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I Am Not a Sexual Object
Saturday, May 26th, 2007 06:56 amHi, my name is For-Chan and I'm a girl. I have a vagina and boobs but, I am not a sexual object. I am a woman and I have sexuality that I can choose to apply in certain situations, but on average, I am not a sexual object.
I take issue with people telling me that I must be a sexual object. I take issue with people telling me "That's just how it is." Ok, so that's how it is, but why does that mean I have to put up with it?
I'm one of those girls who subscribes to the idea that I can do whatever the hell I wanna do. If I wanna rage against the sexism inherent in the system, I'm damn well gonna. And the sexism is inherent in the system.
Let us take these recent outcries from comic book land. Mary Jane with her pearl necklace being a good house wife. Heroes for Hire being strung up and threatened with tentacles. Some of the details in these pictures, taken alone, I can handle. I understand that the Spidey suit probably needs a good hand washing and doesn't do well in the dryer. I understand that MJ wants to be comfy while doing laundry. Hell, I will even forgive her come hither stare. After all, women are allowed to be sexual. What really puts that over the top, for me, is her pearl necklace. A pearl necklace, symbolic of semen, symbolic of claiming. That's what just pushes it over the line. Without that, I would think "Hey, that's ridiculous and porny." With it, I think "Wow, way to convey a skeevy message about a woman's place."
As for the Heroes for Hire cover, again, it's the details that add up to take it over the top. Tying people up is just an old super hero standard. There's no getting away from that. Man or woman, at some point in their career, a hero is destined to be bound and restrained in some way. Being threatened by monsters, is again, an old standard. That's not really my issue here. It's hard to do the hero bit without some peril. I take issue with how they're threatened. Rather than be given some sort of expression of anger or any little spark of fire to portray the kickass girls they are, they are stuck with these stupid helpless drugged up expressions. They are bursting out of their clothes while slimy tentacles ooze on their skin. And how we're not seeing Misty Knight's crotch and pubic hair, I will never know. With pants that low, you're gonna see something right?
If this were a naughty hentai doujinshi, fine, but it's not. If I picked up a hentai doujinshi, I'd expect boobs and tentacles and fluids and "No. Stop. Nnn! Ha! More!" Last time I checked though, I wasn't looking at the cover of doujinshi. I thought I was looking at the cover of a super hero comic. I thought these girls were Heroes for hire, not hookers. The nudity, the passivity, the chaining, the tentacles, the overall sexually charged image just sits wrong. Why must these powerful women be stripped of their dignity? You can have dignity while chained to a pole and threatened by tentacles. A few looks of outrage on their part would help to quell my own.
I am not saying "Women cannot be sexual ever!" I think women can and should be sexual whenever and however they chose. I don't think this sexuality should be thrust upon us. Yes, these women are just drawings. They're characters. They're not real. They are simply pieces of art. But art is an expression of many things. Beauty. Desire. Values. So many things. I have to stop and question what ideas these people are expressing. I have to ask myself "Is this how you see us? Is this what you want us to be?" And then I say "Fuck that!" Because I am not a sexual object.
I'm a woman and I am more than a pair of tits and a vagina. I have feelings and opinions and I'm damn well going to express them. I don't care who likes it or who doesn't. I refuse to sit idly by and be content with "my place". My place is where I chose to put myself, not where other's chose to file me away. I am not going to be satisfied with a few little token freedoms. I want it all. I want to be seen as more than just a women with a big mouth. I want to make more than what they'll let me. I want to be more than what is acceptable. I want to do what I want to do. Because I'm a woman, and we're fucking stubborn like that.
If you're satisfied. Ok. Everyone's different. Everyone's desires are different. But for me, I am not content just to be what I should be. I want to be what I want to be. If I want to be loud and obnoxious and feminist, I'm gonna be. For me, feminism isn't about girl power or reclaiming female sexuality or being a manly feminazi. For me, feminism is just a belief that females are just as good as males and that I am worthy enough to walk as an equal. I am good enough to be more than a sexual object. I am woman, hear me fucking roar.
I take issue with people telling me that I must be a sexual object. I take issue with people telling me "That's just how it is." Ok, so that's how it is, but why does that mean I have to put up with it?
I'm one of those girls who subscribes to the idea that I can do whatever the hell I wanna do. If I wanna rage against the sexism inherent in the system, I'm damn well gonna. And the sexism is inherent in the system.
Let us take these recent outcries from comic book land. Mary Jane with her pearl necklace being a good house wife. Heroes for Hire being strung up and threatened with tentacles. Some of the details in these pictures, taken alone, I can handle. I understand that the Spidey suit probably needs a good hand washing and doesn't do well in the dryer. I understand that MJ wants to be comfy while doing laundry. Hell, I will even forgive her come hither stare. After all, women are allowed to be sexual. What really puts that over the top, for me, is her pearl necklace. A pearl necklace, symbolic of semen, symbolic of claiming. That's what just pushes it over the line. Without that, I would think "Hey, that's ridiculous and porny." With it, I think "Wow, way to convey a skeevy message about a woman's place."
As for the Heroes for Hire cover, again, it's the details that add up to take it over the top. Tying people up is just an old super hero standard. There's no getting away from that. Man or woman, at some point in their career, a hero is destined to be bound and restrained in some way. Being threatened by monsters, is again, an old standard. That's not really my issue here. It's hard to do the hero bit without some peril. I take issue with how they're threatened. Rather than be given some sort of expression of anger or any little spark of fire to portray the kickass girls they are, they are stuck with these stupid helpless drugged up expressions. They are bursting out of their clothes while slimy tentacles ooze on their skin. And how we're not seeing Misty Knight's crotch and pubic hair, I will never know. With pants that low, you're gonna see something right?
If this were a naughty hentai doujinshi, fine, but it's not. If I picked up a hentai doujinshi, I'd expect boobs and tentacles and fluids and "No. Stop. Nnn! Ha! More!" Last time I checked though, I wasn't looking at the cover of doujinshi. I thought I was looking at the cover of a super hero comic. I thought these girls were Heroes for hire, not hookers. The nudity, the passivity, the chaining, the tentacles, the overall sexually charged image just sits wrong. Why must these powerful women be stripped of their dignity? You can have dignity while chained to a pole and threatened by tentacles. A few looks of outrage on their part would help to quell my own.
I am not saying "Women cannot be sexual ever!" I think women can and should be sexual whenever and however they chose. I don't think this sexuality should be thrust upon us. Yes, these women are just drawings. They're characters. They're not real. They are simply pieces of art. But art is an expression of many things. Beauty. Desire. Values. So many things. I have to stop and question what ideas these people are expressing. I have to ask myself "Is this how you see us? Is this what you want us to be?" And then I say "Fuck that!" Because I am not a sexual object.
I'm a woman and I am more than a pair of tits and a vagina. I have feelings and opinions and I'm damn well going to express them. I don't care who likes it or who doesn't. I refuse to sit idly by and be content with "my place". My place is where I chose to put myself, not where other's chose to file me away. I am not going to be satisfied with a few little token freedoms. I want it all. I want to be seen as more than just a women with a big mouth. I want to make more than what they'll let me. I want to be more than what is acceptable. I want to do what I want to do. Because I'm a woman, and we're fucking stubborn like that.
If you're satisfied. Ok. Everyone's different. Everyone's desires are different. But for me, I am not content just to be what I should be. I want to be what I want to be. If I want to be loud and obnoxious and feminist, I'm gonna be. For me, feminism isn't about girl power or reclaiming female sexuality or being a manly feminazi. For me, feminism is just a belief that females are just as good as males and that I am worthy enough to walk as an equal. I am good enough to be more than a sexual object. I am woman, hear me fucking roar.
