Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Thank God I'm Pretty

In an earlier post, entitled "Not Just my Mother's Feminism," I talked about women in my life who have helped define my own feminist identity. In this post I left out a crucial part of third wave feminism. As technology has progressed, activism has advanced. Being media savvy is a key element in being heard. Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and more are now part of our culture. Along with the ability to wield these powerful tools, comes and emphasis on media literacy. I doubt that me telling you that the media is filled with unrealistic ideals of beauty as well as stereotypical gender roles would shock anyone. Further, I do not think many of you would be surprised to hear that mainstream media has a heterosexual bias. However, I am saying it anyways. It is an important message. One that we cannot allow to slip from the forefront of our minds in looking at media. 

The Media teaches us that qualities in females that matter are first and foremost, attractiveness, followed by passivity. Media does not respect women for their intelligence or skills. Furthermore, the media objectifies women and sexualizes violence. A dangerous factor that has lead to an increase in domestic violence in this country. The lyrics below, paired with some images of advertisments that  illustrate the bitterness that comes from impossible standards placed on beauty and a disregard for anything but submission.

 I took all of the photos above with the exception of the last advertisement which does a particularly fantastic job of sexualizing violence and showing the power play between women and men in the media.


"Thank God I'm pretty
The occasional free drink I never asked for
The occasional admission to a seedy little bar
Invitation to a stranger's car
I'm blessed
With the ability to rend a grown man tongue-tied
Which only means that when it's dark outside
I have to run and hide can't look behind me
Thank God I'm pretty..." 



"Thank God I'm pretty
Every skill I ever have will be in question
Every ill that I must suffer merely brought on by myself
Though the cops would come for someone else
I'm blessed
I'm truly privileged to look this good without clothes on
Which only means that when I sing you're jerking off
And when I'm gone you won't remember
Thank God I'm pretty..."

How the media says women eat ice cream

How I eat ice cream
 "Thank you God
Oh, lord
Thank you God
Oh, oh and when a gaggle of faces appears around me
It's lucky I hate to be taken seriously
I think my ego would fall right through the cracks in the floor
If I couldn't count on men to slap my ass anymore
I know my destiny's such, that I'm all stocking and curl
So everybody thinks that I'm a fucking suicide girl..."


"Thank you God
For the occasional champagne I never asked for
The occasional admission to a seedy little bar
Invitation to a stranger's car
I'm blessed
With the ability to rend a grown man tongue-tied
Which only means that when it's dark outside
I have to run and hide can't look behind me
Thank God I'm pretty..."


"Thank God
Thank God
Thank you
Thank you
Thank you God!"
-Emilie Autumn, "Thank God I'm Pretty" 


The video below is a trailer for Jean Kilbourne's film on the effects of advertising on our culture. Advertising effects both men and women. For women, advertisements that promote one kind of sexuality leave women with low self-esteem, depression, and eating disorders. As women become objectified by the media they are also dehumanized. When men in our culture grow up with the dangerous message that women are objects, we see an increase in violence towards women. Domestic violence is on the rise. The majority of women murdered in this country are murdered by their male partners. Our society fosters strict gender roles that emphasize female passivity and male dominance.

As women in advertisements get smaller, men get bigger. Women are taught subconsciously that we must all but disappear in this society, whereas men are encouraged to present as strong, successful, and emotionless. These roles are unfair to all of us.

2 comments:

  1. Also, check out Tough Guise by Jackson Katz for the how media hurts men and encourages violence side of the story.

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  2. Another excellent recommendation, thanks, Jo!

    ReplyDelete