Today in pop culture, it’s a shame to say that we still see women unequally glanced upon. Female celebrities constantly make appearances with a newly designed outfit with high levels of sex appeal. They are always primped up to look their best, and that usually means they left some of their clothes in wardrobe. With all of the feminist and equality movements out there, this shouldn’t be a requirement for a celebrity to get exposure. Women still succeed in businesses, education, and athletics world-wide; they should not have to sport any less amount of clothing than men to be seen as attractive in today’s modern world. An example that just about everybody is familiar with is a highly anticipated red carpet event that we know as the Grammy Awards, but the unbalanced scale of clothing can be seen in basically any celebrity event.
As an example, I found this photo of one of my favorite female celebrities, Katy Perry. Just because she chose to show herself in a public scenario, she chose a very revealing dress that exposes more than anybody really ought to see, all in order to make sure she gets some of the spot light and attention. This really isn’t fair, because male celebrities are still stalked by paparazzi even if they step out of their homes in sweats and a long-sleeve tee. While Katy Perry has one of the best singing voices in my opinion, her lack of conservative clothing is still a necessity to acquire the most attention she can possibly get by appealing to the male-run media stations and cameramen. Where talent should be all it takes for women to achieve stardom (which it does, to an extent), they must dress in a lewd manner in order to attain media coverage. Most female celebrities don’t really have too much of a male fan base up until they begin leaking photos into the media of them exposing their bodies.
Why is this put up with?
Men are expected to wear suits or tuxes, whereas women only get their time in the limelight if they are wearing some sort of revealing dress (unless you're Lady Gaga, and you have see-through skin suits). Here are some examples from the 2011 Grammy Awards:
Here, Selena Gomez is shown exhibiting her body in a skin-tight dress with a deep-V. Instead of dressing conservatively, she chooses to reveal her chest because she understands that the society whom she presents herself for expects nothing less. As she made an appearance at the Oscars, she had a better chance of getting camera time off-stage with this, rather than a concealing outfit. All of the little primping done with her makeup and outfit was a must for her to look her best out on the stage as she presented awards as well, further supporting the male gaze that has remained a constant thorn in the side of fashion and society.
Drake showed up for the Grammy Awards in a full long-sleeved suit. The men are expected to make their appearances revealing nothing but their faces, but in our culture, women are expected to reveal their bodies. Male actors, singers, and performers need not expose themselves in order to be liked. Males in society will choose to like a male singer if their music is good, rather than by what they wear; in effect, male actors will be successful as long as they perform well in movies. Where guys don’t say, “Oh man, Sean Connery looks really handsome,” when it comes to females, positive comments almost always come down to something like, “Wow! Angelina Jolie definitely picked a sexy outfit to wear!” Male actors are usually defined by their ability to entertain the masses, which is how it is supposed to be, yet females are defined by how attractive they are.
The levels of acceptance set by men for women are beginning to unfurl as a judgmental scale for women to use as well. When I hear my female friends talk about celebrities, they are starting to like them more and more based on creative lingerie outfits and sex appeal, rather than liking them for being a good role model like it used to be. Often female spectators can be heard commenting on things such as, “Oh gross, how could anybody let Nicki Minaj show herself at the Grammys in an outfit like that?” When celebrities actually do dress conservatively in public events such as the Awards, they are criticized for being unattractive or making an unintelligent move for their social status. While it really is an extreme outfit, the conceal and…ahem, sleekness of the outfit makes me applause Nicki for taking a stand for conservatism in attire for women world-wide.
You go, girl.
References:
Manofthehour. "Rapper Drake - MAN OF THE HOUR." Contents - MAN OF THE HOUR. Man of the Hour, 14 Feb. 2011. Web. 16 Sept. 2011.
Moss, Hilary. "Grammys 2011: Nicki Minaj In Head-To-Toe Leopard Print (PHOTOS, POLL)." Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. Huffington Post, 13 Feb. 2011. Web. 16 Sept. 2011.
Premiere Guide Media. "Actress/singer Selena Gomez Arrives at the 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards." PGM. Premiere Guide Media. Web. 16 Sept. 2011.
Starr, Chris. "Katy Perry's 7 Best Outfits." JoeCrazy.com. JoeCrazy, 31 July 2011. Web. 10 Sept. 2011.
Tribune Media Sources, Inc. "Brad Pitt." Zap2it.com. Zap 2 It, 2011. Web. 15 Sept. 2011.
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