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Girl Power Feminism and the Illusion of ControlGirl power feminism ala the sort represented by today’s new age pop starlets like Miley and the other graduates of the Mickey Mouse Club school of adolescent sexuality have embraced their sexuality—as they say—though what it appears objectively to symbolize is their willingness to be objectified by the male gaze so long as they can control the discourse, the narrative, the image—and not be “shamed” for what earlier generations would have deemed “slutty,” “trashy,” or “tasteless.” In other words, there is a tendency for today’s post-Feminists or “girl power feminists” to attack or fight back against any criticism of their use of their sexuality, even if that criticism is valid. The attention-getting that comes from flaunting one’s sexuality, or joining in the bandwagon of the #MeToo or #TimesUp movements, is the reward that the girl power feminists seek—or as Miley so aptly puts it: “I think it’s cool to be a woman and be, like, super in charge” (Zaslow 47). This is not a movement that aims for gender or sexual equality—it is movement in which the girl power feminists assert...
Yet, if a man were to say the words of Miley, replacing “woman” with “man,” he would be instantly labeled a misogynist who is egotistical and chauvinistic—part of an out-dated patriarchal system that wants to oppress women. This is a power struggle—and women are not even really at the heart of it. They are being used. Miley is being used by a media dynasty that now is eager to exploit her sexuality, just as it was eager to exploit her innocence when she was younger. They get her and many other young women to prance about on stage like strippers by telling them that this type of behavior is empowering. What it empowers them to do is not clear. What is clear is that the money that they get for doing it certainly empowers them to have a nice life, and the attention and fame that the media gives them reinforced the idea that they are in some way doing something that is “good” for women—liberation, aggression, freedom, whatever handle they want to attach to…
Even Tituba is accorded greater status than before. Women, traditionally marginalized in a religiously oppressive society, can gain power through the mechanisms provided by the witch hunt and the tribunals headed by men who believe the girls (or want to believe the accusers). Some of the men leading the hunt seem to genuinely think that they are doing God's work, while others seem to have more mixed motivations. All
"Lady Gaga in part because she keeps us guessing about who she, as a woman, really is. She has been praised for using her music and videos to raise this question and to confound the usual exploitative answers provided by 'the media'… Gaga's gonzo wigs, her outrageous costumes, and her fondness for dousing herself in what looks like blood, are supposed to complicate what are otherwise conventionally sexualized performances"
Feminism & Gender Theory 'No boys allowed:' Legos for girls In her book, As Long As It is Pink, author Penny Sparke notes the great 'distaste' she felt when wrapping up some glass ornaments she had bought for her mother. She knew her mother would delight in such items, but for her, these glass, ultra-feminine delicate 'dust collectors' signified being held hostage to both class and gender. Even the Victorian middle class
Feminism Summary of Story Cristina Tzintzun writes about the intersection between gender and racism in "Colonize This!" The author's identity has been shaped largely by antagonism toward her father, who claimed to be a liberal hippie but who was really a racist, sexist bastard. He cheated on her mother throughout their relationship, and when she was just three years old, Tzintzun witnessed him having sex with another woman. Tzintzun also claims that
Thus, even Valerie singles out the protagonist as special from her insane peers. Susanna's conflicts are seen as more, rather than less compelling than the other women's struggles because Susanna is 'really' sane, and able to take the advice of good people like Valerie. In contrast, the problems of people such as Daisy, who has a flip hairdo and an enmeshed relationship with her sexually abusive father, are used more
She also has the power to kill these children during the first days of their lives as they sleep (probably to explain SIDS), so these offspring are called "Oppressed Souls." In the Kabbala, Lilith is called the Tortuous Serpent because she seduces men to go in tortuous ways. Her husband, Samael, is called the Slant Serpent. Samael's whole name means "poison of God" (sam-el). There is also a dragon (snake)