Friday, May 11, 2007

An argument between letter writers on Salon has broken out over the question of whether college women who participate in a "Tennis Pros and Hos" party are revelling healthily in their sexuality or demeaning themselves. Many of the letter writers seem tethered to the paradigms of the 1960s and 1970s, namely, new feminism and hostility towards older generations.

One premise of the writers who found no problem with the "Hos" party that troubled me is the idea that women should not be subjected to double standard-fueled scorn for simply acting like men. This then inherently sanctions the behavior of men as the standard. I don't understand why it is such a problem for women not to act like men or not flaunt their sexuality for men (anyone who thinks "Girls Gone Wild" is a feminist exercise is deluded) and instead try and assert a new standard, one that does not conform to the hyper-sexualized media-driven absurdity of our current age.

Furthermore, those writers who place full faith in the judgement of 21-year olds and scorn the opinions of their parents are entirely possessed by the 60s/70s generation gap frame. They are jettisoning practical thinking, which is, why shouldn't a parent worry about their child, especially if she appears to be making poor decisions?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

This then inherently sanctions the behavior of men as the standard.

Excellent point! ~ hm

Elaine said...

Thanks :-) :-)

Michael Blaine said...

The biggest problem on America's college campuses is widespread drunkenness.

It's both disgusting and troubling.

Michael Blaine said...

By the way, the party cited was called "Golf Pros and Tennis Hos," not what's been posted above.

Just trying to help.