Possible Paper Idea

 In Susan J. Douglas' Where the Girls Are, she cites her accounts, injustices and the
affects of feminism inside and out of the media. The war on women in the media, Douglas' thoughtful observation on the exclusion of Blacks regarding equality, and the television role models given to young girls helps to define Where the Girls Are as one of the most important books in feminist literature.

 Douglas states, "The war that has been raging in the media is not a simplistic war against women but a complex struggle between feminism and antifeminism that has reflected, reinforced, and exaggerated our culture's ambivalence about women's roles for over thirty-five years. (pp. 12-13)" 

Those who believe that the media spearheaded the campaign for soiling the reputation of the feminist may be correct, but it was women who made their agenda a success. My generation (Generation X), like Douglas', was taught that feminists were angry, unattractive women who couldn't get dates; that women should never worry about the way a man looked when seeking a mate (the total opposite of what boys are taught); and women are incomplete without men. Generation X's ideas on women and antifeminists would not be complete if we omitted their definition of a "good girl": virgins, quiet women and never being sure of one's self. The notion that the media has almost incited an allegorical riot between feminism and antifeminism as Douglas suggests is not far-fetched. Generation X got their indoctrinations (I was an exception, for my mother was a feminist) from their families and

images in the media. As the "unattractive," unhappy feminists were still making a little headway in their mission--creating sexual harassment laws and addressing domestic violence-- the "attractive," scantily-dressed antifeminists were appearing in rock and rap videos hanging all over men like Christmas-tree ornaments and happy because they were the chosen ones (so it seemed). Rap was just taking off in my adolescence and my male counterparts quickly latched on to 2 Live Crew and NWA (Niggas W/ Attitudes), calling women bitches and hoes. But, Gloria Steinem, mother of the feminist movement, never declared women shouldn't have the right to appear half naked in music videos. And it didn't mean the women that were allowing Dr. Dre to smack their asses on MTV and BET were not feminists. What it did indicate was that I had no other choice but to take my mother's advice and be a Black woman the way I wanted to be and not by anyone else's definition as to what that was supposed to be. But, would that cause me to forfeit the right to be protected?

A very honest observation by Douglas was her description of the race-biasness on education: "...many of our elders were fighting for improved educational systems, including greater access to a college education, the understanding was that they were pushing these reforms not just for boys but for all kids--well, white kids, anyway. (pp. 22-23)" It was so refreshing to hear a White woman finally acknowledge that when Americans (particularly White Americans) say they want all to succeed, they usually just mean people who look like them. The feminist movement prides themselves on fighting for the equality of all women, but some believed the movement did not address Black women, many of them [Black women] being maids or holding down other low-paying jobs. I don't believe Steinem's agenda included Black women either. It was confirmed for me when in 2012, online publication, The Onion, called 9 year-old Academy Award-nominated Black actress, Quvenzhane Wallis a "cunt." Steinem did not call for an apology from The Onion, but a few months later expressed her outrage over the media calling Kim Kardashian "fat."