One thing I learned today: That I need to start a more writing-intensive blog because, apparently, I have a lot to say these days. Today's food for thought...
The thing that is bothering me with this debate on whether or not Beyonce is a feminist is the repeated comment I see that if a woman is being overtly sexual (particularly in a performance context like she is), she is promoting the objectification of women and is either guilty for doing it knowingly, or is fooling and somehow harming herself without even realizing it. And I can think of few things more patriarchal and misogynistic, or more divisive to feminism, than claiming women don't know what's best for themselves. Frankly, it seems very akin to victim blaming in rape to me. Objectification of women is a HUGE problem - so why aren't we focusing on the ones doing the objectifying instead of suggesting women censor how they express themselves? There is no acceptable line of sexual expression at which men (and even other women) will stop objectifying women - it is not up to women to censor themselves to prevent objectification. It is up to us as a society to demand that the objectifiers to stop this behavior. I also don't see this level of "concern" for male artists who capitalize on their sexuality and aesthetic. We don't sit around fretting that they must be psychologically damaged in some way or don't understand what they are doing to themselves or their gender. So I call bullshit and say that the only people fooling themselves here are those who think it's feminist to try to exclude and put down a woman because she behaves in a way that hasn't traditionally been associated with feminism.
One thing I'm grateful for: So many kick-ass women in my life.
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