Saturday, December 27, 2008

sex appeal

a recent article from the Globe&Mail, titled Sex Appeal noted the willingness of young, stereotypically beautiful women to work as sports broadcasters when given the opportunity. at the same time, it pointed out the fact that these women are no more than eye candy for the target male audience.

they are not hired for their intelligence or industry-savvyness. they are hired because their target demographic is one of males who have been raised in a society that sells women as objects of desire. i have come to the recent opinion that any woman who belittles herself to work in a position where she is valued solely for her beauty is either naive to the purpose of her employment or else lacking all measure of self-respect.

some might argue that these women are creatively manipulating the system to their own advantage, making a profitable contract though understanding of the market. myself, i would argue that it doesn't matter how much money they make or how stable their contract is. my journalism professor at Carleton once told us that "our reputation is sacrosanct in journalism." what possible good could come of a reputation or wealth based from a willingful exploitation of a person's dignity?

for me, no contract or paycheque could ever be worth selling myself out as eye-candy. these girls are not journalists, and do a diservice to the journalistic industry by selling out their intelligence for a three-year contract. women need to be taking a moral stance of issues such as commodificaton of the female body in an industry that is using them as bait to attract horny men. we need to recognize that while we may be physically attractive, we are worth more than our looks. but hey, that's just a piece of this mind.

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