genderartifacts

[genderartifacts]

A Quick Note:

I would recommend starting from the 3rd page and working your way forward, just for reading experience. However, if you wanted to start from the top, I would also respect that, but just know that that I sort've compiled these to tell a story and I feel like that would be like starting at the end of a book. Maybe I'm just too much of an English major...

[genderartifacts]

What I Have Learned

There's been a number of things I've learned from this project. Namely, I've learned that gender is everywhere. It is so conditioned within our society and even within me. I am nonbinary, but I'm so used to seeing myself within the lens of being a woman, that it's hard for me to separate who I am from what society expects/thinks of me. The subtle ways within media that the delicacy of women is expressed or the ways that men are conditioned to believe they have to conform to crazy body standards or find themselves in a "protector" role. I just want to say that my mom is the biggest influence in my life and she is definitely more of a domineering presence and a protector than my father, but she still found ways to subtly enforce gender roles onto me. Doing this project has made me realize that people like my Gen X mom are not gonna come out and simply say "Hey, Emily, quit acting like a fucking dyke." No, they are going to ask me "Hey, Emily, are you seeing any special guy lately?" Or, they're going to make me watch Disney movies and tell me that that is romance. Because, yes, a beast locking me in a castle sounds so romantic! Losing my merman singing voice for a man is sadly realistic and romantic! I love Disney!

I talked a bit about religion in some of my posts as well and the subtle way that I was conditioned to pray to the Virgin Mother, but men had so many options to chose from. Saints like Joan of Arc are supposed "feminist icons" but they're so stripped of their femininity and feminine traits that we are conditioned to hate about ourselves as women, but are revered in the Virgin Mary. I allow myself to use the word "post-modern" once a day, as to not sound pretentious and I'm going to use it here: I believe that we are living in the post-modern stages of social and systemic movement. Nobody is comfortable being outright about their disgust for people who refuse to conform, whether it is through their bodies, their skin color, their gender, or who they love. No, everything relies on subtly. Foucault, guys, he's everywhere.

[genderartifacts]

Ringo Starr

I used to be a huge fan of the Beatles, but I believe there's a reason why Ringo Starr didn't achieve stardom after his time in the band. Part of this (at least I wish to believe) could possibly be attributed to his grotesque, pedophilic, "You're Sixteen" song. Starr wrote the song when he was in his 30s and it's obviously about a teenage subject and the objectification of a young girl. I don't really think I need to spell out why this song is so nasty and misogynistic. One thing I will never understand is the obsession of grown men for young girls. Ew.

[genderartifacts]

Forced Conformity to the Male Gaze

This is a conversation that I had with my friend. I was thinking about how when people hit on me, it's usually like a compliment of my eyes or something, but when I'm catcalled it grosses me out. I was just thinking about how I, in this moment, thought that I must've been doing something wrong since the majority of comments I got from men flirting were them complimenting me on something other than my body or reducing me to a sexual object. I was feeling like an outsider as a woman or as something not to be desired, since I wasn't being sexually harassed. It's sort've funny looking back and I was half-joking, but sometimes it's hard to feel like I fit in with being a feminine person if I don't experience uncomfortable situations with men.

[genderartifacts]

Now that people are finally realizing how icky the NGBHRHOOD's Jesse Rutherford is for dating Billie Eilish (he's in his early 30's and she's 19/20), I wanna talk about their song "Daddy Issues." The entire song is Rutherford pleading with his lover to let him take on the role of her long-lost father. First off, this is some Freudian type shit. Secondly, it portrays this woman in the song as needing protection, as being delicate. It also deflects the male-inflicted trauma onto the girl and making it something that defines her. Jesse Rutherford is nasty.

[genderartifacts]

Bud Light, the beer most commonly enjoyed by dads and people without taste buds, are upset that the company decided to spend sponsorship money on an ad from a transgender woman. The blatant transphobia shown from the backlash of the ad is crazy. Conservatives are tearing it off the shelves at Walmart and the stock is tanking. The company has since backtracked and even apologized for promoting inclusion and diversity in their marketing. It's fucking crazy.

[genderartifacts]

Pro-ED Content

The forced conformity women face with their bodies could lead to an ED, but what I think is interesting about this pro-ANA content, is the internalized misogyny. Not only is it feeding the internalized misogyny by contributing to diet culture and posting pro-ED content, but the belief that other women will be jealous of their skinniness. It's really sad how forced conformity to beauty standards can cause women or young girls to starve themselves to conform.

[genderartifacts]

A Bit of My Own Writings

This is a previous journal entry of mine. I thought of it when we discussed religion in class. I grew up Catholic (despite my mom moving around the world 20,000 times and experiencing multiple religions). I remember as a kid that the boys and girls were split up during Sunday School and us girls were taught a lot about the Virgin Mary while the boys spun a web of praises for Jesus and then it was Moses and Goliath, but our saints and heroes never changed. It was always Mary. Mary was a virgin. Mary was pure. Mary was a mother. Already, an unrealistic expectation from the get-go. Men could be devoured by whales and, if they were devote enough, they could find their way out of it. They could conquer cities and becomes presidents. As for us, we can never pray enough to be both virgin and mother. We can never be pure if we bear the children they desire. There's the intrinsic dirtiness that comes with being a Catholic woman.

[genderartifacts]

Gender within Capitalism

I really fucking hate false solidarity from big corporations. The "women flipping the status quo" bullshit from the M&Ms because they simply made the Green M&M less sexy? Wow, I was gonna get Twizzlers, but I now that I know the M&Ms really support women because they hang up a cardboard sign in a Target, I'm going to get those instead!!! Companies pretending they support progressive causes just to appeal to younger demographics will be the death of me. Like what did the M&Ms even do besides revamp the Green M&M and add the Purple one for "body positivity?" Like it's a candy be fucking serious for once. Also, I wanna note that this was during Women's History Month. Nice to see that companies are now expanding their "activism" from just June to March now! Nevermind that they probably never sent a cent to Planned Parenthood or a cent to, say, any women's shelter in the US. Yay capitalism!

[genderartifacts]

Misogyny Within Haruki Murakami's literature

I love Haruki Murakami's books, but sometimes he just says the most misogynistic shit within them that I wish he was in my living room reading with me so I could give him a side-eye. This is from his book, Norwegian Wood. The main character, Toru, is taken aback by the female character in the scene, Midori, and her anti-conformity to Japanese gender roles. Toru consistently compares her to one of his other loves and how delicate his past love was, compared to Midori. Toru is obviously placing Midori into a box. Women are supposed to behave a certain way within their society and Toru becomes repulsed when Midori refuses to mold herself into something smaller to fit into the box.

[genderartifacts]

Joan Didion

I love Joan Didion's collection of essays, The White Album. This is in one of the essays from that compilation. This essay specifically deals with her critiques of the emergent second-wave feminist movements in the 60s. Didion in the essay expresses her dislike of how lesbian relationships in early feminist movements were equated with tenderness and delicacy. This idea of lesbian relationships are being more empathetic or more "gentle" only reinforce the patriarchal idea of the "delicate woman." It boils the relationships to something more palatable, as less queer. Simply a friendship with kissing, perhaps?

[genderartifacts]

Brian - The Protector of my Dorm Room

This is a poster I found in a thrift shop when I visited Lake Tahoe with my best friend, Bailey. Bailey, the logical one, told me not to spend $20 on the gaudy poster, but I wouldn't budge and I bought him without hesitation. She didn't see the vision, the irony of what Brian represents to me. Brian is what men in the patriarchy are supposed to look like. It's funny how men put unrealistic expectations on their bodies and then try to sell those expectations as attractive to women, pushing the idea of the male gaze onto women who aren't usually attracted to ripped muscles and domineering men. Brian is a caveman too, it's as if he's looking at me and screaming "RA, RA, RA ME A CAVEMAN. ME MASCULINE!" So, I put him outside my bathroom door and when I pass him, I still laugh. It's camp. The overly ripped, manly man: unrealistic and gauche.

[genderartifacts]

I wanna talk about the song, "Love Talk," from the Chinese boy-group, WayV. The song is about members of the group traveling to foreign countries where the girls don't speak the language as them and then hooking up with them. I want it to be said that although the members are Chinese, almost all of them can speak English, so that's no excuse for the blatant sexualization of women. Because they cannot even speak the same language, these women just become sexual objects in the eyes of WayV. I mean, just look at these:

[genderartifacts]

Look, I really love Taylor Swift as much as the next person, but can we finally address "Better Than Revenge?" Specifically this chorus:

This song is pure slut-shaming. Like no ifs, ands, or buts, Taylor Swift is telling this girl she's only known for having sex and being promiscuous. I get Joe Jonas definitely should not have broken up with Taylor over the phone in pure early 00's Disney drama fashion, but Taylor should not have blamed the girl Joe left her for. Slut-shaming is never cool, even if you're Taylor Swift. Thankfully, however, Taylor has learned and apologized and the song is sort've a bop, but I'm glad we can take the rose-colored glasses off for a second and recognize the blatant slut-shaming and misogyny in this song.

[genderartifacts]

This is a song from the band, The 1975. The song, despite it's poppy beat, is about school shootings. There's specifically this lyric I want to highlight:

A "supreme gentleman" is another term for incels. Matty Healy, the frontman of The 1975 is obviously equating school shootings and the dramatic acts of violence as displays of toxic masculinity. We talked about the incel movement and the rise of violence against women that occurs in class. The 1975 is my favorite band and Matty Healy is speaking against the lack of love that misogynists think they are unable to find, so they turn to their online communities that spur violence and hatred.

[genderartifacts]

Christian Girlhood

There's this weird belief in a lot of Christian sects that women are meant to be wed and homemakers. You can't tell from just the one TikTok, but these girls are deeply religious on their profiles. There is a lot of content of them shaming girls for not following in the TradRad path of marriage at 19. It's sad how internalized misogyny has conditioned these women that their only path is marriage and not only that, but conditioned them that other women who don't follow the path are shameful and leading to the downfall of our generation. Shame on other women for wanting to do anything other than reproducing.

[genderartifacts]

BTS: The Kpop Band for a New Generation of Teenage Girls

This was something someone I knew on Facebook posted and shared. Now, obviously, it's very racist. It obviously pokes fun at the Korean boy group, BTS, for their native language. However, if you look closer, there's definitely sexist undertones. A lot of BTS' lyricism is undercut due to their majority fanbase being female and a lot of their lyrics (with a few exceptions) being written in Korean. The emasculating of Asian men and the undervaluing of their art and obvious xenophobia and misogyny is sadly something that is in conversation with Kpop and BTS a lot.