Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture

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Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture

3.71 of 5 stars 3.71 · rating details · 4,984 ratings · 601 reviews

Meet the Female Chauvinist Pig -- the new brand of "empowered woman" who embraces "raunch culture" wherever she finds it. In her groundbreaking book, New York magazine writer Ariel Levy argues that, if male chauvinist pigs of years past thought of women as pieces of meat, Female Chauvinist Pigs of today are doing them one better, making sex objects of other women -- and of...more

Paperback, 256 pages

Published October 3rd 2006 by Free Press (first published January 1st 2005)

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Oct 22, 2007 Mike rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: feminism

I'll start with the weak parts. Throughout the book she takes a half-anecdote/interview half-detailed analysis approach. She's a journalist so the first part is understandable. There is one part of the book where she interviews Christie Hefner, daughter of Hugh, about her job as the CFO or something like that of Playboy (she's the one that runs the enterprise.) Christie has a really interesting response to one of Levy's questions. She says, "So I think people who choose to pose for the magazine...more I'll start with the weak parts. Throughout the book she takes a half-anecdote/interview half-detailed analysis approach. She's a journalist so the first part is understandable. There is one part of the book where she interviews Christie Hefner, daughter of Hugh, about her job as the CFO or something like that of Playboy (she's the one that runs the enterprise.) Christie has a really interesting response to one of Levy's questions. She says, "So I think people who choose to pose for the magazine have a very definite idea of what they want to get out of it - and then they have a life and they may be an actress or a mother or a lawyer or an executive." Levy responds, "An actress or a mother sure, but a lawyer or an executive not necessarily. Putting your tush on display is still not the best way to make partner or impress the board." This is interesting and constitutes one of the serious weaknesses of the book.
I think Levy is guilty of going after the wrong force. Her book is called "Female Chauvinist Pigs" equating people like Christie Hefner with someone like Hugh, who admittedly only wanted to liberate men's sexuality. What Christie accomplishes by talking about the desires of women to feel sexy in that way, (she actually uses the example of a woman who was injured in a car accident and became paraplegic and posed for the magazine to regain her own sense of sexuality) is exactly what Levy advocates in the conclusion. The conclusion admits that there is nothing intrinsically wrong with posing for a magazine or stripping. The issue is when raunch culture elevates one type of sexuality to the norm and demands that people conform to that norm. It is true that Playboy does this through its photography so that people don't choose how to pose, but that isn't the focus of Levy's critique (if it was, it would have been awesome). She wants to call out people instead of structures. It's quite telling that she has more contempt for Christie, then the fact that the decision for posing for the magazine makes it impossible to join the board room or become partner. She seems to treat the latter as immutable, while the former is what constitutes blameworthiness.
Also there's a huge weakness, which is the entire fifth chapter. In that chapter she begins to talk about lesbian and trans culture. Her analysis of trans issues is actually pretty offensive. She sees the decision of FTM transpeople as part of the cultural shift away from pride in being a woman. She at a point admits a lack of clarity in understanding, yet still proceeds to judge an entire group of people. She appears to be fine with people that simply enjoy the fluid identity, but she has an issue if people opt for surgery. It's this sort of moralizing bullshit in terms of identity that really makes the book weak.

Now I'll go to the strength. When she does analysis, it's downright amazing. In chapter six she does this in depth analysis on Sex and the City talking about the commodification of sex and how that constructs people to look at sex as a status symbol instead of as a fulfilling experience that one comes into with desires. She quotes Carrie as saying, "she usually 'couldn't help but wonder; what was going on in the head of the man she was seeing and rarely evaluated her own happiness as such." That's perfect, because it gets to the basis of the problem of sex as she articulates it. The issue is when we have a standard and evaluate ourselves to the standard without considered what our own internal desires are. She says that sex is such a unique experience that there's no way the raunch standard fits everyone, but people play into it because of its commodification and current status as a status symbol and even power symbol. That was only one of the examples, but I really liked that one so I chose it. Each chapter had analysis and anecdotes, but the analysis is where the book is at its best.(less)

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Jan 05, 2009 Zinta rated it 5 of 5 stars

What is a female chauvinist pig (FCP)? "If Male Chauvinist Pigs were men who regarded women as pieces of meat, we would outdo them and be Female Chauvinist Pigs: women who make sex objects of other women and of ourselves."

Levy observes the mainstreaming of raunch, and women, including feminists, falling obediently into line promoting it. "But I could never make the argument add up in my head," she writes. "How is resurrecting every stereotype of female sexuality that feminism endeavored to bani...more What is a female chauvinist pig (FCP)? "If Male Chauvinist Pigs were men who regarded women as pieces of meat, we would outdo them and be Female Chauvinist Pigs: women who make sex objects of other women and of ourselves."

Levy observes the mainstreaming of raunch, and women, including feminists, falling obediently into line promoting it. "But I could never make the argument add up in my head," she writes. "How is resurrecting every stereotype of female sexuality that feminism endeavored to banish *good* for women?"

Somewhere along the developmental line of women's liberation, as we fought for equal rights and opportunities, we achieved much in some areas while failing in the area of female sexuality. It is where we are, perhaps, most vulnerable and needy for approval of the opposite gender. And so, it appears, our line has become - if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

Levy interviews various porn stars such as Jenna Jameson to dig into the motivation behind the act. And act it is. When these women describe what they do, not once, Levy observes, do they use the word "pleasure." The predominant descriptive word, in fact, is "pain." The reason for doing their work? "Because I was paid to."

If feminism was meant to be, among other things, an arena in which to develop a heightened sense of connection for a woman to her own body, the rise of raunch is built around male rather than female fantasy, the predominant theme being one of subjugation of the woman rather than her pleasure. As long as women emulate men in and outside of the boardroom in how they express their strength, their smarts, and their sexuality, they are still making a statement that to be a woman is to be inferior.

Levy explores the culture of raunch among youth, those scantily clad young women dressed in, as Levy calls it, "the slut uniform." When asked, it is not promiscuity they crave, but acceptance. One female teen expresses it this way: "To dress the skankiest, that would be the one way we compete... I wanted guys to want me, to want to hook up with me, I guess, even though I *didn't* want to hook up with them."

This same attitude appears among sex workers. "The cultural dominance of the porn-star fantasy is that it defies control. Porn stars are quite firmly under various controls. Most obviously, they are under corporate control. Sex workers are *workers.* They are having sex because they are paid to, not because they are in the mood to. The best erotic models, then, would seem to be the women who get the most pleasure out of sex, not the women who get the most money for it."

Levy explores the theory that most sex workers are victims of sexual abuse and finds basis for the estimates that as many as 90 percent have suffered sexual trauma, two-thirds suffer from post-traumatic stress, a number twice as high as Vietnam vets. "There is something twisted about using a predominantly sexually traumatized group of people as our erotic role models." Jenna Jameson writes, "To this day, I still can't watch my own sex scenes." In describing what she does, Jameson desscribes sex: "It was a weapon I could exploit mercilessly."

Levy concludes that the raunch culture is not a pursuit of female sexuality, but an abandonment of it.

"The proposition that having the most simplistic, plastic stereotypes of female sexuality constantly reiterated throughout our culture somehow proves that we are sexually liberated and personally empowered has been offered to us, and we have accepted it. It's time to stop nodding and smiling uncomfortably as we ignore the crazy feeling in our heads and admit that the emperor has no clothes."

Levy mentions "many letters from men confirming my gut feeling that reducing sexuality to a commercial formula is no better for them than for us." One can only hope so. But, either way, it is time for women to get back to being strong and competent, confidant and fully sensual. Now, that's revolutionary. And sexy.

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Apr 18, 2007 Larissa rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, 2007, usa

Ever since I heard--or rather, speculated on--the premise of this book, I wanted to support it. Wanted to get behind the woman who was willing to lay bare all the ways in which females so often 'ruined it for the rest of us.' And yet, Levy takes this theme very close to my heart and makes it almost impossible to take her seriously as anything short of a prudish, porn-hating, sexually reticent sapphist.

It's not that her discussion shoulnd't include interviews with women who proudly sport Playboy...more Ever since I heard--or rather, speculated on--the premise of this book, I wanted to support it. Wanted to get behind the woman who was willing to lay bare all the ways in which females so often 'ruined it for the rest of us.' And yet, Levy takes this theme very close to my heart and makes it almost impossible to take her seriously as anything short of a prudish, porn-hating, sexually reticent sapphist.

It's not that her discussion shoulnd't include interviews with women who proudly sport Playboy bunnies, who flash 'Girls Gone Wild!' cameras after the promise of a trucker hat, who have moved to the top of the corporate world by producing programs on the "ultimate fantasy" of being a porn star. Because it should. And Levy does make some insightful points about the common equation of exhibitionist sexuality with power, as well as the manner in which women who want to set themselves above the tradtional lot and reception of their gender mask themselves in a sort of faux masculinity, deeming their traits--their favored traits--as somehow 'male.' The problem is that she consistently (and unncessisarily) stacks the deck--interviews only people who are going to reinforce her vision of naieve girls commodifying themselves or foolishly contrary women who advertise their 'empowerment' whilst selling their 'sisters' down the river. She interviews porn stars who were raped, beaten, and abused prior to choosing their profession. She interviews Adam Corolla. And with the expected sound bytes from such individuals, who can argue with her point: women are still living in a degraded patriarchal society and they are bringing it on themselves.

What makes this assertion truly problematic is that Levy has no solution for this problem, no interviews with--or even speculations on--what a strong, healthily-sexual woman looks like. Presumably she thinks that she herself as above and outside, a paragon of liberated and feministic sexuality (although she occasionally admits to falling prey to the temptation of buying into masculine privlege), but she never actaully explains what qualities she has that others lack, or how she's managed to escape the vortex of 'raunch.' Instead, there she stands, on the sidelines, turning up her nose at the poor self-degraders, the prissed out, self-righteous lesbian that no doubt many people expected her to be.

It is, then, the final irony that Ariel Levy lets not a single sequined, tube-topped interview go by without first decribing--in great detail--the young women's hair color, innocent lips, curvaceous figure, glowing skin. Perhaps such characterizations are intended to draw our attention to the sad irony: the inherent beauty and innocence of girls and women who think of themselves as nothing more than flesh and display. But closer observation reveals nothing more or less than ogling--the visual consumptions of a woman who likes to watch, likes to critique, but doesn't have a single answer. (less)

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Jan 11, 2008 Cori rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Women who don't get other women.

From my blog:

Let me start out by saying this is definitely not something I would normally pick up, and I'm feeling a little weird writing a review of a book so overtly about sex. But over the last few years I've become fascinated with teenage girl culture (I attribute this to working with the high school youth group at my church). Watching these girls navigate the murky waters between girlhood and womanhood has been so interesting to watch. While the majority of my girls have left the youth grou...more From my blog:

Let me start out by saying this is definitely not something I would normally pick up, and I'm feeling a little weird writing a review of a book so overtly about sex. But over the last few years I've become fascinated with teenage girl culture (I attribute this to working with the high school youth group at my church). Watching these girls navigate the murky waters between girlhood and womanhood has been so interesting to watch. While the majority of my girls have left the youth group to become nice, normal college students, there are a few who have completely rebelled and embraced this "slut-it-up" mentality that I just don't understand. When did acting like a stripper become cool?

Ariel Levy, who considers herself a feminist, tries to uncover why many of us, as American women, have embraced this raunchy culture: stripper classes at the gym, New York Times best sellers by porn stars, all sorts of waxing and implants and dye jobs, etc. She says, "If Male Chauvinist Pigs were men who regarded women as pieces of meat, we would outdo them and be Female Chaunvinst Pigs: women who make sex objects of other women and of ourselves."

What is it about strippers and porn stars that have American women fascinated? Levy interviewed a number of women (and younger girls) who find "adult culture" fascinating and empowering. But Levy makes the point that these things aren't necessarily empowering. Many of her interviewees though that by watching porn and going to strip clubs they were able to run with the boys. But how is it empowering, in a female sense, to be one of the guys? And other women thought strippers are ultimate sexual fantasy -- but it's their job to fake arousal. How is that empowering -- or even sexy at all?

Levy is concerned that we've taken something so individual and personal -- our own desires and needs -- and bottled them up into a neat little package of what is "sexy." It doesn't matter what we each, individually, find sexy. It's all about big boobs, short skirts, and putting out.

One thing that I thought was missing from Levy's book was parental responsibility. Not once did she question, "who would let her daughter leave the house wearing that?" Parents weren't mentioned at all. I think it's a parental responsibility to help educate daughters. I also think society needs to step up and stop sexualizing young girls. Perhaps we should rethink thongs for ten-year-olds.

Anyway, I think Levy sums up her book nicely: ""How is resurrecting every stereotype of female sexuality that feminism endeavored to banish good for women? Why is laboring to look like Pamela Anderson empowering? And how is imitating a stripper or a porn star--a woman whose job is to imitate arousal in the first place -- going to render us sexually liberated? 'Raunchy' and 'liberated' are not synonyms. It is worth asking ourselves if this bawdy world of boobs and gams we have resurrected reflects how far we've come, or how far we have left to go."

My Rating: 7 out of 10 for helping put words to something I've been seeing for years. Still, could have used some solutions instead of just pointing out where women have gone wrong.
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Pollopicu This is what I've been trying to tell anyone who will listen for the past 6 years.
What's most upsetting about it all is the fact that when you do brin...more This is what I've been trying to tell anyone who will listen for the past 6 years.
What's most upsetting about it all is the fact that when you do bring it up, all the points you mentioned, people look at you like you're bitter, insecure, or unstable. No one is appalled by what the media is doing to our youth, the programs geared to young adults. Look at all these shows on tv. Like MTV and VH1, they're like soft-core porn. Pornography in the true sense of the word:
"Sexually explicit pictures, writing, or other material whose primary purpose is to cause sexual arousal". That is the Webster dictionary definition of the word pornography. However, the media and even people are redefining what pornography is just so it can be easily available. People don't even sneak porn anymore, it's so out in the open, so mainstream.

The other day I was at the Strand bookstore in NYC, and in the Art section there was this gigantic book of orgasmic images of women with their mouths slightly parted in mid ecstasy. The only reason I know this is because there was a young woman leafing through this humongous book in plain view of everyone as if it was the most natural thing on earth. As if she were leafing through a book on architecture. I'm really disgusted how cheeky this new generation of women are treating sex. I'm more disgusted by the moms who raise them to have no decorum. When I see young girls (9-10-13-14) years old with sweat-shorts with the word "sexy" written across their ass, I wonder how the moms could allow it, and how DARE they then accuse men of being attracted to their "minor" young girl. How dare all of America accuse these men of being sexually attracted to young little girls when that is how young little girls are presented to the world. Of course in no way, shape or form am I saying that it's ok for a man to be attracted to younger girls. Of course not, but society shouldn't wonder why.
A good point about the stripper classes at the gym.. I cringe when I go to my own gym and see subscriptions that are provided by the fitness center itself of Maxim. I just can't believe there is absolutely no shame in the game these days.

Honestly, I'm really intrigued by this book, but I don't think I could bring myself to read it at this point in my life. I feel like fighting this has been an uphill battle. I fought it for 5 years with such a fury by contacting stations, magazines, programming, tv stations, local supermarkets even, and it's no use. Most of them don't even answer you back.
I'm afraid the only way this can be turned around is by starting a revolution. A serious revolution. Taking all the shows off the air and pulling off all the magazines off the rack and starting from scratch with a very strict rating system of material and what should and should not be available to the free public. Screw censorship. There should be a designated place that only 21 and over are allowed to go to look for this trash. But that would be silly, wouldn't it? as silly as Miley Syrus doing a pole dance at the teens choice awards, or as silly as her little 10 year old sister dressed as a stripper.

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updated Feb 12, 2010 04:28pm

Sep 14, 2008 Asher Huey rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone

I consider myself liberal and open-minded but over the past few years I have been shocked by how sexually charged society has become. It is a relief to read that there are like-minded people who agree. I've said for years that lipstick feminism is not feminism and this book clearly lays out that argument. By using their sexuality as power women have begun re-objectifying themselves and succumbing to the stereotypes they fought so hard to break away from.

Everyone should read this book.

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Nov 08, 2007 Ngaire rated it 5 of 5 stars

Saw Ariel Levy on The Colbert Report, and thought she sounded really bright. She has several really important things to say in this book, and it's a good, easy read. Firstly, she notes how stripping and pornography, formerly on the fringes of society, have been mainstreamed to the point where middle class suburban women take poledancing courses at the gym. She takes issue with the idea that this acceptance of objectifying women is in any way healthy. There's a whole generation of women who are d...more

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Jul 20, 2007 Shannon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Feminists

Shelves: non-fiction, sexuality

FCP is very easy to read. She selects provocative topics such as: Girls Gone Wild, Sex in the City, “Bois” in San Francisco, Playboy, The Man Show, a supposedly feminist organization called CAKE, Jenna Jameson’s bio, and a crop of incidents of teens giving BJs on the school bus. She also offers a comprehensive history of the feminist movement that is quite informative for a “beginner.”

Her whole shtick is an attack on “raunch” culture a la Paris Hilton and stripper/porn star idolization. She comp...more FCP is very easy to read. She selects provocative topics such as: Girls Gone Wild, Sex in the City, “Bois” in San Francisco, Playboy, The Man Show, a supposedly feminist organization called CAKE, Jenna Jameson’s bio, and a crop of incidents of teens giving BJs on the school bus. She also offers a comprehensive history of the feminist movement that is quite informative for a “beginner.”

Her whole shtick is an attack on “raunch” culture a la Paris Hilton and stripper/porn star idolization. She complains that too many women are acting like men, objectifying themselves and other women.

Her riskiest pursuit is comparing this phenomenon to the racial dynamic in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”:

“…there are parallels in the ways we can think about the limits of what can be gained by “acting like” an exalted group or reifying the stereotypes attributed to a subordinate group…In doing so, you may be getting ahead in some way…but you are simultaneously reifying the system that traps you.”

She makes many other interesting and impressive points. Despite that, I didn’t read it 100% snowed by her ideas and command of language and argument. I couldn’t quite put my finger on the text’s flaws so I read some reviews and some of their points hit home.

Though her topics are varied and interesting, they are not synchronized as well as they could have been. One review complained that Levy seemed to have take a bunch of her editorials (she writes for New York magazine) and linked them together with a sentence or two. Another review commented that FCP was just a glorified college thesis.

Levy also interviews several young women and uses their testimonies as evidence to support her arguments, but true research and analysis requires more rigid statistical accumulation and Levy offers the reader none of that.

Other than that, I recommend the book to any female (and male) who thinks about our society and culture and examines the way in which it influences us. It is super easy to read and if anything, FCP is capable of raising people’s consciousness. I appraise her effort to revive feminist thought.
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May 04, 2007 Richard rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: readfromlibrary

Female Chauvinist Pigs was a difficult book for me to enjoy. Levy digs deep into our culture and finds a plethora of gender problems, and shows that feminism's relative successes in the job and education worlds have not translated to a healthy gender situation in America. These problems are fascinating, alternatingly intuitive and shocking, inspiring and lamentable. In the end, Levy doesn't propose any predictions, solutions, or unifying theories. The book ends as a laundry-list of the Chernobyl...more

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Jul 01, 2007 Alyssa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

People have criticized this book in many ways, one of which is by saying that Ariel Levy suggests that girls or feminists can't be sexual beings or enjoy sex, but I saw it completely differently. Levy is saying that womyn and girls shouldn't be sexual for the sake of men or for the sake of our society, because being sexual has become about how womyn look through the eyes of men, or other womyn. Levy reminds us that being sexual should be about sexual pleasure for womyn, which girls gone wild, st...more

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Oct 19, 2007 Zack Rock rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS!

Pretty terrific analysis of the female contribution to "raunch culture." It's been frustrating to me, as a proponent of feminism (to the extent that it enables women to reconsider themselves as distinct individuals outside the bounds of traditional gender roles), to see so many women get on board with such demeaning activities as stripping, prostitution and the like. In facts, anecdotes and interviews, Levy addresses both the current shape of female raunchist, and reconstructs the history of the...more

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Aug 08, 2007 Rachel rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: every single woman on the planet

I could read this book a million times and it would still be awesome.

If you are a woman and you "hate girls" and consider yourself "one of the guys" you better pick up this book.

If you think stripping is "liberating" and "empowering" you better pick up this book.

If you have or ever plan on watching one of those "Girls Gone Wild" tapes, do yourself a favor and pick up this book.

If you ever thought that the womens movement has lost considerable ground in the past few years, you better read this bo...more

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May 05, 2013 Emma rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: re-read, feminism, pop-culture, auckland-library

Interesting to re-read this 8 years after it was written.

The weak parts seem weaker with time: Levy doesn't sufficiently unpick why feminism fractured; why raunch culture has come to predominate. Brownmiller's interview on the topic seems rather feeble and exudes a sense of puzzled disappointment, but also a touching sense of melancholy loss - how a (surface) unity and strength came to dissipate like autumn mist, without any voiced awareness of how the movement itself contributed to this.

Levy's...more

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Aug 19, 2007 Supriya rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A great analysis of modern American trends - this book is interesting in that it focuses on females who have been co-opted into "chauvinistic" behavior toward other women. It tries to answer questions such as - What is feminism to you? How does it equate to our existence as a woman? Why do we strive so hard to be "manly" in our daily activities? How did sexuality become feminism?

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Aug 21, 2007 Leah rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everybody

Ariel Levy articulates so many thought I've had about girls and women's use of hypersexuality as a means of "empowerment". She looks at everything from second wave feminism and the sexual revolution to Girls Gone Wild and strippercize classes. I want to give this book to every teenage girl I meet.

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Sep 15, 2007 Sarah Woehler Michaud rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was a highly anticipated read for me. About post-feminist females seeking new-found feminism in strip clubs, pornography, and aligning with male chauvenists in a stumbling effort to restake themselves in the American culture. Ariel Levy hit the nail on the head with this one.

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Feb 16, 2013 Ellen rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have never been what you would call a feminist (in the sense of the "old guard" 70s crusaders). I was raised in a more conservative home with a father who is genuinely a wonderful, open human being and a step-mother who brought home the bigger paycheck of the two. Gender equality was the de-facto dynamic in our house. And so I instinctively thought of the radical feminists as a tribe of wild-eyed, man-hating harpies who must have been personally abused by a man at some point, and so took it ou...more I have never been what you would call a feminist (in the sense of the "old guard" 70s crusaders). I was raised in a more conservative home with a father who is genuinely a wonderful, open human being and a step-mother who brought home the bigger paycheck of the two. Gender equality was the de-facto dynamic in our house. And so I instinctively thought of the radical feminists as a tribe of wild-eyed, man-hating harpies who must have been personally abused by a man at some point, and so took it out on men as a whole. Their axes to grind were personal, their politics tightly bound to their subjective singular experiences.

That has been most of my life. But as I've gotten older, I've begun seeing things a bit differently, and asking if my own politics were also simply bound to my own subjective experience (of course they are), and missing the greater point that the feminists were trying to make. Because in truth, I've not been comfortable with our culture for a long time (maybe never, really). It has been bright and loud and shiny, alienating and isolating. And so I gradually formed my own views on what is wrong with it and why, though I never bothered to ask if others might also feel this way. I just assumed that in this world, some people were just always going to be out of step, and maybe that went for me, too.

And then I ran across this book, which for me articulated a big part of the alienation. A book that really puts a finger on our current culture's sexual Zeitgeist, which has effectively conflated female gender empowerment with mainstreamed sexual exhibitionism, and also has fed a compulsive drive in many women to emulate modern "guy mentality." That our actual identities are secondary to (and subsumed by) the desire to be desired. This book asks us to pause and consider if this is a good thing, or does it rob us of something essential, only to replace it with a commercialized, packaged, one-size-fits all template that realistically few can achieve (and involves spending lots of money, besides). But I suppose that's the point, to get us to spend money.

Because for a woman, "hotness," desirability, to be wanted by men, is still the easiest (and most acceptable) route to power there is, we've totally pounced on the opportunity to exploit it, as technology advanced and the old sexual mores began vanishing. And that women are the main culprits in encouraging this(see any fashion magazine or US Weekly clone) comes as no surprise. Competition for mates has always a part of the human experience, and beauty has always been prized. In the last 40-50 years, though, it is like we have honed these two to a double razors edge that we are now using to shred ourselves apart with. We unashamedly use a particular woman's "lack of hotness" as a basis to discredit/patronize/undermine her (e.g., we have seen this with Hilary Clinton, who I am not exactly a fan of), but then also use another woman's perceived hotness to do the same discrediting, but with a different twist and for other reasons (Sarah Palin is a good example, even though I'm not a fan of her politics either). We simply don't do this to men.

Ok, my ramblings aside, Levy uses a string of anecdotes and adds her observations, but even with anecdotes (as opposed to some rigorous scientific analysis), her message should ring true to anyone even slightly tuned in to popular American culture. I enjoyed her rhetoric; it is pointed without being strident, and handles a heavy subject deftly. An enjoyable, timely, thought-provoking read.

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Jan 15, 2013 Betsy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Levy's book is certainly lighter feminist writing -- a bit of theory and history with a healthy dose of popular culture to back up her points. Some might point to this as a sign of the book's inadequacies. As someone who loves to read about popular culture, my only critique would be that she doesn't spend enough time on the pop culture, but the cover art of this one should tell you all. Don't pretend to be surprised when she doesn't name drop Butler or Foucault. It's a populist book, and that's...more

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Feb 02, 2010 Becky added it

This book has its own identity crisis--the blend of anecdotal reporting combined with academia-speak combined with personal opinion is distracting and ultimately makes the reader question what's fact, what's opinion, and what's conjecture.

But--I think this is a really important book thanks to its topic. It is distressing how our society has become so sexually charged but only allows for such limited expressions of sexuality. (E.g., We're not okay with gay marriage because we're not okay with hom...more

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Jan 02, 2008 courtney rated it 4 of 5 stars

really satisfying and interesting book. levy's tone throughout is light enough that you never feel defensive, but sharp enough that you recognize that there is something wrong. i appreciated the history and context for the rift between sexual revolution and feminism and how that rift deepened and how feminism became discredited in the push to "own" our bodies and do with them what we wish. what i think is interesting is that our society encourages girls to go wild, but then almost immediately ch...more

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Sep 11, 2007 Zara Logue rated it 4 of 5 stars

“Raunch culture is about creating a shorthand for sexuality.”

Levy points out that the future was left open after a coherent message of a united feminism failed to surface in the late ‘70’s as various contingents splintered off. Women in her generation grew up with mothers who took part in women’s lib and ended up taking their mother’s actions for granted, content to believe that the wave would swing forward with no action required. Initially, this premise was supported by the rising numbers of w...more “Raunch culture is about creating a shorthand for sexuality.”

Levy points out that the future was left open after a coherent message of a united feminism failed to surface in the late ‘70’s as various contingents splintered off. Women in her generation grew up with mothers who took part in women’s lib and ended up taking their mother’s actions for granted, content to believe that the wave would swing forward with no action required. Initially, this premise was supported by the rising numbers of women in higher-ranking jobs, more equity in pay, more women working in general. But it fell apart as the next generation took the helm, unsure of how they might fit the feminism of the past into their increasingly complex contemporary lives, lives influenced by media in a way their mothers never could have imagined.

I mostly agree with the argument Levy puts forward in her book: that what is missing in American women, and maybe in America as a whole, is idealism and the power to act on that idealism as a force against mainstream media images. We live in a culture where radical movements are quickly absorbed into the mainstream in order to pacify them. Instead, we’re content to reenact the images we see constantly in the media of celebrity, exhibitionism, and sexual behavior without sexual pleasure. Using current examples from our culture like Girls Gone Wild, teenage exhibitionism, historical feminism, and boi culture, Levy illustrates the issue from many angles. Women are denying themselves fulfillment in sexual, professional, and social realms by withholding from actions and behaviors that might present them as something less than the current ideal. And by doing so, they prevent other women, girls, and men from imagining and image of women any different from the one currently on display. The thing left out of the book, and the thing I think about often is: do any of us have the fortitude and vision to create a new image and what, exactly, does that look like?
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Apr 09, 2007 sylas rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: I would not recommend this book.

While Levy's analysis of the ways in which some women participate in and uphold raunch culture is, at times, quite apt, this book as a whole brushes past the true root of the issue (patriarchy) and in doing so places blame at the wrong placemat. Rather than critiquing the dominant paradigm of power and control, or focusing on oppression, racism or class, Levy focuses on the ways in which women (and sometimes men, who she inacurately identifies as women) can harm other women by perpetuating raunc...more While Levy's analysis of the ways in which some women participate in and uphold raunch culture is, at times, quite apt, this book as a whole brushes past the true root of the issue (patriarchy) and in doing so places blame at the wrong placemat. Rather than critiquing the dominant paradigm of power and control, or focusing on oppression, racism or class, Levy focuses on the ways in which women (and sometimes men, who she inacurately identifies as women) can harm other women by perpetuating raunch culture and "acting like men". Though I agree that women should be held accountable for their contributions to a system that perpetuates mysogyny (just as any person of any gender should be) and though I'm sure that it was Levy's intention to write a book that encourages such accountability, I don't believe that this book effectively calls women to action in this ragard. In fact, I think that this book -- when placed in the hands of the wrong person -- could prove dangerous.
In Levy's chapter "From Womyn to Bois", she discusses the ways in which female born gender variant people, female born genderqueers and transguys -- all of whom she describes as "bois" -- uphold and perpetuate raunch culture through their actions and behaviors. Levy uses female pronouns for all but one of the differently gendered people she refers to in this chapter (who she seems to have decided is trans enough to warrant appropriate gender pronouns) and belittles their experience in her description of them as promiscuous "lesbians" caught up in the "fad" of testosterone and top surgery. This is transphobia at its finest.
Levy's book seems based on very limited, few and far between interviews with randomly selected members of various communities (whose experience she proudly generalizes as indicative of all members of that community). Her research is, in this way, flawed and ineffectual. Her transphobia is frightening and hazardous.
This book is intended to be accessible to and appropriate for the average reader, which is why I take such great offense to her denegration of gender variant and trans identified folks. Hidden in amongst a proportedly feminist analysis in true hate-speech mired in disdain for queer culture. This is not a message I want distributed en masse throughout popular culture, for the aforementioned reasons.
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Jun 05, 2007 nicebutnubbly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

An interesting look at "post-feminist" culture, from the point of view of a second-wave feminist. Makes some excellent points about the logical flaws of a female culture of sex and exhibitionism claiming to be empowering, but assumes that the reader is aware of the state of women's rights in general in America. The problem with post-feminist rhetoric, as I see it, is that the people spouting it really don't realize that serious gender inequities persist, and so aren't understanding how their rhe...more

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Jun 03, 2007 Ashley rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: twentysomethings

I was taking a Women's Studies class in school and, what can I say, this book touched a nerve. Like Ms. Levy, I do not like the incorrect assumption that, by adopting a "Girls Gone Wild" mentality, young women are making a powerful, feminist statement.

This book tried to enforce the idea that feminists are not haters of sex-in fact, feminists are quite the opposite. However, what is considered "sexy" now does not promote positive feelings toward young women; this new sexuality is male-driven and...more

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Mar 02, 2009 vylit rated it 2 of 5 stars

Very well written.

There is some excellent research to be found and it's readable. In addition, the majority of it is done through interviews and speaking to women, which gives it a human element and really takes it into the realm of a cultural critique.

However, Levy only addresses phenomena that primarily affects white women, making it clear that the subject should be White Women and the Rise of the Raunch Culture. In addition to that, Levy seems to place the blame more on individual women than...more

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Jul 09, 2007 Reza rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone

Shelves: read-in-2007, feminism

This was a fast, but interesting read. Levy comments on how sexuality has been repackaged to women in such a way that one starts to believe that behaving like "men" or aspiring to be like men is something for young women to aspire to. Like engaging in promiscuous sex, going to strip clubs and watching porn. But the joke is on us. For example, somehow, Joe Francis has managed to convince young women that baring their bodies on a "girls gone wild" video translates to a a new form of feministic exp...more

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Apr 12, 2007 abatage rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone who thinks feminism ain't what it used to be

Shelves: non-fiction

This was a great read and put into words some of the things that I have felt about the modern feminist movement for a long time. There are points and facts here and there that I found very interesting and although some sections aren't covered enough for my liking (this book could have been twice as thick and still not covered it all), the overall strength of the argument still comes through.

Certainly a quick read, but interesting and thought provoking either way, which is basically the point of...more

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Dec 22, 2008 Nicola rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: gender, non-fiction

This book examines raunch culture (Playboy-as-a-female-brand, Girls Gone Wild, Howard Stern, etc.) and the way that women have either taken up the dumb, blonde, sex-doll definition of sexuality as a perverse kind of empowerment -- or, alternatively, chosen to opt-out of female-ness altogether, identify as men and use sexism as another tool to get ahead.

I picked this up on a whim and I ended up very impressed by it. I always find postfeminism a bit of a sticky subject, but Levy provides a clear v...more

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Dec 02, 2008 Kaydence rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book was amazing. As a disclaimer, the language can be a bit salty for some people's tastes. She uses a lot of quotes and therefore a lot of "slang" is used by the people that she interviews.

However, the topic and the information is fascinating. I've long been interested in the "feminist" movement of our time. It seems as though we are over-sexed, under-dressed and over-worked but the greatest part is - men have convinced us that it's what WE want. We exploit ourselves as women and take par...more

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Jul 03, 2007 Jessica rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: superior

Excellent commentary on the current Feminist movement. Author holds that stripping and watching/performing in pornography are two of many examples where women feel power. This may be true for the individual, but there is no way this "power" is moving womankind forward as a whole. These professions are rooted in abuse and submission - the exact opposite of what women are striving for. Levy continues to build upon this thesis, citing references and people across the board. Very informative and mov...more

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Apr 29, 2013 Johanna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: feminism

Defiantly one of the best written feminist texts I have encountered recently. This book deals specifically with the implications of a society obsessed with raunch culture and what these implications mean for women.

What I liked most about this book was its underlying message that, contrary to the views pushed by raunch culture, being ‘sexy’ and being accomplished is not the same thing. Raunch culture claims that being sexy is synonymous to being beautiful – this capitalises on the insecurities of...more

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About Ariel Levy

Ariel Levy (born October 17, 1974) is a staff writer at The New Yorker magazine and author of the book Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, The New Yorker, Vogue, Slate, Men's Journal and Blender. Levy was named one of the "Forty Under 40" most influential out individuals in the June/July 2009 issue of The Advocate.

Levy was rai...more Ariel Levy (born October 17, 1974) is a staff writer at The New Yorker magazine and author of the book Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, The New Yorker, Vogue, Slate, Men's Journal and Blender. Levy was named one of the "Forty Under 40" most influential out individuals in the June/July 2009 issue of The Advocate.

Levy was raised in Larchmont, New York, and attended Wesleyan University in the 1990s. She says that her experiences at Wesleyan, which had "co-ed showers, on principle", strongly influenced her views regarding modern sexuality. After graduating from Wesleyan, she was briefly employed by Planned Parenthood, but claims that she was fired because she is "an extremely poor typist". She was hired by New York magazine shortly thereafter.

At The New Yorker magazine, where Levy has been a staff writer since 2008, she has written profiles of Cindy McCain and Marc Jacobs. At New York magazine, where Levy was a contributing editor for 12 years, she wrote about John Waters, Donatella Versace, the writer George Trow, the feminist Andrea Dworkin, the artists Ryan McGinley and Dash Snow, Al Franken, Clay Aiken, Maureen Dowd, and Jude Law. Levy has explored issues regarding American drug use, gender roles, lesbian culture, and the popularity of U.S. pop culture staples such as Sex and the City and Gwen Stefani. Some of these articles allude to Levy's personal thoughts on the status of modern feminism.

Levy criticized the pornographic video series Girls Gone Wild after she followed its camera crew for three days, interviewed both the makers of the series and the women who appeared on the videos, and commented on the series' concept and the debauchery she was witnessing. Many of the young women Levy spoke with believed that bawdy and liberated were synonymous.

Levy's experiences amid Girls Gone Wild appear again in Female Chauvinist Pigs, in which she attempts to explain "why young women today are embracing raunchy aspects of our culture that would likely have caused their feminist foremothers to vomit." In today's culture, Levy writes, the idea of a woman participating in a wet T-shirt contest or being comfortable watching explicit pornography has become a symbol of strength; she says that she was surprised at how many people, both men and women, working for programs such as Girls Gone Wild told her that this new "raunch" culture marked not the downfall of feminism but its triumph, but Levy was unconvinced.

Levy's work is anthologized in The Best American Essays of 2008, New York Stories, and 30 Ways of Looking at Hillary.(less)

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Quotes from Female Chauvinist Pigs...

“You think you're being brave, you think you're being sexy, you think you're transcending feminism. But that's bullshit. - Susan Brownmiller” — 36 people liked it

“Sex is one of the most interesting things we as humans have to play with, and we've reduced it to polyester underpants and implants. We are selling ourselves unbelievably short.” — 22 people liked it

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