Show me the sexism

I was 11. The boys in my sixth- grade class held a copy of Britney Spears' first CD. They ogled her toned belly, her sweet, pretty face, her hair, her clothes, her body. I stood in the classroom alongside my fellow hormone-driven, confused, prepubescent girlfriends, watching the boys. At the time, we probably giggled at the boys' expressed sexual interest, not knowing any better. \nLooking back, I have to conclude that all us girls, at that time, actually felt deeply dejected.\nWe would never be as pretty as Britney. The boys would never desire us.\nFrom day one of their socialization into U.S. culture, little boys are constantly subjected to images of beautiful women's bodies, and they are conditioned -- and encouraged -- to desire that ideal projected female body. "It's natural," we seem to say.\nMeanwhile, women are taught to "desire to be desired," as Naomi Wolf puts so eloquently in "The Beauty Myth." \nBefore you call me a feminazi and blow me off as a bitter fatty fat girl, think of it this way: Many heterosexual men enjoy Playboy and pornography a lot, while Playgirl usually doesn't really "work" for heterosexual women. Women have no experience sexualizing men's bodies. When men's bodies are on display or objectified in film, it's often for humor (think "Jackass" or seemingly any Will Ferrell film).\nTherefore, I am outraged when I encounter a new media project that incorporates the blatant sexualization of women's bodies for no meaningful reason. Last Wednesday, for example, I was devastated after seeing ABC's very unoriginal and regressive "Show Me the Money." The charming creepster William Shatner hosts the game show in which contestants answer trivia questions in an effort to win money. I've had chewy corn flakes that weren't staler than that concept.\nSo where did my resentful anger come from? The dozen tall, beautifully toned and made-up women dressed alike (They're called "the dancers.") in slinky dresses who move sexily upon Shatner's request and hold up dollar amounts with shiny, lip-sticked smiles. Yeah, it's reminiscent of NBC and Howie Mandel's masterpiece "Deal or No Deal" in which Mandel's "models" reveal dollar amounts in their respective suitcases to the contestants.\nThe women in these game shows are used as objects to be desired -- and it's really not OK, especially when so many media consumers fail to acknowledge the meaning and the implications of the women's places in the shows.\nThe women are beautiful, reaching modern beauty ideals. The implications couldn't be uglier -- or more unfortunate. \nWomen's beauty is being defined with standards unreachable by women who don't have money to buy a white smile or products for soft hair or glamorous clothes. Meanwhile, portly old Shatner can host a show and be everyone's hero. More examples of this beauty dichotomy on television? "King of Queens," "According to Jim" and "Grounded For Life."\nHeterosexuality, in our culture, is better -- or at least easier -- for men.\nIt really just makes me sad.