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| Different Forms of Female Exploitation |
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| Degrading Images People in the entertainment industry complain that they are allowed first amendment rights, and that they can say or do or portray anything that they want. But when their rights start injuring women's rights, where is the freedom of expression in that? Magazines try to tell readers that by being more beautiful, women will be happier and by wearing certain things and looking a certain way, they can achieve anything in life that they had once thought was impossible. This unrealistic ideal is read and believed by millions of teen girls every day in magazines. No wonder girls of our generation have serious self-esteem and depression issues. With perfect ideals set for them, no one can be any less than perfect and still be happy. This situation of media propaganda is copied by most, if not all, of the forms of media. Television, movies, music, and computers, all of these have demeaning ideals of women. Such as women in clothing ads who are seen in revealing outfits and look as though they are scared and innocent needing protection. They portray women as either helpless, weak, needing a man, or as a sex object, without a mind and completely two dimensional, put on Earth to fulfill men's needs. Negative portrayals of women in media affect women everywhere. If children are brought up watching television and seeing a world in which women are second-class citizens, why should they grow up thinking anything else? Women are seen, or at least portrayed, as less than human. In television and movies, reality is distorted by the ideal depiction of women yet again. Women are subject to violence, endless criticism, and demeaning comments. Men are the saviors, heroes, risk-takers, and general protectors of the weak female. Men are the main characters. The male has the dilemma and the solution. The female's role is to assist the male and to look sufficiently pretty while doing it. In music videos, violence towards women is portrayed as acceptable, and even fun. Music of all tastes is made entertaining women. Whether these artists are male or female. Male artists use women in their videos as an accessory, to make the video more appealing to a larger audience. Female artists themselves dress in very revealing clothing, again trying to impress a larger, mostly male audience. This type of exploitation is particularly harmful because younger generations look to music artists as role model, and want to look, dress, and act like them, seeing all of their actions as "right." In advertisements, perfect women try to sell products to make the less than perfect female population feel more secure with her body. The reality is that women in advertisements are not even real women. They are often "perfect" computer generated features of different women combined to make the "perfect" woman. The products will not make are often negative, which is really ironic because these images are very effective in selling to female consumers. Stereotypes diminish the social construction of femininity because they place women in categories. Such stereotypes include the "cleaning woman" who is always in the kitchen or laundry room and who was supposedly put on Earth to cook and clean anyone any prettier, and they certainly will not raise anyone's self esteem. Images of women in advertisements; a woman who is always looking her best, just home from the salon, freshly done nails and make-up, wearing high heel spike shoes; the "weak" woman who needs protection from the world by the male. Sex Trade "The sex trade perpetuates and sustains a belief that women are valueless or that their only value lies in their bodies and, more specifically, whether their bodies are valued by men." (http://www.rrnet.com) The sex trade is all about money. It is the sale of the female body for money. It can range from pornography to prostitution to stripping. This exploits women because it makes them feel as though their bodies are only good for sex. Pornography: In pornography, women are presented as mere sex objects for men's enjoyment. This form of entertainment is sick and degrading to women all over the world. These women distort men's view of the whole female population. "Pornography, like rape, is a male invention, designed to dehumanize women, to reduce the female to an object of sexual access, not to free sensuality from moralistic or parental inhibition. The staple of porn will always be the naked female body, breasts and genitals exposed, because as man devised it, her naked body is the female's 'shame,' her private parts the private property of man, while his are the ancient, holy, universal, patriarchal instrument of his power, his rule by force over her. Pornography is the undiluted essence of anti-female propaganda." (Brownmiller, 1975, p. 443) Prostitution: Prostitution victimizes women, justifies the sale of sex and degrades women by implying that women are only good for sex. Prostitution basically makes fun of a practice that should be held sacred between two people that love each other. When men pay women for sex or for other sexual favors, it demeans the whole concept of sex being about love.
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