Women and Pop Culture Entry 1

Hannah Dickie

1/30/15

 

Feminism and Pop Culture by Andi Zeisler

In the first chapter of Andi Zeisler’s Novel Feminism and Pop Culture she defines in her own perspective the meaning of different words, one of them being the male gaze. She defines it as ‘the idea that when we look at images in art or on screen we’re seeing them as a man might because those images are constructed by men.” Before reading this I had never heard of the term male gaze. After reading about it I started to think about what she was saying and tried to decide for myself if I believed it or not. In today’s world almost all movies have women playing either a sexual role or a side role but almost never a lead role that isn’t sexualized and most films are directed by men. According to the website Women Make Movies a study in 2013 women accounted for only sixteen percent of all directors. This means that many of the movies we saw in the past year were directed by men who made the movie the way they saw it being played out and how they thought the women should be acting. Zeisler also says that “the male gaze affects how women view pop culture and how we view ourselves” I think she’s completely right. Growing up watching TV there was always the mother in the kitchen with her daughters helping her and the boys out working with their dad. So from a young age children are being taught (whether it’s on purpose or not) that women are supposed to stay in and clean the house and take care of the children while the men are out working. Also watching TV growing up you see the beautiful actresses who are skinny with beautiful hair and makeup and think that that’s what you should look like when you get older. It’s putting in children’s minds as they grow up what things should be like and how they should look.

In the class discussion today we talked about how even children as young as six are able to make distinctions between genders even though they might not fully grasp what they are talking about. I have seen this in action myself at my little cousin’s house. My female cousin has a bright pink room full of dolls with many different outfit choices and a play kitchen, while my male cousin has a green room with sports figures on the walls and toy trucks everywhere. My younger girl cousin refuses to play with the trucks and other toys in her brothers room because “those are boy toys”. Liam who is my younger cousin around the age of 7 was playing catch one day and I asked if I could play. His response to me made me so mad. He said I could play but he could throw the football father then I could because he was a boy and I was girl. So to teach him a lesson I gave him the ball to throw first, then he stood were it landed while I threw it. Of course mine went much farther because of the age difference. But then he came back over and told me that I could through a football pretty good even though I am a girl. I think it’s pretty disgusting that children that young are somehow learning that just because of you gender you better then someone else at something. I think this needs to change children should be taught that it doesn’t matter what your gender is a girl can be just as strong and good at sports as a boy can and a boy can be just as caring and artistic as a girl.

In conclusion Zeisler is right everything is seen through the male gaze and it’s something that has just been accepted for years. However it’s now influencing the views of children as to what is right for males to do and what is right for females to do. If more movies begin to be directed by females the world might be able to see women through different perspectives.  

Women and Pop Culture

             Lauren Turcotte
             Jan. 30,2015
             Blog entry #1

                                                            Walters Article

             Women have always had a reputation to live up to, whether it be in movies, magazines, or around men. I have never agreed with the way women are viewed in society and reading through these articles makes my thoughts seem more valid. In the articles that I had recently read by Walters, I found myself agreeing with most everything that she said. One of the articles that I read gives a great insight and different perspective of the way women are viewed. The article explains various images of women and then transitions into women as a an image. The articles give various examples and I pretty much agreed with every one of them to an extent. In one of the paragraphs, Walters explains that the way most women are portrayed in media almost gives them a bad reputation. For example, by having a women act a certain way in a movie it sets up a stereotype that it's the way all women should be acting. Walters also brings up the idea of sex-role stereotypes. By having women portrayed a certain way in television it could be having an effect on their audience, especially children. By growing up and seeing these kinds of things they are almost designed to grow up that way.
                 Stereotypes have been around for ages but we definitely see more about women than we do men and not all stereotypes are positive. Women are supposed to dress a certain way and be sexy. Or the fact that women are supposed to have big boobs or an hour glass figure. Most of those stereotypes are not achievable and women feel they are not worthy if they don't fit these 'requirements'. Some of the only things I ever hear about men is that they are supposed to be the bigger and stronger one in the relationship and women are supposed to lean on their men for support. There are not many movies or television shows that show a women coming into power or ruling over the men. But stereotypes are not limited to movies but they also find themselves slipping into the music industry as well. Madonna is a great example or a role model who used the stereotype of women to her advantage. She had achieved the 'blond bombshell' stereotype that had previously been achieved by Marilyn Monroe.
              In Conclusion, stereotypes of women and about women are everywhere we look and not all of them are possible to achieve so we should stop trying. There should be more positive images of women in the media so children have positive role models to look up to. I think Walters does a great job at hitting all different aspects of women and the various images that are portrayed in various sources. I enjoyed reading it and seeing other points of views on some of the same things we secretly all think about.

Mainstream Feminism

I have noticed that we, as a society, have a habit of turning celebrities into feminist icons, rather than turning feminism icons into celebrities. Because of this, there is a huge misconception about what it really means to be a feminist. There seems to be this need for feminists all over (especially mainstream ones) to remind men that feminism can, in fact, benefit them and that not all of us hate men. For example, think of Emma Watson's UN speech where she launched a global trend of the hashtag "he for she". Mainstream feminists tend to go out of their way to reassure men that feminism should appeal to them as well. This kind of watered down, cowardly feminism allows men to think they have a voice in feminism when, in reality, they don't. Feminism is a movement for women only and should not be concerned with how men might feel about it.
On another note, the feminism we so often see in pop culture is a brand of tepid and weak feminism that is incredibly liberal. This mainstream, liberal feminism allows women to believe that any choice they make is feminist, simply because they are a woman. I cannot stress enough how incorrect this is. For example, I have seen a countless amount of women claim that their lipstick is a feminist statement, or being sexually appealing to men is a form of female empowerment. This is NOT true! The makeup industry was set in place by men to make women feel the need to fix themselves to be beautiful, and is therefore not feminism. Also, I shouldn't have to say this, but feminism is not about how sexual available women appear to men.
To get to my point, feminism is about dismantling the current power structures put in place to enforce male dominance over women. There are countless issues feminism must confront, including abolishing gender and pornography, or allowing women their reproductive freedom (and many, many more!). I am reminded of Zeisler's idea that, "there are feminist issues that seem, it's true, more immediately vital whether TV or movies characters are reflecting the lives of real women" (6). While it is incredibly important for women to be represented fairly in pop culture, it is also crucial to understand that there are a lot of issues feminism must confront in order to save women. It is important that saving the lives of women trapped into prostitution, pornography, abuse (etc.) take presedence over any issue of pop culture representation.

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.

Faith Beglane

January 30, 2015

Pop Culture in Society

            Pop culture is part of our everyday lives making it hard for women not to compare themselves to others. Pop culture sets a certain standard as to what women should look like and how they should act. In Andi Zeisler’s novel Feminism and Pop Culture, she compares the way that women were portrayed in the 1990’s to today’s women. Although the way we as women are looked at is different from the 80’s and 90’s, it is still extremely sexual and our gender roles remain the same as they were in the 1990’s. Zeisler explains how pop culture has no true definition yet it’s impossible to escape and every women turns to media. I agree with what Zeisler has to say and I believe that the female relies too much on what males think of them and are far too dependent on males.  In the book she mentions the term male gaze which is when the female looks at things through the male’s perspective and looks at women the way males would. This shows that women want to impress males which yes is human nature, but if females cared more about the way that they looked at themselves, and less about the way that males look at them, then females would be more encouraged to stand up for what they truly believe in and fight for a better reputation for the female population.

Although males do influence the way that we think of ourselves, pop culture has the same amount of impact. Pop culture influences almost everything in our life including political issues.  Even though the two things have nothing to do with each other, Zeisler talks about the ways that political issues intertwine with pop culture. As women, it’s difficult to not pay attention to pop culture. Even if we wanted to avoid it, you can’t. YouTube and other music stations now put ads on them along with clothing stores, and almost every other website. These ads are in fact pop culture. By using sexual or proactive advertising, more people are willing to buy a product. Most commercials and television shows use a similar looking women, making it clear what the men’s dream girl is. If women were to take control for themselves and not be controlled by men’s thoughts and pop culture, then we could better our image and reshape the image for women. 

Feminism and Pop Culture Chapter 1

Emily Simski

January 30, 2015

Blog Entry #1

                                                Feminism and Pop Culture Chapter 1

            The book “Feminism and Pop Culture” by Andi Zeisler is a book that talks about how women are being treated through the ways of pop culture and society. However before the first chapter, Zeisler gives us a prologue about who she is and why she wrote the book. She also gives us some real life examples of why she wrote the book. One of the examples that she gives us is Burt Reynolds taking a picture of a women in the shower and how she wanted to “kick him in the shins repeatedly”. I found that to be extremely relatable because I believe that this is fear of many women, even to this day. I know that this is one of my fears. Women can relate to the scenario because boys can be immature and don’t know how to treat women the “proper way”.

            Then Zeisler transition to Chapter 1 where she cleverly sections the chapter into different sections such as “Pop and Circumstance…”. Each section of the chapter asks a question as the header, then is answered with a few paragraphs. I love how Zeisler addresses the questions of what exactly is pop culture and then answers it with “definitions of popular culture depend on who’s defining it and what his or her agenda is”. This sentence really stood out for me because in my opinion, that’s the real definition of pop culture. Everyone has a different answer to what pop culture is. For me, the definition of pop culture is anything involving the media; so this would include TV, movies, music, and internet; anything that we can see, hear, and discover.

            One concept that’s addressed in this chapter that was addressed in class today was the “Male Gaze”. The male gaze is basically anything that we see in art or screen, we’ll see that image as a men because they’re designed to be seen by a man. This is what drives me insane. I hate how in order for a women to please a man, she would have to do something so drastic as to strip right in front of the man so that he can get his “daily dose” of breasts and private parts. It really make me sick when girls have to do this to themselves. This is why, in my opinion, when a girl has to decide to either take off her clothes or go for a whole day without makeup, I think more girls would go with no makeup (even though that may be tough for some girls).

            Overall I found this chapter to be very engaging and serving as a great introduction to what feminism and pop culture is. There a lot more examples about how women are being treated in society and how everyone has their own ideas about what women should be like, even though no one bothers to give the women a chance to say anything about this. TV, movies, music videos and even advertisement have displayed women as being “beautiful all around with a perfect face and body”. Well there’s that old saying: “People come in all shape and sizes”. However there’s another saying that Eleanor Roosevelt said: “A women is like a tea bag. You don’t know how tough she is until you put her in hot water”. I find this to be true because this is exactly how women are. You may think that we’re not strong, but put us in front of danger and we transform from a swan into a cougar.