Feminism

Whenever I hear the word "feminist", I cringe. Not because I have any problem with women standing up for themselves. Not because I don't think women needed to be treated better than they are. I cringe simply because I have encountered many feminists that have taken it too far. Girl power is one thing but when women hate all men because of the choices of some, that aggravates me. Its true that women in our society are definitely not always appreciated but being angry and hating all men does nothing to help our cause.

In the article Feminist Perspectives on the Media, Zoonen talks about the impact that feminism has on the various portrayals of women in TV, movies, magazines, etc. One sentence in the article that stood out was "Radical feminist strategies inevitably condemn women to a marginal position: they will be either oppressed suffering from false consciousness within patriarchal society which is supposed to be beyond reform. Or they choose to step out of patriarchal society being free and true to their naturebut remaining isolated and marginal, as for instance the lifecycle of radical feminist media illustrates" (Zoonen, 41). If women go to either extreme, they are oppressed and isolated. Who wants that? How do we fix these problems?

Truth is that women are absolutely portrayed as less than what they are worth. There is absolute pressure put on women by the media to look, act and dress in a certain way. I agree that it neeeds to be stopped. But what about the way men are viewed/treated in the media? Men are objectified as well. Men are also sometimes seen as stupid and unable to make their own decisions. Who is speaking up for them? Why are men not making a bigger deal out of it?

I don't see anything wrong with women sticking up for themselves. I think that we need to do it, but not at the risk of alienating ourselves from the men. We need to find a mutual respect for each other and then make it translate into the media. When someone is so extreme, they end up being almost ostrasized. They are labeled and everyone knows that label and will judge them for that before they even meet them.

Media definitely plays up the feminist stereotype. They go to the extremes to make fun of women who stick up for themselves and other women. The best example of this that I found was in the movie Shrek 3. When the kingdom is in danger of being overthrown, the ladies take matters into their own hands. Fiona decides that from now on, they will be handling things since the men in their lives were not helping whatsoever. At that moment, the princesses all rip off parts of their dresses, burn their bras, apply war paint and look anything but princess-like. This is a clear picture of what a stereotypical feminist looks like-extreme. Obviously not all women who call themselves feminists fit that mold. While it was stereotyping, I found it to be a funny, accurate (of assumptions), creative portrayal that fit in with the movie quite well.