Live Nude Feminists Bare All

If you have read my column, you may have guessed that I come from the old school of feminism. I have dedicated a big chunk of my life to challenging the foundations of our society that have served to keep women down. And perhaps it’s because I am over 30 and barely touchable by the tentacles of hipness, I find myself cringing at what the press calls the “new” feminism. I see the younger generation wearing high-heels or platform shoes, tight pants, skirts, and blouses and hear them talk about the merits of the wonder bra, and I feel like my parents must have felt when they shook their heads and asked God or whoever would listen, “Where did we go wrong?” I wonder if this is the liberation I have helped provide for the generations that are coming behind me. This new “liberation” looks an awful lot like the old oppression that I have worked so hard to defy and fight.

My generation fought like hell to not be treated as objects. If you have forgotten what things were like back in “the day,” rent “Nine to Five” and watch it tonight. It should bring back some painful memories or at least help explain why I feel the way I do. From what I can tell, the generation coming up is seeking liberation through objectifying themselves and others. I get it that they are celebrating their sexuality, but does it have to be in a way that makes it unlikely for them to be taken seriously, hard for them to walk and impossible for them to run?

Pornography is totally about objectification. No one really wonders if the naked person laid out on the page or on the screen is kind, intelligent, funny or has any feelings. They simply see a collection of parts: penis (large), vulva (large and spread open in a way that usually only happens during a gynecological exam) and breasts (also large and probably filled with silicone). And who bothers to even look at the models’ or actors’ faces?

In contrast, the “new” feminism celebrates pornography. Pornography is a tool to jump-start and or aid the expression of sexual desire. Somehow the dehumanizing effect that such a perspective has on both the person who learns to dissect other human beings and on humanity in general has gotten lost. Further, rather than viewing sex work as exploitative for the worker, such jobs are seen as empowering. I get it that at the individual level, sex work may feel empowering because such jobs tend to pay better than your average fast food, secretarial or social service job, and money is power. But the price that sex workers pay for their “empowerment” is all but forgotten.

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