Special Topic Post

Using Women

      How would one define pop culture? Pop culture is the shared attitudes, beliefs, customs, images, and actions of the "majority" of the population. Pop culture is publicized through the mass media such as internet, TV, radio, and newspapers. While pop culture claims to represent the majority of the population--this is not always the case. In my opinion, pop culture represents the beliefs of the privileged groups. For example, in "No Girls Allowed: File Sharing Culture and BitTorrent" from http://www.feministfrequency.com/, the internet  advertisements of BitTorrent are solely directed towards men, when in fact there are actually more women in the United States. I'm sure this is also the case for many other sites as well. 

      Pornography, half-naked women, and sexy poses consume today's advertisement world. In her video, she discusses how all of the ads are directed towards men. Not just males, but heterosexual males. These ads support the beliefs and images that only heterosexual men like, therefore supporting male and straight privilege. Our culture today also assumes that all gamers/bloggers/geeks/tech-freaks/internet users are all male which is definitely not the case. I know from personal experience how much I (a female) use the internet and social networks and games and so forth. Ad companies somewhat discriminate against women by creating an undesirable environment for women to get involved. Some sites and ads make it  almost impossible for women to have a say-so or input which is very unfair. Although I agree with this, it still doesn't stop me personally from using the internet. I'm able to just overlook the negative images and move on, but others can't simply do this. After all this isn't based on an individual level, instead it is on a more cultural/institutional level.

     The advertisements displayed in the media almost always use a sex appeal. Today's culture is somewhat more open about discussing sexual topics than in the past which is why majority of the ads use women as a prop. Whether its on a TV commercial, magazine ad, or website pop-up, women are frequently used to attract viewers. As stated earlier- mainly heterosexual male viewers. These images degrade and dehumanize women. They make women seem inferior to men because they use them as a prop or object. If society claims that 'men and women are equal', then why are women the only ones to be portrayed in this fashion? Who made women the target of sex appeal? Some of the time the product being advertised has nothing to even do with women. Sometimes we look at ads and wonder "what are they even trying to sell?" These ads suggest that women won't amount to anything life and that their sole purpose is to please men, which is entirely not true. Women have the potential to be just as smart and successful as men do and should use this to their advantage. Not all men are to blame though.

       Women sometimes put themselves into these situations. Why even agree to do a photo shoot or video like that? Maybe I'm 'blaming the victim' but since I'm a female also I feel that I have a right to say something. Women of today should have some self-respect. We claim we want equal rights and to be viewed equivalent to men, but yet women still degrade themselves by participating in these actions. We can't really blame the men for all of it if women agree to it. What happened to the olden days when a women's body was sacred and only for her husband's eyes to see? Or when talking about sex was considered highly inappropriate and possibly a punishable action?  If women stopped putting themselves out there and stopped participating in these acts, then maybe we could actually start to be considered equal and viewed as a normal human being instead of just a sex object. We have to tear these barriers down to start making progress.