The Modern Day Female Depravity

I think that if the writer of "Novel Reading: A Cause of Female Depravity" was writing this today, I'm not really sure what his or her subject would be exactly. I definitely think it would involve the media, but I am not sure which part has more influence between television shows, advertisements, music videos, ect. I think it would be obvious to think about television shows being a bad influence on young women because of how most of the shows depict women in morally "bad" ways, but then I think about myself and shows like Sex and the City. I've seen probably every episode three times absolutely love that show, but I'm definitely nothing like any of those girls, and watching their actions hasn't really made any influence on my life. So, that leads me to believe that maybe TV isn't the root of all evil.

I think that peer pressure and the desire to fit in could be a subject in this novel if it was written today. I think that girls are more influenced to act or dress in a certain way depending on what their friends are doing and what is considered cool at the time. I think that young girls are more likely to act in a certain way because of what the other girls in school are doing, not necessarily what they see on TV.

A Reflection

I think that these early magazine articles we have read about seduction and fallen women have been… different. During the first half of the semester, I was unfamiliar with the readings about fallen women and witchcraft because I had never read anything like that before. With these newer readings of seduction, I feel like I understand it more because I have been exposed to readings like these before. Well, sort of like these. I just think we are more familiar with the story of the seduced young girl who was betrayed by an older man looking for one thing, but the stories we are familiar with are modern, like the modern day rakes. I did feel more comfortable reading these stories, but I do not think that I necessarily like them more than the previous ones. I know that to a lot of people they seem funny, but to me, these stories of the young girls are kind of sad. I guess I feel this way because I have known girls that really do react this way to men who “seduce” them. Because of his betrayal (and their naivety) these girls I knew thought so horribly of themselves and that their lives were practically ruined. Although they were just stories, these magazine articles of seduction reminded me of modern day instances where seduction was involved, and how they share quite a few similarities.

The texts that dealt with the topics concerning domestic abuse and teenage pregnancy were really different than what we are used to reading in this class. As stated in the prompt of this week’s blog, it is interesting how the texts didn’t spark much discussion. I think that when I read these articles the first time, I didn’t really understand what was going on completely. I felt like the topics like domestic abuse and teenage pregnancy didn’t fit into what we were previously reading, so I had a difficult time accepting these readings with such modern topics. It is interesting to see how the depiction of women in the readings progress with time.

I’m not sure why these readings did not create much discussion in class. Are we not fazed by issues of domestic violence and teenage pregnancy because we are so used to them in our everyday society?

It is Better to Have Loved and Lost...

This week's topic of "what does love have to do with it" is pretty interesting. I think that it's all about maintaining power. These men who were writing these stories (probably ministers or other men of high social standing) were still trying to teach to young women about the ways they should and should not act. The fact that the marriages were all arranged shows that marriage is something controlled by society, not the individuals involved. Therefore, these men were teaching young women not to fall in love and the dangers that could come from it because they wanted to be able to maintain control. The men did not even want these girls to realize that you can have your own romantic feelings because if they did, the men might lose their control over this part of the society. I think the higher social standing people of the communities wanted to keep things the way they are, especially the arranged marriages, in their control.

Just because these women were hurt and victimized by their love, I still think it is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all. I do not agree with the arranged marriage idea, but I think that is the normal opinion on that subject today. I can understand the men wanting to have arranged marriages so that they can keep control, but I do not think it is the best for the people involved. I mean, most of the girls (and men) during this time do not ever feel true love because they were just told who to marry. I think the idea of love worried the community leaders just like the idea of witchcraft did. Love is something that is unexplainable, unpredictable, and something no one can control. Arranged marriages could fix that problem, and creating these stories would teach girls not to fall for the guys trying to pick them up, because they will soon break their hearts, which will ultimately kill them and their parents!

Some Things Never Change

When thinking about rakes I see in movies, TV shows, and music, I realized that I couldn't really think of many that didn't have a rake involved. Pretty much all of my favorite TV shows have characters that could be described as modern day rakes, and they're not much different from the ones described in the magazine articles we read last week.

"Grey's Anatomy" has McSteamy, who is a rich, handsome, smooth talking plastic surgeon who can get any woman he wants (although right now he's having some trouble getting attention from a certain intern). His great looks, dress and manners make him seem like the perfect gentleman, but he is definitely anything but that.

Another television show I thought of is "That 70's Show." In case you aren't familiar with the show, Kelso is a high-school student played by Ashton Kutcher. The fact that Ashton Kutcher acts as Kelso should say everything. Kelso is an extremely attractive teenager who is constantly chasing a different girl, usually knowing nothing about her besides what she looks like. But according to Kelso, and many other rakes, nothing else really matters. His good looks and charm always gets him the girl, which he usually forgets about in no time. To me, Kelso represents a more modern rake.

This character of the handsome, charming womanizer is one that is not only included in most of our favorite television shows, but practically all of our favorite movies. We can all think of tons of movies that are about a certain modern-day rake. John Tucker Must Die (like mentioned in class) and Cruel Intentions are just a few movies that involve seductive womanizers. I do not think these men have changed much from the way they were depicted in the magazine articles we have read.

Although these depictions of men are not something that initially seem positive, I wonder why we are so drawn to them? Why are they in all of our favorite TV shows and movies? We (the audience) must like something about these rakes because we keep watching these shows and they keep entertaining us with their rake-like qualities. I'm not sure what that means about our society, but it must mean something, right?

How To: Create the Perfect Woman

I really liked the reading from this week. I thought it was really interesting to see how women were being told to behave. I also noticed how important reputation is to these people. In An Address to the Ladies, it says, "the time when young ladies enter into society is, with respect to their future reputation, a period extremely critical." It is made clear throughout many of the readings that a good reputation is the key to a happy and successful life. I think it is interesting to think about how some people today still feel that way, maybe some things really don't change.

"A man never respects a woman, who does not respect herself" (An Address to the Ladies). This line really stood out to me, because they are teaching women to respect themselves, but at the same time, a couple of pages later, they tell women that they are not expected to read much, and if they do, it should be "a smaller number of books, at less trouble and expense" (5). They pretty much tell women that they can be try to further their knowledge, as long as they stay inferior to their husbands, because no man likes a woman who is too smart. I found this all pretty confusing. How are women supposed to respect themselves fully when they have to put on a mask and play a role as a submissive housewife to a man that won't love her if she is smarter than him?