Female Chauvinist Pigs: Raunch Culture and Feminism Essay (Critical Writing)

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Updated: Dec 21st, 2023

Introduction

Gender issues have caused great controversies across many societies in the world. For instance, great controversy surrounds issues of inequality between the two genders, social and economic roles of the two, as well as the freedom enjoyed by the two genders. For centuries, females were considered to be frail and males were dominant.

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The biological make-up of women and the cultural perception by the society has contributed to this position of women in the society. As a result, women have constantly engaged in protests in order to get the rights equal to those of men.

This article analyzes a book by Ariel Levy, the Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture. Levy’s book examines how the raunch culture was introduced in the society under the pretext of feminism. Further, this article discusses the influence of the raunch culture on women. Overall, it seeks to establish how the raunch culture relates to feminism.

Raunch feminism

This term refers to an over-sexualized culture that objectifies women and encourages them to objectify themselves in the belief that they are advocating for empowerment. According to the raunch culture, women should look sexually appealing in public. This culture advocates for things like wet T-shirt contests, pole dancing, and wearing clothes that expose an individual’s body (Tamar, 2010).

This culture has promoted the rise of sexuality and pornography in the society. This culture has spread fast because of the media promoting products that exploit women such as pornographic videos, provocative clothes, make-up kits, and novels among others. Unfortunately, women have embraced this culture.

They continue to strive in order to acquire these products. Levy coined this term to address the current situation in the United States. In her book, she shows how women are purchasing commercialized ideas at the expense of their personal needs and desires. Raunch culture suggests that women’s definitive expression of their empowerment is their sexuality.

Arguments made for raunch culture as a type of feminism

Feminism should help women feel accepted and accommodated in the society. Many feminists strive to become the best in all respects. Clearly, women feel integrated when they are the best. Since women are physically attractive, they should strive to look good on the outside. In addition, women should have the freedom to express their feelings.

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Raunch culture is about sex appeal and advocates for women to express their sexuality comfortably. Therefore, women should strive to perform well in their duties. They should look beautiful, feminine, and satisfy their partners effectively. In fact, when a woman serves a man well, she feels empowered. Looking at the raunch culture from this perspective, it qualifies to be a form of feminism.

Rationale for Levy’s argument that raunch culture and female chauvinist pigs are anti-feminist

Female chauvinist pigs are women who adopt behavior and views of men. They are women who hold stereotypical views towards womanhood that are similar to those of male chauvinists. Despite the fact that they imitate men, these female chauvinist pigs do not want the society to consider them gay. Therefore, they engage in activities such as going to strip clubs, getting cosmetic and body surgeries, and adopting sexist rap songs among others to look more feminine.

By adopting the raunch culture women tend to have a false sense of consciousness. According to Levy, raunch culture is not supporting feminism as much as leads to its abandonment. She documents that women in this culture strive so hard to perform well and impress men that they sideline their personal desires.

For instance, she writes that regardless of how much women imitate and watch pornography, they do not reproduce what they see in the videos. She says that good performance depends on the mood, sense of security, and the partner of an individual (Levy, 2005). This shows that no matter how much a woman might look at the content from outside, she is not empowered until she fulfills her personal desires.

How Levy argues that raunch culture and female chauvinist pigs are anti-feminist

In her book, Levy portrays women who advocate for this culture as a misguided lot. She refers to them as to mutation of female chauvinists rather than feminists. Levy shows that the raunch culture is anti-feminist. She debunks the beliefs of people in this culture by conducting a series of interviews to support her work. Levy interviews several American top models to find out why they expose their sexuality. In addition, she uses elaborate examples in her book to support her arguments.

Levy talks of how the raunch culture supports pornography, yet pornography objectifies women. She documents how men enjoy intimate services provided by women. She attributes the fame of women in pornography to the fact that they are mere objects. In addition, she analyzes The Playboy magazine and The Man Show to show the extent to which the raunch culture has degraded women.

She clearly establishes that women in the sex industry do not last long. She attributes this to the fact that individuals view only young women as attractive, and not old ones. By using elaborate examples, interviews, and conducting research Levy manages to dismiss the raunch culture as being feminist.

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Evaluation

In my opinion, the raunch culture is anti-feminist asinstead of the culture advocating for the accomplishment and fulfillment of women at a personal level, it advocates for women to aim at pleasing the men. Further, this culture continues to degrade women by suggesting that a woman has to dress provocatively, get surgeries, and play by man’s rules in order to look attractive. Just like men, women should enjoy full empowerment.

Raunch culture insists that women can achieve empowerment without stepping on men’s patriarchy. This is not so because men will still be on top. Overall, this culture portrays women as sex objects whose purpose is to give pleasure to men and neglects the individual needs of different women. Therefore, it is an anti-feminism culture as this culture still favors men more than women.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Levy’s book manages to address the issues surrounding the raunch culture effectively. She argues her points and supports her ideas with elaborate examples. Therefore, readers can analyze and draw their own conclusions from the book. In general, Levy dismisses the raunch culture.

Her work proves that the raunch culture resulted from mutation of female chauvinism. She shows how this culture favors men over women and how it portrays women as objects. Further, she shows how this culture contributes to moral decadency and disregard of women. Overall, Levy does not regard the raunch culture as a form of feminism as it conflicts with interests of feminism.

References

Levy, A. (2005). Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture. Los Angeles: Free Press.

Tamar. (2010). feminist debates: gwss 3004. Web.

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"Female Chauvinist Pigs: Raunch Culture and Feminism." IvyPanda, 21 Dec. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/female-chauvinist-pigs/.

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IvyPanda. (2023) 'Female Chauvinist Pigs: Raunch Culture and Feminism'. 21 December.

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IvyPanda. 2023. "Female Chauvinist Pigs: Raunch Culture and Feminism." December 21, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/female-chauvinist-pigs/.

1. IvyPanda. "Female Chauvinist Pigs: Raunch Culture and Feminism." December 21, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/female-chauvinist-pigs/.


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IvyPanda. "Female Chauvinist Pigs: Raunch Culture and Feminism." December 21, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/female-chauvinist-pigs/.

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