Female Chauvinist Pigs

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Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture is a 2005 book by Ariel Levy which critiques modern feminist culture in America. Levy argues that America's sexed-up culture not only objectifies women, it encourages women to objectify themselves.^[1]

Citing examples ranging from the fad of Playboy Bunny merchandise for women to the moral panic of rainbow parties, Levy argues that American mass culture has framed the game so perversely that young women now strive to be the "hottest" and "sexiest" girl they know rather than the most accomplished.^[2] In Female Chauvinist Pigs, she traces the history of this trend back to conflicts between the women's movement and the sexual revolution long left unresolved.^[3]

[edit] Issues

Levy takes issue with two breeds of feminists: "lipstick feminists" and "loophole women." According to Levy, lipstick feminists believe, for example, that stripping is empowering and that putting on a show to attract men (be it through makeup, clothing, or girl-on-girl gyration) is not contrary to the goals and ideals of feminism. Levy disagrees with this view.

On the other end of the spectrum, Levy takes issue with women who make their way in a man's world by playing by men's rules. Sometimes, she argues, these women even make their fame and fortune by objectifying other women; for example, Levy finds it interesting that Playboy is currently run by a woman. Even to those women who make their way in their field legitimately, but shy away from feminism, Levy protests: "But if you are the exception that proves the rule, and the rule is that women are inferior, you haven't made any progress." (p. 117)