Just a few updates before we go into our topic of the week: It's WRC week! We will be on-to-go Monday through Wednesday, tabling and giving out informational pamphlets, our "now hiring" posters and free condoms! Also, Wednesday night at Pickler's Famous, from 8:30-11 PM we will be hosting our Poetry Slam! You should all come, it will be awesome. We have three bands playing and several awesome slammers for you all to experience. And we are now in the process of hiring for next year! We are losing a lot of wonderful upperclassmen and we really need some people to fill their places! The application process is on TruPositions and applications are due by April 13th.
Now, on to a topic that has come up a lot with the rising number of feminists, or people who now know about feminist ideals: how do we decide what portrayals of women are appropriate in an era with media hitting us from all directions? It is easy to see a lot of objectification of women (and now men!) in the media, making the human body an object to be lusted after for the sole purpose of selling a product, be it a pair of shoes, clothes, a movie, music, anything. But it seems as thought a lot of people are quick to jump the gun on calling things inappropriate from a feminist standpoint. One example that seems to be very appropriate is the portrayal of women in the new movie out in theaters, SuckerPunch.
Now, we don't want to give away the entirety of the plot, but one thing that you can surmise from the trailers is that a majority of the plot involves the girls involved scantily clad. Many are citing that as occurring only for the purpose of drawing in male viewers, objectifying these girls. What they don't see are the reasons why they are dressed the way they are. Again, I don't want to give away huge spoilers, so if you don't want to hear anything about the movie, then don't read past this point. (I tried keeping spoilers to a minimum, but a lot of people may not have seen the movie yet.)
OK, so the girls are scantily clad because in this elaborate dream state/alternate reality of the female protagonist, these girls are essentially prostitutes in a bordello where they dance erotically for men and get money for the head honcho of the club. This dream state/alternate reality is based off the fact that not only did the lead girl experience a traumatizing objectifying experience (her stepfather tried to assault her and then moved to her little sister after their mother passed away), but the girls are all terrorized by a lead caretaker (in this mental institution) who takes advantage of them. The girls also are forced to wear these revealing outfits and dance for men and they do it in order to survive. I feel like this is the key point; this is not a scene to entice male viewers. It is evident that these girls are doing what they can to remain alive, because if they refuse to dance, they could be killed.
The movie portrays strong young women who are fighting to survive and escape this corrupt institution (which I feel is a very strong tie to escaping the patriarchal institutions still in place in our reality), and many are still complaining that they are objectified because they have on revealing outfits. It seems as though we are overlooking a lot of really strong portrayals because of small details. Instead of arguing over what they are wearing, maybe we should focus on the fact that there is a reason behind it; the director does not seem to have dressed them this way or put them in the situations they are in for the heck of it, or to simply draw in viewers with an easy hook.
What movies can you think of that are seen as objectifying when they could be really empowering? Do you agree that this happens?
Let us know what you think!
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