Disney Feminists

Every little girl grows up watching Disney Princess movies. From old school Cinderella to the newer one's like The Princess and The Frog. As kids we don't notice all of the messages behind the movies and what kind of influence that places on young girls for the future. The images above and below are a sort of "culture-jamming" done in opposition to the Disney Princess ideas that give a contradicting message you young girls. In The Princess Diaries, Mia is praised for being different- the odd ball, unique, and genuine. However, to be accepted by her grandmother and her country as royalty she has to undergo extensive beauty treatments and etiquette lessons. So wait, was she perfect before with frizzy hair and glasses or not? The movie preaches high self-esteem and self-acceptance, but at the same time belittles and changes everything about Mia that makes her Mia. Confusing isn't it? What kind of message does this send to young girls? That you should accept yourself as long as you strive to change and better your appearance, accept a work in progress until you can reach the expectations of beauty and be truly accepted by yourself and society? 

Disney Princess movies are iconic. I have never met a female who hasn't seen every movie Disney made. Most little girls have the dolls, coloring books, sheets, pajamas, and more to worship their favorite princesses. Girls don't understand the conflicting and belittling messages they receive when they're watching these movies because they aren't aware. Most of my female peers probably still don't pick up on these subliminal messages and contradictions. It's so sad to think that parents praise these movies because of their fun, innocent, and good hearted material to their children because don't realize that they could have a negative effect on their young daughters in the future. Education about girlhood and what it means to be truly accepting of yourself from the start is pertinent to fighting all of society's expectations about girl's/women's beauty and behavior. These movies are not all bad. Despite my understanding of the bad messages and disapproving of their contradictions, I love Disney Princess movies. What is important is that when I do show my children these films, I will do my best to educate them on the realities and use them as an example of the better options and messages.

Though, Disney has made strides in lessening the "damsel-in-distress" princess with their latest princess in the movie Brave, they still have a ways to go to depict positive messages properly and without contradictions. Through our discussion of Lipkin in class, we discussed all of the contradictions in the media about girlhood. Love yourself, but always try to better yourself; don't be a prude, but don't be too loose; dress fashionably, but not slutty; be intelligent, but not smarter than your male peers; and most importantly- strive for independence and equality, but don't be a feminist. Feminist has a bad reputation and the media does nothing to fix it. But just like these images taken from Disney with feminist opinions added, there is nothing that screams "man-hating", "hairy-legged", "angry" feminists. Throughout the class, we've learned that these adjectives are false descriptions. Feminism is a positive and necessary revolution, even in today's society.

Who is a feminist?

 

 

The word feminist holds some stigmas in the mind of Americans. Feminist- (n). angry, man-haters, bra-burners, hairy, smelly women that always find something to complain about. Although that isn' the real definition, people still think of those words when they think about feminism. Often women shy away from the term and choose not to identify with it even though they are very much female activists. Jenna Goudreau, of Forbes Magazine, discussed these ideas in her article Who's Afraid of Post-Feminism? What it Means to be a Feminist Today. In it, Goudreau interviews many high power and influential women of the current generations and those before us about what feminism means to them in today's society. Goudreau also acknowledges the stigma placed on the term and why it gets such a bad reputation.

Quoted in the article, Irin Carmon, defined what she thought feminism stood for, "[It] is the recognition that women are human beings with the right to full participation in society... What that means in practice is ensuring reproductive freedom, working to prevent discrimination and sexual assault, and trying to create a world of relationships and partnerships that reflect and enable women’s contributions". In recent news, the argument of legitimate rape has sparked conflict. A main focus of the presidential election was on women's reproductive rights and whether or not women's contraception would be covered under health care/insurance. One problem with girls and young women identifying themselves as feminists revolves around their misunderstanding of the term. Many girls aren't educated on what feminism is and how it is still important to today's society. In school, girls are educated on how first-wave feminists gained us the right to vote and second-wave feminists fought for our place in the workplace, but many don't see the equality gap that still needs to be addressed by our generations. Girls and young women have been conditioned to believe that if women aren't in the workplace, it's because they choose not to. One activist Goudreau quotes says it best I believe, "The bottom line: I don’t care if a woman wants to call herself ‘squirrel,’ as long as she fights for herself and other women".

 

When our class began we were asked to describe what feminists were to us. Many of us used the same terms describe above- angry, pushy, man-haters. Over the course of the semester, I have seen a shift in our views toward feminism. Many of us were blind to the still prevalent equality gap amongst men and women, along with the intersectionality of class, race, and sexuality. The class has opened our eyes to the still existing problems surrounding equality in America- a country that is supposed to be open and accepting, paving the ways for other countries across the globe. Through education, I believe girls and boys can begin to learn about feminism without the stigmas if taught correctly. I believe this education is pertinent to continuing to evolve and dissolve the gender gap. Though the students in our class may not call ourselves feminists, I believe we all identify with feminism and strive for equality for ourselves and other women in the world. Just like the picture above, anyone can be a feminist, feminist strive for gender equality regardless of gender, race, sexuality, class, etc. 

What's Progress?

This disturbs me. A young woman portrayed to look even younger, holding a teddy bear, being "sexy". This is a vintage ad that makes sex symbols out of children to sell a perfume. How awful! What's worse is that people refuse to think ads like these are still around because women have come so far! False. There are ads everywhere that continue to make sex symbols out of women to sell their products. I guess that's because sex sells, but only because we let it. This ad made me curious to find other vintage ads like this one. I came across It's Guy Code, a blog, that had posted Ads that Degraded Women. The post was full of vintage ads like this one that showed how women were degraded "back in the day" (notice the past tense degraded in the title and not the present tense degrades). I was startled by other ads such as:

And what's worse it there were more that shocked me. After seeing all of these ads and being well aware that women are sexualized in advertising to sell products, I began searching for ads today that mimicked the "vintage" ads to prove that just because they are vintage, doesn't mean the concepts have been laid to rest.

There's a lot wrong with these ads. The worst part of these ads are the fact that we see everything wrong and degrading about them, but they have stuck around for decades because we continue to buy the products. Women are degraded every day in the media, in the workplace, and sometimes at home. Outside of that, what do these ads say to young girls? That you have to grow up to be sexy. The first ad showing the comparison between a vintage ad where the man is stepping on her head is no different than the caged woman in the bebe ad. Women are to be seen but not heard, sexy, and locked away until their presence is needed. The burger king ad sexualizes a sandwich, the men eating it can compare the taste to oral sex... doubtful. However, I'm sure the sandwich was a success amongst men.

In class we often talk about seeing these ads and pointing out everything wrong with the ads. They're everywhere. You can't flip through a magazine, watch TV, get on the internet, do nearly anything without being bombarded with "sex selling" advertisement. We've talked recently in class about culture jamming these advertisements and during my search I came across an example of culture jamming the sexual advertisements for an Ad-Busting blog.

Though the language is offensive, there is truth in the statement. It calls to light the sexualized nature of the advertisement. I'm sure every girl is worried about how her lipstick looks when she's eating a strawberry... not. A girl/woman is worried about how the lipstick will last and how it will look. Culture jamming in a magazine at a doctors office is a great start, but it doesn't reach a mass audience. Plastering it on the internet gains a much larger audience. This way of fighting back to the advertising companies is great, but only if it works. When we see these ads that are degrading it has to translate to action, or rather non-action by not purchasing these products. If the ads and techniques no longer work, then new techniques can take their place. As women/girls, we must begin to use our consumer power to put an end to degradation! 

Postfeminism: from Out of Sight to Real Women have Curves

Postfeminism is a pretty broad term these days. What exactly does it mean and when exactly did this movement start amongst females. An articles written by Chris Holmlund, Postfeminism from A to G, discusses these issues. Holmund discusses the three different types of  postfeminists in today's society, the academic, the chick, and the grrl, mostly focussing on the latest two. Chick feminists are somewhat backward feminists. Holmund says, "many are hostile to the goals and gains of second-wave feminism; others simply take these gains and goals for granted". They're nostalgic about the life prior to equal rights in the workforce and family. Grrl feminists, sometimes called thrid-wave feminists, "eager to carry on the first- and second-wave feminist struggles". The article focuses on how these types of postfeminism translate into media, specifically movies. Two movies discussed are Out of Sight, starring Jennifer Lopez, and Real Women Have Curves, starring America Ferrera. Both are seen as postfeminist movies, however, Out of Sight still focuses on the romance and the need for a man in a womans life; whereas Real Women Have Curves focuses on putting a career above all.

 

(Images courtesy of IMDB)

 

Postfeminism is hard to define. Some feminists believe it started after women gained the right to vote. That's a large span of time to cover. I liked this article because it helped pinpoint this broad spectrum of postfeminism. I had no idea there was such a thing as a chick postfeminist and that they were working against the progress of current and past feminists. I think all these types are relevant to what postfeminists means today. However, I wonder if it's missing one. This type isn't defined, it's not radical, but it's not complacent. I think there is a gray area between the chick and grrrl feminists. Women who care about their rights and want to see them continue to be equalized but may not protest to show it. They may be a more silent, but still effective advocate. Most women, I would bet, fit within this gray area of postfeminism.

I was interested in this article from the start because it discussed grrl feminists which was something we had discussed in class. But as I read more of the article, I realized it focused more on how media portrays the postfeminist attitudes. We had discussed in class how even when the main character of literature is a girl and she seems powerful, there are still things that make her less of an equal. A class example was Katniss of The Hunger Games, and how even though she saved the world, romance surrounded the storyline and played a big part in her being able to succeed. Just like Out of Sight, though Jennifer Lopez plays a smart and respected detective, she lets the criminal go for love. You can tell by looking at the movie covers (above), that Out of Sight isn't just about Jennifer Lopez's character because George Clooney is also pictured on the cover, while Real Women Have Curves just pictures America Ferrera. The media sends a big message to viewers about how women and girls are to be portrayed and treated amongst society. I believe there is a bigger need for movies like Real Women Have Curves to promote the right idea to females everywhere.

SlutWalks

Ok, I'll admit I'm addicted to Pinterest. Upon searching through the multitudes of posts, I came across this photo and it shocked me. How could people believe that people deserved to be raped? How could anyone spit in someone's face for being raped, instead of the rapist? This picture made me curious. I had never heard of or witnessed a SlutWalk so when I looked it up I was surprised at the importance of this relatively new movement amongst today's women. In an article posted by Huggington Post, SlutWalks Sweep the Nation, Laura Stampler explains how the SlutWalk movement began.  Michael Sanguinetti, a Toronto police officer, spoke to a group of law schools students during a safety forum in 2011. During the forum he advised students that the best way to prevent rape was to "Avoid dressing like sluts". Authority, police officers, people you should be able to trust when you are a victim of rape are blaming victims for their clothing. The SlutWalk began "to shift the paradigm of mainstream rape culture, which they believe focuses on analyzing the behavior of the victim rather than that of the perpetrator". Participants showed up with signs, attire ranged from average clothes (jeans and tshirts) to lingerie. The fact that women are blamed for their dress or expression of sexuality as fault for rape explains why SlutWalks have become so popular among women today. An article posted by the Washington Post, SlutWalks and the future of feminism, authored by Jessica Valenti, goes as far to proclaim SlutWalks the most successful feminist action in the past 20 years. 

Other popular signs found at SlutWalks across the globe:

Lately, rape has become a hot topic amongst society with the recent elections. There has been a big controversy regarding Todd Akin's claims of legitimate rape and how "real" rape won't lead to pregnancy and therefore excluding the need for abortions for rape victims. Rape has become so downplayed amongst society because of these assumptions that women are asking for it with their clothing. One sign even stated that "Society says this skirt makes me look pretty, society also says this skirt makes me look like I'm asking for it". Victim blaming has become a big deal in sexual assault cases. When a girl is known as a slut amongst her peers, it's assumed there's no way she was raped. She's crying wolf for sure. SlutWalks are calling to attention the problem with blaming victims. Like the first picture I found, her rapist doesn't even know he's a rapist. Society has told him what he did was acceptable and okay. Where is the world headed? No one would say if a house was broken into that it was the owner's fault for having a beautiful house, yet women are blamed for having beautiful bodies. As my curiosity grew on the topic, I asked a group of guy friends their opinions regarding the "blame game" of sexual assault. I first asked if a girl was dressed provocatively, is it her fault if she's raped? They all answered no. How about if she is intoxicated? No, again. Well, what if it was your sister or your girlfriend? Well, that's when the answer got tricky. Most said they'd end the relationship with their girlfriends for putting themselves in situations to be taken advantage of. They shouldn't have been drunk or they wouldn't have been so easily assaulted. Point proven. We're quick to say we wouldn't cast blame on victims but the answer changes when it becomes personal.   

Often in class we've been discussing the "so what?" of what we're learning. What should we do to put an end to the expectations, the taboos, the mixed signals of society on girls and women? This was the answer for many women. This is a glimpse at modern feminism. Women are angered, women speak out (often on the internet), and it's translated into the local community. In today's world it's easier than ever to spread a movement because of technology. Toronto's SlutWalk went viral, sweeping the nation. Valentini wrote in her article, "instead of young women being organized by established groups, SlutWalks have young women organizing themselves — something I believe makes these women more likely to stay involved once the protest is over". It's a change in feminism that we've been discussing in class. "[Women, participants] are generating excitement, translating their anger into action and trying to change our supposedly respectable society into one that truly respects men, women and yes, even “sluts.”" Personally, I believe this is an amazing cause and something that should continue to be made public until society understands it's not a victim's fault for being victimized. 

Gabby Douglas: Known for... her hair?

The 2012 Summer Olympics were most likely the most talked about Olympics so far due to media coverage and social networking sites. One of the success stories we've all heard about was that of Gabby Douglas, a two-time gold medalist in gymnastics. Unfortunately, instead of praising her achievements, after her Olympic debut, all of the world was concerned about her hairdo. According to this article on the Washington Post by Lauren McEwen, Gabby Douglas and her ponytail: what's all the fuss about?, "black Twitter lit up with comments from both men and women, complaining that her 'do looked unkempt." This article brings to light, along with an article posted on the NY Daily News by Joyce Chen, Gabby Douglas to Oprah, how skewed the focus of today's society is placed on females, even those that are high achievers. In Gabby's conversations with Oprah, she talks about her decision to quit gymnastics prior to the Olympics because of racial slurs she received in her training gymnasium.

Photo courtesy of Rolling Stone Magazine, Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Instead of congratulating Gabby Douglas, on her not one, but two, Olympic gold medals in gymnastics, we're so focused on something so insignificant. Unfortunately for Gabby, she can't seem to escape torment. If Gabby had quit after facing adversity in her training gym, due to racial slurs like being called slave, it's quite possible the USA could have two fewer Olympic gold medals. Gabby Douglas can be an inspiration to girl's across America to continue fighting against the media and "haters" that don't want to see you succeed. It also tells girls not to let the criticism of others bring you down when you have achieved success. However, the harsh ridicule Gabby has faced can also send another message, don't try. What's the point in trying if even when you do succeed, you're ridiculed and mocked from women and men alike? It's a hard situations for girls to decipher whether or not success is worth the taunts of others. 

The indirect and direct message shoved into girls' heads that they must exemplify beauty and poise at all times is yet again enforced through her situation. If her hair had been professionally done, she would've been a more presentable "lady" of the United States. Although, it's more likely that if her hair had been done, they would have found something else ridiculous to complain about. All across the media, women are airbrushed, their hair is done, makeup is caked on, and they are fashionably dressed to be the ideal image of what a girl/lady/woman is supposed to look like at all times. However unrealistic, it's unfortunately the norm of society. It's important for girls and women alike to pay attention to these messages and not fall prey. Just like Gabby Douglas, her poise against the adversity she faced should be praised along with her achievements, instead of focusing on her hair. Girls need to receive the message to chase your dreams, not the message to worry about how pretty you look while you're on the journey to success.