Who doesn’t write from their own point of view? If I didn’t present my point of view with research and surveys, you might ask, “where are the facts?” So I feel like what you’re saying is a bit of a catch-22. I wrote what I wrote with the intent of creating dialogue.
I’ve watched a lot of disney movies and kid’s shows, and wrote about them here (yes, also from my point of view)… you might be surprised that I care about the messages girls get too. Still, a lot of these shows reinforce what I wrote in the article.
How men are represented in the media is something we should all care about since about a third of boys and girls are growing up without a dad… even the ones with fathers only spend a fraction of the time they spend in front of a screen with him one-on-one. And they have next-to-no positive male role models at school, where the vast majority of teachers are women.
Ever noticed how, in movies and shows, when a girl or woman is out of a boy or man’s league but they end up together, the movie is a comedy. But when he is out of her league, the movie is a drama? Why? Because the male is always expected to take the initiative. When he goes for the woman above his station she “accidentally” gets stuck with him somehow (like getting pregnant after a one-night stand i.e. “Knocked Up”) — it’s always a colossal effort for him to woo her or to get her to stay with him (ex: “Hitch”). And he probably has to make a fool of himself, which shows he will put her first no matter what. But when he ends up with the woman below his station something dramatic has to happen (like love-at-first-sight, getting dis-owned by his family to prove his love to her, she helped him overcome his demons or a crazy ex-wife, etc.). In the drama he has to put her first also and the whole movie is about him figuring out how to do that. At that point she has the option to choose whether or not he deserves her attention and affection.
My point is that, women don’t have to put men first — we might even call her empowered if she doesn’t — but men always have to put women first, or they are assholes.
I realize all women have different feelings about the attention they get from the opposite sex. But we still have social and societal safety nets in place so we never really get left behind like men do. I know at least for myself, not having safety nets would definitely change how I approached and lived my life.
On another note, I think women objectify women at least as much as men objectify women. Why else do gossip magazines exist?
