General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: For those women who think objectifying women as sex objects is OK [View all]The Straight Story
(48,121 posts)A few folks I have known over the years (and still do know a couple of them) who got 'saved'.
They still saw stealing as a sin, but now they saw stealing everywhere. Let's say you smoked before - was a sin still, but now you are using money for a sin that could go to orphans or the church, so you are stealing resources god gave you from them.
Play dungeons and dragons, huge sin because in the game there are spells, magic, mages, witches, and you have to kill things - best to burn those books and play other games like jeebus bingo.
Storm coming? Caused by sinners and not following the word of the lord as pat robertson interprets it.
We get it. Men, women, even kids are used as objects by the media. I see it too, just go over to fox news and not only the anchors but some of the stories they choose to be on the front page and you will see women set about as objects to lure in clicks (just went to check that - 2 stories one butt selfies and another on breast implants as an example. Not much on Uganda and the rest of the world).
One would have to be blind not to see it. Problem comes in here a few ways. One, it is not always bad, or wrong, or 'sinful', for people to see such images and like them. It's just not. Just because we can like something and someone knows that and makes an ad or cover utilizing that does not mean we are so one-dimensional all we see is someone we want to use or abuse.
Where the 'war' comes in is when people tell us that we do. I spent some time checking out the twitter posts and such from these ladies and kate upton as well. They were excited to have been chosen for the cover, they are models, it is what they do, this was a big victory for them. To them - I am the object. A consumer to get some money from using ad revenue, sales, whatever. They don't care about me, I am just some person they can use as a means to an end of their personal goals. Which is just fine with me.
We are all 'presented' as something at some time to someone or some group. Used to drive me nuts when I was a deputy -we had to shine our brass each night, buff our shoes (unless you had those ever shiny ones, forget the term for them), shave, hair trimmed just right, etc. We had daily roll call and inspection to make sure we maintained the 'image' of what people expected us to look like. You could be the best cop there and get hammered in roll call if you if you weren't 'presentable'. It was worse at the ambulance company I later worked at.
Again, no one is really denying that people are used as objects to sell or get attention. Difference is how one is offended or not by it and what they read into it. If you look upthread you see what I thought when I saw the cover. Basically it was ho-hum. Never heard of those three ladies before, probably never will again, they were/are attractive but nothing I don't see in the summer near the osu campus. Dime a dozen.
On the air not too long ago myself and the station owner discussed portrayal of gays in tv/movies. It generally perpetuates the stereotypes (flamboyant/loves antiques/fashion/etc). We did however also discover many other counter examples (like Jack Harkness in torchwood). No one seemed upset over those because they didn't feed the stereotype, but then one could argue they were trying too hard or denying the character a trait they might actually have in real life (and I follow John Barrowman and he is not like his character and does seem to more fit the stereotype in real life. The guy is freakin awesome across the board).
We get out things what we read into them, generally speaking. If you are coming from a position that everything is centered around one thing you will see more in something than others will. And just because it affects you in a way it doesn't others does not mean they are haters, don't care, just want to use someone, and so on.
I think it has been said that we should not tell others they cannot be offended by something. True. But you can't tell others they should be either. I don't want to race in like some white knight and rescue those ladies from doing something they enjoy and worked hard for. If I don't like the magazine I won't buy it. I don't get to define what others feel and they don't get to tell me what I feel or who I am because I don't feel the same way they do.
We can discuss it all, and we have. Problem is now myself, and lots of other allies of women and their problems in society, are kicked to the curb and told not only are we not allies we see women as sub human, we are sick, we only think about touching ourselves, we are ignorant, etc. And that is why we have so much back and forth. You honestly feel how you do about something, I don't agree always with the general assessment and applications, we discuss it all, fine. I still think you are a liberal that cares about women and others issues. Apparently I, and others, are not afforded the same.