Female Chauvinist Pigs
ISBN 0-7432-4989-5 | |
Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture[1] is a 2005 book by Ariel Levy that critiques the highly sexualized American culture in which women are objectified, objectify one another, and are encouraged to objectify themselves. Levy refers to this as "raunch culture".
Background
According to Levy, raunch culture is a product of the unresolved
The 1990s saw the ever-growing sexualization of the media, with raunchiness emerging in the overlapping interfaces of music, TV, video, and advertising.[6] By the close of the century, figures like Germaine Greer were talking critically of sex-positive feminism, whereby acknowledging one's inner "slut" (in a commodified context) was seen as an ultimate goal.[7]
Levy claims that the enjoyment of raunch, or "kitschy, slutty stereotypes of female sexuality," has existed through the ages, but it was once a phenomenon that existed primarily in the male sphere and has since become mainstream and highly visible.[8] Raunch culture has penetrated "political life, the music industry, art, fashion, and taste."[8]
Levy's critique of raunch culture
Citing examples ranging from Playboy Bunny merchandise for women to the moral panic of rainbow parties, Levy argues that American mass culture has framed the game so perversely that young women now strive to be the "hottest" and "sexiest" girl they know rather than the most accomplished.[9] Although raunch culture is focused on the sex appeal of women, it is solely image-based: "It's about inauthenticity and the idea that women should be constantly exploding in little bursts of exhibitionism. It's an idea that female sexuality should be about performance and not about pleasure."[1] Levy argues that in a raunch culture, many women engage in performances of sexuality that are not actual expressions of their sexuality but are designed for the pleasure of the male observer(s) – or appear as though they are trying to be pleasurable sex objects.[1] Levy describes "hotness" as the degree to which someone is trying to be sexually attractive, regardless of how conventionally attractive they are.[1]
Further, Levy theorizes that many women internalize the objectifying male gaze that permeates a raunch culture, leading them to participate in self-objectification quite willingly, falsely believing that it is a form of female empowerment and sexual liberation.[1] According to Levy, there is nothing to support the "conception of raunch culture as a path to liberation rather than oppression."[10] Others, such as Susan Brownmiller, a well-known American feminist, journalist, author, and activist, share this opinion.[10]
Although raunch originated in the male domain, Levy claims that it "no longer makes sense to blame men."
Levy criticizes what she refers to as "
On the other end of the spectrum, Levy takes issue with women who make their way in a man's world by playing by men's rules. Sometimes, she argues, these women even make their fame and fortune by objectifying other women; for example, Levy finds it interesting that the Playboy organization was run by a woman, Christie Hefner, Hugh Hefner's daughter. Levy addresses women who succeed in male-dominated fields on their merit, but shy away from feminism, saying: "But if you are the exception that proves the rule, and the rule is that women are inferior, you haven't made any progress."[16]
Levy proposes the following as a solution: "Ending raunch culture will require citizens to scrutinise the way they regard gender. Objectification is rooted in disrespect, condescending views of the opposite gender, and power struggles. When men realise that they have the capability to fundamentally respect women, and women realise that they have the power to present themselves as empowered, fully capable people, raunch culture may moan its last and final faked orgasm."[1]
Examples of raunch culture
Playboy
Playboy, an American magazine company that features photographs of nude women, was founded by Hugh Hefner but is primarily run by women.[11] Among these women is Hefner's daughter, Christie Hefner, the chairman and CEO of Playboy Enterprises.[11] Brief biographies of the models sometimes accompany the images displayed in Playboy; however, the focus is on the models' sexualized bodies. Not all of the women who have appeared in the magazine have careers in modeling; many are celebrities (such as singers and actresses) or athletes, for example. Female Olympic athletes, before the summer 2004 games in Athens, interrupted their busy training schedules to pose nude in Playboy, or nearly nude in FHM (For Him Magazine).[17]
The Man Show
Girls Gone Wild
The Girls Gone Wild (GGW) team tours locations where numerous young people are likely to be drinking large quantities of alcohol – spring break destinations, sports bars, Mardi Gras, and "hard-partying colleges" – filming young women who are willing to expose their bodies on camera.[20] Levy found that many women who appeared on GGW were eager to display their bodies for a GGW hat or T-shirt, while others did not immediately comply with the cajoling of peers or the crew, but eventually relented.[1]
Stripping
Levy, along with many feminists, perceives stripping as a perpetuation of the objectification of women, valuable only for its potential to serve as necessary income.[1] The author discusses the contrasting view, prevalent in raunch culture, in which stripping is idealized and conceptualized as liberating and empowering by numerous women, including feminists. As examples of this, Levy mentions "Cardio Striptease" classes (workouts in lingerie),[21] as well as G-String Divas,[22] a television show about strippers which was executive produced by Sheila Nevins, feminist and well-known veteran of HBO.
CAKE
CAKE is a feminist group concerned with women's sexuality in terms of liberation and self-expression. While the organization encourages women to explore their sexuality, the parties themselves have the appearance of an average strip club.[23] According to Levy, pornography and objectification of women are prevalent at CAKE parties and events.[24][25]
See also
- Feminist sex wars
- Gender studies
- Ladette
- Libertine
- Pornified
- Pornographication
- Pornotopia
- Sexual objectification
- Social impact of thong underwear
- Women's pornography
References
- ^ ISBN 0-7432-8428-3.
- ^ a b Levy 2005, p. 74.
- ^ Veronique Mottier, Sexuality: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford 2008) p. 56-7.
- ^ Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man (London 2002) p. 78-9
- ^ Sylvia Walby, The Future of Feminism (Cambridge 2011) p. 21-2.
- ^ Steve Dennis, Britney:Inside the Dream (2009) p. 103
- ^ Germaine Greer, the whole woman (London 1999) p. 9
- ^ a b Levy 2005, p. 34.
- ^ "Turned on". The Australian. Archived from the original on November 13, 2007. Retrieved October 31, 2008.
- ^ a b Levy 2005, p. 82.
- ^ a b c Levy 2005, p. 35.
- ^ Levy 2005, p. 93.
- ^ a b c Levy 2005, p. 107.
- ^ CAKE website
- ^ Levy, p. 70.
- ^ Levy p. 117
- ^ Levy 2005, p. 19.
- ^ a b Levy 2005, p. 112.
- ^ a b c Levy 2005, p. 113.
- ^ Levy 2005, p. 8.
- ^ Levy 2005, p. 20.
- ^ Levy 2005, p. 91.
- ^ "No more faking". The Guardian. May 15, 2006. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
- ^ Levy 2005, p. 70.
- ^ Levy 2005, p. 81.
Notes
- 1.ISBN 9780671770709.
Further reading
- S2CID 144941660.