Response Post Feb. 3

Douglas’ “New Girliness” is set up by the media idolizing the happy medium between Janet Reno and Cher from Clueless. Again, she tries to show how these programs would put on a façade of feminism or showcase decisively feminist moments, but Douglas persists that more subliminal messages were reaching the girls watching at home. Legally Blonde makes the statement that when a girl applies herself and sees her own worth, she can achieve anything. Still, though, Elle Woods was motivated mostly by the desire for a man (and later, the desire to spite that man). The charm of watching Miss Congeniality is seeing a completely non-feminine woman attempt and fail at the most feminine activities. She too undergoes a major change to be brought out of her extreme into the happy medium of femininity.

I found this chapter to be the least compelling of Douglas’ arguments thus far. (Perhaps I’m just growing intolerant of the inordinate amount of detail she gives on each plotline for each show or movie she references.) She is completely right, and justified in most of her opinions; but these observations seem too obvious to warrant their own chapter. This narrative of “finding the happy medium” is a generic Hollywood script not at all specific to femininity. There are countless films where the happy ending is achieved because the main character who was too tough, or too quiet, or too crazy or too ___________ learns a lesson and comes closer to the social norm. Happy Gilmore could be seen as one example. Happy is extreme in his rage and hitting ability, which gives him strange powers to hit a golf ball absurdly far. But it is only when he can leave that rage behind and come down from his extreme that he is able to piece his whole golf game, romantic life, and family life together amicably. Similarly, Austin Powers must lose his hyper-masculinity (his mojo) to realize the power inside him and the power of love. He can only achieve his happy ending if he parts with his overly-masculine ways.

These are just a couple movie examples showing that the same process that Douglas points out applies to more than just praising an “appropriate” level of feminism. In fact, I’d argue that the media gives the same pressures to men. Being hyper-masculine, like Arnold Schwarzenegger (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoIlgdNxwrI) or Sly Stallone (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh1ghJDHpgU&feature=related) will get you made fun of on SNL just as often as the public figures like Richard Simmons (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XArCup0hrLI)or Andy Dick. Maybe I’m just in the devil’s advocate mood, but I think the same can be said about Douglas’ next chapter. The pigeonholes that women of color fall into are not that different from the expectations that society casts on men of color, especially in comedy and television. This doesn’t mean that Douglas’ points are invalid or unimportant, I think we just need to be aware that these are conventions of society that aren’t specific to females or their struggle for equality.

"The Dragon Lady" and Enlightened Sexism

In the chapter, “You Go, Girl,” Douglas elaborates on how enlightened sexism can even be seen in media portraying women of color. Not only is gender at play, but also race. Though Douglas mainly focuses on African American women in the media, she briefly mentioned Asian Americans and her brief mentioning had me thinking about Asian stereotypes in the media throughout the two chapters.

Growing up, I felt the pressure to play down my “Asian-ness”. My parents pushed me to do all things they deemed “American”. From taking swimming lessons, to sticking me in front of the television learning English, I grew up thinking that there was something wrong with me because I had Chinese and Vietnamese blood in me. I also began to idolize T.V. characters and looking back, there were not many Asian characters I could idolize. I rarely saw Asians on T.V. or movies for more than a few minutes or episodes. They were never the leads. If anything, they were only casted to be the geek, the socially awkward one, or the one that does all the martial art moves.

Now, I’m starting to see some Asian women on T.V. and films. This should be something to celebrate about, but I can’t help but notice that most of these characters are highly stereotyped. Just hearing the names being introduced in the beginning of shows or movies makes me want to switch the channel. Following Douglas’ example of Ally McBeal, the Asian character in the show was named Ling Woo. J.K. Rowling’s named her Asian character Cho Chang. Aside from the name, Asian women are very popular for portraying the “Dragon Lady” stereotype that Douglas briefly touched on. Sure, the stereotype represents strong, forceful women that are usually adept at martial arts and flashing harsh glares, but it is no different from the warrior women that Douglas talked about in previous chapters. Underneath the mask of dominance in this “Dragon Lady” stereotype is a hypersexualized image of geishas, heartless and loveless spies, Vietnamese prostitutes in Vietnam war movies – the list goes on. This suggests that Asian-Americans would have to learn some killer martial art moves quick to look cool and sexy and even then, they will never find love because they’re heartless creatures.

I don’t even consider these stereotypes. I consider these images fantasies. In reality, most of my Asian-American friends grew up in a strict, conservative household where dominance, strength, and leadership were not to be said in the same sentence as words that even have a hint of femininity to it. Family roles are intertwined with gender roles. While the American media is busy portraying Asian women as strong, i-won’t-take-your-crap kind of women, reality is still going and I still don’t see a group of strong Asian females on the streets protesting, writing books and creating talk shows about pressing issues of our time. What the media is selling to us is a fantasy image of what a strong, successful Asian woman should look like, equipped with martial art skills and a sharp tongue. Is this really what young Asian girls in America should be striving for?

Douglas brings to point that no race is protected from enlightened sexism. The White teens have their “Clueless” while African-American teens have their “Living Single” and Asian-Americans have this:

Main Post February 2

Susan Douglas’s chapter 4, “The New Girliness”, explores television series and movies of the 1990s that served to redefine “girliness”. Douglas begins with a brief discussion of the Spice Girls, and lists multiple song titles and lyrics that exemplify girl power. It is interesting to note that the “girly girl” revolution emerged at the same time when “warrior women” (which we discussed in the previous class) were also very popular.

Before going into her discussion of television series and films, Douglas mentions a very influential and popular 1992 book called Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, which sought to explain the fundamental differences between men and women. Another book from 1995 called The Rules intended to instruct women on how to find Mr. Right. One of the most striking lines from this book that Douglas chooses to share is “Let him open the door. Be feminine. Don’t tell sarcastic jokes” (105). Maybe this is just specific to Colgate or just my group of girlfriends, but my friends and I are all extremely sarcastic! This line about sarcasm really hit me. Not only am I sarcastic, but so is my mother and my sister (runs in the family). My mom managed to get married…so I guess there’s hope for me (Sidenote: even that was sarcastic. I’m doomed.)

Douglas then delves into long discussion of Fox’s 1997 hit, Ally McBeal. She notes that the program gave women power but would also plunge female viewers “into a sea of female incompetence, insecurity, and stammering” (107). The show covered an array of complex matters, including sexual harassment, and gender discrimination…yet it won the 1998 Golden Globe for best comedy. Although the show touched on such important matters, the matters were trivialized by intertwined comedy.

Douglas also discussed the character Bridget Jones (from Bridget Jones Diary), and notes that women are supposed to laugh at how pathetic Jones is with her constant need for male approval to feel good about herself. However, women were also supposed to identify with Jones and silently admit “Yes, I feel the same way”. Other movies that Douglas discusses include What Women Want, Miss Congeniality, Legally Blonde, and Down with Love. I have personally watched the last three of these films, and I agree with everything Douglas has mentioned about them. Miss Congeniality features an extremely “masculine” woman who is turned into a beautiful pageant girl. In contrast, Legally Blonde features a typical dumb blonde who learns to take herself seriously and gets a Law degree. Both of these films suggest that women cannot be ultra-feminine or anti-feminine; they must find a happy medium.

In Chapter 5, titled “You Go, Girl”, Douglas discusses the “sassy black woman” that we see portrayed in the media. Douglas suggests that African American women who use “black speak…make feminism hip, cool, and funny” (128). Miranda Bailey from Grey’s Anatomy is a prime example, and she commands the attention of her interns and superiors through her infallible use of language. Douglas expresses her desire to be like Dr. Bailey, because she has no problem telling any male superior what is on her mind. African American Women on television, such as Dr. Bailey, serve to say the things many women wish they could say, but feel that it would be overstepping their boundary.

Additionally, Douglas explores the complexities of the BET television network and hip-hop music videos. In music videos, African American women often appear in extremely revealing clothing, while dancing to offensive music. Douglas mentions that Spellman College, an all-women and predominantly African American college, would only allow Nelly to visit their campus if he agreed to speak about the sexism present in his music videos (unfortunately, Nelly refused). Douglas closes this chapter with a discussion of television shows that have an entirely African American cast, but an extremely white audience (such as The Cosby Show). This chapter of Douglas’ book really exemplifies some notable characteristics of white and black female popular culture characters, and she raised very interesting points that I have never considered before.

Response: A Relation Based on Need

It’s no secret that Douglas’ first three chapters focused on television series and its influence in conveying messages with embedded sexism and enlightened sexism. I found her analysis of these forms of media very interesting, especially her comparison of viewers as voyeurs. These viewers gain pleasure and satisfaction from watching characters of shows like 91210, or perhaps a more contemporary example – Gossip Girl – indulges in sexual promiscuity, social approval from both sexes, and consumerism to gain happiness. Douglas dissects the most popular television shows to reveal traces of enlightened sexism.

But what really got me thinking was how the media seems to perpetuate a sense of need from its consumers. Douglas brought up a great point – how magazines seemed to break down the reader’s self-esteem until they’re desperate for approval and consolation. From the advertisements of models probably in size -1 clothing to tips on how to get a certain celebrity’s butt, or thighs, or face. These magazines sell women images and convince them that this image is essential. After breaking this self-esteem down, the magazine tries to formulate its outside perception of itself to be a source of consolation and a place that understands and will help. The magazine helps with the aforementioned tips on physical body, helps with makeup and hair tips, with even with empowering statements that are very convincing. However, even the horoscope advices tend to include help on how to get the hot guy.

This strategy of breaking down women’s self-esteem and acting as a place to build it back up is what’s creating this sense of need for this type of mediaI personally relate this system to a current social dilemma involving drug dealers and pimps. Once one is addicted to drugs, the pimp is free to utilize this relationship of need to exploit the man, woman, or child. The drug dealer is the media.

Perhaps this comparison is too harsh, but I think that our society today tends to tone things down to the point where we muffle reality – and for what end, for who’s benefit? Deploying euphemisms doesn’t benefit the ones who are suffering. We tend to characterize schools with a small percentage of Whites to be “diverse”, even if the school is over 50% one race, whether it be Blacks, Latinos, or Asians. This is masking the issue that segregation is still apparent. Likewise, if we continue to use euphemisms when we talk about feminism, no one will take it seriously. Though Douglas is very articulate and is obviously passionate about what she has to say, Rebecca Walker’s tone and her brutally honest writing moved me. I wanted to applaud her. She stated the obvious that needed to be stated. Yes, we don’t like to think about our senators being sexist and ill-mannered, but that is the ugly truth and I want to see the ugly truth being revealed, dissected and seen for what it is, even if it makes people uncomfortable. Change isn’t supposed to feel comfortable and with embedded sexism in things we, as a society, are exposed to daily, it is more important than ever to reveal this injustice.

What Baumgardner and Richards calls for is right – we need to embrace autokeonomy. It’s not just a woman’s fight. As engrained as individualism is in our society, we need to be thinking more in terms of a community. Once that happens, the grounds for change will be set.

Response Post Jan 31

I was personally touched by the two readings in “The Essential Feminist Reader”, but Rebecca Walker’s Becoming the New Wave was particularly powerful, especially in light of recent events in my life. I was impressed by Walker’s age…she was only twenty-two years old when she wrote this piece. Her writing was (partially) in response to Anita Hill’s court case against Clarence Thomas’ sexual harassment. As a black woman, Anita Hill was silenced and Thomas’ manhood was reassured. Although both individuals were African American, Thomas came out on top because of his gender, and the woman was silenced. Walker’s activism was ignited by this court case, and as both an African American and a female, she felt the need to create change in the feminist movement. In her writing, Walker addressed the third wave of feminism. She used an example of when she overheard men on a train speaking about women in extremely graphic, offensive, and inappropriate terms. After listening to these men say disgusting things, Walker could no longer contain her anger and voiced her opinions.

I had a similar experience in the Coop last week, but I was not as brave as Walker and kept my thoughts to myself. I was sitting at a table in the Coop with a girlfriend, and we were trying to get some reading done, but it was lunch time so the place was noisy and packed. The table next to us was filled with five younger boys, who I later found out were freshmen. They began having a conversation about women that was absolutely stunning to me and my friend. One of them said (and I quote): “Last week she basically begged if she could come over. I mean I would have been more excited about it if she was hotter and wasn’t so slutty, but she came over anyway and gave me a backrub. Then I was just like ‘alright you can leave’.” I sincerely hope (and doubt) that the freshman boy who said this is not in our women’s studies class…although if he was, then at least I would finally be calling him out on his hurtful and thoughtless words. This was just one example of the graphic conversation, and they used some other choice words that I have decided to omit from this post.

Like Walker, I was angered and hurt from what I overheard in the Coop. However, unlike Walker, I failed to take action. I’m not the type of person to create unnecessary drama, and I would classify having a feminist conversation with strange freshmen boys as an unnecessary waste of time….because would I have really had an effect on them? I feel like I wouldn’t have. However, the conversation was sadly not the first of its type that I have overheard, and I think that a large portion of the Colgate Community is guilty of making extremely hurtful remarks about women. Something needs to be done.

Walker would not be pleased with my outlook. In her writing, she made it clear that women need to take third wave feminism into their own hands. She basically suggests that women must criticize men until misogynist actions are eliminated from society, because only then will equality be reached. I’m not sure if this is the right approach, but I certainly wish I had the courage to speak out against the immature boys in the Coop, because maybe it would have had a positive effect on their discourse on women.

Main Post February 1

Rebecca Walker “Becoming the Third Wave”

Walker definitely has the pedigree to be both a forward thinker and a fantastic writer; her mother, Alice Walker, won fiction’s Pulitzer Prize for The Color Purple. Rebecca Walker’s shows her own talent with words here. Her language is very personal and descriptive, like a private journal, but it very clearly cries out to the public for a response. She focuses on two events to draw a picture of her struggle as a woman and the extreme emotion that it evokes from her.

The first occasion is the promotion of Clarence Thomas after Anita Hill testified in open court that he had made sexually inappropriate comments in the office when they had worked together. I thought this was a particularly potent example to use, especially if the goal of the article is to recruit women into a third wave of feminist activity. It is controversial for Walker to use because it shows her allegiance to women’s advancement first, while many other people (particularly black Americans) were able to dismiss this issue because Thomas selection to the supreme court could be seen as a victory for the black community. In this video Anita Hill talks about the question of being black through that experience: https://www.ctforum.org/content/anita .

The second experience is slightly more personal. Walker describes an interaction she has on the train amidst a young black girl and a few men speaking loudly about degrading women. Walker is overcome by an emotional and physical response to the lack of respect and vows to dedicate her life to ending this mentality towards women. One can’t help but wonder how much the media justifies activity and conversations like this; here is a link to some clips of a T.V. show that was popular at the time Walker wrote this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NH4BJ9B1lrw .

J. Baumgardner & A. Richards, “Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism, and the Future”

In their thirteen point agenda Baumgardner and Richards outline what is important to the Third Wave of feminism, which helps to distinguish it from the earlier movements. The most noticeable difference might be their focus on sexual health and their generally sex-positive outlook. They emphasize that it is okay for sex to be for pleasure and accompany that sentiment with powerful encouragements to be sexually educated, healthy, and safe. This is not an unfamiliar message to our generation, which speaks to the force of this third wave. The manifesta also seems to acknowledge and embrace more openly the feminist movement’s ties with other struggles for equality, particularly for race and sexual orientation. Similar to other movements, the third wave emphasizes political activism and encourages unity among all women.

S. Douglas Enlightened Sexism

This first chapter lays out a few media case studies that reinforce the points Douglas made in her introduction. The title, “Get the Girls” summarizes the marketing strategy that television programmers, specifically at the relatively new network FOX, used to hone in on a younger, primarily female market. Douglas’ outlook on the process as a whole serves as a more in depth look at the “Fantasies of Power” that she discussed in her introduction. She breaks down, in simple language, the layered messages that programs like 90210, Melrose Place, and Murphy Brown pumped into the minds of America’s youth. Often, these programs provided superficial support for feminist ideals, but they were relentless in the value they placed on an ideal physical form and appearance for men and women alike. The result, according to Douglas, is an empowerment based on consumerism and other less-than-merit-based qualities. She mentions that Melrose is a show that “really allowed us to imagine being a young woman with power (while being reassured that such power corrupts).” The overly glamorous depiction of teenaged life provided an opportunity to escape for the viewers, all the while reinforcing the idea that wealth, success, independence, and ambition were somehow inherently tied to a vice of one sort or another. The few times a character might be seen as a feminist, it was typically in a negative light, usually depicted as dangerous or “hysterical” in the true sense of the word.

Douglas has a little more respect for the creativity and more consistent messages in shows like Murphy Brown, but this had its complications and controversies as well. Murphy was the poster child for career-oriented women that didn’t care what people thought and refused to give in to society’s expectations for her as a woman. It caught people’s attention, then, when she became pregnant on the show and decided to raise it as a single parent. Some were upset that it made being a single parent “glamorous” while others thought that it took away from Murphy’s charm as the woman that refused to give in to her biological clock or social pressures.

All of these shows were a result of the television industry discovering the female market. The same potential was noticed in music, which Douglas also explores. The complicated message changes a bit when Douglas begins talking about "Warrior Women in Thongs," but the same dualistic structure remains. The Buffy/Xena warrior type encourages a “can do” attitude for females, but the message seems drastically more applicable to females in tight clothes with perfectly smooth skin and toned bodies. The sexual gaze on the female body seems to overpower the qualities of their strength and character as women. Douglas’ overall message is that these forms of media are loaded with embedded feminism and enlightened sexism, each manifesting itself in new ways each episode.