Susan Douglas: "Fantasies of Power" Short Post 1/19/11

While reading Susan Douglas’ introduction to Enlightened Sexism, I found the difference in viewing feminism from the generation of women born in the 1950s to the women born in the 1980s and 1990s extremely important.  Douglas described the older generation of women who were “Watusi-dancing bimbettes” and stay at home moms were in smaller numbers than the women entering the workforce, joining the Peace Corps and getting involved in fields predominately taken over by men.  However, as we have reached present times, we have found an unsettling difference in the aspirations of the female population.  The older generation of women fought to excel in society as equals to men.  They increased their numbers in higher education tremendously.  They fought to strive in careers that had previously been a “male” degree.  Douglas argues that the younger generation is not fulfilling their duty as women of the United States to keep pushing for equality.  Women have lived up to their potential more and more and have made mind-blowing accomplishments considering the role of women not even a century ago.

Is the younger generation doing enough to further the growth of women in society and fight harder for equality?  Douglas answers no.  She makes a strong argument that the media portrays women as being equal to men, however statistics prove this is not the case.  Women college graduates still are making 80 percent of what a male college graduate is making.  Why is this?  Consider Colgate.  Every student here, with out a scholarship or financial aid, is paying the same amount of tuition.  Women and men at Colgate are attending the same classes and learning the same information.  This brings up curiosity of why women are getting paid less if equality has been reached.  Douglas further depicts the media as delivering fantasies.  She talks of the women of substance in Law & Order, Boston Legal and CSI as the women watched by the “Vintage Females”.  These women are portrayed by the media as equals to men.  Douglas accepts that the media is aloud to fantasy, hence strong numbers of viewers.  But these fantasies created by the media are suggesting there is nothing left to be done for fight for a woman’s equality.  This is false as we know, yet the media prevents the younger generation of women to see the fight that needs to continue for a woman’s equality.  The media tends to blind how much potential women still have to show in society. 

Personally, I am very excited I got in to this class because I feel very unconscious of my gender and the role is has played in society.  I grew up with two brothers and played lots of sports growing up.  I feel that my gender as female has been blinded to me by the way I grew up.  Just by reading these couples articles I can see how important it is for me to be conscious of my gender and understand my duty to desire change, my duty to push the female gender further in hopes of equality.  Douglas intrigued me by defining enlightened sexism.  I had never heard the term before.  This term left me thinking of all the shows I have watched that are this term.  Douglas describes enlightened sexism as feminist on the outside, but sexist in the meaning.  Enlightened sexism gives females the power to do and be who they want, but only to an extent.  As long as they do what they want in a sexy fashion and do not discomfort men in anyway.  My question is how do we stop the media from constructing these women in to sex objects and having young females idolize them.  I feel it is important to educate young girls and teach them how to use their voice and mind to be themselves without having to be a sex object.  For my senior project in high school, my group of five other girls and I created a workshop for 8^th grade girls to attend.  We did activities involving body image and learning how to respect themselves as people and females.  It is important to further educate girls and women of the unfinished business we need to attend to.