I thought, at least briefly, that I would touch on Terkel’s tactical and impressive interviewing style than narrow in on one interview that particularly caught my attention. Terkel, deployed a strategic and flowing compilation of interviews that virtually touched on every occupation imaginable. I particularly liked how he set up every interview with a quote, a short synopsis or outlook on
each profession. He edited the interviews in an unbiased way, that both focused on the negative as well as positive aspects of each job-not focusing too much on one. Furthermore, the way that he positioned each interview as a story made for a most enjoyable and intriguing read that left me wanting more (even after five-hundred pages).
-Prostitution combined with drugs makes for a lethal combination.
The eye opening story of Roberta Victor, if that is her real name, shines light on the slippery slope effect of drugs and hustling and how society plays its role in shaping a women's identity. Roberta Victor`s story was so captivating not only because it showed a downward progression of a life of drugs and prostitution, but also it compared a women’s expectations as a hooker to the expectations bestowed on every young women living within society. She makes a direct correlation between the content of magazines and the influence it plays in moulding a young women`s ideals, beliefs and identity.
She goes on to say, that women's roles set out by magazines and television present the underlying message "that the way men feel about you is the most important thing in life", which is a dangerous message to be putting out there. Sadly enough, as I look at the cover of one of my 'Cosmopolitan' magazines eight out of the ten cover titles directly pertain to what a man wants and how women ought to give it to him. Titles like “Read his Dirty Mind”, “The Surprising trait that 80% of Men Find Sexy", or "Ten Things that Guys Crave in Bed" , are three perfect examples of what Roberta points out as learning how to hustle at a young age from various forms of media. Slowly I have begun to understand what Roberta meant when she said that "woman are taught to play certain roles and than expected to become what they act". Women are thought to be subservient to men through mimicking and idolizing stereotypical and hegemonic ideals/depictions of women's that virtually surround us in every aspect of life. Woman of all ages, are constantly being reminded of how exactly to please men and are basically trained at a very young age to look beautiful, be sexy in bed, to cow-tow to every unspoken desire of men, all the while maintaining financial stability and emotional independence. So, in other words, media is basically teaching women how to be professional prostitutes because when a comparison is made between the expectations of a hooker and an everyday working woman, there exists profound similarities. It's sick really!
-Just to get an idea of how blantant these representations can be, take a closer look at some of these cover titles.
In essence, this interview illustrates how women are taught from a very young age that a women’s role in life is, at least partly, to please a man in all aspects of life. In this way, Roberta`s comparison of a hooker to the reality of American womanhood in general, is not all that farfetched.
No comments:
Post a Comment