Violence against women: going beyond the obvious

This past Sunday, the Albright Thespian Society performed the Vagina Monolgues as a stand against the violence committed against women around the world. Coincidentally, we had just finished discussing the differen types of violence in my women's writers course. We are all aware of the physical abuse against women. This ranges from domestic violence in America to genital mutilation of women in Africa. However, there is more than physical violence circulationg the world. Many women of other cultures experience institutional violence. This denotes the government's approval of using violence against women as a form of punishment. More specific examples are commonly seen in India where women who commit adultery are stoned. The institutional violence encouraging the physical violence is a vicious cycle that needs to be stopped, but as long as the same system of power is in place, it will never cease.
Another type of violence we've discussed and we commonly see in our very capitalistic society is symbolic violence. This refers to the images of the sacrificial mother and the beautiful model we are all supposed to look like. The images that the media gives us of the mother who drops everything and gives it up for her child is detrimental to psychological health in that it forces women not only to give up their identity but to lose themselves almost completely as human beings. For the rest of us who can't quite lose ourselves to the image if the sacrificial mother, we don;t have it any easier. The media constantly bombards us with images of what we're supposed to look like, wear, what to buy, etc. We're not allowed to get old, and we also can't gain weight.
Another type of violence is economic violence. This specifically refers to women in third world countries who work long, hard hours performing arduous labor, and getting none to little pay. The average lifetime of a woman who undergoes this type of violence is approximately 40 years of age where the average lifespan of a woman in America is around 80 years.
The many types of violence are far more than what we have commonly been exposed to. Physical violence is the easiest to see, yet not the only type that we have to be worried about.

Teenage Role Models?

When I was younger, I watched shows like Boy Meets World, Full House, and Home Improvement. In my opinion, they were wholesome, family sitcoms - a type of show that rarely exists anymore. I wanted to be like the girls on Full House - in fact, I got to pick my own middle name, and I picked Stephanie .... because of my love for that show! They were good role models, for the most part, and gave young-teenage girls someone good to look up to. As we got older, singers like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera started to arrive on scene, and we began looking up to them. Although somewhat controversial at the time, the way they acted and dressed back then was a lot more mild than the "role models" teenage girls have to look up to now.
What do young girls have to look up to these days? The wholesome sitcoms are hard to come by. Sure, you can catch repeats of older shows on ABC Family and Nick at Nite, but the shows that are directed toward the "tween" age group, and the actresses and singers admired by this age group, are often questionable. Girls still look up to Britney Spears, and although she is making a comeback, look at her actions over the past two years. Is this what young teenage girls should be looking up to?
Then there are the ever famous Disney Channel stars, such as Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana), Demi Lavato, and numerous others, such as the stars of the High School Musical movies. The "tween" girls want to BE these girls. And yet, how often do we hear stuff on the news about another "wardrobe malfucntion", or picture controvery, or affairs with older men. The stories about them are endless. And while some of them are undoubtedly false, a lot of other things are true. Everything these stars do is looked up to, admired, and copied by these young girls. They see Miley Cyrus or someone in a semi-revealing outfit on stage, which reminds them of what they've seen Britney Spears do, and MAN! That must be cool! And then you have your 12 year old daughter/niece/sister wanting to wear super tight clothes and dye their hair.
I guess what I'm trying to say, and perhaps rant about, is that really good role models seem to be hard to come by for young girls these days. And the ones that really are good role models do not receive nearly as much attenion as the ones that are not. I don't have a whole lot to back me up on this - it's more my personal thoughts. I am selfishly glad that I don't have a little sister, becuase I'd be freaking out as she grows up about the girls out there for her to "look up to". I'm not really sure that there's a solution - the media is always going to give the attention to whoever's making headlines, which usually results from some sort of drama - which probalby aren't the best role models. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that all the role models for these tween girls are bad, or even that people like Miley Cyrus is doing an awful job as a role model. I just think that there are so many negative role models, or stories out there, that it's scary to think what little girls might be looking up to. Hopefull society can instill in our children that you don't have to act like the girls you see on tv/hear on the radio...

Drag queens and Beauty queens

Throughout the course we have discussed the role of women in society not paying very close attention to the influence society has on males. Appearance has been and it is still an important factor for women. Women are constantly thrown into the fashion world and critiqued for their appearance. Everywhere you walk, and every direction you turn, cosmetic industries and clothing lines fill the pages of magazines, television and billboard ads to name a few. Women are pulled towards vanity, cosmetic surgeries, and everything else to look and be the "it" image of a woman in society because phsycial appearances all of a sudden define the person. After our class discussion on Miss America and the controversy associated with this beauty pageant dating back to the late 1960s when feminists protested its patriarchal ideals, I thought about men who deviate from the stereotypical role they are supposed to portray in society. What gave me this idea was watching a football player getting his eyebrows waxed. Movie stars and people in the media-men and women are always plastered in makeup to look good in front of the cameras, and that concept is understanding. However, when men go beyond makeup and manicures to dressing in drags, that is a whole other issue and a complete deviation from the stereotypes society placed on men. Men are supposed to be strong, uncommunicative, independent, financially secured, and dominant in their household and in the public realm. However, men dressed in drags deviates from this norm. A drag queen is defined as a man who dresses in women's clothing and makeup and performes in pageant shows and other functions. Women in beauty pageants are seen as putting on a show for male gazers and as objects of male control, but how are drag queens depicted in pageants that model the beauty pageants women are part of such as Miss America and Miss Universe? Miss Gay America is one drag queen beauty pageant that was formed around the 1970s by Jerry Peek and later Norman Jones, and it is currently under L&T Entertainment (Larry Tyger and Terry Eason) missgayamerica.com Do drag queens encounter the same issues that women in beauty pageants face such as being seen as objects? Has society drawn men to dress in drags in order to show their feminine side, which throughout history has constantly been put on the backburner as unnatural and wrong? Drag queens and other "drag artists" or performers are in the spotlight and judged by viewers the same way women are in beauty pageants. In beauty pageants, a winner is chosen as the "ideal" woman that personifies what is "beauty." In drag pageants, men as well compete against other men in drags to determine the best looking drag queen. Therefore, are drag queens and other performers chosen because of their appearance or as a deviation from the traditional depiction of men or both, meaning Are drag queens chosen because they are sort of depicting the true role of men?

More Questions to Think About:

What is your take on drag queens and beauty queens and the shows they perform?

Do you think Miss Gay America and other drag queen pageants are a mockery of women in beauty pageants such as Miss America and Miss Universe?

Do you think drag queens in pageants are portrayed as more feminine than women in beauty pageants?

What message do you personally think the Miss Gay America and other drag queen pageants are implying?

Below are some youtube videos that I thought were really interesting
What do you think of these videos?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgPa5hu8Mv4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfBqfUPdyFQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XLwOaMUdWo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NN4sYrRSDk

Barbie Got Inked?

*This isn't one of the mandatory posts or anything but I heard about this at lunch today and I thought you guys might be interested in this latest Barbie news, if you haven't already heard...

Barbie might be going through a bit of a mid-life crisis... the latest Barbie doll out is called Totally Stylin' Tattoo Barbie. You can tattoo her, her clothes, and yourself with these sticker tattoos she comes with. I even heard she has what some like to call a "tramp stamp" - a tattoo on her lower back right above her butt that says "Forever Ken" (I'm not sure about that, I haven't seen pictures, may just be a rumor.)

But it seems as though many parents are not okay with the message this new doll sends to their kids. The link is just one of many articles about how parents are reacting to "Barbie's new image."

http://wbztv.com/consumer/barbie.tattoo.mattel.2.950549.html

I'm not really sure what I think yet - are these upset parents overreacting or is a tattooed barbie just cause for concern??

Women and Playboy

We have already briefly touched on women in reality TV shows and women on television in general. After seeing Amanda’s post, the one show that came to my mind was The Girls Next Door. I’ve never really seen this show before, but I have seen clips on it on The Soup. So, I decided to do a little research and find episodes on You Tube. What I found was that this show definitely does not portray women as positive role models for younger girls. This show is about Hugh Hefner and his three “girlfriends”. The show exposes their lives and the lives of playmates and the playboy mansion.

One clip that I found shows one Hefner’s girlfriends revealing that as earlier as age five, she has wanted to be a playmate in the magazine and look like these women. This just shows how media can affect girls at such a young age and put these images of the “perfect” woman in girl’s heads. Personally, I think this is incredibly sad. When I was five years old, I definitely had no idea what Playboy magazine was. But it just shows that depending on how you are brought up and what your soundings are can affect your idea of how you are supposed to look and act. The clip than goes on to show some of the “new girls” that are going to be appearing in one of the upcoming magazines.

How do you think magazines like Playboy affect younger girls and boys? With having this reality show, do you think this encourages younger girls to want to participate in Playboy, or even just want to look like these women?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_W16WX8Xas

TV and Plastic Surgery

Nip Tuck is a TV show that many love. The show’s plotline revolves around plastic surgery. I think that since plastic surgery is so popular these days, everyone can relate; therefore, they tune in. The two main characters are plastic surgeons, Christian Troy (Julian McMahon) and Sean McNamara (John Hensley), who are obsessed with body image and sex. My roommate used to watch the show, so I have seen my share of episodes. The two men are in their late 30’s early 40’s; meanwhile Sean had an affair with his 16 or 17 year old step daughter. Most of the women who are on the show are portrayed as sex symbols. One of the episodes that really struck me was when Christian sleeps with a woman and afterwards proceeds to circle all of her “problem areas” with a marker. Of course the woman was very upset and left. I know I would’ve been so embarrassed and my self-esteem would be non-existent. Another episode that I thought was degrading to women was when Christian is about to have sex with a woman but before they start he tells her to put a paper bag over her face. He says “If you want to have sex with me, you have to put the bag over your head so I can’t see your face.” I thought the woman would tell him off and leave, have some sort of self respect, but she did what he said and degraded herself. When the act is over, she removes the bag and is crying. In my opinion, the woman was pretty but I guess because she wasn’t a size 0, she wasn’t worthy of his full attention. This show is not discreet about showing what their idea of “beauty” is. Even women who are stick thin are not perfect to these men until they have had some sort of plastic surgery. It’s sad to think that there are people in real life who are just like the characters on this show. One can only hope to never bump into them on the street.

Question: Do you think this show adds to the plastic surgery epidemic in America?
What messages do you think this show conveys to a young audience?

Here is the clip of Nip Tuck that I discussed above with the woman and the paper bag.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSsovYel2M8

Women in Reality TV

Well, I basically going to do the post Mary already did without the Facebook twist, but I've decided to focus this blog more on reality TV and the women we watch on these shows. We've already touched on this topic a little bit, but I think exploring it more would be quite interesting.

There are about a million reality TV shows out there, all of them supposedly showing the characters in their daily lives (competition or simply a day to day rundown of their lives) - unscripted. Therefore, everything that's being said and done is supposed to be real. The way these women dress are the way they really dress; the things they say are supposed to be things they actually do; and the things they do are things that we are led to believe they would actually do. If this is the case, then we've certainly got some issues with the women in society, and the way we respect and view ourselves. This isn't to say, of course, that there are some good role models on reality shows, but take a look at these clips, and you'll see what I mean about how many of these women are not good role models for women of ANY age to be watching.

This is a clip from the show "The Soup" about the girls featured on the Real World over several seaons. The Real World is notorious for the outrageous behavior of it's cast members, and the females on the show are no exception. Young girls and teenagers that watch this show are really get the wrong message about what it's like to be a girl with any values in their late teens/early 20s: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KCKFw7Wkgs

This video is a a bunch of clips of several different reality TV shows, from A Shot At Love to ANTM - all showing a bunch of "cat fights" between the female characters. Personally, these videos embarass me and make me feel like they are downgrading women as a whole. Not only are they disrespecting the women they are fighting with, but they are disrespecting themselves in the processs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3giwTDF-Do&feature=related

The latest season of America's Next Top Model premiers tonight, and I'm sure there will be women putting other women down. For a show that's supposed to be about being beautiful, the behavior of the women on it is often quite ugly. I know people get caught up in the moment sometimes, but these women need to think about how they are representing themselves for the world to see. If this is how they act, young girls who watch them and look up to them will think that it's okay to act this way too.

Women, Gender, and Facebook?

We have talked a lot about how the media portrays women, but how do women portray themselves in the media? Many social networking sites have become popular lately and one that sticks out is Facebook. On this site you can not only post information about where you live, what you do for a living, and who you are in a relationship with, but also pictures of yourself, writing notes to each other, and even “poke” people. We spend so much time focusing on how the media portrays women and what kind of face they are giving to the “average” woman, but how our women themselves portraying women? Many times I have seen (and been guilty of) posting pictures that may not depict women in the best light. There are photo’s of scantily clad women, women extremely drunk, and women doing things that just are not respectful to themselves. It is not just the photo’s we are allowing to portray us poorly. Everyone can see what you write on another’s “wall” and sometimes they might seem disrespectful to someone that might not be in on the joke. If I were to call a friend a “bitch” on Facebook, that could give permission for other people to call her that, even if it were a joke between us. While I think it is important to look at how the media portrays women, we should also be looking at how we are portraying ourselves.

Here is a blog related to women and Facebook, called Women on Facebook Think Provocative is Empowering

http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2007/09/women-on-facebo.html

Another article on CNN about how women portray themselves on Facebook called

Young Women Drink, Party, Post

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/12/10/face.book/index.html

Here is a video that pokes fun at the dangers of Facebook and brings to reality that your friend aren't the only ones looking at what you say and do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK_E0iiMC18&feature=related">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK_E0iiMC18&feature=related

And finally, a link to the Facebook group "30 Reasons Girls Should Call It A Night"

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?sid=e5076817ff979a71f47bdd2b695bc0bb&gid=2207899608