Project Proposal 4

For paper 4 I am going to revisit paper 1. In paper 1 I discussed young girls getting plastic surgery and how it is a bad decision and often done for the wrong reasons. The text I plan to create is a biography of Heidi Montag. I plan to target young women ages 12-25 in America. I want to stress the importance of self-esteem and loving yourself for who you are. Heidi Montag is a perfect example because she was once a naturally beautiful girl, who became a reality TV star. She started with getting breast implants and once she became more and more successful, the surgeries multiplied. She was reported on having 10 surgeries in one day, and this is something she is proud of. The reasons behind these surgeries are all body image related. She does not view herself as the world sees her and I feel that is a significant problem for a lot of young women in this country. I want to use her as an example for young girls of what not to do. I am going to reveal some psychological issues as well as body image issues. I plan to also include before and after pictures and discuss her emotions as she has gone through this process as well her friends and families reactions.

Feminism Interview

For the interview I asked three of my co-workers. A girl named Ashlee who is 21. She is a college student and a mother. A guy named Trevor who is 19 and also a college student. And a woman named Gail who is in her 50’s and she is also a mother of 3. I found that they had very different answers, but there was some common ignorance between all of them.

Interview Questions
1. What is feminism?
2. Do you consider yourself a feminist? Why of why not?
3. What are women’s issues and interests that feminists would be considered with?
4. What stereotypes do others categorize feminists?
5. Is there a need for feminism today? Why of why not?


Ashlee

1. Women that fight for the rights of other women
2. No, because she doesn’t get involved with feminism and honestly doesn’t really care.
3. Equal rights in sports or work
4. Cocky, over-confident
5. No, because things are pretty much equal between men and women

Trevor

1. Women being defensive about their place in society
2. No, because he doesn’t look at women as any less equal to men
3. Workman’s rights, job roles, political positions, voice in politics, and overall equality with males
4. Lesbians, female talk show hosts, women who work in the same field as males (ex: factories), women politicians
5. No, due to the fact that women are capable for applying for and getting any job a man can. Feminism should be a thing of the past because of the great strides women have made.

Gail

1. Women’s rights
2. Yes, because when she was younger she “burned her bra”- her mother was actually going into the workforce when it was very uncommon
3. Equal treatment issues, freewill
4. Menopause makes women crazy
5. Yes, so we can be treated more equally, because we still aren’t.

Overall, none of them seemed to be overly confident on the subject and depending on what type of demographic they fell under pretty much determined their beliefs and assumptions.

Reaction to Female Chauvinist Pigs

What shocked me about this text?

I was shocked that so many young women are willing to take their clothes off for free. It shocks me that a lot of young girls dream of one day being in GGW or Playboy. Something that I would be ashamed of, these girls are proud of. It makes me sad to see the standard that society sets for young girls and the lack of morals.

What surprised me about this text?

I was surprised to learn all the aspects of the gay community like all the labels. For example, “boi”, “butch”, or “femme”. I had no idea there were so many variations and to learn that not all gay people get along and agree with each is also surprising. I honestly thought that they would stick together, not bring each other down, because that’s the last thing they need.

How is this text different/similar to the other texts we have read in class?

Female Chauvinist Pigs is very similar to Hip-Hop Revolution because they both go into great detail about how women degrade themselves. For example, Lil’ Kim, she demonstrates a strong intelligent woman who tries to flip negativity about her gender into something positive, but to me it sort of backfires in her face. She is still using the same derogatory language that men use, and no matter who says it, it still has the same meaning. That can be compared to FCMs because they have the same beliefs of Lil’ Kim and feel that if they act as men they will gain more respect. It is different from Branded because Branded focuses more on the external influences that make young girls do what they do, while Female Chauvinist Pigs focuses more on the issues within the person.

Do I have any personal experience with the text? If so, what?

Personally, I don’t know any feminists or FCPs but, I definitely have been exposed to this “raunch culture” and it is sad to say but I have also found myself wearing low-cut shirts, tight jeans, and short shorts. I do not, however have dreams of being in Playboy or GGW so I do not completely associate myself with these women.