On the subject of women's bodies in writing, and my own ideas centering around empowerment.

I wanted to expand a bit more on the subject of empowered women, and what that means societally and also on an individual level.




I mentioned in class that the power of women cannot be evaluated in the same scale as the power of men. The power of women can contain many subtleties. The perception of women as powerful depends on the viewer, and also on the opinion of the individual.



I've noticed, among my girl friends, that they find it acceptable to use their feminine beauty/body as a source of power in their relationship to the world and men.



I've struggled with this identity that they are comfortable with. I'd rather be noticed for my intelligence, or accomplishments. Not that they wouldn't, but they find their bodies to be just as much of a source of power as their minds. We have had many arguments on this subject, and I cannot ignore the fact that they are intelligent, creative, strong women, whose opinions are just as valid as mine when the subject is focused on what it means to be a woman and what defines femininity.



For example, I talked about a friend of mine in class. She is in her mid thirties and has three children. When she met her significant other (man) she was stripping. She quit and has tried various jobs in the three years that they have been together. She is extremely comfortable with her sexuality, taking openly about it; comfortable with the attention she receives and feels like there should be no stigma surrounding her choosing stripping as a profession. She enjoys it. She says there is a sisterhood that emerges among the workers; she loves dancing and she enjoys the attention from men.



Is she less intelligent than me? No. Is she less of a person? No. So why does the idea of her dancing for money bother me? Why do I feel like it adds to the objectification of women as a whole? Who am I to argue that what she does is lessening the power of women when she herself is arguing that it empowers her as a person?



Next example, an artist. She stripped her way through school and had tons of bad experiences in that profession. She graduated in graphic design and now has a studio in which she works and engraves during the week. When I ask her what she is looking for in love (because she is single) she tells me she wants a man who is A. rich, and B. handsome. Those are the only two things she lists. This is a woman who has dated both sexes, is extremely liberated, yet she only wants a rich handsome man as a life partner. To me, this is the opposite of liberation. For her, its empowering to have someone take care of her. She feels like her femininity will be best expressed by this type of relationship. To sidetrack a little here, I think there is a bit of a double standard. If a man says to his friends that he wants a rich handsome woman, we as women would consider him shallow. Yet if a woman says she wants a rich handsome man, we may consider her shallow also but we'd likely congratulate her for using her sexual power to her advantage. So is it an empowering sexuality that allows these women to lead the lives they choose? They aren't forced into them. They are fully capable of supporting themselves by other means. Yet they would choose to use their bodies as a flower uses pollen to attract a bee.



Is it wrong? These women would say no. I recently had a conversation with my boyfriend about a Hooters opening in our hometown. He was asked by a client to go with him to the private opening. He asked me how I felt about him going. I told him it was his decision. He wanted to know how I felt and I told him I feel that it objectifies women, and in essence is part of a bigger problem with women and the objectification of women through sexuality. Hooters are strict about their uniforms, and only offer sizes Xs and XXS for their servers, for example. Why? Because that's the object of the business, to serve women as entertainment, and through that medium sell food, not to make the women employed feel comfortable. Maybe I'm being sensitive, but I have a hard time accepting and endorsing any profession or decision that adds to the overall pool of objectification of women. So what is there to do? Never watch television, never watch movies, never open a magazine? I can't. And unless I force myself to live in a cave, I'll never be an example of that purity of subject that I yearn for all women to experience. And what would living in a cave accomplish? Nothing.



Right now, I think its necessary to recognize female directors as female. To recognize female writers, actresses, dancers, etc as female. To have a classes that focus on accomplishments toward women. In a perfect world, this would not be necessary. But the reality is that we still live in a world where it is necessary, and every action of every woman adds to the future that we are trying to create. The only question remaining is if a woman should sacrifice what is right for her in order to help create this future free of objectification. And if she does sacrifice, isn't she in essence giving up the very thing that women have fought for for centuries, the right to individual expression in any form.



It's definitely something to think about.