Female Chauvinist Pigs
Porn has been a topic of contention among feminists for decades, and I certainly don't have any answers. In fact, although (or perhaps because) I consider myself both feminist and sex-positive, I am conflicted about porn.
Because of this, I was excited about reading Ariel Levy's new book, Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture. In the first few pages, the book gave me an impression that it never shook off: Levy makes some excellent points, but supports them largely with emotionally charged anecdotes that practically beg for the desired reaction. For example, in the first chapter, titled "Raunch Culture," Levy argues essentially that women's sexuality is commodified and thereby reduced to a single, monolithic image of "sexy." Only a dozen pages into the first chapter is this laden scene: two girls on a beach where an episode of Girls Gone Wild is being filmed being egged into removing clothing and spanking each other by a gathering crowd of camera-snapping spectators.
To her credit, Levy reviews the history of attitudes towards women's sexuality in the feminist movement and also tries to look at the attitudes of the upcoming generation by interviewing teenagers. And even to approach the topic is challenging, since, as Levy points out, many women participate voluntarily in porn, either as performers or consumers, and to challenge that is to invite an outcry that one is not sexually liberated. She argues cogently that women are adopting a tradtional male model of sexuality, thus becoming the female chauvinist pigs of the book's title.
Problematically, Levy contrasts this cookie-cutter view of sexuality with the point of view she advocates, a pleasure-centered approach, without examining what she is advocating. She takes her own point of view to be self-evident: the models of sexuality, she says, should be the people who derive the most pleasure from it. She does not devote attention to what "pleasure" means in this context, though. Does it refer to orgasms? Emotional intimacy? Female chauvinist pigs, she says, feel accomplished or powerful as a result of their sexual interactions -- are these things not pleasurable?
Levy's proposed solutions to the commodification and universalization of female sexuality are not specific, but she does propose that the solution must include the admission of diverse forms of sexuality and sexiness to be real.
In the end, I think Levy raises interesting questions and draws useful conclusions, but does so by somewhat superficial means. Her book draws well-deserved attention, however, to the issue of pornography and questions whether the fact that female sexuality can today be more aggressive and visible than ever before is always a sign of progress.
Because of this, I was excited about reading Ariel Levy's new book, Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture. In the first few pages, the book gave me an impression that it never shook off: Levy makes some excellent points, but supports them largely with emotionally charged anecdotes that practically beg for the desired reaction. For example, in the first chapter, titled "Raunch Culture," Levy argues essentially that women's sexuality is commodified and thereby reduced to a single, monolithic image of "sexy." Only a dozen pages into the first chapter is this laden scene: two girls on a beach where an episode of Girls Gone Wild is being filmed being egged into removing clothing and spanking each other by a gathering crowd of camera-snapping spectators.
To her credit, Levy reviews the history of attitudes towards women's sexuality in the feminist movement and also tries to look at the attitudes of the upcoming generation by interviewing teenagers. And even to approach the topic is challenging, since, as Levy points out, many women participate voluntarily in porn, either as performers or consumers, and to challenge that is to invite an outcry that one is not sexually liberated. She argues cogently that women are adopting a tradtional male model of sexuality, thus becoming the female chauvinist pigs of the book's title.
Problematically, Levy contrasts this cookie-cutter view of sexuality with the point of view she advocates, a pleasure-centered approach, without examining what she is advocating. She takes her own point of view to be self-evident: the models of sexuality, she says, should be the people who derive the most pleasure from it. She does not devote attention to what "pleasure" means in this context, though. Does it refer to orgasms? Emotional intimacy? Female chauvinist pigs, she says, feel accomplished or powerful as a result of their sexual interactions -- are these things not pleasurable?
Levy's proposed solutions to the commodification and universalization of female sexuality are not specific, but she does propose that the solution must include the admission of diverse forms of sexuality and sexiness to be real.
In the end, I think Levy raises interesting questions and draws useful conclusions, but does so by somewhat superficial means. Her book draws well-deserved attention, however, to the issue of pornography and questions whether the fact that female sexuality can today be more aggressive and visible than ever before is always a sign of progress.
posted by Sarah at 5:54 PM
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