Feminism- Are We Doing It Wrong?
Feminism is something we hear about all the time- girls defending it and boys taking the mickey out of it. It is an important movement that should not be forgotten, and it moved women forward in society, into the position that we find ourselves in today. So many opportunities women have are down to the feminists who lived before us, fighting for women's rights and equal opportunities.
I for one am pleased with how feminism has changed the lives of so many woman and, although we aren't completely there yet, how it has helped some men understand that women are in fact equal to men. Yet, although I am a feminist myself, I do think that somewhere along the line, something has gone wrong. Somewhere along the line, whilst fighting for women and men to be equal, we decided that actually, not all men were equal. Somewhere along the line, we started treating men the way men treat women. Doesn't this defeat the point of feminism?
Feminists, including myself, are continuously put out by the sexualisation of women in the media. Women are displayed as nothing more than objects of desire for the male species, and women hate it, often writing articles, blogs and even whole books about it (see one of my previous posts "women, the media and sex"). And I totally agree with everything that is said, women should not be used and abused to sell products- they shouldn't have to sell themselves to help sell products.
Hang on.
Let me invite you to open your eyes a little wider. Take a closer look at advertisements. Whilst yes, it is mainly women being used to sell products via their sexual appeal, it is happening to men too. Take a look at the H and M adverts featuring David Beckham. Shot in black and white, David is featured in water, running around and in skin tight underwear that doesn't hide a lot, with the camera focusing...well, let's just say from the waist down. If this advert had been a woman- and in many cases, it has been a woman- there would be uproar from feminists all over the world. Where was the uproar when David was running around in next-to-nothing? I didn't hear one. All I heard was the sound of every girls jaws hitting the floor when David graced us with his nude presence via the tv.
Similarly, lets look at the diet coke advert, which features a group of young ladies having a picnic. These ladies then spot a young, handsome man with a lawnmower just a few feet from where they are sat. The girls shake up a can of diet coke and roll it to him, indicating that he should drink it. The man is unaware that the can has been shaken (although it has just been rolled down a hill...) and opens the can, resulting in him being covered in coke. The girls all have a bit of a giggle but the man surprises them, and just pulls off his shirt. The girls mouths fall open and they just stare and stare and stare. Again, if the role of the males and females had been reversed, there would have been uproar from the feminist world. But where was the uproar from the men? Again, women all over the country were fine with staring at this undeniably handsome, semi-nude man.
And although objectifying men is still far less common than that of women in film, tv and music, it is happening. It seems to me that on the way to gaining equality between men and women, we decided to give men a taste of their own medicine and start treating them in the exact same way we can't stand to be treated.
Look at the film 'Horrible Bosses', a film that features 3 bosses who are completely out of line when it comes to the way they treat their employees. When a film like this is advertised, most women would probably think 'great, another film where a poor innocent female secretary is going to be sexually harassed by her boss'. This time, you would be wrong. One of the bosses featured is a female in a dental surgery, played by Jennifer Anniston, and it is in fact her who sexually harasses her male employee, to the point where he becomes extremely uncomfortable (much to the audiences amusement).
In television, girls are taking on the roles of male in soaps and sitcoms, such as The Big Bang Theory. Bernadette and Howard are two scientists who are newly engaged, and as the series goes on, newly married. However, Howard is well under Bernadette's thumb- he does as she says, and does what she wants- rather than the usual scenario of the female being at the husbands beck and call. Bernadette is also the primary source of income, as she works in a higher position than her partner- again, an unusual scenario.
I'm not denying that feminism is one of the most important historical movements there has been, and that it is desperately needed even now, to continue to fight for equality between men and women. But I think that a lot of women have got a bit confused, or maybe even taken the idea of feminism too far. It is not the action of moving women from being beneath men to above men. It is not trying to rule men, so we can give them the same degrading treatment we have received from them. It's about equality. It's about men and women being equal, on the same level, treating each other with the same amount of respect. Whilst treating men the way they treat us may make us feel better, it doesn't encourage them to respect females more. In fact, if anything, it makes them want to continue with the degrading treatment, except now they have an 'excuse'- women do it to us.
If you forget what the real definition of a feminist is, there's a quick way to learn. Listen to Beyonce's 'Flawless'. It quotes, "Feminist: the person who believes in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes".
Two wrongs don't make a right, ladies. It's all about equality.
Love from,
Florence Grace
Do you agree or disagree? What do you think about the roles of males and females in the media? Leave a comment below or get in touch using one of the links in the side bar!
I for one am pleased with how feminism has changed the lives of so many woman and, although we aren't completely there yet, how it has helped some men understand that women are in fact equal to men. Yet, although I am a feminist myself, I do think that somewhere along the line, something has gone wrong. Somewhere along the line, whilst fighting for women and men to be equal, we decided that actually, not all men were equal. Somewhere along the line, we started treating men the way men treat women. Doesn't this defeat the point of feminism?
Feminists, including myself, are continuously put out by the sexualisation of women in the media. Women are displayed as nothing more than objects of desire for the male species, and women hate it, often writing articles, blogs and even whole books about it (see one of my previous posts "women, the media and sex"). And I totally agree with everything that is said, women should not be used and abused to sell products- they shouldn't have to sell themselves to help sell products.
Hang on.
Let me invite you to open your eyes a little wider. Take a closer look at advertisements. Whilst yes, it is mainly women being used to sell products via their sexual appeal, it is happening to men too. Take a look at the H and M adverts featuring David Beckham. Shot in black and white, David is featured in water, running around and in skin tight underwear that doesn't hide a lot, with the camera focusing...well, let's just say from the waist down. If this advert had been a woman- and in many cases, it has been a woman- there would be uproar from feminists all over the world. Where was the uproar when David was running around in next-to-nothing? I didn't hear one. All I heard was the sound of every girls jaws hitting the floor when David graced us with his nude presence via the tv.
Similarly, lets look at the diet coke advert, which features a group of young ladies having a picnic. These ladies then spot a young, handsome man with a lawnmower just a few feet from where they are sat. The girls shake up a can of diet coke and roll it to him, indicating that he should drink it. The man is unaware that the can has been shaken (although it has just been rolled down a hill...) and opens the can, resulting in him being covered in coke. The girls all have a bit of a giggle but the man surprises them, and just pulls off his shirt. The girls mouths fall open and they just stare and stare and stare. Again, if the role of the males and females had been reversed, there would have been uproar from the feminist world. But where was the uproar from the men? Again, women all over the country were fine with staring at this undeniably handsome, semi-nude man.
And although objectifying men is still far less common than that of women in film, tv and music, it is happening. It seems to me that on the way to gaining equality between men and women, we decided to give men a taste of their own medicine and start treating them in the exact same way we can't stand to be treated.
Look at the film 'Horrible Bosses', a film that features 3 bosses who are completely out of line when it comes to the way they treat their employees. When a film like this is advertised, most women would probably think 'great, another film where a poor innocent female secretary is going to be sexually harassed by her boss'. This time, you would be wrong. One of the bosses featured is a female in a dental surgery, played by Jennifer Anniston, and it is in fact her who sexually harasses her male employee, to the point where he becomes extremely uncomfortable (much to the audiences amusement).
In television, girls are taking on the roles of male in soaps and sitcoms, such as The Big Bang Theory. Bernadette and Howard are two scientists who are newly engaged, and as the series goes on, newly married. However, Howard is well under Bernadette's thumb- he does as she says, and does what she wants- rather than the usual scenario of the female being at the husbands beck and call. Bernadette is also the primary source of income, as she works in a higher position than her partner- again, an unusual scenario.
I'm not denying that feminism is one of the most important historical movements there has been, and that it is desperately needed even now, to continue to fight for equality between men and women. But I think that a lot of women have got a bit confused, or maybe even taken the idea of feminism too far. It is not the action of moving women from being beneath men to above men. It is not trying to rule men, so we can give them the same degrading treatment we have received from them. It's about equality. It's about men and women being equal, on the same level, treating each other with the same amount of respect. Whilst treating men the way they treat us may make us feel better, it doesn't encourage them to respect females more. In fact, if anything, it makes them want to continue with the degrading treatment, except now they have an 'excuse'- women do it to us.
If you forget what the real definition of a feminist is, there's a quick way to learn. Listen to Beyonce's 'Flawless'. It quotes, "Feminist: the person who believes in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes".
Two wrongs don't make a right, ladies. It's all about equality.
Love from,
Florence Grace
Do you agree or disagree? What do you think about the roles of males and females in the media? Leave a comment below or get in touch using one of the links in the side bar!
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