Female Chauvinist Pigs

In Female Chauvinist Pigs, Ariel Levy attempts to dissect the reasoning behind the "raunch culture" that has swept our nation. Why do women take pole dancing classes, go to strip clubs, get bikini waxes, and walk around in skimpy clothing? Though I personally do not think those actions are harmful to women, I do agree that the reasoning behind such actions comes from insecurity more often than empowerment. According to Levy, that insecurity stems from a desire to be perceived as "like a man" instead of "like a woman." Modern women want to be free sexually, which is wonderful. However, many end up landing themselves in some pretty degrading acts, such as Girls Gone Wild, along the way, all under a guise of sexual empowerment. These women want to be able to do whatever they want just "like a man."

This is a problem for two major reasons. First, they are not behaving like men. Men are not flashing their naked bodies on camera, or drastically altering their bodies by getting implants, or taking classes on how to be a male stripper. They do not have to do those things to be perceived as sexy. Yet women somehow feel the need to do so. It is a double standard that women are imposing on themselves: they want to be sexy for men and they want to be like men. Where does that leave them? With their bare breasts all over television and still feeling unfulfilled because they haven't acheived the sense of freedom they desired.

The second reason why this is a problem is a point that I had not considered before reading Female Chauvanist Pigs. In striving to be "like a man," women are admitting that there is something wrong with being "like a woman." And it is there that she coins the phrase "female chauvanist pig." It describes women who lead Playboy and Girls Gone Wild, who admit that though they may contribute to degradation of women, they are living in a man's world and therefore must behave like a man to win. It describes women who flock to strip clubs with their male friends in order to be viewed as one of the guys. It describes women who identify themselves as "not like other women" to give themselves a greater feeling of empowerment. These women feel that if they play by men's rules and they act like men, they will come out on top. But what they don't realize is that by setting masculinity as the goal, they are contributing to women being viewed as inferior by nature. As Levy states, "it can be fun to feel exceptional, to be the loophole woman, to have a whole power thing, to be an honorary man. But if you are the exception that proves the rule, and the rule is that women are inferior, you haven't made any progress."

Levy's book made me realize that in a way, I have been a female chauvinist pig in my past. Before I openly admitted to myself and others that I was a feminist, I always wanted to be one of the guys. I have been told that I am a textbook case of penis envy. And it's true. Though I don't actually want to be a man, I have always been very jealous of men. If I was like a man, I would never be told that I should submit to another person's will. I would never be told that when I got married my husband would be my provider. I would never be viewed as timid, or gentle, and therefore not taken seriously. In my mind, men have the upper hand, so why would I not want to be like a man? But what I should have been focusing on then, what I do focus on now, is not trying to prove that I am more masculine than other women, but instead trying to prove that gender does not determine one's behavior. Instead of wanting to be like a man, I should be wanting to eliminate the view that being like a man is superior.

Some women think that they will only achieve equality by behaving like a man. But instead we should be moving towards everyone behaving like people. That is when we will achieve true equality.

Goals

What is feminism? There are many definitions for the term, and all with very different connotations. But I define it as the critique of the inequality of the sexes, and the fight to diminish that inequality. And yes, I am a feminist.

I am feminine. In fact, many of my friends make fun of my girliness, including my three closets full of clothes, my eighty pairs of shoes, or my baskets of jewelry and other accessories. I straighten my hair, I shave my legs, I wear dresses, I put on makeup. I am heterosexual. I have a wonderful boyfriend whom I love, and have never had a problem finding loving, fulfilling relationships. I do not hate children, though I do not harbor a desire to reproduce at this time. I work at a preschool and love every minute I spend with my kids there. All of this is true about me, and yet I am a feminist.

Women have come a long way since the days preceding the first wave of feminism. American women are able to enjoy many equalities and freedoms that women before the feminist movements were unable to enjoy. Unfortunately, we still have a long way to go before we can say we have achieved true equality. Post-feminism is nonexistent. Many people use this term to indicate that we have moved on socially, past the need for feminism. I strongly disagree.

Obviously there are many other countries in the world in which the women have it worse than we do in America and other developed countries. However, I am not willing to accept the inequalities we do have because other women have it worse. There are still countless problems that women in America face, from attitudes to gender stereotyping to unequal pay and appreciation to violence. And as a young woman in America, I want to change that. I can’t change the world, but I think I can at least make an impact. And if I can’t, I must still try. But how do I do so?

The only place I can think to start is attitudes. If we change the attitudes directed towards women then we will have a better chance at changing policies and discrimination. To start, I will use this blog to conquer some of the major problems I see in attitudes towards women. These are the beliefs and attitudes that I think will be primarily addressing with this blog:

1. Attitudes about rape: If we are to advance gender relations, we must stop blaming rape victims. Rape apologists, no means yes theories, and blaming the victim must cease. This to me is the number one issue in American feminism.

2. Sexuality: As long as we continue to view men as more sexual than women, we will face problems in conquering inequality. Women are sexual beings as well. The theory that women are less sexual than men leads to countless problems, including the aforementioned rape attitudes and several other attitudes as well.

3. Gender stereotyping in the family: I also refer to this issue as the provider/nurturer fallacy. While we continue to believe that the “natural” way of life is for men to be providers and women to be nurturers, we can never conquer sexism.

4. The masculinity/femininity line: We are taught from an early age that there is masculinity and feminity. Masculinity often involves strength, dominance, and competitive nature. Femininity is often associated with emotion, submission, and a more amiable disposition. The very idea that there is a strict difference in masculine and feminine is harmful to the progression of femininity. In actuality, these traits are more individualized, and any man or woman can have any combination of traits. The theory of strict difference is often used to justify sexist behavior.

5. The discriminatory isms: Sexism corresponds with heterosexism (discrimination against non heterosexual individuals), classism (discrimination between social classes), racism, and other less obvious isms, such as sizeism, ableism, and beautyism. If we allow one form of discrimination to be acceptable, where do we draw the line? As one who fights for the equality of women, I fight for the equality of all people everywhere.

These five topics are the ones that I will primarily focus on throughout the course of the blog. They cover only a small portion of feminism, but I do believe that if we change these five attitudes we could move forward in giant bounds.

I will blog about these topics and others, instigate social experiments and projects, research and critique article and books, and implement these ideas into my daily life. The goal of this blog is to instigate social change. Perhaps that is too high of an expectation, but I think it is reasonable. Feel free to read, comment, critique, suggest, participate….but please, be respectful and constructive.