American culture has become obsessed with sexualizing just about everything and everyone. Objectification of women is encouraged in society today and most women themselves are okay with this. They see it as a way of equalizing themselves to men, they believe that if men can go out and objectify women then women should accept it and objectify themselves alongside men. Ariel Levy, a feminist who wrote the novel, Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture, talks of this shift in society as she realized in college that her friends were beginning to wear revealing clothes and act provocatively. The shift has come mainly from the influence of television, music and the way girls are portrayed in the media. Girls are encouraged to act sleazy and wear revealing clothes. Beyoncé is a good example of what Levy writes about in her novel. The artist stands as a confident, provocative, and influential figure for women today. She is known as one of the most provocative figures in media and she receives a lot of praise from society because of it. Constantly seeing influential figures, like Beyoncé, in the media who portray promiscuity along with a strong sense of self and confidence influence women to engage in the “raunch culture” and constant sexualization of oneself. Because so many women are accepting the new “raunch culture” into society, it has become a main part of the American societal expectations that women will not act “prude” or “reserved” any longer but instead promiscuous and most women have accepted this and taken to engaging in the acts of promiscuity as a way to not only create gender equality but to also acclimate themselves with the shift of cultural values.
http://www.ariellevy.net/books.php?article=2
anth102spring2016 
I think you made a good point here. I do agree with you that raunch culture has been affected to women, in my opinion, especially to young girls. I believe raunch culture affects the way teenage girls think of themselves, how they associate with others, and how they express characteristics of their maturation. Unfortunately, teenagers are exposed to explicit sexual material in the magazines they read and the movies, music videos and TV they watch. These are all lowering their standards of what is acceptable. Also, another good example of Levy’s raunch culture would be Miley Cyrus. She is such a trouble maker who promotes unnecessary lack of clothing and sexual dance moves such as twerking. I think it is very unforture that raunch culture cannot be avoided for this generation and that they are being negatively influenced by raunch culture in today’s media.
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