Topic > Women in 'Female Chauvinist Pigs' by Ariel Levy - 987

In Female Chauvinist Pigs, Ariel Levy argues that the objectification of women is not only exploited by men, but also by women. Today, most women are willing to exploit their bodies and degrade their sexuality. There has been a huge change in the way women present themselves today compared to the 1970s. Levy said he would turn on the television and see strippers explaining how to dance a man to orgasm or channeling children in tiny, tight uniforms bouncing up and down on trampolines (1). The vulgarity of women is advertised on television without any shame. “I asked female viewers what they got out of vernacular culture… They wanted to be “one of the boys”; they hoped to have lived “like a man.” Going to strip clubs or talking about porn stars was a way to prove to themselves and the men around them that they were not "pretty women" or "girly girls".(2). Most women think that this behavior is a way of expressing freedom and liberation; however, their vulgar behavior shows that men are still in control of what women do. Women do this not to be “sexually liberated” but to attract the attention of men. They are slowly accepting a “patriarchal culture” that feminist leaders have fought so vigorously for. Levy proves that Female Chauvinist Pigs is a huge movement in today's generation by talking about teen culture. The title of this chapter is “Pigs in Training”. The title of this chapter implies that the message adolescents receive from the media is influencing their thoughts and behaviors. In Female Chauvinist Pigs, Levy interviewed many different teenagers who expressed how freshmen girls hook up with older boys in their school. Most of these girls were around twelve years old... middle of paper... not enough to say that the women mistook their sexuality for liberation. His argument is not strong enough because of his generalization of women. His argument is biased as it only focuses on one group of women. Not all women degrade their sexuality or use vulgar culture as a way to express their freedom. Levy's book is an eye-opener to how most women accept pornography and vulgar behavior. Levy wants a society where women are free to embrace their sexuality without direction from the media. She wants women to stop mistakenly relieving themselves as well as engaging in vulgar behavior. His thesis is clear throughout the book and he uses examples to demonstrate his argument. However, her argument is not strong because it lacks hard data and analysis that allows her readers to see different groups of women instead of the one group of women she presents..