Analysis Six- Feminism and Gender Studies

“Do you know what it feels like for a girl? In this world?”

While this poor excuse of a television show (Glee, for the lucky few who have escaped it’s supposed charm) attempted to tackle feminism, it commented on the identity of the feminine.

To recap, the men within the Glee club were assigned to sing a song typically sung by a woman to come to the conclusion that they should respect women (and to think they won a golden globe with such groundbreaking work).

However, the identity of women is not as easy to tackle (and is easier done without musical accompaniment).  Simone de Beauvoir admits that “What is certain is that today it is very difficult for women to accept at the same time their status as autonomous individuals and their womanly destiny; this is the source of the blundering and restlessness which sometimes cause them to be considered a “lost sex.” And no doubt it is more comfortable to submit to a blind enslavement than to work for liberation” (1273).

While in contrast the idea of being a man is a concrete identity of being physically able, intelligent, and essentially powerful, the idea of being a woman is to be the binary of the man.  In addition to this submission, women are oppressed into being this subservient robot.

  The robot must serve the master (men) and they find comfort in this rather than feel empowered enough to discover identity.  De Beauvoir says “Whereas woman’s independent successes are in contradiction with her femininity, since the “true woman” is required to make herself object, to be the Other” (1272).  She is required to be the opposite of the man, a compliment rather than a partner.  It is more than heavily implied, it is stated that men and women are not equal.  Women are oppressed by men.

That being said, is it true that a woman is the opposite of a man? Or has women’s liberation caused an epiphany? If women are defined by being the opposite of a man, in an attempt to re-define femininity, should women adopt some masculine attributes? Is this the forward-thinking feminists say would progress women worldwide? Is this the key to the feminist uprising?

In this sense, if feminism is breaking free of being the binary to men, the empowerment may be embodied by the living train wreck known as JWoWW.  

JWoWW is the boobalicious tall girl on Jersey Shore.  

While she is genetically and socially female (due to her natural sex, as well as some unnatural enhancements), she possesses the characteristics of a man in some respects.  If the female is meant to be subservient, JW0WW is powerful. 

In response to getting stared down at a club she did not simply accept the behavior, she pulled a girl’s weave out.  In response to being dumped publicly on her reality TV show, she quickly found solace in a new hunkier ‘Guido’.  And, in possibly the strongest showing of her feminist acts, after her roommate (The Situation) got her out of a club before she was done bumping and grinding, she punched him in the face.  

JWoWW is rarely subservient, and therefore has forged her own identity as a woman.  

 She has defied the typical misogynistic expectations of a woman and has become a true feminist through this.

America, meet the face of feminism. JWoWW, we salute you.

Word Count: 563


Works Cited
Leitch, Vincent B. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. 2nd ed. New York: W. W. Norton &, 2010. Print.
Murphy, Ryan. "What It Feels Like For a Girl." Glee. Dir. Ryan Murphy. Fox. Los Angeles, California, 20 Apr. 2010. Television.
Salsano, SallyAnn, Scott Jeffress, and Jacquelyn French, prods. Jersey Shore. MTV. Seaside, New Jersey, 2009-present. Television.
"What It Feels Like For a Girl." YouTube. Ed. Gleesebumps. YouTube, 23 Apr. 2010. Web. 26 Apr. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARuviBgb5pM>.