Post 4

            I find it amazing that in 2017, women are still having their bodies judged by society in ways that are similar to how they were just 50 years ago.  While there have been strides towards making positive change, such as celebrity women posting body positive images online, a lot of young women still suffer from something they have no control over.  Take for example an article in The Huffington Post where the author is sick and tired about cases of high school girls having strict dress codes on their prom dresses.

            One of the most recent cases had teenage girls being told to not, “wear clothes that would distract male students and teachers.”  It’s disgusting that a school would even tell their female students something like this because they are already limited on what they can wear.  Most schools require all females to wear dresses as opposed to suits as some young women choose to wear.  The dresses also have to be arms length.  This can get tricky when wearing heels as was the issue with another school where the young lady’s dress went slightly higher when she put on heels.  She had already explained the situation to the school and they approved her dress but the teacher at the front door of the prom apparently didn’t get the memo and refused to let her in at first.

            This is a dangerous precedent because this tells young women that the men around them will not be able to control themselves and that they’re asking for trouble.  Another interesting example is that of the women who filmed themselves walking around New York City while they were being catcalled.  When posted online, many comments were directed at what the women were wearing.  The first woman was merely wearing all black wear the only thing that was remotely revealing was her chest.  Even still, this did not warrant responses that were shaming her as she did nothing wrong.  There was nothing wrong with her outfit and she deserved to walk through the city without hearing degrading comments about her looks.

             Odyssey published an article last year asking the question, “Instead of policing girls and scorning them for wanting to be comfortable, why are we not questioning and putting the spotlight on certain boys who lack self-control when they see a spaghetti strap?”  This question perfectly sums up the issue when it comes to teenage girls who simply want to dress comfortably rather than conform to an unrealistic dress code, especially during the warmer months.  As the article progresses, it states something very true in our society and that is women are taught at a young age that they should not express their sexuality if it does not fit in with societal standards.  This reminds me of a particular playwright who went against the norm.

            Tennessee Williams always wrote his women as strong, independent and completely unapologetic about their sexuality.  For example, his play, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof features a woman named Maggie who is constantly trying to seduce her husband Brick and this is featured on screen by Elizabeth Taylor who is fully able to capture Maggie’s sexual freedom and her pride in it.  When it came to Tennessee Williams, as director Richard Brooks once put it, “those women were bursting into a new age.  Sex for them was not a forbidden subject, it was a form of expression.”  However, despite the play and movie’s success, society as a whole has still kept women’s bodies to a virtually unattainable standard.

            When it comes to the world of modeling or beauty pageants, women undergo many changes to fit the fantasy of the perfect or ideal woman.  But that is exactly what it is, a fantasy.  The average woman comes in many different shapes and sizes.  What beauty pageants essentially do is set women back.  There are exceptions to this as in recent months; contestants have used their voice to make calls for social, societal and progressive changes.  This shows the inner beauty they all have, but in the end they are mostly judged for their bodies.

            While I tend not to get into political arguments, it goes without saying that Fox News has the worst reputation with their treatment of women.  When we see a female anchor or a panel that has women, they are always shown with their legs crossed and in very tight outfits.  There were even confirmed reports that this was actually a rule at Fox which means that instead of allowing their female employees to express only their viewpoint, they have to make sure they get their viewers staring at their bodies.  To me, it’s a sad and cheap way to garner ratings.  Fortunately, there are other news networks both on TV and online that do not promote that kind of environment which does give hope to any woman interested in reporting actual news.

“The Alienable Rights of Women.” The Rumpus.Net, 23 Apr. 2017, therumpus.net/2012/03/the-alienable-rights-of-women/.

 Steinem, Gloria. Sex, lies, and advertising. Publisher not identified, 1990.

Kilbourne, Jean. Beauty and the Beast of advertising.

Kilbourne, Jean. Beauty and the Beast of advertising.

Kramer, Beth Cone. “Stop Policing Women's Bodies.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 26 May 2015, www.huffingtonpost.com/beth-cone-kramer/stop-policing-womens-bodies_b_7428578.html.

“We Should All Stop Policing Women's Bodies.” The Odyssey Online, 28 Aug. 2017, www.theodysseyonline.com/policing-womens-bodies.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/beth-cone-kramer/stop-policing-womens-bodies_b_7428578.html

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/policing-womens-bodies