Sexuality Equals Femininity in Female Action Figures

In today’s society, constructs that dictate how men and women should act have been introduced to young people through many mediums.  Marketing is one such medium.  The marketing of dolls, in particular, sends multiple messages to young girls like my little cousin, Lanette.  For example, dolls more popularly termed “action figures”, which are generally of a more violent nature, can instruct a young girl how she can have stereotypical masculine qualities while maintaining her femininity.  The message sent is that if girls want to be violent, it is acceptable as long as they emphasize their sexuality.

The messages sent by the way the products are marketed encourage girls to be someone they are not.  Lanette is not able to be her own person.  Instead she is encouraged to be someone that society values.  “The culture…urges girls to adopt a false self, to bury alive their real selves, to become ‘feminine,’ … (Kilbourne 259).”  Therefore, if girls want to be valued in society they are encouraged to emphasize their sexuality.

For Lanette, she is encouraged to compensate for her hypothetical lack of femininity in her personality in the form of flaunting her physical femininity.  This can be seen in “Image Based Culture: Advertising and Popular Culture” when Sut Jhally says, “In advertising, gender (especially for women) is defined almost exclusively along the lines of sexuality (253).”  When gender is defined by sexuality, a woman can act however she wants as long as she shows an amount of skin that is proportional to how masculine she is. Most of these woman “action figures” are displayed in a pose that most accentuates their unrealistic curves.   Hawkgirl, for example, has defeated her share of evildoers, but she also has giant breasts and shows almost all her cleavage.

Works Cited:
Jhally, Sut. “Image Based Culture: Advertising and Popular Culture.” Gender, Race, and Class in Media: A Text- Reader. Eds. Gail Dines and Jean M. Humez. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publication Inc., 2003. 249-257. Print.

Kilbourne, Jean. “The More You Subtract, the More You Add: Cutting Girls Down to Size.” Gender, Race, and Class in Media: A Text- Reader. Eds. Gail Dines and Jean M. Humez. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publication Inc., 2003. 249-257. Print.

“Revoltech Fraulein: Queen's Blade Cattleya Action Figure.” Amazon.com. amazon. nd. Web. 5 August 2010.

“DC Direct Blackest Night: Series 3: Green Lantern Arisia Action Figure.” Amazon.com. amazon. nd. Web. 5 August 2010.

“DC Universe Classic Cheetah Figure.” Amazon.com. amazon. nd. Web. 5 August 2010.
  
"Mattel DC Universe Classics Hawkgirl Figure.” Amazon.com. amazon. nd. Web. 5 August 2010.

"Tomb Raider: Lara Croft 12-Inch Action Figure.” Amazon.com. amazon. nd. Web. 5 August 2010.

"Fraulein Revoltech #002 Rin Tosaka Action Figure.” Amazon.com. amazon. nd. Web. 5 August 2010.

"Fraulein Revoltech: Hoshii Miki No.009.” Amazon.com. amazon. nd. Web. 5 August 2010.

"DC Universe Classic Donna Troy Figure.” Amazon.com. amazon. nd. Web. 5 August 2010.

Blog Post 4. Edited Student Video

This student-created production is covered under the Fair Use codes US copyright law. Specifically, Section 107 of the current Copyright Act and Section 504(c)(2) cover the educational-basis of this video production. The production is intended to be a transformative remake, aiding in both student and public media literacy.  The use of copyrighted material is in the service of constructing a differing understanding than the original work, which according to Section 110 (1) (2), is to be treated as a new cultural production. This student-production is in no way limited to the protections provided by the Fair Use codes stated above due to the many other sections of the current US Copyright Act, which also include the principles of Fair Use.

Please refer to Fair Use principles when re-posting, quoting, and/or excerpting the video-production posted here.

Blog Post 3. Option A. California Gurls.

This student-created production is covered under the Fair Use codes US copyright law. Specifically, Section 107 of the current Copyright Act and Section 504(c)(2) cover the educational-basis of this video production. The production is intended to be a transformative remake, aiding in both student and public media literacy.  The use of copyrighted material is in the service of constructing a differing understanding than the original work, which according to Section 110 (1) (2), is to be treated as a new cultural production. This student-production is in no way limited to the protections provided by the Fair Use codes stated above due to the many other sections of the current US Copyright Act, which also include the principles of Fair Use. 

Please refer to Fair Use principles when re-posting, quoting, and/or excerpting the video-production posted here.

How to Be a Woman According To Michael Scott

In Season One of the hit NBC show, “The Office”, we got to know and love the characters who range from the sensitive and physically cute salesman, Jim, to the ridiculous and over-the-top boss, Michael Scott.  Since then, their antics have entertained the public for six seasons.  However, how innocent are the show’s intentions?  Consider the episode “Basketball”.  In this episode, Michael Scott demonstrates that he is both a racist and a male chauvinist. He makes comments that reinforce basic racial stereotypes as well as insinuations of female inferiority and objectification. The focus of this paper will be upon Michael Scott’s chauvinist tendencies.  Michael’s behavior toward the women of the office clearly illustrates what he thinks it means to be a desirable woman and his idea of the perfect power structure.

The first blatant display of male chauvinism is when Michael denies Phyllis a place on the sales department basketball team.  She had said, “I’d like to play, if it’s just for fun” (Basketball).  This indicates that Michael Scott sees sports as a masculine activity. Therefore he believes that women should not participate in sports.  Inversely, he believes if a male is a good athlete, it increases their masculinity.  Michael Scott’s beliefs are part of a patriarchal society.

Patriarchy is a system “of symbols and ideas that make up a culture embodied by everything from the content of everyday conversation to literature and film” (Johnson 94).   By Michael Scott asserting that Phyllis was not able to play basketball, he demonstrated how patriarchy could be seen in “everyday conversation.”  Allan Johnson says in “Patriarchy, The System An It, Not a He, a Them, or an Us” that patriarchy is “about the valuing of masculinity and maleness and the devaluing of femininity and femaleness” (94).  Michael Scott upholds this claim by only wanting to pick males for his basketball team.  Johnson also says that “…we all participate in something larger than ourselves, something we didn’t create but that we have the power to affect through the choices we make about how to participate” (92).  By Michael reinforcing prominent chauvinistic ideas, he is upholding the system and values associated with patriarchy. He believes that to be a desirable woman, she must not participate in sports.

The second outrageous example of sexism is when Michael Scott asks office “hottie”, Pam, to cheerlead for the team.  The outfit he expects her to wear is demeaning.  This is demonstrated when he says she could wear a “little, uh, haltertop, you could tie that up and, ya know, something little just youthful for a change” (Basketball).  He also rejects Phyllis when she volunteers to cheerlead saying, “that’s worse than you playing” (Basketball).  The difference between Phyllis and Pam is based upon weight.  By Michael denying Phyllis the position of cheerleader, he is asserting that both beauty and femininity are based upon weight.  By encouraging the women in the office to pay attention to their appearance, he is in effect, telling them to spend less time on other aspects such as their work and their intelligence.

Jennifer L. Pozner supports the idea that men prefer women who are beautiful rather than intelligent.  In “The Unreal World,” Pozner mentions an account of a medical student, Elyse, who was a contestant on “America’s Next Top Model”.  Pozner quotes hostess Tyra Banks’ criticism of the intelligent model. Tyra Banks says, “’one thing with [your] intelligence is that it can intimidate people’” (Pozner 97).  This is one of the best examples of valuing women who are vapid over girls that strive to have a job that will get them somewhere in life.  The message that this is sending is that a woman possessing masculine traits is inherently intimidating.

Michael’s ideas are reinforced through his hegemonic methods that grant his ultimate superiority.  Hegemony is not just the power of one group over another, but it is also the “method for gaining and maintaining power” (Lull 61).  Overall, Michael is demeaning in his manner mainly to assert his power.  Due to his male chauvinism, he believes being a male means being at the top of the power structure.  Through his demeaning actions towards women, he maintains a male dominated power structure.  He not only believes that he must utilize hegemonic methodologies to maintain power over women, but also that hegemony supports his vision of men being at the top of the power structure. 

From these arguments, one can gather some inkling of the ideal woman according to Michael Scott.  She is conventionally beautiful and is either not smart enough to realize when he is taking advantage of her or too submissive to care.  She regularly wears clothes that accent her figure.  She works hard and diets regularly in order to maintain her figure. By emphasizing his male chauvinist ideals, he perpetuates the system of patriarchy.  He uses hegemony to maintain patriarchal values instead of questioning patriarchy.

 
Works Cited:

“Basketball.” The Office – Season One. National Broadcasting Company, 2005.DVD.

Johnson, Allan G. “Patriarchy The System An It, Not a He, a Them, or an Us.” Reconstructing Gender: A Multicultural Anthology. Ed. Estelle Disch. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill, 2008. 91-99. Print.

Lull, James. “Hegemony.” Gender, Race, and Class in Media: A Text- Reader. Eds. Gail Dines and Jean M. Humez. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publication Inc., 2003. 61-66. Print.

Pozner, Jennifer L. “The Unreal World.” Women: Images & Realities, A Multicultural Anthology. Eds. Amy Kesselman, Lily D. McNair, and Nancy Schniedewind. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill, 2006. 96-99. Print.

Link Hunt and Brainstorm

The Pleasure in Top Chef

June 7, 2008

http://tripinbrooklyn.wordpress.com/2008/06/07/the-pleasure-of-top-chef/ 
tripinchina
wordpress.com

Song Analysis: Angel of the Morning
June 9, 2009
http://killercyborg.livejournal.com/7738.html
Killer Cyborg
livejournal.com

Soulja Boy Tell'em: "Crank That (Soulja Boy)"
September 29, 2007
http://mediagirl.org/node/1535
Femtique
mediagirl.org

Can a feminist read Cosmo?
July 28, 2009
http://hugoschwyzer.net/2009/07/28/can-a-feminist-read-cosmo/
Hugo Schwyzer
hugoschwyzer.net

Review: Deadline by Chris Crutcher
December 30, 2008
http://yafabulous.echthroi.org/2008/12/30/review-deadline-by-chris-crutcher/
Renay
echthroi.org

Link to Blogging in College: the main Gender & Pop Culture blog

Testing, 1,2,3.. Testing 1,2,3.