I was immediately intrigued by the work of Cathernie A. MacKinnon. She is more than just a feminist. Oh but she is the lawyer who was instrumental in defining sexual harrasment as sexual discrimination. Such a feat was a progression to women's position in society. One of the main social constructs is sexuality. How did this construction come about? Mackinnon jokingly asserts that it must have came from the stork like everything else, right? So does this mean that the stork is really a man?! Must be, because the way in which sexuality is structured is in the benefit of man. And on the flip side, the women are blamed for their luring sense of sexuality. It is never the man who is seen as the hunter, not at least in solidarity. The man must be enticed by the sexual allure of women. Gee, this must be in our biological make-up as well. Our physique just seems to entice men from every which way. And again, I say thank you to the stork!
Sexuality created by the stork, the stork masked, who really embodies the androcentric mentality of a man, who perpetuates economic inequalities through the maintainece of capitalism. In other words, captialism creates sexuality. Sexuality sustains livelihood through the capitalist structure of American soceity. Included in this unequal structure are acts that are quite mind boggling. Take for instance, rape. Macknnon points out that rape has been conceived as violence, not sex, which works to obscure the elements of sex. I interpret rape as as sexual violence. Why do the descriptiors have to be dichotomies? This makes absolutley NO sense. Rape defined as the forcing of another person to have sexual intercourse against thier will. This threat often involves violence. The defintion illustrates that the sex and violence constitute rape, it should not be seperate. The act involves both vioelcence and forced intercourse. Rape makes a man feel as though he has power. Power because a man's sexuality is measured by his performance. Women's sexuality on the other had is detemined by thier appearance. Their appearance that is only meant or at least for the purposes to entice men. It is evident that both are socially constructed to suit the opposite sex. But what happens to those individuals who identify with the LGBT community? Does sexuality take on a different meaning? You betcha, there are social constructions to confine every type of social affinity groups into barriers as a way to ensure that the masculinist structure prevails.
2 comments:
Very nicely written. I would have to agree with you all the way with your blog posting. I would have to say time and time again we see daily on the news, magazines, tv, and lets not forget in our music videos women being used for just a toy or advertisement product. Men being the figure in the media that have power and will continue to have that power as long as society allows it to happen. Although, I find that is problematic because when women do try to step up as women we don't support her but yet talk down about her she instead needs are support. And let's not even talk about the LGBT category society leave them out as a whole and can careless as to what category they are placed in or better yet if they even have one at all. Yes!! Rape is a form o sexual violence and as for Stork tell him to kick rocks lol .
Good Blog !!!!!
Indeed a good blog. As I struggle with my "religious identity crisis" coming from a family split into two- Islam & Christianity- I face the decision to either go along with one religion that has been seemingly modernized from women inferiority but still lacks women in church leadership or a religion that traditionally seats me in the back of the mosque based on my potential to distract the precious and innocent man with my sexuality (as if my black HEFTY bag didn't disguise my whole body enough). In both cases I have to choose to accept the conditions inflicted upon me simply because of my sex that has abused so many before me...so I'm choosing which part of my womanhood I have to sacrifice in the worship of my Creator. No disrespect to either side but I want to know how I or any woman that ever questions the intentions of her faith and communities traditions am spiritually fed. Where is the teaching that encourages my personal development as a woman without feeling ashamed or limited to a follower and unable to lead as if my faith is less sincere? I appreciate you recognizing that women's sexuality has been constructed to detour us from affirming who she is and how she identifies/expresses herself and highlights her appearance & attractiveness to the men's eyes. On the flip side, male sexuality is more about control. Both instances are inserted in both religions reinforcing institutionalized gender roles while measuring a woman's sexuality as something can only be serviceable to men and measuring man's sexuality as something that must powerfully dominate over women.
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