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Emily Backus WA #4 Rise of Raunch Culture Think of the first thing you think of when you hear the word feminist. Is it a masculine woman who hates all men? Or is it a late 19th century woman picketing for right to suffrage? Mirriam-­‐Webster defines feminism as “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes”. Feminist Cheris Kramarae defines feminism as a “radical notion that women are people”. Evangelist Pat Robertson describes feminism as a movement that “encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians”. Whatever idea you have about a feminist—it probably involves a woman fighting male and female inequalities. The fight for equality between men and women has been an issue for many years and a platform for discourse among several generations. Women have suffered as “second class citizens” for much of history; yet, we’ve come a long way in liberation. But what truly makes a woman a feminist today? In the time of our grandmothers, women had lower class jobs, served their breadwinning husbands, and were expected to cover their bodies modestly. Currently, women have many of the same jobs, play a different role in relationships and can wear belly-­‐revealing shirts and booty shorts without harsh social criticism. But by freeing ourselves sexually are women doing the opposite of truly freeing ourselves? Ariel Levy argues that “’Raunchy’ and ‘liberated’ are not synonyms. It is worth asking ourselves if this this bawdy world of boobs and gams we have resurrected reflects how far we’ve come, or how far we have left to go”. By equating sexual freedom with political freedom, women are limiting not only their own potential, but the potential of true equality for their children. From magazines to television series to box-­‐office-­‐busting movies, women everywhere are exploring the freedom of sexual expression. Summers are filled with women of all ages dressed in crop tops and short-­‐shorts, barely-­‐there-­‐bikinis, and spaghetti strap tank tops. As a rule-­‐of-­‐thumb, women in past generations were expected to wear modest clothing and keep their sexual desires behind closed doors. Now, a woman’s sexuality is exploited as a means of celebrating how far we’ve come. Ariel Levy suggests that this is “evidence that the feminist project had already been achieved. We’d earned the right to look at Playboy; we were empowered enough to get Brazilian bikini waxes. Women had come so far, I learned, we no longer needed to worry about objectification”. The irony in this statement lies in the fact that what some view as “sexual freedom” is dehumanizing women rather than giving them power. Hundreds of magazines exist that develop the woman as a sex icon. By exploiting women in this way, we are giving females permission to act as objects for the pleasure of men. This seems to counteract the original feminist movement, which fought for a humanization of women. It’s not just the photographers in magazines that are creating this objectification, but women themselves seem to take pride in their manipulation. Expressing yourself freely is undoubtedly an important liberty, “but to do so while dressed in what looks like a sexy stewardess Halloween costume seems less like victory than capitulation” (New York Times). The freedom feminists first fought for was the right to the same jobs, same expectations, and same political freedoms as a man. What women have begun doing in order to “free themselves” would seem to our picketing grandmothers a bit ironic. Women have gotten so caught up in their right to “bare” arms, legs, and stomachs that they have forgotten what rights they were originally fighting for. Objectifying a woman’s beauty or look is detrimental to future generations. Intentionally or not, American society is creating a standard for what is socially acceptable for future women. It is defining the clothing and activities that are normal for women to engage in. For example, a daughter who grows up in a suburban family with a mother figure who regularly wears raunchy clothing often grows up to engage in the same social behavior as she saw at home. Giving children the idea that a woman’s sexual freedom is synonymous to her social and political freedom will cause society to forever lose sight of the liberties that are truly worth fighting for. Since we have fought to be equal with men, we should have the same social boundaries as they do. It’s not often you find a man wearing revealing pieces of clothing or doing a bikini car wash, right? But in the fight for freedom women have unintentionally created this double standard. How can women expect to have the same political freedom as men if we have different social standards? What we used to view as sexual expression is now being seen as “sexuality”. Another example of this is the amount of attention the media puts on a woman’s beauty. It’s true that there are plenty of male models, but females dominate the model world—selling makeup, clothing, perfume, and even food. Orbit has an attractive, blonde, and foreign female as the propaganda for their company-­‐-­‐making them one of the most popular chewing gum companies in America. Flo’s perfect hair and ruby red lips sell Progressive insurance to millions across America. When we truly think about how much more women are being exploited by the media than men, it is clear to see how this effects our inequality. George Orwell famously states in his novel, Animal Farm that “all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others". In his recent book The War Against Men, Professor Richard Rise notes, "the female propaganda machine is relentless." The male-­‐female power dynamic has a lot to do with this rise of raunch culture. It’s customary to view men as the dominant party in sexual relationships. Women had sex with a man on his watch and most often simply as a means of procreation. For millennia, sex was regulated by the Church and by a society society, who attempted to punish any sex outside of marriage. Before the 1920s when women began freeing themselves sexually, it was almost unheard of that a woman would display her sexual desires. As time went on and women began gaining political and social power, their sexuality was set free. Women began to be seen as the one who decided when to have sex and with whom. Females had finally usurped power over males. Now, it’s not uncommon to know a woman who sleeps around or who dresses in order to seek sexual attention. In a way, women have lost their “sexual mystery”. They have lost this power and have begun over sexualizing themselves, putting the authority back in the hands of men. Ariel Levy describes that “what we once regarded as a kind of sexual expression we now view as sexuality”. Meaning, what was once an expression of the independence women had gained is now becoming a social norm that inhibits equality between men and women. This power dynamic and its fluctuation over time suggests an important issue—if we were truly free, wouldn’t men and women have completely equal power?