Stop sexualizing women

By Jolene Moore / Staff writer

“When I met you last night baby, before you opened your gap, I had respect for ya lady, but now I take it all back.”

These wonderful lyrics can be found in a song called, “Ain’t No Fun,” by the artist Snoop Dogg featuring Nate Dogg, Kurupt, and Warren G.

If you could not have guessed from its wording, this song talks about how a single female can easily get passed around from one man to his “homies” performing whatever sexual acts the man of the night desires.

As a woman, I am deeply disturbed by this song and many more songs produced by the week that do nothing but gratify the sexualization of the woman. I am so sorry to burst the bubble that we call the male ego, but women are not on Earth for the pure gratification of your wants and desires.

We do not wear short skirts, cropped shirts, and anything hanging off of our bodies for you to grab at us or feel us up. Last time I checked, women are living, breathing human beings, and, believe it or not, we do have valid feelings.

Social media came around when I was going into middle school. From sixth grade to now, I have been surrounded by what is considered to be an attractive female. A toned waist and wide hips, but not any hip dips, medium-sized boobs, a perfectly round butt, and not any taller than the men we are with.

This “ideal” body type has been shoved down the throats of millions of girls and women worldwide that do not fulfill it. But, if we complain about our looks, we are bombarded with ways that we can better ourselves so that a man can want us.

The most common comment that a woman can receive when we do not look like model status is to work out. No one takes into account that some women just have differently shaped bodies. No matter how much they work out the hourglass, perfect shape that men want, it cannot be achieved.

The film industry is the absolute worst at sexualizing women. For decades, the only way a woman can be as successful as their male counterparts are based solely on how she looks.

However, these women are still overlooked because they are too pretty to be considered serious actors. If an actress speaks out about the film industry’s injustice, she is snubbed out of any new roles, which are then given to someone that wouldn’t speak out.

Male directors overlook powerful actresses who refuse to be sexualized and choose the new actresses with the pretty face that fits into their fantasy for years.

From bold, red lips to short, sparkly dresses, it’s not the acting skills people remember; it’s how her body looks in tight clothing that makes the real impact.

Women are truly beautiful in all shapes, colors, and sizes, but if society keeps throwing the perfect woman at girls everywhere, we all will have to deal with many personal issues. I do not feel empowered by the media that currently surrounds women. Instead, I am ashamed that I do not look like people such as Madison Beer, Bella Hadid, Kim Kardashian, or Scarlett Johansson, because men tell me that if I don’t look like them, then I can’t be considered as beautiful.

If I, a 19-year-old college student, am faced with the thoughts of how I am not good enough or pretty enough because of the male standards, how am I supposed to tell my 10-year-old niece that she’s gorgeous when everything she hears and sees are the same things that I do?

The bottom line is that women are not sexual objects that can be picked apart and put back together like a build-your-own Barbie. Women everywhere need to understand that they truly are beautiful beyond what the media says daily.

We are all different, and you are just as pretty as the next person. Women don’t need a man to tell us what is good enough because we are already good enough.

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