Weekly Reflection

This week I talked about several different ways that represent gender roles. First one is music. I have always noticed in music videos that men tend to dress very causally, usually a t-shirt, jeans and a pair of sneakers. That’s not the case with many women that are in videos. They’re either back up dancers for rappers or they’re the main artist themselves. Either way the point is that women are usually dressed much more provocatively. Women do not usually dress in casual clothes in videos. Usually they’re dressed in very revealing outfits that show a lot of skin, that most of them would not wear everyday when meeting a friend for lunch or going to get some shopping done. Guys seem much more relaxed and laid back while women have to be all “dolled up” with dramatic make up and clothing that leaves very little to the imagination. Sex sells, but this seems only to be the case for women. I showed an example of this when I posted Shakira’s new video. Shakira along with her back up dancers are wearing very revealing outfits for the most part while Lil’Wayne wears very comfortable everyday clothes. Another discovery that I made was that of how nature relates to this. For instance, I think that women have much longer rituals when it comes to getting ready – there’s the hair, the makeup, the wardrobe and not to mention all the shaving that has to go in. However, most men do not have to do so much to get ready. Some girls even like the rugged look and that doesn’t require much effort. And if they do “groom” themselves, I don’t think it’s as extensive as that of a woman. Why is it that women have to put in all the effort into attracting men while men wait around for women to flock them? Women have to do a lot to make themselves seem attractive and desirable. However, nature shows us something completely different. Instead, women are the one that get to lay back and take their pick at the most appealing male. The male counterpart is usually the prettier one with something to offer – like a song or a elaborate mane. The males have to attract the females. I’m not necessarily saying that women should let themselves go while men are supposed to go above and beyond to attract women but I’m just saying there should be some kind of balance. Lastly, I talked about the extremes. Sometimes it seems like there’s only two sides of the spectrum. On one side you have the extreme feminists that believe that women were disadvantaged for so long and now women should work while men stay at work or whatever it is that they think will make up for all the struggles that women have faced. On the other hand you have the other side which completely disregards women and doesn’t think that they belong in the “man’s world.” Throughout this entire project I just tried to strive at one thing – why is it that when it comes to gender issues it’s either this or that? There’s never a compromise or a balance. I think that’s definitely something that our society should work on.