It has been fifty years since the first birth control pill generated an all-out socio-political revolution between two genders and our culture, the way we communicate, the way we raise our children, conduct business, as well as in the way we see ourselves and view others. Seismic vibrations have occurred in the landscape of men and women's lives and any improvement in baby daddy's sensitivity training is often accommodated by damaging wear and tear on the couple's relationship.
But in all those years women have made very little headway in escaping sexual objectifying and individual dignity. Is that simply because an embryo matures in the body only of a female? Stepping away from that big black hole of controversy I'd rather look at what and who has risen from the ashes of bonfires set in order to burn bras and raise women's consciousness.
Under the category of 'what', one vertigo inducing spin initially started with Rush Limbaugh's incessant use of the term femi-nazi. His strident campaign, meant to denigrate, demean and ultimately destroy the front line of gender equality in the workplace proved very successful, not only among men and women living in middle America, but it was also pitch perfect to men on both coastlines who hated falling in line with what they perceived to be nothing more than a passing trend.
More recently, thanks to the brilliant marketing strategy of Roger Ailes, president of Fox News Channel, media watchers now refer to female Fox news talking heads as 'talking legs.' Talking legs actually evolves from Ailes original stable of Stepford blonde anchor women. By redesigning the news sets so that an anchor's desk has only a top but no walls to hide the anchor's lower body parts, those same blonde helmets are instructed by Ailes to keep their legs always crossed. With the camera's eye intentionally focused on this provocative pose, the spoken word is organically airbrushed out by man's imagination.
But in the larger context, women themselves have to be accountable for not achieving better results and to that point I blame their poor fashion choices. For how could a cultural war cry mutate into a backlash for the freedom to show as much skin as possible without fear of getting arrested for prostitution? How does it help women's causes if they dress in the same street wear preferred by women of the night. These same women vilify men who are attracted to silicone breasts and thongs peeking out of low-rise jeans. How can women demand equal rights, bring work colleagues up on charges of sexual harassment and command respect, all in an attempt to stop being sexually objectified, if they're lining up voluntarily and enthusiastically across the country to get a tramp stamp. Nearly 25% of the American population aged 18 to 50 has a tattoo, out of which almost 20% of the women have a lower back tattoo. How can these mothers even look their teenage daughters in the eye and expect a different result?
Another disturbing female enthusiasm concerns young women drinking alcohol in such huge amounts they pass out. Like men. Is this one of those gender based equalities Gloria Steinem and her pack rats fought to achieve? The high rate of alcohol consumption among college women has raised a lot of concern among campuses and has made psychologists anxious to run studies in order to try and determine the cause for an alarming cultural change in college female behavior.
I'm old enough to have read the original literary articles on women's liberation. The failure of the decades to advance makes me think that perhaps women growing up in the sixties and early seventies were merely crying out for attention.
I would love to know what you think on this matter. If you agree with anything I've said or completely disagree, scribble me an essay or a short note. And if you want, please include your age. On this subject I think age has a lot to do with a female's opinion. Ciao for now - e.
No comments:
Post a Comment