(no subject)
So, while everyone else is taking midterms involving numbers, formulas, literary analysis, or theory my midterm responses sound something like this:
Inquiring with Esquire
2. You’re right. I was supposed to have picked an ad to answer this question. But in thumbing through Esquire magazine (June 2006) I was struck by the “Man At His Best: Sex” advice page by Stacey Grenrock Woods (p. 56). It was the picture that got me. A caricature of a white couple in their underwear was hard to miss. One of the woman’s breasts is almost popping out of her matching pantie and bra set, revealing a little bit of a nipple. The question below it states: “I just started dating a girl who has lopsided breasts. Seriously, one’s at least a cup size bigger. Is this common? And is there anything she can do about it?” Being that the magazine is for (dare I say it-white) men the question seems reasonable. It was the answer that caught me by surprise. Woods responds saying this “‘pre-serge’” is “technically normal.” Rather than simply telling the man to believe such occurrences are beautiful, she suggests confronting the partner and asking if she may want to do something (read: surgery) about the situation. Perhaps the woman falls outside what society deems as normal; but then again, what is normal and why must she adhere to it when she doesn’t seem to have a problem with having two differently sized breasts? Andi Zeisler, in her Bitch article, “Plastic Passion” recognizes that “we probably wouldn’t be even thinking about what life would be life with a new nose or perkier breasts or shapelier inner thighs if it weren’t for a long-standing cultural ideal that rewards those who adhere to it with power that often doesn’t speak its name, but it instantly recognizable to those who don’t have it” (Bitchfest 259). Sadly, it took the woman’s boyfriend to draw attention to her so-called problem. Rather than living in her own discomfort, she must now have it brought to her attention by the man with whom she shares a bed-not to mention all the other white men reading the magazine. There is a race issue here, and from that flows power. The men I see on the pages of this magazine are dominant-in the work place as well as the bedroom. The Q&A page solidifies this as it asks what is and is not normal in one’s sex life. It also accentuates the concept of a male gaze, which Walters describes as “the internalization of male standards of beauty and the orientation of women toward male approval in ‘performance’ for male desire” (Material Girls 65). On the pages of Esquire women appear as products--products that, if defective, can be either fixed or replaced.
I cannot help but mention that the other two questions on the page are concerning the best ergonomic position for a female while giving a blowjob and hymen-replacement surgery. Oh Ms. Woods, I am saddened that you would even bother to answer such inquiries.
Inquiring with Esquire
2. You’re right. I was supposed to have picked an ad to answer this question. But in thumbing through Esquire magazine (June 2006) I was struck by the “Man At His Best: Sex” advice page by Stacey Grenrock Woods (p. 56). It was the picture that got me. A caricature of a white couple in their underwear was hard to miss. One of the woman’s breasts is almost popping out of her matching pantie and bra set, revealing a little bit of a nipple. The question below it states: “I just started dating a girl who has lopsided breasts. Seriously, one’s at least a cup size bigger. Is this common? And is there anything she can do about it?” Being that the magazine is for (dare I say it-white) men the question seems reasonable. It was the answer that caught me by surprise. Woods responds saying this “‘pre-serge’” is “technically normal.” Rather than simply telling the man to believe such occurrences are beautiful, she suggests confronting the partner and asking if she may want to do something (read: surgery) about the situation. Perhaps the woman falls outside what society deems as normal; but then again, what is normal and why must she adhere to it when she doesn’t seem to have a problem with having two differently sized breasts? Andi Zeisler, in her Bitch article, “Plastic Passion” recognizes that “we probably wouldn’t be even thinking about what life would be life with a new nose or perkier breasts or shapelier inner thighs if it weren’t for a long-standing cultural ideal that rewards those who adhere to it with power that often doesn’t speak its name, but it instantly recognizable to those who don’t have it” (Bitchfest 259). Sadly, it took the woman’s boyfriend to draw attention to her so-called problem. Rather than living in her own discomfort, she must now have it brought to her attention by the man with whom she shares a bed-not to mention all the other white men reading the magazine. There is a race issue here, and from that flows power. The men I see on the pages of this magazine are dominant-in the work place as well as the bedroom. The Q&A page solidifies this as it asks what is and is not normal in one’s sex life. It also accentuates the concept of a male gaze, which Walters describes as “the internalization of male standards of beauty and the orientation of women toward male approval in ‘performance’ for male desire” (Material Girls 65). On the pages of Esquire women appear as products--products that, if defective, can be either fixed or replaced.
I cannot help but mention that the other two questions on the page are concerning the best ergonomic position for a female while giving a blowjob and hymen-replacement surgery. Oh Ms. Woods, I am saddened that you would even bother to answer such inquiries.