Boys like Girls with Style, Grace and Cleavage

Feminism is defined as the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men. The feminist movement has been divided into three “waves”. The first wave was between the 18th and 20th centuries, mainly concerning women’s right to vote. the second wave focused more on legal and social equality of genders. The third wave, which were are still in today, focuses on fixing the issues still left over from the first two waves. For the past few years, the mainstreaming od  sexuality has been becoming a bigger issue.

Katrina Fox wrote an article titled Time to Challenge What’s Considered Sexy which asks the question, what is considered sexy? Every year the entertainment and fashion industries raises the bar by redefining what it is to be considered beautiful. With that, what it is to be sexy becomes more overexposed than it was the day before. Expressing one’s sexuality is something that has always been a debate between feminists. On one side, there are the feminist who are all for women showing their bodies and being “liberated.” On the other side, there are those feminists who believe that a women isn’t defined by her looks.

Sexuality is everywhere; it’s on TV, in the songs we listen to, in our magazines etc. The definition of sexy itself is constantly changing.  Women in general want to be treated as equal and taken seriously by the men but by over  sexualizing themselves, how can women expect men to take them seriously. As women liberate themselves sexuality, it reverses everything feminists have fought for. Fox quotes British feminist author Natasha Walter and Australian anti-raunch crusader Melinda Tankard Reist who do not agree with the mainstreaming of sex in the industry by saying “Young women who dress and act provocatively are not ’empowered’ as they claim to be but are instead enslaved by their own sexualization”. Women who purposefully objectify themselves cannot complain about not being respected as individuals if they can’t seem to respect themselves.

It is common to look up to people in the entertainment as our role models. Individuals, especially young kids, recognize the name of their favorite singer or actor and look to them for guidance. When celebrities openly state that they stand for/against a certain issue, people are likely to become interested in it simply because someone they admire is interested in it. The problem comes into play when the public is giving a misinterpretation of a situation, especially feminism. Women in the entertainment business give this oversimplified version of feminism which welcomes expressing ones sexuality. One may be confused because it’s like women may say something like”I’m a feminists and I believe that women should have the right to be treated as equals” but then their actions are something opposite of that. That can cause a misinterpretation of what the feminist movement is about and the spread of false information.

Works Cited

Fox, Katrina. “The Scavenger.” Time to challenge what’s considered sexy. ABC News, 12 June 2010. Web. 8 May 2014

Costanza, Justine Ashley . “Sexist Portrayals Of Women Still Dominate Prime Time TV: Study.” International Business Times. International Business Times, 17 Nov. 2012. Web. 3 May 2014.

“feminism.” Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.