22 Things Only Women's & Gender Studies Majors Understand

 Leave it to BuzzFeed to nail yet another list: 22 Things Only Women's & Gender Studies Majors Understand. Shoutout to the hilarious Michael Foucault reference; I was peeing myself with laughter.

Enjoy:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/juniperbug/22-things-only-womens-and-gender-studies-majors-f59x


~The Defiant Lion

On what makes things feminist/unfeminist

• A short piece written for my Feminist Philosophy class (all rights reserved; please do not quote without permission): 

            The question of what makes (arguably) objectifying practices (like sex work and wearing revealing clothing in public) unfeminist or not is one I’ve been wrestling with a lot recently: and, like Stephanie Abraham, I’m “still trying to figure it out,” “it” being my own personal perspective on what is and is not feminist in nature. In the case of everything “risqué,” from sex work to modeling to wearing mini dresses and heels at a frat party, it is never helpful or progressive to blame women and girls, calling them dumb or slutty for making the choices that they do. Rather, it makes more sense to question the system set up by our patriarchal society and the demands put on men and women alike. By and large, girls are taught to strive for perfect sexiness, and these messages can cause them to act in ways that can be misconstrued as empowering when they in fact come from a detrimental and demeaning place.

It’s difficult to say whether or not a woman is being “unfeminist” by being a prostitute or a pornstar; yes, women should be able to do what they want and wear what they want without being slut-shamed (this goes for cases like Miley Cyrus too: I don’t think critics are at all permitted to call her a slut for dancing in her underwear onstage at the VMAs.) However, in the case of risqué behavior and dress code, I do think girls need to question why they wear tight mini skirts and heels to parties: is it because they want to do it for themselves, or do they wear these things because they buy into the mainstream message that their physical image is where their worth lies? This is, I think, is a better place for criticism to come from (and this more closely resembles the reason why I question the motives behind performances like Miley’s recent one.) It would be wrong to chastise Mary Christmas and other women in the sex industry for their line of work; indeed, it is unfeminist in and of itself to tell a woman what she can and cannot choose to do to earn a living. The antifeminism aspect is much more deep-seeded, and is found in the very existence of sex-for-entertainment (porn, stripping, etc.). It is not these women’s “faults” for participating in this system; it is the fault of society for putting them in a position where participating in objectifying activities may be their only option.

In regards to pornography performances, I’d like to quickly reference Gail Dines’ resounding book Pornland, wherein she describes scenarios in which a female porn actress willingly participates in a film, but is subjected to violent things like choking and “ass-to-mouth” sex that are visibly uncomfortable and likely neither wanted nor entirely consensual. The fact that men have become increasingly accustomed to these images (and seek them out in growing numbers) speaks to a larger problem, one that I’ll save for another paper for the sake of avoiding digression.

Although most girls will probably say that they freely choose to wear revealing clothes and heavy makeup for themselves, it is not possible to say these practices are completely uninfluenced by the demands of society. For example, putting makeup on one’s face is a very unnatural ritual. It’s not necessary for survival, and it’s a lot more practical to just not wear any (I constantly have to consciously stop myself from rubbing my eyes when I’m tired, lest I smudge my mascara.) And while I, too, often conform to the tight clothing- and makeup-wearing ideal set in place for us, I acknowledge that I’m not doing it totally for myself. I wish I could honestly say that I wear sexy dresses and eyeliner and high heels for myself, but to say so would be utterly untrue, and I admit that, although not proudly or comfortably. I wish I felt free enough to not feel the need to aspire to conform to the “perfect” body image projected by the media, but I don’t. I still consider myself a very dedicated and enthusiastic feminist, but I still feel constrained, trapped, and pressured to meet society’s arbitrary beauty standard.

Stay strong.

~The Defiant Lion

Fuck your binary

Fuck your socially constructed gender binary....

.....because these guys deserve to be fabulous without the world telling them they can't wear heels. Werk it, boys.

-The Defiant Lion

A short and restrained response to Blurred Lines

“You the hottest bitch in this place.” –Robin Thicke

If a guy ever came up to me and told me, “Hey, you know, you’re the hottest bitch in this place,” I would slap him. Unquestionably and unapologetically. Mostly because the word “bitch” is not an acceptable thing to call anybody under any circumstances, and secondly because how dare he have the arrogant audacity to 1) rate my attractiveness against other women and 2) use something as shallow as exterior appearances to start a conversation.

But that’s not even the most offensive lyric in the now all-too-popular hit song Blurred Lines: “Nothing like your last guy, he too square for you/He don't smack that ass and pull your hair like that.” Well. Actually, T.I., I’d prefer to not have my ass slapped and hair pulled, and I’d REALLY like for you to not assume that I do. Because, again, if anyone ever did either of those things to me without asking first and getting an affirmative answer, I would protest physically, because that is sexual assault.

“I’ll give you something big enough to tear your ass in two.” I don’t think I need to spend too much space elucidating how explicitly violent and emblematic of rape culture this line is. Moving on.

“Tried to domesticate ya, but you’re an animal.” Tried to domesticate me, eh? So, what, tried to tame me into some version of what you think women should be? And when I wouldn’t let you place your restrictions on me, that means I’m a crazy wild animal? You couldn’t possibly be much more dehumanizing.

Then we have the most repeated lines, “I know you want it” (no, you don’t know), and “The way you grab me, must wanna get nasty.” Just because a girl dances with you or says anything short of “hey, I want to have sex with you, would you like to have sex with me, too?” does not mean she “wants it.” That “I know you want it” mentality is indicative of rape and slut shaming. No does not mean yes, silence does not mean yes, and, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT EXISTS ON THIS GOOD GREEN PLANET, THE WAY I DRESS AND DANCE DOES NOT MEAN ‘YES.’

“That man is not your maker.” And neither are you, and neither is anybody else. So kindly back the fuck off.

-The Defiant Lion