One body practice that I notice everyday is the way women swing their hips while walking, especially when walking past an attractive male. Women want to constantly be noticed by men. To a woman, it reassures her that she looks good and boosts her self-esteem. In the reading by Leppert, he states "Women watch themselves being looked at." Women pretend they are just going normally about the day, but they are really hoping to be "checked out" by males. Women have a type of male perspective; women try to imagine what would appeal to an onlooking male. Women then turn themselves into that visual in hopes of being the sexy sight each male notices.The swinging of the hips can be been as 'soft porn' to males; it signifies being sexy and playful. Males begin to wonder or try to visualize what is under her jeans or under her skirt. I think it almost makes a woman feel accomplished when she know she is making males have to wonder and have to think about what they are seeing or could possibly be seeing. Culture has subjected women's bodies to be be sexy and constantly viewed by the male gender. Although most of the time I believe the action of swing the hips is a conscious thought by females, over time it can be unconscious: when a women sees an attractive male, she automatically swings she hips more to catch the onlookers attention.
In the attached article, James Donahue sits at a local Wal-Mart and observes the way men and women walk. I found this article interesting because he not only focuses on the way women carry themselves while walking, but men equally. He uses the term "sexual invitation" as a way that both genders walk to attract the opposite sex and allow them to 'take a peak.' I think this word fits perfectly; when a woman swings her hips, she wants men to look at her assets. Another interesting piece of this article is that not only is it younger women that swing their hips, but middle-aged, married women as well. Society (and culture) has socially constructed each women to act innocent yet swing her hips in a sexy manner to catch the attention of any onlooking male.
http://perdurabo10.tripod.com/galleryi/id28.html
I completely agree here, it's obvious that woman know because of what our culture dictates that they do most of what they do to be looked it. I see it all the time even in myself. Because of this class I have been paying closer attention to my actions, especially the ones that seem natural and have noticed how I do them for some sort of potential look. And it seems like even is many many years past women have been portrayed as "sexy sights" to get the attention of males. What I found most interesting though is that it's not just single women who do it married women too which to me says that regardless of where a woman is in her life she will continually work to get the attention of any man just because our culture pushes her to do so.
ReplyDelete