Pumping... Looks

For me, watching Pumping Iron presented a new angle of Arnold Schwarzenegger for me that I had never really been conscious about. It was actually somewhat hard to watch the footage, knowing that this person was going to be California's governor. If I would have seen this clip beforehand, maybe I would have influenced more people to vote one direction or the other during California's gubernatorial elections.

One thing that is actually amazing about this competition that is presented in the movie is that the 'hegemonic masculine' guys presented in the documentary are judged not based on strength and how much they can lift - the classification that we always associate with masculinity. Instead, they're judged purely on looks. Schwarzenegger even summarizes that, saying that the competition judges based on muscularity, proportion, and symmetry - not on the amount one can lift.

Another peculiar characteristic about this competition is that the event is extremely erotic - all of the contestants are put on display with as little clothes as possible - in most cases, just a speedo covering up the privates. This gets even more interesting when the audience is analyzed. Who are the most enthusiastic audience members? The men. They are the loudest ones about how much they like the body builders. And the body builders enjoy it! Schwarzenegger even claims that he gets off on this process, saying "I cum all the time." So male viewers are constantly watching him cum. In this sense, the 'manliest' show is extremely homoerotic…

...Which brings me to the final point that I actually appreciate. In John Berger's Ways of Seeing, it is argued that women are always watched, and are thus objectified. In Pumping Iron, the roles are reversed - men are the ones constantly watched. In the opening scenes, the ballet dancer tells Schwarzenegger "They're not just watching you in individual poses, but also as you transition - they're constantly watching." And by constantly being watched, the men are objectified. The movie continues to drive that point home, showing male bodies without the heads, making the statement that it's the body, not the person, that's being examined. Without necessarily realizing it, these bodybuilders are entering the role that's traditionally held by women - being an object on display.

Masculinities

Masculinity is possessing qualities or characteristics considered typical of or appropriate to a man. The term can be used to describe any human, animal or object that has the quality of being masculine. Different men show their masculinity in different ways. Some men find themselves obliged to possess qualities and perform acts that the rest of the men do in order to be considered masculine. There is also a category of males who, disregarding what the rest of the males in society consider right, think carefully and conservatively before making a decision or performing an act of violence which is considered very masculine. A good example of this is very well displayed in John Singleton's movie "Boyz N The Hood"(1991). The protagonist, Trè Styles (Cuba Gooding Jr.) had grown up in a neighborhood filled with violence and gangster relations. Almost all of his friends are involved in shootings and have guns and constantly drink alcohol to be considered "manly", however, Trè, raised from a young age by his father Furious Styles (Laurence Fishburne) who he considers a very good role model, does not resort to the acts of violence even when he loses his temper and thinks calmly and carefully to avoid engaging in acts of violence and living a normal life. 
Men have different ways of showing their masculinities and no one has to resort to acts of violence to be considered masculine. Every man can show his masculinity in his own manner.

A Riddle...

I'd like to start this blog post with a riddle:

A father and son are driving across a railroad track when the car suddenly stalls and gets hit by an incoming train. The father is killed on impact, and the child is rushed to the hospital in a critical condition. There, the surgeon, upon sight of the patient, says "I can't operate on this child because that's my son." How is that possible?

I was asked this riddle during a longer car ride evenly divided within gender, and even though I already knew the answer, it was interesting to watch how surprisingly long it took the people in the car to come up with the solution.

One thing that was recently mentioned before class and angered me was the announcement of a bone marrow drive. The announcement reminded me of the Red Cross' archaic restriction on blood donations for gay people who, according to them, are "at higher risk of having AIDS." There are constantly small restrictions like that in place in society that create gender inequality and sexuality inequality.

However, society is continuously working towards breaking down those legal inequalities. What concerns me most are the inequalities embedded in peoples' minds - the thoughts that make solving this riddle difficult for my friends.

The answer to the riddle? The surgeon is the boy's mother.

Definition of Masculinity

                Masculinity is an idea that has been portrayed in the media in several different ways. After watching the movie “I Love You Man” I saw several of the modern views of masculinity. It isn’t until the protagonist, Pete, is about to wed, that he is awaken from the reality that he has no guy friends. All of a sudden the fear that something may be wrong with him grows within those that are close to him. Through the course of the film, he is seen as weird and even gay due to the fact that his only friends have always been girls. His character portrays a different type of masculinity that trespasses the boundaries that society imposes on males. This film portrays what happens when a male is not into what a man should be, such as beer, muscles and talk about women.

It isn’t until he meets Sydney that he begins to travel on a journey to find his masculinity. As the film continues we find that what was once considered the ideal male, may no longer be today. Though his feminine tendencies and the masculine traits he ought to acquire, Pete realizes that there is a middle ground. This middle ground is what many search for today as well. It is no better for a man to be too masculine that it is to be too feminine. Males who portray machismo are seen as jerks or oppressors and those that are feminine are seen as feeble and often times, gay. Therefore, the film shows that today we take on a different version of masculinity. This supports the idea that terms are constantly changing. The definition of masculinity changed to include aspects of both man and women. 

Why do straight women love bromance?

I have been watching Queer As Folk and it is one of my all time favorite TV series, and I also watched a lot of films and fictions depicting homosexual love. Clearly I am not the only straight girl who find herself standing awkwardly in the "gay world". It is kind of a "queer" phenomenon and I sometimes can not help asking myself this question--why do some heterosexual women, like me, love bromance so much?

Every time when I get excited about bromance I try hard to find a reason for my weird and "straight" love towards gay men; although at first I didn't think it make any sense at all. But there must be some reasons lying behind it, especially when it seems so unnatural. In order to justify my behavior, first I cut bromance into two essential elements: two men and their love.

It is easy to account for the "love" part: every one seeks for love, and love is the forever topic in  art works. But how the love of heterosexual people different from that of straight individuals? I guess what is lying there is that gay people often face more obstacles in their journey to love. The pressure and responsibility from society and family block the love between same sex, but also enrich it with mind-shaking struggles and heart-moving loyalty, which is even amplified in films and art. This is what strikes straight women and raises their sympathies--the bold and unlimited  love.

But why does it have to be two men? We can not deny that lesbians as well as a few straight couples encounter the same amount of pressure from society. My account for this is their sex orientation and the boredom of stereotype in a traditional heterosexual relationship. The first part explains why love of lesbians fails to attract straight women; although it may not apply to all the cases.(I watch lesbian movies and whatnot as well, probably because I unconsciously want to be "fair") When it comes to straight couples,  I guess it is the unchanging relationship that is losing the audience. Some women hate to be portrayed as weak, emotional and delicate; and this is sadly still the norm in literature and film industry. Whenever in a book or a movie I see a dependant and helpless girl crying and complaining I just cannot help letting out a sigh. This is why generally a "moving" love of straight couples can hardly evoke my empathy to the same level as an equal relationship between gay men does, which is ironic when I realise that I am technically still straight.

Black Queer Women Defining Their Sexuality

I ran across an article on the similarities between Gladys Bentley and Janelle Monae (link: http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2012/02/21/queering-black-herstory-janelle-monae-and-gladys-bentley/). I found the article intriguing because Gladys Bentley came up in one of my other gender studies classes as an example of the butch female stereotype that existed in the early 1930s. This article made comparisons between the Bentley and Monae because both women are disrupting the gender binary by performing in clothing that is predominately male (tuxedos, pants, etc.). This has prompted much speculation about their sexual orientation. In the case of Bentley, she identified as a lesbian for much of her career, was very open about her lesbianism and was the ultimate lesbian symbol for many people of her generation. Monae has been more discrete about openly publicizing her orientation. The article mentions that this may be in a strategic move to not lose or alienate her fan base but at the same time is refusing the performer the “right to define their own sexualities”. The article elucidates the problem for queer identifying black women, the struggle “to prove their womanhood in a racist and sexist society”. Because black lesbians do not fit the stereotypical model of black womanhood they automatically become labeled as butches, despite what they may actually identify as. The article realizes that there is a need for more images of “proud out black lesbians” as it promotes pride and visibility in queer communities of color. However despite this need, society needs to allow these women to express their sexuality without pressuring them and ultimately acknowledging their sexuality as whatever they say it is. There is currently no respect for this and is why society has an incredible urge to label any person it sees as not performing heteronormative standards. There is no need to prove that these black women are lesbians but rather “queer them through their refusal to let heteronormative identities define them”. And in that way give black queer women the power to invent and reinvent themselves. 

Women and The Oscars

Tonight is a big night in the entertainment industry because the Oscars are occurring. The entertainment industry is predominately run by men but women have slowly started to catch up. However, I looked up online how many women were actually nominated and they only make up 25% of the nominations. In an industry that is slowly progressing (remember the year Kathryn Bigelow won for Best Director), you would think that more women would be acknowledged for their talent. Might I add, Bigelow is the only female director to win that category.
Then there is also the fear of the Best Actress Oscar curse. Apparently, after an actress wins this category her relationship falls apart. Sandra Bullock, Kate Winslet, Reese Witherspoon, Hilary Swank, and many more have all filed for divorce after winning this award. Were all their partners threatened by power shift in the relationship or were they all falling apart before the award? Is it feminine for a man to have a powerful wife?
I think the men that run Hollywood are threatened by the power and talent that women have in this industry. The few nominations and the notion of the curse are all ways for men to continue their control over this industry that is still growing. More women aren't just becoming actresses, but becoming writers, directors, producers that all have major roles in entertainment.

Is Mexico ready for a female President?

Recently, Josefina Vazquez Mota became the first woman nominated for president by any of Mexico's major political parties. Polls show that she is trailing Enrique Peña Nieto, the attractive, fresh face of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which ruled Mexico with an iron fist until 2000. But, her victory in the primary for the National Action Party (PAN) has shaken up the race.

Mexico has had a background of a machismo country, and this nomination has come as a shock to most of the people. Women status has been rising and the election of a female president might just be the requirement to get Mexico out of it’s image of a male dominated country.

All we can wait for is July 1^st, 2012, the date for the general elections.

Media and the Image of Masculinity

One of my favorite television shows is Castle, a comedic procedural drama in which a male writer shadows a female homicide detective in order to gather inspiration for his future novels. The female detective is not only intelligent, but is also tough and able to take down the criminals portrayed on the show. Essentially, she effectively performs her job, an occupation that is considered male dominated. However, despite her competence, the people in charge of the show—producers, stylists, and the like—have gone out of the way to make this protagonist obviously female using clearly unrealistic methods. For example, the female cop is always shown to be wearing sky-high stilettos and pumps, even when she is supposed to be running after criminals in a certain scene. While not the only example, the unrealistic image projected by this show ties in to the idea of masculinity. While females can also be masculine, it is a trait that society links to the male form; thus, in order for women to hold jobs in areas traditionally dominated by men, her femininity must be emphasized so as to forbid her from appearing “manly” or “butch.” Masculine traits are seen as negative when applied to women, but positive when bestowed upon male characters. This sort of duality, particularly when masculinity is defined as a trait that demonstrates assertiveness or power, reinforces the idea of a socially generated gender hierarchy. 

Pregnant Man?

          During the lecture last week, Professor Halberstam brought up the case that there was a "pregnant man" named Thomas Beatie. This "man" was born a woman and later in her life became a transgender male and had his breasts removed. He changed his name to Thomas on his birth certificate and other legal documents and he began to develop testosterone in order to grow body hair and increase muscle mass. In an interview that I watched about him and his family, it was very interesting to me to know that as a young adult he was a model and was constantly being told how what a pretty girl he was. He said that even though he was a very good looking girl and could have any man that he wanted, he never truly felt like he was a girl and he said that it was like he was putting on a costume every time he put makeup on and dressed up. He then established a lesbian relationship with a female bodybuilder and he then started dressing more like a man. When him and his girlfriend started getting closer, he decided to change his sex and have a surgery to take off his breasts which he said was the most liberating feeling in the world. He then became Thomas Beatie and married his wife. 

            Thomas decided that he did not want his female reproductive organs removed because he felt that removing his female organs did not make him any more of a man. He also refused to have an artificial penis made because of the same reason. He believes that people are not born "men" but grow to be "men" and he was just not born a man. Because his wife could not have children, Thomas then decided that he was going to be the carrier of their children. This brought up a lot of controversy within society because they saw a "man" that was pregnant and they did not believe that it was right. Many people felt like because Thomas still had female reproductive organs and was born a female that the couple were just two lesbians that were having a child. So was this a pregnant man or a pregnant female? 

The Sexual Identity Blues

   Heterosexuality, as Hanne Blank pointed out, is simply a relatively new term for a type of long practiced mating. The fact that very few people question what circumstances the term heterosexual was coined from is concerning, especially because most people freak out when they find out somebody does not fit into this particular relationship schema. It seemed to me that Blank was really intent on helping her audience understand the varieties of different sexualities in existence and how no specific sexuality was any more correct than another. I thought she did a really good job of guiding the audience through her thought process and ideas because they can be difficult concepts to fully comprehend, even for people who are "open-minded".

   After finishing Hanne Blank's Straight, I am seriously beginning to question what I would refer to myself as, in case a person ever asked what my sexual orientation is. I have always referred to myself confidently as heterosexual because as of right now, I've only ever been attracted to men and never a woman. But, I've always talked about how beautiful I think women are, thus confusing people and causing the question of my sexuality to arise (even though I believe it's nobody else's business). I have done so much in my life that I thought I’d never be able to do and the future is so uncertain, that I would not rule out the possibility that I might fall in love with a woman. Does that make me bisexual, homosexual, lesbian? I don’t think I fit any of these categories very well and there is a lot of overlapping, so after giving it a lot of thought, I would have to decline to state my sexual orientation, I feel that’s the best choice for me. 

Buying Dinner/Drinks = Prostitution?

It is perhaps interesting to explore and think deeply about our daily actions in relation to the relationship between men and women. Let's think about the situation, from the perspective of heterosexual men, where they pay for dinner/drinks for women when going out on a date. Although this blog entry is only to have fun with logical thinking and with a question related to our daily life, it seems that men's buying dinner/drinks for women may be, in nature, similar to prostitution, yet a less "sophisticated" form with some exceptions.

Although one might be able to come up with other possibilities, men might treat women with dinner and drinks may be because: 1) it is chivalrous of men to treat women with such; 2) men can not resist the silent consensus both among men and women that they need to buy such; 3) men are afraid to be looked down on by being "cheap;" and 4) men think that they can buy women's hearts by buying fancy dinner and drinks. Looking at the four possibilities, we can say that first three are products of an external force. An external force, I mean, is a social norm that shapes or leads men to behave in a certain way: buy dinner/drinks for women. The fourth reason, however, is different in nature. Though just buying dinner or drinks is less likely to grantee such an acquisition, it is rather an expression of men's internal desire to acquire women physically or psychologically than a restricted behavior of men due to to the external force.

As radical as it may sound, buying dinner and drinks in hope of buying women's heart or proceed to the "next level" is in similarity with prostitution. Or, prostitution is a more sophisticated form of the expression because if you pay, you will get the service; on the other hand, it is not assured that you will get it even though you pay in the situation with men's buying dinner and drinks because women might not be looking for more; because women may be just taking advantage of the situation to get free meal and beverage; and so on...

Masculinity and Hip Hop

        Hip hop started out as an artistic release for African American youth. A way to tell their stories and experiences to the masses. Over the years the music and culture surrounding the industry has become Increasingly  hyper-masculine and hyper-aggressive. What many young men are told about masculinity is that you need to be powerful, you need to be in control and that you need to have the respect of your peers. Many poor African Americans and Hispanic Americans do not feel like they can obtain power in the world by traditional means. So they use the next best thing violence, so then violence and weapons become the symbol of what it is to be a man.

That violence is taken out on one another, on women and homosexuals, all to obtain the status of man.  In my eyes I feel like people pick on hip hop because it is an easy target, Hip hop can be extremely blunt. Many people blame hip hop for setbacks of minority youth. But I think that modern day hip hop is just the symptom of the underlying problem within our society. A problem that starts with discrimination of minorities. Which causes anger and that anger is taken out on women and homosexuals.

Masculinities in TV shows.

After reading the first three chapters from R. W. Connell’s Masculinities, I’ve been thinking about some of the most popular TV shows and how their male characters fall into the categories of masculinity set out by Connell. It turns out that these TV shows really do a good job at covering many types of masculinities that blend nicely into the engaging complex storylines:
Gossip Girl
Chuck Bass - Hegemonic: heterosexuality, power, authority, and aggression.
He is a womanizer and extremely promiscuous. Being a billionaire at the age of 18, he certainly holds a lot of authority for his wealth and power in business. He has the image of a dominant male, who is very aggressive in love as well as in business, and knows very well what he wants and how to obtain his goals.
Nate Archibald - It’s debatable.
This character is the perfect example of heterosexuality. He is good-looking, cute and popular among the girls. He dated all the beautiful females on the show and even older women. He is not aggressive or authoritative and can be weak at times, but he does come from a privileged family. He has both sensitivity, which is often identified with complicit masculinity, and a highly sexualized persona of the hegemonic masculinity.
Dan Humphrey - Complicit: Men who do little to challenge the patriarchal gender order, thereby enjoying its many rewards.
Unlike the other males in the upper east side, Dan isn’t violent and doesn’t use women. As a boyfriend he proves to be understanding and supportive. Dan seems to enjoy all the benefits of traditional masculinity and the privileges of being a handsome white guy, when he is clearly an outcast among the rich kids.
Rufus Humphrey - Complicit
He is a responsible father to his children and patient, sensitive husband, who respects his billionaire wife and gives her most of the decision-making power. He is clearly not the dominant one in his marriage.
Glee
Finn Hudson - Complicit
Finn is portrayed as “a good guy trying to do the right things”. Although he is a popular football player, he isn’t a jerk like Puck. He’s a performer, but he isn’t gay or nerdy. He also has qualities of a leader who isn’t hesitant to voice his opinions, and step up to take responsibility. Towards Quinn’s pregnancy, he feels the urge to become a good father and embraces the opportunity with anticipation. In many ways, he is an excellent example of the traditional masculinity.
Kurt Hummel - Subordinate
He’s a homosexual male that is often bullied by Dave Karofsky, a popular jock at school. Because of his insecurity, he joins the football team as a way of claiming masculinity and surprisingly leads them to victory with Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” performance. This detail in the show questions the barriers held by traditional masculinity, and develops a new perspective on modern masculinity and what it means to be a man.
Will Schuester - Complicit
As a teacher, he is compassionate, understanding, respectful, and does not use his authoritative power too often on his students. As a husband, he is a provider, a good-listener and a great potential father.
Artie Abrams - Subordinate
Artie is a nerdy and handicapped character, who often displays stereotypical feminine traits. For instance, talkative, soft and weak.
Noah “Puck” Puckerman - Debatable, A challenge to the traditional masculinity?
He is authoritative as a member of the football team, a symbol of masculinity; a “man’s pursuit”, where aggression, competition, independence, and strength are prized qualities. However, he later joins “Glee,” a “gay” club that is completely devoid of masculine qualities. Similar to Chuck, he is a jerk and also uses women; but when he got Quinn pregnant, he earnestly wants to be acknowledged as the father.

Anoka-Hennepin

Recently, there was an article in the news about a high school in Minnesota that adopted various laws and policies to "deal with" students that did not conform to strict definitions of gender and sexuality. Each policy they implemented produced increasingly disastrous results, but the school district refused to acknowledge the necessity of education over repression and avoidance. An alarmingly large chain of suicides within the district ensued, and officials still refused to take measures that could have dramatically reduced the problem, as a result of the area's prevalent conservativeness.

Reading the seven-page article was a shock to me. Having lived in a fairly liberal bubble in the Bay Area for much of my life, it had not occurred to me that a part of the very country we live in (whose core value happens to be personal liberty, no less) can be so averse to accepting gender non-normative behavior. The problem is much bigger than I had originally envisioned it, but the consequences of the current way society operates is horribly detrimental to a significant amount of its population. Changes must be made, but in order for anything to improve, someone has to take that frightening first step.

hook

I don't know if this is out of topic.
I went to Reno this weekend. I my way there, I saw a lot of posters that advertise restaurants, bars and club are using women pictures as their main image. In most of those ADs,  there are two women seems have fun there. In addition to that, in casino two tables are playing beer bomb, the table with women have more people watching then the one with men only. Why this happened? The restaurants, bars, clubs, and beer bomb are all targeting both men and women, but why the one with women seems more attracting?
I imaged all these things with men being promoted instead of women, some how the image of the places changed and I don't feel like going there.
I believed this is the rule our society shaped us that women are better using as promotion skills. More women means more fun, better food; however, men are representing messy and low quality of food. but isn't there is a stereotype that best cook are male and women are good at easy family food instead? So men should have a better taste of food.  I get in doubt on the stereotype about men's and women's jobs?

Genderless Babies

When there is a newborn baby in the family, the first question that people ask is "Is it a boy or a girl?". Boys are dressed in blue and girls in pink from a very young age itself as parents do not like to be asked the gender of their babies all the time. Instead of congratulating the family and being happy for them even relatives just want to know if there is a new boy or girl in the family.  Due to this, we do not find many genderless babies being raised. From a very young age itself, the children are identified with their gender and made to wear clothes and play with toys accordingly. There is a family in Canada however, which has been raising genderless babies. The gender of their four-month-old baby, Storm, was not shared with anyone. The only people, besides the parents, who know about Storm’s gender were Storm’s brothers, Jazz and Kio, a close family friend and the two midwives who helped deliver the baby. Even the names of their other children are gender neutral. They decided not to share the gender of the baby as a ‘tribute to freedom and choice in place of limitation, a stand up to what the world could become in Storm’s lifetime.’ They did not want to isolate their children from the world but would mention and talk about gender when it was meaningful. There are some people in the world who are working towards the abolishment of sex and gender discrimination and these people should be looked upon as role models to make the world a better place to live in. 

Fraternity Inequality

Fraternities also promote sex and gender inequality. The students who are members of the majority of the fraternities are all ‘straight’. We hardly see homosexual students as members of fraternities except those that are specially made out for them. This inequality exists as fraternities are focused on masculinity and give masculinity a lot of importance. Homosexuals therefore, are not considered ‘fit’ for the fraternity life and often face the same consequences of being eliminated in the rush procedure itself. 
Fraternities also often focus on females and how to attract them. Females are considered as objects of desire and pleasure and are not treated fairly. They are treated as targets and are spoken about as targets among the fraternity brothers.

Rankings of Sexuality and Why They Are So...

                After our talk about Hanne Blank’s book and Gayle Rubin’s article in class and in discussion last week, I found so many things interesting. For one, I found the rankings interesting. The fact that they put the heterosexual people above all emphasizes the social construction and preference towards them. What I found surprising it that the gays, lesbians and transgendered are not in the same category at the bottom. They are actually separated, with the transgendered being above the gays and lesbians. This made me wonder and think back on an article I read in which it stated that people are always ambivalent at deciding whether a baby dressed in neutral colors is a boy or a girl. During class, as well, Professor Halberstam mentioned the uncertainty that people feel about themselves and the world that revolves them if they do not have clarity of what gender someone is. For this reason, I feel like the ranking of the gender identities is as described. Because gays and lesbians have a determined sex preference, they seem to be more accepted than transgendered individuals.

                What interested me more, however, was the fact that heterosexuality gained the top rank when it wasn’t until the late 1860’s that it was first thought of. This can be because it was the most useful for survival and evolution. Heterosexuality promoted the union of a man and a woman that would result in many offspring. These would make the work force of the world. Because the other genders weren’t essential to the creation of babies, then they were not valued enough and thus came about the order of the rankings that were explained in Rubin’s essay. 

Factors to Be Considered in Legalization of Prostitution

In this modern society, prostitution is considered a plague to morality rather than a socially accepted occupation. Women who are involved in this industry are to be condemned as women of no dignity and are treated as objects to satisfy the desire of men. However, this industry is expanding at a rate exceeding most people’s expectation; it is booming and is not anticipated to cease in the near future. Thus, it has become a serious issue to be taken into consideration whether this industry should be legalized or criminalized. In the judgment of legalization of prostitution, values to be taken into consideration are dignity and safety of prostitutes and women in general. Is legalization of prostitution helpful to prostitutes themselves and women in general? Or is it destructive to them? This is the most important factor that should be considered. Because a society where women are dignified through improvements of prostitute’s treatment, as mostly women involved in prostitution, provides harmony to the whole society.

Prostitution, different than other professions, has been a controversial occupation facing stigmatization from society. This profession offers services of one’s sexual or reproductive capacities. It is argued that such trade is demeaning to women and as involving a damaging commodification and market alienation of women’s sexual and reproductive capacities . Thus, these capacities are turned into a commodity controlled by men, deprived of the sacred reproductive value they posses. Moreover, social culture, which proposes that female body should be covered and not displayed because it would be a shame if one’s body is to be displayed to strangers, has been developed and enrooted deeply in society. As such, prostitutes who display their bodies to strangers are considered shameful and disgraceful to society- a damaging blow to the moral perspective that nonreproductivity and extramarital sex are genuinely bad, in which society upholds and values much. Consequently, society announces that prostitutes deserve disrespect; they are deemed as people with no dignity. As women, they will only denounce the morale of the society and affect the dignity of all women in general.

As long as stigmatization of prostitution exists, real injury is casted on dignity and self-respect of prostitutes. And it can be dealt not by legal strictures against them but of other ways such as taking measure to promote their dignity. Due to the nature of prostitution where most prostitutes are women, it affects the dignity and safety of all women if this profession is not protected. It is when the dignity and safety of prostitutes are fortified that they can start to carry on in their lives with more self-esteem and self-assurance. And it is when this happens that women are more empowered, raising their importance in society compared to men. Thus, women, in general, gain comparable dignity and safety with men, generating a balanced harmonious society where men and women share equal amount of power and burden.

Samurai and Sexuality

Male, female, man, woman, straight, gay, bisexual, or you name it, we surely have many ways to label fellow human beings. Perhaps, labeling oneself or others is what we always do. Surprisingly, in her Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality, Gayle S. Rubin explains that human sexuality is, however, a new concept to us. Even though the essay was both informational and insightful, since the focus of Rubin's historical narrative on such a concept is on the US and to some extent Europe, I would like to bring an example of a foreign country that helps us understand that labeling someone straight, gay, or bisexual in fact was not common. The example comes from Japan.

From what I know, some persons with high social status indeed engaged in sexual activities with people of their same sex without being labeled as gay or publicly condemned about it. Some teenage students from samurai family in the south west part of Japan, until the mid 19th century, enjoyed the company with fellow students, for it was considered as a way of building more connection and togetherness among their colleagues. It is not to say that all samurai were fond of homosexual activities, but, certainly, it was a custom for some samurai while growing up. In addition, some samurai, while being married to their wives, visited male companions during the night for similar sexual intimacy. These practices were nothing, but customary. Of course, the government did not strip off their samurai status because the concept of sexuality, I think, did not exist and is a product of our modern society.

Beauty and the Beast: A guide to masculinity?

The concept of masculinity has been instilled into children from a very young age and it is evident even in Disney movies.

Most Disney movies revolve around a heterosexual relationship revolving around a hero and a heroine. These movies intend to tell girls about themselves, how they are suppose to act. Similarly for little boys, these movies are intended to tell them how real men are supposed to act. They basically portray, both implicitly and explicitly, how to treat women as objects of pleasure or as servants to please them. Beauty and the Beast’s Gaston is the perfect example to this portrayal where he tries to win over Belle by his strength and dominance. His character is such that treats women as a mere toy, a toy that could be used, thrown or played around with at his disposal.

It glorifies one particular body types above all: chiseled abs and massive arms. Men with body types other than this are considered outcast. Le Fou and Gaston represent this contrast in the Beauty and the Beast. Gaston mistreats Le Fou throughout the musical because of his weak built.

Masculinity of violence and dominance is presented in this movie. The unwillingness to fight back or being violent is considered “gay” or having less strength. This is portrayed at the end of the movie where the Beast is unwilling to fight and thus is questioned about his strength by Gaston.

Boys turn into men following their favorite characters. Characters like Gaston have an influence on their treatment to women. Boys build up their bodies like most of the characters of these Disney movies to represent their masculinity. They resort to violence to show their strength. It is the society that shapes their thinking and yet it is the young boys who are punished for fighting in school.