Modern Femininity In 'Two Broke Girls-Spectacular'

In most commercial advertisements on television, women show more skin than men. Commercials use women to sell sex because it attracts more attention than men showing their bodies. For instance, Britney Spears, a singer whom many teenagers admire, appeared in a music commercial for Z100, the number one radio station in New York. Z100 promotes commercially hot music in modes such as pop, rock, and R&B. In Z100’s new commercial, Britney Spears is wearing a beige outfit consisting of a tight tube top and small shorts that accent her chest and buttocks. After talking for a moment, she starts dancing with her back facing the camera. Viewers are visually drawn to the shape of her body. As spokesperson for Z100, Britney Spears is being used as a marketing tool to attract men and increase ratings. Z100 could have had a popular male in its commercial. Instead the company’s executives chose a popular woman known for her hourglass figure because men prefer to look at young, shapely, nubile women.

Modernity and the Spaces of Femininity was written by Griselda Pollock in 1988, and later published in The Expanding Disclosure in 1992. Griselda Pollock is an art historian, and writes this article for fellow art historians. This is an article written to show the different approaches to femininity in the late 19th century, mainly dealing with the field of art. This article shows how during this time period there were women artists, but due to the gendered ruled ideas attached to art history, these women are largely ignored by art historians. Pollock thought that these women artists are primarily overlooked due to the fact that they are judged by the same standards that are affixed to the work of their male counterparts. But she argues

The women’s liberation movement (or feminism as it is now known) of the 1960s and 1970s touched every home, business, and school (WA, 705). The movement even touched the sports and entertainment industries, in fact, “There are few areas of contemporary life untouched by feminism” (WA, 717). The word feminism in the early 1960’s wasn’t often used and when it was it was used with condescension or hatred. However, in the late sixties that changed thanks to a new group of women. This new diverse group of women included the: young, old, heterosexual, lesbians, working class, and even the privileged. This diverse group came together and collectively created the second wave of feminism.

Throughout history, society has classified women and their roles and potential within a given society. There have been reasons in the past for this fact, which have included religious oppression and portraying of their role. The initial idea of a women’s place being in the home taking care of the children and looking after the home, this is still common in today’s society. Women now have a new found ability to fulfill their dreams and have achieved an independence that few would have perceived. Modern day society accepts the fact that sex should not determine your place within it, however, how did it get to this point? To find out, we will discuss some of the major events over time that have carved the modern day woman and the role

Within the advertisement they broadcast systemically reenforced and exaggerated a large number of stereotypes about both men and women. Some may wonder, however, how this really effects everyday life. If someone sees so many ads in a day what is one more, one that is just a bit more sexist than the typical beer ad. While this it is true that the average person is overstimulated by the number of ads as it is there is still something to be said for the content of the ads. Even if a person doesn’t mentally acknowledge them the brain still notes them and stores them in the brain. If time after time one sees women in the submissive role or treated as objects, chances are they will start subconsciously believing it. On the other hand if men are constantly portrayed as stupid and hormone driven then that bias will start to seep into reality. There are also significant moral issues with this ad, if time after time women are portrayed simply as a visual feast it changes how they will be treated for the rest of their lives. Next time they walk down the street theres a chance a man may catcall her, acknowledging the fact that she was in some way appealing to him. He doesn’t do this because she is smart, funny or kind he does this simply because he was pleased by her appearance and may even think he is complementing her. However, by doing this he reenforces what the media has

Gender role bias in advertisements has been so prevalent for so long that the untrained eye wouldn't even discern it. All the same, these biases, for the most part, put women in subordinate positions and men in dominant ones. This assumption on both the genders is unfair and demeaning. These ads portray women as subservient and play toys for men. Not only do the models depict an image nowhere near close to reality, but their bodies are scantily clad and what few clothes they are wearing are very revealing.

In The Feminist Mystique, Betty Friedan combats the notion that women could only find fulfillment and be successful by having children and taking care of the home. This book sparked a re-emergence in the feminist movement and is widely attributed for converting more supporters for the cause. Her book describes the unhappy status of women in the ‘50s and 60’s and found her proof by holding interviews with women and also researching many topics. She discusses topics such as the fact that men wrote the women’s magazines, early feminists, female education and how it was changing, and the lack of fulfillment housewives felt in their everyday duties. The Feminist Mystique is reputed to be one of the most influential books in the 1960s.

In the turn of the 21st century feminism was and still is at an all-time high. Women all throughout America have made the decision to be independent. Women have freed themselves from gender roles and are pursuing gender equality with great determination. For the most part, women have found success in declaring their independence and completely demolishing the old-fashioned female prototype of housewife. Women are now viewed as a force to be reckoned with and as fully capable of taking care of

The work of Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique, is the main source of information on the condition of these housewives. Transparent testimonies give us an extremely clear vision of how women lived this illusion of a “perfect life” at the time. This book, feminist mystique was the basis of the shift from housewife to feminist. Armed with tangible proof that they are worthy of equality and more from life, women were ready to fight to earn the lives they deserved and wanted so

This ad is multidimensional in the way that it demeans women. The first layer is equating the women with inanimate objects. The women are being scaled down to the size of beer bottles as though they were barbie dolls, meant to be played with and molded by the hands of the viewer. The model lays with her legs spread and her chest pushed out in a hypersexualized submissive pose. She looks up at the viewer with a coy smile. Ads like these are meant to sell to an adult male audience. They are made by men with the intention of making money and the understanding that if you offer a typical American male the idea of sex with a physically attractive woman and equate that to a product, he will buy almost anything. This type of imagery also affects how women feel that they should act. Viewing images of women as sex objects in these submissive poses causes women to feel that they are only valuable if they fit the ideals put in place by the heterosexual male gaze.

The most recent and current third wave of feminism began in the mid-90’s and has destabilized many past constructs including “universal womanhood,” gender, body, hetreronormativity, and sexuality. A peculiar and important point of the latest wave that

Long gone are the days when women were expected to stay at home and play “housewife”, cooking, cleaning, and making sure the kids got off to school, while their husbands worked a 9 to 5 in order to make ends meet. Today, women are no longer viewed as weak and incapable. A “superwoman” is the new woman. Men as the “breadwinners” have been replaced by “Ms. Independent.” The traditional male role has diminished as women fulfill bigger roles in society and exceed the expectations of their male counterparts in the household, workforce, and within social settings. We have abandoned old rules; no longer is it a “man’s world,” we now live in a shared world.

The aim was to study how women are portrayed in “Desperate Housewives” and how the modern women have similar identities as traditional housewives.

There was a stalled revolution. The revolution being the “gender revolution”. The movement has begun again. In the 1920’s we stood idle after gaining rights for women, it took a couple generations to perspire a change. In today’s news mediums, we see that women are tackling obstacles that prevent equality in the especially in the workforce. Through this, women are reshaping the role of the modern woman. In The Richer Sex by Liza Mundy, the author takes us through a time machine to examine the evolving phenomenon called “woman, how she became, or is becoming, the “Alpha Female”. Although in her book she thoroughly analyzes the changes that have occurred because of the advances for the modern woman, her forecast of modern society, in America specifically, does not encompass all factors to produce an accurate prediction.

Feminism has come a long way in helping many different aspects of society. Some even consider feminism good for men, as well as women. While feminism of course erases what it means to be a woman, but it also erases the rigid masculinity that it means to be a man (Noble and Samakow, 2016). By keeping men in a bubble where they are expected to be emotionless and to be making the money in the family, society is limiting what men think they can do and affecting how they see themselves if they don’t adhere