lshimanovsky

[lshimanovsky]

Tumblr Blog #5

While there have definitely been improvements, our current society still disapproves of effeminate men, just like they did in Ancient Rome. It seems as though despite homosexual relations being more or less normal, acting more femininely was considered immoral. It is important to note that these same-sex relationships often included older men preying on much younger boys. These young boys, and prostitutes, were still looked down on. Therefore, the approval of these affairs seems to largely be approval of power imbalances rather than just being okay with two men being together. As Juvenal says in his Satires, pathic men are like a disease. They were contaminating the good of Rome.

Though our society has become more open-minded with sexuality and gender, the same disapproval still occurs today. One recent example was when musical artist Harry Styles appeared on the cover of Vogue Magazine in late 2020. Though the shoot was well-received and love by many, it still sparked a lot of controversy from the media as he decided to wear a dress. A lot of arguments, like “Bring Back Manly Men,” began sprouting up from conservative-leaning Internet and TV personalities. This event goes back to the topic of toxic masculinity and how men must be “manly” at all times. The moment men express any kind of femininity, or essentially express anything that is not “macho,” they are criticized. Even Styles, who has publicly dated women and used to be considered a “womanizer” by the media, gets backlash for simply putting on a dress. It is time that our society progresses beyond scrutinizing how every single person chooses to express themselves and just lets people be happy and comfortable in their own skin.

[lshimanovsky]

Tumblr Blog #4

As I mentioned in a previous blog post, many negative perceptions about women from ancient history still exist to this day. Specifically, in Satire on Women, Semonides criticizes women by dehumanizing them and reduces them to simplistic animals. He mentions the woman who knows nothing except how to eat and nap, the woman who keeps herself dirty and “grows fat.” These kinds of women are sows and asses. Nowadays, there is still immense pressure put on women to physically change themselves to appeal to the male gaze and to have the “perfect” body, aka be skinny. Diet culture and the industry behind it target young girls by telling them that no boy will ever like them if they eat more than the bare minimum and, even worse, have confidence in a body that does not comply with our society’s beauty standards.

Semonides also compares women to creatures from the sea. These animals are moody and emotional. He warns men to be wary because even if the woman seems happy, she will switch up quickly and become full of rage. Men today still use this critique against women. They deem them as too emotional to hold the same jobs or be of the same status as the men in their lives. Women are told that they have to be emotionless to be viewed as professional or successful in their lives and careers. Furthermore, men are even shamed for being emotional because that makes them “too feminine,” which is viewed as a bad thing.

In sum, it seemed like there was nothing a woman could do or be that would make Semonides, and the other men of the time, like and respect her. Unfortunately, this is still the reality as women are judged for every single thing they do and decision make. On the internet, teenage girls are shamed for any kind of interest they may have. For example, if they like makeup, they’re automatically seen as ditzy and only interested in their appearance. And if they like video games or sports, they are just trying too hard to be like men. For the entirety of humanity, women have never been “good enough” for men.

https://mnwomenscenter.wordpress.com/2016/04/15/why-are-we-making-fun-of-girls-for-everything/

[lshimanovsky]

Tumblr Blog Post #3

Though we spoke in class about how Roman satire is different than satire nowadays, I have found that they actually are still quite similar. The markings of satire were moral teachings and wit and humor, and both of those markings still define most, if not all, modern pop culture satires. One popular example is Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update segment. The writers and hosts use humor while speaking on serious current events happening in the country, criticizing the major flaws of, primarily, the entertainment industry and the world of politics. This segment reaches audiences that may otherwise not pay attention to what is going on in the world, encouraging them to look further into the stories and the world in general.

The Onion is another well-known producer/publisher of satire. The satirical news articles are clearly intended to make their readers laugh, but by adding fake details to their coverage of real current events, they too are encouraging their readers to look deeper into the events and identify the real-life wrongdoings and systemic moral flaws. Additionally, The Onion is a criticism of how easily people believe things they see on the Internet without having any actual evidence.

Satires in modern pop culture are not funny just for the sake of being funny but are a criticism of whatever immoral events are going on in the world. I would even argue that contemporary satirists, like actors and comedians, are, to a certain extent, regarded as authoritative figures. They urge their fans, whether directly or indirectly, to gain more knowledge on the topic that they are joking about. Their fame gains them respect, and they are trusted and looked up to by regular people, or non-authoritative figures.

https://newsradio967.iheart.com/featured/glenn-beck/content/2018-07-11-glenn-beck-blog-the-washington-post-just-ate-the-onion/

[lshimanovsky]

Tumblr Blog Post #2

The way that sexuality was approached in these texts, specifically regarding that of women, is very interesting to me. The ideas presented by Catullus, Horace, Hipponax, Archilochus, and Semonides are similar to the views that many people still hold about women today, they are just communicated in a different, more vulgar way.

These poets shame women for being sexual. They believe that women should just fulfill their duties of being loyal wives and mothers rather than have sex. However, they are all hypocrites. They expect these women to be at their beck and call for their own sexual pleasure, yet ridicule the women when they actually engage in their sexuality. Catullus, feeling heartbroken following his relationship with Lesbia, publicly bashes her for sleeping with a lot of men. Horace speaks in detail about their bodies, all in a sexual way, as if that is the only thing he sees them as (which is probably the case). He slut shames them, yet blames them for his impotence. It is like he cannot decide whether he finds their sexuality gross or desirable.

Nowadays, women are still constantly hyper-sexualized and judged primarily on their bodies. However, they are hated on for taking control of their sexuality and being sexual on their own terms. They are expected to be pure yet experienced, timid yet fierce. Models and social media influencers who choose to showcase their bodies are put down and publicly called names, yet the same people are most likely enjoying the pictures and seeking out other similar forms of “entertainment.” Unfortunately, we have not progressed much past the texts written by the mentioned poets. And with the introduction of social media networks, we may not progress anytime soon.

[lshimanovsky]

Tumblr Blog #1

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/11/28/new-policies-student-groups-change-culture-free-speech-berkeley

2/3

I have always found the topic of free speech, specifically on college campuses, to be very interesting. I actually wrote my IB Extended Essay on student activism in the 1960s and 1990s during my senior year of high school. The question that I answered in my research was “To what extent did student activists in the 1960s influence future student-led movements?” While in that essay the “future” was referring to the 90s, I believe we can relate that question to more recent years, as well.

I found it interesting how a couple of the writers/speakers in the book we are reading in class mentioned how university students in the 20th century fought so hard to be able to exercise their right to free speech on their campuses, and now students are many of the ones trying to “suppress” speech at their schools. In my research, one of the main events that I focused on was the Free Speech Movement at Berkeley of 1964. Led by radicals like Mario Savio, students protested against the UC administration’s ban on all political activity at Berkeley. Over 50 years later, in 2017, Berkeley students protested against the presence of conservative Milo Yiannopolous who was supposed to give a speech on campus. However, this disturbance led to good change. Speakers who were later invited to campus respectfully brought up their viewpoints and engaged in discussion with the students rather than purposefully being provocative and attacking their audience. I believe that this is the right way to approach hate speech. Rather than inviting speakers whose main goal is to offend, which usually does not result in anything positive, a variety of opinions should be allowed to be expressed as long as their purposes are to be discussed and debated without anyone being severely hurt.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/11/28/new-policies-student-groups-change-culture-free-speech-berkeley

https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1042/berkeley-free-speech-movement

edit 2/4: I wrote this before I read Chapter 1 of our book. I didn’t realize the book would talk about the FSM!