"She was no actor; she merely showed herself. And she succeeded to the degree that she revealed herself to be what she was: a woman." (125)
Holy crap. Wait, what? That thing on the stage is a woman?! You could've fooled me.
No. Just no. I understand that view of Logan (and everyone else) in this book are from a time hardly comparable to 2015. So, with my postmodern view on life and sexuality, I am kind of offended that a woman has to hide the fact she's a woman. Um, duh. You cannot kind your sex behind the folds of a cloth, no matter how hard you try. (Unless you're a bank robber wearing an all black sweatsuit, but that's irrelevant to my point.) To me, Logan makes it sound that being a women is a horrendous thing that should be kept a big secret. I compare that to dress codes in this time. I do believe there is a fine line between "showing off" your body and simply having a body that can be seen. For example, t-shirts. Sorry I have cleavage and I'm not going to run around everywhere in a turtleneck. Yeah, I try not to let the world see EVERYTHING but sometimes it's hard. And yoga pants. I know some people will probably stare at my butt. I take that into consideration when I wear them. But, it's not like I go buy a butt enhancer body shape wear thing to enhance it. This brings me to the thought of tank tops in schools. So many dress codes require a 1-2 inch strap that conceals all other straps (of, specifically [dare I say the offending name] a BRA) so that others (presumably boys) won't see it. LITERALLY EVERYONE knows that most females wear a bra. Wearing a bra is socially accepted and expected. So, why should we hide it? What about my middle-high school bra strap or shoulders makes a young boy drool and lust after me? Is it my fault I have shoulders and wear a bra? I'd probably be stared at more if I didn't wear a bra! SO WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?!
Moving on.
"The nude woman succeeded monetarily but not because of her hard work and training. She advertised her sexuality and was paid for doing so." (126)
Okay okay okay hold up here. First of all, as I mentioned in class, dancing/pole dancing/Burlesque/anything related is hard. I can hardly dance for fun without getting winded and exhausted. These women are indeed athletic, as we also mentioned in class. They don't just hop up on the stage and walk around showing a leg or two. They physically move, which is exhausting! And in this day and age, men too "succeed monetarily" through their bodies. Modeling, being a hot celeb, even being on the Bachelor. These people aren't featured on popular culture because they're ugly. People aspire to be like them because of how they look and the money that they make. If you look good, you might as well use your face to make some money. Unless you don't want to, that's perfectly fine too. Get a behind the scenes jobs such as a telephone counselor where no one can see your pretty face.
Moving further.
"...most American feminists agreed that in order for sexual equality to be achieved, sexual passion had to be brought under the control of women and carefully regulated, rationalized, and channeled exclusively into procreation." (126)
Excuse me. This relates back to my first point: is it the male's or female's fault that people stare at a woman's body? Probably a bit of both, depending on the situation. But it is not entirely up to the woman to hide who she is. If I'm a female, I am going to have female physical characteristics. Sorry. Also, I am more than a procreator. Yeah, women carry the child and have the eggs, but they don't do it without the male's help! Men help procreate too! Why aren't they seen strictly as procreators?
One of my male friends told me "Katrina if you're not a feminist by now I don't know what's wrong with you." I don't consider myself a diehard feminist. Yes, I believe in equality between all sexes and genders, but I don't think I have to "be" a feminist to expect that. I just believe equality should exist, just like speed limits and cookies should.
I liked your point about the burlesque dancers actually have physical ability. Logan completely denies that this is relevant to their success, but I'm pretty sure if they were just up there in scandalous clothes sitting on a chair looking bored, hardly anyone would be at the show--maybe a couple of weirdos would still show up. Obviously their success is at least partially attributed to their talents.
ReplyDeleteKatrina, You have hit on something there that I am really looking forward to talking about later this semester -- the rise of "third wave" feminist ideas about body empowerment. Questions about the body and sexuality have been part of women's movements for the past two hundred years but in a variety of forms. Logan was no "free love" advocate like Victoria Woodhull (look her up!) and she was also critical of the more radical dress reformers who called for women to throw away their corsets and adopt the "turkish" bloomer costume. The arguments for the bloomer costume however were about health benefits to women more so than self expression. Logan, like many middle class women's rights activists of the 19th century, was concerned with maintaining and elevating the status of "woman" in terms of women's recognized role as moral guide to the family and, suffragists argued, to the nation. THAT is why women deserved the right to vote! Also hink about how Logan's comments about women taking control over sexuality in the context of marriage was responding to issues within the institution of marriage, at a time when marital rape, for example, was not a crime...
ReplyDelete