Oprah and a Planet of Whores
Like many men, I suspect, I am periodically subjected to a pregnant woman whom I know only casually sharing her ultrasound, publicly passing around a photo of her barely evolved fetus, sometimes giving it a cute name or describing distinctive family characteristics to the indistinct blot on the photograph.
Since when did showing a photograph of your womb become a public event, to be shared with vague acquaintances? I’ll tell you when: Since women started behaving like whores. I guess that’s the price men must pay for modern society’s near universal open crotch policy. I know that I spent the better part of two decades as a single man, riding high on free pussy.
Let’s face it, you have a better chance of tossing a penny into Lake Michigan and striking a mermaid than you do of finding a 25-year woman who is still a virgin in this town. I don’t care what the race, religion, politics or socioeconomic status of a bride these days, it’s a pretty safe bet that she isn’t going to the altar having never accepted another man’s cock. In fact, it’s now considered the only reasonable way to lead your life. I’ve heard grown, 30-something, settled people gathering and whispering askance at a couple who are young and getting married without first living together to test things out. “How imprudent!” seems to be the tilt of the gossipers. It represents the absolute failure of the Catholic League and all these right wing religious groups, their total inability to grasp the direction of the culture around them, that most Born Again Christian girls are also quite ready to spread their legs for a man, you’ve just got to work a little harder at convincing them of your “sincerity”.
Every guy knows this. And, like I’ve said, we’ve benefited handsomely from these new arrangements. Of course, there’s a price to pay. A nation of promiscuous women has quickly become a nation without shame. It’s become a nation of Oprah watchers, willing to cluck about their feelings for hours on end like a barn full of hens, willing to make public all of their intimate physical and psychic complaints, real or imagined, whether waxing about inattentive partners or talking about their yeast infections.
And of course a nation of whores is even less equipped to properly clothe and instruct their daughters than their own mothers before them, leaving us with a generation of 12-year olds dressing up for school like they are preparing to race down to the strip club and do a quick pole dance on their lunch break.
I know it won’t even start to turn the tide, but the next time a woman at work or a casual friend shows me a photo of her fetus in the womb, I’m going to tell her, “Please, unlike your pussy, why don’t you save that photograph for your husband.”
posted by hundeschlitten @ 5:41 PM
9 Comments:
Hm. I don't get this entry. The leap of logic between ultrasounds and slutty women is too much for me. In fact, I might argue that, for some women, the display of an ultrasound pic serves the corollary purpose of taking her off the slut market. In any case, I'm not sure where showing an ultrasound pic connects to wearing a miniskirt or acting like a whore. I can't think of how an ultrasound titillates or holds any erotic power. You're going to need to explain this one a bit better for me to get it.
I look at all the crap that women have foisted on our public culture, from the psychobabble about relationships and self-worth to the open discussion of things that should probably remain private, and it all boils down to a lack of shame. That lack of shame is encaptulated to me by these expectant mothers showing off pictures of their womb. I'm sorry, but that's a private thing. I really don't want to see it.
And the Oprahization of America, where things that should remain private are made public, is the flipside of the coin of female premarital sexuality. No, ultrasounds aren't sexy. Neither is prozac or vinegar douches or long-winded bull sessions of New Age psychobabble. But it is the price us men must pay to live in a society where young women spread their legs for us as a matter of course. You can't have the rose without the prick. And now that I am married, there is no upside to living in a society where single women are sexually active, but there is a significant downside to living in a society where near universal acceptance of that sexual activity has bred a lack of shame.
Well, I can understand some of what you're saying, but I think you're aiming your arrow at the wrong target with the ultrasound pictures. I don't think ultrasound pictures are revealing enough to embody a lack o shame. If I look at one of your x-rays, are you ashamed? Hell, when I look at ultrasound pictures I don't know what I'm seeing without direction, anyway. I think the sharing of the ultrasound pictures becomes a tangible way for women to celebrate birth. Sure, that's annoying sometimes, esp. if they're the type of expectant mother who wants everyone to drop what they're doing and attend to her. However, that's a different target then the slutty girl thing. I worry about the slutty girl thing more as my kids get older, though.
Maybe you're right Tony, maybe the public display of an ultrasound is not the worst manifestation of modern woman's overindulged self. But I still think it's a bit weird. I'd say the appropriate analogy is not the x-ray, but the colonoscopy photograph. Both the colon and the womb are private places, and the photos of both are obscure enough that there is a disconnect between the anatomy and the picture. But I would never presume to put a photo of my colon on the wall of my cubicle, even though I can tell you that the doctor showed me the picture and it's a beautiful thing, maybe not a beautful as new life, but still clean as a whistle to the point where it glistens.
Doesn't it take two to tango? How are you any less of a slut due to your past escapades? And Oprah wasn't the first, what about Phil Donahue and Jerry Springer doing the same thing?
Maybe there is something else behind your hateful rage against todays women, maybe there is a hint of jealousy over those ultrasounds, because you wish you had one of your own to show
Pete! Sometimes, it's hard to guess what will rile you up. I kind of thought you would get a chuckle out of this one. Oh well.
In my defense, I think that I am more misanthrope than mysogynist. The 51% of the planet that is female has mostly gotten a free ride on this blog; almost all of my vitriol has been directed towards men, individually or collectively.
Yes, whore carries negative implications, but I don't think anyone really cares about that label anymore. It's not like a called women a bunch of racists or loose carbon emitters. I didn't intend it as "hate-filled", just a blunt statement of fact: that Western women today, judged by the standards of most of the planet and indeed own culture as recently as a generation ago, would indeed be regarded as "whores."
As far as men being equally to blame, I guess in existential terms you are right. But let's get back to the real world: young men, who have a biological need to spill their seed, have 3 options in this regard: finding a willing partner, hiring a prostitute, or taking matters into his own hands. And because of this, women are the sexual gatekeepers of our society.
Also, Oprah, Phil, the View and most of daytime television are geared towards housewives and other women who are at home during the day. I used Oprah because she is the most visible and successful aspect of this phenomena.
Finally, it is probabaly true that the fact M. and I cannot have kids has made me a little bitter about the public display of ultrasounds. I imagine that most of the folks who read my blog already realize this. Since you've always found satisfaction in being a bullshit detector, even if, as in this case, you are both stating the obvious and embarrassing your friend, I guess I shouldn't have expected you to pull any punches.
You sound much more reasonable in your response and admit I may have a hit a little low. I was just taken aback by the double standard and generalizations, you are right there are some cases of a lack of shame (I could see it if an unmarried woman showed you an ultrasound), and I may be a little jealous that I did not have as much fun in my 20's.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
hundeschlitten
Are you saying because women's sexuality is now so open for all to publicly discuss and dissect, all other topics naturally follow since the sexual taboo was the biggest one of all? Some of this has to fall on Men's shoulders as well.
I would think if men still caused shame among women about sexual topics, women would not be so 'open' about it in society. But as you say, we want women to spread open (but we only meant their legs, not thier thoughts!).
In the end, it just means more $$s for the psychobabble industry and that is the ultimate goal of most endeavors.
BTW - I too share your disgust at women showing off pics of their unborn fetus. I actually received an X-Mas card with an untrasound picture on it. I was disgusted on a couple of levels. First, it had nothing to do with wishing me a good Holiday and was in fact an ugly picture. It looked like an alien or a termite larvae. That does not make me feel like someone wished me a Merry Chrsitmas, unless her unborn child is in fact the second coming of the King of Kings.
I also thought it was self-indulgent to send it out as if I needed to see it. I thought, "Can't this wait until you bring the child into this world" - I'm sure pics of your kid will be on every X-Mas card for the next 12 years anyway.
Way to testify, my friend!
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home