Body Dissatisfaction

In this academic article by Natalie King, Stephen Touyz, and Margaret Charles, they examine how women's perception on female celebrities affect how they feel about their body. Taking in consideration that I am not going in depth with their process of analysis and how they concluded to their reasoning, they state that the media's portrayal on the ideal body figure for a women is connected to the increase in commonness of "body image disturbance". Their research has shown that the media's ideal body figure has only affected certain women and that the ones who are not satisfied with their body feel that way because they are provoked and affected mostly by the images the media presents, however what is unknown is the reasoning behind why it affects them. It has also shown that because women view these "thin" models and celebrities, they overestimate their own weight which leads to their exaggeration.
This all leads back to the influence celebrities and women in the media in general have on how one might feel about their body and just about themselves. The media should not continue to present thin women as a usual thing because women begin to think that if an everyday women looks like that then so should they. There are different body types and women are never content with how they look and one of the huge contributors to that is women in the every day media. King, Touyz, and Charles's argument is persuasive because they provided research information, which can be found in this link: Research Information. They admit to the fact that the media is not entirely to blame for because it affects women differently, however this is a result of a similar amount of media exposure. Will the media ever come down to the understanding that different body types need to be equally presented?

Back to 2012

             In this issue of “Feminist Currents” Eileen Boris and Elizabeth Currans examine the issues women faced during the 2012 elections. Women became women firsts, senator from their state or representative from their ethnic group. Republicans fought a “war on women” with Indiana candidate Richard Mourdock’s claim that "God intended" pregnancies from rape, and Paul Ryan’s pro-life position regardless of the form of contraception. A record number of women were elected to congress. One of the pressing concerns of the 2012 election cycle is the state of our national and local economies, a downturn that might impact women’s, gender, and sexuality studies well into the future.
            This article brings up some very important events. Although it is unfortunate how women’s rights were brought up during the elections, it proved that there is a problem with how women are treated and brought women’s rights up for discussion. However, women did reach a record number in congress, which shows that progress is being made even though there are outspoken people trying to stop it. Boris and Currans mention that due to the struggling economy, proposals were made to charge fees by majors in order to encourage supposedly practical preparation for the workforce. These proposals could severely effect the number of students to major in women’s, gender, and sexuality studies, which would be a major setback for women. Overall, women’s rights seem to be struggling to improve, but since the 2012 elections progress has been made.


The original article: http://library.calstate.edu/northridge/articles/record?id=FETCH-LOGICAL-p1224-3195d461ffb0c6aa59d5ea518bde497212522cbd7e3ded886fd2045fbddceda01

"Then and Now" - Linda Martin Alcoff: New Wave of Feminism

http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=99e6bbb2-b74d-41ba-8712-eca23df17d74%40sessionmgr4001&vid=1&hid=4201


         Alcoff discusses the idea of horizontalism and its relationship and overall reflection with feminism. She argues that feminism has "profoundly influenced the processes and organization styles used in movements against cooperation." Alcoff brings up and emphasizes the need for equilibrium in the social hierarchy in the world between todays men and women. The idea of "deconstruction" is brought up. The removal of any "difference" between men and women. This was an idea that was shut down completely. Others argue that attempting to neutralize the difference's rather than acknowledging them, takes away from the possibility of finding "positive epidemic possibilities" in the future. Alcoff mentions the significant difference in treatment and "expectations" that are put on women. She, the author, brings the reader back to times of sexual and emotional violence. Times where women were the "play things" of men and "lived" to do their bidding. Alcoff pushes and urges her readers to start right now. She urges her readers to begin a "new" style of feminism.

        Personally, I think that Alcoff takes an interesting approach and look at the whole " feminism needs to change". I look at feminism as a way of being, morals and beliefs if you may. I don't believe that feminism is necessarily an unwritten code, but more or less feminism is a choice of respect and equality. I do not see why there are "differences" between men and women, at least why there is such a great difference that nowadays there is a social hierarchy of how "men and women should act". I believe that this is the time for a new wave of feminism and a new way of looking at the gender hierarchy and it starts with the generation today.

What is violence?

Ray Rice, football player for the Baltimore Ravens, abused his fiancee in a casino elevator. This event took place back in February, but did not leak until months later. In the article "Ravens knew almost immediately details in Ray Rice case, ESPN reports", it is stated that the Ravens focused on making sure that the video did not go public. Ray Rice was only suspended from two games in the beginning, but then lost endorsement deals plus a great amount of cash. Janay Rice not only stood by her husband's side and defended him through out the allegations, but also took responsibility for the incident as if it were her fault. She did not pose as the victim, but regardless his contract with the Ravens terminated and he lost about ten million dollars.
Is money the real reason why Janay Rice posed as a victim? Janay Rice is depriving herself of the opportunity for other women to look up to her. It is unfair for her to be doing things for the wrong reasons because not only is she misrepresenting herself, but she is inadequately representing women.
Different interpretations can be understood from the situation that I read into. Some can view it as a misrepresentation of abuse in regards to gender. With this in mind, one should not be treated less because of their gender such as women, if they want to be treated equally then a punch should not be an "excuse". Others can view it as women being defenseless and one should not get abused when they can not stand up for themselves. Some can interpret this as love and others can interpret this as loyalty, but what is it really? Fear could have also been a factor to why she claimed that she was not a victim. Domestic abuse happens much more often than we think about it and that excludes the ones that people do not speak up about, but once again- Janay Rice went about this all wrong. This should not have been about money and it can be understandable that they have a child together so this commotion could become a bigger impact than it was supposed to, but she should know right from wrong because that comes from our instincts. There is help out there for all those who suffer from domestic violence and Janay Rice, being a celebrity, should know that she is putting a message out there for all women and is misrepresenting them.

Women In The Media.

The idea of the media has impacted the public greatly. The images of women have created an exploited social contrast where society believes that the media is making women look like "objects" or sex icons but have not looked into the positive aspect. The media has introduced women into an empowering figure contributing to society and the world. People can now know how women in developing countries dealing with difficult situations. We wouldn't know without the media. In a university article,"Media Played Privotal Role in Empowering Women" discussed relating on International Women Day. The article has mentioned, “Media has been hugely important to women in the twentieth century, women have drawn upon the lexicon of media images of femininity to build a sense of who they are and who they could be. The issue addressed in a compelling view that women and girls can use the media to create a better sense of self-esteem and self-identity. The article has included a book, Women and the Media: Feminism and Femininity in Britain,1900 to the Present, written by Professor Andrew, has mentioned “Their campaigns, marches and civil unrest were always planned to get maximum media coverage. In the 1960s and 1970s magazines like Honey and Cosmopolitan gave feminism a voice." The media isn't always focused on the "images" of women. Women themselves have used the media to create a positive propaganda in social, self, and interests.

Men: "Women are more than "pretty""

  A huge fan of Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Levitt stars in "Don Jon" whom upon its release in an interview on "Ellen" discusses his views on women in the media and  the reality. HE describes the women that he's seen in the Lakers games growing up and how he was raised to understand that women are more than just "pretty", are more than objects. Not so surprising however, Levitt "Absolutely Calls Himself a Feminist" in the article Joseph Gordon-Levitt: 'I'd Absolutely Call Myself A Feminist' , Levitt is all for feminism. His own personal definition of feminism is defined below:

"What that [feminist] means to me is that you don't let your gender define who you are-you can be who you want to be, whether you're a man, a woman, a boy, a girl, whatever," he explained.

"However you want to define yourself, you can do that and should be able to do that, and no category ever really describes a person because every person is unique. That, to me, is what 'feminism' means."

Levitt is one of the few MALE ACTORS publicly admitting his personal stance on the controversial topic of feminism and ACTUALLY taking a stand for feminism  and justifying his own purpose. Personally, someone who is willing to take a stance for a cause bigger than himself is respectable.



   My own personal outlook on the topic of men in the media recognizing the reality of the portrayal of women in the media and taking a stand for women, is completely admirable. Not very many people can openly admit to being a highly respectable man in the industry and someone who is an advocate for feminism and overall respect for women and equality between man and women. I am behind Levitt as a feminist myself and I believe that there should be respectability among the genders and respectability of the portrayal of each gender in the media. I believe that there should be no difference in the amount of respect that is given or received based on gender. I mean, is the decency of a little respect asking for too much these days?


To see the link to Levitt's admittance to being a feminist click the link below :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyVepk8ym4w

Hot and Funny

            Whether this is a wonderful time for women or not, it is a time when how women are portrayed is scrutinized. In Meredith Blake’s article in the Los Angeles Times, “Emmys 2014: A Night of Highs and Lows for Women”, Blake discusses how women were victims to sexism and also brought home many accomplishments at the 2014 Emmys. Although there were several important women who won awards in typically male dominated categories, the focus was on Sofia Vergara. The actress stood on top of a spinning pedestal while posing and smiling. Blake compares this occurrence to the offensive “We Saw Your Boobs” song featured at last year’s Emmys and contrasts it with Beyoncé’s feminist performance the night before at the VMAs. The night also featured a strange possibly sexist comment from Stephen Colbert.

            While I see how some people are taking Sofia Vergara’s pedestal to offence, I completely disagree. I thought that the spinning pedestal was funny and that her poses were humorous rather than purely sexual. Although this is being declared a contrast to Beyoncé’s performance, I think they are not so dissimilar. Vergara defended herself saying, “I think somebody can be hot and funny”, and showing that she was both flaunting her body and being funny at the same time. Vergara and Beyoncé both were trying to convey that a woman can be both proud of her body and be successful at many other things. They prove that a woman can be beautiful and still be wonderful at other things too. It’s also wonderful that so many women won awards at the Emmys, although that wasn’t a very controversial part of the evening. Colbert’s comment was just weird. I’m not sure if it was sexist or what, but it did sound a little bit bad. Overall, I think the evening was actually pretty successful for the women of the entertainment industry.

The original article: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/tv/la-et-st-emmys-2014-sofia-vergara-pedestal-sexism-20140826-story.html