The Vicarious Power of Women

 

Well, he is cute so of course he has his female fans. Hopefully he stays adorable even when he grows up. As we know that happens for some, but not all men. This man is a good example of that truth: Clark Gable. Obviously he, in his turn, adores being adored ....

As to the women then they may resent their fellow Gable-fans: They are rivals, but not necessarily for the sexual favor of this or other men in the meaning "bedded by him". No, what still is important to many women is the status that they obtain by being courted by men. Women have their own inner lists of social status that are based on the impact each of them make on men. That means that rivalry for status may not even be about the man as such, but about their ability to make him and others like him fall for their charms. It sounds crazy, but actually, it's quite logical in a Patriarchy where one sex is turned into a sex object: The female. To be good at being a sex object gives her the right status, primarily with her own group, namely other women. 

She may enjoy being adored by all of these men - whom she most/very likely - has no ideas of sleeping with, and she regrets when age or other circumstances put a stop to it. However, now most women know that that kind of sex symbol-adoration keeps them in a social situation that makes it difficult for them to do much about their true position in a Patriarchy: It, sort of, takes out the steam of their efforts to obtain a genuine, not sex-based career as they may be judged unfavorable by deeds that get men to the top of the ladder. (Actually, that also goes for deeds that make them succeed via the bed of rich and powerful men: In some respects women are "damned if you do, damned if you don't ....")

I bet she will turn some male heads and get some nasty comments by women, either to her face or to her back, as she in some ways give in to the Patriarchal ideas of women as "pure body" and thus nothing but a "sex doll". Theoretically she may be anything from a successful business woman, a politician with genuine power, a famous artist or writer, but her clothes signal that she is nothing of that kind: She is the plaything of men a toy. However that may be only men will be naive enough to think that all of this comes without thought and planning. As women will know that's far from it, and what's more, by turning herself into a plaything she may obtain the kind of power which is open to women in a Patriarchy: The influence on those in power, namely the men. The female vicarious power should not be shrugged at, but in my opinion more because it has its limits and it deludes women into believing that they are powerful, than anything else. Genuine power is something else: