Having
spent the last few days stuffing myself with Quality Street and turkey
sandwiches I thought it might be time to do something productive. However, I’m
forsaking my pre-planned post-Christmas rapture about the wonders of festive
Baileys and Yuletide TV for a bit of feminist reflection.
Being
an ardent feminist (although strictly not of the bra-burning type) I’ve always
had more than a passing interest in the portrayal of women. I hammer on tables
at the least mention of my potential sandwich making skills, and more than one
of my University essays have descended into an impassioned rant about the
objectification of my fellow females.
This is
why I was particularly interested when one of my friends got me researching the
latest celebrity Twitter spat. http://www.hollyscoop.com/miley-cyrus/miley-cyrus-responds-taylor-swift-slut-comparisons.html
brilliantly responded to on Noisey http://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/blog/heres-why-taylor-swift-will-never-be-called-a-whore
On top of the many points debated
in the Noisey article, for me this raises an entire social question on the
categorisation of women. Of course “Slut” is an entirely outdated, perhaps
never fully relevant concept, but it’s still thrown around a lot, and
apparently often with little cause.
Both in the limelight from a
fairly young age, Swift and Cyrus have both had their maturation from
fresh-faced teens to womanhood played out in front of the ever-critical public,
making them prime targets to have their sexual antics picked apart with gleeful
judgement. But what is it that sets up the unexpected virgin-whore dichotomy
here? Is it simply that Miley belts out ‘Have to get my way, yep 24 hours a day
‘cause I’m hot like that’ whilst Taylor opts for the more modest and utterly
non-sexualised declarations of teenage-like love, reminiscing about innocent
dates with High School guys, and Romeo and Juliet type romance.
Or perhaps it’s their marketing.
You only have to look at the album covers of the two stars in order to see that
their selling points are clearly meant to be very different.
Whilst Miley flaunts her flesh in
an outfit more suited to a dominatrix than a teen pop sensation, Taylor is
demure in her virginal-white dress and minimal make up, a kind of little girls
princess fantasy clutching a flower and surrounded by butterflies.
However, I’m loath to believe
that the public are quite so willing to believe the blatant ploys of the record
industry when labelling young women, and would suggest that the real reasons the
word “slut” are thrown about go a lot deeper.
The cause, again, lies in the
lyrics. However this time, for somewhat darker reasons. An early verse in
Cyrus’ ‘Can’t be Tamed’ boasts ‘Every guy, everywhere/ Just gives me mad
attention/ Like I’m under inspection/ I always get a ten ‘cause I’m built like
that,’ presenting a threatening version of sexuality. Aren’t women supposed to
be self-depreciating? Aren’t we meant to bemoan our muffin top? Our flabby
thighs and wonky nose? Aren’t we supposed to wave away every compliment with a
modest “Oh no not really. I’ve put on
loads of weight lately anyway...”
Whilst Miley celebrates herself
and her sexuality, Taylor plays it down massively. In her hit ‘You Belong With
Me’ she compares herself to the man of her affections girlfriend, saying ‘she
wears short skirts, I wear t-shirts/She’s cheer captain and I’m on the
bleachers’ before asserting that thus ‘you belong with me.’ The song may be an
attempt to take another girls boyfriend, but the non-sexualised version of
femininity she presents makes her unthreatening, and very much unlike the
sexually assertive female some of us just love to hate.
It’s a sad fact that the main thing that
constructs ‘sluttiness’ is the way that a woman’s sexual presentation and
behaviour makes other people feel. Whether it’s feeling threatened by another
woman’s presence around men or pure and simple jealousy that someone can have
so much appreciation of themselves, it’s time that things changed. With so many
self-esteem related issues flying around, maybe we should be celebrating women
for having a bit of confidence instead of labelling them hussies.
Bring back the sisterhood and
let’s be happy for how other women use, and feel about, their bodies. After
all, we’ve had a few thousand years of being put down, and if anyone should be
bringing women back up, it’s us.
