In swimsuit designer Jessica Rey’s
video “Evolution of a Swimsuit,” she argues that women should stop wearing two-piece
bathing suits because it makes men objectify them but instead conserve their
modesty by wearing once piece bathing suits. Rey gives the history of the
swimsuit and explains how women were more modest before the 21st
century by wearing bathing outfits and later one-piece bathing suits. Rey
reinforces her argument by reviewing lyrics from a popular song called “Itsy
Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” which describe a women wearing a
bikini who is afraid of coming out in front of people. She also argues her
point by using a Princeton Study that examined the brain activity of college
boys when shown pictures of women in bikinis. According to Princeton
researchers, boys part of the brain associated with tools like hammers was
activated and the part that feels empathy and sees connections didn’t light up;
however, when shown pictures of girls in modest bathing suit, the part
associated with empathy did light up. Rey argues that this study concluded that
men see women in bikinis as objects to be used and not people to connect with. Although
I believe that Rey makes some good points, her arguments are weak because they
are not convincing and outdated.
Using the Princeton study only
weakens Rey’s argument because it has several holes in logic. The study seems
to be convincing at first, but as one thinks about it more there stars to be
more flaws in it. The first thing is that the study focuses on college boys;
therefore the representation of that group is not accurate of all men. The
second is that the boys were shown pictures of women; this is definitely not
the same effect as having a live person standing in front of you. If the study
had focused on pulling random men of different ages and put live women in front
of them, I would have been more convinced that men actually see women as
objects instead of people.
Including the history of the bikini
and song weakens Rey’s argument because she uses outdated logic. Rey uses the
history and song to convey that women have a natural sense of modesty and this
is why they wore once-piece bathing suits but society today has pushed women to
throw out this modesty and reveal themselves. Rey tries to argue that this is
not a good thing because instead of empowering women, it just makes men see
them as objects to be used. The reason that this logic does not support her
ideas is because women and people in general are not born with a sense of
modesty. As young children we all want to run around naked and be free. It is
society that teaches us to cover up and be shameful about our bodies. If a women
chooses to wear a bikini in todays society, she is confident about her body and
feels empowered by it. Who cares if some college boys see us as objects? They
see themselves as people and so will real men.
Even though Rey has some good
ideas, her use of the study and outdated logic does not accurately convey her
point.
