In December of 2013, the Motion Picture Association of America’s (MPAA) decision to revamp a sex scene in the movie ‘Charlie Countryman’ was received negatively by actress Evan Rachel Wood. Prior to her claims, a man-on-woman oral sex scene was removed due to the discomfort of a ratings board member. Wood argues that censoring a scene where a woman is receiving sexual pleasure is a “symptom of a society that wants to shame women and put them down for enjoying sex” (Jasenosky, 2013).
As a reinforcement of this symptom, the recent celebrity nude photo hack, termed as “The Fappening” by Reddit netizens, received the same negative attention. Several actresses were slut-shamed and demonized, with their own bodies used as weapons against them. Even in the case of Gabrielle Union, whose photos were taken with husband Dwayne Wade, were criticized. Despite being one of the most publicized images, plastered half-naked on majority of magazines, the female body remains indecent to the public. However, celebrities are expected to show off their physical features and ‘be sexy,’ whilst maintaining a moralistic and virtuous image. Through these events, the true nature of the media is evident; it exploits the female body as an object of desire, yet exhibits it as a token of shame (Holbrook, 2014). The…show more content… Whether it involves a real person or fictional character, women being sexual is treated as offensive and shameful (Holbrook, 2014). However, the media pays no mind when a man appears on the front cover of a magazine shirtless, making suggestive poses to the camera. The double standard of men openly expressing their sexuality, while women stay quietly on the sideline, stems from this idea— the notion that society wants to keep a woman’s sexuality repressed and at bay, never considering her sexuality to be a part of her inherent identity and that the only way a female can be sexual is to be