| The Aurora Review |
Fall 2005 |
Fembots and the Men Who
Love Them:
The State of the
Female Union
Tracy M. Rogers
The rise of neo-conservatism worldwide
has caused a multitude of problems for feminist thinkers and women’s
advocacy groups alike. The issues that we face today are still
very much the same as those faced by feminists in the 1960s, only
feminist concerns have become more muddled by time and technology. We
still live in a society that values “beauty” over intellectual ability.
We still live in a society where women are paid significantly less than
men and where work environments are still dominated by male supervisors
and the “all boys’ club” mentality. We still live in a society where
women’s health concerns take a back seat to solving male problems.
Women and men alike are continually
bombarded by images of “perfect” women who wear a size 0 and have
perfect perky (often airbrushed) breasts. The objectification of women
by the media has long been a problem for most feminists, but today’s
midriff-baring clothing, low-rise jeans, and low-cut t-shirts insure
that women who are not “perfect” will continually feel second-class,
and since many women do not see other women in the nude except in the
media they are destined to feel as though they are abnormal or
imperfect. On top of that, breasts are viewed as objects of sexual
desire by both men and women rather than as a source of sustenance –
their primary biological function. Breasts should always be firm, with
small aureoles (more common in adolescence than adulthood) according to
media images, which is not how most women’s breasts look particularly
after pregnancy and breast-feeding. Male-dominated society objectifies
women in this manner, seeking to control a woman’s body image, finding
all women who do not fit the male ideal of feminine beauty wanting,
and, therefore, keep women in a subservient position in society.
Likewise, society seeks to control
women’s bodies by determining when and how they may reproduce.
Insurance companies will pay for men’s Viagra prescriptions, but most
refuse to pay for a woman’s birth control. One would think there was no
relation between the male desire to enhance his sexual performance and
a woman’s need for birth control. Not only that – women are still
considered responsible for birth control more often than men. The message is clear - male sexuality
is still deemed acceptable, while female sexuality is considered
dangerous. Society, particularly in the United States, also seeks to control a
woman’s body by denying her fundamental right to do with her body as
she sees fit. The state decides when it is
appropriate for a woman to abort a fetus,
when “life begins.” However, this is not the real issue at hand. The
real problem is not how old a fetus must be to be considered a human
being, but rather how much society trusts a woman to do as she wishes
with her own body.
Feminists and women’s organizations,
such as the National Organization for Women (NOW), have complicated
matters by making abortion the central issue in their political
lobbying, rather than addressing the true issue – the subservient
nature of women as a group in our society. Also compounding the problem
is that fact that many women believe the idealized concept of beauty
promoted by society and the media, and fail to comprehend that issues
regarding birth control and abortion center around personal freedom
rather than religious or ideological beliefs about procreation.
How can we women rise above if we are
buying into the very stereotypes and ideals that hold us down? How can
we take control of our sexuality when male ideals permeate the media
and seep into our collective unconscious, when even we deem our own
sexuality to be subversive? These are questions that I don’t have
answers to, but they are questions that need to be asked nonetheless.
One thing is for certain – we, as women and as a society, must begin
to
ask questions like these, to confront our own prejudices before we can
begin to fix the ills of our society as a whole.
Artwork:
Teat Feminine La Flora (top
left) and Teat Pond (bottom right) by Ann
Naylor