Are women mere legs, backsides and breasts?

Takunda Maodza Assistant News Editor
Zimbabwe, like the rest of the world, celebrated Mother’s Day on Sunday. Some bought their mothers expensive gifts. The majority did not. Those who did not are probably from the school of thought “Do good to your mother always, do not wait for Mother’s Day”. Nevertheless, Mother’s Day invoked serious thoughts in my mind. Mothers are women, isn’t? Talk of Mother’s Day left me thinking of women at large. Are women just legs, backsides and breasts? This is what the media would want us believe. There is abundant sexual content in the media in which the female figure is sexually objectified. This worrying trend is fast consuming society. It began in the Americas before it contaminated countries as far afield as Zimbabwe via the nomadic animal called globalisation.

A few months ago, a local battery manufacturing company left me puzzled. So did a cigarette making firm. It did not make sense to me at first. The battery-making company generated an advert.

An angelic woman was planted beside the battery. Inscribed on the advert were the words “Moto Muzhinji” (More fire). At first I struggled to establish the link between the battery, the woman and the text. I guess your interpretation is as good as mine as to the meaning of the advert. One is forced into thinking the battery is as “hot” as the woman in the advert.

A tobacco company could not be outdone. It produced its own advert. It also raided a beautiful woman. The pretty woman could be seen emerging from a cigarette packet. Like with the first advert, I tormented myself as to its import. What are they saying about their cigarettes vis-à-vis the woman? My heart sank.

Again, your guess is as good as mine as to the import of the advert. On the surface there is definitely no connection between the cigarette and the pretty woman. A bit of critical analysis, however, uncovers the meaning right under the debris. It appears it has become fashionable to raid women for selfish reasons.

Even women considered less pretty are assigned roles – they are seen advertising toiletries. The subject is subjugation of women through commodification of their essentials for market gain. This is common in the advertising world and is fast polluting even the music sector.

Think of female dance groups – some calling themselves ‘’Naked Weapon’’! And indeed they would be stark naked, gyrating their waists and twerking like oiled ball bearings in front of drunk male revellers right in the heart of Harare.

Commercialisation of the female body! Interestingly, the female dancers are managed by men. Some scholars argue that “one of the reasons why men continue to portray women as sexual objects is because they are desperately trying to regain power from the femme fatale” who has controlled them since the days of Adam and Eve.

Interestingly, women themselves are at a crossroads on what to do. The old-fashioned ones like my mother scream curses whenever they see a half-naked woman on television either advertising this or that product or imparting sexually suggestive dances.

The new feminist does not care and is ready to parade what their mothers gave them. This new feminist, according to media scholars, “embodies a kind of girlish offensive, a sassy, don’t- mess-with-me-adolescent spirit”. The belief being women can use their natural possessions – be they legs, breasts or their behinds – to indeed look hot.

The new feminists have embraced what Naomi Wolf terms the girl power trend, and favour women using their bodies as works of art. They argue it is justified for women to trade their appeal as long as they are not doing so under duress.

They, however, forget to note that duress comes in different forms – think of the naked female dancer wriggling her waist in some bar in the central business district. It is debatable the female dancer is not doing it under duress. It would appear today’s feminism is wearing a rather strange hat, one detached from my mother’s no-nonsense aura, to one proud in exhibiting breasts, legs and behinds. They are unperturbed by their sexual objectification.

But this kind of sexual liberalism brings with it negative consequences. Some scholars argue that girls exposed to media content overpopulated with nakedness of the female figure become sexually aggressive. Sexual experimentation begins early, and the pregnancy rate spirals beyond understanding.

Abundance of irresponsible sexual activities in the media becomes a breeding ground for sexually transmitted diseases inclusive of HIV and Aids. The abundance of sexual content in the media, as is the case with women in advertising, music and film, pollutes the attitude of young women who have now ratified their objectification.

It is advisable for the responsible authorities to regulate the advertising industry in such a manner that eradicates the sexual objectification of the female body.

There is absolutely no link between the battery, the woman and the texts “Moto Muzhinji” unless we have agreed women are legs, their behinds and breasts. Definitely my mother, down in Nyajena, is much more than that!