Safe rebellion gives freedom to consume
Patriarchy is woven into our society, like an invis
ible garment we wear every day and never remove.
When we put it on, who knows, but once it's on it
rarely — if ever — comes off.
"Central to the patriarchal assumption of men's
superiority over women is the social construct of
passivity/materiality as female and animal, and
activity/spirituality as male and distinctly hu
man," writes Vandana Shiva. "This is reflected in
dualisms like mind/body, with the mind being
nonmaterial, male, and active, and the body phys
ical, female, and passive."
No one is removed from a patriarchal influ
ence. This includes me. There are perhaps people
who are isolated from the internal thought tracks
it forces upon us, but nobody is free from its ef
fects. This is because life is not separate. And
whereas in the past we might have had the luxury
of isolating ourselves from environmental prob
lems, or running away from them, we can't do
that anymore. Our interconnectedness is begin
ning to become apparent in the most horrific of
ways, in the way we rape our lands, cultivate, do
mesticate, redefine and diminish life when we
deem it necessary, and consume the vast majority
of the earth's resources.
In the meantime, this arrangement allows us to
cultivate our minds with the perception that we
have freedom to choose, and freedom to live, un
fettered by anything but a lack of money. What
this perspective lacks to take into account is that
we are products of a specific historical arrange
ment, which determines what those choices are in
the first place. Our very idea of individuality and
independence is a commodity, bought and sold.
David Byrne once said the following of rapper
Eminem: "I can never lose sight of the fact that his
music is corporate rebellion marketed in a corpo
rate way. He's said to have this threatening quality
— but how can he be threatening if his music is
sold by one of the biggest companies in the
world? I think teenage fans realize that it's safe, a
safe kind of rebellion."
This captures precisely what our notions of in
dividuality and independence are: Teenage, safe
rebellion that does not challenge the system in
any way. It's freedom to do what they — corpora
tions, government, media — tell you to do. It's the
freedom to consume. One critique of Byrne's
statement I would make is that I do not think we
are aware of this hoax. We genuinely think we're
Aaron Shakra
Out of range
exercising our freedom of choice.
What would be an example of this commodi
ty-based freedom? I've spoken a lot this term (see
ODE, April 15 and April 29, in particular) about
gender socialization, which restricts the freedom
of both women and men. Of course, men may
never realize this because they are socialized into
a gender role based around the archetypes of
strength, power and authority. These are the wide
ly accepted norms of masculinity, are they not? To
willingly choose to surrender a position of pow
er means accepting a perspective that is not your
own and incorporate the "other" into your reality.
Women, unfortunately, are affected the most
blatantly. Films such as Jean Kilbourne's "Killing
Us Softly" series and books such as Margo Maine's
"Body Wars" discuss in great lengths the effects a
media-based culture has on a woman's relation
ship with her body.
Regardless of your aesthetic sensibility, consider
this taboo subject: Women and shaving. This ex
ample is interesting because the creation of this
norm is easy to trace. It was not long ago that
things were different. The Shaving Historical
Timeline, available at
http://www.quikshave.com/timeline.htm ex
plains.
"It all began with the May, 1915, edition of
Harper's Bazaar magazine that featured a model
sporting the latest fashion. She wore a sleeveless
evening gown that exposed, for the first time in
fashion, her bare shoulders and her armpits. A
young marketing executive with the Wilkinson
Sword company, who also made razor blades for
men, designed a campaign to convince the
women of North America that: (a) underarm hair
was unhygienic, and (b) it was unfeminine."
The site continues: "In two years, the sales of
razor blades doubled as our grandmothers and
great grandmothers made themselves conform to
this socially constructed gender stereotype. This
norm for North American women has been rein
forced by several generations of daughters who
role-modeled their mothers."
There you have it, the creation of a norm that is
now virtually unquestionable, nay, even unmen
tionable across the large majority of the popula
tion. And what is it based upon? Initially, to sell
razors, to convince the public they needed some
thing that they didn't. Which is basically the func
tion of advertising these days. Historically, this
has created one more divide between the femi
nine and masculine. To have body hair is clearly
unfeminine.
The July 2001 issue of the Student Insurgent
quoted a University of Southern California pro
fessor who discussed "how much the current
model of attractiveness resembles a child. Small
bodies, heads which are somewhat large in pro
portion to bodies, and large eyes set low on the
face, and small noses are basic components of a
stereotypically attractive female." Obviously, this
is referring to women.
In an uncredited study "The Symbolic Nature
of Feminine Body Hair," the author notes, "The
message that filters through into adulthood is that
women who are clean-shaven are just that: clean,
as well as attractive ... Body hair, particularly
armpit hair, is seen as dirty, messy, and bad. The
woman with armpit hair is considered to be 'not
as feminine, well-kept or groomed' in the words
of one informant."
Those who deviate risk being associated with
labels and other denigrating terms. But it's a really
strange time that.
Regardless of other reasons, any decision to
shave has not been made in a cultural vacuum
away from socialization. And of course, given any
reason, why aren't a large proportion of guys
shaving their legs and armpits? The reasons pre
sented here should answer this question. Al
though perhaps, one day, corporations will find a
way to tap into this market as well. After all, no
one is safe from the plague of capitalism.
To be continued (one last time).
Contact the Pulse editor
at aaronshakra@daiiyemerald.com.
His opinions do not necessarily
represent those of the Emerald.
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