I love the Internets.

I love that they make information available at my fingertips. I love that I can research cancer prevention and watch a video of a strange kid after his dentist appoint all in my living room.

But I also love the Internets for another reason: they are helpful in identifying oppressive unconscious social identity stereotypes and expectations.

As a little experiment today, I put on my Google goggles to do some research about the nature of the images that were linked with the word “woman”. I was curious if I would find highly sexualized imagery, or domestic portrayals, or if perhaps (and hopefully), there would be images of women in the working world, or in the academic world, or in spaces other than the kitchen and the bedroom. I was curious…. WHAT WOULD A GOOGLE SEARCH OF THE WORD WOMAN REVEAL ABOUT THE DEFINITION OF WOMEN’S CURRENT STATUS (AND PROGRESS) IN THE WORLD?

and here is what I found…

In searching for “woman” the top five image results were as follows in order of their apparent applicability (and popularity of people who visit their sites on Google)….

1. A picture of a naked woman in a bed with her face hidden with the title “mystery woman”.
2. Julia Roberts in “Pretty Woman”-The “ideal” prostitute image.
3. Wonder Woman.
4. Playboy magazine cover (with a playmate dressed as wonder woman).
5. A woman pretending to give fellatio to a statue.
6. A pregnant woman from neck to the bottom of her belly in a robe.
7. A painting of a pregnant woman by Alice Kneel.
8. A picture of a woman smiling while cleaning.
9. A “virtual woman” from a video game.
10. A picture of a Japanese woman jumping on a bed with the title “woman having fun in bed”. 

(Note: this line-up changes every day because the Google algorithm changes according to Internet activity.)

Here are what I think are the underlying ideological/social statements of each corresponding photo from above.

1. Women’s bodies are desirable and their “face” is not a necessary part of the arousal. (Also the title plays into the notion that having sex with an unknown woman is arousing, as opposed to sexuality that involves intimacy and relationship)
2. Prostitution is acceptable and can even be seen as a “fairy tale” experience for a woman.
3. Women can be strong and powerful (but only if they are also incredibly beautiful).
4. Wonder woman is a hot sexual fantasy for a man. (Also, women on flat paper are much more arousing that women in real life).
5. Even a male statue deserves to have fellatio performed on him.
6. Pregnancy (childbearing, and child raising) is still a central part of what is expected of females in order to maintain their gender identity. (A huge portion of a woman’s value is still found in her ability to make babies and raise children)
7. Pregnancy is such an important female role, there are two images in the top ten.
8. Women are still responsible for domestic work, (and according to this image, they love it!)
9. Women in video games are hot.
10. Another huge role for women is to be in bed, and this woman is “having fun”. (And is probably playing into the highly sexualized image of Japanese/Asian women as desirable for stereotyped passivity and servant hood)

I think it is fascinating that out of ten images of a “woman”, two of them portray PREGNANCY, two of them portray women in BED, one is of a PROSTITUTE, one is a PORNOGRAPHIC IMAGE (soft porn, but still porn), one is of a woman CLEANING, one is a woman performing FELLATIO, and the last two are FICTIONAL characters in male dominated hobbies (comic books, and video games).

There are no images of women in the workplace, no images of women in power, and no images of women interested in their own progress. All of the images maintain the status quo of patriarchy and reinforce the one-sided, terribly boring and disappointing dance of mainstream gender roles.

WHERE IS THE IMAGE OF THE WOMAN AT WORK?

WHERE IS THE IMAGE OF THE WOMAN AT SCHOOL?

WHERE IS THE IMAGE OF THE WOMAN IN POWER?

WHERE IS THE IMAGE OF THE WOMAN WHO IS INDEPENDENT OF MEN?

WHERE IS THE IMAGE OF THE NORMAL LOOKING WOMAN?

WHERE IS THE IMAGE OF THE OLDER WOMAN?

WHERE ARE THE IMAGES OF THE WOMEN OF COLOR?

WHERE IS THE IMAGE OF THE WOMAN REVEREND OR PASTOR OR RABBI?

WHERE ARE THE IMAGES THAT REVEAL THE TERROR WOMEN EXPERIENCE AT THE HANDS OF VIOLENCE ON A DAILY BASIS?

WHERE ARE THE IMAGES THAT ENCOURAGE WOMEN TO LOVE THEMSELVES AND STAND UP FOR THEMSELVES?

Thank you Google for the reminder. We have a long way to go.