In female chauvinist pigs written by Ariel levy. She explains the idea of women who are called female chauvinist pigs and the rise of raunch culture. And there is no denying that raunch is everywhere in our culture today. We live in an era where “the American mass culture has framed the game so perversely that young women now strive to be the “hottest” and “sexiest” girl they know rather than the most accomplished”. In this essay, Ariel levy talks about the raunch culture of today’s world where it is mainly focused on the sex appeal of women and how many women take off their clothes, as well as how many women today want to be like men (think like men). Levy theorizes “many women internalize the objectifying male gaze that permeates a raunch culture, leading them to participate in self-objectification quite willingly, falsely believing that it is a form of female empowerment and sexual liberation”. And an example of that would be where she is talking to a girl named anyssa and anyssa says “I could never be a stripper myself, but I think it would be so sexually liberating”. In my opinion how does a female feel sexually liberated by pole dancing in front of many men and women who throw dollar bills at them? Many examples of the raunch culture would be, playboy the magazine that features many naked women, the man show where the women were seen as sexual objects, stripping which is idealized as empowering and liberating by many women, and girls gone wild where many young
Ariel Levy, a staff writer at the New Yorker, and author of the article “Female Chauvinist Pig” has brought up a very interesting topic about Raunch Culture. Now, what particularly is raunch culture? Raunch culture, in my own words, I can say is defined as a culture which allows a woman to participate in male-dominant cultures of raunch that deals a lot with sex in a way that is meant to be funny. Women who participate in this culture have to reject some of the things women are known to do, which they consider “girly-girl”. Although some things that they wear or do are considered “girly-girl”, women still have to embrace, acknowledge and accept certain male stereotypes in order to participate in raunch culture.
This article from “The Real Truth about the Female” by Barbara Ehrenreich targets many beliefs that women were underestimated. The main theory suggested in this document is that, women had to follow the traditional duties. Early theories are being questioned as a result to women proving many things over the years that were often overlooked. Ehrenreich states in his article, “it does strongly suggest that in the Stone Age family, Dad-the-hunter was not the only provider.” There is a great amount of evidence that suggest the theory that women worked as hard as men. Adrienne Zihlman and Nancy Tanner stated “among surviving “hunting” peoples, most of the community’s calories—up to 70%—come from plant food patiently gathered by women.” This fact
It is not new that men discriminate against women. They are the ones for years that stop women from taking strong leadership in the world. Men were seen as the only authority in world. Therefore, when people like Anne Roiphe, who spoke up for women, voiced their opinion it was a big deal. Anne Roiphe's essay "Confessions of a Female Chauvinist Sow" came to surface in 1972 and caught a lot of attention.
reputation for feminism. Levy ask some women about raunch culture, she was told that these
Culture often thrives off of polar opposites—hot and cold, bitter and sweet, male and female. By setting up these opposing constructs, one can easily find a set definition for each. A hot surface could scorch someone or a cold temperature could cause them to shiver. In the same way, a bitter substance would be less enjoyable to eat than a sweet one. These terms are often defined by mentioning their antitheses. Because it’s comfortable to embrace specificity and certainty, topics such as gender and gender expression often get simplified into binary existences—however, they don’t quite operate under the same parameters. In an essay entitled “Bad Feminist”, Dr. Roxane Gay explores and warns against the dangers of binary thinking. Throughout
In today’s economy, it is a hard fact that many women will have to enter the workforce. In her article for The Atlantic, “Why Women Still Can’t have it All”, Anne-Marie Slaughter examines the difficulties faced by women who either have children or would someday like to do so. Having given up on the task of holding a high powered government position while being the mother of a teenager, her kairotic moment, the author discusses the changes that would be necessary in order for women to find a real work-life balance. Although Slaughter 's target audience is primarily women who seek high powered positions, the article contains ample information that should appeal to both men who seek to balance the needs of a growing family with their work responsibilities, as well as workplace policy makers who could help usher in the necessary changes. Her goal in sharing her experiences is to argue that women can succeed at the very top level of their organizations, “But not today, not with the way America’s economy and society are currently structured” (Slaughter).
Bailey, Beth. Sex in the Heartland. Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England: Harvard University Press, 1999.
Even today, in 2017, the issue of equality in the workplace is a very real and talked about problem. Sheryl Sandberg talks about this issue in “Lean In: What Would You Do If You Weren’t Afraid.” She proposes the idea that the reason women do not receive results equal to their male counterparts is not because of lack of opportunity, but because they are choosing to pursue different priorities than men. In “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All,” Anne-Marie Slaughter discusses the idea that in today’s economic and social environment, it is not realistic for women to try to “have it all.” Similarly, Richard Dorment writes about why it is not just women that “can’t have it all” in his book, “Why Men Still Can’t Have It All.” There are always at
The article, The Cult of Womanhood: 1820 - 1860 written by Barbara Welter discusses the philosophy towards women in America during the mid 19th century. A set of demands and expectations based upon four principles: piety, purity, submission and domesticity were placed on women as well as certain behavioral expectations left 19th century women feeling guilty. It also left women feeling this way during the industrialization period as well as having a huge presence of incompatibility with society. Welter shares her viewpoint that the Cult of Womanhood was an attempt to preserve pre modern values in the industrial age. Men held a dominant place in society and continued to prevent new opportunities for women to explore. Narrow minded
“We must open the doors and we must see to it they remain open, so that others can pass through it”
Ariel Levy’s commentary “Female Chauvinist Pigs” ponders the thought of female chauvinist and what they are exactly. Levy tries to convince the reader that women chauvinist pigs are trying to outdo the male chauvinist pigs. Throughout the text Levy claims that through the use of pop culture society adopted the new meanings of “liberation” and “empowerment” and uses raunchy outfits or clothing to show how “liberated” and “empowered” they are which is the exact opposite. After reading and analyzing the commentary I came to the conclusion that Levy uses the correct techniques and rhetorical concepts to help present her ideas. Levy starts the commentary off by recalling the events for which have led to her reasons of writing this commentary.
In her book “Gender Outlaw: On Men, Woman, and the Rest of us,” Kate Bornstein goes over a lot of the major issues regarding gender awareness and identity politics. She talks about the ideas of labeling ones self, understanding gender differences, how people view laws, behaviors, and the medical and scientific privilege that make transitioning challenging for a lot of people. Bornstein touches on many of the issues today that affect trans people. She includes poetry, pictures, quotes, essays, and a play to raise questions and discuss the idea of gender. This is a great book to introduce and discuss the issues that affect the lives of trans people as they navigate and explore the lines that define gender.
In the book The Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan brings attention to what she calls the feminine mystique, or “the problem that has no name”. Through the use of anecdotal narratives, her own personal experiences as a journalist, editor, mother, and the interviews of many women from different backgrounds in order to unveil the truth about the women of the 1950’s. The problem which sparked the second wave of feminism in the United States is one that focuses on the inequality between men and women and the undervaluing of women in both the social and private spheres. The women of the time gave up pursuing their passions, such as getting an education or careers in science or business in order to fit the image of the stereotypical stay-at-home mom whose main goal in life is to raise her children while providing a safe and comforting home for her husband. The Feminine Mystique, as she called it, was the idea of widespread unhappiness of women, despite the preconceived notion that women were happiest when they have a family. Throughout her work, she dives into many of the problems associated with the feminine mystique and builds a powerful concept of what would eventually be labeled feminism.
“Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It's about making life more fair for women everywhere. It's not about a piece of the existing pie; there are too many of us for that. It's about baking a new pie.” The quote by Gloria Steinem explains what women all around the world want in their lifetime, justice.
Gender subjectivity is another important aspect of the debate around gender because it focuses on a move away from the idea of innate sexual identity characteristics that divide human beings into male and female (Encyclopedia of Critical Psychology, 2014). This type of view challenges the essentialism of sexual difference into something more then a binary between male vs. female, heterosexual vs. homosexual, etc., as it recognizes that these dichotomies are problematic because the term of gender encompasses a whole range of identities across a spectrum. In particular ideas like what does it mean to be equal? (Butler) and seeing division of gender into binary conceptions of identity can be seen as a process of ‘othering’ (de Beauvoir) are some of the areas that this topic examines.