Two Day Magazine

Recently, a few girlfriends and I were driving around when the song, “Toot it And Boot It,” started blaring on the radio. Everyone except me began singing along to lyrics such as,

“I met her in the club

then I said wassup

I took her to the crib

and you know I fucked

yea toot it and boot it

toot it and boot it

toot it and boot it

thats why I toot and boot it”

 I had no idea what “toot it and boot it” meant, so I asked.

“It means to fuck someone and leave!” declared one of my girlfriends.

“Well, that’s degrading,” I responded.

“Anya, what song isn’t degrading? I still like the song regardless.”

This is the part where I began feeling like an old lady at the ripe old age of 21. I began thinking of old love songs written back in the day such as “Love Me Tender” by Elvis Presley or Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to The Moon” with lyrics such as,

“Fill my heart with song

Let me sing forever more

You are all I long for

All I worship and adore

In other words, please be true

In other words, in other words

I... love ... you”

Snapping back into what is now the 21st century, I realized that songs like this don’t sell anymore. But why? Surely it isn’t because women expect someone to just “toot it and boot it”, right?

But, my friend’s defense of this song seems to prove my idea wrong. And, she is not the only one who felt that way. Everyone, except me, in the car felt that I was being a ‘prude’ and needed to get over it.

“It’s just a fun song! Calm down,” was the the main idea expressed by all involved.

Now, I am someone who has tooted and booted it on several occasions. But, I never left feeling empowered like I should have. Yet, I always got what I wanted, which was a little action.

Over time, my views on feminism and empowerment have evolved. I used to have no problem seeing scantily clad women covering all the magazines while checking out for groceries. I used to not care about the lyrics in songs and just appreciated a good beat.

In Ariel Levy’s book, Female Chauvinist Pigs, she addresses the new approach to feminism, which is women disowning women, and trying to be “one of the guys.” She also argues that that sexed-up culture not only objectifies women, it encourages women to objectify themselves.

Conducting interviews with chief executive officer of Playboy, Christie Hefner (daughter of the man, himself), some of the camera crew from the Girls Gone Wild franchise, and women in the porn industry, she exposes what are distorted views of feminism. Describing two types of feminism, lipstick and loophole, Levy challenges the ideas that women need to be like men in order to make it and that women need to strip down in order to attract men.

Lipstick feminism entails women putting on a show for men through makeup and clothing and girl-on-girl action. Loophole feminism is women who make it in a man’s world by playing by men’s rules.

Some women, such as Jenna Jameson, made their fortune through the objectification of themselves and other women. In a study conducted by the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in San Francisco, they found that the vast majority of women in the sex industry have experienced incest of other childhood sexual abuse.

The estimates range from 65-90% percent and experts tend to believe the higher numbers. Jameson is no exception to the rule either. Levy quotes Jameson from her book, How to Make Love Like a Porn Star, recounting the time she was gang-raped and sexually assaulted by her boyfriend’s friend.

As Levy states, “There is something twisted about using a predominantly sexually traumatized group of people as our erotic role models. It’s like using a bunch of shark attack victims as our lifeguards.”

The book highlights the struggle between old and new feminism and how ideas of feminism have been shaped and molded over time by media culture. But, what the book really does is expose the contradictions women face within themselves, trying to reconcile being a woman in a man’s world.

Nowadays women have to ask themselves, “If I act like a stereotypical woman, would it hurt my chances to make it in my career?” or “If I say I don’t like porn or don’t think I need to wear revealing clothes to get a guy’s attention will people think I’m a prude?”

The truth is, women haven’t made it that far. Many of us still resort to objectifying ourselves and allowing ourselves to be objectified because that has become the standard.

And why? While men certainly do a play a part, women need to take responsibility and stop saying, “Well, it is what it is and it won’t change.”

Instead of purchasing magazines that promote the idea that women are sexual objects or dancing along to songs that clearly show no sign of respect for women, or by playing by the rules of men, women should start making their own rules and deciding for themselves what they want instead of trying to mold to the ideas of what society says they should want.

As Levy states “If you are the exception that proves the rule, and the rule is that women are inferior, you haven't made any progress.”