The other day, I read an article saying that a social scientist recently wrote a book called Honey Money: The Power of Erotic Capital. In her novel, Catherine Hakim basically advocates females to use their looks and sexual appeal to get ahead in life, whether it be the work field or in relationships. She states that many men will do anything to get sex, and that women should use this to their full advantage. Her opinion has of course been very controversial, with some saying that whether people like it or not, looks have and very likely always will be an advantage in life. Others say that this idea presents women in a very demeaning manner, making them no different from prostitutes. Although I do not agree with the author, I think it is odd that when men do things like this, it is often comical to people. For example, on the show "Friends", Joey Tribbiani, an actor, would often sleep around with various women to get an audition, a favor, or anything else he wanted, and his friends and the tv audience would laugh at his actions, finding it humorous. If a female did this, many would call her a whore, and it wouldn't really be much of a laughing matter.
That's a good point: why is it that a woman's body and sexuality tend to be framed as desirable objects to be probed, watched and, with luck, seized, whereas the male body is often the object of a joke. The male buttocks and anal area in general are always surrounded by a lot of anxiety and, excuse the pun, the butt of jokes. The "tabloid-like" pieces we read for today's lecture shows some of that, especially the one about a male giving birth through the anal cavity and the potion so disgusting the author couldn't even describe it. Diego
ReplyDeleteDouble standards definitely in play here.
ReplyDeleteI believe this has not always been the case, however. Michelangelo of the Renaissance sculpted the Statue of David based on the common Ancient Greek theme of the standing heroic nude male hero. The figure portrayed is idealized; the statue is praised for its symbol of strength and beauty, not detested. To be short, trends change, it seems.
-Jeremy