Oppression in the Neo-Consumer Age

The older I get, the more I look around and see the injustices of modern society. I live in America, so I can only speak from an American perspective, but there is definitely something wrong going on here. 

Recently, for my English class, we had to create an essay question in which we contemplated a controversial subject. One of my good friends' question was "How does dress coding in schools enforce rape culture?" And ever since then, it got me thinking about all the different ways sexism is perpetuated in our modern society. It's the underlying message in songs, advertisements, movies, television shows, and of course, clothing. The more I paid attention, the angrier I got. I bought a Glamour magazine, and one of the cover stories was about what bathing suits guys prefer girls to wear. It made me sick. Why does it matter what a guy thinks about my bathing suit if I feel good about it? Women should dress for themselves, not men, but that seems to be a fact we continually forget or ignore.  

The reason I am writing this post today is because I was just made to change my clothes. By my parents. I came down wearing really cute red shorts with a 5 inch inseam that my mother bought me last spring, and white short-sleeved shirt from H&M. My dad saw me and told me I couldn't be dressed skimpier if I tried. I don't know what century he's living in, but it's like he hasn't looked around since the 80's. He honestly believes people don't dress any skimpier. And the worst part is my mom backed him up even though she bought me the shorts. So, because it's Mother's Day I changed to avoid conflict but not without an underlying resentment towards my parents. The skirt I put on instead does not go all the way to my knees but if I wear it low enough on my waist it seems to. The shorts offered better coverage overall, but they're shorter than the skirt so my parents had a problem with them. 

It just makes me so angry that I still have to bend to the archaic ideals of my parents. The problem is that by enforcing such BS rules, we are no closer to achieving equality between men and women. If women have to continually watch out for what they're wearing in fear of men's reactions, we are no better than we were 50, 100, 150 years ago. And it makes me so angry. 

What Katy Perry, Michelle Obama, and Oprah Have in Common

Feminism, in past decades, had a negative connotation, often being referred to as "the other F word." Feminists were assumed to be people who didn't shave or wear makeup and hated men and were thought of as "most likely lesbians." And God knows what men who were feminists went through, the select few of them that were actually around. But recently, the feminist movement is starting to be seen in a new light. As more and more women rise to powerful positions, and make their voices heard, females as a whole start to break stereotypes and rise above the preconceived notion of what a woman should be. People like Hillary Clinton, Angelina Jolie, Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama, and even Katy Perry, Ke$ha, and Lady Gaga are becoming the faces of the new generation of women, striving to achieve bigger and better things, and empower other women to strive for successes of their own, as well.

What most people seem to misunderstand is that the whole point of feminism is not to shun men, or belittle them the way they've belittled us. It's to achieve great things on our own, without stooping to an unsightly level, whilst also helping other women succeed, and feel powerful, too. We can't move forward if we're so focused on avenging ourselves against the wrongdoings of men. We must take the higher road in order to see the effects of our hard work. Feminism also doesn't mean we can't appreciate and accept acts of chivalry. You can enjoy it when a man buys you dinner or holds the door for you, and still be a feminist. Being a feminist just means you believe in and fight for equal rights between men and women. By that definition, you should be able to enjoy being doted upon, while also being able to dote on someone else, without the stigma of it being your "place" to dote on a man.

On one hand, we have people like Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, and Oprah, who use their political and business positions to influence the situations surrounding them, in order to achieve a goal that benefits the greater good. But they don't just work solely for women. The initiatives and programs they organize and head, such as the Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton Foundation, and the Childhood Obesity Action Plan, (created by Michelle Obama), have goals through which they wish to help as many people as possible, of any gender. In that way, they are not only fighting for feminine equality, but human equality, which is feminism at its most basic.

And how can we forget the contributions of Katy Perry, Ke$ha, and Lady Gaga? These fierce females broke the mold of the common pop star, paving the way for the crazy antics of people like Miley Cyrus, post-Hannah Montana. Katy Perry and Lady Gaga are known for their outrageous and elaborate outfits on the red carpet, and have proven to women that you don't have to dress a certain way to get attention or respect. They taught girls that you can be outlandish and crazy and colorful and some people will think you're strange, but other people will think you're awesome, and those are the people worth your time. Ke$ha is infamous for having racy, raucous lyrics that take specific sexual jabs at men that most people are uncomfortable with. It's kind of ironic that a woman gets so much hate for lyrics that are nearly identical in message to lyrics of popular male artists, like 2Chainz, or Chris Brown, or even Justin Bieber. Ke$ha is literally giving these and all other men a taste of their own medicine, making them feel singled out and uncomfortable, the way their songs make women feel. And of course she gets hate, because she's innovative and clever with her messages. I completely admire her for being so blunt and raunchy, because if she didn't do it, someone else would've, because it was bound to happen sometime. These icons of pop culture have progressed the feminist movement by making people question the traditional roles and molds of women, by breaking them vehemently and extraordinarily.

In essence, feminism is necessary because women need to feel just as comfortable and powerful in their own skin as men do. We need to feel okay with or without makeup, dressed up or dressed down, singing one lyric or another. We need others to recognize our power and influence, and respect it. We need feminism because it's time that all people realize that it is beneficial to a more progressive society. It's time we get over our archaic notions of gender roles, and accept each other with all of our flaws and talents and give each other the respect we deserve as decent humans, no matter the gender.

In Defense of T. Swizzle

So, as many of you know, Miss Taylor Swift has come a long way since her "Picture to Burn" days, but at the same time, not much has changed in reference to her fantastical romantic notions. She's known for nearly always placing the blame on the boy in a relationship gone wrong, and has many people criticizing her for not realizing the common denominator in all her relationships. But then again, not all of her songs are about breakup. Some of them are about new romance, new love, or a relationship that actually worked, in the case of "Mine."

So, why am I writing this, you're probably asking. It's because I want to make an attempt to defend Taylor, as a fellow girl. A lot of her songs include overly-romanticized ideals about relationships between two people, how the man should always be chivalrous and sweet, otherwise he's a monster. There's even a Twitter account under the tag @feministtswift which changes certain Swift lyrics to be more, well, feminist. I don't necessarily disagree with this Twitter account, because it makes me realize that in a lot of her songs, Taylor expects to be treated as something other than equal to a man, though not in a bad way. She is expressing her want for a fairy-tale romance, which is just not rational. But at the same time we have to realize, for Taylor, her songs are like her diary, and she's letting us read it. We have no right to criticize someone's fantasies, however screwed they may be. She's simply expressing how she wishes things were. I don't believe she is completely delusional to how men really act, as exemplified in the sheer amount of guys she's rumored to have dated, which should be evidence enough.

 It's not wrong for a woman to want to be treated right by a man, or even wish that he put in a little effort to be more romantic and Ryan Gosling-like. What's wrong is to not admit that maybe you, as the female, could put in more effort to appeal to your partner. It's wrong to expect that he give up everything that makes him happy to go out and do whatever you want to make you happy. A relationship has to be a two way street with give and take on both sides for it to work, and I think most people's problem with Taylor Swift and her songs is that she nearly always portrays herself as either the victim or the doted-upon princess. Don't get me wrong, I do like her as an artist, but I see where she's kind of missing the mark, so to speak. Sure, there are songs in which she admits to being at fault, such as "Back to December," but most people remember her for "I Knew You Were Trouble" and "We Are Never, Ever Getting Back Together," which are kind of self-indicting in this case. Overall, I think Taylor Swift is majorly successful because she appeals to the wannabe-princess-slash-Rachel-McAdams in all of us girls out there, but she can definitely improve by writing songs in which blame is placed on those who truly deserve it. I think this will come with age though, because look at this way - at least she's not still writing about being Juliet Capulet.

P.S. - Keep in mind, if we're going to criticize Taylor Swift for portraying herself as somewhat of a princess, why can't we criticize male musicians who portray women as prostitutional low-lifes who were made only to provide sexual pleasure to men? Because I mean, really, they're both distorted portrayals of women, but we only seem to focus on the extreme presented by a girl. Which makes everything you argue complete hypocrisy. Just remember that. ;)

UPDATE: I recently saw an article in the Huffington Post stating that the Westboro Baptist Church is now calling Swift a "whore." For whatever reason they are claiming, this is not ok. It's people like this that create chaos, promote injustice and inequality, and allow hatred to spread. Not ok.