Toxic Culture 101: Understanding the Sexualization of Women (but there is NO war on women!!)
(graphic heavy--images at link)
Toxic Culture 101: Understanding the Sexualization of Women
A year ago I decided to drive across the street from my office for lunch. I wanted to avoid the catcalls Id endured the last time I had crossed this particular street, when a middle-aged man yelled from his red Chevy truck, Ride my cock, baby! I wondered what it would be like not to feel like a sexual object on display. But I also wondered whether Id rather be the woman who gets whistled at or the one who doesnt.
As a psychotherapist, I meet hundreds of women who struggle with their body image or sexuality. These struggles show up as depression, anxiety, eating disorders, body dysmorphic disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, reproductive concerns, parenting issues or relationship crises. Ive also encountered increasing numbers of men dealing with relationship issues and loneliness.
And I know firsthand the discomfort of embodying what many people see as unattractive. As a Middle Eastern American, I dont fit the Eurocentric model of beauty. When I was a young girl, I drew pictures only of blonde, blue-eyed princesses, perhaps in response to my blonde stepsister telling me that my skin was the color of poop. No matter how much I tried to dress myself up, I was still not white.
Now that I understand how common body-image struggles are, Ive begun to wonder who is really sickmy clients or our culture? So, I spent the last year documenting pieces of the world around me, gathering evidence of a toxic cultural milieu. On my drive to work one day, this is what I saw:
. . . .
http://msmagazine.com/blog/2016/01/04/toxic-culture-101-understanding-the-sexualization-of-women/
niyad
(113,587 posts)Thanks for posting this OP. I think The Bro Code documentary should be required viewing in high school.
niyad
(113,587 posts)Nitram
(22,892 posts)Clear with good examples. I hope men who would benefit from reading it will do so.
niyad
(113,587 posts)Odin2005
(53,521 posts)And I know firsthand the discomfort of embodying what many people see as unattractive. As a Middle Eastern American, I dont fit the Eurocentric model of beauty. When I was a young girl, I drew pictures only of blonde, blue-eyed princesses, perhaps in response to my blonde stepsister telling me that my skin was the color of poop. No matter how much I tried to dress myself up, I was still not white.
This is really sad.
With all this I, as a person with a psychology background. am reminded by how in general mental disorders are blamed on internal "chemical imbalances" rather than looking for socioeconomic causes.
niyad
(113,587 posts)and yes, refusing to address the culture, the socioeconomic realities, is a handy way of deflecting the blame, and being able to address problems.
women are blamed for being self-absorbed and vain, and blamed for not taking on the media/advertizing,/fashion/makeup, etc, as though we had created these monsters.