Diaz 1

Danay Diaz
Professor Kubler
English 115
22 Oct 2014
What Sexuality Really Does...
Adam and Eve, the story that led society today to believe that women are made from and
for men. For centuries women were considered less than a person, less than a man. They had one
job and one job only, to please men. Within time, women have proved themselves to be better
than what they are portrayed to be. Women have shown power, intelligence, beauty and success.
Feminism is a growing and fast-paced movement with many great ideals. Within the feminist
movement there are many different kinds of views of how women should like their lives. There
is the type that believe women should be more like men, working in office jobs and wearing
suits. Which by all means is very powerful. However, there is the other side of feminism. The
side that women can be using their sexuality for positive, supportive, and motivating ways; that
women dancing half naked and singing songs about sex is good. Many women would say that
side of feminism is degrading. Well, let me tell you something about that side of feminism: It is
the strongest type of feminism.
Today there are many different performers in the spot light. A powerful example would
be Beyonce. Beyonce has taken over the modern world, there is not a person in the world who
cannot tell you who she is. She is everywhere, she is successful, she is power, and most
importantly, she is a woman. Beyonce is the perfect mix of power and intelligence. She has been
smart with her career, her family, and her money. However --in the last couple years-- Beyonce

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has faced a substantial amount of backlash from feminist around the world. These women--so
called feminist-- have been giving Beyonce a hard time. These women do not support her
music, dance moves, or marriage. Anne Petersen--a writer for many popular magazines--states
that she was grossed out by the Mrs. Carter tour name, (Harris 1). Petersen went on to say
that Beyonce is not actually a feminist, because of simple reasoning like her tour name. These
feminist would not like to consider Beyonce a feminist strictly for the reason of who she is
married to. Despite this feminists opinion, it is ridiculous to see that women would be so closed
minded to all of Beyonces success and power, simply because of a tour title. Is it true that her
dance moves degrade her? That her lyrics degrade her? That her outfits degrade her? That her
husband degrades her? Saying yes to any of these questions goes against all true meaning of
feminism. A feminist should be someone who believes that a woman should and can be
powerful, should and can be successful, should and can be who she wants to be. Beyonce is
doing everything correctly. Telling her that she is not any of those things, because of the way she
dresses or dances limits her success. That is telling her who she can and cannot be. That is not
feminism, that is controlling and not giving gender-equality.
Beyonce is not the only woman who has displayed this type of power; Madonna may as
well be the queen of entertainment. Ine Vanwesenbeeck, a strong feminist journalist, says that
Madonna may have been the first to have been noted for [radiate sexiness, as well as
power] (Vanwesenbeeck 2). With Vanwesenbeeck having said that she is expressing how
Madonnas sexy videos and songs is what gave her control of the world. I believe that this is a
good thing. Madonna gave on an interview in 1984, she was asked what her plans were for her
career, her answer, very straight forward was: To rule the world. Since that one remark, Madonna

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has in fact taken over the world and in a way a man could never ever possibly do. The only man
who compares to her power would be Michael Jackson. She has taken advantage of her feminine
body, looks, and attributes to control the men around her and to make it to the top. Madonna and
Beyonce maybe selling this hyper-sexual lifestyle, but they are also very stimulating,
inspiring, encouraging, and empowering (Vanwesenbeeck 3). They have opened doors for
women all around the world. In fact there were artist before them who truly started this new
movement. It was Salt and Peppers hit song Lets Talk About Sex, which finally allowed
women to socially speak about sex; this lead into women freely expressing themselves. These
performances show how far we have come, as women, to show the world that we are not here for
mens pleasure. We are here and equally capable of anything we put our minds to.
Although this movement has been able to give women a sexual stand, many women do
not agree that it is the right way for empowerment. In a short film called, Generation M, women
such as Rihanna, Christina Aguliera, Beyonce are discriminated against, because of their image
in the spotlight. What bothered me about this short film was how they mention that these women
are portraying a sexual image that now forces young girls to be a certain way. However, I believe
that these women in fact encouraging women to step outside their boundaries. The video takes a
more sexiest connotation of these womens performances, which is what is degrading. The
people who are taken back and turning these performances into something they are not, are the
people who are ruining feminist ideals. The people who believe women are not empowering
themselves this way are just setting boundaries for women around the world. What the short film
failed to execute is how these women help feminism. For example, Christina Aguliera has a song
called Cant Hold Us Down which discusses how men and women should be seen as equal and

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how society needs to change; Beyonce has Who Runs The World (Girls!) which is selfexplanatory. Either way, these women have used their success and power to spread awareness of
sexist ideals, which shows feminist support and encouragement to young women around the
world.
Since feminism has been supported and unsupported within the spotlight, it has become
something very popular among entertainment industries. Crazy, Stupid, Love is a recent romantic
comedy that hit the charts with famous actors such as Steve Carell. the beautiful Ryan Gosling,
Emma Stone and Julianna Moore. The movie had many different connotations of modern
relationships and sex. I believe this movie was indeed quite empowering at many times. Many of
my fellow classmates and feminist supporters would disagree. However, I believe that if you
allow comments and movies to offend you, then you are not supporting yourself. For example,
Ryan Goslin has quite a degrading, double-standard quote in the movie: Men won the battle of
the sexes when women started pole dancing as an exercise (Crazy, Stupid, Love). Although
many women, including myself, rolled their eyes at this quote, it should not be looked at as
degrading. If pole dancing was strictly for mens amusement, would it be considered dancing or
a sport? Women who do pole dance for exercise are not handing power to men. In fact, women
who exercise at all are already stepping outside what women should be. Women working out
their own bodies, to improve themselves in a way that is fun and comfortable for them--that is
not degrading in any sense or form. However, when that quote was said, many women though of
strippers, naked women who do nothing but beg for money--that is degrading yourself.
The movie had another scene which I believe should be seen as more empowering than
degrading. The scene was basically about how easily both Steve Carell and Ryan Goslins

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characters could take home women. It is without a doubt that many women watching this film
caught offense and probably did not approve of this scene. However if a woman is taking
offense, then that is her handing the power to the man. Viewing this situation in a more feminist
view, someone like myself would evaluate the situation differently; of course she will go home
with you, she wants to have sex with you just as much as you want to have sex with her. The
double-standard of women not being allowed to have one night stands is what makes this scene
degrading. However, if you believe that women should not be allowed to have one night stands
and use pole dancing as a form of exercise. . . how does that make you a feminist?
Sharon Lamb, a strong feminist who does not agree with my perspective at all, actually
expresses this in her article Porn as a Pathway to Empowerment? Within this article Lambs
argument is that she wants to keep adolescent girls buttoned up and silenced. (Lamb 1). That
goes against freedom for women. She is stating that women today are doing it all wrong, that
they should not be supporting this sexual image, they should stay buttoned up and not allow
anyone to look at them. How is that feminism?! It is irritating to know that women find it
degrading when they watch performances or see advertisements with sexy women. It is
empowering, these women who are raised to be conservative and unsupportive of sexual
expression are missing the point. Lamb is writing this article, trying to sell her stance to young,
new feminist such as myself and Zoe Peterson, yet it is not working. Zoe Peterson--another
young feminist who completely disagrees with Lambs point-- argues that to choose a pornified
version of sex is a sign of progress on the path of empowerment, (Lamb 3). Peterson, with
saying this, is giving women the same equal rights that men have. Women should be free to do
whatever they want, whenever they want. That is true feminism.

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If women were to be restricted, they would not have to opportunity to express themselves
and feel comfortable with their own sexual life. For example, in Marjane Satrapis autography
Persepolis, she comes from a very strict background. An example of how strict it was during this
time is when Marjis mother was attacked by officers who told told her that woman like [her]
should be pushed up against a wall and fucked. And then thrown in the garbage (Satrapi 74).
Her mother was brutally disrespected, all because she was out without her veil. Marjis parents
could not bare seeing her grow up in such a strict world, so they sent her away to Western
Europe to have more freedom. Already, the book shows that women should appreciate the
freedom they have, because it is not given in many places in the world. When Marji gets a
boyfriend of her own, she finds herself in many situations which she does not know how to
handle. When she first sleeps with him (not sexually, actually sleeps in the same bed as him), she
said that it embarrassed me to sleep with [her boyfriend] in front of all [those] people. I came
from a culture where even kissing in public was considered a sexual act, (Satrapi 213). Marji
should not feel embarrassed to sleep with her boyfriend, she should be able to express her love
for him in anyway she feels. She should feel comfortable enough to do so. It saddens me to know
that in other places in the world, in other cultures and beliefs, women do not have the freedom to
express themselves fully. Yet, here in the states, with all the freedom in the world, we are judging
each other for using too much of our freedom. Well, I believe that there is no such thing as too
much freedom.
Many people do not agree with my standing point, however, it is clear to see that the
people who are unsupportive are the ones shooting feminism down. Not allowing women to fully
express themselves, to give them limitations, that is not why women have fought for years for
their freedom. Living up the freedom we are lucky enough to have, is being able to express yourself
in which ever manner you feel best.