ambiguity and sadness

In our readings assigned for tomorrow there was lot of information going in many different directions. Its all difficult to stomach. In this chapter of Levy's "Female Chauvinist Pigs" we dive deeper into the issues present in our world today. One element of the this chapter that struck me was the ongoing comparison between the "sexual revolution" as defined by the likes of Hugh Hefner, and the CAKE organization, versus the feminist movement. In class we discussed whether the feminist movement was inherently liberal or conservative, but we left the question up in the air. I believe this to be quite telling, as much of this movement is drenched in varying opinions, different circumstances and general ambiguity. But back to Hugh and his sexual "liberation" of women. I think his argument was most compelling to me because he embodies a lot of what this movement is plagued with, he is saying one thing when in reality he means something completely different. He claims to be liberating women  by celebrating their beauty and allowing them to express it. He is in opposition to the conservative prudes who try to suppress women's freedom to flaunt their attributes. I think Hugh is lost in a cloud of his own cigar smoke. He is "celebrating" only the aspects of women that are pleasing to men. He is "celebrating" blondes and boobs and while there is nothing wrong with being blonde and having boobs, I agree with Levy when she says that we shouldn't pretend like this movement is something that it isn't. I think Brownmiller put it well when she asked Hugh in their televised confrontation if he'd like to prance around on stage wearing bunny ears. If a woman is proud of her body and she wants to show it off (perhaps it's all she has going for her...) then so be it, go for it. But Hugh shouldn't cloud our judgement by comparing his enterprise with the feminist movement. 

I found Betty Friedan's chapter to be profoundly sad. It was difficult to read as a young woman in college. Times have obviously changed since she wrote this book, but I know these problems still reverberate today, and thats a difficult notion to swallow.  I got my copy of "Feminism In Our Time" from Amazon.com. For those who don't know, that means that my copy is used and was sold to me by some random person in the US. Oddly enough, within the pages of my copy is a wrinkled post-it note, written on it in purple ink is, "waffles, frozen vegetables, cereal (one box) milk, oj, pasta, construction paper, safety pins, bananas" I found this to be a bit ironic as I read through this chapter, hearing story after story about bored housewives who's lives consist of nothing beyond housework and pleasing their husbands and children. I began to imagine the woman who wrote this list. I wondered if the construction paper was for her. I wondered what she needed the safety pins for. I wondered if the one box of cereal she was buying was her favorite, or if it was Lucky Charms. Perhaps I'm reading too far into this post-it note, but I think it helped me put the pain of these women in perspective. I've never been in their shoes, and since my mother has a career, I've never even seen this sentiment played out in real life. But I have profound empathy for these women. I found the bit about society constructing these "norms" for women to be particularly sickening. How women were enticed to desire new washing machines and baby cribs to help fuel the economy. It made these women seem like drones. Just following the crowd to please someone else. After being abroad for a semester, and then returning to our painfully homogeneous campus, I cant help but liken the girls that I walk amongst everyday to the future sufferers of this livelihood. 

This post is particularly pessimistic, but I can only hope our future readings will lighten my viewpoint a bit.