Can you give an example of what you find to be approving comments?
I'm considering context, here. Look at the first picture on the website. This woman appears to have contributed her own photo to the site. She appears to have commented on her own photograph and feeds the "climate" of the site by commenting on the sex she had that night.
Read other comments. The majority are..."I want to get with that" type of comments. I don't construe these comments as disparaging, considering the CONTEXT of the material presented on this website.
I'd evaluate context differently, if I knew that the photographs were stolen and submitted without the knowledge of the featured women or those featured were underrage, as I've stated before.
Well, destroying the **** stereotype doesn't mean to tell women they're acting like sluts because they took their clothes off. Destroying the stereotype IMO requires society to place the agency and responsibility back on the people who are reacting to women who are taking their clothes off. It's a common tactic to scapegoat women when they are the target of attacks, of disrespect, and of ****-shaming.
Heather, I think it's more complicated than this. And I do believe that sometimes that which is interpreted as an "attack" isn't intended as an attack. Sometimes, harsh opinion stings and is internalized when it's not directed towards an indivdiual - but merely towards a blanket lable characteristic that someone might find objectionable.
I find it anti-feministic to demand that others stifle their opinion, even if it's objectionable to women or results in shame, in a general sense. Americans should be able to freely express their opinions.
However, when we begin to
infringe upon rights, my opinions change.
Please don't construe my opinions regarding this Facebook Page as a support of ****-shaming. There's no way in hell I'd support a woman being verbally bantered for being raped, assaulted, or for making decisions that are in her best interest.
But, I don't equate calling a woman who fits a particular stereotype and self-identifies as "****" - to be **** shaming - in the same sense as someone who has been verbally harassed because she was raped or chose to abort her baby.
I do support the right to criticize and protest as long as it does not cross boundaries that can cause a woman undue harm, but, not merely in the sense of offense.
Further, I don't object to women being able to dress as they want to dress or to live their lives as they want to live. But, women do need to acknowledge how their actions influence stereotypes and the larger picture of activism and equality.
Some women sexually objectify themselves, fueling the negative stereotypes that no single woman can eradicate on her own.
I'm not saying that women can't dress as they please and shouldn't be able to freely express without harassment.
But, a comment under a facebook picture that a woman submitted herself is hardly the type of FLAME comparable to a woman being harassed without any sort of provocation.
I draw a parallel to how stay-at-home moms back in the 1970s were told they were holding feminism back by choosing to stay at home for their kids and not finding their independence. It's a stereotype that stay-at-home moms are infantilized backward-thinking women who aren't doing their part in fighting for equality. That's a position I do not agree with. Women should be free to choose their position in their marriages and how they contribute or save in the economy.
Agreed and great example.
My parallel is that it isn't that we should be telling women they shouldn't be acting like sluts, that they shouldn't be stripping naked while asking for respect, that they deserve all the negative attention they get....I identify as a sex-positive feminist, and so my position is that women who celebrate their sexuality as their own choice ideally should not be disparaged for it. It's an ideal I'm striving toward, not to decide how a woman "should" act in order to garner respect for being a woman.
I think you do raise a very good point here. You're right, as women we should be empowering each other to live as independently and confidently as possible. And I don't agree with the messaging that women "deserve all the negative attention they get".
I do not understand the woman who would self-identify as "****" or without qualm sexually objectify herself or identify her behavior as sexual but then take issue if others PERCEIVED her behavior in such a way.
There's a hypocrisy to that type of mindset. That doesn't mean that she's not deserving of respect. Every human being is deserving of a basic level of humanitarian respect. And I do not believe that anyone has right to harm her or infringe upon her rights and safety BECAUSE of her choices.
However, if she chooses to place herself in situations where she's exploiting herself...she must expect that feedback, positive or negate will be par for the course. Realistic expectations are important. It might be beneficial for everyone to try to understand the psychology of others and their reaction to behavior and projections.
We've tried that tactic for a long time. I prefer to look at where and why sexual displays by both men and women are treated unequally, and if there is no rationality behind the difference, I challenge it..
Perfectly reasonable.
If a woman is flipping her top up, I don't find that disrespectful. But if a woman is attacking others, and SHE is making disparaging comments about other people, I find that to be worthy of a sharp retort. Not when she's just living her life.
There is a difference between attacking someone directly with comments in an unprovoked manner vs. expressing negate opinion in retort to that which an individual has presented themselves.
