Which of These Women Are Sexually Liberated?

The answer: all of them. A woman’s appearance does not make her any more or less sexually liberated than her peers. Too often, the media would like the American public to believe that the only way to be an empowered woman is to be overtly sexual, like option D. Magazine and newspaper articles, TV shows, and movies present a narrow model of the new ‘sexually liberated woman’ of the twenty-first century – a vibrator-yielding woman with multiple partners, who is comfortable wearing revealing clothes and having everyone know that she enjoys sex. This model of the woman who is empowered through sex is fantastic and is an essential aspect of women reclaiming their sexuality – if a woman feels comfortable being overtly sexual, then she has every right to act as so. However, this should not be the only model of a sexually liberated woman available to the American public through the media. Movies and TV shows constantly present more conservative women as being sexually frustrated and in need of a man who will help them ‘discover’ their sexuality.

Since American media and society puts so much pressure on women to be openly sexual, we need a more inclusive view of what it means to be a modern sexually liberated woman. This viewpoint should include all women who are comfortable with their sexuality, not just women who are overtly sexual – women who dress conservatively, keep their sex lives private, are asexual, or are content with not being sexually active. We need to insert these various portraits of the modern woman into the media in order to promote the idea that a woman can be sexually liberated without being an overtly sexual being. However, we need to do this carefully and in a manner that maintains the importance of openly sexual women and does not slut-shame anyone.