Feminism Divided Between The Waves and Body Parts

 There was a Facebook page I liked for its insightful posts.  It was a few years ago, and I forget the original post that inspired me to click like, but I later found out that the page represented a full length documentary, Miss Representation, which was all about feminism and how the media distorts women.  Luckily it was on Netflix, so I finally had the chance to watch it.  I have various arguments for and against the points in the film, but I came to the conclusion that today’s feminism is divided, and different feminists suppress each other, stunting progress.  Feminism is comprised of various causes, but I’m focusing on two clashing groups of feminists, which I dare to coin, that significantly influence the movement.

1.  Cerebral Feminists – Championed by the aforementioned 2011 film, they focus on women’s accomplishments, intellectual abilities, creative skills, and strive to break sexualized stereotypes that create blanket assumptions about women.  They promote the idea that women are able to be more than domestic servants, baby-making machines, and voiceless humanoid sex toys.  They believe women can do any job, and demand equal work for equal pay.  They fought against workplace sexual harassment and firing pregnant women.  Because of these feminists, more women are bosses, lawyers, professors, doctors, firefighters, etc.

2.  Sexual Feminists – They focus on a woman’s right to express sexuality without shame.  They also want to have bodily autonomy with healthcare and birth control.  They don’t want to be sexually objectified, but they want to be in control of what they reveal and be freely allowed to express themselves.  They feel like they should be able to wear whatever they want, and people should respect their boundaries.

There may be an overlap between the two types, but they still conflict.  Can you be sexual without sexually objectifying yourself inadvertently?  Cerebral Feminists fought to repeal societal ills of sexual stereotyping, and Sexual Feminists seem to be pushing back that hard earned progress.  Nowadays, there is more emphasis on sexual organs, orgasms, and sexual identity, and less on women’s brainy achievements.  This can send a regressive message to young girls.  The narrative that a girl could grow up to be anything has been reduced to, “You can grow up to be anything, even a stripper!”  Though, who is the sender of that message, Sexual Feminists or the masculine version of “the system” called the patriarchy, or both?

The second and third waves of feminism seem to be an ocean apart with the changes between them.  The former marched in pants and skirts for equal pay, and the latter wave shows up for protests wearing vagina costumes to protest the President grabbing it.  (Okay, not all contemporary feminists have a vagina costume in their closets, but my point is that women are more than just a composite of body parts!)  Third wave feminists are against slut-shaming, but they organize “Slut Walks,” to flaunt their looks in the face of cat-callers, who are probably not deterred by seeing more of what they want.

Do women want to be “sexy,” or were they brainwashed by the patriarchy-owned media into wanting to be sexualized?  The usual excuse is, “Well, women can look beautiful too,” but is “sexy” the only kind of beauty they are exposed to?  They say women can wear whatever they want, but what they want was marketed by men for years.  Men are not being sold crop tops or short-shorts, but women still love to gaze at new fashions in magazines, despite displaying a fraction of available designs.

Surprisingly most big name women’s magazines that promote sexism are currently run by women!  This includes Cosmopolitan, Vogue, Redbook, Allure, Marie Claire, Glamour, and Women’s Health.  While it may seem like an advance for feminism to have female Editor in Chiefs, those female executives were influenced by generations of sexual stereotyping – and are printing the same repetitive themed material with SEX in 72-sized font on their front pages.

It’s possible that Cerebral Feminists pushed too hard to intellectualize women that evading the sexualized extremity awakened its succubus sister, the Sexual Feminist, over time.  The expectation for women to always be celibate and for men to somehow become heterosexual conquistadors without women’s participation is ridiculous. 

Sexual Feminists own their sexuality.  They say that women want sex, and that part can not be marketed, because it’s a human carnal urge that knows no gender.  The sexism exists in the aftermath of intercourse.  If a man has sex, he is congratulated, while a woman sacrifices her dignity for his pride.  It should not be that way.  Either both are proud or both are shamed, because both parties did the same deed.  Since it’s a normal part of nature, maybe the reactions should be neutral?

There needs to be a balance.  We can not have only one voice representing a whole chorus.  There needs to be an equal representation in the two types of feminism named.  History’s pendulum swings between different time periods of expecting women to be sterile prudes or flat-bellied swimsuit models.  Presently, the bias toward Sexual Feminism could swing us back to a time where women are perceived as anti-intellectuals who just want to be sex goddesses, leading us to deal with more sexual harassment.  Skip burning bras, and read more books.