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Tuesday, December 09, 2003


Point by Point: A Continuation

To understand the following, please read Mitch's comment on my previous post.

"fastasy of all males..." Mitch is correct in his comment below to point out Gunn & Fewell did not say all males were fantasizing about whores running rampant through the streets. But, neither did they specify that this is not a fantasy of all males. They simply stated it was a male fantasy. Thats like me saying, "Women who like to wear leather enjoy S&M." That would be interpreted as me saying that all women who wear leather enjoy S&M, which simply isn't the case. In scholastic writing it is extremely important, especially when writing about sensitive issues, to make sure your point is clear and that there is as little room for ambiguity as possible. I didn't fail to pick up the difference; the authors failed to make the difference clear. The burden of proof does not lie with the reader.

"Porn is a 7 billion dollar industry..." It is true that pornography is a booming business - simple law of supply and demand right? In a capitalistic society, if someone is willing to pay for it, someone will be willing to produce it, whatever 'it' may happen to be. Those men and women who are featured in pornographic films and magazines are there of their own free will. I am unaware of a forced labor system that forces men and women to have their pictures taken in erotic poses against their will. So, how is that an objectification of women? On one hand, it causes men who read those magazines to begin to view all women as sex objects, which is bad. On the other hand, (a) I, as a man can choose not to read those magazines and/or not to treat women in such a regard, and (b) those women don't have to pose for those photos!!! Clearly, they are not against it.

"It is males that subjectify females with whistles, catcalls and pick up lines. Not the other way around." Not entirely true. I have been in plenty of situations where friends of mine and myself have been on the receiving end of such whistles, catcalls, and pickup lines. Granted, the opposite type of situation seems to be the norm, but it does happen. Secondly, women on the receiving end of such catcalls that go to bars and night clubs tend to dress in a certain way, which many would call sexy. More than likely, most of them are trying to get noticed. The way in which they dance is also highly suggestive! Now, this is not to excuse poor behavior on the part of men, but the women are not blameless in this at all!

"By saying that the total argument is unfounded, you are dismissing it..." I am not dismissing it; I am disagreeing with it. I maintain that at its core, monotheism (belief in one God) has zero potential to be oppressive to women. At the risk of repeating myself, it is the actions of human beings engaged in monotheistic belief, while also being engaged in socio-political structures, that causes oppression of peoples, be they women or whoever. But the simple belief in one God is in no way oppressive, except maybe to other gods.

Go and work in a domestic violence shelter... I don't need to go work in a domestic violence shelter to understand such terrible things happen and to understand that people misuse (and likely misquote) scripture. I understand that perfectly well.

My point throughout this discussion has not been all men are blameless and upright all the time and the poor suffering women are always oppressed and objectified. Members of both sexes, in this modern time, are complicit with the system. If a girl does't like to get catcalled, she ought not to wear a shirt with her breasts popping out the top or a skirt that barely covers her rear to a place where social degenerates are likely to be hanging out. Yeah, sure, it's her right to wear such clothing to whatever place she wants to go, but it is also the right of weirdos (though we may dislike it) to leer at her. In a perfect world she should be free to wear whatever, wherever, without fear. In a perfect world, I should be free to come to a seminary (or anywhere else) and not be stereotyped as a "typical frat boy" simply because I'm young, straight, and wear some letters across my chest. (Not too many people probably know that the fraternity I was in was a non-alcoholic, Christian fraternity, that maintained the highest GPA of all Greeks for 8 semesters running.) But we don't live in a perfect world, now do we? Not everbody knows all things about all people, and we shouldn't make such judgements.

-R

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