men's rights/whoaman

there's been this nascent trend of men's rights popping up in various internets, which, as a gender theorist, i find wholly fascinating. the assumption behind men's rights advocacy is that feminism has reached its (legal?) peak, and now men are systematically disadvantaged, in the same way that women and non-whites were disadvantaged in centuries past.

i find the thesis statement of "we're now equal" to be wholly laughable. we're legally equal -- congratulations, women! all that sexism you encounter daily? it don't happen! tout your legal equality, girls, just not around men. you ain't no holler back statute girl, miss stefani!

my desire to see things aesthetically makes me analyze this men's rights trend. let's review some basic history: in the '40s, husbands and boyfriends are fighting that big war over in yoo-rope, so women take to the factories. "we can do it!" says rosie the riveter with her soviet aesthetic (hair in a no-muss/no-fuss kerchief, arm in a fist, only her eyelashes betraying her role as man). in the '40s, few women have the time (or a desire) to look attractive. '50s: we won! the allied army won! or something. anyway, women: have lots of babies! be domestic! keep poppin' them out! hooray america! here is where you see the vestige of pin-up girls explode; war-time ladies suddenly can put on weight and lordy lord does marilyn monroe look good with some meat on her swagger. i don't think you're ready for her jelly, '50s boys.

'60s. here's where things get really screwy. cultural revolution. women's movement. african american movement (black panthers, malcom X). latino movement (chicanos and the brown berets). hippies (think of the word itself: hippies) promote, alongside many, many other things an androgynous, lean aesthetic. hair is long on both sexes. bell-bottomed jeans balance out girls' curves. women don't want to wear stuffy crinoline -- that's much too bourgeois and hoary of an action; something useless when a war is going on in foreign lands. and the top model at the time? twiggy. twiggy is both new york city and london; she is mod (modern) clothes and androgyne to the maxxx. but skinny. super, super almost-emaciated skinny. running thesis here, people? the more women are empowered politically, the more they're gonna lose weight visually. don't believe me? let's continue.

'80s. oh, the go-go '80s! this is where businesses and technology start a-playin' in a huge way. bizniss, angular culture. no (giant) war to worry about, so the fashion gets insane. women wear shoulder pads (what do you think this signifies?), shorn hair, ridiculous earrings. they take the '77 punk thing and RUN. they can be men. they can be women. they can be either/or. the performance art of grace jones. punk kids on the streets. lots of earrings. but skinny. keep the models skinny skinny skinny to the point where heroin chic overflows into the early '90s. aesthetic and posturing is what the '80s is about.

where are we now? we're in a bizarre state. porn culture screws with us; plastic surgery is on the rise both in the states and south korea; we don't know what we want from women. so los angeles becomes schizophrenic: waists are tiny but big fake boobs reign supreme. faces are childish (big eyes/lotsa mascara) but the lips are inflated. curvy but artificial. what do we want from women? what do women want? boys don't know. but boys are buying women's pants with some frequency, looking almost neoclassical in their emo pursuits. where do we go from here?

(thanks to survival of the prettiest by nancy etcoff for some of these frameworks.)