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comment by ironpotato
ironpotato  ·  3489 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: BeyoncĂ©, Feminism & The Male Gaze

I don't understand why looking at someone is such an offense. So what if I see someone attractive I take notice? Girls do it too. Why is it just a male thing? It's not like I stand there with my mouth agape and fantasize about them nude the instant I see someone.

The whole feminism thing gets old fast. I'm fine with women having equal rights and equal paychecks. But let's stop making normal human reactions into offenses that only men are the violators of.

Also, I don't know if Emma Watson has looked at her google image results, but some of the top pictures are extremely sexualized. Why is she an authority on appropriate fame conduct?





MilitantNegro  ·  3489 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Looking at people isn't the problem here and is a massive oversimplification of the issue. Feminist objection to objectification isn't because looking at a person and finding them attractive is bad. We all try to look our best and look attractive.

The issue is when a value system is built around the way you look. This is most stark in the music industry where in some cases aesthetics trumps actual musical ability. The music may be for the teenage girls, but the look is for men, even when aimed at those teenage girls because they too grow up in a society that places value on female sexuality. They are more likely to respond favourably to a woman who appeals to men because they are taught to admire those qualities and strive for them.

Now that's all well and good if you look like Beyonce, but what about the hundreds of millions of people who don't? When you say it's okay to make value judgements on how sexually attractive a woman is you say it's okay to dismiss a less attractive woman's talents in many fields.

The elephant in the room is that this value judgement is reserved for women. Men simply don't have the same pressures to be visually appealing in a host of seemingly unrelated fields.

Whether it be racism, sexism or homophobia people should not be places at a disadvantage due a physical or social attribute you find attractive or unattractive.