Today in class, Mr.Stewart had us interpret Oscar's shirt. On the shirt, there was a female body, money belt covering her private parts and the female biting on a necklace without her head being shown. Then Kyan told us what he thought of the shirt's meaning and made a statement with the words "money" and "bitches". Most of us, hopefully all, were raised to never call a female the "b" word. The only reason that I can think of on top of my head for Kyan to say that is because of the type of music he listen's to and how the media portrays women to be. Media portrays women as an object and if you want male attention, you have to dress less. Yes one may argue that's just how a female expresses one's self but don't go assuming everyone want's to be like that. Yes it is wrong for some male's in their music videos to portray women as sex objects but at the same time that's no one's fault but the women who let themselves be portrayed like that. Then Mr.Smith brought up questions to the females in class of how many of us would do a bikini shot like the one on Oscar's shirt for $1,000. No one raised their hand but as soon as $100,000 came up, only a few raised their hand. One may argue that's easy money to just take a pic for $100,000 but the way I see it, your just putting a price on your body. Why settle for $100,00 for YOUR body image when you know you deserve more better yet your body should be priceless. Then a comment was made about how some females weren't raising their hands when they know they would take the pic for $100,000. To whoever said that, please do yourself a favor and SPEAK FOR YOURSELF. Personally, I wouldn't take a bikini shot for $100,000 even if I had the most fittest body. Why? First, why would I wanna put a prize on my body. Second, I would be disrespecting my parents, uncles, boy cousins&brothers. In my culture, that is just morally wrong to show your body parts in front of them. If a female wants to take pictures like the picture on Oscar's shirt then go ahead but know what your getting yourself into. If you chose to rock the word "bitch" as if it's cool, go right on ahead but don't get all offensive when someone call's you that word when you have allowed them.
I feel as though women should have more self respect. They should dress a little more modest because when boys/men see them disrespecting themselves in that way they're going to want to cease the opportunity presented to them. Let's be honest when you see a girl/woman dressed like that you're not thinking "oh she's a nice girl I really want to get to know her" and girls/women who dress like that know exactly what message they're sending to the opposite sex. Someone also brought up how women are just celebrating their rights that they've been deprived of in the past but there are numerous ways to exercise those rights with your clothes on. During class we focused on how the shirt portrayed women but essentially the shirt was saying more about Oscar and his own moral values and how he sees women. We all have our own morals and we may stand on different sides of the fence on this subject so please don't get offended by this comment
ReplyDeleteThis is a really tricky subject. I just want to say, I respect both of your opinions even though my own one focuses on something different.
ReplyDelete"Someone also brought up how women are just celebrating their rights that they've been deprived of in the past but there are numerous ways to exercise those rights with your clothes on."
That was me, btw :) I'm Kathryn.
Sure, they can exercise their rights in multiple ways. However, it is up to them to decided how they want to, right? Maybe, they want to wear blue face paint for the rest of their lives. Okay. Maybe, they want to be bald. Maybe, they want to dress like men. Maybe, they want to wear a bikini for a photoshoot. There is no disrespecting of themselves in any of these examples because none of those things are inherently wrong. They are strange, you can judge them for it, but if they like it, they like it.
You bring up the point that "they should dress a little more modest because when boys/men see them disrespecting themselves in that way they're going to want to cease the opportunity presented to them." Here, you lost me a little bit. I am confused as to the "opportunity"? Who is presenting anything? And, really, who is to say what is modest or not. Years ago, ankles were considered scandalous. Years ago, shoulders were considered taboo. I'm pretty sure you've shown your ankles or shoulders at some time. That doesn't make you immodest! That doesn't make you an opportunity, or that you're presenting yourself. Maybe it makes you feel comfortable, or proud, or pretty.
Loisi, you ended by saying "don't get all offensive when someone call's you that word when you have allowed them." I disagree completely here. Say you cheated on your abusive boyfriend. Have you now allowed yourself to be called a whore? Say you kissed a guy on the first date. Have you allowed yourself to be called a slut? We really need to stop slut shaming and telling women that they can do certain things to be called derogatory things in regards to their sexuality. Demeaning someone by calling them a bitch because of what they're wearing is mean. They didn't deserve that. They're proud of their body, they wanted to make money, they thought it was fun, whatever the case may be, they didn't say "call me a bitch." They showed off their midriff.
Ultimately, as individuals, women have just as much rights to wear what they like. The same way those Abercrombie male models show off their bodies, we can too. Own them. We can't police people's rights to their bodies, because what if someone turned around and said no more shorts, t-shirts, or tank tops. If you wear those, be prepared to be called a bitch. It sounds ridiculous, yeah? Just take it out of the context of "woman wearing little clothing on a shirt", and place the same policy on yourself.
Well thanks for respecting our opinion kathryn but when I made the statement about not getting all offensive was not by what you interpreted. What I ment here is that some females out here believe me or not do embrace themselves as the b word but as soon as someone else call's them that, they are quick to jump and say that's offensive. Why should that be offensive of someone calling you the b word when you embrace it and wants people to call you that. If you are embracing the b word for people to call you that, then don't get offensive when someone else call's you that. You get what I'm saying? If not I'll be happy to have a self to self conversation with you because I don't think you got my full message of what I'm trying to get out. I did state in my blog PERSONALLY which means it's what I would do if it was myself. Obviously you didn't read my whole blog and just wanted to state your opinions without actually trying to ponder about mine. I do understand that women can express their rights in many ways, but personally I wouldn't do so as some. You do have a point about the whole cheating on an abusive husband but I feel as if that is not really what I was trying to get out from my scenario. All your points you have brought up are good points don't get me wrong, but I don't think you fully got my points that I was trying to get out so I would be happy, like I said before, to actually talk to you about this because it is like you said, a tricky subject. Thank you for sharing your opinion on this.
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