The common idea I found between the four readings was that in the world we live in today, women are forced into an inferior position that is subordinate to men and can result in social pressures towards teenage girls, as seen in the Levy reading, or to the more extreme scenario of violence towards women and rape as seen in the other three articles. In Levy's chapter "Pigs in Training" she explains how young girls especially in high school feel pressured to impress boys and act or dress in certain ways that will grab their attention in order to be popular. While all teenagers, both girls and boys, feel some pressure to fit in or be "cool", teenage girls in this generation have been programmed to think they need to give off the impression that they are sexually active or look "sexy" in order to be popular even if they are not ready or do not want to be sexually active. Levy explains these young girls are "conceiving of sex as a performance you give for attention rather than as something thrilling and interesting you engage in because you want to" (163). Thus the problem is that society is telling these young girls that they have to objectify themselves and basically submit themselves to boys' approval in order to feel cool or popular and essentially evaluate their own self-esteem based on what these boys, and other young girls think. Furthermore, often times young girls may feel so pressured to act "sexy" and promiscuous that they often engage in sexual activities that they may not know very much about or are doing for the wrong reasons. This leads into another point Levy made in that one of the problems with teenage sexuality is that the only education we are providing teenagers with is abstinence. Levy explains "we expect them to dismiss their instinctive desires and curiosities even as we bombard them with images that imply that lust is the most important appetite and hotness the most impressive virtue" (162). Teenagers are feeling inward pressure -- through changes during puberty and this new sex-drive -- and outward pressure -- from society to dress sexy and act as if both boys and girls want to be sexually active, yet the education is sending a message to completely dismiss these feelings and ignore these social pressures, which in all likelihood is not realistic. Thus in order to correct these problems and help teenagers adapt to the changes that they are experiencing, there needs to be more communication about these new feelings and about all aspects of sex, not just abstaining from it.
Just as Levy highlights the inequalities between boys and girls and the disadvantage that young girls have to objectify themselves in order to gain the approval of boys, on a much more intense scale, Walker and Morgan point out the inferiority of women based on the fact that they live in a world in which they are forced to fear men. As Walker explains, men don't walk down the street afraid that a women may attack them yet if a woman walks down the street late at night and a man approaches behind them, she can't help but begin to worry for her safety. While this may be a result of the basic physical differences between men and women -- men are simply much stronger and have the ability to over power women -- this need to use these power against women is a direct result of the patriarchal and competitive society that we live in today. Women are at the mercy of men and women's levels of security and self-esteem are subject to the control or power of men. Consequently women must learn to defend themselves from men, as Walker did in order to escape this fear that all women feel at some point in their lives.
One last interesting point I found in the Morgan article was that Morgan explains even when women have been sexually assaulted or raped, they are sometimes blamed for these acts of violence or it is assumed that the women somehow wanted it. Yet if men were assaulted they wouldn't be blamed or criticized for the violence that traumatized them. Based on this idea, it seems as if in our society women just simply cannot win and are always at fault. I think this idea may be a bit of a generalization and I think the cases in which women are blamed for sexual violence is a small percentage, but I think it is important to recognize that as Morgan experienced, women have a lot more challenges to face simply because they are women and sexual violence is definitely at the top of these challenges. Thus whether a young teenage girl is feeling pressured to wear very sexy clothing or have sex before she is ready or an innocent women is raped walking back to her home late at night, these are all challenges women face simply because of their sex and as women, we must overcome this fear and pressure in order to escape these disadvantages -- however this is much easier said than done.
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I am opting to focus my post on Levy's chapter, not because I thought it was more important than Morgan's, Brownmiller's and Walker's articles. These articles were about a very important issue that affects all women, whether they've been a victim of rape or not; these articles were about the occasional, or for some, constant fear of being a woman. Women have to worry about walking home from the library in the dark, even on a small campus like Colgate, because they might get attacked or raped by a bigger, stronger man. This fear isn't irrational either -- we know the statistics, it's something that happens all too frequently.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I want to focus on Levy because this chapter really had thinking the entire time. All I kept asking myself was, "Is she serious? Did this really happen?" So many of the incidents Levy describes seem like they're part of some raunchy teen sex comedy movie plot; blow jobs at the back of the school bus? Honestly, most of this chapter just seemed like some sort of heightened reality, a hyperbole in teenage mischief. But then the more I thought about it, the more shocked I became, disgusted even, because I knew she wasn't making it up. Granted, I feel as though I didn't go to high school in a place where the stories were as extreme as some of the ones Levy talks about; but then again, maybe I am just thinking that way because our society has become so desensitized to the sexual nature of pre-teens and high schoolers.
The sad part is, like Levy points out, is that these kids don't even know what sexuality is. She says how sex isn't like drugs where you just tell the kids to say no, and call it a day. Sexuality is an inherent part of being human, and these kids are giving it away for free like it means absolutely nothing. They don't have any understanding of what it means to be sexual, just sexy. They don't understand that sex is a mutual act whereby two people engage in the act and receive pleasure from it. It's not twelve year old girls giving pre-pubescent boys oral sex at school. Maybe Levy is on to something when she talks about education being a big part of it. If we're preaching abstinence-only education, and the kids don't listen, how are they going to know about contraception? How are they going to avoid STDs, unwanted pregnancies, and even the emotional stresses of being sexually active? If they do learn about it, they'll probably be finding out from unreliable sources and getting bad intel. Education is a good place to start, but the question is: Do these kids want to learn?
I think that Jessi makes a really great point about how women always seem to be the ones who are at fault. Women who have been raped are often treated as if they had been asking for it or as if they did something else to bring on the situation. I think that this reflects very poorly on how our society views women and sexuality. It is almost as if men are constantly in control even when they are in the wrong and because they have control in other aspects of society, it carries over when it comes to sex as well. I also think that we need a stronger movement on college campuses that advocates for better care for rape victims and providing students with more of an education on what to do if one of their friends is raped. After working on the Colgate Campus Life Survey last year and after attending some of the discussions following the results, it is clear that this is definitely a problem on our campus and I am sure it is on other campuses as well.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agreed with many of the points brought up by Jessi and Lisa. I think Jessi did a great job discussing the readings for today, but like Lisa, I want to focus primarily on Levy’s chapter and Brownmiller’s chapter. As I was reading Levy’s chapter, I was bracing myself for a typical chapter written in Levy’s style- Levy making her point and then throwing excellently chosen examples to prove her point. Although, this time as I was reading her chapter, her examples, although hard to chew, are pretty accurate. Nobody wants to imagine twelve or thirteen year olds being sexually active, but the truth is, as Levy points out, that young teenagers are being programmed to exude these airs of sexuality despite the fact that they don’t quite understand what they mean. I think Levy’s solution, through education and talking about sexuality, is exactly what young teenagers need. I remember in middle school there was often talk about a certain group of girls. Everyone talked about what these girls did with boys, and just like the girls in Levy’s chapters, they were the most popular. Despite the fact that the rumors might not have been true, everyone spread these rumors around, half the time not quite sure knowing what it meant to do half the things these girls were accused of. Young girls definitely need to start thinking about their notions of sexuality. Failure to realize where the power in their sexuality comes from will only perpetuate this raunch culture.
ReplyDeleteI thought Brownmiller’s piece was interesting because it offered some psychological theories about rape and rapists. Some theories, for instance, the theory that rapists carry out these violent urges because they have suppressed the desire to sleep with their mothers, I thought were a little outlandish. However, I thought it was interesting how Abrahamsen’s study of rape from the 1950’s, ultimately put the blame on women. His study claimed that rapists’ wives caused much of the sexual frustration that prompted these men to carry out acts of rape. His theory places very little blame on the rapists and revolves around the wives. Why is his theory driven so much by the wives of rapists? This is evidence of a male eager to put the blame on the woman, in a case where the woman has no right receiving the blame. I thought Brownmiller’s closing paragraph was especially powerful because it outlines the power structure that is still evident today. Until the world erases violence against women in such forms as rape, women will always be in fear of the dangerous power that men hold over women.
i'm going to also have to go with plender, and focus on levy's article. I found it particularly interesting because a person near where i grew up, who played on a hockey team of mine for a few years actually developed a reputation for performing a few of the mentioned things.... her giving a HJ on the back of a school bus story spread like wildfire, and a few months later a naked selfie made its rounds. I remember being in grade 7 at the time (she was in grade 8 at the time) and wondering what the heck this girl was thinking. we were just kids, how does she know what to do? how to sell herself? not that I wanted to I was just astounded. Levy's chapter made me realize that cases like those, are becoming the norm because of this culture we buy into.... I think the article you showed us in class, that charles wrote about, shows us that we start these kids with these ideas from infants. What do we expect to happen? I have to admit though, the more I read levy, the more I cant stand her. She has a point though, at no point in my high school/ middle school years was I ever educated on sexual intercourse, its up to schools, but I also think it is up to the parents to be responsible for such things.
ReplyDeleteMorgans article was a very chilling to me, And i like how david provided ideas about ways to improve college life. The fact is, women are not safe, we can and will be overpowered. It doesnt mean we are weak, and Morgans story sowed me that there is so much psychological baggage associated with rape.