I've been thinking a lot about the idea of choosing to act or be acted upon.
The objectification of women is not about sexual pictures it is about the portrayal of the woman to be acted upon by the man.
Watch This:
This is an excellent example of objectification. The women are clearly objects to be acted upon by the one man in control in this situation.
Now Watch this (or do what I did and put one on mute and watch them side by side):
I am not sure of the exact message Ingrid Michaelson is trying to send, but I love this response and contrast to "Simply Irresistible". I think it addresses the idea of acting vs. being acted upon, questions the definition of equality, and champions for personal choice. We are the creators of our story, we are not just floating, helpless beings subject to the whims or the world, destiny, or even God. (In fact, in my belief, God wants us to have freedom to choose).
There are things that we can't control or change, but we can choose how they affect us. I posted awhile ago about forgiveness. This is the same idea. The freeing power of forgiveness is in releasing the control that person/event had/ has on our lives.
Side note, This video made me think about a drag show that I attended. A surprising side affect of attending this show is that I left feeling more confident in my appearance and grateful for my body than had in a long time. The day before, I had gone shopping. I hate shopping. As a woman that is not a size zero and has a uniquely shaped body, I feel so rejected by every store and item of clothing. Seeing men that valued the female body and everything it means to be a woman so much that they changed everything about themselves (painful surgeries and hormone replacements included) to become a little more like me was really humbling. They paid good money to have the very "child bearing hips" that I hated so much on my body.
I did, however, feel pain at the paths these women had to take. Were they so unhappy before? Did the people in their lives stick with them? Do they feel lonely?
Returning to the idea of objectification, there is a lot that can be discussed and argued here, but my point is that we choose. We choose to change. We choose to stand up. We choose to be brave. We choose to act. We choose to be.
