Sex is Shopping: A Focus on the Downfall Created for Women

Sex is Shopping: A Focus on the Downfall Created for Women
With the holiday season in stride, there is one societal topic dominating the minds of adults; money. In the capitalistic country we live in today, money is necessary for nearly every aspect of indulgence including love and romance, holidays, vacations, relaxation, presents etc. Nothing is accessible without money. The contemporary looming stock market, depressing recession, declining job market has affected all classes, sexes and especially all relationships. The primary contributors that shop during the holiday season are women. Unfortunately, even with the changing dynamics of families and various relationships, women still do the majority of shopping and spend the money regardless of whether or not they earned the income. However, shopping is not the focus of this paper, but rather the ignition to a larger dilemma. The sexual liberation women find through embracing materialism significantly damages society as whole. To begin, the freedom women embrace in sexuality will be explored. Secondly, the reasoning for women embracing materialism will be inspected. Lastly, how overall damage occurs due to the liberation women find through a consumer society will be evaluated. The main contention being that sexual freedom is found through materialism and has negative conditions for society as a whole will be exemplified through Mark Capote’s film Mean Girls and Truman Capote’s novel Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Each of the concepts will be analyzed along with the following authors: Jacques Derrida, Michael Foucault, Chris Barker, Susan Bordo and Jean Baudrillard.

To open, the idea that the freedom women embrace is in sexuality will be expanded upon. Although women have acquired several freedoms in the past few decades, the overriding freedom that women actually embody is through sexuality. Women have become an icon for sexuality more than in any other time period. Women wear provocative clothing that attracts men instead of for reasons such as comfort, sustainability, or even independent choice. In Capote’s text, the main character Holly Golightly is a young attractive female who seeks after the attention of males. Usually, this attention is gained through the clothing she wears which reflects the materialistic state that enraptures this society. She is initially described by the clothing upon her, a “slim cool black dress, black sandals, a pearl choker” (12). Rather than identifying her personality traits, sexuality is exuded by the basic black dress, the scantiness of sandals and the richness of a young woman in pearls. Men are attracted to this sort of attire and it creates an image of a young, beautiful, autonomous woman. Although sometimes this analysis of materials defining a person is ignored or deemed untrue, it is undeniably part of daily life. Likewise, Holly Golightly clothes herself in a robe with nothing underneath when she sneaks upstairs through the fire escape. Although this may seem unmaterialistic because her body is bare, she still resorts to her sexuality as an object she can use to sell to men. Although there are other freedoms for women, the noteworthy ingredient is that this is the portion they embrace. There are attempts to find equality in spaces such as the workplace and the home but these have not yet been achieved. In the movie Mean Girls, the main character Cady Heron is made over took look like less of the “girl next door type” to a sexpot. Her popularity grows the shorter her skirts become and the more makeup she piles on. As Aaron Samuels, the desirable male, becomes attracted to Cady, she embraces this sexuality by flirting incessantly. Many might argue that confidence is raised when women contribute to societal consumption and sexuality is merely a byproduct, however, the confidence is artificial since it is through materialism. Chris Barker explains, “[C]ultural studies has developed a form of cultural materialism that is concerned to explore how and why meanings are inscribed at the moment of production […] [C]ultural studies has been concerned with: who owns and controls cultural production; the distribution mechanisms for cultural products; the consequences of patterns of ownership and control for contours of the cultural landscape” (9)The truth of this statement is that men are in control and that men make the women allured to this power through sexuality. Materialism is unquestionable in society and evokes a sense of sexuality for women. The ownership component is inevitable in fashion for women and is a sure way of expressing sexuality.

Since women embrace this sexuality, it is also leads to the acceptance of materialism as principal. With women as the majority shoppers, the objectifying of women is affirmative. In Breakfast at Tiffany’ the men in Holly’s life expect that they can offer her money in order to make her happy. With the money, she can buy whatever clothing or gifts she desires and she only desires the best. This exchange alone is representative of the modern materialistic realm. Holly goes weekly to visit a notorious inmate in exchange for money. This is the addictive manner capitalism produces. Women who previously had no means to making money will now do anything in order to establish a mound of meaningless materials. This sad practice is accepted as Susan Bordo indicates; “Popular culture does not apply any brakes to these fantasies of re-arrangement and transformation” (1100). In Mean Girls, Cady is addressed and judged by the clothing she wears on the first day of school, including a bracelet that looks homemade. It is only later on that we learn that she is comparatively intelligent. Also in Mean Girls, when Cady is made over by the Plastics, she is immediately perceived differently by the other students. But why? Objects are an imperative part of defining society. Materials, especially clothing, enable women to make themselves distinctive from other women and therefore may make them more attractive as compared to other women. Chris Barker states, “Culture does not float free of the material conditions of life” (46). Also, women have a tremendous amount of varying options for clothing that can easily them separate from men in a patriarchal period. Culturally, women have to appear unrelated to their biological opposite. Although they must distinguish themselves as unique, they are undoubtedly linked. Jacques Derrida explains “Every concept is necessarily and essentially, inscribed in a chain or a system, within which it refers to another and to other concepts, by the systematic play of differences” (392). Males are still in power while women are the “other”. Women and men are linked yet one still holds more power. Men and women could be considered opposites yet would not exist without the other and could not be fully described. Both female protagonists fight another counter whether it is a mean group of girls or the men that are trying to capture them. Michel Fouccault says, “[N]ever have there existed more centers of power; never more attention manifested and verbalized; never more circular contacts and linkages; never more sites where the intensity of pleasures and the persistency of power catch hold” (691). That struggle for power between the men and the “other” is constituted by society and its consumption and relies on the relationship between the two. One counterargument would be that the more materials owned, the more power a woman possesses yet, the more attention that is paid to the characters and their material state, the more powerful they “seem”. Their lacking qualities and insecurities are instead covered by materials but still exist.
Lastly, women finding liberation through a consumer society is damaging overall. Women strive to become the sexual objects that men have created through their ideas. When incorporating themselves to these ideas or choosing to remain natural, they are becoming part of a group. For example, when Regina George in Mean Girls, the leader of the Plastics, wears sweatpants to school on a day when it does not agree with the rules, she is deemed inferior. This separation of society whether it is on a large scale or a smaller community lacks the idea of utilitarianism. Unfortunately, material possessions now seemingly create a greater definition of persons. Barker states, “[T]he moment of consumption is also a moment of meaningful production. The moment of consumption marks one of the processes by which we are formed as persons” (11). For the characters in the novel and the movie, we access their inner qualities by examining their possessions. This practice is destructive since the materials are being judged instead of individuals, as if judging is necessary at all. Barker also notes, “However, consumption-orientated cultural studies argues that meanings are produced, altered and managed at the level of use by people who are active producers of meaning” (50). Those with the power have the ability to shape the meaning they desire. Basically, the consumption of society is the abridgement between women and their sexuality. Men have created women to be sexual objects and by the participation of women in the consumer society, they are actually forgiving of the freedom they possess. In Holly’s story, she is considered free when she is able to be sexually innocent. When the man she is engaged to breaks it off and she is no longer on the typical pedestal of becoming a wife, she feels more free and able to surmount any negative obstacle. Also, Cady is freed when she reveals the clothing on the outside matches her demeanor in personality. When she is not dolled up in another person’s material ideal but alternatively in a simple astute outfit of jeans and a long-sleeve henley. Jean Baudrillard describes the reasoning as, “Consumer society (objects, products, advertising), for the first time in history offers the individual the opportunity for total fulfillment and liberation; The system of consumption constitutes an authentic language, a new culture; when pure and simple consumption is transformed into a means of individual and collective expression” (410). Although this distinctiveness in style serves as a way to distinguish people, it is still enveloped in the vision of the creator. There is no freedom in developing a person to a perfect idea, as Bordo explains “that we are surrounded by homogenizing and normalizing images-images whose content is far from arbitrary, but instead is suffused with the dominance of gendered, racial, class and other cultural iconography- seems so obvious as to be almost embarrassing” (1101). Both characters are eventually freed in a diminutive sense when they are allowed their own individual “style” and materialism and which is the instant their sexuality shines through. While these texts serve as examples of the negative features of how materialism limits freedom and sexuality, both women eventually return to their naturalistic and basic states. Overall, “Mean Girls” and “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” show how society is divided and damaged through the covering of materials in place of intangible values.

In conclusion, sadly in the female world, women find their sexuality through materialism. They are pursued as sexual objects that the men have created themselves. The participatory effect that materialistic shopping has had on women overall has been negative. Beauty is skewed to be unnatural but through materialism it is fun and exciting. This thrill is reached through the impossibility expensive maintainability of the never-ending fashion and technology of society. A further distinction between the sexes has occurred while the power has not budged. The negative conditions of the freedom women express through society are irresistible. So while in the holiday spirit, are you purchasing for the ideal or for the natural, because the two are not the same. The superficial world has arrived.

Works Cited

Barker, Chris. Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice. 3rd edition. London: SAGE Publications
Ltd., 2008.
Baudrillard, Jean. “The System of Objects.”
Bordo, Susan. “Material Girl: The effacements of Postmodern Culture”
Truman. Breakfast At Tiffany’s. New York: Penguin Books, 1958.
Derrida, Jacques. “Différance.”
Foucault, Michael. “The History of Sexuality.”
Waters, Mark. “Mean Girls”. Paramount Pictures. 2004.

Maddon't

Plastic Surgery is definitely a class phenomenon. Living in southern California, we are exposed to this trend every day. Coming from Cincinnati, Ohio, you would never walk down the street and see what you see in Hollywood or Los Angeles. But that’s why they call it the entertainment capital of the world, right? Barbie is not even a foot tall yet has dictated not only the hair color, eye color, and body image for young girls, but also an upper class persona based off mostly appearance. Barbie not only has large breasts and a skinny waist, but she drives either a pink jeep or a convertible. She has a “Dream House” as well as a suave boyfriend who is the “epitome of masculinity”. Bordo’s comments on colored contacts were especially telling. In the same way that Maddonna was made famous, girls now emulate the ability to change overnight. One thing that is essential to note though is that you must have the money to buy all the products. So boys, the amount of money the girl has or if you give it to her, can transform her from hideous to beautiful (whatever those constructs may be). Not to exclude men either, boys can now construct fake muscles, a better face, any new body part that they want. Power in the ability to change has corrupted idea beauty more than ever. Consumerism if anything, has made beauty even more detached and placed and even greater boundaries on the definition of beauty. Although Madonna found power through the ability to change, there are other avenues to find power without using appearance.

Hegemony and Snowflakes

Immediately the title of Chapter 14, “Cultural Politics and Cultural Policy” is an automatic turnoff. Politics and policy basically sums the chapter as a group of people or a bunch of ideas that will never agree and always dispute each other. Each fighting for power, which paradoxically is one of the first topics brought up in the chapter. All the theories that have been proposed in this book seem to nullify another in one way or another. My favorite quote pertains to cultural studies in this book but I think it pertains to everything we learn in life, “knowledge is never a neutral or objective phenomenon, but a matter of positionality” (441). These blog posts are asking us to do exactly this. Does true radicalism really exist? The issue of subcultures is discussed because of the use of their stylization and morphing of cultures. Humans are like snowflakes, we are unique in a tiny way, but hardly is it noticed.

Technology Addictions

Reading Barker’s fifth chapter (again), “A New World Disorder” really did not shock me like I expected. Actually, it was relatively reaffirming several beliefs that are already circulating about the net. Or maybe I’m just a computer nerd and I am used to the Fordism , regulation, surveillance, capitalist, globalization discussions about this subject. Personally, the internet is the biggest distraction in my life. Although I am able to find various information in seconds, I also waste hours finding YouTube videos to laugh at, write useless comments on Facebook and redundantly sift through hundreds of photos. Considerably, the topic of social class and the internet is the most appealing conversation. Ironically it is called the “world wide web” yet never do we enter a chat room and converse with someone from Somolia, Zimbabwe or Uzbekistan. Although the global market is shrinking (in the way that communication is easier and there is less of a gap), the internet is also making further distinctions between flourishing countries and third world countries. Another issue brought forth by the chapter was that the new technology was a form of repression. I agree with this statement because we are constantly editing our profiles, editing our pictures, editing our words. Also, with cell phones we have are usually glued to our hands. Many feel lost if they leave it at home. While several people say that technology makes us lazier (I agree since it is a distraction), it also gives us fewer excuses. We can’t say we were lost because we can use our navigation systems. We can’t explain that we couldn’t call our parents because there is always an available cell phone. Like ever other aspect in our lives, technology is good… in moderation.

consumer vs. advertiser

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heSudg-tfIk

real beauty and advertising

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knEIM16NuPg

Dicks

The Most Ludicrously Promiscuous Five Minutes of Film
The most ludicrously promiscuous five minutes of film is portrayed in the movie Superbad which was co-produced by Judd Apatow and Shauna Robertson. To begin, clarifying promiscuous is necessary so that the definition incorporates a notion of casual, randomness and irregularity. The scene is preceded by Seth, one of the main characters, being invited to a party by a girl named Jules whom he lusts after. The following scene demonstrates the most ludicrously promiscuous five minutes and is entitled “Dicks” which begins with Seth and Evan eating lunch in a cafeteria conversing about the invitation to the graduation party they had received shortly before. They continue by describing their feelings about the girls they would like to “hook-up” with and date until Seth disses the girl that Evan desires. Hence, the history of his ill feelings are revealed by an anecdote of Seth’s childhood obsessions with drawing dicks and Becca, the girl whom he despises, is the reason for his low social standing as well as the announcing of this hobby of dick-drawing. By exploring this anecdote, the most ludicrously promiscuous five minutes of film suggests that society determines a child’s innocence through his/her interest in sexual attraction. The clip playfully illustrates an array of male penises which is comically portrayed yet is obscene and unpure in the American Puritan values that today’s society was shaped and founded on. It is an unconventional secretive obsession that mocks Seth’s purity as a child when he is forced to see a therapist after the “religious fanatic” principal thinks he has a problem because of this advanced knowledge of the male reproductive organ. His creativity is interrupted by the thought of society’s reaction to his art. His obsession over a part of human anatomy is marked as a problem yet several children obsess over materialistic items on a daily basis.

In Barker’s fifth chapter “A New World Disorder” there is a section that discusses the patterns of consumption. I believe this is significant especially in times like today when the economy is poor and disorganized and we must observe the actions that lead us to this consequence. This subdivision also notes “changing class identities” which I believe is something society presses on us from day to day. For example, the Cinderella story is a prominent story that every American child is due to encounter whether in literature or media and if not that particular story then the “American Dream” is engraved into adults. I find it interesting that the word disorder is used as the heading of this chapter because it denotes a sort of lacking or irregularity.
Hence marks the distinction between making and buying or as Barker puts it, “production to consumption” (153). We focus more on what people have rather than what they really make. What we do not see is the massive credit card bill they hone or their house about to foreclose. Although one critic says that we are “moving toward a society without fixed status groups” I feel that not only politically we are changing as a nation but also our ideologies will begin to shift and the division of groups will become more distinct and apparent socially.

Selfish individuals

Individualism is repeatedly brought to our attention in every aspect of our lives. The type of car you drive is a direct reflection of your income (hypothetically?). The type of clothes you wear is a reflection of your awareness of style, social standing and confidence (imaginative?). The genre of music is an indication of your behavior (theoretical?). Although the class revealed that the two are unrelated and are equally significant we increasingly are concerned with what happens to us. I was once told in a philosophy class that there is no such thing as an unselfish act. We are so worried about fitting in with the collective yet stressing our individualism that our lives actually lack hybridity. Even though we cannot ignore the intricate strings that are attached to us in society are we truly saying it is impossible to dodge them?
While the show Sex and the City makes several valid points and invites risqué conversations, if you watch several of the episodes from the beginning of the series and then compare them to the culminating episodes, many of the characters contradict their profound remarks on society. The women in this show are intelligent women who still fall into the traps of designer labels because what it symbolizes as status. So what is the point? The only option left is that as we individually evolve we must be attentive to the contradicting principles that society tries to inflict and decide how we want to weigh our values.

Contributions to SATC Group Project

As for the Sex and the City project I contributed in a few different ways. Initially we divided the work and I was supposed to analyze two of the characters in Sex and the City but after Tuesday’s class and over the weekend that ended up changing because the class basically already analyzed the characters and we needed to organize the flow of our presentation. Over the weekend, I designated myself to find the academic article as well as do a close reading of “Beyond the Backlash; Sex and the City and Three Feminist Struggles”. After approval of five out of the six members I posted the article as well as developed a list of questions and topics to be brought up during our presentation. Earlier in the semester when we initially started discussing in the project, it was my idea to compare the female characters of SATC to the male foursome of Entourage. I also thought of the importance of the “city” as a perspective to analyze this text which was also reinforced after reading the Barker chapter. Through my idea’s I helped shape the context of our project. After finding the article, I also decided to make a playlist of the clips that we wanted to show during class so that we would not have to waste time searching on YouTube for the clips we need during the presentation. Overall, through emails I believe our group worked very cooperatively and decided to divide the work based upon the strong points of each member.

Space and its Complications

The complications of space and its portrayal of images questions the impact of surroundings. When cultural studies is discussed, place is an unavoidable concept. Now that the internet is relevant, will that influence shrink? As noted in my response paper “Sex is Shopping”, materialism is necessary for social relations. Today we are more worried about the materialistic components of a society than the abstract values and beliefs they hold. Since we are an image-driven society, it is simpler to have a picture of the homes than the values held within it. Urban living is an explosive mix of diversity and the interactions that occur are remarkable considering all the differences of individuals. Another point about the city is that it creates alienation. Doubting this allegation, cities have not always been places of alienation therefore other factors must contribute to the alienation sentiment. Personally, I love being in large cities and I almost feel more alienated in suburbs where there is more “space”. Cities are another form of sexual and romantic powerhouses because they encase such diversity which can lead to phenomenons and underground “radicalism”.

Reversing Radicalism

After discussing the aspects of a radical text, it assumes that it is hardly radical anymore. So what would we consider radical today? To think that there are topics that we have not attempted to address because our minds subconsciously block those thoughts is ironic because it suggests that our biology is definetly affected by society. Just a thought…

Hence the discussion of audience is relevant. Mass communication has made audiences more cynical, which is why the appeal to emotion has overridden fact-driven arguments and messages. Audiences easily can find “facts” and yet also know the constant overturning of “facts” as false. Persuasion is an element audiences are accustomed to.

Furthermore, the Barker chapter on television has a great quote: “News is not an unmediated ‘window-on-the-world’ but a selected and constructed representation constitutive of ‘reality’(316). Everything fed to us has already been filtered and we base our opinions on something that has already been deemed a certain way. Now, it is routine to bash on reality shows because they are constructed with directors, producers, actors, actresses and many other editorial types; however, isn’t reality constructed by the same kinds of boundaries?

Cultural Capital

The conversation on Tuesday was intriguing because of the intricacies of industrialism and economics. The most interesting part was the dynamic of risk management playing into the differences between the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It seems as if we are at the workplace in order pay off those debts that we have acquired instead of the slow-paced pay-as-you- go society. It should also be pointed out that self-determinism has risen at the same time that exploitation is adopted and jobs are outsourced. As I jotted down notes between the two economies, one similarity is that both times were on the brink of depression. Another funny topic is the “logic of capitalism”. Basing an argument on the reasoning of advertising, wouldn’t the buying
tendency to have new products constantly a sort of irrational ideology.I think it is important that we are skeptical of the hypocrisies of
current ideologies.

Sex =Shopping

Kyna Collins

Professor Wexler

ENG 313

October 13, 2008

Sex is Shopping

“Well, I mean you wouldn't buy a skirt without asking your friends first if it looks good on you” said the character Gretchen Wieners in the film “Mean Girls”, directed by Mark Waters. Why would the girls care if the skirt looked especially good on them and moreover, why would the acceptance of others make a difference? The subject of materialism and its significance as a freedom for women will be explored in this essay by using Truman Capote’s “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, the movie “Mean Girls” as well as a few other theorists. In the female world, women find their sexuality through materialism. Even Holly Golightly, the female protagonist from “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, is initially described by the “slim cool black dress, black sandals, a pearl choker” (12) that she wears. Materialism is a significant form of freedom for women’s sexuality and is embraced by periods of societal consumption.

To begin, materialism and its specific relation to women and sexuality will be examined. Objects are an imperative part of defining society. Materials, especially clothing, enable women to make themselves distinctive from other women and therefore may make them more attractive as compared to other women. Chris Barker states, “Culture does not float free of the material conditions of life” (46). In the movie “Mean Girls”, the main character Cady Heron is addressed and judged by the clothing she wears on the first day of school, including a bracelet that looks homemade. It is only later on that we learn that she is comparatively intelligent. Likewise, Holly Golightly clothes herself in a robe with nothing underneath when she sneaks upstairs through the fire escape. Also, women have a tremendous amount of varying options for clothing that can easily them separate from men in a patriarchal period. Culturally, women have to appear unrelated to their biological opposite. Although they must distinguish themselves as unique, they are undoubtedly linked. Jacques Derrida explains “Every concept is necessarily and essentially, inscribed in a chain or a system, within which it refers to another and to other concepts, by the systematic play of differences” (392). Men and women could be considered opposites yet would not exist without the other and could not be fully described. “Mean Girls” and “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” both have female protagonists that have to fight another counter whether it be a mean group of girls or the men that are trying to capture them. Chris Barker explains, “[C]ultural studies has developed a form of cultural materialism that is concerned to explore how and why meanings are inscribed at the moment of production […] [C]ultural studies has been concerned with: who owns and controls cultural production; the distribution mechanisms for cultural products; the consequences of patterns of ownership and control for contours of the cultural landscape” (9).The ownership component is inevitable in fashion and women and is a sure way of expressing sexuality. Materialism is unquestionable in society and evokes a sense of sexuality for women.

Next, how sexuality and materialism are determined by society and its consumption will be explored. In “Mean Girls” when Cady is made over by the Plastics, she is immediately perceived differently by the other students. Holly is always an image to discuss and the men at the bar cannot help but be consumed by her presence or lack thereof. The more attention that is paid to the characters and their material state, the more powerful they are. Barker states, “[T]he moment of consumption is also a moment of meaningful production. The moment of consumption marks one of the processes by which we are formed as persons” (11). For example, when Regina George, the leader of the Plastics, wears sweatpants to school on a day when it does not agree with the rules, she is deemed inferior. Although the clothing and fashion industry would not traditionally be considered a center of power, for women it is a central figure that shapes their lives. Michel Fouccault says, “[N]ever have there existed more centers of power; never more attention manifested and verbalized; never more circular contacts and linkages; never more sites where the intensity of pleasures and the persistency of power catch hold” (691). That struggle for power between the women and the “other” is constituted by society and its consumption and relies on the relationship between the two. Barker also notes, “However, consumption-orientated cultural studies argues that meanings are produced, altered and managed at the level of use by people who are active producers of meaning” (50). Those with the power have the ability to shape the meaning they desire. Basically, the consumption of society is the abridgement between women and their sexuality.

Lastly, the significant component of freedom has to be addressed and how it is reached through materialism and sexuality. In Holly’s story, she is considered free when she is able to be sexually innocent. When the man she is engaged to breaks it off and she is no longer on the typical pedestal of becoming a wife, she feels more free and able to surmount any negative obstacle. Also, in conclusion, Cady is freed when she reveals herself as the clothing on the outside matches her demeanor in personality. When she is not dolled up in another persons material ideal but alternatively in a simple astute outfit of jeans and a long-sleeve henley. Jean Baudrillard describes the reasoning as, “Consumer society (objects, products, advertising), for the first time in history offers the individual the opportunity for total fulfillment and liberation; The system of consumption constitutes an authentic language, a new culture; when pure and simple consumption is transformed into a means of individual and collective expression” (410). Both characters are eventually freed when they are allowed their own individual style and materialism and that is the instant when their sexuality shines through.

Overall, “Mean Girls” and “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” show how society consumes those women who show freely their materialistic side and finds those women irrefutably sexy. For women, shopping is like sex because the material will help them reach that substantial liberty in the body and mind.

Works Cited

Barker, Chris. Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice. 3rd edition. London: SAGE Publications

Ltd., 2008.

Baudrillard, Jean. “The System of Objects.”

Truman. Breakfast At Tiffany’s. New York: Penguin Books, 1958.

Derrida, Jacques. “Différance.”

Foucault, Michael. “The History of Sexuality.”

Waters, Mark. “Mean Girls”. Paramount Pictures. 2004.

Whats the big deal about drag queens?

email

sunskittles2@yahoo.com

History of Sexuality

Michel Foucault's "The History of Sexuality" offers several intriguing viewpoints. His main points consisted of a list of a couple statements regarding "the power exercised" in culture and sexuality. I will establish my reaction in the order that the labels are addressed and how he suggests they run the power structure of how sexuality is perceived. Marriage and adultery are positively ideas of the church and although it definitely still dominates today's western ideology I think the point about trying to distill the children and the secretive nature of sexuality and children is becoming overturned. With the increasing advertising in today's culture, children are becoming predisposed to sexy images and Americans are having to be more open with their children and educating them about sex rather than hiding it. I am not saying that this has completely enveloped our culture but it is a change occurring simultaneously. Secondly, "the new persecution of the peripheral sexualities entailed an incorporation of perversions and a new specification of individuals. Being meticulous about categorizing what type of sexual fantasies one may have does not open new avenues for accepting sexuality but rather just announces it. Some may say that solely announcing to describing a sexuality is not the same as accepting and embracing it. The author states, "The machinery of power focused on this whole alien strain did not aim to suppress it, but rather to give it an analytical, visible, and permanent reality". The showing of these categories is neither a positive or negative attribute but rather an educational moment. Next, his third point reminded me of the binaries that must exist with every sign (Derrida and Saussure). With every act, there is a secret, and for every secret there must be attention to it. Different institutions offer varying relationships with sexuality and therefore have the power to offer perspective without being judgmental. The fourth point discusses, "devices of sexual saturation" and divisions of society and sexual acceptance. The "high society" often faces more microscopic observation and especially into something so privatized as sex. I think this perfectly relates to our discussion about radical culture because looking at it from a humanistic viewpoint, I doubt that it SHOULD change our behavior but it undoubtedly does. Lastly, sexual repression occurs as an effect of societal views and still holds true today. Now we seem more open to discussion about sex yet it is explored more like a science than a fun, humanistic behavior. Since there are more structures of power today, is that why sex causes commotion it does today?

Tifffannnnnyyyyyyyyyys

Erotic publicity and forcibly being exposed to "radical" acts is both
the basis of contemporary media and Breakfast at Tiffany's by Turman
Capote.  As for Tuesday's (short) discussion, the public is turned on by
the exhilarating character of Holly Golightly as if she were Paris,
Lindsey, or Britney.  Although she reveals that she would not want to be
famous because of the senselessness it incorporates, she leads a similar
lifestyle.  The male narrator is attracted to her sexuality and beauty 
like in "Ten" yet the promiscuity reveals her as a lost heroine instead
of a strong independent. Breakfast at Tiffany's delves into the history
of the young mademoiselle and the downfall of her love life is an issue
of loneliness, family, and age rather than for the sheer experience. As
a contrast, when speaking of the male mentality of promiscuity there
tends to be a lack of explanation or true "issue" and is typically
blamed on testosterone.  As a scheme, Holly goes to visit an inmate
every Thursday, and whether actual or not, she is vulnerable to the
power and control of males as her entire life has been previously. 
Although she enjoys several rendezvous with the visitors of her
apartment, they contstantly fill a male void whether it be her first
husband, brother, or future husband.  

Continuous Love

A bunch of us posted on week 3, but I realized that it is really week
four... so Im just re-posting under the right week...

I thought that the “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” discussion about change was
engaging.  On a basic level, I believe that change is continuous
(therefore it has to exist, DUH!!!), however, since change is expected,
modification in itself is insignificant (which is what I was trying to
argue in class).  As someone else noted, the cage never disappears, it
changes form.  Society always has restrictions so the question is not
whether we have succeeded in the past but rather what is our next
challenge?  Whether the cage is viewed as a prison or protection, there
is still a barrier that remains.   There is no replacement for the
barrier that exists, there are only different forms.  
 Next, Chapter 1 of McDonald’s book takes on an interesting standpoint
that the RomCom is presented for both sexes.  Although predominately
they are known as “chick flicks”, romcoms relate a complicated avenue
depicting love and provide a sociological and socioeconomic  aspect for
a topic that has been etched into our minds as essential.  The fact that
our “capitalist consumerist” economy is failing is quite entertaining. 
One of my favorite quotes from this reading is, “films do not just
reflect reality, they help create it too”(14).  It will be enjoyable to
 analyze the romantic undertone in movies that are not categorized in
such a manner. 

Social Romance

Sitting at the Calabasas Commons it is easy to observe people since it
is a central social setting for people in this city. So here are some of
my observations:

A toddler running back and forth between the father and what appears to
be the grandmother.  The young toddler (girl) is laughing and screaming
every time she reaches one of the adults.They are speaking in another
language and eventually the father embraces the older woman with a kiss
on the cheek.  They go their separate ways.

A young couple probably in their early to mid-teens walking quickly. 
The boy has his hand around the girl and she has her hand around his
waist.  They are talking and he keeps pulling her in to give her short
kisses.  

Another young couple holding hands but the distance between them is much
greater and the girl keeps playfully hitting the boy.  They are both
smiling and the boy is looking anywhere but at the girl.  She is looking
straightforward, even while she hits him but I can tell they are
talking.  He walks slightly behind her and then tries to trip her.  She
again, turns towards him and hits him.

A group of five adults is walking together.  There are three men and two
women. One couple is obviously together, the man slaps the woman’s butt
and he along with another man in the group start laughing.  Another
woman is talking very loudly about a movie she saw the weekend before. 
I might mention that they are all dressed extremely nice.  I notice that
every one of them has a ring on the “married” finger. 

A group of girls probably about my age (maybe?) are all dressed in “club
attire”.  Many of them are wearing very short dresses and there is not
one male with them.  They are talking about how much fun they are going
to have tonight.  One of the girls is on her cell phone giving
directions to where they are. One pair of girls is holding hands and
whispering.  Three of the girls go inside to get something to eat while
the others pull on their clothes and pull out their cell phones and
texting.  Two more of the girls are helping do another girls hair while
she stands like a statue.  They seem to enjoy the attention of many of
the people that are gazing at them but act as if they don’t see anyone
else.  Their eyes are focused on only other girls in the group.  Two
boys approach one girl… she shakes her head, the boys leave, a couple
girls approach her and then start laughing.  

A man and woman sitting a table eating.  They are sitting directly
across from each other.  There is no touching at any point while they
are eating and seem to be having a serious conversation.  I can’t tell
whether they are a couple, business partners, or just friends.  At one
point she takes a picture out and shows it to the man. He looks at it,
nods his head and gives it back to her.  They are still sitting there
even after the meal is over... but it is time for me to go.  

Relating this back to the material we have discussed in class I find
that many of the women I observed with the exception of the last, were
kind of guided by the males that they were with or surrounded by.  With
the young couples that I observed, it seemed as if the male had total
control over where the girl walked and it reminded me of Chapter 1 of
the Barker readings because it seemed so “cliché”.  Even the group of
girls, although they wanted to pretend that they were in their own
bubble, it was interrupted by the two boys who walked up to them.  I
also found it interesting that it was a group of girls and when I saw
the group of adults, it was a lone male.  It is almost as if the girls
cannot be independent (however I do not agree)… they had to be in that
group to feel impowered.  The group of girls must have been aware that
there was not a male with them and therefore aware of the “other” part
of the binary equation.  

As for the sign systems of Derrida and Saussure, the young toddler seems
to be the best example.  As she reaches one of the adults, she would
scream and laugh. While she was running, she was completely focused on
making the correct steps.  Once the picked her up, clapped, or started
screaming, she would do the same as a reaction.   

drink up brick

As someone mentioned before, actions speak louder than words.  The
ambiguity resists some of the gender,sex, and familial constructs by
limiting what we know about each of the charachters and lets us open our
eyes into the true relationship of mainly Brick and Big Daddy.  This
play defies the "normal" sexual discrepancy of the cheating man when
Maggie is the one who tricks Skipper into sleeping with her yet the
attraction lies in her beauty which is typical (and her persuasiveness).
Big Daddy saying that he wants to sleep with as many women as possible
while he is still living reveals that men of "high society" can have
affairs just as the low class Maggie does and that mistakes are not
limited to a certain class.  The homosexuality part of Skipper and Brick
reflects on the values of friendship and questions the construct of true
friendship.  Although ambiguity does function as an obstructed eyeglass
there are many parts of the play where the ambiguity lets us know much
more than I think Williams wanted us to interpret.  By leaving certain
things out, the reader makes assumptions and can change the intent of
the piece.  For now, those are my thoughts on just a few of the issues. 

In the beginning I read this quote and thought it was
interesting,”Dorothy Parker has written: ‘I cannot be just to books
which treat of woman as woman ... My idea is that all of us, men as well
as women, should be regarded as human beings’”.Why does it matter? Then
I remember, we should be proud and accepting of our differences however
popularity is a group and human beings strive to be in a community and
within that community we lose a sense of uniqueness.   Later in the text
the notion of the “other” or “outsider” is discussed which I find
interesting to define in terms because our ideas are already shaped
before we have them. 
The title of this piece bothers me since it is called “The Second Sex”
and is discussing  how to define a woman.  Why are women defined as
second to men?  What approach is the author using? Is it the biblical
reference that woman was created from mans rib or is it because
currently the world is patriarchal in the majority of societies?  It
starts off assuming that there is an “original” sex.  This relates to
some of the following text and Aristotle’s quote which I am dismissing
as medieval and naive thinking of the “man”.  I like how at the end it
notes that we must reject all notions of describing men and women as
“equal”,” infererior” or superior”. I also enjoy how it delves into each
of these theories. 
And finally, I knoooow we were only supposed to pick two quotes but I
couldn’t help myself. I just want to stick this one in there as well;
“But it is doubtless impossible to approach any human problem with a
mind free from bias. The way in which questions are put, the points of
view assumed, presuppose a relativity of interest; all characteristics
imply values, and every objective description, so called, implies an
ethical background”. This also relates to a prior point of how our ideas
are predisposed. 
This article is very interesting and brings up several pertinent issues.
 As for pop culture references…. I think this could be applied to any
reference but I really like whoever brought up the women bodybuilders. 
 Well, and I couldn’t help thinking of Hilary Clinton and some of the
accusations of her being “manly”.