Lately there are so many things that I want to write about! I've been writing raps and poems and getting some ideas and emotions out. I still have ambitions to write a book but I haven't gotten past page 5 yet. It's something that I feel would be important to write. . .but it hasn't aroused my passion yet. . .writing the descriptive, background bits isn't nearly as exciting as directly relating news/stories to friends and family. Maybe if I can try to incorporate the story-telling aspect a bit more. . . .hmm. . .anyway.
In the spirit of International Women's Day I would like to talk about a topic very close to my heart. Women.
The older I get and the more informed I am of world issues and situations and cultures and classes and all of those things, the more I understand that the world is a very hard place for a woman. I know that it is controversial to say so, but I would almost argue that it's getting worse, at least in Western culture.
More and more women are used in advertising with less and less clothes and less and less importance given to anything but their bodies.
Compensated dating seems to be becoming normalized and is almost glorified by some all-girl Japanese teen groups like AKB48 in their lyrics.
I went to see my friend's play a few weeks ago which was a kind of spinoff of the Vagina Monologues and there was a performance about sex workers. It really confused me. It's not that I think sex workers don't deserve rights. That's obviously not the case. Sex workers should certainly be given equal protection, should not face discrimination, should have equal rights and liberties like everyone else (ok, "like everyone else" is debatable. . .since practically speaking most people aren't given the same rights. . .even though legally they are entitled to them, but that's not the point I'm trying to make). For me, that is a non-issue and SHOULD be commonplace. The issue I have is that it seems that more and more women are looking to sex work at younger ages as a means to procure funds. Whether it be for tuition, Coach bags, spending money or taking care of a young family. This seems to be almost encouraged by the media. . .perhaps not in a direct way, but by promoting women that were or are sex workers in reality TV shows or other Hollywood type ventures.
I guess the issues that I have here, if they're not obvious already is that it's setting a very dangerous precedent for young viewers of TV and the Internet who are bombarded with these images and lifestyles and made to think that they might be normal reflections of people. That these are the women who are on TV, in the public eye and so these are the women you should aspire to be. Women in popular everything have to fit into this extremely narrow definition of "beautiful" and then promote themselves as being focused on pleasing a man in whatever way he might desire. It has nothing to do with their brain. It has nothing to do with what is important to them or what they want to see for their country or the world or girls in general or their daughters. Where are the strong, intelligent, multifaceted, powerful and respectable women? Where are the Claire Huxtables??
Not only that, but it's concerning to me that women see sex work as the most viable option. The economy is bad and it's hard to get a job and pay for things that you want (that you are told you should be able to afford because everyone on TV has one) or sometimes that you need to advance yourself in life (hopefully). . .so sex work offers a solution. But why is that the only solution? Why is that seen as the best solution for the young girls in our society who are often times smart and going to college or university? What about their male contemporaries? Are they having the same problems with funds? What are they doing instead? Drugs? Crime?
To me these are very concerning issues that I feel pressured to accept for some reason and I'm not sure why. I'm not especially religious and I don't have any problem with sexual freedom but I think there are some deeper issues here that should be addressed and that we should be more concerned about as a society. If we're already at this point, what is the next step for future generations?
In the spirit of International Women's Day I would like to talk about a topic very close to my heart. Women.
The older I get and the more informed I am of world issues and situations and cultures and classes and all of those things, the more I understand that the world is a very hard place for a woman. I know that it is controversial to say so, but I would almost argue that it's getting worse, at least in Western culture.
More and more women are used in advertising with less and less clothes and less and less importance given to anything but their bodies.
Compensated dating seems to be becoming normalized and is almost glorified by some all-girl Japanese teen groups like AKB48 in their lyrics.
I went to see my friend's play a few weeks ago which was a kind of spinoff of the Vagina Monologues and there was a performance about sex workers. It really confused me. It's not that I think sex workers don't deserve rights. That's obviously not the case. Sex workers should certainly be given equal protection, should not face discrimination, should have equal rights and liberties like everyone else (ok, "like everyone else" is debatable. . .since practically speaking most people aren't given the same rights. . .even though legally they are entitled to them, but that's not the point I'm trying to make). For me, that is a non-issue and SHOULD be commonplace. The issue I have is that it seems that more and more women are looking to sex work at younger ages as a means to procure funds. Whether it be for tuition, Coach bags, spending money or taking care of a young family. This seems to be almost encouraged by the media. . .perhaps not in a direct way, but by promoting women that were or are sex workers in reality TV shows or other Hollywood type ventures.
I guess the issues that I have here, if they're not obvious already is that it's setting a very dangerous precedent for young viewers of TV and the Internet who are bombarded with these images and lifestyles and made to think that they might be normal reflections of people. That these are the women who are on TV, in the public eye and so these are the women you should aspire to be. Women in popular everything have to fit into this extremely narrow definition of "beautiful" and then promote themselves as being focused on pleasing a man in whatever way he might desire. It has nothing to do with their brain. It has nothing to do with what is important to them or what they want to see for their country or the world or girls in general or their daughters. Where are the strong, intelligent, multifaceted, powerful and respectable women? Where are the Claire Huxtables??
Not only that, but it's concerning to me that women see sex work as the most viable option. The economy is bad and it's hard to get a job and pay for things that you want (that you are told you should be able to afford because everyone on TV has one) or sometimes that you need to advance yourself in life (hopefully). . .so sex work offers a solution. But why is that the only solution? Why is that seen as the best solution for the young girls in our society who are often times smart and going to college or university? What about their male contemporaries? Are they having the same problems with funds? What are they doing instead? Drugs? Crime?
To me these are very concerning issues that I feel pressured to accept for some reason and I'm not sure why. I'm not especially religious and I don't have any problem with sexual freedom but I think there are some deeper issues here that should be addressed and that we should be more concerned about as a society. If we're already at this point, what is the next step for future generations?
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