Women Who Bring Us Down

I was at the Curve with my other half last weekend and as I was walking towards the cineplex, I noticed a huge gathering of crowd in front the premises. As it turned out, some magazine was hosting a fashion show, mainly for the guys. There were around 12 male 'models' (by some dubious standards) and 2 females.

At the end of the show, the announcer, a woman in her 20's, casually asked her co-host -- a guy, "Umm, what do you think of the female models? Do you think they are hot?" What surely was unspoken here was, "Do you wanna go to bed with them?" cos surely it couldnt have been "Do you think they are angels?"

Now, this got me to thinking about something--was she, unbeknowst to her dim-witted self, trying to put the women on pedestals and make them an object? Or was she simply wanting to glorify their beauty? Even so, it was this kind of comment that got women to a perspective less than glorifying. It was this attitude that makes the other gender put us on a centerspread and outrage our modesty. Maybe some women enjoy that sort of treatment but personally I found it degrading.

Hard to believe that in this day of age, while some quarters are trying very hard to undo the 'bimbo' image in us, there are still those who want to maintain the image that women are for display. Those who feel that derogatory comments about our sex are meant to complement our sexuality. That night I felt like reaching across the stage and giving that silly compere a tight slap across her mouth! Some will argue that it was such an innocent comment and there was no need to get hyper.

Rome was not built in one day. Neither did the unflattering image women have had (only good in bed, baby factory, sleep to the top) these past centuries. Small, innocent comments help to build perceptions and if you give it some time, it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.