Allure of the "chipmunk faces"

Farah Fawcett

Is "misogyny" no longer a 50-cent word? Would it have registered with you, say, ten years ago? I still have to think twice about the spelling. 

"Misogyny" has become quite the no-no for men. A part of us might still feel amused by it. Without looking up the precise definition, I'll venture to say that it means looking at women as something other than full equals with men. To "objectify" them. 

And maybe my generation of the boomers had a problem with cultivating the undesirable attitude. We were the first generation of young people to be marketed to. That's an amazing observation but true. 

Television exploded in front of us. Television in our youth can be reflected upon as quaint today. Comedians liked mocking the "censors" who insisted on a, shall we say, Puritanical view of things. Would seem pretty detached from reality. But the nature of the media is that it always pushes us toward acknowledging reality. So maybe it had to be done via a sort of "code." Barbara Eden was not allowed to show her belly button on "I Dream of Jeannie." That's the kind of thing that comedians would mock. 

Censors came down on things that would seem so harmless or negligible today. The "Big 3" TV networks gave us shows we would all discuss "around the water cooler" the next day. We all didn't literally watch the same shows, but it was close enough. I never watched "Gunsmoke" but I got familiar with the story line and chief characters, e.g. "Miss Kitty." 

So how does all this relate to misogyny? Very closely, I seek to point out. We could not see the unclothed female body. But that did not keep a number of entertainers from acknowledging the existence of the generally accepted "attractive women." The entertainers really decided who the "attractive women" were, their traits. The traits were along the lines of "secondary sexual traits," to quote a professor I remember. Sexual attractiveness had to be suggested, not revealed in full. 

Several household name male entertainers made it clear the female "model" for being judged attractive. Coming to mind: Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra. 

Sinatra did a narration at the start of the movie "That's Entertainment." The movie began with an old black and white clip of some chorus girls. Sinatra, bless his soul (not really) described the girls as "chubby." They looked like quite normal females to me, just put forward in a way that only suited women. 

Sinatra's conception of the ideal would have been much slimmer women. "Slim" became quite the thing and applied to both genders. But the male entertainers in their black suits and ties were especially exacting in how they judged women. I will suggest a further complication: "The camera adds 20 pounds," to quote Fox News' Neal Cavuto who was not focusing on women. Thus the pressure grew in the entertainment world. 

Television with its ever sharpening color picture put pressure on all to keep the weight down. We as TV consumers had little idea what this all meant for the celebrities. 

Along came this "ideal" represented by Farah Fawcett. Sadly she is no longer with us. Did you all ever wonder what might have gone on in Fawcett's mind as she became increasingly aware that she was so extremely "objectified?" You might smile. I will insist here it's a serious topic. What would be the thoughts in the mind of a supposedly "plain-looking" woman as she noticed the incredible "fawning" over Fawcett and others like her. 

Like her? Well how do we define this? It is difficult. But the network entertainment model was pretty clear even if no one gave us a direct understanding of what this all meant. "Daisy Duke." You know what I mean? I guess a "slim" look was a prerequisite. 

 

Ahem, more elucidation

The faces? I got some help with this angle from a comment about the "Idaho 4" murders. The girls were quite attractive, right? Here we go again. I am just seeking to write about reality, even if the thoughts might seem a little crude. The comment I am thinking of here was in response to a comment I myself had posted. I wondered how five consummately attractive girls, according to the popular metrics, ended up in the same off-campus home. 

Bethany Funke

I got help with the terminology. A helpful individual noted that girls of this type have "little chipmunk faces." Take away Bethany Funke's long blond hair and what would she look like? 

Let's shift that thought to Farah Fawcett. What went on in Fawcett's mind as she noted that poster photo of her that became so famous? I wonder if she asked herself "what is so amazing about my physical appearance?" Really, why was this pushed as a phenomenon? Why the push for Farah's image to be put up on dorm room walls? Seriously, why the big deal? 

Couldn't she just be viewed as a regular person? Who decided that her attributes were so special? Well, the corps of culture shapers in mass entertainment, the Sinatra types. Leering males were responsible, yes. I wonder how many of them wondered, like I did, with a tinge of guilt about the objectification we were committing. 

 

It still surfaces

I was prompted to go this direction in today's writing by listening to KFGO Radio a few days ago. The discussion there was prompted by the death of Ryan O'Neal. O'Neal was an example of how men can be objectified too. But it doesn't happen in such an exaggerated way as with women. 

O'Neal could be described as a "heartthrob." A guy on the Fargo radio station launched into commentary that I think would make some of his colleagues wince. Maybe the guy was taken aside later, off-the-air, warned some. Warned about outdated cultural standards. You see, Ryan O'Neal had been married to Farah Fawcett. The radio guy made a big display of "what a lucky guy" O'Neal was, to be married to such an ingenue. 

Why? Well of course it was the "secondary sexual traits" of Farah Fawcett. Secondary, yes, so it's not the indice for judging the woman as a person. Network TV in my youth made very clear the kind of women we might view as a "knockout." Fawcett came along to top the list for many. 

Bob Hope thought it great to trot out Raquel Welch for the masses of U.S. servicemen in the hellhole of Vietnam. Carefully edited clips from the TV specials always showing the "grunts" so happy to be entertained, laughing outwardly even at jokes that weren't all that funny. Raquel Welch? How did she feel about being treated like a piece of meat? She knew deep down what was up. 

Males in my generation would sometimes remark about someone like her, that she couldn't really act well. And of course that was just a crass assumption we made because we felt she was on the screen because of her "looks." Dean Martin had an ensemble of "hood ornament" women around him, showing as much skin as the show could get away with. So bring on some double-entendre jokes, at least the ones that could get by the censors. 

Such was the nature of popular entertainment in my youth. It took time for "feminists" to rise up and scold us all for the crass nature. My generation knew already, I feel. We had a sense of the exploitation. Long, preferably blond hair with the "chipmunk faces" - is that what it's all about for the appearance of women/girls? 

We have adjusted our thinking in the modern age. We try to keep girls from thinking about "body image" in an undesirable way. Our whole culture has let go of its take on being overweight, almost to a fault. I don't even hear about the "big and tall" stores for men anymore. Looks like the mainstream stores have just incorporated that. 

In high school my generation learned to evaluate appearance based on what popular entertainment was pushing at us. Pro football players were the sexiest men, right? Today we view them with concern as we realize the highly detrimental effects on their health from playing the game. A girl might be advised to stay clear of such guys. 

The phenomenon of the "nerds" was a rebellion against the norms. And so successful was the rebellion, the term has all but disappeared, as such guys have come to be admired. Admired when placed next to the football players, yes? Who would have thought this back in the '60s and '70s? 

We still follow football because we'd be bored without it. TV exists now with its endless choices. But it's still a boredom-killing device. "Misogyny" has been laid bare for its crudeness. Body image insecurity has been tamped down. And let's suppress this fascination with "chipmunk faces." 

Ryan O'Neal RIP. Farah Fawcett RIP. The Idaho 4, RIP

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com