Suzannah Weiss Summary

In the book Girl Culture by Lauren Greenfield, demonstrates plenty of pictures of how society wants women to be. Furthermore, plenty of the pictures show women exposing their bodies. With the media promoting these pictures, women will constantly be worried about their appearance. Without doubt, these images put out by the media will affect women greatly in both society, and the work environment.

Major Claim: The objectification and “currency” of a women’s body is the pivotal focus for the readings presented in class. It is discussed in the readings about how women are only considered for their looks, and not their personal depth or knowledge. Additionally, intersectionality is observed and how these objectifications effect marginalized groups. Finally, the term of enlightened sexism is introduced and how this concept is dangerous to and reverses feminism.

Even after all the trouble women go through to look according to society’s norms, people still catch every small thing that is not perfect to society. According to Lois Tyson, “she is objectified…defined only by her difference from male norms and values, defined by what she (allegedly) lacks…” (92). Women are unmistakably different from men biologically; so why is it such a shock when she has a small part of her skin showing, just because it is her breast or any other ‘forbidden’ areas? If a woman shows her butt cheeks it is disgraceful, but if a man shows his butt cheeks, it is hot. It is the same body part just of difference sexes, yet society has labeled it differently for each sex. Women objectification should not be seen as her fault, because like every woman around her, she is doing what she has to to stay comfortable.

Females of this generation are being raised in a world where women’s bodies are viewed as objects.

Despite the fact that many men continue to deny that women are objectified, being viewed as an object created solely as a means of pleasure for men is a reality for anyone who was born biologically female. Proving that women are considered less valuable than men is the statistic that women make only 70% of what men in a similar career earns (Ravelli & Webber 214). The sexaul double standard contributes to this idea as well which means that women who engage in sexual activities are “promiscuous” (Ravelli & Webber 237) or “whores” (Ravelli & Webber 237) while men who behave similarly are “Studs” (Ravelli & Webber 237) and women who do not engage in sexual activities are “virgins” (Ravelli & Webber 237) or “Madonna’s” (Ravelli & Webber 237). There are only two portrayals of women and both of these refer to her sexual activities. There are also outrageous definitions of beauty portrayed in the media to

Women have won small victories, but other battles are still being fought. With our current culture one cannot help but notice that many women displayed in ads, music videos, movies, fashion have been degraded and turned into a mere sexual object. I decided to read on both articles by author Bob Herbert because it discusses the crimes that to this day still affect women. The author makes incredible points that I can agree on. One of the many topics that I agree on is when the author stated, “The disrespectful, degrading, contemptuous treatment of women is so pervasive and so mainstream that it has just about lost its ability to shock”. (Herbert, Why Aren't We Shocked?, 2006). I agree on this because with the current “rape culture” as it’s known, many rape victims especially on college campuses that have suffered injustice because their rapists have not been stopped. Rape is not shocking anymore because our standards of women have been over sexualized, and we don’t stop and think that rape is a serious crime and the horrendous effects it has on a victim. When I see a new music video there is always a deep sexual meaning to it or there is a degrading message towards or about women. We have become so accustomed to this that we no longer view this as something wrong, but as the norm of society. Human trafficking happens every single day and there are many victims that are sold to prostitution, but yet the media does not focus on the atrocities faced by women every single day, but rather glorify the “pimps” through scandalous song lyrics. Another statement by the author is, “Now Mr. Solid Citizen can come home, log on to this $7 billion mega-industry and get his kicks watching real women being beaten and sexually assaulted on Web sites with names like “Ravished Bride” and “Rough Sex – Where Whores Get Owned.” (Herbert, Why

After giving a scenario about a woman’s choice in clothing and the consequences it brings, Jaramillo’s comments bring to light the haunting fact that women are facing the harsh realities of gender inequality, violence against their rights, and against women in general. According to a recent national study, 37 percent of married women have been physically abused by their husbands. Ten percent of those women report having

How would you feel if the clothing you are wearing at this moment can potentially put you at harm? That your favorite flower print shirt with the vintage pattern or that new crop top you just got on sale last week, can make you a victim of a sexual crime. Sounds rational, but that is the reality. A women’s appearance, in today’s society, has led men and women to believe that your choice of clothing can make you a victim of sexual harassment or more precisely; a target. However, rather than being seen as victims of the crime, women are being blamed for provoking sexual intentions in their attackers. Women have become victims of “slut shaming,” a social stigma that shames women for violating traditional expectations. It is this type of influence that enforces the blaming of victims to be misplaced.

From an early age women learn that their appearance and public persona are integral to the status that they can achieve in society. Much of what they see and hear can be construed as a message about how they are to make themselves acceptable and advance their ability to move within the boundaries of the social construct. For example, a mother who prods here daughter to exercise, may do so because she has felt or observed to backlash from divergence with norms about weight. She may believe that she is acting in the best interest of her child, when in reality she perpetuates the vicious cycle.

In the modern, advanced, yet twisted world we live in today, women have often been objectified and the topics of rape and sexual assault have become jokes. From movies to music videos and songs, the media is often guilty of this, but they aren’t the only ones. What may seem simple and harmless such as a banner with a couple of words meant as a joke, may lead to a much more serious series of events such as sexual assault, according to Trey Gregory, as he talks about the actions of a fraternity in his article, “Rape is Not a Joke”. Whether it be the media or a fraternity at Texas Tech, the mentality of certain people that women may be objectified and treated as animals that must be domesticated is wrong in all ways and may not be justified as a mere joke, as it could lead to dire consequences whether intentional or not.

This idea, that a female’s worth can be warped from exposing too much skin, becomes imprinted on girl’s mind very early in life and is implemented by parents, friends, schoolmates, teachers, and many other members of a community. When a “woman teeter-totters the line between immodest and appropriate, peers will chime together to slut-shame and take away from that woman’s worth one remark at a time until there is nothing left to her dignity” (Valdesolo and Valdesolo, 2017).

An outlook upon other factors is highly important so socially people don’t blame women for being the number one problem. A perspective will consider all aspects such as location, education, employment, gender, age, race, or any external influences. Looking at the reasoning of penalizing women is crucial, but so is researching broader into this social problem. Not only does it affect women emotionally, but it affects women physically. Sexualizing a women’s body can lead to putting a women’s health at risk. “Research shows that this standard puts pressure on women that is associated with increased body dissatisfaction and eating problems” (Graff, Murnen, and Krause, 2013). Having women being shamed for diverting the attention of men is cruel. A sociological way of thinking will enable others to examine that women are not the problem here. While women are taught to not sexualize in the way that men do, sexist at its finest. “Young women are then subject to a normalising gaze, to protect them from becoming deviant themselves and from the pressing threat of the deviance of others. The girl is threatened that she will become ‘scandalously impure’ if she does not manage herself appropriately in public space” (Barker and Duschinsky 2011). Gender roles in society are minimizing women power. Sexism is manifesting to where men hold primary power, patriarchy. Patriarchy is unequal and unfair to women. “Others

We are constantly surrounded by images of the “perfect” woman. She is tall, thin and beautiful. She rarely looks older than 25, has a flawless body, and her hair and clothes are always perfect. She is not human. She is often shown in pieces – a stomach, a pair of legs, a beautifully made up eye or mouth. Our culture judges women, and women judge themselves, against this standard. It is forgotten that “beauty pornography”, as Wolf says, focuses on underweight models that are usually 15 to 20 years old. Flaws, wrinkles and other problems are airbrushed out of the picture.

Women make up about half of the world's population; roughly three billion, five hundred million people. Of these, 35% will be faced with sexual violence during their lifetime. In America, that is equivalent to 293,066 victims of sexual violence each year, one new victim every 107 seconds. This horrific violence is not just limited to the "real world." We live in a world where we are bombarded by high-definition images of violence committed against women; shown widescreen in the cinema during films rated as low as 12; packaged prettily and sold as family-friendly Saturday night television; and worked subtly into Top Forty songs with widespread radio play. This perverse insistence in consistently reducing women to their value as sexual objects,

It is an indisputable fact that females have experienced all types of suppressions and oppressions and have been viewed as inferior to man by every society around the globe since the dawn of mankind. It is not brain surgery that nearly every culture globally tends to be dominated by the male gender. All nations have declared their support to gender mainstreaming yet on a daily basis countless forms of gender-based violence against women take place across the world. The discriminatory practices and norms giving inclination to the male gender in diverse occupations, women earning less than males and some inhuman practices like rape and sexual pressure is a clear indication that despite the advancements that have been made in proclaiming women 's rights, women are still treated as second class citizens. This essay explores how and why women are considered like second-class citizens throughout their lives. By following through a girl’s life from the moment she is created, this paper attempts to identify and discuss the trend of male dominance observed in every part of the a female life, both socially and professionally. Her parents dress her in pink and teach her to play with kitchen sets and take care of baby dolls, then as the girl reaches puberty and high school, she is taught to feel incomplete without attention from her male peers, before the girl goes to college, awful traditional practices have encouraged early pregnancies and marriages. If the girl