Feminist Literature

I'm reading a LOT for my feminist jurisprudence class these days and it's as if my mind just runs wild with this stuff. I've started reading more - above & beyond the class stuff (**gasp!** I know - reading a book outside of the law? I know...freaky). Anyhow - there is this dominant theme that the female form is inherently sexual in nature and that is why men seek a lot of control. A lot of this runs all the way back to Biblical times - and when you think of how many religions require women to wear certain clothing (skirts, head-coverings - you get the idea) it makes sense. But I've come to the conclusion that it is not so much the female form that must be hidden, but rather that men can't control themselves. Women - generally speaking (I am speaking from a hetero viewpoint here, so please - may the lesbian community forgive me, I do not exclude you intentionally, but I am just one person) - do not see other women and get all hot & bothered. Nor do we see a hot guy with his shirt off and feel the need to attack him or make him cover it all up so we don't molest his person (although I can't say the thought NEVER crossed my mind...hee hee.) It is the way that men view women, not the way that women view women or women view men that makes the female form inherently a sexual object to either be covered up or objectified. Things like pornography, the media, pop culture - all perpetuate this view of women. Some women play into it - and that is fine. But that doesn't make it any less true. Simply because some women choose to exploit their own bodies by playing into the female body as a sex object, does not make my theory any less plausible. Furthermore, their primary targets are MEN - large in part (see earlier disclaimer) men are the reason that they DO this. Motivations of power, money, sex be damned - it's all the same thing.

I don't think that we can change men overnight. We can't change society overnight. Perhaps it is the biological need to procreate that compels men to lust at the sight of the female form, but as I've argued 1,000 times...it is our ability to reason and change our behavior that sets homo sapiens apart from the animals. If we change how we view it as a society, things will change with time. Then there will be little cause for 15 year olds to dress all trampy. Because it will cease to represent power. If the female form has the power to control to the point where we either need to cover it entirely so that men are not tempted or we exploit it for media, marketing, and whatever other various & sundry reasons we would care to expound upon - then it is not the true body, but rather what we have made of it. And that men can't control themselves. Historically speaking, of course. Because women are all Eve at heart? Just waiting to tempt Adam with the fruits of the garden?