Women and Pop Culture Entry 1

Alexandria Scudder

January 30, 2015

Entry 1

The Evolution of Cultural Studies

            In the writing piece “The Evolution of Cultural Studies” Walters discussed the views projected toward women.  The views toward women were all based off the negative images they portray on themselves and that women were “man-made”.

Within the first paragraph of this piece the “add women and sir method” is talked about, meaning that women have always been added to the mix and they have never been able to establish themselves from the get go.  Although, I disagree with this concept I feel it may be true in some aspects because woman has always been one step behind man due to inequality and uneven treatment in previous centuries.  In past centuries and even today many men believe that their rights overpower women’s rights and that they can form each woman to be exactly the way they want her to be, almost as if a woman is a man’s property.

As the piece progressed it discussed the “growth in the area of feminism”.  Feminism has been around for many years and has made some progression but many feminists would tell you that there is a long way to go before women are equal to men.  With the media involving itself into the feminist culture people around the world have been associating that word with a negative connotation.  When asked what is the first thing you think about when hearing the word “feminist” many people may say that they think of over powering women.  The word feminist does not have to be viewed this way and if it were not for the media maybe the word would have a more positive connotation behind it.

One sentence in particular in this piece raised many questions for me.  The sentence stated, “Women’s bodies sell cars, beer, and laundry detergent; women’s loves and lives sell soap opera fantasies; women’s fears and vulnerability sell blockbuster action films.”  When I first read this sentence I had to read it again to make sure I had read it correctly because to me that implied that women were only good for selling objects to men and being portrayed as a sex symbol.  Now a days men are being sexualized the same way whether it is for perfume commercials, underwear commercial, or dressed in a suit next to a model to sell elegant gowns.  Although today both sexes are being sexualized, women seem to be the only one’s getting negative feedback while men are still being portrayed as the alpha-sex.  In my opinion, this article was very powerful and allowed a feminist or non-feminist party to take a stance on the piece and be able to speak more knowledgably about the topic.