It strips away the humanity, intelligence, personality, etc. of women; they are degradingly seen as just body parts, objects of desire. The "one is as good as another" mentality; the idea that women can be thrown away. The imagery also portrays women as reluctant but always wanting, "No means yes." It makes it seem as if women are constantly playing hard to get but really want men to do what they please, so they start to think they can control women, and this mentality often causes violence in relationships and in other interactions with the opposite sex. It also leads to the terms such as slut, whore, etc., it ruins the reputation of all women.
I am seen as a sexual object in the media and to many people. My reputation as a woman is damaged by this sexual imagery, and can even harm me by portraying women as always sexually available. Thus labeling me as always sexually available. I fear for all women, no one deserves to be harmed by the ignorance of people, people who add and become part of this problem.
To many people I am expected to be submissive, helpless without a man, a body with no emotions, a sex symbol. This perception of women labels myself and other women as inferior. today we fight towards equality between men and women, but with the media constantly increasing sex and violence it will take years, decades, maybe even centuries to accomplish equality, Although circumstances are improving, it is at a very slow rate.
Your thoughts and feelings are very strong from the movie. I thought that you explained yourself on how the movie made you feel very well. I know that my reaction to the movie fit along the same lines as yours. The Rape clip in the movie was very hard for me to sit through and watch for many reasons, just as im sure it was for you! thus that is how i remembered that example right away from the movie.
ReplyDeleteI also never gave much thought to how most men only see woman as an object as they desire whenever and wherever they want it.
When you mentioned the "roles" of women, that word or definition for women makes me upset, knowing that women are being looked at as a piece of meat, not for who they really are or what they represent as a person or individual. The movie opened my eyes to many situations that happen all over the world every day, while men constently put women down.
I esspecially like your last paragraph describing how you as a women are ment to feel or be portrayed.
-Jenica
I had a similar reaction to this movie. It even inspired a lot of my final project This movie stated the "men are the leading causes of murder, assault and sexual abuse towards women and children", with this range being in the 90 percentile. So what is exactly going on within the gender construction of males/boys to make them the leading causes of death and violence (assault)? I found this fact above quite interesting because this fact is obviously due to the fact that it is culturally accepted and continually emphasized in the media that men need to be "tough", "strong", "muscular", "aggressive", and "athletic" to be seen as a "man". Violence has been so greatly gendered as masculine that when women are violent it is viewed as unusual, therefore when men are violent it is viewed normal and almost expected. Men excute violence amongst other men as a way of showing others that they are dominent etc. Men also execute violence amongst women as a means of feeling that they have an upper hand. Due to the fact of the cultural emphasis on masculinity as the dominant gender, and the rise of feminism, men commit acts of violence so they feel that they "still have it" or still remain the dominant gender. This can be tied back to the media and it's portrayal of men and women!
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