The advertisement reads “When your fiancée is a little fussy, that’s demanding. When your fiancée is a little hussy, that’s classic.” The photo is taken from the movie Jezebel, which is an endearing love story with a strong and empowered female character – yet Turner Classic Movies reduces her to a “Little Hussy.” Turner Classic Movies allows for the audience to assume that all strong and independent women are therefore hussies. By stating that when one’s “Fiancée is a little fussy, that’s demanding,” Turner Classic Movies perpetuates the idea that strong vocal women are disturbing the so-called natural order of things. This message not only continues to propagate the sexist stereotype that woman should be submissive and subordinate to male authority, but even more importantly, this idea of submission also contributes to what many scholars call a “rape culture".
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