Female Chauvinist Pigs : A Feminist Perspective

While reading “Gender,” an essay by Jack Halberstam, the topic of sexism was brought to the forefront of my mind. It has been brought up more often in conversation in the modern era, issues such as how a few cruel insults pertain to female reproductive anatomy and, in a sense, degrade females and ultimately identify them, as well as femininity, as inherently “bad”. Such a thought stemmed from how Halberstam touches on the “problematic stabilization of the meaning of ‘women’ and ‘female’”: meaning there is no room for argument when it comes to your gender—you’re either a girl or not. You either fit into a strict mold, or you do not.

When I hear the word “patriarchy”, the first thing I think about is male dominance. Our society has a dangerously narrow view of masculinity, which limits what a man is allowed to be. Phrases like “nice guys finish last”, “stop acting like a girl”, or “be a man” are told to boys at a young age. In Don Sabo’s article “Pigskin, Patriarchy, and Pain”, he shines the light on intermale aggression by sharing his experience as a young football player and the detrimental risk upon ones body in the football culture.

In Don Sabo’s essay “Pigskin, Patriarchy, and Pain”, Sabo’s central claim states that society’s pressure synthesizes males to accept and conform to pain, whether that be external or internal with an underlying message to walk away from conformity. At the beginning of Sabo’s essay, Sabo mainly speaks about the external pain of his back, which started when he went out for football when he was only eight years old in the interest of changing his physical appearance. While beginning at the age of eight, Sabo played until the end of his NCAA career, which ultimately, turned out to be the result of Sabo’s spinal fusion surgery, and also was the result of Sabo being “one of many men who got swallowed up by a social system on male domination” (86). The system that Sabo commonly refers to is also known as patriarchy, which teaches kids to not only enjoy the pain, but to inflict pain too. These teachings, according to Sabo, is the pain principal, which includes taking our anger out on other people and “limits our emotional expression (86). Another part of these teachings include taking pain, and to take women, and take their place (87). Through all of this information, Sabo is trying to make the inference that our Patriarchy system is corrupted and unfair. Women in this system are at the bottom of the totem pole, and are even considered a prize for enduring the pain. This patriarchy system doesn’t only exist in sports, but it also exists in the military, business world, and in the

“Pride and Prejudice”, a novel written by Jane Austen represents eighteenth century English women as illogical, domestic individuals who economically depend on male members in their household. Major decisions in their life are decided by their fathers and brothers. They perform subordinate roles, and are considered inferior to men. This novel reinforces the sexist stereotypes of women.The female characters in the novel possess these virtues in varying degrees depending on their role. Marriage is considered essential to secure a woman’s future ,they are expected to behave in a certain manner to earn the respect of the society, and are treated unfairly by the social and justice

“Hypocrite of Women,” by Denise Levertov seems to contain a deep message within its playful wording. The basic meaning that I was able to pull from within this was that as women we are hypocrites, because we will shun others within society for what we consider to be inappropriate behavior, or below the standards of society, however when it comes down to our own personal faults within our characters, we tend to overlook them or ignore them. This is a fascinating poem because I feel like it does reflect how society was as well as is today. In “The Ache of Marriage,” I was able to discern that Denise Levertov’s goal was to explore the pain of an unwanted marriage. The pain that she reflects within her writing seems to be of both an emotional and a physical basis.

Author Don Sabo, of western Pennsylvania, is sitting down to write and as he writes he makes it very clear to begin his writing with the liberation of what was once to him an intense feeling of pain (82). Sabo played football at the age of 8 until the age of 30 as his career had ended in this brutal sport. He describes the physical pain of getting punched in the gut several times, the breaking of bones, and the ultimate destruction of his spinal column; which in the end had forced him to have “’spinal fusion’” surgery (82-84). This surgery freed him from the physical suffering of his past and opened his eyes to the pain principle. Don Sabo, author of “Pigskin, Patriarchy and Pain”, argues that Western Culture, based primarily on male patriarchy,

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.

Media influence has caused beauty to evolve into ideals that can’t actually be attained. In addition to this, women are objectified and seen as sex objects, being sexualized by men without consequence due to the normalcy the media has created for genders. In fact, men are even encouraged to sexualize women. During her TEDTalk, Kilbourne presented a photo of an adolescent boy wearing a shirt that stated “pimp squad,” showing how our society is comfortable with men sexualizing women from a very young age. In contrast, women are labeled as sluts or whores without even engaging in sexual activity. I, for example, have been called a slut for wearing leggings, merely talking to a guy, and even wearing shorts— in the summer.

Feminist Chimamand Ngozi once stated, "We teach girls that they cannot be sexual beings in the way that boys are/feminist someone who believes in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes." Ariel Levy's essay "Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture" explores today’s women’s desire for sexual self-expression. The media leads women to believe being raunchy is appropriate by connecting raunch culture to feminist activities. Today raunch culture has expanded, leading one to question if raunch culture is something that should be supported. Is raunch culture sexual liberation or is it just exploiting women’s sexuality?

Experiencing the horrible and panful misfortune that many people faced in the 1930s due to the great depression John Steinbeck wrote one of the most critically acclaimed novellas Of Mice and Men. The novella follows the story of two migrant ranch workers George and Lennie who while trying to find work develop a close friendship and share a dream of one day owning their own land. But beneath the surface of what seems like a simple tale of two unlikely friends is a much deeper story and inside of those who were accepted and those who were marginalised. John Steinbeck has ability in his writing to touch the readers and convey his messages of friendship, race, alienation and misogyny that were very present in the 1930s throw his characters Crooks,

While feminist movements today have been branded as “raunch culture” most notably by writer Ariel Levy in 2005; 2016 public figures in the media such as Beyonce and Amber Rose have shown that it’s all about reclaiming your sexuality.

“You bitches need to learn your places. You do not order a brute around and get away with it!”

In Female Chauvinist Pigs, Ariel Levy attempts to reconcile her personal views of feminism with its portrayal in popular culture. In order to challenge what she sees as a co-opted version of feminism, Levy raises the question of authenticity of “sex-positive feminism” (Levy, 63) on two levels: by “selling out” in terms of the body and in terms of our patriarchal culture. In order to restore a binary relationship between feminism and non-feminism, Levy recasts this sex positive feminism as a new form of (fe)male chauvinism.

     Society would like all women to be feminine. That is to say, society would like all women to render themselves as weak, non-assertive, helpless, male-needing beings. Women are told to act lady-like at all times. This means not arguing, not standing up for themselves and obeying men at all times. The feminine guidelines are seemingly endless and to live a feminine lifestyle is exhausting for most women. It is not accepted for women to spit or belch, whereas for a male these acts are second nature. A fabulous example of manifested pure femininity is the Barbie Doll. Barbie is a homemaker, with a thin body dressed in pink. Barbie is seen as the perfect women and manifests in physical form in every issue of Playboy magazine. Most women are chasing an illusory goal of total femininity, while at the same time searching for complete societal acceptance.

Within the anime Revolutionary Girl Utena and the novella Real world there are female characters who, on the surface, appear to be breaking the molds of gender and sexuality. However, with deeper analysis the characters, Utena and Yuzan respectively, are unable to effectively invert or undermine overarching gender normality. Despite effectively integrating themselves into a more masculine niche both girls still adhere to common principles of shojo based gender culture.