Media: Working Against Feminist Ideals

During class, Dr. Layne spent a great deal of time explaining the feminist ideals of French philosopher, Simone de Beauvoir. One aspect that I believe wasn’t entirely stressed/exploited was the media’s role in propagating demeaning stereotypical characteristics on women. You obviously don’t have to go far to see what I’m talking about; simply turn on your television and you will find ample superficial portrayals of women through commercials, films, and/or reality T.V. shows. Here are a few examples: the perfect housewife in an advertisement for a household cleaning product. And, of course, the perfect woman with the perfect body, hair, and face found in just about every commercial. Will the media ever portray the way woman really are or is the phrase “sex sells” the only explanation for this? The exploitation of women in the media has become so common that most people don’t even notice or care anymore. In a society where the media promotes women as eye candy, valued for little more than their desirability and eagerness, how can feminist possibly win? In my opinion, until the media develops a new-found respect for women, the struggles Beauvoir once fought against will continue forever.

Being SpongeBob

When discussing Jean Paul Satre last week, we brought up the subject of bad faith and the example of the waiter. I thought of the SpongeBob SquarePants episode Squilliam Returns. In this episode, Squidward's nemesis comes to Bikini Bottom expecting Squidward to own a five-star restuarant. He enlists SpongeBob to be the five-star waiter. Seeing that he feels pressured, Squidward encourages SpongeBob to empty his mind, only thinking of "fine dining and breathing". His mind completely clear, he is able the perfect waiter, as he serves Squilliam. This is a great example of the bad faith waiter. SpongeBob identifies himself as an object or, a waiter. He shows bad faith as he does not identify with otherness but only with that of being a waiter. Thinking of himself just as a waiter, or being-in-itself prohibits him from transcending the facts of the matter so much so that he is not even SpongeBob SquarePants.

Satre: Nature vs. Nuture

Satre's philosophy on how man makes the choices in his life and how he is in control of who he is and his nature makes me think about the Nature vs. Nurture argument. It is common for us to blame one of the two for why a person is the way they are, it's either how they were born or it's because of how they were brought up. Can Satre be right in basically saying that it is neither? That is something I still haven't decided. Part of me wants to agree with Satre but then again I feel there has to be a reason for everything.

The Sphere of Batman

Talking about the stages of life's way, I couldn't help but relate it to the most recent Batman film, The Dark Knight. It relates heavily to these stages as the Batman and The Joker go back and forth as The Joker tries to coax Batman out of his heroic ways. In the realm of the ethical, I'm reminded of the ferry scene in which two ferries, one carrying citizens and the other prisoners, are given the remote to bomb the other before midnight in order to survive. This is just like Agamemnon as he kills his daughter to save everyone. This is in the realm of ethical because his sacrifice leads to good, helping everyone. The suggested decision of the "innocent citizens" to blow up the boat of prisoners would be likened to Agamemnon. This sacrifice would lead to good because the innocent are saved while the prisoners are sacrificed. The two ferries choose not to use the remote, saving everyone. Much to the surprise of the Joker who strives to break the citizens and Batman from a seemingly religious stage.

Afterwards, The Joker says to Batman "You are truly incorruptible, aren't you? Huh? You won't kill me out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness." To this Batman replies, "This city just showed you that it's full of people ready to believe in good." This sense of self-righteousness, this good, is rightly placed in the religious sphere. The citizens of Gotham and Batman show The Joker that they are both not dedicated to doing the ethical until they are pushed to choose otherwise, but that they are driven by a purity of heart, a uniiversal which cannot be justified or understood at all.