The Virgin/Whore Paradox in Society.
Women were given polarized expectations of being a virgin and a whore. To have a better understanding of what a virgin and a whore means, think of Betty and Veronica from the famous Archie comics. In the comic books, “Betty is blond, the girl next door, kind of heart, often put upon but a good sport, a bit insecure, attractive although a bit dowdy in the way she dresses” which is the definition of a “virgin” of the paradox while, her rival Veronica was characterized as “a raven-haired vixen, exotic by reason of her wealth, sexy, self-assured, scheming, always lording over her friends and bossy enough to inspire dominatrix fantasies” defining the “whore” of the paradox (Jeet, 2). One might ask, how does the paradox affect women when they’re just labels? Women are categorized as either Betty or Veronica, but are expected to be both; either way they get criticized for being one or the other. This paradox has affected women to an extent that whatever they do, they get degraded and hated on for being themselves. The “Barbie Doll Culture and the American Waistland” article conveys how the paradox shapes a woman’s mind at a very young age. Furthermore, the articles “Column: Halloween costumes sexualize women” from University Wire, “The Burkini: A Closer Look At The Swimwear That’s Making Headlines” by Baitz, “The consciously constructed sexual paradox” from The New York Times and “Judge rules against Kesha in alleged rape case” by Case all shows how women are addressed due to this paradox. In this paper, I aspire to show how the virgin/whore paradox negatively affects women’s mentality, fashion, and music. Thereupon, this paradox is introduced to little girls the minute they hold a Barbie doll.
The virgin/whore paradox is inaugurated to girls at a very young age. A Barbie doll is a “wisp of lingerie and topped by luxuriant platinum tresses, the doll has lavender eyes, both willing and innocent, that look out of a face cutely dimpled and empty of feminine guile, yet somehow eerily seductive” which is the perfect example of a virgin-whore (Cunningham 80). The Barbie doll is a carefully engineered plastic toy with an unbelievable physique, which is why it is ludicrous for wanting to be her. Yet, it doesn’t stop people like Valeria Lukyanova to take on extreme measures to resemble Barbie. Lukyanova claimed she had plastic surgery to “freshen her look” and not resemble a doll (Bacardi 2). People may not know that the toys we play in our childhood may also influence what we become. According to Lenore Wright, “Barbie represents woman in the child’s imaginative world wherein woman “stands in as an object for and elicits proportional claims about women that are not true of real women” proving that kids see Barbie as a representation of all women, even though they know it is untrue (Wright 5). Most children elicits a strong personal connection to their toys since they treat it as a company, having a higher possibility of wanting to be the toy, even when it is clearly impossible. For this reason, girls want to at least resemble Barbie’s charms so they can be seen as perfect in front of society since it represents all women. Moreover, the virgin/whore paradox is also in effect in women’s fashion.
Women are categorized mostly on how they dress. They get judged for covering or not covering enough one’s body. Among all fashion realms, the limited Halloween costumes exhibits the virgin/whore paradox. The options for women’s costumes are sexy cop, sexy cat, sexy maid and so on. Most women Halloween costumes are sexualized and can barely find any that isn’t. According to University Wire “If the costume is not sexy, you’re either classified as parent or a prude — or in the case of Mean Girls, home-schooled” which women don’t want to be labeled by (University Wire). Manufacturers selling sexualized Halloween costumes, are degrading women because they are conveying a message that women are only sex objects and nothing more. Women should have options to dress however they want to and not just give various styles of sexy.
Furthermore, when a woman decides to go against the cultural norms and chose to cover up, they get criticized too. For example, the burqini beach wear. A burqini/burkini is “a long-sleeved tunic with a knee-skimming seam and an attached “Hijood” head covering and pants” which basically covers the whole body (Baitz 2). The swimwear was banned in France’s beaches last August mainly because of the terrorist attack they experienced in Paris (Hathaway 1). France has a good reason to be cautious, but a woman wearing a burqini shouldn’t suffer the consequences of what happened in the past. Just like the Halloween costumes, the dictation of what one should and shouldn’t wear affects women to an extent that they have to alter themselves to be acceptable in front of the public. Correspondingly, female musicians are also affected by the virgin/whore paradox.
The music industry is one aspect in society that exhibits the virgin/whore paradox. Klosterman said “The consciously constructed sexual paradox selling is not a new idea in pop music” implying that playing as a sex object is part of the job (Klosterman 1). It equally attracts men and makes girls envious which helps a female singer reach success. An example would be back in 2001 when Britney Spears was considered a virgin-whore, and was known for “the erotic equation of lust and innocence; onstage, she grinds and writhes and moans and disrobes, but offstage, she swears she is a virgin and no one can prove otherwise” as if Klosterman is implying that it is impossible that she is a virgin for the way she acts onstage (Klosterman 1). Later in the article it was mentioned that “When Rolling Stone asked about the provocative Catholic — schoolgirl iconography in her”…Baby One More Time” video, Britney then 17, responded as if she barely understood the question. “All I did was tie up my shirt!” she exclaimed” which concurs with my argument that by simply tying up her shirt, it was already criticized to be “provocative” (Klosterman 1). The “…Baby One More Time” music video showcased Spears’s talent in both dancing and singing. Yet, a music magazine chose to ask about her tied up shirt and devalued her talent in music. Spears’ frustration is a result of the virgin/whore paradox, society expected her to “sell sex” and when she plays the role, people criticized her for it.
Another example of a female musician affected by the virgin/whore paradox is Kesha. In a performance at São Paulo, “She elongated and framed those slender pins in a pair of provocative black leather boots which rose up to her knees. And the star proved to be the ultimate sex goddess, squatting and growling as she ran her fingers down the length of her body” showing that the famous singer is known for her flashy and revealing outfits (Wietzmann, 2). She is playing the “whore” part in the paradox due in her performances. Earlier this year, Kesha filed a case against her manager, Dr Luke “claiming he began abusing her sexually, physically, verbally and emotionally shortly after she signed a contract with him when she was 18” (Daily Mirror 1). Many other female artists like Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, etc. believed and has showed their support for Kesha. However, the “Los Angeles Superior Court judge Barbara Scheper noted that there was “no evidence to support her assertion that the agreements were not entered into freely or voluntarily as a result of arm’s length negotiations” which means that she has to work with her attacker and create music with him until her contract expires (Case 2). A lot of people doubted Kesha because of her performances and Dr Luke claiming that it was Kesha’s way of getting out of the strict agreement (Daily Mirror 3). Raped or not, Kesha was obviously in distress due to his manager. The court ruling against Kesha is expressing that her words doesn’t matter and she has to oblige with her alleged attacker because there wasn’t enough proof.
The virgin/whore paradox has affected women to a great extent. The article “Barbie Doll Culture and the American Waistland” by Cunningham has shown that the paradox has shaped women’s mentality at a very young age and didn’t really had a chance to define what a woman is in society. Society expects us to be both a “virgin” and a “whore”. Since it is unachievable to be equally both, women gets criticized and degraded for being one or the other. In fashion, women are degraded and criticized for what they wear and don’t wear. For example, the “Column: Halloween costumes sexualize women” article from University Wire depicts how women are only given sexualized costumes as if they are just sex objects. The article “The Burkini: A Closer Look At The Swimwear That’s Making Headlines” by Baitz portrays how women are also criticized for wearing a full-coverage beachwear because they value their religion. In music, most female artists play a role that “sells sex” but it is just a role they play and not who they truly are. The New York Times article “The consciously constructed sexual paradox” talks about Britney Spears performance of “…Baby One More Time” and how it was provocative for tying her shirt, despite of the talent she has shown in the video. Finally, the article “Judge rules against Kesha in alleged rape case” by Case shows how Kesha’s words have no power to prove that she was raped and her past performances may have a factor of people not believing her. Women gets criticized in whatever they do or don’t do, in result, they are trapped in this virgin/whore paradox. They should have the right to do whatever they desire without people criticizing or degrading them. Majority of the women are slowly breaking gender norms and eradicating the virgin/whore paradox. For the virgin/whore paradox to fully disappear the society has to accept that women are also human beings and have value as much as men.
Work Cited
Bacardi, Francesca. “Human Barbie Valeria Lukyanova Answers Plastic Surgery Questions and Talks the Misconception of Her Looks”. Eonline.com. Enews. 28 June 2016. Web
Baitz, Allison. “The Burkini: A Closer Look At The Swimwear That’s Making Headlines”. npr.org. Daily Life. 26 August 2016. Web.
Cunningham, Kamy. “Barbie Doll Culture and the American Waistland.” Symbolic Interaction, vol. 16, no. 1, 1993, pp. 79–83. www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/si.1993.16.1.79.
“Column: Halloween Costumes Sexualize Women.” University Wire, Oct 28, 2014. http://queens.ezproxy.cuny.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.queens.ezproxy.cuny.edu:2048/docview/1617694124?accountid=13379.
Hathaway, Sarah. “Burqini ban: racist and misogynist” greenleft.org. green left weekly. 18 August 2016. Web.
https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/burqini-ban-racist-and-misogynist
Jeet, Heer. “Betty and Veronica: The Cultural Politics of Hair Colour”. WordPress. sanseverything. 19 March 2008. Web.
“Judge rules against Kesha in alleged rape case.” UWIRE Text 8 Mar. 2016: 1. Academic OneFile. Web. 5 Dec. 2016.
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=cuny_queens&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA445602957&asid=672375754bd6f1bf04517df53f3b26d9
“Kesha rape lawsuit against ex manager Dr Luke halted as singer dazzles with stage comeback; Kesha had battled an eating disorder but is back on form onstage at 2015 LA Gay Pride Festival.” Daily Mirror [London, England] 20 June 2015. General OneFile. Web. 5 Dec. 2016.
http://go.galegroup.com.queens.ezproxy.cuny.edu:2048/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=cuny_queens&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA418621760&asid=c1567aa627c4119c014a206ee010b49e
Klosterman, Chuck. “The Consciously Constructed Sexual Paradox.” New York Times Magazine (Dec 09, 2001): 62–6.62. http://queens.ezproxy.cuny.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.queens.ezproxy.cuny.edu:2048/docview/215491546?accountid=13379
Weitzmann, Deborah. “What a gem! Kesha flashes her toned legs in a rainbow jeweled leotard and knee-high boots as she takes the stage in São Paulo”. Dailymail.co.uk. U.S. showbiz. 26 January 2015. Web.
Wright, Lenore (2003) “The Wonder of Barbie: Popular Culture and the Making of Female Identity,” Essays in Philosophy: Vol. 4: Iss. 1, Article 3.