our society. These women, who are behaving in ways which they believe liberate them from the still patriarchal society of today, do no realise that treating sex so casually, as apparently most men do (which is also a stereotype), that acting in a overtly masculine way is not a freeing action, but one which will ultimately make them feel horrible and empty.
Sorry, got a little bit deep there, but that book is really an excellent insight into the neo- feminsim and what it has become today.
I have always been interested in gender studies, gender roles and the way women have been treated and thought of. I am a feminist, and one of the things which annoy me the most is the persistant gender inequality we experience in not only our culture, but also many cultures across the world.
I picked up this book while I was browsing at the uni book shop, and because I'm not only majoring in gender studies, but also really interested in it outside of the university, I thought I'd get it. Well, the book is basically based on the fact that women are now taking feminism to a new low. The author, Ariel Levy, explores the rise of raunch culture and how women and girls in Western society are apparently 'embracing' feminism by constantly exposing and sexualising their bodies, clothes and actions.
For instance, one of the exmples given was the 'Girls Gone Wild' show, which basically revolves around girls being prompted to expose their breasts and engage in other lewd and highly sexual activities just for the sake of getting a t-shirt and a baseball cap with the show's logo. It's apparently 'all about the fun and sexual liberation' and people who disapprove are 'boring and uptight.'
Well I guess I'm one of the uptight people then, becuase I don't see how making out with other girls for the sake of entertaining guys is sexually liberating. Or feeling themselves up in front of the camera. Most of these girls are usually drunk and quite young, so at the time, they do not realise the consequences of their actions.
Another thing which really surprised and kind of scared me was the chapter about American middle school to high school students , and what they do to 'be cool'. These 13 - 17 year olds hold Rainbow Parties, where each girl is required to wear a different coloured lipstick and bring a boy with her. Then, every girl takes a turn to perform fellatio on the boys, in turn giving them a rainbow penis. Wow, what an amazing idea! I wonder who came up with it. Aside from that, a lot of the girls start having sex very early because it is the popualr thing to do, and not particularly from desire to actually do it for the right reasons.
Yet another fascinating chapter revealed how a lot of women dream to be fetaured in Playboy, and how Hugh Hefner is a 'feminist' who believes that women should be soft, loyal and cuddly. Awww, JUST like a bunny!!! It also seems that a lot of very career driven and powerful women feel the need to 'act like men' to be accepted into this high powered corporate society, to the point where they degrade women who show emotion, like to shop etc.
I don't believe that there should be a standard for femininity, or a classification for sexuality and the way people are catgorised in our society. These women, who are behaving in ways which they believe liberate them from the still patriarchal society of today, do no realise that treating sex so casually, as apparently most men do (which is also a stereotype), that acting in a overtly masculine way is not a freeing action, but one which will ultimately make them feel horrible and empty.
Sorry, got a little bit deep there, but that book is really an excellent insight into the neo- feminsim and what it has become today.
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Comment by Morgan Bell
Deep Pencil
Current Business News
Movie Train
Artist Quirk
Comment by Sara Dobson
Parents Precinct
The Travel Map
My Turn
And the number of women I have seen taking off thier t shirts and drinking beer for free t-shirts makes me wonder whether they have low self esteem or lack of respect for their bodies or their own self worth.
I could just go on I feel very strongly about this.
Comment by James Rickard
unlucky_ fishermen.com
Angling Fish
Comment by Queenie
Quirky Folk
Quirky Queenie
I find women are often their worst enemies. The idea of a sisterhood is a myth. I get so fed up with listening to certain women saying 'I'm not a feminist but.." Often such women are only too happy to embrace the benefits feminism have brought women e.g. the right to vote, the right to own property etc but reject feminism as they think it's "unfeminine".
Could you imagine a black person saying, "I don't believe in racial equality?"
Comment by Cibbuano
20/20 Filmsight
Science News
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Comment by Damo
For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
If I want to watch porn I tell everyone how it is in fact liberating people from the bond of repressed sexuality.
Feminism is general word with some emotional contexts. So it is open to a lot of twisted interpretations.
Comment by The wonderful Peter Yang
The wonderful Peter Yang's No.1 blog
Cheers
Comment by Neems
Koala Lounge
The part about the 13-17 year olds having "rainbow" is shocking although not surprising. I have the joy of sharing the tram with kids from three different schools in the morning and some of the conversations I, and the rest of the tram has been privy too is scary. Very adult topics, very adult words but with an overall childish air. In fact this is one of the topics I'll be posting up soon- it just is unnerving because although I'm only 25, I honestly did not have these conversations when I was their age- and it wasn't THAT long ago!
As for feminism- women who choose to go down that path all in the name of drunken or sober fun have their own reasons for doing so- misconceptions, peer pressure etc or some simply enjoy it. It becomes especially dangerous when their behaviour starts reflecting upon women who want to be taken seriously in this world which favours men a lot of the time. The ones I worry about also are the women in some countries who are bound by traditional customs who are keen to be educated and go further in life but whose questions and cries fall on deaf ears.
Change is slow but is happening- so that's a positive!
Love the post- really got me thinking and quite flared up!
Neems x
Comment by JoshZ
A Simple Christian
nicely written post.
I think that feminism used to be (and I suspect in many cases, where it is at its best, still is) the crusade in order to make women equal to men. The funny part of me wants to ask, why do you want to come down to our level, the serious part says, men have done some terrible stuff to women.
The over-sexualisation of women hasn't happened over night. The fact is that when women were forced to use their sexuality in order to appeal to men in an improper way is most likely when it started.
But it's a tricky subject. People now tend to go one way or another.
JZ
Comment by Louie
Climate Forum
Climate Red
randomthoughts
Phil's Wellness Tips
Great post, food for thought, the average woman, i feel doent get their gear off for a free t-shirt, dont let the visible MINORITY speak for the majority......and half the girls that carry on like that are getting paid to do it FYI.
Comment by Joanne Fedler
Secret Writers Business
It's enough to give me a headache.
Jo
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
But overall, I do have a positive outlook for our future and I think some of the things mentioned in that book may be highlighting a minority as Louie says.
Great post,
Michaelie
Comment by Nomad
Awesome Food
anyway what I'm saying is, she's the strong, confident, intelligent woman out there today, kicking arse at what she does.
So rock on classy chicks, you've got my vote
Nomad (awesome dude)
www.awesomefood.com.au