Female Chauvinist Pigs

While reading Female Chauvinist Pigs by Ariel Levy, I was surprised about multiple things. Levy writes, “If you ever watch television when you have insomnia, then you are already familiar with Girls Gone Wild: late at night, infomercials show bleeped-out snippets of the brand’s wildly popular, utterly plotless videos, composed entirely from footage of young women flashing their breasts, their buttocks, or occasionally their genitals at the camera, and usually shrieking “Whoo!” while they do it.” The first time I saw the infomercials, I thought it was a mistake. How could anything like this be on television? What if kids are wake up in the middle of the night and are flipping through the channels? I couldn’t believe it. The producers of the GGW organization probably have some type of children in their family. It makes me wonder if they think about those children watching such infomercials. I was also surprised about the Olympic athletes posing for Playboy. I think that it is completely degrading for them to do that. While reading Female Chauvinist Pigs, I connect to both books that we have read prior to this one. All three books that we have read have given multiple examples to back up their argument. In Branded, Alissa Quart used many young teens/tweens as examples of how they had been branded. In Hip Hop Revolution, Jeffrey O.G. Ogbar used multiple artists to prove his point. So far in Female Chauvinist Pigs, Ariel Levy has used both “Playboy” and “Girls Gone Wild” to express her opinion. I am enjoying Female Chauvinist Pigs more than I did the other two texts.

Proposal

While writing this paper, I plan to explore Playboy. I will discuss why people pose/work for Playboy and what got them to that point. I will choose certain people that have posed for Playboy, and try to understand why they chose that route. Some of the people I am interested in writing about is the Olympic Athletes that chose to pose for Playboy. They weren't only Olympic Athletes, they were gold medalists. It's not like they needed the money, so it makes me wonder why. I was also look at Hugh Hefner and how he affects what the models do. I have read that the models are basically his slaves, and if they do just one simple thing out of line—like talk to the wrong person, they get fired. I don’t personally understand why someone could live there life knowing that they are being controlled by another person. These girls are obviously beautiful, or they wouldn’t be a part of Playboy. I want to understand why girls with so much going for them choose Playboy over going to school, or having a “normal” family. Some of the models I will use as examples to look at more closely are Pamela Anderson, Drew Barrymore, and Rachael Hunter. I will give an in depth look at how they grew up, and how they ended up with Playboy.

Keepin' It Real: Definitions in Flux/Realer Than Real

Definitions:

Hegemonic: the social, cultural, ideological, or economic influence exerted by a dominant group

Peculiar: strange, queer, and odd.

Multiethnic: made up of people of various ethnicities

Obfuscating: confusing

Tumultuous: disorderly or noisy, disturbance

Sacrosanct: treated as if holy : immune from criticism or violation

Malleability: capable of being altered or controlled by outside forces or influences

Keepin’ It Real: Definitions in Flux

Hip-hop came about in the 1970s in South Bronx. This caused criminal activity and the black community to be associated directly to hip-hop. Since hip-hop came from South Bronx, which is a mainly black community, whites have been removed from hip-hop culture. This is because most are from middle-class, suburban living. In hip-hop, whites are not considered authentic. Eminem is an exception to this. He is authentic because of his experience. He doesn’t rap about surreal things. He raps about the troubles he has been through. Also, he was one of the first whites to take the chance and enter hip-hop.

Graffiti art and b-boying are only considered authentic to hip-hop in the Latino community. Some African Americans have attained doing graffiti art and b-boying, but it did not originate where hip-hop did.

Major Paper 2--Proposal

To make their music more popular, rappers use women that are barely clothed in their music videos. These women are wearing bikinis most of the time, and doing things that some would not even think about doing in public. I think that these women are completely degrading themselves. They should never agree to be in these videos. By being in these videos, and doing the things that they do, they are telling young men that it is okay to expect this out of other women. My audience for this paper will be these women that are willing to put themselves out there for the music industry. I will give examples of what people think about the women in these videos, and write about what they are doing to hip-hop/rap in general. I will try to persuade these women to no longer give into being barely clothed and dancing all over guys for the world to see. Some of the things that will be addressed are; whether or not they would want their children to see them doing those things on TV, what other things they could be doing with their lives (college, starting a family, etc.), and what guys think of them. I do not believe that these women are gaining respect for being the way they are. They are making themselves look vulnerable and weak. My plan is to make the women who plan to make a living out of being in music videos think twice about their employment.

Proposal

Branding has led to young girls being more self conscious than ever. I plan to focus on anorexia in teens/tweens. My audience will be those teens/tweens and their parents. Anorexia is caused mostly by people being judged by others. If every parent would teach their children to worry about the truly important things in life, maybe there wouldn’t be so much judging going on in schools all over the world. I will describe the effects of anorexia, and how it can be prevented, along with how branding has contributed to anorexia.

Anorexia is a disease caused mostly by girls being self conscious. This self consciousness leads to an obsession with dieting and being “thin.” If helped early, someone can come out of it somewhat easily. If someone is anorexic for a long period of time, it because an addiction. Once anorexia is part of someone’s lifestyle, not eating is just like eating constantly to a binge eater. Media uses all skinny models, knowing that all girls do not have bodies like those models. This is where branding comes in. If a ridiculously skinny model is wearing a brand a teen likes, the teen automatically thinks that she should look the way the model does in those clothes.

Quart, Alissa. Branded: The Buying and Selling of Teenagers. New York: Basic Books, 2003. Print.

While walking through the mall, you will see bright colors, smell appealing smells, and see manikins of the so-called ideal body with clothes on that will probably only look that way on 25 percent of people. Brands locate trendspotters by doing that exact thing. You don’t only see brands doing this in malls, but in magazines, on television, in movies, and on billboards. A walk down the street isn’t as simple as it used to be. In magazines, you see celebrities wearing make-up. On television and in movies, you see celebrities wearing the clothes that brands want us to buy.

It is essential to understand and identify with audience awareness. You could become a victim if you do not understand what these marketers are trying to do. They are simply using you to get you to buy the items. They don’t really care if you look good, smell good, or feel good. All they care about is getting the money that you pay for these items. If you fall for every ad that appeals to you, there is a very large chance that you will end up in debt.

Teens and tweens are usually the first victims. The marketers get them while they are young and do not realize that they are being used. They will hire the most popular teens/tweens in school and ask them what’s cool, what people are wearing, and what they want to see more of. This makes the teens/tweens feel important.

Teens and tweens are the most powerful sector of the market because they do not have bills, and most do not use their own income to buy. They will buy things without thinking twice, where adults will think long and hard before making a big purchase. When I was spending my parents’ money, there was no hesitation. I had no problem spending an outrageous amount of money on a shirt or some jeans.

Letter of Introduction

Dear Classmates,

Like most others enrolled in English 108, I am a freshman. Last semester I took English 104. To be completely honest, English classes are not of much interest to me. Every English class I have taken in my life has been because I have to. Although I do not enjoy English classes, I try to make the most of them.

I chose Missouri Western for a number of reasons. The main reason was that it is close to home. Other reasons include keeping my job of almost two years and the nursing program appealed to me. I went to Benton High School here in St. Joseph and played softball there. I was also involved in the National Honor Society. Through Hillyard Technical School, I was involved in SkillsUSA, where I completed in Nationals for opening and closing ceremonies. We were the first team from Hillyard Technical School to go and we placed fifth.

In 15 years, I plan to be graduated from school, with a good job in a clinic or hospital as a nurse. I also plan to have a family started, with my own house. I will most likely continue to live here in St. Joseph, because this is where I grew up, and where my entire family lives.

So far, my college experience has been exciting. I have learned that procrastination only leads to more procrastination, and that if you get your work done early, you feel much better about yourself. I am already about half way through “Branded,” and it feels great! I am enjoying the book more than I thought I would. I am anxious to see what this semester holds, and to get to know all of you.

Sincerely,
Brittany McCarthy