Last night at the MTV Movie Awards, Reese Witherspoon was awarded a “Generation Award,” which is apparently their equivalent to “lifetime achievement.” During her acceptance speech she said:
“Girls, I know it’s cool to be bad, but it’s also possible to make it in Hollywood without a reality show. When I came up in this business, if you made a sex tape, you were embarrassed and hid it under your bed. And if you took naked pictures of yourself on your cell phone, you would hide your face. For all the girls out there, it’s possible to be a good girl. I’m going to try to make it cool.”
Dear Reese Witherspoon:
Yours Truly,
The New Age Amazon
Dear New Age Amazon:
I am a young woman attending university for journalism, looking forward to working for an alternative magazine or website. I respect you for your opinion and your attempt to educate people about feminism. With that said, I personally think that you are misinterpreting Reese Witherspoon’s speech and you seem to have an extreme view that needs some watering down.
I do not think that liking to fuck makes you a bad girl - it makes you human. And I agree that what you do with your body is no ones business but your own. Looking over her speech and your letter, however, Reese did not say that “good girls” are virgins, YOU DID. Reese said that young women do not have to make sex tapes and take nude pictures to become famous, or furthermore, get attention and respect from men. That is something I believe, and something you should agree with, as well.
There is certainly a confusing good girl/bad girl dichotomy in our culture; I see that. We are made to believe that sex is a be-all-end-all, but made to feel guilty and dirty afterward. Also, not only do we see many women getting attention in Hollywood for their sex tapes and fake tits, but we are pressured by young men to send pictures or do other things we may not be comfortable with in order to earn their attention or love (that is, what we confuse for love when we’re young). This is not all right.
It is impossible to dispute that it is wrong for men to pressure or exploit women (And, as you mentioned in your follow-up, for men to be exploited, as well).
A woman should not be blamed for being victimized - but there is a huge difference between rape and Girls Gone Wild. A short skirt is not an open-pass for sexual predators, but Kim Kardashian and Miley Cyrus knew the risks they were taking when they made a sex tape and “sexted.” When Paris Hilton gets out of a car with out underwear, she isn’t asking to be raped, but she is asking to have pictures of her who-haw shared all over the Internet.
In the follow-up to your open letter, you argue that Reese is saying that “becoming famous via your sexuality is inherently WRONG,” but I do not think that is what she means. Many women do make the choice as consenting adults to work in the sex industry as porn stars, etc. but what I am personally worried about are young ladies around the world, in suburbs far away from the cocaine and spray tans of Hollywood, feeling the need to do the things they see on the Internet and T.V.; following in the footsteps of their idols, like Miley Cyrus or Lindsey Lohan. This is WRONG.
There is a very fine line between sexual liberation and hyper-sexualizing, and I believe you may be crossing it. You said in your follow-up that it isn’t the place of Reese Witherspoon (an award winning actress involved in children’s and women’s advocacy programs) to “police” people’s choices, yet here you are preaching your feminist views.
One could argue that you, and others like you, are policing others’ choices, making them feel stupid for choosing to be stay-at-home-moms or virgins ‘til marriage. There is nothing wrong with having sex and owning your body, but there is also nothing wrong with abstaining from sex. That is something many “modern women” seem to forget. But you see, that is the part where what we do with our bodies DOESN’T FUCKING AFFECT who we are as people.
Sincerely,
HollyTerror
While some strangely religious, or simply gullible folks seem to believe the rapture will be upon us Saturday, some see predictions made by long-lost peoples as signs that the world will end December 2012.
If we were to look to the Bible for some answers, Matthew 24:36 (NIV) says “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
Despite the scripture’s stand on the matter, pop culture has become infatuated with the idea. Thanks to this obsession, here’s your playlist for the end of the world:
- Britney Spears - Till The World Ends
- Jay Sean (ft. Nicki Minaj) - 2012 (It Ain’t The End)
- All Time Low - Hello Brooklyn
- I See Stars - The End Of The World Party
- Jimmy Buffett - Party At The End Of The World
- R.E.M. - It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (and I Feel Fine…)
- Rush - 2112
- Blondie - Rapture
- The Cure - The End Of The World
- Muse - Apocalypse, Please
- Black Sabbath - War Pigs
- The Doors - The End
