male sexuality transcends social class status. Likewise, it is amusing that Miss Booby works so hard to seduce Joseph, and that he resists. It could be that he is turned off to a sexually aggressive woman, and it is also possible that the author is simply showing that women had the power to be in control of their own sexuality, contrary to common beliefs about gender norms in the 18th century. Joseph is portrayed in a paradoxical light. On the one hand, he is obviously attractive given the fact that… Continue Reading...
male sexuality in the media by saying, “Where once sexualized representations of women in the media presented them as the passive, mute objects of an assumed male gaze, today women are presented as active, desiring sexual subjects who choose to present themselves in a seemingly objectified manner because it suits their liberated interests to do so” (p. 100). In other words, women have become complicit in the crime of sexism and in their own exploitation. Post-feminist theory argues that women are not applying their sexuality to the trade of commerce… Continue Reading...
male sexuality in particular. Rick James’ “Super Freak” is perhaps the best example of this—a song sung about a Black woman who is the kind, James counsels, is not the type of woman you could bring home to your mother. Freakiness implies a sexual appetite out of the ordinary. This panders to many of the pre-existing stereotypes of Black femininity, even though its catchy beat and innocent-sounding dance rhythms can easily make a listener forget its real meaning.
Collins notes that the slang word freak is very pliable… Continue Reading...
