Friday, September 03, 2004
(1:46 PM) | Anonymous:
Objectification, The Body, and Protest: Or, "Hey hey! Ho ho! This penis party's got to go!"
I obviously don't have a problem with feminism, I have a problem with puritianism that is left over in the discourse of most American Feminists. I'm completely willing to agree that the sports industry exploits people, men and women, their sexuality, their bodies - all of that is completely, it would seem to me, true.
My problem is that sexuality and bodies (Cap'n Pete was right on here) is something that we hand over to capitalism and say we can't do anything with this because then we make of our bodies (our whole Being) a thing. So we decry those out there wearing whatever and doing whatever on TV because they are using their bodies as a thing. But what do we do everyday we go into work? Everyday we use our bodies to make money. It's not as obvious as pornography, or even playing Volleyball but that's what we do. The fact that we focus on this the most when it's attractive men and women on television [seems to be] just another way for us who rightly are "reluctant to use [their bodies and also sexuality] for capitalistic gain" to feel somehow morally better. I am just tired of all the moralizing of sex, gender, and all that.
I know the standard line is that this has been bred into me, or something, but I enjoy looking at people - men and women can become aesthetic just as, to appeal to your theological senses, an idol is 'merely' aesthetic. I think they are nice to look at, awkward, beautiful, objects out in the world. What horror to look at people apart from their bodies, as if such a thing were possible, and think that we are somehow respecting the actual person. All of that and of course I think there is a qualitative difference between this and say someone who constantly fills his vision with women who are no longer fully women (that is as unfeeling flesh). I, Anthony Smith, in no way condone that! But it seems ultimately unhelpful to have the categories stand as Good/Non-Object/Private Bodies and Bad/Object/Public Bodies.
A friend sent me this link. It has pictures of a protest, a panty protest, where people protested in their underwear. It had obvious sexual undertones as an "Expose Bush" protest. No one can deny that nearly everyone here is sexy and that there had to have been attraction among people. At the same time it is obvious that the protesters were using this kind of semi-scandalous behavior to attract attention. Clothes come off and people pay attention. So was it just another 'over-sexualization' to some or a truly fun and sexy way to protest? Comment box is below.
