Blog 4: Chapter 1 Pop and Circumstances

I feel like the repeated topic of this essay is talking about how pop culture degrades women. In the third wave of feminism women are trying to make strides to have equality in the world of media but from these reading I really do not feel as if females are making any strides at all. It is sad to say, but both readings offer plenty of examples of how were making strides in the wrong direction. First off, in the reading by Noami Wolf discusses pornography and how it degrades women. Wolf discusses how women have to make facial expressions and organism into a big deal because "if she wants to if she wants to look like that she has to feel like that". In other words, Wolf is saying that when a female sees this on television she feels that she has to make the same facial expressions when she is having an orgasm in order for it to feel pleasurable. Another example that Wolf talks about is women show their breasts on television like it's not a big deal, but a penis would never be shown because it is "not as naked". In other words, it's okay for a female to show her breasts because it's really not that big of a deal, but its not okay for a man to show his penis.

From the readings, i feel like beauty and body image is a function of social construction from the stand point that the mass media controls the stands of beauty. When we are talking about the mass media we are talking about television, movies, magazines, Internet, and radio and at least one form of media is available for free to every American on a daily basis. Most of the mass media is controlled by middle aged white men who set these standards of beauty which impact the lives of so many Americans. Not only does the mass media control the definition of beauty but it controls so many other standards that people have no idea about. One of the biggest surprises to me is how the reading talks about how pop culture controls people's opinion in a sense. A television show is going to be biased towards certain issues than they will show what they favor and try to get people to take their side; the mass media is so bias towards certain topics.

I think that a females beauty limits a women in a few different ways. If a females is very good looking, she has a better chance at finding a job. A females looks can carry her a long way, most people will deny that but it's true. Good looking women have better social lives, and have many more opportunities than another female. The part that gets me is that men define the definition of beauty and women have to go along with those standards.