Finding Feminism in Mad Men

As a grad student, I find myself falling behind the times of pop culture, with short school breaks being my only opportunity for brief catch-ups. Recently I caught up on the AMC series Mad Men, and found myself fascinated with the world of straightforward, overt sexism (and racism, and heterosexism, etc., etc.) and how the women portrayed on the show dealt with it. When I first started watching, I realized I became angry and frustrated throughout every episode. These women were so oppressed! And yes, there has been improvement in American society since then, but there is still so much more to overcome.

With Mad Men being about advertising, I thought of commercials, billboards, and prints that are advertised throughout American media. There are still blatant visions of hyper-sexualized women, the “good moms,” and little girl “princesses” selling their products. But even commercials that seem innocent upon first look still have an oppressive message.  For example, I remember a commercial for tampons boasting that the brand now had quiet wrappers. This allows women privacy in the bathroom, right? Or perhaps it suggests that women’s menstruation is still hush-hush, so much so that products for this naturally occurring phenomenon should be kept a secret.

Mad Men addressed this issue through the character Sally Draper, Don and Betty’s daughter, who is depicted as a more adventurous type – she smokes one of her mother’s cigarettes, spends time with a neighborhood boy alone, and even takes the initiative to kiss a boy. (For those of you who haven’t seen the show) It is when she sneaks out to the American Museum of Natural History, with a boy that her mother forbid her to see, that she gets her first period and runs home to her mom. And it is this next moment that I appreciate so much on the show – Betty comforts Sally with a positive message about her body, telling her that it means when she’s ready she can one day have a baby, and getting her period is just a sign that “everything is working.” How empowering! While it stereotypically promotes childrearing as a woman’s duty, this mother was able to show her child how to love something (menstruation) patriarchal society deemed (and still deems) as shameful or dirty.

This inspired me; motivated me to look for the positivity, strength, perseverance, resiliency, and power in women. And not just women, but all underprivileged, oppressed, and disempowered people and communities. It has become a fun game watching Mad Men to find as many instances of empowerment within an episode.

And I take this to my everyday life – as a therapist-in-training, I work to help my clients feel empowered to make a change, not only for their own lives, but also for the neighborhoods, communities, and society that they live in. It can be frustrating and seemingly hopeless at times to find sources of strength within oppression. Which I experience daily, but especially noticed during my Mad Men time. But challenging myself to seek out the good, the messages of hope and power, the search for social justice has helped me see the variety of ways people can fight for their human rights of respect, dignity, worth, and love. It has helped me come to value and love my fellow humans more – especially in our constant struggle against “mad men.”

Written by Elisabeth Knauer-Turner

The Perception of Violence Against Women

As a psychologist in training, I admit not all of my Internet searches are psychology related, but I am always aware of the relationship between my procrastination time and my field of study. Combing through Buzzfeed to look at pictures of cute furry animals and funny quips about products from yester-year, I have been noticing a recent trend in current events. Women have been portrayed in the media as sexual tools utilized to sell products for some time. Recently I have noticed a trend that companies are exploiting violence against women to get their merchandise noticed. This blog entry is written in reference to a recent post that Buzzfeed took from the Huffpost (link seen below). To explain further, a particular sign company created a decal of a woman displayed “hog-tied” in the back of a pick-up truck. The purpose of this decal was to display how “realistic” their products are. Now to be honest, I had to take a double at the picture staring back at me on the screen because it was extremely realistic; which is probably a bit scarier. As described by the Huffpost writer, this isn’t the first company to display violence against women as a means of grabbing consumer’s attention; in fact, this has been a tactic for many years. According to the RAINN organization, 1 in every 6 women in the United States will be sexually assaulted during their lifetime. Currently, 17.7 million women in the U.S. have been victims. With this realization in mind, it is important to note the impact of portraying women in this matter as a sales tactic.  

On another stint of procrastination (also on Buzzfeed), I found myself running across a list of awareness campaigns from across the world labeled The Most Brutal Domestic Violence Awareness Ads. Unfortunately, the most brutal ads are probably the most realistic display of what occurs in violent relationships against women. I have placed the link below for those of you who are curious about these advertisements. Countries involved in this campaign include the U.S, U.K, Serbia, Lebanon, France, Singapore, Germany and the United Arab Emeratis. Scrolling through the advertisements it is evident that the producing groups involved are passionate about awareness. Unfortunately, I have not seen these advertisements since. According to the Just World Hypothesis, as a society we believe that if we behave in a “good” way, then we will be protected from harm. Therefore, when individuals are faced with unpleasant views of relationships there is an automatic reaction of “there must be some sort of explanation.” Unfortunately, there typically isn’t one. Taking this into consideration I think it is important to look towards the future as a means to educate and instill this education in our culture.

           

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/06/texas-truck-decal-woman_n_3881700.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

http://www.buzzfeed.com/copyranter/the-most-brutal-domestic-violence-awareness-ads

Written by Emily L. Barnum

Meet Our New Student Representative!

Jessica A. Joseph is a doctoral student in clinical psychology at The New School for Social Research.  Her research interests include body experiences among paripartum individuals in relation to social constructions such as gender, power, culture, and oppression; gender diversity in psychology pedagogy and practice; and the stigmatization of fat bodies.  As the 2013-2014 Statue Foundation Fellow at NSSR, she assists in promoting diversity awareness and social justice within academic and clinical settings.  She is the current Division 35 Student Representative and has publications in Sex Roles, X, and Reconstructing Obesity: The Meaning of Measures and the Measure of Meanings.

The Syrian Conflict is an Important Feminist Issue

As the bloodshed continues in Syria, and US military intervention becomes imminent, I am struck by the media’s lack of attention to women in the Middle East. Even in the mainstream feminist blogosphere there seems to be a complete lack of attention to the experiences of Syrian woman living in a war-torn country. A quick search for the term “Syria” on Jezebel.com, one of the most widely read “feminist” resources on the internet, returns only one critique of Syrian first lady Asma al-Assad’s flippant use of social media as her country explodes in violent conflict. Asma al-Assad, born and educated in London, is young, stylish, and light skinned. Before the Syrian conflict exploded, she was characterized by the media as a progressive and reformist first lady. Since then, things have changed.  Joan Juliet Buc (author of Vogue’s controversial article about Asma entitled “A Rose in The Desert”) has dubbed her a “modern day Marie Antoinette.” She has been publically criticized for touting the importance of youth development while her husband brutally murders and displaces thousands of civilian youth. Huberta von Voss-Wittig, wife of Germany's UN ambassador, and Sheila Lyall Grant, wife of Britain's UN ambassador, even produced a video directed at Asma, asking her to take a stand against her husband and his supporters.

While the media’s focus on Asma al-Assad is absolutely warranted, I am more concerned by the media’s lack of attention to civilian women in Syria. To me, this is a stark example of the invisibility of poor women and women of color in the media. While powerful women like Asma al-Assad routinely garner international attention, women who fall victim to political conflict and turmoil are systematically excluded from the discourse. In short, everyone, and particularly women who identify as “feminist,” should have a vested interest in the experience of Syrian women as this crisis unfolds.

In particular, these issues should be receiving more media attention:

1.  Sexual and Other Forms of Violence Against Women in the Context of the Syrian Crisis

Since the Syrian Crisis began in March 2011, several human rights violations have been reported. According to a brief report published by the International Federation for Human Rights, arbitrary arrests and detention, extra-judicial executions, rape, other forms of sexual violence, abduction, enforced disappearances and the use of torture by Syrian authorities and pro-governmental militias have been widely documented. In addition, various UN bodies and representatives, as well as international and national NGOs, have documented crimes of sexual violence committed during the Syrian crisis. Acts of rape and sexual assault are occurring indiscriminately, but are also being used as a form of torture in unofficial detention facilities. The report states that most reported allegations of rape and sexual violence were said to have been perpetrated by government forces and militias during house searches, at checkpoints, and while women had been detained. In some cases, women were assaulted in public or in front of family members, an act that carries a strong social stigma and is associated with dishonor in Syria. As a result, women are often rejected by their husbands or families after a rape. Increases in domestic violence have been reported in response to sexual assault. In addition, many women are forcibly married after rape or excommunicated from the home. Women who flee or are removed from their homes are exposed to further exploitation as they struggle to find food and fuel to survive. The exploitation of women and girls continues to be a problem in refugee camps after they leave Syria.

2.  Syrian Women as Part of the Opposition

While the conflict has unfolded publically on sites like Youtube and Twitter, the bulk of visible rebels are young Syrian males. Behind the scenes, however, young Syrian women are playing a crucial role in the Syrian revolution. Several women took part in the first demonstrations against the regime and many continue to protest publically despite the inherent risks. CNN’s international correspondent, Arwa Damon, reports on a female human rights activist. A couple of months after she participated in demonstrations, she was detained and imprisoned for 48 hours. After her release, she, like many other female activists, was effectively driven into hiding. She reports that groups of female activists sneak out and attend secret meetings in order to support the opposition and help free activists who are still imprisoned. In addition, women contribute to the opposition by stitching together opposition flags, making face masks for the men to wear, and running secret underground clinics to treat the wounded. They also organize to provide families of the dead or detained with food, blankets and financial aid. Finally, women have been supporting the opposition through the use of art, writing and social media. Asma documents her interactions with one woman who picked up a camera and began filming the dead and wounded in order to raise international awareness of the atrocities being committed.

While the majority of female Syrian activists choose to maintain anonymity for their protection, a handful of women stand in public opposition to the Assad regime. Suhair Atassi is a Damascus-based political activist. She runs a Facebook forum that calls for political reform in Syria. Atassi was arrested in March 2011 while protesting in Damascus. After spending a month in prison, she helped found a local network to organize demonstrations, document abuses, and relay the story of the uprising. She went into hiding for eight months, and then made her way to Paris after being smuggled out of the country. Throughout it all, Atassi used her laptop, Twitter and Skype to communicate with her allies. Another remarkable woman, Razan Zaitouneh is a Syrian human rights lawyer who is currently in hiding after being accused by the government of being a foreign agent. Zaitouneh's reporting to the foreign media on human rights abuses committed against Syrian civilians through her website served as an important source of information to the international community. Fadwa Suleiman, a Syrian actress who led a rally against the Bashar al-Assad regime and was subsequently disowned by her family, has also been lauded by international human rights organizations as a distinct face of the opposition.  

3. Syrian Women as Pro-Governmental Soldiers

In addition to fighting against Bashar al-Assad, women are also training to fight for him. The Syrian regime is reportedly arming and training women to fight as a pro-governmental militia. The formation of the force comes amid speculation that the Syrian army is depleted.  According to a report in Britain’s Independent newspaper, the all-female force, named the “Lionesses for National Defense,” is part of an effort to supplement the army with a National Defense Force militia made up of civilian volunteers. In practice, the women have been confined to checkpoint control, although in the midst of the Syrian conflict this effectively places them on the frontline. The Washington Post reports that their efforts are aimed at checking women in headscarves. One activist reported to the that the militia women “force women out of cars with deliberate roughness, rip off their veils and scream insults at them…They treat them like they are female terrorists. They call them al-Qaeda … and say, ‘the veil won’t protect you.’”.

                  

In sum, there are a lot of important things going on in Syria, and the feminist community should really be paying more attention. It is our responsibility to ensure that the voices of the world’s most vulnerable women are not drowned out by the voices of those with power. 

Read More:

http://www.fidh.org/IMG/pdf/syria_sexual_violence-web.pdf

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/01/25/the-all-female-militias-of-syria/

http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/07/world/meast/syrian-revolution-women

Written by Lauren Gutman

Is there room for discussion about cultural appropriation AND sexual objectification?

The VMAs were two weekends ago , and yes, there was also a chemical weapons attack in Syria.  Don’t worry, there is room to discuss Syria, too.  In fact, one of the more difficult issues feminists face is choosing what issue to take up at any given moment, because there are just too many!  Today, I have chosen the topic that has pervaded social media the past few days: Miley Cyrus’ performance at the VMAs, more importantly, sexual objectification and cultural appropriation.

                  First, Miley-the-person is 20 years old, and even though legally she is an adult, the psychological literature clearly distinguishes between a 20-year-old adult and a 30-year-old adult.  I did things in my early-20s that I probably wouldn’t do now, and that’s part of being an emerging adult.  That being said, I wasn’t in the entertainment industry, where my whole self would have essentially been a product.  The discussion on the Internet about Miley’s sexual objectification of young women and children’s toys has been silenced under the guise of slut-shaming and moved toward a discussion about the cultural appropriation problem.  The real issue at hand here is that it is difficult to tell the boundary between Miley-the-person and Miley-the-brand. 

                  In an article on Feministing.com, the author of the article highlights this issue of distinguishing between the brand and the person by initially stating, “That spectacle isn’t all Miley’s fault.”  She goes on to blame Disney and the entertainment industry.  But, for the remainder of the article, the author refers to ‘she’ as in, “…she hasn’t given me any comfort that she understands the complexities of black identity in White America.”  Is ‘she’ Miley or the brand?    As a society, why don’t we have any qualms about twerking during primetime television when children might be watching?  And, why is that okay, but Miley-the-person or Miley-the-brand should know better than to use black women as a commodity?  Are these two ideas mutually exclusive? 

                  In addition to that article, there was also one posted by Ms., which also underscored the issue of cultural appropriation and indicated that criticism of Miley’s display of sexuality is slut-shaming.  Again, are we talking about a person or a brand?  This article does not even attempt to delineate this issue and flat out blames Miley for “not taking the time to learn about the women she is exploiting.”  Again, as a 20-year-old white entertainer, do we really think she knows better about her sexuality and about racism in our culture?  Isn’t she, as a brand, a commodity too? 

                  My initial reaction, because I am still a work in progress when it comes to intersectionality of race and gender, was to be disgusted by the use of teddy bears and her tongue hanging out of her mouth.  I mean, if you just look to the right on the FemPop page, you can see information on the APA Report on the Sexualization of Girls.   The song Miley was singing was written by six other men, and she is listed last as a writer.  Miley-the-brand is predominantly male.  Miley singing and dancing as her brand on stage, was male.  It was not a woman embracing her own sexuality.  It was chauvinism. That is not to say that we can shame her for being sexual; there is a nuanced difference.  The entertainment industry’s provision of black women as commodities and hyper-sexualized young women should both be issues on the table.  Our demand and consumption of these types of media should also be an issue on the table.  Both cultural appropriation and sexual objectification have a place in this discussion.  Focusing on one at the expense of the other silences all of us. 

Written by Teresa Young