Crazy, Sexy, Not Cool – Texas State University
December 17, 2015 by admin
Filed under Choosing Lingerie
Sex sells and we see evidence of this in everyday life.
Sexually objectified women that appear in the many magazine ads, billboards and commercials sell products and fantasies at an even heftier cost. Companies like the infamous Playboy have prided themselves for years on beautiful women posing in sexually suggestive positions, adorned in designer lingerie.
With its readership being men, the magazine satisfies the appetite for a lusty crowd of businessmen, dads, police officers, teachers and college students who are willing to blow money on each issue.
While the big dollars are rolling into the corporation, a huge tidal wave of problems comes splashing down. Like in every profession, there is an even shorter-lived time in the career of modeling—especially models who book nude or lingerie shoots with companies like Victoria’s Secret.
When these women do retire and turn to other employment opportunities, they are often left with little wiggle room when choosing a profession due to their past experiences as models.
It is not okay for people to overlook the skills these sexually objectified women obtain simply because they have a picture in a magazine with their rear poked out in the air or their breasts barely covered.
Pictures may be worth a thousand words, but in this case there is only one word to describe the label pushed on these women, and it is “unrealistic.” The popular belief of the general public is sexually objectified women act the way they present themselves in magazine covers, and that is wrong.
Being a model is a job, just like that of a police officer, teacher and businessman. These women deserve the same respect as any of us. They should not be judged for making a living or looking to find employment outside of the misogynistic modeling and entertainment realm.
Being a glamor model is not easy, but being an ex-glamor model is even harder. Ask former Playboy model Amy Christophers, who has a hard time getting employed due to her past as a Playmate.
Frequently, male empoyers do not take Christophers seriously. Even though she has valuable insight and the qualifications for the respective field, people cannot seem to get past her bunny pictures.
By judging these women and buying magazines such as Playboy, we are supporting the objectification of women for profit. Then, after our pockets are full and sexual cravings have been satisfied, we throw them away like garbage. These women are crucified for making a living and ridiculed for searching to obtain a “modest” or “respectable” profession afterward.
Just because you find a woman in a sexually provocative pose does not mean she deserves to be reduced to a picture or object for glancing pleasures. People should not have to be reminded of how these women are intelligent and complex beings as well, who can do more than stand around and look pretty.
The cost of being one of these sexually objectified women should not include discrimination from a profession she is qualified for just because she was a nude or lingerie model. It is okay to view them as a little crazy and a little sexy as well as how my new and improved 21st-century definition defines it. It is not cool to sexually objectify these women and undermine them because you have a narrow-minded, sexist view about the character of the model.
