Feminism is defined as the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes. In the last fifty years, tremendous strides have been made toward the liberation of women both through the organized feminist movement and through the smaller, quieter insistence of individual women that their rights be recognized and respected. 2013 is a very different social climate for women than 1963 was. For that, we should all be grateful. Access to contraception, availability of education and career, economic freedom, independence, and creative expression are all present for women now in ways our foremothers could have only dreamed of. The fight is not over, though.
It is my opinion - based on my value system, my worldview, and my own traumatic experiences - that one of the final frontiers of feminism is the female body itself. I'm not coming at this from a reproductive angle. I am speaking to the vast, accepted, terribly damaging sexualization of women. Flip on the television for a moment. Any channel, it doesn't matter. Press the mute button, and observe the female forms on the screen. Commercials, reality tv, sitcoms, crime procedurals, network or cable news - the context is nearly irrelevent. Look at the BODIES of the women. What do you see? Young women, thin women, pretty women, sexualized women. Compare them to their male counterparts. Notice a discrepancy? This contrast is blatant especially on news programs, where a handful of heavily made-up, physically attractive women sit amongst aging, usually white, sometimes balding men. The men, you see, are there to contribute their ideas. The women, the message seems to be, are there because they HAVE to be (this is 2013, after all, and there are quotas to meet) and because they're just so darn easy on the eyes.
Another exercise. Pick up a magazine. Any periodical, it doesn't matter. Flip through it. I defy you not to find at least one article or advertisement promising women beauty, youth, and that prize coveted above all others: thinness. This reality is so entrenched in our culture that we scarcely notice the all-out assault on our self-esteem that we endure when we're just trying to read a damn magazine.
Where I believe the feminist element becomes apparent is when we notice that all of these media messages seem to suggest that we, as women, must be acceptible and attractive to men in order to have value. If we are not sexy, we are not worthwhile. It's okay for a man to stand on his character and intellect, but a woman must have character, intellect, and a smokin' hot body. The perpetuation of this myth is another example of patriarchy: men are superior, and women's survival is dependent upon male approval. Even the catty nature in which women are portrayed interacting with other women (hello, Real Housewives) seems to point to a battle for male attention.
I have seen violent male domination of the female form in my own life. I battle its effects every day. But rape is the most extreme point on a very broad spectrum. The media's sexualization of women exists on the very same spectrum. It is about having power and control over the bodies of women. Our individuality, our ideas, our visceral power as human beings - those are the things we have to offer this world. Those are the things by which we will be remembered when we are gone. Those are the legacies we leave to our children. Being brave enough to reject the messages with which we are smacked day in and day out - that we must be thin! Beautiful! Young! Toned! Visions of physical perfection! - is a challenge I will not minimize. It's possible, though. Even more possible when we sisters grasp hands, stand up tall, and say, together, "I WILL NOT DO THIS ANYMORE."
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