January 14-22, 2007

I saw an interview ith Ariel Levy on The Colber Report. The premise of her book sounded noteworthy--Feminism has brought with it a backlash of women who strive to be like porn stars. Yes, women are now sexually liberated, but why do you want to emulate someone who fakes an orgasm. This was not what the sexual revolution was about.

As I read this book, I asked myself the question, what will I want to impart to my daughter about womanhood and her sexuality? Using this book as a premise left me hanging.

Her descriptions of some sexually liberated women are VERY frightening and the culture of lesbianism, especially in New York and San Fransisco, is disturbing.

Levy's chapter "Pigs in Training" scares me for our young women. She describes the culture of young teens who intentionally dress like hoes, the more hoe-like you can dress, the better. Being sexy is a popularity status. Girls are having sex, not for the enjoyment of it, but because it was just something you needed to do. The enjoyment of sex and the, for lack of a better word, "specialness" of sex is lost on them.

Levy points to a quote by Paris Hilton to describe this phenomenon: "my boyfriends always tell me I'm not sexual. Sexy, but not sexual." Levy states, "Sexyness is no longer just about being arousing or alluring, it's about being worthwhile."

The premise of the idea of Female Chauvinist Pigs has to do with the women who, in trying to make it in a man's world, act like men. They go to strip clubs, buy into the culture of stupid women, and generally look down on the girly-girls and strippers. These are the Female Chauvinist Pigs. On the other hand you have women who, in their sexual liberation, think it is liberating to be porn stars. Why can't we as women be successful by being women?

A point that I found interesting in her discourses on the problems with Absinence-Only Sex Education is that we tell kids that sex is something special and it should be saved for marriage. What are kids supposed to think about that when there is a 50% divorce rate? Our words and actions aren't aligning.

Ariel Levy's depictions of a sex-saturated culture were troublesome because the fact of the matter is that this is where we really are as a society. All I could do was realize more and more that we are all in need of a Savior. We are in need of Jesus Christ to cover us and heal us.

Most of the time, I felt as if Ariel Levy was rambling on and on as if going somewhere with her point but she never got anywhere. She could never definitively prove to me that her conclusions were right--and I was never sure as to what her conclusions were. Her last portion, titled Conclusion, was short and left me feeling no better.

Here's what I've determined about my experience of reading this book; her arguments are devoid of scripture. The culture she describes does not rely on God's Word to show us how to behave, nor does it rely on the grace Jesus Christ provides for each and every one of us who accepts Him. God created us male and female, and we are different, and it is beautiful.

I finally answered my question, what will I want to impart to my daughter about womanhood and her sexuality, and the answer lies within scripture. A wonderful book to help us understand womanhood and a worthwhile read is Elizabeth Elliot's Let Me Be A Woman.

Female Chauvinist Pigs is a scary rambling that goes nowhere. Don't waste your time. ( )

I agree with the author that there's probably better ways to be feminist than for women to dress/dance/act provocatively in a manner in which they think men will like. I do wonder if this stance can lead to a puritanical anti-sex position. (To her credit, Levy does not take that position, I'm just speculating that it *might* lead to it.) I also like that she identifies most of these trends more with commercialism than with any real sense of sexuality and freedom. Since I know very little about m...more I agree with the author that there's probably better ways to be feminist than for women to dress/dance/act provocatively in a manner in which they think men will like. I do wonder if this stance can lead to a puritanical anti-sex position. (To her credit, Levy does not take that position, I'm just speculating that it *might* lead to it.) I also like that she identifies most of these trends more with commercialism than with any real sense of sexuality and freedom. Since I know very little about modern feminism, this book served as a good introduction to modern controversies in feminism, and it provided some of the historical background to these controversies. All in all, a very well-written and engaging sociological survey.

(Levy appeared on the Colbert Report a few years ago to discuss this book-- very funny, and she handled Colbert quite well. http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colb... ) ( )

Snappy writing, but really problematic, especially the stuff on transmen and butches. That isn't to say that there isn't something worth looking at there, but it came off as a little transphobic to me. Levy is dead-on in that our culture is shoving harmful stuff at women while calling it "empowering," but her analysis felt a little superficial at times. ( )

One of the best books of theory I have read in the last decade. Levy situates the contradictory experience of young women being sold the myth of liberation and empowerment through the commodification of their bodies and ideals. Awesome ( )