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who listen to this music are constantly told that it is acceptable to be violent towards females. Women have digressed from being mere objects of beauty in men's eyes men to being mere objects that can be treated any way by men.

Poetry is something that is entwined with music, but it hasn't taken such a drastic turn for the worse. That might be because poetry isn't as mainstream in our culture as music has become. Men have used poetry not only as a way of expression, but also as a tool. Countless numbers of men have written verses in the hope of gain the favor of the woman they were pursuing. The point of the poetry was to flatter the reader, so the man would write about her beauty and how much it was loved by him. But women have broken into poetry more than many of the other forms of art. Women have come to embrace poetry as a wonderful form of expression. I think a prime example is Lucille Clifton's work in her books of poetry. She talks about her body, her fears, and her dreams in a style that conveys to others just what she is feeling. She does not talk about the way her hair falls in the light or how smooth her skin is. She talks about what she must go through as a person, and more importantly as a woman in graphic detail. She does not sugar coat her work for the benefit of the reader trying to find beauty in her body. She talks about the beauty and the horrors of her body.

One of the most obvious art forms that come to mind when discussing women as objects of beauty is the more static visual arts. Women have always been a favorite subject of paintings, probably second only to religious topics. What better way is there to express the beauty of a woman than in a picture? Women have been painted sitting, standing, clothed, nude...the possibilities are almost endless. But the women have historically been painted in very passive positions. The might be in a chair or lying down or they might be playing with children or holding them on their lap.

With the invention of the camera, it possible to have little instant portraits made. In pictures of couples, the woman was always placed on a chair while their husband was left standing to tower over her. Cameras also made it easier to dramatically change the way the images of women were captured. In modern days, many pictures of women are extremely sexual in nature. Take a look at the pornography industry. They took what was once an expression of beauty and have turned it into a way to sell sex. The idea of a woman's beauty has been cheapened to the point where a woman is nothing other than a sexual object.

Art forms portrayed women as mere objects of beauty, but now these art forms have evolved to cater to our new society. Now, many of these forms of expression help to foster an increasingly negative view of females. Women are no longer only to be looked at as objects of beauty, but now they are being seen as mere objects. Objects that are only around for the sexual pleasure of the men around them and are subject to their every whim. I am not sure if this can be called progress.

Learn more about this author, Joan Huston.
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