"1. "Love" is not what men feel for MJ, especially not this depiction. That would be lust, pure and simple."
Fair enough.
"2. By enclosing the word smart in quotation marks, this person, whose screen name is White Male, is deliberately implying that women in general are not smart at all and that is why there is not equal representation in math and science. That it has nothing to do with decades of socialization, etc."
No, I think he was implying with smart in quotation marks women that are typically considered smart, but not necessarily the strict definition of smart he'd agree with. To not put the word in quotation marks would imply that math and science type smarts is the legit way of determining smart or not and by putting the word in quotation marks he's suggesting it's potentially a narrow way of measuring smarts. No one knows the ultimate cause of the math and science gender gap...socialization alone is a bad theory with lots of holes in it. In the book,"The Female Brain", there's clear evidence of how the male brain's sections for thinking about sex and spatial reasoning are larger than the female brain's, where the female's brain has a larger center for empathy and communication...on average. The spatial reasoning gap might explain the math and science gap.
"3. Sexual empowerment & liberation does not equal being objectified. It means that we can be sexual beings who can make their own choices about when, where, how, and with whom. It does not mean that we want to be objects, implying that we are just property to be bought. It is one thing for a man to admire and desire a woman (or even a distorted representation of a woman) it is another for that man to want to OWN said woman, as an object - that said woman is not a person in her own right."
There seems to be some misunderstanding. I believe the critique was along the lines that women want to be free to be sexually expresses, if they so choose, but still feel free to be offended if this causes men to look at them in a purely sexual manner. I side with the feminists on this one since women should be free to be how they want to be without some guy looking at them like a purely sexual object. But, the property thing is taking it too far. No one is talking about possession...just a one-dimensional perception.
"4. Women who like Sex & the City do so because the women depicted are the ones CHOOSING to do what they do. They make their own money, and spend it the way they want. They make their own decisions about who, where, and how to satiate their sexual needs. They are a community of four, who are growing and evolving in their wants and needs through life. Are they "shallow" because they think about themselves?"
Are you serious? I have no idea how a legit feminist can approve of that show. How about I make a television show where black men "choose" to spend their money on pork, fried chicken, and water melon and "choose" to spend their time tap dancing and chasing white women? That show potrays women in the worst light and it's twice as bad because we have people holding them as "empowered."
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Date: 2007-05-16 01:00 am (UTC)Fair enough.
"2. By enclosing the word smart in quotation marks, this person, whose screen name is White Male, is deliberately implying that women in general are not smart at all and that is why there is not equal representation in math and science. That it has nothing to do with decades of socialization, etc."
No, I think he was implying with smart in quotation marks women that are typically considered smart, but not necessarily the strict definition of smart he'd agree with. To not put the word in quotation marks would imply that math and science type smarts is the legit way of determining smart or not and by putting the word in quotation marks he's suggesting it's potentially a narrow way of measuring smarts.
No one knows the ultimate cause of the math and science gender gap...socialization alone is a bad theory with lots of holes in it. In the book,"The Female Brain", there's clear evidence of how the male brain's sections for thinking about sex and spatial reasoning are larger than the female brain's, where the female's brain has a larger center for empathy and communication...on average. The spatial reasoning gap might explain the math and science gap.
"3. Sexual empowerment & liberation does not equal being objectified. It means that we can be sexual beings who can make their own choices about when, where, how, and with whom. It does not mean that we want to be objects, implying that we are just property to be bought. It is one thing for a man to admire and desire a woman (or even a distorted representation of a woman) it is another for that man to want to OWN said woman, as an object - that said woman is not a person in her own right."
There seems to be some misunderstanding. I believe the critique was along the lines that women want to be free to be sexually expresses, if they so choose, but still feel free to be offended if this causes men to look at them in a purely sexual manner. I side with the feminists on this one since women should be free to be how they want to be without some guy looking at them like a purely sexual object. But, the property thing is taking it too far. No one is talking about possession...just a one-dimensional perception.
"4. Women who like Sex & the City do so because the women depicted are the ones CHOOSING to do what they do. They make their own money, and spend it the way they want. They make their own decisions about who, where, and how to satiate their sexual needs. They are a community of four, who are growing and evolving in their wants and needs through life. Are they "shallow" because they think about themselves?"
Are you serious? I have no idea how a legit feminist can approve of that show. How about I make a television show where black men "choose" to spend their money on pork, fried chicken, and water melon and "choose" to spend their time tap dancing and chasing white women? That show potrays women in the worst light and it's twice as bad because we have people holding them as "empowered."