(Back by popular demand is this post that I deleted yesterday. I decided it was okay to feel this way and express it. If it offends you… then put on your jammies, eat ice-cream, and think happier thoughts!)
Last fall while family was visiting I prepared for a girls night out with my nieces and daughters. I made us all t-shirts. T-shirts with hot guys on them half my age. We had talked about this night for a long time and I wanted to make it special. We were going to see the second movie in the Twilight saga, New Moon. Some of us had read the books, some had not. It didn’t matter. We all liked the movies and the guys in them. We had a great time. The best moment was when the character Jacob Black was shirtless, in the rain, and my then 14yr old daughter leaned over to me and said, “ This is the best scene in any movie ever.” Ah, young hormones. But it was not hurting my eyes either.
That night represents a great double standard in our society. If the men in our family, including my husband had gone out together to see Dukes of Hazzard in Jessica Simpson t-shirts, we would have called them pigs and they would have been sleeping on the floor. Women are allowed to ogle. Men are not. Women are allowed a new celebrity crush every week and pass around emails of who’s hot and who’s not (I have seen them!) Women can sit, on their girl’s night out, and talk about McDreamy and McSteamy. (Hey I know you do! Do not deny it!) If men ogle, hoot and holler, watch movies or TV shows JUST for the female hotness, they could be considered sexist scum. (Hey I don’t make the rules)!
I am sure there are lots of books written on this subject. I have not read any of them. These are just the thoughts from my own pea brain. I think men, in general, have earned their lack of rights to be sexist. Throughout the ages men have shown what they are capable of. And most recently Tiger Woods put the icing on philandering cake.
Now don’t get me wrong. I am not a man hater. Quite the opposite. I love men of all shapes and sizes. My hubby does not need my permission to notice a beautiful woman. In fact, I more than likely noticed her first! But, when it comes to double standards men generally have the upper hand. Except in this case. And that frankly, is a double standard I can live with.
Linda
