Lena Dunham—and don’t get me wrong, I am as appalled as anyone by the horendous treatment she has got on social media—has a lot to say about famale objectification of course—which I value, as I like to keep an open—if often satirical—mind—but…
Lena Dunham fights back to critics: “Sex in Girls is not gratuitous” (entertainmentwise.com).
“Lena Dunham’s ground-breaking Girls is filled to the brim with boobs, sex and in turn some of the most hilarious television to ever grace our screens. But has it gone too far? Some say yes but the mastermind, star and director of the hit HBO series has justified the amount of comical bonking in the show. ”
The “comical” justifying the “bonking” just like it did the gender stereotyping in the Carry On franchise and On the Buses. “Biblical for all twenty-somethings” or not, it brings to mind perhaps the objectification of its predecessor—to which it is relentlessly compared—with a male character nicknamed “Big” which, although not naming him in reference to parts of his anatomy—that being reserved by Samantha in another episode for Mr. Cocky—certainly underlined and objectified his status and catch-worthy appeal as “the next Donald Trump”. :)
Men are now objectified more than women (telegraph.co.uk).
“Most deliciously of all, beetle-browed, media organs that are perennially mealy-mouthed and campaigning about any form of female objectification—the blood of The Sun’s Page 3 still fresh on their lips—went all aquiver at the prospect of ‘a summer of abs’. For long-time observers of the British media like myself, their hypocrisy was joyous.”
Quite. But “now?” I’d say prehaps they are not objectified more but they have been as objectified just as long albeit to different criteria and “context”—the shifting, indeed rather agitated, magic word that sometimes allows objectification to be acceptable when in other contexts it would not.
Updates/Follow Ups
3rd May 2015
In the wake of a builder questioned by police for wolf-whistling at a young woman, Telegraph Deputy Women’s Editor Claire Cohen suggests:
Yes, we women are guilty of objectifying men. But wolf-whistling is criminal (msn.com).
“As Sarah Green from the End Violence Against Women Coalition puts it: ‘Sexual harassment in the street is too often regarded as trivial when the reality is that many women feel humiliated and sometimes intimidated by it. Men who respect women do not do it.’”
I agree, it may sound trivial but it can, when it happens—especially with that single mind groups of guys can get when together driven by bravado—be very intimidating to many. But of those “men who respect women do not do it”, are they as often as not tarred instinctually with the same potential “it’s in their nature” brush anyhow? As for the wolf whistling itself, is it not a matter of that awkward “context” again—for sure, few would argue it not a compliment when done in a good natured fashion from friends—or even family—when stepping out or in in that new dress.
Wolf-whistling builder questioned by police says he was paying woman “compliment” (telegraph.co.uk).
“But Mr Merrett, from Worcester, defended his actions, and said: ‘It’s highly likely it was me who did that wolf-whistle. I’ve seen the news coverage and it’s not right. I’m a builder and my mates are builders. We are all hard working people and our reputation has been damaged. ‘Wolf-whistling is part and parcel of working on a site, it’s complimenting a girl. I can remember that day when she [Miss Smart] took the video, we were under-pinning a wall that day.’ He added: ‘I only saw the back of her, I didn’t even see her face and you can see in the video the wolf-whistle comes after she had passed the gate.’’”
So his “compliment” was a blind one at best. For sure, I never knew that under-pinning a wall required such ritualisation, sounding like some kind of traditional builder-ancestral tongue poking haka New Zealand rugby union war cry, dance and challenge is required for strengthening faulty foundations.
His presumably whistled “building trade has had its reputation damaged” tune changed a little though when it came to light that:
Wolf-whistle builder was jailed for train attack—as he brands young woman “silly girl” (express.co.uk).
“A SHAMLESS builder who admitted aiming a wolf-whistle at a young woman that sparked a police investigation has said the ‘silly little girl’ was ‘lucky’ to get his ‘compliment’—as it emerged he is a convicted thug. … It also emerged … that Merrett was once branded a ‘lout’ by a judge for attacking a man on a train after his friend indecently exposed himself to female passengers.”
Recent/related stories
- Poldark: does a period drama need a shirtless man? (Latest Picks 8th March 2015)
- Lena Dunham #FreedTheBoobies if not her nipples (Pick of the Week 14th January 2015)
- Lena Dunham on “The Fappening”: “Woman’s choice to take pictures, and that it is also her right to have them kept private” (celebrityoopsdigest.blogspot.co.uk, 3rd September 2014)
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