Saw this cartoon on Pinterest and thought it was interesting. Got a laugh out of it but at the same time I actually found it fairly thought provoking. How we view women's rights and objectification is actually fairly dependent on culture. The woman on the right might believe that she is shielding her body from men so they notice other, non-physical, things about her. The woman on the left may believe that she is exercising her right to present her body how she sees fit. Both think the other is giving into the male dominated culture. But isn't the point? They are complaining about a male dominated culture, which they recognize they are both living in. Sure, it looks different but yet it is very much the same.
To me, the important thing in all of this is the women be doing this out of free choice. Problem is, the way society is currently set up I don't think this is entirely possible. Does the woman in the full body covering have a choice in if she wears that? Is she threatened or sanctioned if she were to choose something else? Similarly, is the woman in the bikini wearing that because that is what she wants to wear? Is she doing because she feels it is the only way to be attractive to men? It is tough to make these calls when we live in a society, along with other societies, that objectify women.
Ideally, a woman be able to wear what she wants without fear of being assaulted, demeaned or stifled in her day to day life. Objectification is what makes all of this so complicated. It's related to rape culture and the purity movement. In either situation a woman can be reduced to a body. In one case she could be reduced to a "loose woman" who is "asking for it." In another case the woman could be again reduced to her body because she must cover in order to keep men from being led astray if she were to show some skin.
In both possible scenarios the woman is the one who is responsible for how men react. They are reduced to bodies that must controlled in just the right way so men are kept in check. Really, in both cases women would be the ones responsible if a man raped them. Men are never responsible for how they react in either situation. Of course, this is horribly messed up and shows how messed up things are.
I see this all the time in conservative religious circles when it comes to doctrines such as modesty. You are supposed to cover all those alluring parts of yourself. I can remember once at a church function getting told I had to change my shirt because my shoulders were showing another time I can remember being told I couldn't wear a certain bathing suit because it exposed my mid section. Of course, I complied but I always felt so weird about it. I wondered why men couldn't handle being exposed to a shoulder, for crying out loud. It was because I would incite them to lust. They couldn't choose how to respond? Now, I do dress fairly conservatively. I always have but I do now wear things that would not be considered appropriate by Baptist standards.
It's amazing how the more I turn a critical eye to society and gender all this stuff is tied together. Women cause men to lust, rape them and objectify them. NO! Men choose these actions. Men choose to view women as just a body. To make assumptions off of the way they are dressed. Are they a "nice" girl or they a "bad" girl? They will be treated accordingly. I believe that men have control over that. I believe that a man chooses to be a rapist. They choose to objectify women. They choose to respect women. They are NOT slaves to biology, just as women are not. To be clear, I am not trying to put the blame on individual men entirely but rather to a societal system where women are assessed for "goodness" or "badness" by their clothing choices.
I wish women had a choice. I wish women were treated as human beings worthy of respect, no matter what they are wearing. I wish women were not viewed as bringing on rape. I would hope that women on both sides of this picture were able to make a choice, free of coercion, about how they are present themselves. No woman is the sum of her body.
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