First of all, a big thank you to Tonya Krouse for her guest post on feminism. Just like in all of the other guest speakers, her clear and concise thoughts helped clear up many misconceptions about the feminist theory.
In class the other day, when Prof. McGuire asked the class how many of us were feminists, I’m not going to lie, I was a little timid to raise my hand at first. Partially because of the many negative stereotypes and perceptions people have towards feminists and the theory in general – man-hating, hairy, lesbians who are constantly yelling and loudly voicing their opinions about equal rights – or that famous women’s rightsp poster. However, this is not the case.
Feminist women are just standing up for equality. For their chance to even the playing field between men and women. It is sort of like a bittersweet experience though. For the amount of time women have been working to create this equality, there are still many women who fall into the stereotypical category that almost sets back the work that these historic women have been working so hard for.
Krouse talks about the idea of "postfeminist" - which can easily be summed up by the popular television show, "Sex and the City." The always fashionable four New York women parade around the city, flaunting their sense of independence. Personally, just from watching the show, I feel that, sure these women can be considered to be feminists. Yet, can they still be considered feminists if they always appear to be chasing after that desire to be tied down to a man? What does that say about their supposed "independence?"
With the topic of male dependency on my brain, I immediately became curious as to all those romantic comedies you know you ever women crave. Many of these movies depict that sense of male companionship that all these women desire – despite having no problem showing off their independence. Women are consistently under the watchful eye of men – becoming objects and possessions rather than a person. Essentially, they are consistently being used as competition between males. Yet, while some women may realize this, how quickly do we start to swoon as soon as a "cute" or "handsome" guy pays us one second of attention? Probably before you can say, "supercalifragilisticexpealodocious."
I may be completely off, but it was just something I thought about while reading Krouse’s post.
Until next time….
pelipuff
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1 comment:
I agree with your take on sex and the city and romantic comedies. It is true that this show is solely based on relationships, just as many modern chick flicks are simply portraying a woman's struggle to find her perfect man. In these movies, the women have jobs and do not wish to attain a higher position, but rather need to focus on other aspects of their life as if it were more important. I also agree with your thoughts about how many movies portray women as objects, the prize. Movies are constantly playing to, and reinforcing stereotypes which is a troubling matter if women want to progress.
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