Mars VS Venus

FEMININITY
From the Walt Disney film "Summer Magic" (1963)
(Robert B. Sherman & Richard M. Sherman)

Hayley Mills, Deborah Walley & Wendy Turner (Film Soundtrack) - 1963

HAYLEY:
You must walk feminine
Talk feminine
Smile and beguile feminine
Utilize your femininity
That's what every girl should know
If she wants to catch a beau

Dance feminine
Glance feminine
Act shy and sigh feminine
Compliment his masculinity
That's what every girl should know
If she wants to catch a beau

DEBORAH:
Let him do the talking
Med adore good listeners
HAYLEY:
Laugh, but not loudly (Haha)
If he should choose to tell a joke
Be radiant
DEBORAH:
But delicate
BOTH:
Memorize the rules of etiquette
Be demure, sweet and pure
Hide the real you

BOTH:
You must look feminine
Dress feminine
You're at your best feminine
Emphasize your femininity
That's what every girl should know
WENDY:
Femininity, femininity
ALL:
That's the way to catch a beau

I find this video particularly pertinent to our discussion on Assignment 2 and the idea of 'femininity'. While this video is rather dated, it gives us an idea of how the society back then expected women to give in to men's power. While these views are not actively promoted in society nowadays, many of these expectations of women still hold, such as not laughing too loudly, walking in a 'feminine' way and complimenting 'masculine' behaviour in order to be able to attract men. One also needs to 'hide the real you' as mentioned in the song in order for men to be attracted to you.

I feel that it is somewhat hypocritical that society is not openly allowed to promote this viewpoint, as there would be much social backlash should someone do so, yet the society still expects such behaviour of women. Just a typical example was when a male friend of mine chided me for not 'sitting properly' as i was tired and was slouching and propping up my legs up on a chair (I was wearing jeans). Another male friend was doing the same thing at that time but it was acceptable for him to do that while it was not for me. Such issues are very much still the 'elephant in the room that nobody notices'.

3 comments:

NicholasFebruary 22, 2011 at 7:16 AM
You sure you're mixing with modern men and not pre-historic Neanderthals? Haha.

I believe certain social practices arose not because of differential gender perceptions. Take for example, the "sitting properly" example you used. In the past people used to wear skirts and stuff, so inappropriate sitting would pose "decency" problems. However, along the way it got conflated as a "gender" problem, since only the female dressing style could pose such problems, and not the men.

Admittedly though, I have to say that men who wear baggy shorts and boxers please sit properly too! More disturbing actually.
jiayingFebruary 26, 2011 at 6:01 AM
Hmm what you said about the 'decency' problem does make sense in a way. But men have not always worn pants! What about scottish kilts, or the skirts and togas worn by ancient greek or roman societies?
James E. MartinFebruary 28, 2011 at 7:22 PM
It's because overt expressions of female subordination to the male ideal are not made these days that material like the video you shared is so interesting. But you are exactly correct that not mentioning it openly is not the same thing as not tolerating it. It's gone "underground" but occasionally rears its ugly head! The video is a Great discussion piece though.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

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