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Feminism Book Club - Female Chauvinist Pigs by Ariel Levy - Weds 5 May 2010 @ 9pm

94 replies

Molesworth · 20/04/2010 12:39

Mumsnet Feminism Book Club

Next time (Wednesday 5th May at 9pm) we're discussing Ariel Levy's "Female Chauvinist Pigs: women and the rise of raunch culture". Everyone welcome!

Amazon link

Extract from the introduction on Ariel Levy's website

Synopsis

Today's young women seem to be outdoing the male chauvinist pigs of yesteryear, applauding the 'pornification' of other women, and themselves. This is a world where simulating sex for baying crowds of men on shows like Girls Gone Wild and going to lapdancing clubs - as patrons - is seen as a short cut to cool. Ariel Levy says the joke's on the women if they think this is progress. She tears apart the myth of this new brand of 'empowered woman' and refuses a culture-wide obligation for women to act and look like porn stars. This terrifically witty and wickedly intelligent book makes the case that the rise of raunch does not represent how far women have come - it proves only how far women have left to go.

OP posts:
StewieGriffinsMom · 05/05/2010 21:50

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RosaMolesworthemburg · 05/05/2010 21:49

Blimey, she DOES say that (thanks dittany)

RosaMolesworthemburg · 05/05/2010 21:47

Re: the lesbians chapter, again my interpretation was that the backlash against feminism has led to this warped idea of 'liberation' = 'be a man', but that that's no kind of liberation at all. That was the message I got from the whole book really. Not woman-blaming, but pointing out how the backlash has warped the whole idea of liberation that the 2nd wave feminists had.

StewieGriffinsMom · 05/05/2010 21:46

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sethstarkaddersmum · 05/05/2010 21:45

Pogleswood - it makes me want to lecture groups of teenagers about how they are doing it all wrong but I don't think they would listen, somehow!

dittany · 05/05/2010 21:44

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StewieGriffinsMom · 05/05/2010 21:44

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Pogleswood · 05/05/2010 21:42

What got to me was how joyless it all sounds,particularly the women talking in the Shopping for Sex chapter - the one who said,as something she didn't understand, "if I stop being attracted to someone,I can't have sex with them" - well,dur...
And it isn't any better for the boys/men - it made me feel that everyone is being sold short,and they think that it is good.

RosaMolesworthemburg · 05/05/2010 21:42

Nooo, don't back off dittany, I've read this so differently to you I'd love to understand your take on it. Where did she say it makes no sense to blame men? I can't remember that bit and I'm sure it would have leapt out at me!

StewieGriffinsMom · 05/05/2010 21:41

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dittany · 05/05/2010 21:41

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dittany · 05/05/2010 21:39

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sethstarkaddersmum · 05/05/2010 21:39

please do hold forth Dittany!

RosaMolesworthemburg · 05/05/2010 21:39

Yes, her argument about girls'/women's sexuality being defined by performance is a powerful one I think, showing how 'sex everywhere' does not equal 'sexual liberation' at all (as some would and do claim)

LarkinSky · 05/05/2010 21:39

Hi, I've just come across this in active conversations and thought I'd join in, having read this a few months ago. Apologies for coming in late though!

As a relative newcomer to feminist writings, it had a big impact on me (I ended up buying it for several girlfriends), and I thought Levy articulated so many of my concerns.

What came across to me was the fact so many women seemed almost ashamed of being female. So many seemed to believe, deep down, that men are undoubtedly superior.

The chapter 'From Womyn to Bois' (page 118) really struck me. It seems the lesbians Levy writes about are ashamed to be female, and that being a man (or Boi) is not only more fun, but also superior on every level. I felt almost more dismayed by that than by anything else. What did anyone else think about that chapter?

StewieGriffinsMom · 05/05/2010 21:37

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dittany · 05/05/2010 21:37

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sethstarkaddersmum · 05/05/2010 21:37

that's how I understood it too Molesworth.

sethstarkaddersmum · 05/05/2010 21:35

I didn't get much out of the lesbian chapter - perhaps I'm just being hetero-normative there though!

The key bit of her analysis for me was the notion that sex now is seen in terms of performance rather than pleasure.

RosaMolesworthemburg · 05/05/2010 21:35

It's true she hasn't really put forward any new ideas about how to fight this, but - again I may have read this completely dfferently to everyone else - I interpreted her to mean that we need a return to the tactics of 2nd wave feminism.

StewieGriffinsMom · 05/05/2010 21:34

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RosaMolesworthemburg · 05/05/2010 21:31

The Susan Brownmiller chapter was the best bit of the book imo, I found that part really interesting

wukter · 05/05/2010 21:30

It's depressing how notions of popularity are tied into how you rate as a performer.

sethstarkaddersmum · 05/05/2010 21:30

I think perhaps it's confusing because she has a sort of potted history of feminism which skips a few years - she talks to all these second wavers who were active in the 70s and then suddenly it's 2005, with little about what happened in between.

StewieGriffinsMom · 05/05/2010 21:30

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