I recently watched a BBC documentary called My Big Breasts and Me. It was a cute and educational look into the lives of three different women with disproportionately large breasts. They weren't portrayed as depressed or anything, just that it was rather obvious obstacle they had to deal with. Yet I still felt a tad gloomy afterward. These ladies were perfectly normal and healthy-looking, aside from their chests, and many women want big (or bigger) breasts, as do perhaps most men. But you're seeing people with these ideal features, and only hear about the strange looks they get, near impossibility of finding clothes that fit, and ways in which it inhibits their careers.
This is not a double-edged sword like when you take a high-paying job that allows for no social time, or even a question of boundaries such as the paparazzi photographing a celeb; it is simply biology. Women have tits, yo. Some will be large, others small, sometimes both at once, and all will change throughout a lifetime anyway. So where did the idea come along that small-chested ladies should feel as ashamed about it as the well-endowed? This is where I get a little disheartened. It's like no matter what your body is and how it's presented, in the end, it's your gender you're being judged on.
Today I read about Ines Sainz, a sports reporter who was verbally harassed by players on the New York Jets team, because the media is mostly focusing on how the girl was dressed.
Just kidding, this is her:
I'm glad we're not having to discuss that this lead to a physical assault (because girls are also asking for it in those cases), but if catcalls only ever occurred in men's locker rooms when a woman dared to have a nice ass and/or wear tight jeans, then I wouldn't be complaining. It seems like women are in trouble whether they play nice or not. The media tried to create controversy earlier this summer when Lady GaGa flipped off the photographers taking pics of her at a Yankees game; granted, she was wearing a bikini and biker jacket, but everyone focused on her ~shitty attitude~ because I guess New Yorkers aren't used to something so scandalous as a middle finger. This situation with the NFL just makes me roll my eyes even more concerning the GaGa thing.
I know the worldwide media can be creepy, ill-informed, or completely falsified, and the internet is all that in addition to being anonymous, but even allowing for how real life inspires art (and vice versa), it doesn't always discount what people are whipping themselves into a frenzy over. I was so sick of hearing about Jessica Simpson wearing jeans that made her look chubby (journalism, y'all!) but it makes you think about how females are discussed in the news. Likewise, the Westboro Baptist church are obviously crazy, but one could bring up issues about religion and free speech if they wanted to. Or PETA - I know they're bullshit, but the laws regarding animal cruelty are clearly worth looking into. So, I may spend too much time reading about celebrities, but a lot of it relates to more grounded issues, even when not directly affected television, celebs, and other scapegoats. It don't have to be a headline before it's wrong as fuck.
Basically, I was hoping this thread could be for discussing people's own experiences with sexism, misogyny, and random things they've caught in the news. I'm not about to grow a 'stache and use "womyn" as a legitimate word, but we all have our own way of making a statement. And there is some shady shit out there. Let's talk?
It always got me how actresses like Charlize Theron and Halle Berry were commended for taking the unglamorous roles they each won Oscars for, because they both said it was a huge struggle to be taken seriously in their careers since they were so attractive. Apparently, beauty keeps you employed but not respected, and if you can fake "ugly" (or just not wear makeup), well, they'll just throw the hardware your way. Not sure I see the point to that. Kind of silly when you can only find work if you're good-looking, but are just another piece of meat until you have the guts to... not play a model onscreen. Simultaneously, your body suddenly belongs to the public (hooray for nip slips and upskirts!), and you'll have to strip off or play an actual stripper to win any awards. But pose on a magazine in your undies and America deems you a slut who's negatively influencing the kiddies.
Wait... wut? I... but you... and they said... huh?
*E*