Feminism in the Dorm

Feminism in the Dorm

Feminism

My dorm room is filled with magazines adorned with beautiful women on the covers and bold statements meant to catch my eye such as “Arouse him like crazy”, “The hottest things to do to your man with your hands”, and “50 things guys wish you knew”. Acknowledging that these statements are in larger than life print and brilliant colors simply to lure me into purchasing the magazine, I am also aware of the subtle undertones behind these statements. These statements imply that a woman should only be concerned with sexually pleasing her man to the best of her ability, complying to her man’s every wants and needs, and be completely knowledgeable of how the man’s mind works to ultimately avoid confrontations and disagreements. Now, I am not about to burn my bra and righteously claim to be a proud feminist, but I do disagree with how these magazines portray women. However, before I begin to dissect these interpretations of women provided by the media, I feel that I must dive into the idea of feminism a little deeper to ultimately greater enhance my opinion on the matter.

It is generally accepted that feminism began in the 1960s; however I can imagine that there have been exceptional women earlier in history who strived for equal rights but were ultimately shunned by society. Feminism is a body of social theory as well as a political movement primarily focused on and motivated by the experiences of women. Chris Barker, author of the book “Cultural Studies; Theory and Practice”, states that feminism has a “substantial interest in issues of power, representation, popular culture, subjectivity, identities, and consumption” (281). The feminist theory aims to comprehend the idea of gender inequality and primarily focuses on politics, power relations, and sexuality related to gender. Some common themes explored in feminism also include discrimination, stereotyping, sexual objectification, and oppression. Personally, I feel that feminism is primarily focused on...

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