You may have read this headline and thought, "this is extremely vulgar," and your curiosity wouldn't let you scroll pass. Well, welcome to my rant on the exploitation of the vagina, particularly celebrity vaginas.
Have you ever read a headline involving the words: scandalous, revealing, exposed, or naked? Then look beneath the title to see a female celebrity, doing something as simple as getting out of a car, pictured with her undergarments inadvertently showing?
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From Kate Middleton to Kylie Jenner, the list of snaps and flashes is never ending. These cover shots are taken whenever and wherever, and not just when exiting a car. But why? Why do these headlines and covers sell?
I do not understand the fascination with not only taking exploiting photos but also seeing the crude and unfair comments that come attached with the magazine or article. Statements like, "[insert name] carelessly getting out of a car," is quite infuriating for any reader who has a capacity to empathize. Imagine yourself in the very same position, going about your day just trying to get to the next destination and having complete strangers take advantage of an innocent situation. Getting out of a car, in normal people world, is not a provocative task. In the world of fame, the rules should not change.
What's worse is that these celebrities are blamed and the victims are in majority female. The facts make me wonder: who are the people making these publications wealthy in sales? In theory, whenever a woman is sexualized in the media, the argument is that men buy into the objectification of women. Marketing schemes that expose women's bodies are always trying to reach the male demographic, supposedly. However, I am not sure that marketing strategy can apply to this scenario.
Most celebrity or gossip magazines are geared towards women. Weird question but how often have you seen a magazine try to sell you with a title like: "male celebrity accidentally flashes paps while getting out of a car!" Not often. Women are buying these scandalous titles that exploit female celebs. Looks like men can't be the scapegoats for this seemingly sexist issue.
Maybe these headlines are guilty pleasures and women make their everyday lives more entertaining at the dispense of famous female figures? Perhaps you think this is acceptable behavior because public figures have chosen their own way of life and fame must come with a price. Whatever it is, this obsession with exploiting the vagina in the media is a female induced dilemma. If popular opinion is that this is tasteless trash that is unreadable and exploitive, then simply stop buying from these publications.
Moreover, when we think about the sexualization of women in everyday life, from commercials to films to magazines, we should ask: who is doing the objectifying? When my sister first pointed out the issue of the infamous vagina shot to me, it was very easy to say, "this never happens to men and they are at fault." It seems funny now that men are the victims and females are often the perpetrators of prejudice; prematurely blaming men for issues unrelated to men. If we want equality and to be proud feminist, we should take care by placing blame where it is due, which may be on ourselves.
