Statistics in The Beauty Myth

Naomi Wolf mentions a lot of statistics in her chapter ‘Sex’. This chapter is about how people perceive it and people’s views on it. In this specific section, she talks about how sex is portrayed in younger people. She uses MTV as an example. She says, “It seems that exposure to chic violence and objectifying sexual imagery has already harmed the young” (162). She goes on to discuss that it is not only pornography and magazines that have a negative effect on children, but even material in music videos and songs. She names The Rolling Stones who she says are seen as ‘male heroes’ and yet they say lines like, “I’ll stick my knife down your throat” (164). Not only that, but also in videos women are shown in chains or fishnet stockings and choked to death. She mentions that these images have become so normal that they don’t really shock anyone anymore. I wish she had mentioned other countries in the world rather than just the U.S. because many people in other countries would be shocked to see images like these. It is true that most world countries import U.S. T.V so maybe over time that ideology of shock will spread. I personally know teenagers my age and adults that criticize the U.S. and even U.K for airing violent programs.
According to Naomi Wolf, there are lots of statistics that support that sexual violence is highly influenced on what men consider tobe violent. For example she cites a study of college graduates and finds that, “Some women look like they are just asking to be raped. 83.5% and it would be exciting to use force to subdue a woman. 61.7%” (165). These statistics upset me because well firstly they are horrid to think about. 62% is well over half of the entire population of those schools and I get scared to think that I will be soon going to a university too. Although my university is not in the U.S. people are highly influenced by the same programs as Americans are. So who’s to say that they won’t turn out like them?
Most shocking was Wolf’s statement that, “Cultural representation of glamorized degradation has created a situation among the young in which boys rape and girls get raped as a normal course of events” (167). I think that this is so true and sad. At the same time, there are even more differences in gender because of how we react to a boy getting raped as opposed to a woman getting raped. I think that reaction is now global and not simply in the U.S.