Levy's Female Chauvinist Pigs, Part 1

In Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture, Ariel Levy argues that empowerment within 3rd wave feminism is no longer defined by a plurality of movements, but narrowly viewed through one type of women’s sexuality. This raunch culture, Levy contends, may be seen in the media, a la “Sex and the City,” and also within our own communities, such as the rise of stripper-cardio exercise courses as the local gym. Levy writes that this faux-empowerment ideal is supposedly the liberation of post-feminism, an ideology long passed its necessity. She writes, “Only thirty years ago, our mothers were ‘burning their bras’ and picketing Playboy, and suddenly we were getting implants and wearing the bunny logo as supposed symbols of our liberation” (3). As someone who is appalled when seeing an 11yr old wearing a tube top and belly-button ring or a 16yr old asking for breast implants for her birthday, I agree with Levy’s conclusion, “It is worth asking ourselves if this bawdy world of boobs and gams we have resurrected reflects how far we’ve come, or how far we have left to go” (5).

In chapter 1 of Levy’s book, the author describes a typical night filming with a Girls Gone Wild crew. With an estimated worth of $100 million, it seems as though GGW is the epitome of this generation’s active interest in keeping raunch culture alive and thriving. This so-called “rite of passage” is also perpetuating a cookie-cutter form of female perfection. According to GGW, a perfect 10 means “100 to 110 pounds, big boobs, blonde, blue eyes, ideally no piercing or tattoos” (12). For every female that doesn’t fit within this fixed feminine ideal, raunch culture says tough luck. Levy writes, “Raunch culture isn’t about opening our minds to the possibilities and mysteries of sexuality. It’s about endlessly reiterating one particular- and particularly commercial- shorthand for sexiness” (30). Such an ideal leaves no room for the plurality of women’s physical attributes, let alone a plurality of sexual experiences. The 3rd wave must remain open to not only to women not holding physical features that stereotypical “sexy” body types, but are also open to different sexual orientations.

I think we must continue to make the distinction between the women’s liberation movement and the sexual revolution, though understand the ways the two overlap. Levy writes, “One of the fundamental initial goals of the women’s liberation movement was to advance women’s sexual pleasure and satisfaction” (54). However, the plurality of this sexual pleasure must be realized as well. I found Hugh Hefner’s, founder of Playboy, overwhelming support of feminist issues like Roe v. Wade and the ERA surprising. Though he may be the “her of the sexual revolution,” Hefner and the Playboy Foundation remains highly controversial. The Foundation gave grant money to NOW’s Legal Defense and Education Fund, but Hefner has also been quoted as saying “I do not look for equality between man and woman…Socially, mentally, I enjoy more being with men. When I want to speak, to think, I stay with men” (59).

I look forward to tomorrow’s discussion on the introduction, and chapters 1 and 2 of Levy’s book. I’m expecting a wide range of opinions on the “rise of the raunch culture.”