Current News Media: Women's March on Washington

Current News Media
                                                     Women's March On Washington.
                                                                By: Paris .A. Traxler
   The rise of women as been a discussion for many months and I've often wondered as a young woman myself what it meant to be a feminist or pro-woman. Growing up in a predominantly male household, my male family members would often describe the word feminist as a "angry women" or "too needy", which lead me to believe that’s what it really meant transitioning into my teenage years. The day after the inauguration of Donald J. Trump, there was a worldwide march to protest the rights of women in a dominantly male world, but some say it was only a hate march towards Donald Trump and this outlook  I completely disagree with. To completely understand the Women's March on Washington as a non feminist male and/or female, you would need to understand intersectional feminism. The Women's Rights Movement extends beyond the right to own property or to vote in America. It is the fight for women to be  distinguish as an equal and not to be classified by their gender, class, race, or sexaulity.  

       Millions of people showed up to support the rights of women on January 21th 2017, but the biggest crowd of people was held in Washington D.C a few blocks away from the White House. Watching the 6 hour live footage of the march you can almost feel the protective shield each woman had over each other. You can easily notice that each woman was vigorous and impassioned about change more than ever before. From hearing powerful speeches from women who organized the march, Tamika D. Mallary, Carmen Perez, Linda Sarsour, Bob Bland, Vanessa Wroble, Director of operations and 16 other amazing people to watching performances and listening to inspirational speeches from celebrities we know and love like Alicia Keys, Madonna, Blake Lively, Ashley Judd, and etc. Even the mothers of Sandra Bland, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin were to support women as well as police brutality. The Women's Marche were held all over the world and over a half a million people attended (Daily News, Jason Silverstein), but like all marches and powerful movements it had both positive and negative feedback from the Media. We even got a good ole tweet from are good ole President saying " Watched protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election! Why didn't these people vote? Celebs hurt cause badly" which seemed like a very duel comment towards women who are protesting for their rights which I remember it being the 1st amendment. Then shortly after the backlash from that tweet, he added "Peaceful protests are a hallmark of our democracy. Even if I don't always agree, I recognize the rights of people to express their views" (Donald Trump, Twitter) which I think was the smartest thing to do after you just won an election. But a lot of people thought the Women's March was simply about  Donald J. Trump and a lot of other people thought this march went to far, but that very thought goes back to not understanding intersectional feminism. Donald J. Trump is a man who lowers and degrades women in plain sight. He is a man who has felt freely to sexually assault women publicly without any shame or consequence, in his owns words he says "I'm automatically attracted to beautiful [women]—I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything... Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything" (2005, Trump). this very comment from out president shows why women still march in this country. But men who are superior to the thogught of other men could be the reasons why women are still challenging this male masculinity from them.  

          This same hegemonic male masculinity Donald Trump feeds off  reminds me of a radio personae Rush Limbaugh. Currently he is one of the most listened to radio shows within the last two decades  72% male, more than 90% white (Jackson Katz, Big Talkers) and a lot of people value his opinion, especially his thoughts on women. Limbaugh speaks a lot on feminist and shames men who fight for the same rights women are protesting for like pay equity and he describes them as unmanly and weak. These type of men who hold power influence people who have no clue of what a feminist means or being a woman in  a world dominated by men. In "Television's "New" Feminism" Lisa M. Cuklanz and Sujata Moorti's analzyed the show SVU. Unlike Limbaugh they both thought the show took on a more positive look on feminism. They talked about how the show gives a more in your face approach on rapes in America and how they are frequently overlooked by the federal court system as "not serious crimes" "since the 1970's feminists have worked actively with the police to alter the ways in which rapes are investigated, including by forming special victims' units, and ensuring that detectives are less skeptical and cynical about women's rape claims, but this outcomes for women in today's era still didn’t seem to change" (Television's "New" Feminism, Cuklanz). During the women's march, a lot of speakers talked about how rape is just as important as any other case, Feminist icon Gloria Steinem who spoke at the march said "Sometimes we must put our bodies where our beliefs are" (YouTube, ABC News) which means as women we should never be afraid to speak up against rape, even if your scared to. But it's very upsetting we live in a world were being sexually assaulted in a crime that makes the victim feel like she has no where to turn.  

          There are so many different headlines on what people think the Women's March was truly about. A lot of people got mixed messages from people dressing up as vaginas to show femininity or holding up signs that said "dump trump, we are the wall, pro-America Anti-Trump, the president is not America, A woman's place is wherever she wants it to be", but The Women’s March was a mission to invite people of all beliefs and backgrounds to raise their voices on a range of issues, including civil rights, workers rights, rape, discrimination, racism, environmental justice and etc. But the event was also a platform for reproductive freedom. The Women's March on Washington was a way to  listen to speakers who are activists of choice, and who do not fear the conservative Supreme Court who is under Mr. Trump. But people have once more drawn the issue to the fore of the feminist movement. Ideologies come from  a individual, but they are often past on the next person " ideological statements are made by individuals: but ideologies are not the product of individual consciousness or intention. In the women's march on Washington almost every speaker talked about how women in the world are overly sexualized by men. This goes back to a analysis called "Supersexualize me: Advertising and the Midriffs" by Rosalind Gill and she stated "Increasing, young women are presented not as passive sex objects, but as active, desiring sexual subjects, who seem to participate enthusiastically in practices and forms of self-presentation that earlier generations of feminists regarded as connected to subordination" (Gill) this very statement shows that from a young age women are put in this type of category that they can't get out of. 
          In conclusion, The Women's March on Washington discussed the disadvantages, discrimination, and institutional sexism that women hinder in America. That fact that certain jobs requires you not to have a uterus, rape is acceptable, and how are voice is still not be heard or respected in 2017 in ridiculous. . Restructuring American in general and getting a women perspective on things that they need and want would lead to better and more efficient opportunities for women. By doing this, women will be able to uprise from the rights that have been oppressed upon them.    
  Annotated Bibliography:

Katz, Jackson "Big Talkers: Rush Limbaugh, Conservative Talk Radio, and the Defiant Reassertion of White Authority." Gender, Race, and Class in Media: A Critical Reader 4 (2015): 157-62. Print.   

-This source was very useful to my paper because showed a lot of the ignorance that comes from people who are non-feminist in the world. Rush Limbaugh is a prime example of what it means to be a superior man who uses his power to lead people in the wrong direction. In my paper I used  a lot of how he felt as well s his own opinions about how he felt about women who stand up for themselves and their rights to explain what it means to be a misguided person. the journal "Big Talkers" helped me breakdown the phase superior man and how it Limbaugh challenges women. He is using it to keep things how they've always been instead of using his power to make a change. This source simply explains what it means to be a misguided dominant figure in the world.

Gill, Rosalind "Supersexualize Me1!: Advertising and the "Midriffs"Gender, Race, and Class in Media: A Critical Reader 4 (2015): 278-84. Print. 

- This source explains what being sexualized means for women in America. From being pressured to be like the girls  you see on TV with the pretty face and body to wanting to actually go get cosmetic surgery to actually look like them. It talks about how thoughts of rape started with sexualizing women through pornography, models, and beauty pageants. This source is useful for my paper because I can use this to get a clear view across to my audience what why this hurts women in the workplace which is explained in the Women's march on Washington video.

Hall, Stuart. "The White of Their Eyes: Racist Ideologies and the Media." Gender, Race, and       Class in Media: A Critical Reader 4 (2015): 104-07. Print.  

-This sources explains the different types of ideologies and how they play a key part in how we think and see other people who are different from ourselves. In this Journal, Stuart Hall uses the word "naturalized" when looking at already existing ideologies. Some ideologies could be how women have never played a dominant role in the world like for example, being a President. This source is very important to my paper because it plays a crucial part in explaining why these ideologies hinder women from rising in the world. you will see those type of ideologies in the women's march on Washington.

Moorti, Sujata, Cuklanz M., Lisa "Television's "New" Feminism": Prime-Time Representation of Women and Victimization." Gender, Race, and Class in Media: A Critical Reader 4 (2015): 175-93. Print.  

-This particular source is important because it goes head and head with the "Big Talkers" source. The "Television's "New" Feminism" talks about rape in America. As I was watching the footage of the women's march I noticed that their were a lot of rape survivors and how they don't no longer see themselves as victims. But in America rape isn't taken as seriously as other crimes. The fact that you need so much proof to show that you were raped shows that we live in a would were women don't have much power. In the source, the writers didn't put down women  like Limbaugh did, instead the two writers examined a popular the show on the subject, SVU, and explained how rape has been a overlooked problem in America that still isn't being solved or taken seriously like other crimes. 

"Women's March on Washington 2017 (FULL EVENT) | ABC News." YouTube, ABC News, www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp1FyjB8WXQ. 

-This is the piece of media that I've chosen and it’s the full live video of the women's march on Washington ( 6 hours of footage).The Women’s March was a mission to invite people of all beliefs and backgrounds to raise their voices on a range of issues, including civil rights, workers rights, rape, discrimination, racism, environmental justice and etc.. But the event was also a platform for reproductive freedom. The Women's March on Washington was a way to  listen to speakers who are activists of choice, and who do not fear the conservative Supreme Court who is under Mr. Trump. But people have once more drawn the issue to the fore of the feminist movement.