For many people, the words “bra-burner” and “feminist” are synonymous, with both terms often holding negative connotations. It is easy for one to see how the “feminist” could arouse negative feelings in a patriarchal society such as today’s, but what is it about that other little alliteration that causes people to recoil in disgust? Going braless in today’s day and age is a taboo reinforced by men, women, and the brassiere itself. Aside from being largely unnecessary and uncomfortable, these garments reinforce the sexualization and objectification of women’s bodies by holding the woman’s body in an unnatural shape, concealing the nipples, and supporting, or displaying, breasts. So why do women wear bras? It is widely believed that wearing …show more content…
Pair this with the popularity of the bra and you’ll see women, and men, judging each other based on whether or not they wear a brassiere. One of the most obvious give aways for whether or not a woman has donned a bra is her nipples, which are naturally larger and more prominent than a man’s nipples. The knowledge that if their nipples show through their shirts they will be labelled as lazy, unprofessional,or promiscuous, and that they’ll get unwanted comments and stares, is the reason many women choose to wear a bra, even if they find it uncomfortable. Such attention to the female nipple shows us just how eroticized that part of a woman’s body actually is in our society. Again, we can trace this sexualization back to the fact that nipples are reserved for sexual activity. When we only portray a woman’s nipples as objects meant for sex, of course they’re going to be seen as a sign of sexuality. If they weren’t sexualized, chances are women would be allowed to breastfeed in public without being considered obscene, female nipples wouldn’t be censored, and overall there would be less of a focus on the concealment of nipples. Bras are now designed to specifically hide the nipples, with many having built in “concealment petals.” Since the sexualization of the nipple comes from the situations in which they are deemed acceptable to be seen, we can hold the bra largely responsible for this attitude. Without the bra the nipple would be seen in everyday situations, thus normalizing that part of the body, rather than coding it as specifically for
Feminists, by questioning that line, can find the need reevaluate their political position and how they relate the issues of feminism to other ideas and movements. The realization that feminists should constantly question their stances on social and political issues hasn’t become clear to everyone, but Lumby believes that the debates between feminists over the issue of censorship and pornography (issues that go hand in hand according to the chapter) will bring the realization out in the open (par 60).
The Scarlet Letter can easily be seen as an early feminist piece of work. Nathaniel Hawthorne created a story that exemplifies Hester as a strong female character living with her choices, whether they were good or bad, and also as the protagonist. He also presents the daughter of Hester, Pearl, as an intelligent female, especially for her age. He goes on to prove man as imperfect through both the characters of Dimmesdale and of Chillingworth. With the situation that all the characters face, Hawthorne establishes the female as the triumphant one, accomplishing something that, during Nathaniel Hawthorne’s time, authors did not attempt.
Porter brings up the day his family had to bury his teenage brother, and ten minutes after they buried him and all the women had left out of the vehicle, that was when his father started to cry. He knew his father did not want to cry in front of him, but he also knew that it would have been better to cry in front of his son than in front of the women. If his father were to do so, it would have left his manliness out of the box and breaking that rule of showing emotion. It is the same for women. They have to stay “pure,” in regards to their virginity, and they cannot wear anything that can lead them to getting rape, but they have to be sexy, and that they have to be second to men if not than they are not a real woman. It goes back to gender inequality in the world and how these set gender roles are to be fulfilled. C.J. Pascoe mentions about Judith Butler’s way to challenge this gender inequality, and that is if “individuals who deliberately engage in gender practices that render them culturally unintelligible, such as practices that are at odds with their apparent sex category, challenge the naturalness and inevitability of a rigid gender order,” if girls can engage in “masculinizing processes,”
...d women’s fashion to break free from convention. Bras and corsets were seen as symbols of oppression and conformity. They were discarded by many women as many new fads appeared,(). Women also exhibited their newfound freedom by wearing traditional male clothing such as baggy trousers, men's jackets, vests, over-sized shirts, ties and hats.
One often pre-conceived notion about feminist theory that was discussed in the unit is the idea that theory does not relate to practice (Levan, 10). Even though I have taken multiple Women’s Studies courses prior to this course, I also used to believe this notion. I believed that studying theory would help my own understanding of feminist ideas, but that it was not practical. I admit that even reading the course manual, my opinion only wavered slightly. I agreed more with Andrea Nye’s perspective, that theory “seem to exist without reference to the real world” (Levan, 10). It was not until I read Charlotte Bunch’s article, Not by Degrees: Feminist Theory and Education, that my opinion changed. Her example about the creating a theory regarding lesbian oppression is what truly helped explain the connection between theory and application to me: “Having a theory about lesbian oppression did not tell us what to do tactically, but it did provide a framework for understanding situations, for placing them in a broader context, and for evaluating possible courses of action” (Bunch, 12). The end of this quote is what I needed to understand for me to see the connection between theory and practice. Feminist theory can be used as a guideline when trying to create action for social change.
Valenti, Jessica. Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman's Guide to Why Feminism Matters. Emeryville, CA: Seal, 2007. Print.
The insults and defining features of On the Apparel of Women are aimed at women, and female scholars don’t share the same opinion as Hoffman and Gooch.
Body modification, in all forms, has always met opposition in Western society, and the modification of the human body through corsetry has historically been no less challenged. But tight-lacing is not the same as tattooing. The belief was that it not only altered a person’s figure, but it deformed her bones, compressed her viscera until they could not function properly, and interfered with her purpose in life: to become a mother. These concerns plagued the minds of female dress reformers and men alike from the corset’s advent in the fifteenth century until World War One began in 1914, when corsets were no longer mass-produced due to the military’s need for steel. The vast majority of European and American men and a percentage of middle-class Western women were those who opposed corsetry, causing those who accepted and enjoyed corsets to be the minority, and yet the undergarment persevered.
Shockingly, surveys suggest that a quarter of people think that a woman is in some way responsible for being raped if she wears sexy or revealing clothing. Around one in five people think it would sometimes be acceptable for a man to hit or slap his partner if she wore sexy or revealing clothing. Pervasive phrases like “Bros before hos” reflect a disposability of women in our culture. Even the common use of the term “females” reduces women to a clinical gynotype.
In “Feminism: A Movement to End Sexist Oppression”, Bell Hooks asserts, in being unable to arrive at an agreement over the true definition of feminism, feminism itself no longer has a base for the movement to develop from. Without this foundation, no new ideas can be created or engaged with. It is a sign there has been an amounting lack of interest in feminism as a radical sociopolitical movement, and this fact is not funny.
It is proclaimed that dress codes objectify females in an unfair manner. Ways in which they do this is by making one feel bad about their body and blaming them for publicizing sexual harassment. Dress code violation often results in girls being removed from class and missing the lesson. Females get sent home, given a hideous pair of clothes to change into, or restricted from meaningful school functions like the prom. A student named Marcia Stevens personally experienced this type of discrimination. Before the incident, she was involved in her reputation was different; teachers classified her as “a fine student without behavioral problems.” (Pomerantz 1 ) It wasn 't the clothes she had on but rather the amount of cleavage she was showing. Stevens cleavage was only visible because her chest is a bit larger than the other girls. “She was punished for having the wrong kind of ("fat," "messy") body in an article of clothing that was not considered inappropriate on other kinds of ("thin," "neat") bodies. Marcia 's body was "inappropriate" because it spilled out; it was not "ladylike" or "school like," it was not tidy, and it was not easily contained. In short, her body was visible as a body. And the visibility of a young woman 's body, according to this dress code interpretation, was tantamount to a crime. Her body made "maintaining a suitable school atmosphere"
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a Nigerian author who has received numerous awards and distinctions. Her main argument is that everyone should be a feminist not because of our gender, but because it is what is right. Adichie has been featured in Beyonce’s song, “Flawless”, spreading awareness to the idea of feminism. “We Should All Be Feminists” is a book about her experiences in Nigeria, where men are more powerful than women. The intended audience of the passage is each and every person residing in heavily patriarchal societies. Hesr thesis is “we should all be feminists”.
Pedersen, Stephanie. "Before the Bra." Bra: a Thousand Years of Style, Support and Seduction. Newton Abbot: David and Charles, 2004. 22-28. Print.
Earlier in this essay there was information regarding the fact that one of the leading causes for death of women in the 19th century was the process of natural childbirth, however, “the second leading death among women remained fire” (Volo). It makes no sense at first, but due to the large amounts of fabric worn by women, and the fact that candle flame was one of the only sources of light, it tended to occur a lot. Among the few who tried to take the fashions of women into their own hands, mostly for safety issues, Amelia Bloomer was the one to speak out best. Having been a suffragette and an advocate for women’s rights, “she is best known for advocating a dress reform that included looser tops and short skirts with a pair of pants underneath” (“Amelia Bloomer”). It is clear to see that in any historical film or image that the outfits women wore were rather large and didn’t leave room for much movement. The ambition to change this was later put down with the arguments of the 4 virtues (domesticity, piety, purity, submissiveness) having been violated. In contrast, the women of the 20th century had more reign over what was worn. While previous fashions were restrictive and generally conservative, it was in the 1920’s that “women began to liberate themselves from constricting clothes for the first time and openly
In the book Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center written by bell hooks, an African-American author, social activist and feminist first published in 1984 the author explains what she believes are the core principles of feminism. Throughout the book the author examines the early feminist theory and goes on to criticize it saying that it did not aim for a systematic change also that the movement has the potential to improve the lives of both men and women immensely. In the book the author investigates the performance of African-American women in the movement and what is needed to drive the movement towards ending oppression of all kinds.