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Wednesday, October 25, 2006

my feminist ass, my real panties


my feminist ass, my real panties
Originally uploaded by rkb1.
Levy suggests no alternative to the reign of raunch culture. She leaves readers with the impression that if women don't wake up, put on some real panties and cover up their cleavage, the advances of the feminist movement will go to pieces.

Just when I think the sexual shaming is over, I read something like this article, "Smart Girls in a Sexy World," which gives major space to Ariel Levy to castigate girls who like to dress like "Playboy Bunnies, sexy stewardesses and hot nurses" on Halloween.

Thank you, thank you, thank you Sheila Marikar for putting some much-needed perspective on Ariel Levy’s increasingly outdated and false idea that “all empowered women must be overtly and publicly sexual.” If that were the case, then for those of us who are perverted little exhibitionists, it would take some of the thrill away, wouldn’t it? It’s 2006 and there are plenty of us, feminists included, who like our sex hot and public (sometimes). Who have breast implants and are proud of them. Who make pornography designed to titillate and educate.

I know several people who I respect who’ve jumped to Levy’s defense when I’ve attacked her viewpoint. My main problem with her ideas is not that there’s no such thing as raunch culture, or sexism within it. But it’s not so black and white, nor is it mandatory. There are plenty of people choosing modesty, and plenty of others in between. Also, we can sometimes want to dress provocatively, like on a holiday that seems designed for it like, oh, I don’t know, Halloween, and other times might want to lounge around in sweats. I in no way think we are at a point in our society where women are only seen as sex objects. We’ve come a long way, baby, but this either/or, you’re with us or against us, Madonna/whore dichotomy is not helping anyone.

More later when I have time to dig into it, because I could and will write a whole book about this, but there’s so much wrong with her ideas. Levy’s beef is with “[w]omen who embrace the idea that sex equals power and who thrive in a society that continually encourages them to exploit their sexuality for fun and profit.”

I think this sentence epitomizes the problems in talking about sex and feminism and women’s desires fairly and honestly. Sex does equal power, or it can. To deny that power is threaded through our sexuality would be utterly wrong. But what to do about that? Just cast sex into the closet and pretend it doesn’t exist? Dress modestly because at least then we’ll be taken seriously? What about those of us who get off on that power, power that has absolutely nothing to do with “exploiting” but enjoying our sexuality? Once again, I don’t think we can fairly say that it’s all exploitation . . . have you read Carly Milne’s book Naked Ambition? Why are those women’s ideas left out of almost every article about Female Chauvinist Pigs? “Sex equals power” does not a feminist manifesto make. There are so many ways our sexuality is powerful, and that goes for men as well as women. Power is not inherently bad, and it’s not necessarily “power over.” We don’t need to fall into the “empowerment” vs. “objectification” debate for the umpteenth time either. It’s about choice, and Marikar says that over and over, thankfully:

Girls like Trong, who have the ability to laugh with raunch culture while defying its stereotypes, don't exist in "Female Chauvinist Pigs."

But they do in real life. That's the beauty of living in a world that offers women an array of options, from the costume store to the underwear department, from television programs to feminist philosophies.

A culture of sex doesn't have to be accepted in its entirety or not at all. Women can partake in what they like and ignore what they don't. They can wear a French maid outfit one Halloween and a rabbit suit the next. They can get comfortable in a culture of sex because they can handle it.

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3 Comments:

At July 05, 2007, Blogger iqbal said...

beautiful. i am 45 Years old IMPOTENT man. i love the aggressive and bold women like yoy. please kkep it up. all best wishes so that in future women should ruthlesslyy rule over men. this is the wish of mine

 
At July 25, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Would you sluts shut up already?

 
At February 24, 2010, Blogger Unknown said...

that picture is just incredible. Unfortunately I don't have anything witty, deep or interesting to say, just that I LOVE this picture! lol

 

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