rockradiosexism: drpuffin: rockradiosexism: ...

drpuffin:

rockradiosexism:

This is, admittedly, a tough one for me - being as I’m against slut shaming, and all that. On the other hand, though, this is also where people question “choice feminism”. Is it really a free choice if a woman allows herself to be objectified in such a manner, when she is practically coerced into it? Does it make things harder for women who only want to focus purely for their music?

Feel free to weigh in on this, followers. Both the ask and submit boxes are open.

Are those two the same woman? Honestly I can’t tell. “Conventionally attractive” and all that crap.

I’m going to have to disagree with the image. The women never caused the sexism. The sexism existed there for thousands of years in the first place. These women are posing for the MALE gaze. Not the female gaze, the MALE gaze. Men have decided “these poses in these outfits are sexy.” Maybe they did walk out onto that set and chose those clothes and poses, but it’s still being dictated by the male gaze. And I disagree with choice feminism — it’s just another way to uphold the patriarchy. Sure you have a choice and it might be empowering on an individual level (and I will NEVER tell someone what they can or cannot do with THEIR bodies) but in the big picture it plays into patriarchal ideas of how women should dress, look, act, etc. If we play a pretend game for a moment, and pretend sexism was never ever a thing, these two women wouldn’t be posed like this. I’m sure the magazine writers and owners are primarily male as well — they’re the ones who chose to write a “Hottest Chicks in Metal” section in the first place. These women are simply playing into the male gaze and metal-fied ideas of femininity. Women are told their worth is in their physical appearance. Men are told they’re worthy for their personalities and are rarely objectified in the same way women are. They’re rarely told their only worth is how pretty they are. That these women felt they had to pose like this is no surprise…again, just playing into patriarchal ideas of how women should look and behave.

Not to mention the submitter is blaming women for patriarchy/problems that stem as a result of the patriarchy. I’m really tired of that bullshit because the root cause is men. If women always agree with men and the patriarchy, they individually get power. Shoving other women down to raise yourself up is a classic way to gain power in a system that is slanted against you. You’re not winning brownie points with teh menz, dear. Men win. That’s how patriarchy works. Men always win. And even if you shove other women down, they don’t give a fuck, it’s for their amusement and their empowerment, not yours. The patriarchy will only entertain your efforts so long as they deem it useful. Watch how fast males in your life will turn on you once you start getting into deep discussions of misogyny and sexism. Watch how fucking fast they turn. You’re no longer their puppet and that pisses them off. And even if you are their puppet, they’ll still find ways to shit on you, remember that the next time you’re scared to walk alone at night and look at your paycheck and realize how little you make compared to your male colleagues.

Very good points. I agree that it’s not the women’s fault, but that it’s the patriarchal system that advocates such objectification.

Yeah, I did get the impression that the OP was blaming the women themselves - when men are the folks behind this.

The part that I’m conflicted on, though, is that sex workers get enough flack from the patriarchal moralists - and we certainly do not want to add to that. The question is, though, how can we be sex worker positive - while, at the same time, not advocating the objectification and male gaze that usually comes with it? I know that not all women who are sex workers are so, by choice. Many have been coerced into it, somehow - and, by being against sex workers themselves, we’d be feeding into the “blame the victim” mentality. I guess the key is to attack the system, rather than attacking the women themselves.

“Choice feminism” is one thing I’m conflicted on, actually. Some people who say they are against “choice feminism” are anti-femininity - and say things like women should not like pink, or anything else coded “feminine”. That itself can be misogynistic, as it devalues things associated with women. Also, it feeds into the “tomboy and girly-girl” dichotomy - when, in fact, most women are some combination of the two.

On the other hand, though, there are certain choices that can be detrimental to the feminist cause. Yeah, if there was no patriarchy, we would not see crap like the cover of Revolver magazine.

GYNOCRATICGRRL

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