Toban Black

“You can’t be sexy without consuming.”
- Julie (in this Feministe blog post)

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In London, England

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Three posts from Lisa on the Sociological Images blog -
- “The Economics of Beauty”
- “Sexualization and Adultification of Young Children of Color”
- “The Beauty Industry: Spending And Routines”

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(Photo by Orin Optiglot)

In Melbourne, Australia

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Of course, the images, the quotation (at the top of this blog entry), and the blog posts I am presenting here all have been about mainstream gender standards (of ‘beauty,’ ’sexiness,’ and so on).

There also are other more marginalized approaches to gender. (I, for one, think that the visual appearances of women — and men — receive far too much attention.  In other words, gender needn’t be such a superficial dress-up game — for women, in particular.  But as I am raising these issues — as an example within wider gender standards — I don’t mean to suggest we should pay absolutely no attention to our appearances. Such a suggestion wouldn’t be viable; yet, there’s no need to pursue such absurd extremes.)

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A mall storefront -

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I recommend Sexy Inc. — a documentary about “hypersexualization and the eroticization of childhood.”

(A lot of the film is in French; it’s subtitled.
The documentary also is only 35 minutes long.)

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This writing contextualizes those gender and consumption issues -

Renee on her Womanist Musings blog -
“Lipstick Feminism and Dressing The Part”

Renee ultimately focuses on female labourers.  I think that she raises important points about international class divisions —
but without indicating how the “lipstick feminists” do deserve some criticism.  While women can be feminists while appreciating their own sexuality (heterosexual or otherwise), seeking approval from men always will be somewhat at odds with female empowerment — which certainly is an important part of feminism.

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A related post -
“Femininity and masculinity under patriarchy“