Oh, Johnny get angry, Johnny get mad
Give me the biggest lecture I’ve ever had
I want a brave man, I want a cave man...
Every girl wants someone who
She can always look up to
You know I love you, of course
Let me know you’re the boss.
“Johnny Get Angry,” sung by Joanie Sommers, 1962,
Words and music by Hal David and Sherman Edwards
“So I cry, I pray and I beg/Love me love me/Say that you love me/Fool me fool me/Go on and fool me.../Just say that you need me/I can’t care ‘bout anything but you.” -From “Lovefool,” by the Cardigans
June 2011. This writing, which is not anti-women, essentially emanates from an ongoing two-part fascination of mine: (1) Why do many American women consistently allow themselves to be marginalized by our cultural image and celebrity worship industries? and (2) Why do so many women fawn over, chase after and basically allow themselves to be either used and/or abused, manipulated by, shallow and/or abusive men? And in 2011 (post-post-feminist America?), it seems to be getting worse. What happened to the “You’ve come along way, baby!” evolution of the American woman? Doris Day disappeared into Rock Hudson’s closet and reappeared dressed as Lady Gaga, public nuisance [I’ve got to say here this Gaga apparition just isn’t attractive. Period. Do you, dear reader, realize that both Madonna and Gaga have made themselves public and wealthy on no more talent than the ability to exploit a certain aspect of society, largely impressionable young females?].
I was at loss as to how to dive into this writing until I saw a 26 June 2011 piece in the New York Daily News by one Tanith Carey entitled “Let girls be girls” (Your daughter doesn’t need tight clothes and lipstick-she’s cute enough already).” In marketing-driven America the assault on everyone, let alone the female of the species, begins early. But females are especially targeted and the target goal seems to be to turn females into either preening, flirty sluts by the time they graduate from middle school, or self-esteem basket cases, who are convinced Jenny Craig was Joan of Arcs understudy and that bulimia is a tourist destination in Eastern Europe. Ms. Carey’s piece serves to expose (as if it was not already daily thrust in front of us) the shameless and tawdry marketing assault on young girls. But it all didn’t begin here...
Babies and bricks: A slimmed-down history of women from Day One until the age of the war-fueled assembly line...and beyond.
Consider the lot of women since humankind first began to gather in groups, tribes and societies: Babies and bricks. What? Bearers of children (babies) and keepers of the hearth (bricks). Obviously, in some societies the lot of women has been better than in others. But take offense or not, babies and bricks was pretty much it for centuries. Sure, one may cite the occasional upstart, but basically women were expected to bear children and mind the hearth. Sorry, but it is true. Were there female exceptions? Of course, but they were few and far between. Cleopatra. No hearth-sweeping there. Joan of Arc? (Hey, my feet feel a bit le toasty). Queen Elizabeth I (Off with their heads!). Marie Antoinette (Off with her head! Okay, bad example.). Henry VIII’s wives (Off with their heads!). Basically, however, male-dominated societies, and the components of same, viewed women as a conveniences to be used. Components? Consider, for example, how the world’s religions have viewed women. Certainly not as equals. Certainly not as ones to be considered as Elders or leaders of the flock out of the wilderness. How many popes and prophets have been women? And this religious view of women has persisted pretty much until today (Are women today allowed at the Wailing Wall?).
And what of the numerous cults, religious or otherwise? Cults are worse, as cults often view women as mere sexual entities, with the sex interrupted by birthing, so as to extend the cult’s flock. [Consider the arrest of the 60 year old Israeli polygamist and overall nut, Goel Ratzon, who had a harem of some thirty-two women (29 wives) and numerous children. He managed to control these women-How and why?] And he has not been alone, as history is rife with these characters. Indeed, in March 2010 there appeared a newspaper article on the cult-like atmosphere surrounding David Letterman among his female interns. One even compared him to Jesus [What makes women chase after these and other celeb schlubs and schmucks? Oh, right, money and celebrity. But why?]. In short, no age has had a shortage of personalities who serve to entrance the female imagination. Why? And if that isn’t not bad enough today we have TV series and reality shows on women who give themselves over as one-of-many wives to these religious parasites. YEEESSSH!
In America, babies and bricks were the woman’s lot in a male-dominated and largely agrarian society. And then came World War II and women found an escape via the mass production assembly lines (Look what the assembly line did for Lucille Ball), churning out apparatuses of death and destruction, such as bomb sights which allowed babies and bricks to be blown to Hell, figuratively and literally. Women and those males deemed unfit for military service ran the assembly lines. And who was more unfit for military service than women? Thus, the American women began her emancipation. From hearth to assembly line. From babies to bomb sights. Ain’t war a grand equalizer? After WWII agrarian and family life began to erode, slowly at first, as families began to move toward urban/suburban life, and material goods began to hold sway.
You had me at bricks and babies. Tell me more!
Question: How, in modern day image and product-obsessed America, has the lot of women changed? Yes, I realize, women are able to vote, able to hold public office, more able (and apt to get divorced, to have indiscriminate sex, get Botoxed and liposucked, yadda yadda...), but are not women still largely baby bearers and hearth keepers, even if the hearth is now appliance and fast-food laden? Modern life as a a high-tech cult. Too, women are still largely appraised (and prized) for their social/sexual aspects (Where do I git me one of them thar Trophy Wives?), which begins early on in our age of corporate-marketing leviathans. Child beauty pageants beget a host of other begats. And for anyone, male or female, who doubts women are still not viewed as sexual tools, gird yourself and go on the www. and be nauseated by the ceaseless supply of TGP (Thumbnail Galley Posts) sites which feature young females being used and abused sexually [Why don’t women mobilize and besiege GOOGLE, et al with calls to shut these sites down? Child porn is not free speech.]. Today, women are largely appealed to through the materialist market pipeline (Yes, both sexes are, but women/teens especially.).
Have you read the lyrics at the head of this piece? Although the songs are separated by forty plus years they represent an ongoing female problem: What do I do about me? Do I subjugate myself to Johnny Caveman, OR do I cry, pray and beg the male(s) in my sights? Do I tart myself up and flash the flesh, as the marketing machine suggests? Or do I act discreetly, beguile them with mystery? Do I give into the burka, the ultimate subjugation of self? Or do I continue to wear the pants, as Lubna Hussein did in Sudan (2009), thus scorning the lash? Do I subjugate myself after the fantasy philosophy of Marabel Morgan’s “Total Woman” (1973), or do I fantasize about being used and degraded on “Girls Gone Wild?” [Yes, I realize, water seeks its own level, thus there shall always be both male and female love fools, victims, who find one another and enter into negative relationships, and, yes, I know men and women differ both physically and psychologically (Hey, give me some credit here.). And, no, this piece is not one of those “Men are from Piscataway; Women are from Podunk” exercises.].
The 11 October 2009 edition of the New York Daily News (Yeah, I know, a tab rag, and NYC’s two tab rags daily run stories which feature women who demean womanhood, or which show women involved in demeaning behavior; bimbos are daily fare.) contained a story about a porn actress who was attending New York University. The News found this story newsworthy thus sought opinion from fellow female students. Said one, “It’s wonderful. Whatever experience you can draw on, you should. Hers is amazing.” [Huh?] Another suggested because a former stripper had won an Oscar, well... [Huh?]. One does not have to be an exacting reader to notice stories and articles which illustrate women are regarded by society: Articles extolling the exploits of groupies; articles on why women should pursue pole dancing; articles on the tarty/slutty Halloween costumes being pushed on pre-teens...All this demeaning begins early and continues unabated, and many women do not help their cause of being respected by allowing themselves to be marketed in a demeaning manner. But this writing is not so much about marketing or purchasing power as it is about outlook and self-awareness.
In our 24/7 consumer society, women are a primary target of the marketing industry, and this industry starts targeting females from the cradle, as it largely attempts to turn them into pre-teen tarts, teen sluts then addle-brained adults, who are forever dependent on something or someone. Women are special marketing targets, as corporate leviathans have found they can sell women a wider array of products [Consider cosmetics: What can one do with cosmetics that hasn’t been done already?]. But let us consider some types of American women who serve to damage the overall estimation and cause of women. Female moles subverting the cause. In other words: “Goils, they be killin’ you!”
Rise of the Bimbo Moles. Women do not help themselves by idolizing and celebrating shallow women, who reside in and are publicized by America’s celebutocracy. I hereby christen these women Bimbo Moles. A Bimbo Mole is a celebrity female who either is, acts as, or allows herself to be treated/used as a bimbo, thus undermining, eroding and demeaning the cause of rational womanhood. Examples? You mean aside from Paris and Lindsay and... Okay, the shallow, shopping tramps of the late [It is now late, yes?] “Sex and the City” industry are perfect Bimbo Moles. I mean, really, ladies, why would any self-respecting woman idolize such fluff brains? And then there are the annoying Bimbo Moles of the noxious “The Real Housewives of Damaged Cerebral Cortex, USA” franchise. And let us not gloss over the glossy Bimbo Moles, who keep company with the warmed over cadaver, Hugh Hefner. Apparently, the original three daughters...What, they weren’t his daughters?...have fled...ah, left home and have been replaced by three more bits of fluff. And I am told that the chief viewers of this sordid exercise are women. Again, why? So, too, are the annoyingly stupid Kardashian industry Bimbo Moles. And all those preening and posing and posturing Hip Hop babes, such as the ever-posing Rihanna [As you surely know, RiRi was infamously smacked around by a former boyfriend. Following that incident RiRi noted in an interview that she was all for ‘sexting’ nude photos to boyfriends. Is RiRi the role model you want? Sadly, the vacuous RiRi is a role model to countless females.]. And then came the garish and pathetic public nuisance/pest otherwise known as Lady Gaga (Would someone please take this sad frump aside and tell her she looks not edgy, but ludicrous? Babe, it’s all been done before.). Stanley Crouch, who writes on culture, music and politics, had a March 2010 column entitled “Jazz may be less popular, but its power endures,” in which he makes the following observation: “On the ubiquitous red carpet, women in pop music and film always seem like they are on the way to a conference of hookers. The self-demeaning is now considered no more than another way of being “hot.”. Well put. And one could create a separate category entitled “The women of reality TV,” as virtually every female portrayed on those dumb-ass pseudo-reality shows is either dumb, grasping, annoying, and usually all three.].
The Shriek & Weep shakers. Another group of women who do not serve well the cause of rational females are the Shriek & Weep crowd, who every time an ectomorphic male celeb shows his face, or twitches or some tremulous-voiced male singer warbles a note (Sinatra; the Beatles; Michael Jackson; Diddy; Justin T. (I never got his allure.); Jonas Bros; Biebermania), shrieks and weeps ensue. Where are the mothers to teach this behavior debases the self? Oh, right, they are doing it, too.
Mothers who Hunch. And while considering debasement: What of those mothers who are visited with a hunch their daughters shall take the world by storm if only they debase said daughters in pre-pre-teen beauty contests? Such women are ill and such contests are a pedophiles delight. And the networks which promote them are likewise ill, but, hey, what’s a little illness when there is profit to be made?
Generic Groupie Girls. This category is bottomless (and mindless), and for some sick reason, celebrated, as if females who denigrate themselves are individuals to be admired. Sadly, however, in today’s America, these women are celebrated by the infotainment industry. Basically, generic groupie girls are addle-brained females who think it is uplifting or positive to collect sexual encounters/hook-ups with males who for some reason or another have achieved celebrity status. And even serial killers are not exempt, as they attract dopey groupies (Robert Chambers, the Central Park Strangler, received hundreds of letters a month from loopy females who wanted to have sex with him or marry him.). In short, virtually any celebrity or sports star, etc may expect groupies to throw themselves at them [Dare I cite Tiger Woods? Incidentally, many of these groupies are not girls, but allegedly responsible adult women. And then came Anthony Weiner-Oy vey!].
The silly, Stand by Your Man sap....[But, babe, why?]. I cannot count the number of women I have either known or known of who have been in abusive relationships (physically and/or psychologically) and the odds are near nil that you shall be able to persuade them to leave said relationships. A lot of this is due to pseudo-romantic pap. And high-profile women often do not set good examples [Silda Spitzer call Client Number Nine! Incidentally, Spitzer’s call girl Bimbo Mole, now writes an advice column for the Murdoch Post]. And Silda still stands by her sleazy man. Has Huma Weiner left yet? Why? Many women remain with sleazoids as they lack self-esteem, a problem an incredible number of women struggle with.]. However, on the PLUS side of the ledger, Jenny Sanford left her nitwit South Carolina governor husband. On the positive side of the ledger, Elin left Tiger [Question: If a woman has no self-esteem, why should we expect predatory males to hold her in esteem?].
The Bimbette Bloc. Bimbettes of the world unite...to admire yourselves in the glass ceiling. In visual, image-mad America we are told demographics are one of the keys to success. And one of the keys to reeling in the preferred 19 to whatever demographic is to use Bimbettes. And no field employs Bimbettes more than our alleged media apparatus. Whether on local news, national news or junk food cable news, audiences are subjected to Media Bimbettes, many of whom appear fresh from a photo shoot with their mold-injected pouts, bee-stung lips, flash-frozen hair and formulaic-albeit vaguely vacant-sex appeal. And these Bimbettes are relentlessly featured as anchors, update givers; on-site reporters; legal experts; financial money honeys; political analysts; panel participants; sideline reporters...any situation that will even vaguely support a comely face and/or hot bod in a visual capacity. The FOX Agitprop Channel, distributor of pseudo-news carcinogens, is by far the most relentless employer of Bimbettes, as Murdoch’s News Corporation has always favored a comely face and a shapely bod and nice gams.
The American woman became the world’s best hope for worldwide womanhood, but squandered that opportunity by squandering her opportunity to ascend above cheap, society-driven stereotypes. As America moved from an agrarian society to an industrial society women began to gain somewhat of a foothold-they won suffrage, they became Rosie the Riveters, they became secretaries...BUT, gradually, as American women attained more personal freedom and more access to the material world, they began to go MAD and allowed themselves to be pushed backward into a slough of stereotypes. In short, the American woman succumbed, with exceptions of course, to the prevailing cultural view of women, only with more material accessories.
Boobs, Booty and Bling: The essence of the American woman?
Relax, I am merely posing a question. And one must admit it has a certain unsettling merit to it. Really? Why would one think so? Primarily, because our NOW, image-saturated America places a high premium on the boobs, the booty, the gams and the bling of those women it celebrates. Don’t believe me? Consider those American women, who are strategically placed as though point-of-sale products. Consider our aforementioned women of the media. Their image is a demographic tool. Indeed, consider all the women one sees on TV, as a major consideration for their being there is the way the look. Sorry, but it’s true. Consider the sideline reporters in sport. Consider all these alleged singers in pop, hip-hop and rap. They are all endowed with boobs, booty and gams. Apparently one cannot be a singer without them. Society is always being treated to the next big female rap/hip-hop find, and lo and behold is she ever built. Bada booty bing, baby!
Women of a certain physical disposition are routinely thrust at us as the face and spokesbabe of this and that. And we are not supposed to notice (or heaven forbid suggest) we are becoming a Stepford wives society? We wouldn’t want to be considered UN-PC now, would we?
Thus, today, America has become a massive image apparatus (Is our iconography made in China?) fueled by material goods and by celebrity worship, an apparatus driven largely by the female demographic. And do you really want your daughter to grow up to be Madonna? Gaga? Snooki snookums? A Hef-ette? Tiger prey? One of the K-K-Kardashians? An Unreal housewife of Podunk, USA? A possession of Johnny Caveman? A Love Fool?... Is that what is known as empowerment? One should hope not.
Just remember, females of all ages, in Biebertopia no one can hear you scream.
