On the surface, it's funny. Husband finds it downright hilarious. I found it kind of amusing, but something about it seemed wrong. Something about it induced exaggerated eye rolling on my part. Then suddenly, it came to me: it's just more of the same!
Think about it. How many times in commercials, sitcoms, and movies have you seen a wife turn down her husband when he wants sex? How many jokes about how the husband isn't "getting any" from his wife? How many sarcastic looks have countless female actors given their onscreen counterparts? If you think about it, I bet you can come up with a whole bunch.
Now, an alternate question. How many times have you seen the opposite situation? The only times I've seen women on screen happily have sex with their mate is when she is also portrayed as loose, strange, or downright slutty.
Maybe I'm just not watching the right shows. Seriously, if you know of any that show this situation in a positive light, by all means leave a comment. I'd love to know they're out there. In the meantime, it just seems like the message that is being taught is that a woman who happily has sex with her husband is strange, being a begrudging woman is normal, and the man has to downright bully his wife to get her attention.
Personally, I'm not OK with that.
That's one of the things I really like about How I Met Your Mother. It doesn't have that stereotype, or at least, not as bad as most other shows.
ReplyDeleteBut other than that, I really can't think of any shows that portray female sexuality in a positive light.
You're 100% right that if a woman on TV shows interest in having sex (and it's not for the purpose of getting pregnant) she's labeled as a slut or loose.
How many jokes were made at Blanche's expense in the Golden Girls because she enjoyed an active sex life?
Infuriating indeed. :o(