Discovering Popular Culture (A Longman Topics Reader)
Gender inequality has been a major problem affecting the entire international community. In many societies, including USA, the women are not given equal treatment and opportunities in comparison to their male counterparts. They are usually downtrodden and looked down upon. However, no one is justified to do this. It is only based on certain outdated superstitious beliefs that should not be condoned in the contemporary society any more (Spade, J., 2006). This paper gives a critical and in-depth synthesis of Anna Tomasino’s Discovering Popular Culture (A Longman Topics Reader). It does this by focusing on chapter two of this book in which she gives a collection of Marie D. Smith’s Decoding Victoria's Secret: The Marketing of Sexual Beauty and Ambivalence; Dove, StrategyOne, Nancy Etcoff, and Susie Orbach’s Only Two Percent of Women Describe Themselves as Beautiful’ and Ralph Donald’s From “Knockout Punch” to “Home Run”: Masculinity's “Dirty Dozen” Sports Metaphors in American Combat Films.
In Decoding Victoria's Secret: The Marketing of Sexual Beauty and Ambivalence, Marie D. Smith uses her article to shed more light on the chauvinistic nature of men. She says that, for a long time, men have been using their masculine position to rule over women. As a weaker sex, they have not been given an opportunity to make their decisions autonomously. This was evidenced from the manner in which they would only rely on the men to buy for them even undergarments. However, all this slowly came to an end especially after the establishment of ‘Victoria’s Secret’ by Raymond Roy. These retail stores granted women a chance to personally purchase their own bras and pants on their own. Meaning, they would no longer unnecessarily rely on their men to it for them.
In Only Two Percent of Women Describe Themselves as Beautiful,’ Susie Orbach relies on her experiences as a global beauty brand and marketer to explain how the term beauty has been misconceived by a large section of the society. He says that beauty has always received a very narrow definition because of the influences from mass media, entertainment and fashion runways. As a result of the emerging trend, many people associate beauty to the images seen in such platforms. Thus, it implies that none or just a very negligible number of women can qualify to be called beautiful. However, Dove insists that this is just a mere misconception and does not actually mean anything. Beauty does not only rely on the physical outlook, but also involves other factors such as attitude (Martin, C. & Ruble, D., 2004).
In From “Knockout Punch” to “Home Run”: Masculinity's “Dirty Dozen” Sports Metaphors in American Combat Films Ralph Donald brings a clear picture of the development of masculine and feminine attitudes amongst the Americans right from childhood. He says that many children grow up to be products of the films they watch while they are still young. However, many people fail to understand that such films always prepare them for the kind of career they may pursue if they grow up. At the same time, it determines their behaviors and the manner they react with the opposite sex. For instance, the increase in the number of cow boy films make them be violent and aggressive. Moreover, it prepares them for military and other violent sporting activities such as football and basketball in which they continue with their bullying acts.
Based on the above insinuations, this paper concurs that gender inequity is a contentious issue. For a very long time now, the society has created an institutional structure which does not treat both men and women equally. Instead, the men, who are perceived to be masculine, are highly regarded. However, this is not justified at all. As Smith reports the Victorian Era in which men would do anything including buying their women clothes is long gone. Instead, as Smith asserts women should be empowered to act on their own without being controlled by anyone. The same sentiments are echoed by Dove, Nancy and Susie who criticize the notion that beauty should only be defined by physical appearance (Spade, J., 2006). They are right because, as the saying goes, ‘beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder’ and have more to do with attitude, happiness, dignity, confidence and humor.
In conclusion, Discovering Popular Culture (A Longman Topics Reader) is a very insightful text. It gives a collection of well researched articles which give a lot of information on this topic. As the author examines, gender insensitivity is a perennial global challenge. However, the ideas expressed by these writers can be an eye opener to anyone who is willing to bring change into the society. Smith, Donald, Nancy and Susie are quite categorical on what exactly should be done to empower women. Starting from a broader definition of the term beauty and eliminating any stereotypical metaphor in the films, the entire society should be enlightened. Everyone should be made to understand that gender difference should not be used as basis to discriminate upon women.
Works Cited
Martin, C. & Ruble, D. "Children's Search for Gender Cues Cognitive Perspectives on Gender Development". Current Directions in Psychological Science 13 (2): 67–70. 2004. Print.
Spade, Joan. The Kaleidoscope of Gender. London: SAGE, 2007. Print.
