The rise of raunch

By Jordyn Marcellus

In 1927, before anything like post-feminism or the notion of sex-positivity became vogue in academic circles, the seed that would become lipstick feminism was planted in German expressionist cinema.


One of the most memorable scenes in the 1927 film Metropolis is when, after the virginal Maria’s appearance is copied onto a robot clone, the doppelganger performs an erotic dance. As she performs her disturbing faux-erotic dance, a collection of aristocratic men leer at her, panting at the display. She has power over the men to do whatever she wants. They stare at her like dogs in a meat market. Later on in the film, she takes them out celebrating in the street. Because of her entrancing sexuality, they become a mob that stands by as their entire society falls to the wayside. This is a visceral example of a new school of feminist thought, the relatively recent ideology of lipstick feminism.


Sex is something that some don’t want to talk about, but in university, it is what many want to explore. It’s one of the last great taboos of our society, condemned by the prudish social conservative puritans as vile and sinful. On the flip side, post-feminists are a small, but growing, group of women who view sex as one of the few ways for women to exercise their power over men. It’s a disheartening, cynical approach to gender relations that rejects what feminism has attempted to achieve. Sadly, it’s becoming more and more popular with young women.


In an attempt to get revenge for centuries under a patriarchal system, women are further embracing the stereotypes of that male-dominated social structure. If a woman feels the need to show off her body and use sex as a bargaining chip in a social or business situation, it doesn’t help to further equality in gender relations. Instead of desiring to change the social inequalities inherent in a still male-dominated system, this new-school of thought is all about gussying yourself up for people.


This extends to the belief that you can be liberated from traditional sexuality by exposing your own to others. This includes stripping not for money, but for a little bit of fame, to please a man or even for exercise. It’s the same with a woman who views escorting as an easy means to quick cash. This is supposed to be empowering, a celebration of unfettered sexuality and power over men.


This romanticization of stripping and prostitution is completely ignorant of the degradation that can go on in these professions. Real strippers get loonies thrown at them– that’s incredibly degrading. Prostitutes, even high-class ones, still have to worry about things like murder and potential humiliation. These so-called feminists think this is truly empowering and is the end-goal of what sexual liberation should be. If that’s the kind of freedom that they want, then there’s something wrong.


Not to say that sexual liberation is meaningless. It’s still incredibly important. Our western view of sexual relations continues to be dominated by the stud/slut paradigm. Men are still considered studs when they bed numerous girls, but women are sluts if they sleep with a man outside of a relationship. We need to get rid of that view– either men should be viewed as scum for sleeping around or women shouldn’t get judged negatively for engaging in sexual relations outside of a relationship. Egalitarianism cuts both ways.


It’s obviously not right for men to disrespectfully use women as sex objects, no matter how funny or cool Tucker Max’s stories are. Comparatively, it’s not right for women to use their sexual allure as a means for attracting men to achieve what they want. It’s degrading to both men and women to interact in this way. To equate all sex as an inherent power struggle is incredibly cynical. Even outside of romantic notions of sex, it’s not something that is an inherent struggle between men and women. Both men and women can be equal partners in sex.


That isn’t to say that sex isn’t a power struggle. There are numerous cases where a man uses his position of authority to seduce women, like the old, bad days of the casting couch. It’d also be woefully unfair to say that it’s hunky-dory for females and we’re in a great place now. We aren’t.


If we want to live in a society with true gender equality, we cannot accept that a woman exercising power over a man through sex is right. We definitely shouldn’t think the reverse is appropriate either. Men and women, together, should attempt to reach a more open, equal society– not scrabble over one another in an attempt to dominate.