The Raunch Culture

One of the main points in this reading that I found most interesting was the section discussing the female Olympic athletes that appeared naked in Playboy and how the Author criticizes our society for being able to make such successful, accomplised women still feel like all they have to offer to the world is their bodies. It was interesting to think why women who have accomplshed so much still feel like the only way to gain power is through not only having a beautiful but showing it off in submissive poses. Being a female athlete myself I can understand the constant need to defend your womanhood and still try and be seen as sexy. In fact, you see a lot of female athletes at Colgate dressed in sweats and hoodies to class and practice and then when the weekend comes they turn into the exact girls described in this chapter, they feel compelled to display their solitude and it becomes “like a reflex” to please any and every man in site. The quote at the end of the section is the absolute truth, “Bimbos enjoy a higher standing in our culture that Olympians right now. Perhaps these athletes felt like they were trading up.” Many women use this idea of sexual liberation to show power and equality but how is it a representation of equality if you rarely see a man undressing himself for the public to enjoy.