Excerpt From Enlightened Sexism: “The New Girliness”

Douglass’s fourth chapter “The New Girliness” examines TV shows, films, and books that blend together the “accomplishment, girliness, and antifeminism” of females. Interestingly, shows such as Ally McBeal, Bridget Jone’s Diary, Dark Angel, What a Girl Wants, Sex and the City and Grey’s Anatomy celebrate the accomplishments of females, while being implicitly antifeminist. Douglass writes, “Young people were not supposed to identify with feminism; instead they were supposed to actively dis-identify with it” because feminism “was typically embraced by has-been women in their fifties and sixties-that older generation-who still had no sense of humor” (Douglas, 103). And once again feminism is thrown under the bus.

I found Douglass’s perception of “Miss Congeniality” particularly interesting. There Douglas explicitly states that feminism can be sexist. She affirms that Gracie’s “narrow minded feminist ways” lead her to “[stereotype] certain women and [deny] them their full range of choices” (Douglas, 120). I always thought of feminism being in opposition to sexism; I didn’t think about the possibility of women being sexist towards other women.

Excerpts from The Rules: http://tech.mit.edu/V116/N55/excerpts.55a.html

(I found these rules completely disgusting)

Excerpt From Enlightened Sexism: “You Go, Girl”

Douglass writes, “We are not supposed to be too tough, have shape tongues, point out sexism, or express anger- if we slip, you know what that makes us. To quote Barbara Bush, it rhymes with “witch” (Douglass, 128). Here, Douglass does something very interesting. She recognizes racial differences and takes that into account. Why is this so? Why is it that middle-class and upper-middle class white women are supposed to still be diplomatic, conciliatory, and nurturing? While Douglas depicts strong females like Oprah, Sykes and Queen Latifah, she depicts women in Nelly videos being objectified.

Wanda Sykes- Sick and Tired-Detachable Vagina

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8FfFwtL91Q