From Appetites by Caroline Knapp:
“The world mobilizes in the service of male appetite. . .Whether or not this represents the actual experience of contemporary boys and men, our cultural stereotypes of male desire are all about facilitation and support. . .at every turn—on billboards, magazine covers, in ads—men are surrounded by images of offering, of breasts and parted lips and the sultry gazes of constant availability: Take me, you are entitled, I exist to please you. For all the expansion of opportunity in women’s lives, there is no such effort on behalf of female appetite, there are no comparable images of service and availability, there is no baseline expectation that a legion of others will rush forward to meet our needs or satisfy our hungers.”
Reading this book made me angry before. Well, I’m angry again. I’m mad that our culture is so lopsided and that after so much gain in women’s freedoms and choices, we are still put in this role of sexual servant by every magazine cover, movie advertisement, and commercial. I’m mad because I want my two daughters to grow up in a world where they are respected and heard, not where they are constantly judged by the size and shape of their bodies. Even as we watch one of the many children’s channels on cable t.v., we are bombarded by ads for Nutrisystem, Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, as if taking up more than a 2 by 4’s space in this world were worse than ignorance or poverty or racism. Why do we concentrate so much energy and effort on something so unimportant in the scheme of things? I’m not talking about disregarding health. I’m not talking about ignoring obesity. I’m talking about not fighting the variety of female forms but celebrating it. I’m going to eat a meal now. And I’m going to enjoy it.
One reader's thoughts as she steps from book to book.
Books I've Finished
- "A Christmas Memory"
- by Truman Capote 12/8/12
- "Child's Christmas in Wales"
- by Dylan Thomas 12/7/12
- "One Christmas"
- by Truman Capote 11/29/12
- "The Thanksgiving Visitor"
- by Truman Capote 11/29/12
- Inside Mrs. B's Classroom
- by Leslie Baldacci 11/28/12
- The Bee Eater
- by Richard Whitmire 11/15/12
- There Are No Shortcuts
- by Rafe Esquith 10/28/12
- I'd Like to Apologize to
- Every Teacher I Ever Had
- by Tony Danza 10/21/12
- Corked
- by Kathryn Borel 10/15/12
- Year of Learning Dangerously
- by Quinn Cummings 9/30/12
- A Hologram for the King
- by Dave Eggers 8/23/12
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- by Harper Lee 7/18/12
About Me
- Christine
- I often have a few books with bookmarks in them at once. I enjoy classics more than contemporary works of fiction, often read historical fiction, and love to get glimpses into other people's lives by reading memoirs and biographies.
4 comments:
bon appetit, baby. I'm with you. At work, it's commonly understood that when a woman is demanding, she's a bitch, and when a man is demanding, he's a leader.
Exactly. We've still got such a long way to go.
well said. sadly tho, judgment is in almost everything everywhere. we have to make a judgment if we're caught walking somewhere as it gets dark - which way is the safest, are those people down there going to attack me (are they white, black, gang-looking, loud and obnoxious and maybe on drugs??)
we look at the people we're buying a car from, dropping kids off near, investing our money with, walking by on the street. we make judgments for many different reasons in many different ways. from a recent book i read about purpose on this earth and in the universe in general, it was pointed out that a drunk bum laying every day on a well-traversed street was there for (and had agreed to the service before this lifetime) to be in this state, day after day, to get the attn of a prominent lawyer who worked nearby who needed to understand the differences in people's lives and to be sensitive to humanity in general - all about soul travelers and life lessons and life beyond what we know as earth (if you believe in that kind of stuff).
the way i see it, judgment is a necessity. any negative judgment, by us or about us is hurtful and denigrates all in the figurative or literal path.
it seems if we can like ourselves, be healthy, feel good and not get too affected by any outside standards, we'll be ok. seems that good self-image, a strong support system and just being mindful are a good combo. who hasn't wanted to look like a super-model, if even just for a day? until a diet of drugs, cigarettes and bulimia is healthy and feels good tho, i'll stick w/ my plan.
You're right Christine, Pack of Two sounds like the place I'd rather go.
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