"The Pornography of Meat" and "Islamic Feminism in Iran": Two Feminist Resources

1. Since my freshman year of college—when I enrolled in a gender studies class and quickly realized that the subject fascinated me—I have devoured a number of books and articles on the topic. Just last weekend I read a piece about media juxtapositions of women and animals. This book by Carol J. Adams, titled The Pornography of Meat, is simultaneously a feminist and vegetarian manifesto that decries the fact that women are often compared to meat in advertisements. For example, in order to sell meat products, advertisers personify animals to look like sexy women or compare images of faceless voluptuous human females to the curves on fattened pigs’ and cows’ bodies. Because cows, pigs and females are all creatures that men objectify and “consume” in some way, these advertisements effectively bring in revenue, according to the author.

Another topic Adams delves into is rape. For instance, she compares man-against-woman rape with the artificial insemination of female animals that occurs on breeding farms. When farmers breed pigs, they trap the females into small cages that lock them into place before releasing a genetically altered “alpha male” to forcefully inseminate as many females as possible. The females protest this treatment with squeals and squirming—naturally, mating occurs gently and is preceded by several minutes of nuzzling. Adams compares this form of rape to human rape, arguing that men trivialize both women’s and animals’ bodies; according to the author, the female body in all its forms is often seen as being nothing more than a breeding machine.

Furthermore, Adams explains that humans have grown accustomed to classifying all animals of the same species as being a single entity. “Never name an animal you are preparing for slaughter,” a farmer advises, “or else you and the kids will be sitting around the kitchen table with tears in your eyes.” Instead of letting ourselves see that every animal is a unique, individual creature, we instead choose to, say, grind up hundreds of cows into one huge vat of hamburger meat. When a person purchases a burger at their local fast food restaurant, they are about to consume the remnants of at least three or four cows, Adams calculates. Homogenizing cows, pigs, chickens, etc. makes eating them easier on our consciences. This process can also be compared to human rape, according to the author. Women are not called by their names during or preceding sexual harassment; they are labeled “slut,” “whore,” or “cunt”—instead of being viewed as individuals, they are objectified, trivialized, and reduced to their reproductive parts.


2. Beginning in 1979 with the Iranian Revolution and coming to a climax after 9/11, a strong fear of Islam has grown in the United States. Americans picture the Middle East as a dark landscape teeming with terrorists-in-training and women draped in full body veils. Thanks to Iranian and Islamic feminism, however, the latter is becoming less common. In fact, according to the article “Islamic Feminism in Iran” by Fereshteh Ahmadi, Islamic feminists’ two-decade struggle against a patriarchal society is already having an enormous impact on the declining social acceptability of the following practices: veiling women to maintain a physical barrier between the sexes, preventing women from participating in social life, and the Islamic clergy’s barring women from religious ceremonies.

As Ahmadi explains, Islamic feminism is simply a movement of men and women who wish to reinterpret Islamic theology and law from a feminist perspective. These revolutionary thinkers uphold a feminist discourse and practice that are articulated within an Islamic paradigm. Many women in Iran are extremely concerned about their lack of rights, and are struggling to change their lives by aligning with Western feminist philosophy and protesting against patriarchal Islamic laws, their energy coming from the exhilaration of proving themselves against all odds. Some Iranian females are even brave enough to demand full recognition as citizens of the country, a restricted right due to Iranian “re-Islamization” policies. However, despite the hard work of women’s activist groups both inside and outside of the Iranian parliament, many patriarchal laws and restrictions remain in full practice.

Western feminists have not given Islamic feminists’ movement to reinterpret the Qur’an enough credit; unfortunately, this lack of recognition stems from Western society’s deeply rooted fear of Islam. Americans, in particular, are skeptical that Islam could ever be reinterpreted to fit the demands of a modern society based on gender equality. This need not be a concern, however—as the author explains, Islamic feminists believe that some aspects of Islam are “essential,” such as the conception of a single God, but that other components of the religion are “accidental” and stem from the particulars of the time period in which Islam’s prophet Muhammad was born. Because Muhammad lived in the thirteenth century, his vision of Islam’s gender dimensions was shaped by Arabian society, which happened to be patriarchal.

This, Islamic feminists claim, is an “accidental” aspect of history; Muhammad could have been born during any time period, and the confines of society at that point in time would have shaped Islam differently. Thus, according to the author, Islamic laws such as male custody rights in the event of divorce and the permission of men to marry up to four women are classified as accidentals that can be eradicated because of a changing society.

Everyone Loves Dead Women

This is a comment I made on the blog, "Season of Die, Women, Die!" from ms.musings.

"After inhabiting Los Angeles for three years, I am alarmingly accustomed to glancing up at billboards towering over Venice Boulevard or Third Street and seeing what look like female corpses staring down at me with blackened eyelids and sunken cheeks. I often wonder how these advertisements could possibly inspire customers to buy these companies’ products; I usually look at them in disgust, shake my head, and avert my eyes until I am well past them. However, these billboards must appeal to many people—mostly women, I assume, since females are typically the ones purchasing what these manufacturers have to sell—because the advertising campaigns featuring “dead models” continue to be created. This fascinating disturbing issue, one that your post focuses on, is fundamental in understanding how modern women perceive beauty. What captures our attention, stimulates, and entertains us about images of male-upon-female violence and deceased women?

One explanation for females’ attraction to images of dead looking peers could be that they have been conditioned to accept the attractiveness of often emaciated women displayed in submissive positions by males’ attraction to these images. For thousands of years, men have been conditioned both by biology and society to be more aggressive and strong than women; as a consequence, men have developed a taste for weak and helpless women whom they could idealize, protect, and, perhaps, dominate—all to increase their feelings of masculinity and self-worth. This socially ingrained tradition of portraying women and soft, gentle, dependent, and weak eventually led to the advertisements and media portrayals utilizing scrawny and dead looking women or displaying violence against women that are seemingly ubiquitous today.

Although I realize the possible origins of this phenomenon, I am continually confused by its appeal, as I mentioned earlier. For example, do men watch fictional footage of other men forcing women to submit to them through rape or sexual assault and find it primarily sexually arousing? And if so, is it simply because some form of sex is being displayed, or is it actually because men desire to dominate helpless women? The description of the TV show that you mentioned in your post is an example of the kind of media that I am talking about:

'Television crime shows are often riddled with clichés -- from the tough-yet-committed cop to the black morally upright commanding officer -- but one cliché in particular stands out for its exposure of society's fascination with and ultimately its tolerance for violence against women. Make that attractive, barely dressed women.

It's the female crime victim you see every night: beautiful, tortured and dead…

…"In the opening minutes of the new Fox crime show 'Killer Instinct' (9 p.m. Friday, Fox), deadly spiders bite a sleeping woman; she wakes up, but is soon immobilized by the spiders' poison. Conscious but terrified, she's powerless to prevent a man from breaking into her apartment and raping her."'

This description reminds me of an episode of the new and popular TV show Dexter I saw recently that depicted a young, attractive woman lying spread eagle in a hotel room bed, her limbs tied to the four bedposts, screaming and bleeding as she was about to be raped by her male captor and torturer. Even though the male character was eventually shown as being arrested for his violence against the female, the fact that the act itself was displayed on national television is problematic.

What kinds of ideas are we giving to potential rapists and batterers? But even more generally, how are all male viewers reacting to this kind of portrayal? I would guess that they are highly stimulated by seeing such an act. Perhaps some merely experience stimulation through suspense because they want to save the helpless woman, but perhaps there are others who feel excited by the prospect of sexually invading a woman’s body, thereby treating her as a piece of meat to be bled and consumed. Understanding why these images pervade our culture and what effects they may have on both men and women is necessary for gender awareness."

Ms. Magazine Online: A Visually Effective Site

On any given school night, a student such as myself may be cracking open a textbook in hopes of absorbing the valuable information within its tightly bound pages. However, if the text has not been organized well, the student will quickly zone out after just a few minutes of staring at hundreds of clumps of letters. For this reason, written information is best conveyed when it is organized efficiently. The page must direct the reader’s eyes to move from one location to another, must be easy to read, and should include images to stimulate interest as well as to cater to visual learners. For this reason, Ms. Magazine online is an exemplary website from which to obtain information about feminist news; it keeps one’s attention effectively and conveys information clearly.

For instance, the homepage of Ms. Magazine is separated into three clear columns—the first is a sidebar on the left which lists the different features of the website, the second is a middle column that boasts Ms. Magazine’s latest news stories and photos, and the third column on the right is split into small blocks of information about items such as upcoming events, the story that the Magazine deems to be its most significant from its latest issue, interesting articles from the archives, etc. The set-up of this homepage is visually effective because it immediately guides a viewer’s eyes from the Ms. logo in the upper left-hand corner to the centered logo “MORE THAN A MAGAZINE—A MOVEMENT,” then to the center column, where bold headlines and related images convey important information and news. After seeing this and presumably glancing over the headlines, the reader’s eyes travel to the left, where they can see all the different options that they will have while exploring the website further. Lastly, as an afterthought, the reader will briefly glance at the blocks of information on the right, which contain the least important or relevant information. Thanks to this clear and organized website format, the reader notices information in order of importance and is enticed to keep viewing the site because of the bold blue and red headlines and various photos.

When exploring the interior of the website, a reader will find the same degree of organization and efficiency. When a user clicks on “FEMINIST DAILY WIRE,” for instance, the website directs them to a page that is headed with the centered words, “NEWSBRIEFS ARTICLES” and then contains a list of all of the Magazine’s news stories in a top-down pattern, the most recent residing at the top of the list. The ways in which the dates, names of the articles, and article summaries are organized on the page are visually effective because all the dates are italicized and precede the titles, which are typed in large blue font to indicate that they are the most important words on the page. Finally, the titles are followed by brief summaries written in small black font so as not to take attention away from the article titles. Although there are no images on this page, the text is aesthetically organized to convey information effectively and is, thus, visually effective.

A page that is also visually effective because it is ripe with images is the Ms. Magazine Cruise information page. The site is layered on the top with small pictures of cruise boats, palm tree-laden islands, ocean views and delicious delicacies, and three pictures—two small and one large—as well as large, bold text that advertises the cruise (which, interestingly enough, sets sail to engage participants in both relaxation and political discussions) share the center of the page. One’s eyes are first drawn to the text and then move to the left to feast on the colorful, enticing photographs. This page exudes tranquility and exotic fun so thoroughly that it is difficult not to want to enjoy the Magazine’s socially conscious cruise. In addition, on the left is again a top-down tool bar that indicates all the different areas of information pertaining to the cruise that a user could possibly be looking for—program schedules, speakers, port info, passport requirements, etc. This is effective in that it is clear and easy, and directs the reader’s eye.

Ms. Magazine is a great example of a source that successfully communicates information visually. I find it simple and precise; engaging, but not too colorful or distracting in any other way. It will be one of the most important websites that I will refer to while blogging this semester, and I am thrilled that the website’s text and images have been organized so efficiently.

Blog Entries Revamped

1) My Blog's Focus

When I was five or six years old, I fantasized about what I would look like when I was all grown up. I imagined that I would have the traits of "the perfect girl"—flowing hair, ample breasts, and a mesmerizing singing voice. By eight, I was flipping my hair out of the pool to look as sexy as Ariel does in The Little Mermaid when she first bursts out of the ocean as a human. I even ascended the sauna steps in a dress slip to resemble my trans-species heroine when she emerges from the sea for the last time—her shimmering gown clings to her slim, beautiful body as she runs into the arms of her handsome Prince Eric. Unlike Ariel, however, I did not shimmer, and I certainly did not look beautiful; my slip hung limply from my chubby prepubescent frame and I moped about my lack of sex appeal. I was eight years old.

Images like those from The Little Mermaid have strongly impacted my perceptions of femininity ever since I was a child. In fact, I attribute many of my preteen and adolescent behaviors to these media-based perceptions; thus, I am deeply interested in exploring how television shows, films, magazines, advertisements, and Internet images affect self-image as well as shape children's notions of acceptable gendered behavior. I believe that viewing certain media images can have negative consequences for both males and females—thanks to hypersexualized cartoon characters and fitness-obsessed celebrities, women grow up yearning to be thin and pretty while young men encounter stifling pressure to become wealthy, muscular, and emotionally "tough."

I am also fascinated by the effects that social constructions of gender and gendered behavioral clues may have on children. For instance, there are generally two types of aisles in every major toy store: one is stocked with various pink fuzzy items, plastic kitchen sets, and female dolls whose bodies are atomically impossible; the other is jam-packed with black and red race cars, squirt guns, and extremely muscular action figures. When parents buy gender-specific toys for their young ones, they are inadvertantly encouraging their children to adopt specific roles—sweet, sexy and pretty or strong, loud, and aggressive. Furthermore, parents are often quick to discourage behaviors deemed socially inappropriate, such as young boys slipping into their mothers' heels and skirts. I am deeply interested in discussing these and other related topics this semester.

In addition to blogging about media portrayals of gender and the development of sex-specific behavior, I am interested in discussiong social justice issues related to gender and race. Unfortunately, gender inequality still thrives across the globe—women are routinely paid less than men of equal standing in several countries, Afghani women are forced to endure clitoridectomies, and countless female babies in China have become the victims of infanticide. Due to centuries of international patriarchy, people of both sexes continue to act on the fallacious belief that men are more valuable than women.

I am looking forward to spending the semester writing about gender discrepancies in media portrayals and social roles as well as thinking critically about social issues stemming from gender inequality. Again, because my life has been deeply affected by my perceptions of what a woman "should" look and act like, I am fascinated by social constructions of gender. Career-wise, I hope to identify and change harmful social expectations and media portrayals of men and women both in the United States and abroad. Perhaps this blog will be my first step in doing so.

2) Profile and Evaluation of a Blog on my Link List

Gender stereotyping often occurs in conjunction with vicious racial profiling. Countless females throughout history have endured hardships because of their sex, but women of color often experience insurmountably difficult and painful situations. For example, American President Thomas Jefferson forced Sally Hemmings, his African American slave, to act as his life-long concubine. Because both ethnicity and gender define one's position in the social hierarchy of power, I must analyze sexism in conjunction with racism over the course of the semester.

Blackfeminism.org, "one woman's opinion on race, gender, and politics," is a source that can help me achieve this goal. Tiffany B. Brown, a web developer and designer from Atlanta, Georgia, created and maintains this blog. Although Ms. Brown is not directly connected to the fields of gender or racial studies, she has contributed to those fields with her expert knowledge and understanding of the World Wide Web—the Internet has had a huge influence on the formation of gender roles, prejudices, and social expectations due to its ability to widely distribute images instantaneously. Also, as an African American from the heart of the Southern United States, Ms. Brown has directly experienced racial tension and gender-specific racism; therefore, she has a unique perspective on racial and gender issues that may influence my blogging.

Ms. Brown publishes a post to blackfeminism.org approximately once every three days, and her blog—ranked in popularity at 28, 629 by Technorati—has 318 links from 113 other blogs. The content within this fairly popular site speaks to my feminist interests because Ms. Brown discusses gender-related issues, such as a woman's preparation for marriage, through racially conscious eyes. Specifically, one of her posts focuses on the lack of black models shown in bridal magazines:

Those of us who have the means are quite keen on seeing people who look like us in the media we consume. ... I completely agree with the notion that advertisers and magazine publishers could and should feature models of color (Brown).

This subject incorporates analysis of media portrayals of females with the rarity of images of African American women in American popular culture. Being a Caucasian woman, I may not be as sensitive to issues of race as this blogger is; thus, this online resource will help me closely examine racial issues through a feminist lens.

Although blackfeminism.org is not an academic blog, Ms. Brown bases her discussion topics on credible, published information such as news articles. Her audience—which consists of women, African Americans, and people interested in racial issues—participates in the discussions by posting engaging comments on the blog posts. These readers' criticisms, questions, and ideas are valuable because they more fully illuminate the racial and gender issues presented in Ms. Brown's posts. In its entirety, this online publication will feed my knowledge of racial and gender issues in the United States and abroad and will help me find ways to discuss both gender and ethnicity in my own blog.

3) My Resources

In a pop culture class I took last semester, the professor explained that my generation—traditionally referred to by scholars as "Generation Y"—would be more aptly named "The Internet Generation." Truly, my peers and I revolve around the Internet; most of us couldn't imagine living without access to it. Whenever we want to locate information about anything at all, we can simply type a keyword into Wikipedia or Google and instantly have a world of knowledge at our fingertips. Attending college in such a technologically advanced era is incredibly exciting and convenient; students can create blogs as an alternative to writing essays, and most academic research can now be conducted online using scholarly search engines.

The online resources and blogs that I will be referencing over the course of the semester will prove invaluably informative. For instance, one of my resources—the See Jane project website—will enhance my knowledge of gender portrayals in television programs and films. This is a passionate interest of mine—I will write several posts about media constructions of gender. The See Jane project will provide information about the research being conducted to quantify gender portrayals in media, especially in children's programming. The mission statement of the site describes the project goals:

Gender equity has progressed in many ways, but male characters still dominate television, movies, and other media for young children. Since women and girls make up half of the human race, the presence of a wide variety of female characters in our children's earliest media is essential for both girls' and boys' development. See Jane seeks to engage professionals and parents in a call to dramatically increase the percentages of female characters—and to reduce gender stereotyping—in media made for children 11 and under.

The project's website aims to provide viewers with information about portrayals of women in children's media as well as to explain how the project could potentially affect policymakers' decisions regarding gender equality. This website will disclose pieces of information that I would not be able to access anywhere else because the complete findings of the many of the studies being conducted—one of which took place at the University I attend and for which I was a researcher—have not yet been published.

Another online resource I located, the website for Ms. Magazine, will continually provide me with information about the premier feminist magazine's latest articles and projects. Although the website is replicating a print source and is not Internet-specific, it provides immediate access to news about what is currently endangering or improving the lives of women. The site, geared towards a male and female feminist audience, features daily feminist news, information about how to become a part of Ms.'s "We had Abortions" petition, and contains links to three feminist blogs written by Ms. staff members. I predict that these three blogs will allow me deeper insight into the Ms. Foundation and feminism itself over the course of the semester and will help me write a better, more enticing blog. As I continue to shape my personal feminist mindset, I will constantly analyze the information posted on the website for inspiration.

Other websites I have added to my list of resources and will be referring to over the next few months are TWN's Women's Rights and Gender Issues page, Kid Source's Gender Issues in Children's Literature page, and the InfoPlease Gender Issues page.

Moving now from websites to blogs, "Hey Ladies!: Anything and Everything from a Woman's Point of View," a blog I added to my resources list, features an interesting post called "You Might Be a Feminist If…". This post explains the blogger's opinion that modern women have failed to educate their daughters about the importance of the second-wave feminist movement:

What do you think of when you hear the word feminist? Sadly, too many women today believe a feminist is a hairy, bra-less, ugly woman that can't get a man. Why have we allowed the women who fought so hard for rights we now take for granted to be ridiculed after all these years? When feminism is made a joke of, so is woman herself. I believe that failing to teach our daughters about the importance of the women's movement has contributed to young ladies tolerating labels like bitch and whore.

Although the blogger's writing style can be unprofessional, I enjoy reading her perspectives on society and feminism; her posts may inspire topics for my own blog—which, surprisingly, is already featured as a link on hers. As for the blog's audience, the writer intends to speak to females about current issues related to women's rights and social roles. And because "Hey Ladies!" is a weblog, its contents are Internet-specific and can only be accessed online.

Six other blogs on my link list will prove to be valuable sources of inspiration as I build my blog this semester: Bad Feminist, My Husband Betty, Onehandclapping, Provoked Thoughts on Feminism and Christianity, Red Neck Feminist, and Blackfeminism.org.

These websites are incredibly helpful and fascinating resources I found thanks to the information-diffusing power of the Internet. They may play a significant role in the formation of "Sugar and Spice vs. Rough and Tough" and will help me grow as a feminist thinker.

My Resources

In a pop culture class I took last semester, the professor felt that my generation—traditionally referred to by scholars as “Generation Y”—could more aptly be named “The Internet Generation.” Truly, my life revolves around the services of the Internet, and I couldn’t imagine existing without it. Whenever I want information about anything at all, I simply click on my Google bookmark and suddenly have a world of knowledge at my fingertips. In the same vein, it is incredibly exciting and convenient to attend college in such a technologically advanced era; all of my research is conducted through online engines that search scholarly journals and books, and I even get to take a class on blogging!

The online resources and blogs that I will be referring to as I blog over the course of this semester are of great interest to me, and I know they will prove invaluably helpful. For instance, one of my resources—the homepage of the See Jane project—will enhance my knowledge of gender portrayals in the media. This is a passionate interest of mine, and I predict that I will write several blogs on the topic. The See Jane project will provide me with updates on the research being conducted to quantify gender portrayals in media, especially children’s programming. Here is the mission statement of the project:

Gender equity has progressed in many ways, but male characters still dominate television, movies, and other media for young children. Since women and girls make up half of the human race, the presence of a wide variety of female characters in our children's earliest media is essential for both girls' and boys' development. See Jane seeks to engage professionals and parents in a call to dramatically increase the percentages of female characters -- and to reduce gender stereotyping -- in media made for children 11 and under.

The goal of the website, thus, is to provide adults with information about how many women are being portrayed in children’s media and how they could potentially affect Hollywood policymakers’ decisions regarding gender equality for their children’s sake. This website will provide me with information I would not be able to access anywhere else because the complete findings of the studies being conducted (several of which took place at USC’s Annenberg, and for one of which I was a researcher) have not yet been published. Thus, this resource is Internet-specific.

Another online resource of mine, the website for Ms. Magazine, will continually keep me updated with the articles that the premier feminist magazine is publishing. Although the website is replicating a print source and is not Internet-specific, it will be helpful for me to have news about what is helping or endangering the livelihoods of women right at my fingertips. The website, which is geared towards a feminist audience (male or female), features daily feminist news, information about how to become a part of or aid the “We had Abortions” petition that Ms. sponsors, and provides links to three feminist blogs that are written by Ms. staff members. I predict that these three blogs, written through the same feminist lens as the magazine, will provide me with a deeper insight into the Ms. foundation itself as well as feminism in general. I will continually check the news posted on this website for inspiration for my own feminist perspective and so that I will write a better, more enticing blog.

A blog I found interesting and added to my resources list is called “Hey Ladies: Anything and Everything from a Woman’s Point of View,” and recently featured a blog titled “You Might Be a Feminist If…” This blog entry focuses on the writer’s opinion that women have not been doing a very good job of informing their daughters about the world improvements that the feminist movement has brought on in the past few decades, and this is why current girls tolerate names such as “bitch” or “whore.” Although the woman’s writing style seems a bit unprofessional, I enjoy reading her perspectives on society and feminism. The blogger may be able to provide me with inspiration and empowerment when it comes to my own blog. As for the blog’s audience, the writer intends to speak to women about current issues pertaining to females. Obviously, since this is an online piece of writing, it is Internet-specific and is not replicating a printed source, and the blog is linked to several other pieces of online writing pertaining to gender—one of which, I was surprised and giddy to see, is my own blog!

All of the aforementioned online sites are just of few of the helpful and fascinating resources I found thanks to the incredible information-diffusing power of the Internet. The will prove invaluable in the formation of “Sugar and Spice or Rough and Tough?” over the course of this semester, and will help me grow as a feminist and as a human being.