1A Lesson Plan for Ariel Levy (144) and Brooke Knight (150)

Part One. Lexicon

 

1. Salacious, prurient: sex obsessed
2. Desensitization: the more sex obsessed a culture becomes, the more numbed or desensitized it becomes to sex requiring more extremes displays
3. Pushing the envelope
4. Quintessential: see paragraph 1 on 144: the ultimate
5. Ubiquitous: see last paragraph on 144 and top of 145 and see 146
6. Raunch Culture: The line between porno and mainstream is dissolved; see 145
7. Bacchanal: a place of drunken self-abandonment made popular by Madonna in the 1980s and 90s. 
8. Cyborg: a person who is both naturally human and artificially human at the same time: These are the new sexual images that have been idealized in the Internet Age. See page 150 and second paragraph on 152
9. Voyeuristic: spying with salacious intent. This is the motive, not education, as Jennifer Ringley suggests on bottom of page 150.
10. Narcissistic delusion: See top of 151: “Everyone is my angel.”
11. Flaneur: a traveler. See 153 top.
12. Delusion of “personal discovery”: see 153 top
13. Mundane: minutia of daily existence: see 153 bottom
14. Minutia: small, trivial, unremarkable

 

 

Part Two. Study Questions

 

One. What is “raunch culture”? It is more than a culture obsessed with eroticism. Taking the obsession further, raunch culture is elevating eroticism to a noble ideal. Being raunchy becomes the ultimate expression of the human condition and even feminism (see page 145).

Two. How did the Charlie’s Angels film contribute to the ideal of raunch? Because the women were more than soft-core porn images; they were strong, independent, and smart. (144)

 

Three. How does raunch show that a woman can “hang with the guys”? See 146 top.

 

Four. What is Ariel Levy’s conclusion? That women who feel that sexualizing themselves into raunchy images are deluded, fooling themselves, and succumbing to self-exploitation. It’s a self-hustle.

 

 

 

Part Three. The 10 Causes of Exhibitionism:

 

1. Incremental or gradual acceptance takes away the scandal and embarrassment factor; mainstreaming of porn culture blurs the line between normal and marginal behavior: See 146.
2. The nation has been “Howard Sterned” and “YouTubed” into desensitization. See 145 top
3. People are starving for attention, perhaps at the level of the narcissist
4. Lad magazines; promoting “raunch culture”; see 145
5. Need to be “one of the guys.” See 145 bottom
6. Exhibitionism became confused with empowerment: see 146 top
7. No line between the public and private in the world of Internet cams and cell phones in which people have fights with boyfriends and talk about personal surgeries for everyone to hear. See 150
8. Gives people a sense of control. See 150 bottom and 151 top.
9. Gives people a sense of community. See last paragraph on 151.
10. Gives outsiders a chance to be flaneurs—explorers of new places—from the safety of their own homes. See 153 top

 

 

First Option for Essay #3:

 

Sample Thesis: Ariel Levy and Brook Knight analyzes the major causes behind the Internet culture of webcam exhibitionism. The major causes include ____________________, _____________________, _____________________, and __________________________.

 

 

Second Option for Essay #3:

 

“Watch Me!” by Brooke A. Knight (150) offers various defenses of webcam exhibitionism. It’s claimed to be resource of education, love, community, authenticity, a “new machine/body,” healthy profit, and personal liberation.

 

Defend or refute these claims.

 

Third Option for Essay #3:

 

Ariel’s misguided strident attack of raunch culture collapses under the weight of several logical fallacies, unsubstantiated claims, and cheap emotional attacks, which include __________________________, ________________________, __________________________, and ____________________________.

 

Fourth Option for Essay #3:

 

Women who justify their raunch look by claiming they are empowered and liberated are woefully blind to the fact that they are willing participants in their own demise evidenced by __________________________, __________________________, ________________________________, and ____________________________.