The Conditioning of the Female Mind from Youth
Society as a whole has continually attacked the common bonds of sisterhood, so much so that today, I know of very few females who would consider what they have with their female non-related counterparts sister like. Where does it start? At what point in our female lives do we begin to turn on each other? Or were we ever really 'with' each other in the first place?
I look at the products on the market today that are out there, teaching our daughters (when we are too busy working, playing on the internet, cleaning or being on the phone) what their role is in life, and how the female dynamic works. Barbie, (aside from the more obvious problems with her) is the center of her pack. Her friends are lesser known and not as beautiful. They also do not have boyfriends. Bratz dolls will soon become 'Bitch' dolls as the word progresses as an acceptable adjative. Both of the social concepts manufactured around these dolls are the same. Ring leader and followers, their only common bond being apparel and men.
It is important to note that both Bratz dolls and Barbie started out with an empowering message of self worth and independence. Barbie was revolutionary in making her (as a concept) a SINGLE woman who could be a nurse, an airline attendant, an astronaut. Bratz dolls are independent women who, in the shadow of Beyonce, could be strong, successful minorities. These concepts were then tarnished by slow sales or new marketing concepts more appealing to children, and have fallen into some of the worst models of women and their role in the world I can think of.
As life goes on and we spend less and less time with our children, marketing picks up where we left off, and creates inside our your women of tomorrow ideas that we may not be comfortable with. As they hit puberty they turn more and more to fashion magazines as their bible, telling them on one page not to worry about their weight, and on the next having the hottest bikinis of the season (sizes 1-13). Where are we then left to help them adapt these concepts into empowering statements of self? That fashion doesn't have to be what is in seventeen and that you don't have to be the leader of a group of 'mean girls'.
Then we find our own place to express our ideals while looking for parts of ourselves as we group up. I think one of the biggest reasons suicide girls has so many female members is the fact that we were all drawn here by the ideals and precepts we saw in the women on the front page. We saw that it was ok to be who we are, that we could 'redefine beauty'. The longer I have remained a member, the less idiology I put into the girls and unfortunately the concept.
I think cassie suicide's set represents to me selling out; in the same way Barbie and Bratz did. Is it smart selling out? yes. Have I realized that Suicide Girls is a business by now? Of course. But art for arts sake is so much different then mutli-level advertising. The set represents something different to me then a well made artful set due to the ties behind it. Does this make me unpopular? probably. But I don't care that much. As I watch SG INC grow as a whole I see more and more mainstream ladies become SG's, to the point where I believe that this site may be the 'seventeen magazine' for adult women. And while these all started out empowring to women, the end product is far different.
Society as a whole has continually attacked the common bonds of sisterhood, so much so that today, I know of very few females who would consider what they have with their female non-related counterparts sister like. Where does it start? At what point in our female lives do we begin to turn on each other? Or were we ever really 'with' each other in the first place?
I look at the products on the market today that are out there, teaching our daughters (when we are too busy working, playing on the internet, cleaning or being on the phone) what their role is in life, and how the female dynamic works. Barbie, (aside from the more obvious problems with her) is the center of her pack. Her friends are lesser known and not as beautiful. They also do not have boyfriends. Bratz dolls will soon become 'Bitch' dolls as the word progresses as an acceptable adjative. Both of the social concepts manufactured around these dolls are the same. Ring leader and followers, their only common bond being apparel and men.
It is important to note that both Bratz dolls and Barbie started out with an empowering message of self worth and independence. Barbie was revolutionary in making her (as a concept) a SINGLE woman who could be a nurse, an airline attendant, an astronaut. Bratz dolls are independent women who, in the shadow of Beyonce, could be strong, successful minorities. These concepts were then tarnished by slow sales or new marketing concepts more appealing to children, and have fallen into some of the worst models of women and their role in the world I can think of.
As life goes on and we spend less and less time with our children, marketing picks up where we left off, and creates inside our your women of tomorrow ideas that we may not be comfortable with. As they hit puberty they turn more and more to fashion magazines as their bible, telling them on one page not to worry about their weight, and on the next having the hottest bikinis of the season (sizes 1-13). Where are we then left to help them adapt these concepts into empowering statements of self? That fashion doesn't have to be what is in seventeen and that you don't have to be the leader of a group of 'mean girls'.
Then we find our own place to express our ideals while looking for parts of ourselves as we group up. I think one of the biggest reasons suicide girls has so many female members is the fact that we were all drawn here by the ideals and precepts we saw in the women on the front page. We saw that it was ok to be who we are, that we could 'redefine beauty'. The longer I have remained a member, the less idiology I put into the girls and unfortunately the concept.
I think cassie suicide's set represents to me selling out; in the same way Barbie and Bratz did. Is it smart selling out? yes. Have I realized that Suicide Girls is a business by now? Of course. But art for arts sake is so much different then mutli-level advertising. The set represents something different to me then a well made artful set due to the ties behind it. Does this make me unpopular? probably. But I don't care that much. As I watch SG INC grow as a whole I see more and more mainstream ladies become SG's, to the point where I believe that this site may be the 'seventeen magazine' for adult women. And while these all started out empowring to women, the end product is far different.
But I also think it'll disappear and life will go on.
I think Cassie's set is pure edgy graphic novel, most of which are age-defined as much as games or movies. This isn't a comparison to 'little girl dolls', or the sale of sisterhood, it's a crossover to another genre popular with the same demographic that keeps this site alive. And always has.
Of course, this is just one old coot's opinion.