Women's Appearance and Sexuality Represent Power - Research Paper Example

Womens Appearance and Sexuality Represent Power Recently, Scout Willis; daughter to the legendary Bruce Willis was kicked out of Instragram having her account deleted after posting a picture that contained topless women, in response, she protested by taking a midday stroll in uptown new york completely topless (Saul). Understandably this brought about a great deal of controversy as people either lauded or criticized her actions, in her defense she argued that it was part of the #freethenipples campaign, she and several others have launched to oppose the fact women are forced to hide nipples which they have just as much right to show as do men. This is just one of the many incidences where women are using their sexual image to put forward a point, this is happening on the backdrop of decades of objectification and commercialization of the female body. Rihanna was voted the fashion icon of the year and to receive the award she was wearing nothing but a flesh colored thong and a see through gown which left nothing to the imagination of the viewers (Alexander). That she qualified to be the fashion icon makes it clear that sexualized image of women are undoubtedly inextricable etched in the fabric of popular culture. The sexualization of woman has been highly criticized especially by conservative groups and they put forward numerous arguments claiming that when women are presented from such a sexualized perspective, they are bound to be objectified and will be poor role models for children. Popular culture that is predominantly driven by mass media has a great deal of influence on public opinions of women through music, films adverts and in social media. For example the music scene appears to be characterized by a universal image of slim women who tend to wear heavy make up to enhance their looks and dress skimpily appearing to focus more on their sexuality than anything else (Levande 296). Madonna, Miley Cyrus and Lady gaga are just some of the few cultural musical icons who embody the sexualized image of woman with many of their music video featuring them in near stark nudeness such as, wrecking ball in which she is dressed in nothing but a pair of boots. This is viewed as promoting a certain image of woman which results in audiences relating their value and worth based on their sexuality and physical appearance, many of the adverts in popular media capitalize on this and women are encouraged their sexual appeal to sell products in line with the popular modern adage that sex sells. The success of women tend to be attached to their physical attractiveness as is evince in numerous Hollywood productions, for example in Iron Man, the leading woman who is also iron man’s lover is portrayed as both highly successful as a business woman and also very sexually attractive. This is said to promote the perception that a woman’s success is based on their beauty and sexual attractiveness (Szymanski, Lauren & Erika 20). In view of the fact that women already have to work hard and often harder than men to be acknowledge as successful, popular culture is criticized for making them feel they need to also be sexually attractive so as to realize their full success and therefore limits some from reaching the full potential. While this argument is plausible, and one must concede that in some cases the connection between sexuality and success is overstated, suggesting that women should be limited in the extent to which they can express their sexuality borders repressing them. A woman’s sexuality can represent her power and if this were not the case, car companies such as Mercedes, which has been criticized for being over-sexualized in its adverts or firms selling male products such as perfumes using sexualized images of women, would not be successful. The bottom line is that the sexuality of women is a great part of their power and repressing it in the name of morals is simply a sign of conservative and narrow-minded thinking. In addition that society deigns to point fingers at women for their sexuality and never does so for men proves that the collective thinking is still influences by patriarchal anachronisms. Men have been sanitized in the eyes of society to such an extent that there is hardly such a thing as make sexuality. There are thousands of male models who future in adverts and TV show while wearing just as little as or less than the female ones but nobody says that they are setting a bad example for boys, in fact boys are encouraged to be health and work out so as to have movies star abs. Movies such as the 300 show a hundreds of men in perfectly toned bodies and mostly dressed only in loincloths but society does not deign to point a finger. However, game of thrones is attacked for too much sexualization because of its numerous topless scenes. At the end of the day, the issue boils down to gender equality or in this case, inequality, a half-naked male model is a role model while a half-naked female model is a bad example. Society needs must recognized that the female body has a great deal of power over audiences more so males one, of this was not the case as previously stated, it would not be so popular in the media and advertising. Male athletes are admired for their strengths and physical feats and while this are also sexually attractive to women in more or less the same way the music video of lady gaga are to men, the is rarely any condemnation for the former. This creates a situation where men are free to exploit the macho appeal of their masculinity while women are criticized for doing the same with their femininity. When music stars like Madonna express their sexuality in videos, they are not just showing that they are sexual objects; it is a way for them to show that they are powerful, not only in that they are talented but also they have sexual appear. For generation, art has been used to depict and immortalize the power of a woman’s sexuality, artists and sculptors in the past used their works to portray women’s power which explains the popularity of nude art which is ironically almost always free from criticism since it appears to have immunity in artistic license that real life women are denied. In addition, that which society calls sexualization is actually a legitimate display of the female human anatomy which has proven to be pleasant to view by members of both genders, the fact that the female body is viewed as being more attractive than the male one is evidence of female power (Weitz 109). In the past when society was very conservative as compared to today, women were often forced to cover up most of their body as if it was something to be ashamed of while men have always had the liberty to dress however they wished. Today, in countered where women’s rights are not recognized such as the middle eastern nations like Saudi Arabia and Iran, women are expected to cover everything save for their eyes (Thompson 54). The display of sexuality in western media is outlawed in most of the Muslim nations and dressing in a revealing way can result in criminal charges and in extreme cases execution. This goes to show that the sexualization that many find offensive is simply a means of expression and how it is viewed is based on different levels of cultural exposure. Society must accept that the changes that started in the 70’s when women took to the streets in miniskirts and discarded bras cannot simply be brought to a halt because all over sudden some people think it is too much. The evolution of the sexual woman has been taking place for decades and it will continue to evolve in its own path until they feel they have achieved the level of power and acceptance that has been lacking in the gender imbalance. A modern European or American even the conservative ones, visiting the Middle East most likely find it odd and unfair that women have to cover their whole bodies and showing as much as an uncovered hand can have dire consequences in extreme cases. However they are the same people who find the dressing of Beyoncé, Rihanna and Madonna to be immoral and unacceptable. What they should realize is that sexual expression, like fashion is bound to change at some point and in the same way they wish the oppressed women would be given some level of freedom, it would start a chain reaction that would result in the extremes they oppose in the west. Societies’ double standards on the subject of sexualized the image of women are evinced in the protest by several Hollywood icons against the fact that Facebook, and Instragram have banned women from showing their nipples. When Demi Moore walked the streets of NY naked, she posted the pictures on Instragram and of course they were pulled down, she used this to question the fact that what is legal in the streets of New York is not allowed in popular social media. Rihanna’s near nude dress received a great deal of backlash from the general public and several newspapers did not publish it as a way of expressing their chagrin over her brazen sense of fashion (Alexander). Nonetheless, the pictured did exactly what it was meant to do and that was to shock the public, Rihanna in addition to being one of the most talented musicians of our times also embodies the revolusionally spirit of an independent woman who is undisturbed by public perception which explains how she dares to act as she does. The truth of the matter is that women who dare express their sexuality are essentially exploring the limits of their power and taking advantage of the aesthetic appeal of their bodies which are undoubtedly potent otherwise they would not get as much attention, positive or negative. Boys are brought up to images of macho men like Bruce Willis, Will Smith, Tom Cruise and other traditionally sexy and male superstars, the same things happens for girls with the female celebrities but it is the latter group that has is censored although the appeal is not very different. Critics the sexualized woman argue that in music videos, women are often portrayed while half naked while men are fully dressed and this depicts women as vulnerable in addition to objectifying them, they argue that the men should also be scantily dressed to bring about a sense of balance. According to Ann Friedman, Robin Thicke’s, recent video blurred lines has been in the limelight for all the wrong reasons as critics argue he uses the sexuality of women to sell the video while he remains fully clothed (Friedman). While admitting this is a valid line of reasoning, one must nevertheless enquire on whether the video would have been anywhere near as popular if he was half-naked and the women fully dressed. Do the audiences really promote the “empowerment of women?” It is understood that the women are cast in those videos because they are guaranteed to sell them, while this may be interpreted as a sign of oppression, another way of looking at is as evidence that women’s bodies have the power to draw more attention than just about anything there is. As the legendary feminist poet, Maya Angelou asks in one of her poems, “Does my sexiness surprise you?”(Angelou 19) This statement is a bold challenge to all those who imagine that showing a woman as sexual being is demeaning to her of her society. At the end of the day, society must accept that a woman’s sexuality is one of her biggest assets and asking her to repress it for the sake of decency makes as much sense as urging men to avoid being aggressive or taking part in traditional masculine activities such as body building to avoid sexualizing themselves. Works Cited Alexander, Ella. “Rihanna’s practically naked dress: Why it might be one of the most powerful feminist statements the pop world has made to date” The Independent. 2013. Web. 10 June 2013 Angelou, Maya. "Alone." Oh pray my wings are gonna fit me well (1975): 18-19. Friedman, Ann. “Blurring the Lines: How to Enjoy Maybe-Sexist Music. New York Magazine. 2013. Web. 10 June 2013 Levande, Meredith. "Women, pop music, and pornography." Meridians: feminism, race, transnationalism 8.1 (2008): 293-321. Saul, Heather . “Instagram defends nudity rules after Scout Willis nipple ban topless protest” The Independent. 2013. Web. 10 June 2013 Szymanski, Dawn, Lauren Moffitt, and Erika Carr. "Sexual Objectification of Women: Advances to Theory and Research." The Counseling Psychologist, 39.1 (2011): 6-38. Print. Thompson, Elizabeth. "Public and private in Middle Eastern womens history."Journal of Womens History 15.1 (2003): 52-69. Weitz, Rose. Politics of Womens Bodies: Sexuality, Appearance, and Behavior. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. Print. Read More