You must be a misogynist if you aren't a feminist; you must be a lonely girl or a “whipped” boyfriend if you are one. These are the mentalities that obstruct any real conversation about women in our society. Feminists lament, nay-sayers snort, but what about the reality of the issue? The shameful reality is, women today are not fairly represented, realistically viewed, or proportionally content in our country, and it’s all due to our decisions as Americans.
It is a somewhat common misconception that the gender gaps in America are inevitable, that women just aren't politicians by nature, and are socially polar to men. But according to the documentary Miss Representation (2011), so far 33 other countries have had female presidents. This is a shock because we consider ourselves to be equality-oriented, yet female misrepresentation is most evident at the very core of our culture: consumer products. Flip through many popular magazines and you’ll see photoshopped images of tiny models, women scantily clad, posing on motorcycles, and making orgasmic expressions-- all that jazz, possibly on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Now, do women walk down the streets this way, looking like plastic dolls, giving everyone the glare of sexual suggestion? Clearly not. This kind of misrepresentation is an obvious and trite appeal to a male conceit that connects “babes” to masculinity. The real shame is that misrepresentation exists outside of this-it’s here in our movies, clothing ads, and even in PETA’s war cries against animal testing. The market and media’s bombardment of these images confuses our society, and renders it unable to view women in any natural or realistic way. It’s no wonder that we perceive men and women to be so drastically different, and rarely picture women as politicians or strong leaders.
Nevertheless, it is an even more common misconception that the recent social movements have ensured women with complete social equality. The truth is, women combat disrespect as an effect of their misrepresentation. We have artists like R. Kelly recording lyrics such as “Girl you look just like my cars, I wanna wax it.” Regardless of whether the comparisons and sexually suggestive metaphors make any sense, there is a clear message that he establishes: women are objects and can, therefore, be treated as such and are available for sexual use. This is the kind of continued objectification that comes from encouragement of over sexualized images. Women are not portrayed as equal to men, as complex beings, so they are not considered that way in pop culture.
So what happens to a society force-fed with these images, and singing these lyrics? It becomes increasingly unhealthy. You’re probably already familiar with the terms anorexia and bulimia, self-abusive “dieting” tactics used to keep up with our modern idealization of skinny girls. But did you know that about 65% of women are said to have had eating disorders at least once in their lives? We are raised thinking that women are just “softer” or “obsessive” when it comes to these insecurities. But Mandy McCarthy’s 1990 discovery about women’s health sings a different tune. He reports that in societies (like America) where there is a strong ideal of female thinness, women are twice as likely than males to be depressed and have eating disorders, whereas in societies that have more realistic expectations of women, the likelihood of depression are about the same for both males and females, and there are far fewer harmful dieting habits. So it’s not that women are naturally more emotionally weak, it’s that our society is debilitating them. In her book, “The Objectification and Dismemberment of Women in the Media,” Kacey D. Greening explains that girls under the pressures of such a society begin to view themselves in third person, and think so critically of themselves that they are chronically unsatisfied--they starve themselves, they cut, they feel awkward in very natural sexual contexts; they constantly feel “on display.” What kind of an enjoyable life is that?
Now I ask, how can we say we’re doing our society, our country justice if we are knowingly degrading and inhibiting half of our population? The simple truth is: we can’t. What we can do is commit to a change in direction. If we want healthy girls, friends, and future wives, children, co-workers and leaders, we need to step up. Stop supporting cheap marketing tactics, and gender stereotypes. Stop perpetuating female idealism, and encouraging cumbersome, offensive lyrics and jokes. Don’t do it because you’re “whipped,” do it because you’re a decent human being who wants the best for other human beings. So be a man, or a woman, or whatever you want to be--and stop letting sexism slide in America.
It is a somewhat common misconception that the gender gaps in America are inevitable, that women just aren't politicians by nature, and are socially polar to men. But according to the documentary Miss Representation (2011), so far 33 other countries have had female presidents. This is a shock because we consider ourselves to be equality-oriented, yet female misrepresentation is most evident at the very core of our culture: consumer products. Flip through many popular magazines and you’ll see photoshopped images of tiny models, women scantily clad, posing on motorcycles, and making orgasmic expressions-- all that jazz, possibly on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Now, do women walk down the streets this way, looking like plastic dolls, giving everyone the glare of sexual suggestion? Clearly not. This kind of misrepresentation is an obvious and trite appeal to a male conceit that connects “babes” to masculinity. The real shame is that misrepresentation exists outside of this-it’s here in our movies, clothing ads, and even in PETA’s war cries against animal testing. The market and media’s bombardment of these images confuses our society, and renders it unable to view women in any natural or realistic way. It’s no wonder that we perceive men and women to be so drastically different, and rarely picture women as politicians or strong leaders.
Nevertheless, it is an even more common misconception that the recent social movements have ensured women with complete social equality. The truth is, women combat disrespect as an effect of their misrepresentation. We have artists like R. Kelly recording lyrics such as “Girl you look just like my cars, I wanna wax it.” Regardless of whether the comparisons and sexually suggestive metaphors make any sense, there is a clear message that he establishes: women are objects and can, therefore, be treated as such and are available for sexual use. This is the kind of continued objectification that comes from encouragement of over sexualized images. Women are not portrayed as equal to men, as complex beings, so they are not considered that way in pop culture.
So what happens to a society force-fed with these images, and singing these lyrics? It becomes increasingly unhealthy. You’re probably already familiar with the terms anorexia and bulimia, self-abusive “dieting” tactics used to keep up with our modern idealization of skinny girls. But did you know that about 65% of women are said to have had eating disorders at least once in their lives? We are raised thinking that women are just “softer” or “obsessive” when it comes to these insecurities. But Mandy McCarthy’s 1990 discovery about women’s health sings a different tune. He reports that in societies (like America) where there is a strong ideal of female thinness, women are twice as likely than males to be depressed and have eating disorders, whereas in societies that have more realistic expectations of women, the likelihood of depression are about the same for both males and females, and there are far fewer harmful dieting habits. So it’s not that women are naturally more emotionally weak, it’s that our society is debilitating them. In her book, “The Objectification and Dismemberment of Women in the Media,” Kacey D. Greening explains that girls under the pressures of such a society begin to view themselves in third person, and think so critically of themselves that they are chronically unsatisfied--they starve themselves, they cut, they feel awkward in very natural sexual contexts; they constantly feel “on display.” What kind of an enjoyable life is that?
Now I ask, how can we say we’re doing our society, our country justice if we are knowingly degrading and inhibiting half of our population? The simple truth is: we can’t. What we can do is commit to a change in direction. If we want healthy girls, friends, and future wives, children, co-workers and leaders, we need to step up. Stop supporting cheap marketing tactics, and gender stereotypes. Stop perpetuating female idealism, and encouraging cumbersome, offensive lyrics and jokes. Don’t do it because you’re “whipped,” do it because you’re a decent human being who wants the best for other human beings. So be a man, or a woman, or whatever you want to be--and stop letting sexism slide in America.
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