Feminist to Pose in Playboy Term Paper

She claims it is one thing to expand the definition of political refugee and another thing to start slapping restriction on what can be in printed material or on the air, and that it disturbs her whenever anyone states that certain material is unsuitable for publication because that can easily be turned against society (Connitt pp).

Faludi says that the fact that she is uncomfortable about banning pornography, "doesn't mean I don't think women should be screaming bloody murder about it...The best way to get rid of pornography is to change people's way of thinking to the point where it doesn't sell anymore" (Connitt pp).

In "Promiscuities: The Secret Struggle for Womanhood," Naomi Wolf claims that although the sexual revolution shattered established social mores, parents were too busy "discovering themselves" to offer guidance to daughters who were striking out on an individual odyssey during which she will lose her virginity and become a woman (Wesley pp). The book contains true stories by women who were those girls, in the first-person sexual voice, "a voice Wolf argues women today are being denied" (Wesley pp). The result is that females are saddled with male-defined assumptions about sexual desire and pleasure, and how much control they should have over it (Wesley pp). Wolf's previous book, "The Beauty Myth" helped to change the way women see themselves when they look in the mirror, this book goes a step further, and offers thought-provoking challenges to accepted ideas that promote such things as the dichotomy between the "good girl" and the "slut," the stigmatization of rape victims and other forms of sexual violence, and objectification of women by the sex industry (Wesley pp).

Wolf contends that because women have been sexually silence, men have defined sex in most modern culture, ranging from the "liberated" American culture with the subtle sexual controls it places on women, to others that employ brutal controls such as female circumcision (Wesley pp). Wolf offers illuminating looks into other cultures that throughout history have treated female sexuality as sacred, and contrasts Western pornography with literature from ancient cultures that believed women to be the more passionate gender and placed a high value on men pleasing them (Wesley pp). Wolf explores the unwritten sexual rules that females must live by in order to avoid being called sluts, a label, she claims, leads to social ostracization and is often used as a legal justification for rape and even murder (Wesley pp). Wolf writes, "The right to 'do it' came from the sexual revolution; the right to 'tell it my way' came from the feminist one...Only when the second is fully incorporated into the first... will a lasting revolution have been achieved" (Wesley pp).

Camille Paglia claims to be a long defender of strip clubs, and sees erotic dancing as a symbol of liberation, not a form of servitude to men, like many of the old-guard feminists maintain (Paglia pp). However, she is concerned about the "moves" created by strippers that have been adopted by pop singers like Britney Spears and marketed to prepubescent girls (Paglia pp). As a result, very young girls have learned to present themselves in public in a highly sexual manner, yet they do not know that it is sexual, "they're simply imitating their pop star models...Hence they're sending messages that are misinterpreted by boys or men on the street" (Paglia pp).

So, is it feminist to pose in Playboy? The answer is yes. However, there must be guidance to young females regarding their sexuality.

Works Cited

Conniff, Ruth. "Susan Faludi. (feminist author) (Interview)."

The Progressive. 6/1/1993.

McElroy, Wendy. "A Feminist Defense of Pornography." Free Inquiry Magazine.

Volume 17, Number 4. http://www.secularhumanism.org/library/fi/mcelroy_17_4.html

Paglia, Camille. "Where's mae west when we need her? camille paglia on why we must restore the "H" factor -- the humor and the humanness."

Interview. 7/1/2003.

Valby, Karen. "Woman on Top: JENNA JAMESON is the reigning queen of the porn industry. With a book deal in hand and network TV on her tail, will she seduce the mainstream?" Entertainment Weekly. 10/24/2003.

Wesley, Joya. "GOOD GIRLS DON'T DISCUSS it; COMING of AGE

WITH a DOUBLE STANDARD on SEX."

The News & Record (Piedmont Triad, NC); 7/27/1997......