21st-October-2008
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Oh the Horror… / Toy soldier on feminist rape culture ranting | |
Quote: Oh the Horror…
October 17, 2008 by TS
There is something to be said about relentlessly repeating fictitious, laughably dishonest and unnecessarily dangerous claims. The current presidential election has shown the power of that kind of silliness, particularly how easily it will be believed when some people already harbor negative and hateful views towards other groups of people. So it comes as no surprise that when certain groups of people constantly claim that society is driven by a ‘rape culture’ that dozens of people will jump on anything that fits that ridiculously loose definition.
For example, there was a recent complaint over a Pepsi ad that some feminists claim is just another example of ‘rape culture’:
This ad hugely offensive on its very face, but when compared to the other ads I think it provides an even clearer picture of what Pepsi thinks of its female consumers and women in general. This is in absolutely no way “cute” because it’s a pubescent boy who is going to assault the woman, nor is it mitigated by the assumption that he won’t do anything other than kiss her. It desperately bears noting that the woman is not only unconscious, but also in need of immediate medical attention — and in spite of the fact that if you could quite literally die in such a situation without proper care, her hotness and “availability” are still the most pressing concerns. Oh, and like a bunch of bananas, her bodily rights and very life are worth a can of soda.
HA. Hilarious, right?
Technically, no. However, the purpose of the ad is not to make anyone laugh. The purpose of the ad is show the ‘power of Pepsi’, i.e. that a lifeguard would trade his job with a boy eager to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation for the boy’s Pepsi. The fact that the lifeguard checks to see if anyone is looking could perhaps be construed as funny, but overall the ad is at best satirical.
Nothing in the ad suggests that the boy will rape the woman, that he is going to assault the woman, that he is going to do anything other than what we have seen dozens of times in cartoons, movies and tv shows of males (and females) using mouth-to-mouth as an excuse to kiss someone.
I could waste time listing the dozens of ads that actually do show a male’s life as worth less than a drink, food, clothing, a car, insurance or ironically a previous Pepsi tv spot that had a well-known popstar subjected to a minute and a half of violence all for the sake a two women being able to see him (only to be traded for a HDTV by one of the women’s father).
Instead, I find the outrage over this assumed attempted ‘rape’ sadly ironic. Last week, South Park featured an episode in which Indiana Jones was repeatedly, graphically and violently raped. Whether it was done for laughs or not is unclear, but given that South Park is a comedy, it would not be a stretch to assume that people were meant to laugh. Curiously, no feminists mentioned it beyond a community on Feministing.
In this past week there have been several reports about women raping or sexually abusing boys. Not misconstrued pictures that people assume is rape, but actual women actually forcing themselves on boys or abusing their position of power and trust to coerce boys into sex. I am not going to tell anyone what issues they should and should not care about. I am not going to tell any feminist that she should be outraged that boys were raped by women. I am not going to question whether those feminists find the above instances hilarious. I am not going to challenge those feminists to ask how the above instances fit their theory of ‘rape culture’ and whether feminist views may have impacted the reasons why those women felt it was their right to use or force boys into sex.
Instead, I am just going to ask if might not be more important to focus on actual instances of rape rather than focus on grossly misconstrued print ads you think are attempted rape.
Coincidentally, the ad can be interpreted in another way: It is a good example of how society (including feminists) views boys and perpetuates the myth that boys want to have sex all the time. Further more, the ad suggests that boys are always willing participants and that women could in no way ever harm or rape boys.
Not that anyone would actually believe that a woman could ever or would ever feign helplessness in order to rape a boy.
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