In today’s society, spring break is synonymous with few a things: sunshine, vacations and inebriated young women taking off their clothes for fifteen minutes of infamy. For those of you who have seen Girls Gone Wild you know what I mean. The censored infomercials are trying to sell pointless footage of young women flashing the camera, masturbating, making out and taking off their clothes. These actions are commonly accompanied by some hoots, hollers and the occasional, “Spring break!” This film is usually captured in locales where alcohol infused co-eds run rampant, rewarding women with free t-shirts and trucker hats emblazoned with the Girls Gone Wild logo. Girls Gone Wild is planning on expanding its business to include not only tawdry videos but also apparel, compilation CDs of Girls Gone Wild “club hits” and a restaurant, much like the infamous Hooters chain. The expansion is not surprising when our culture cannot get enough of thong underwear and slutty pop icons. America is obsessed with sexed-up everything especially if it involves scantily clad women. Women as well as men should have choices over their own bodies including what they want to do with them and how they want to display them. Pornography is freedom of expression and censorship would go directly against the First Amendment. It can be an art form that displays alternative lifestyles. However, when this pornography only displays the masculine ideal of femininity this is neither a healthy nor liberating choice. Girls Gone Wild is solely produced for the entertainment of men who want to get off all in the name of capitalism. According to an article in Variety, the founder of Girls Gone Wild, Joe Francis, said Girls Gone Wild made about $4.5 million in 2001, an amazing sum for a privately owned and fairly young enterprise.

Today, many values the second-wave feminists fought so hard against like Playboy Magazine and strip clubs are being embraced and paraded by young women under the camouflage that it is sexual freedom. It’s supposedly trendy to be sexual. Liberation, to this generation, seems to signify all things tasteless and bawdy and overtly sexual. This is exemplified by the Girls Gone Wild videos. The most compelling thing about sex-positive trends mostly includes women in front of the camera and behind the scenes. In Ariel Levy’s book, “Female Chauvinist Pigs,” she questions why young women have chosen this pornographic sexuality and “raunch culture.” She writes that this culture keeps women down by pitting them against one another to gain male attention. It also objectifies lesbianism for the purpose of male heterosexual fantasies. Women’s hardest critic is other women, which is sad but true and apparent in many societies and cultures. Female chauvinist pigs glorify male behavior by having casual sex and objectifying other women and themselves by getting naked and groping each other to entertain men. This culture values male behavior and implies anything contrary to this, including women, is inferior. With the continuance of these accoladed exhibitionist stars like Paris Hilton, or burlesque striptease workouts, the female chauvinist pig culture is reigning and abdicating the throne from the feminist legal advances. Ann Coulter, the conservative political pundit, is most definitely a chauvinist with her bombastic comments and her display of male characteristics. She is an intelligent, well-educated woman in the limelight that is making inflammatory statements about how women should not even have the right to vote. The Man is still keeping us down but currently, the Woman is keeping other women down, as well. And this super sex culture is affecting children and adolescents. Whatever happened to Barbie? She now solely markets make-up and fashion to malleable little girls. Where is career woman Barbie? When I was little there was Veterinarian Barbie and Astronaut Barbie. Now all America’s first daughter strives for is a spot on American Idol and great hair. Who told young women it’s hip to be sluts who idolize Playboy? Why do women reduce themselves to novelties? And most importantly, why is this culture being revered and commodified by other women only for the pleasure of men? That definitely is not empowering.