College Girl's PowerPoint "Fuck List" Goes Viral
I shared this on Facebook and was surprised by reactions to it. When I read it, my initial reaction was, "Hey, men do stuff like this to objectify women all the time" and I wasn't that sad to see it turned around on men. But the further I read it, I thought to myself, is this really progress on the part of women? Acting like the worst part about men and turning the other sex into objects? Whether or not these particular men deserve it is up for debate. But her grading criteria - how aggressive he was in bed, the size of his penis - only subscribes to the stereotypes of what men should be like sexually, that they should all be stallions who take control and know exactly what to do. As one of my friends argued, well this is what some women like from a man in bed. My argument to that is that men who don't act this way in bed are made to feel inadequate and inferior, which can lead to distressing dysfunctions down the road. It would be the same if a woman is expected to be submissive and willing to do anything (oh, and have big boobs and be shaved). The argument "that's just what some men like" just doesn't work if you take into account how people are conditioned to act in bed based on gender norms. Anyone that deviates from these norms may experience criticism from their partners - or they may face public ridicule on the Internet, in this case.
To be fair, this "fuck list" reminds me an awful lot of the Tucker Max semi-autobiographical I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, a book I actually found hilarious despite myself. And most of my friends who read the PowerPoint found it funny and entertaining in the same way. So maybe I should just lighten up. On the other hand, it may also be good to keep in the back of our minds that feminism is not about claiming pieces of patriarchy for ourselves. Let's not act like "female chauvinist pigs" (Levy) and pretend that it's empowering.
Oh, and don't write down anything on your computer that you wouldn't want the entire world to see. Because they might.
No comments:
Post a Comment