Objectification of the First Family

9:59 AM Posted In , , , , , Edit This 3 Comments »
I was watching the TV Guide Channel last night. I know, I know it's just as bad as watching those gossip shows like, um, well, I can't actually think of the name of one. And I was checking to see what channel House was on. Does that help absolve me?
A couple of fashion mongers were analyzing Michelle Obama's inauguration outfits. *Eyeroll, who cares, etc.* Then, they turn to Sasha and Malia and studied their clothes! They approved, but that's not the point! And I thought that it was bad when Tom Cruise's and Katie Holmes' kid was studied as a fashion plate.
What the hell are we teaching our kids if they're going to be scrutinized and critiqued for what kind of clothes they wear? And little girls in particular. It's brainwashing, pure and simple. "Cootchie, cootchie, coo. Oh baby, don't drool on your shirt. What will people think? We have to be perfect looking at all times because we have a uterus."

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Miss WW.
It seems that you take items out of the news and take the comments personally. As though they were intended for you, as though the comments are an attack on your person and/or belief's. I am aware that this is in fact your blog, and if I don't like it I can read somewhere else. However, from personal experience, taking the words of others and treating them as personal insults will lead to much more stress in your daily life than a person should really have to deal with. Just a thought.

Your friendly neighborhood responder.

SLiver of Jade said...

Yes, I do get rather worked up over all the things that are wrong in the world. And you know what, when women/non-Christians/and virtually any category that I fit into are demeaned then I am being demeaned by virtue of the fact that I wear the same label.
If I do not stand up and say, "This is wrong" then I am doing a disservice to myself, my niece, and anyone else who might fit into any of the categories that appear at the top of this page. I refuse to give my permission through silence.
I am assuming that you do not know me, but I actually lead a rather happy and outgoing life. In various feminist forums that I frequent, evidently it is rather common for the more vocal of us to be told, "Relax, don't take it so personally. It's not that big a deal." It is that big a deal, and yes I may seem to get worked up in my writing.
But it's really the most outrageous stories that I tend to rant about to people I know, which isn't all that often. Such as turning two little girls into fashion plates and critiquing the toys on their freaking backpacks. It is sick and inappropriate. And I don't know of anyone who thinks otherwise. Being a girl is hard. Being in the public eye is hard. I can't imagine the difficulty of being non-white. Now think what it must be like for those two little girls.

Anonymous said...

Miss WW.

Thank you for your insight as I had not thought of simple comments having such broad reaching effects. However, I never said, and I quote "Relax, don't take it so personally. It's not that big a deal.". In fact I think that personally insulted is a very big deal. Never said to calm down, rather made a suggestion that getting worked up (or to put it in other terms - losing your cool) over comments that do not directly apply to your physical person is energy best spent elsewhere. Perhaps spent in educating those whom believe that only women are objects to be looked at and used.