Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture is a 2005 book by Ariel Levy which critiques modern feminist culture in America. Levy argues that America's sexed-up culture not only objectifies women, it encourages women to objectify themselves. Ariel Levy is a contributing editor at New York magazine, and recently author of the book Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture. ...

Citing examples ranging from the fad of Playboy Bunny merchandise for women to the moral panic of rainbow parties, Levy argues that American mass culture has framed the game so perversely that young women now strive to be the "hottest" and "sexiest" girl they know rather than the most accomplished. Bunny Girl costume A model wears the Bunny Girl costume A Playboy Bunny was a female server at the Playboy Clubs (open 1960–1988). ... A moral panic is a mass movement based on the false or exaggerated perception that some cultural behavior or group of people, frequently a minority group or a subculture, is dangerously deviant and poses a menace to society. ... A rainbow party is purportedly a group sex event involving fellatio. ...

Levy also explores the lesbian scene and looks at it critically from an outsider's point of view.

Issues

Levy takes issue with two breeds of feminists: "lipstick feminists" and "loophole women." According to Levy, lipstick feminists believe, for example, that stripping is empowering and that putting on a show to attract men (be it through makeup, clothing, or girl-on-girl gyration) is not contrary to the goals and ideals of feminism. Levy disagrees with this view. A striptease. ...

On the other end of the spectrum, Levy takes issue with women who make their way in a man's world by playing by men's rules. Sometimes, she argues, these women even make their fame and fortune by objectifying other women; for example, Levy finds it interesting that Playboy is currently run by a woman. Even to those women who make their way in their field legitimately, but shy away from feminism, Levy protests: "But if you are the exception that proves the rule, and the rule is that women are inferior, you haven't made any progress." (p. 117) Playboy is an adult entertainment magazine, founded in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, which has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc. ...