As I poke around teh interwebs, looking for my handy packets of information, I’m continually amazed at the sheer volume of information out there on any given topic. What gobsmacks me almost every day is how, with this enormous wealth of info, there’s still such a clear narrative going on. Whatever the topic is, a solid 90% of the stories will tell it the same way, using the same images.
Take, if you will, the dangers of drinking. No matter how progressive we think ourselves, the media will continually remind us that boys will be boys and girls will be drunken sluts. In looking (not too hard, mind you) for examples, I ran across lots of articles that were written without a particularly gendered slant, but almost all of them used a single image of women and girls for their fear factor. Even the articles that were about teens/young adults making responsible decisions (i.e. not drinking, because alcohol is teh evil) pictured girls making these decisions.
It’s not impossible to find pictures of men/boys making asses of themselves while drinking. But the majority of what I found were in funny stories on blogs or articles about “what to expect if you get drunk with your funny friends”. When it comes to the stories about the dangers of drinking and all that it can lead to, we are almost inevitably given the image of the fallen woman. She’s awfully pretty when the party gets started, but a few drinks later and she’s acting like a fool or falling down in an alley, to cry her woes away, knowing that she’s no longer a “good girl”.
From a discussion on the Amethyst Initiative brought by a coalition of college/university presidents.
Another on the Amethyst Initiative. Look at the crazy drunk girl!!
On binge drinking in the UK.
Australia’s worried about mixed drinks vs bottled. I’m worried about the sexy bartender trying to lure me into the depths of drinking hell.
Much like rape, it’s up to the girls to control themselves while the boys have all the fun.
Found this pic in a couple of places, but this quote from one of the stories is astounding. Damn those sluts for just wanting to have fun.
“They’re not focused on protecting themselves, they’re focused on having fun, hooking up, enjoying themselves,”
Back to the UK. A study there focuses on rise in female violence along with the rise in binge drinking, rather than violence as a whole. Statistics at the end show that overall violence has increased as well – not by as much, but enough to warrant a more comprehensive approach.
Don’t worry girls, even the older generation doesn’t get out of it. If you’re a baby boomer, you’re much more likely to binge drink than other adults. But if you’re lucky enough to be a man, probably no one will notice.
On the one hand, the idea that women are responsible for themselves and their drunken behavior and men aren’t is sexist and reinforcing of traditional gender roles.
On the other hand, inebriated women actually are in a lot more danger than inebriated men are. A drunken man is far less likely to be raped than a drunken woman is. And a drunken man who is raped by women (as opposed to by other men) is far less likely to be traumatized by the rape (because men are supposed to always desire and enjoy heterosexual sex—same-sex sex is “heterosexual” in prison as long as you’re the “top” in the relationship, however that makes sense).
Does it suck that women have to be more responsible for protecting themselves than men do? Yes. Does that make it any less true? Unfortunately, no, given the current sociological circumstances.
Wow A.Y., way to completely miss the entire point. These pictures (and the articles they come from ) aren’t about getting women to be responsible or protect themselves, they’re about telling women they have no place in society and that women shouldn’t be “having fun, hooking up, enjoying themselves.”
All children (boys and girls) are taught that it’s wrong to lie, cheat, steal, etc. Why can’t they also be taught that women are actual humans too?
And men aren’t as traumatized by rape as women? You are a complete ass aren’t you?
Great post qbert, I wandered over here from shakesville.
as a rule, i don’t do much moderating here, as long as the comment isn’t just drivel. that said, i want to step in a bit and say that AY/ubuntucat has always had intelligent comments here. so, while i don’t necessarily agree with everything said, i don’t think he/she (?) falls into the “ass” category. just FYI.
thanks for coming over, ali. i love getting new traffic.
Fair enough, and since I’m obviously not familiar with AY I’ll rescind the ass part and I do apologize but I do stand by finding that particular comment incredibly insulting and derogatory.