South
Park is known for its crude humor, language, and (usually) grotesque
images. South Park is also known for
taking the media and society itself and turning it upside down in a crudely
satirical manner. Their episodes poke fun at a wide variety of topics which include:
popular shows or figures in the media, religion, holidays, and norms in society.
In a specific episode called “Stupid Spoiled Whore”, the main focus is around
role models for young girls and the impact she has on them. This episode
displays both universalizing and minoritizing discourses subtly and bluntly.
In “Stupid
Spoiled Whore”, the young girls discover their idol Paris Hilton is coming to
the town of South Park and opening a store for girls called, you guessed it,
Stupid Spoiled Whore. While many of the
girls are excited about this, one particular girl is not. Wendy, known for her
intelligence, is shocked and horrified at the impact trashy girls like Paris
Hilton have over her fourth grade class and over society in general. Wendy searches for one of the town’s favorite people who
ends up challenging Paris Hilton to a “whore off”.
As
stated from the lecture, one of the key factors in minoritizing is the belief
that the norm is in the center of a societal circle and anything outside of it
is considered deviant, freaky and out of the norm. In the South Park episode, Wendy is seen as a
freak in her school among the girls because she is not dressing or acting like
a bitchy whore. She is seen as dull and boring because she would rather go to
an art museum than play the “Stupid Spoiled Whore” sex tape game with her
friends.Wendy is also rejected from going to a sex party that one of
her friends is hosted because she is not spoiled and does not dress like a
whore.
On the
other hand, a universalizing discourse is being aware of the norm present, but
argues against it, saying it is only a construct of something else. In this case, Wendy would be the
universalizing figure. She realizes that the norm of being a whore like Paris
Hilton is present, but she doesn’t believe it is an actual or concrete norm.This
also floats around the other factor of the universalizing discourse: meanings
of gender, race and sexuality are constantly changing over time and there is no
distinct meaning that remains implanted in the norm forever. In the example of the South Park episode, Paris
Hilton was challenged to a “whore off” by Mr. Slave, a man who claims Paris
Hilton’s partying and whorish behaviors are tame and bubbly compared to his
partying. In the end, Mr. Slave ends up
defeating Paris Hilton in one shot ( and I’d rather not say how; just the mere
thought sends shudders down my spine).When
the girls realized that Paris Hilton was gone, they kind of shrugged her off
and realized she isn’t the greatest role model for girls.
Attwood’s
concept of empowered eroticism seems to play a role here. Essentially Atwood’s
definition of empowered eroticism is emphasizing girls stripping and starring
in porn as an act of empowerment ( 287-288). When Wendy and her dad went to the
Stupid Spoiled Whore store to chastise mothers for dressing their kids like
whores, the mothers defensively argued that if men are able to act like whores,
so should women. The mothers listed off a bunch of things that men deemed “weird”
for a woman to do and they decided to equalize the whore concept for both
sexes. In a way, this shows women doing things such as dressing slutty will
empower them and make them feel equal with the guys.
Boyle’s
idea of the pornification of culture also seems to tie in to the episode. Boyle’s
idea of pornification of culture deals with sexual objects and porn symbols
becoming more mainstream and available for young women and girls ( 295). This
is very noticeable in the Stupid Spoiled Whore store; little girls are able to
buy thongs, lingerie, and other skanky accessories such as the perfume “Skanque”.
They are also able to gain access to “playsets” that allow girls to make their
own sex tape that comes with accessories a typical whore would use.
South
Park may be a show for amusement, but I believe there can be some lessons
learned under the guffaws at bathroom jokes, F-bombs, and sexual
intonations. Maybe some will look deeper
into these episodes and think, “ is society really like this?”
Works Cited:
1. Race, Gender & Sexuality in Pop Culture power points Feb. 28th and April 3rd
2. Attwood, Feona. No Money Shot? Commerce, Pornography, and New Sex Taste Cultures. Gender, Race, and Class in Media 3rd edition
3. Boyle, Karen. "That's So Fun: Selling Pornography for Men to Women in The Girls Next Door." Gender,Race and Class in Media 3rd Edition
south park, as a show, does a good job in incorportating what is going on in the world into the show. taking a prominent figure on pop culture such as paris hilton displays the ways that she, and other like her, can have an impact on young girls and the way they act. also, paris hilton being defeated in the contest and then leaving the town displays the notion that the media and its figures are constantly changing and what it means to be "sluttly" or a "whore" is also changing and the media consumers must keep up with it if they want to be seen as normal. to answer the question "is society really like this?" one can state that society really actually might be like this otherwise shows like south park would bother flaunting these concepts in their episodes. of course it is exaggerated for humor, but sexualizing young girls is definetly present in our culture due to the media and the idea of the pornification of culture.
ReplyDeleteSouth Park is one of my favorite shows because it is not afraid to talk about issues that some segments of society would rather sweep under the rug. South Park takes these issues and bluntly emphasizes them regardless of how offensive their approach may seem. Calling Paris Hilton a stupid spoiled whore may come off as a little harsh but it says straight forwardly what many may already be thinking. In the case of Paris Hilton it is still mind boggling to me that the media even bothers to pay attention to her simply because she is rich (although not by any effort of her own) and makes a fool of herself publicly. We idolize the Paris Hiltons but not the doctors who save lives every day. We idolize the Lindsay Lohans, but not the firefighters who risk their own lives to save others daily. Perhaps society idolizes such celebrities because it makes them feel better about themselves in that they are not making fools of themselves or because some choose to live vicariously through these celebrities in a fantasy world that they feel they can never be a part of. Whatever the reason may be, it is definitely something to think about.
ReplyDeleteSouth Park is an interesting show. I can't say I like it very much because I feel that even though it picks fun of issues that are otherwise not talked about, if you do not have the media literacy to understand it, it can be taken out of proportion. I have seen situations when you do not follow along with the crowd and as you stand along you are seen as an outsider. However, since I do understand that south park gives both sides it could be a good show to watch. I think society follows celebrities to fulfill something missing in their lives. As for dressing like a whore empowering girls, I do not agree. children are supposed to be innocent and fun not sexy. Girls should not be wearing thongs at such young ages and when young children idolize stars like paris hilton it is just not right. Just like when a child from toddlers and tiara's saw pretty woman and dressed like her in the prostitute outfit for a pageant.
ReplyDeleteIronically, the reason Paris Hilton became famous in the first place is primarily due to the release of her sex tape. I honestly feel she is just allowing herself to be open about her sexuality and not hiding it like many girls do because they think they'll be considered a whore. South Park is definitely trying to reveal the impact celebrities like Paris Hilton can have on young girls. I feel our generation of children lacks confidence and self esteem in themselves and believe dressing in ways that are depicted as "cool" or "hot" will better them. The way a person looks and how judgmental people are is a problem in society because of the norms created by the media. South Park is poking fun at this concept, yet showing that negative factors such as fourth grade girls wanting to dress like "whores" is evidently occurring in society. South Park is probably one of the best, if not the best, at showing the ridiculousness of people doing or becoming what is the norm during that time period.
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