I found reading Susan Douglas’ chapter “Sex R Us” particularly insightful for her review and assessment of the increasing pornification of the media, and its implications on female sexuality, objectification, and liberation. As she describes, the 1990s witnessed two trends that gained considerable momentum: the degrading sexual objectification of women and the increasing sexualization of children. Clothing companies such as Calvin Klein and magazines like YM and Mademoiselle featured slim, white, and mostly blond pubescent models to market their products through sexual display and innuendo. Marketing strategies zeroed in on younger children, particularly females, with advertisements embedded with sexual display and references. The increasingly pornified media began to promote the message that through sex and sexual display women can obtain power and what they want. The result was the emergence of a new female icon: the sexpert.
The emergence of this new “sexpert” image bore profound implications on female sexuality and objectification. At one end, the sexpert represented female sexual liberation and empowerment through sexual display; she knows “a lot about sex, is comfortable with sex, and initiates and enjoys sex on an equal footing with men.” This acknowledged females not as sex objects but as active sexual agents. (156)However, at the other end, the “sexpert” reproduced and perpetuated the misogynistic stereotypes that lead to their objectification. Women were told to seek power through the sexual approval and acquiescence of men. Thus, this image became ideal for the age of enlightened sexism because she represented features of both empowerment and objectification. I found this delicate balance between female sexual empowerment and sexual objectification of particular interest because of its resonance to today’s society. I sometimes find it hard to discern whether the overt display of female sexuality is a feature of empowerment or objectification. If a girl goes out on a typical night out in a scantily clad dress and cleavage, does this represent a source of empowerment from her decision to exercise her sexuality freely, or does this reaffirm patriarchal objectification of women? I think it’s important to acknowledge that this can represent both; what one may see as an expression of sexuality may be interpreted as sexual objectification by another.
I think that JMartinez makes some really good points. I think that the "pornification of the media" is a great way of saying what has happened to the media. It is not just advertising that uses sex to sell things. Everyone uses it. If you look at the news, sex is a popular story because more people will listen if it is about sex.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that caught my eye when reading this post was the question about when girls go out and what they wear. I think in popular culture there is divide between whether revealing clothes are trashy or empowering. Often I think it depends on who is wearing the outfit, for whether or not people approve. For example, Lady Gaga's outfits are seen as empowering but if I wore some of her outfits at a party I would be seen negatively. It is hard to decide whether or not revealing clothes are empowering. You should be allowed to wear what you want, but do you want to wear that outfit for yourself or for men to give you attention?