Was that a sexual assault?
Of course, it was. A young man walked up to an unsuspecting woman and, without even considering her consent, grabbed her and planted a kiss on her lips.
Many people have to pause a moment before they can even comprehend the question. They never would have thought of it on their own. Did you? Some still try to excuse his behavior — “She seemed to like it!” — but would they still feel that way if the boy had not been cute?
Does this show just how thoroughly we have been indoctrinated to see such a scenario from the male’s point of view and never even consider the female’s might be different?
In essence, this ad was a miniature teen flick. Have we been taught by teen flicks like Risky Business, Superbad and American Pie to applaud any lengths taken by a teenage boy to get a girl, with the ultimate goal of losing his virginity?
Recently we’ve begun to see a few teen comedies about girls setting out to lose their virginity. Suddenly, the same fathers who were so proud of their sons have some problems.
Are men far more often cast as the hunters, while women are the prey?
Do media depictions reinforce the idea that it is natural for a man to “hit it and quit it”?
Did the end of the ad come as a surprise to you? (If not, was it only because you expected the ad to try to make itself memorable by going against the norm?)
Have media depictions even normalized the idea that men can’t help cheating?
Is this why the single Angelina Jolie was damned as a homewrecker by many, while the married Brad Pitt was largely given a pass for cheating on his wife, Jennifer Aniston? “He just couldn’t help himself!”
You know those puzzles that ask: “Which One of These Is Not Like the Others?” Which character on Entourage was not like the others?
Unlike his friends, Eric pursued relationships with women, not just hook-ups. Let’s look at this exchange more closely:
Vincent: “E’s a nesting creature, what’s the big deal?”
Johnny: “Because it’s not natural for a male is the big deal.
It’s not natural. It goes against the dominant ideology. Of course, E felt defensive and tried to deny it.
Eric: “I’m not a nesting creature.”
Johnny: “Really? Name one girl you’ve ever had unemotional sex with, ever?”
All of his friends gave E a pitying look. They knew that Johnny was right, knew that E’s attitude was unnatural for a man. As Johnny later added, E was “born without the sport-fucking gene.”
One line is particularly interesting. When Johnny discounted one of E’s examples, he said, “If I’m not mistaken, you didn’t fuck her; she fucked you.”
Hunh? Isn’t fucking a mutual act?
Which character on Sex and the City was not like the others?
Unlike her friends, Samantha had no interest in pursuing relationships with men. She preferred to “have sex like a man.” Did Entourage and Sex and the City both reinforce the idea that unemotional sex was natural for a man, but unnatural for a woman?
Have society’s and media’s views changed that much in the last 20 years or does this old song about sexual double standards still ring true?
There are now far more explicit songs from women about pursuing and enjoying sex. But are these females judged by the same standards as their male counterparts? Are they praised as modern women who know what they want or dismissed as fuckgirls?
Is empowerment in the ear of the beholder?
Societe Anonyme Inc 