Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Women dont have complete control of sexuality

I believe that in our society today, women still do not have complete control of their sexuality. While they may argue that they are using this sexualtiy and position of "vulnerability" as someone mentioned earlier to their advantage, they are doing so under the social pressures placed on them by society and men. Men have been and still are the dominant gender in society. Look at any political profession (president, senators, supreme court justices), all are dominated by men. Women are still trying to gain control of their own sexuality and to break away from what society is pushing upon them. However, most women are comfortable with their role in society and are not trying to change it. There is so much pressure placed upon women to please men in our society that they go way out of their way in order to do this. Regardless of whether or not some admit to it. There is no other reason for women to buy such expensive designer name clothes, wear make-up, or dress sluty except to impress. And for what purpose would women need to impress each other in such a manner. Clearly there is still a holding by men of women's sexuality and how they use this sexuality. Women are typically the ones that are expected to please a man. It is not the other way around in this society. THere are pressures placed on women to have sex with guys and while they do have the final say in whether or not they participate in these sexual acts, society's pressures play a much larger role in this decision than the womens opinion, feelings, or amount of control over her sexuality.

2 comments:

  1. Your point about most women being comfortable with their role in society and lack of interest in changing that position is usually referred to as "false consciousness" though this is a problematic concept because it seems to presume in this case that women do not understand their social interests and are therefore happy to accept conditions that work to their disadvantage.

    Kennedy attempts to address false consciousness most directly of any of the readings we have had this semester (608-10). Posner denies that the existence of false consciousness should be a legal concern or a reason for legal protection (cf. 134-5). MacKinnon addresses the point, which has sparked contention among feminists, and tries to construct an approach to feminist jurisprudence that avoids the extremes to which false consciousness can lead (637).

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  2. I actually disagree with your claim regarding women having control of their sexuality. I feel that in modern society, women do need to take control of their sexuality as opposed to feeding into the stereotype of being the "damsel in distress." Women do have control of their choices and decisions just as much as men do.

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