It's not exactly groundbreaking stuff--this is a dichotomy that's existed in American culture for a while now--but it's interesting to keep putting this idea into real-world contexts to show just how much more appropriate we seem to find graphic violence than graphic sex. Genitalia engorged with blood and giving pleasure? Heavens to Betsy, that's obscene! But blood freed from the skin via swords, guns, and other weapons, flying about willy-nilly on gigantic movie screens for kids to watch? That's... not... obscene...?
Following news of DSK's release "on his own recognizance" because the woman who accused him of sexual assault might not be so reliable (because if she's not reliable, obviously she either wasn't raped or, if she was, it doesn't matter) and news that Ohio has made it legal to carry concealed weapons in bars, a picture seems to emerge. Sex = bad. Violence = ok. Sexual violence = meh. Let's shoot up a pub!
I wonder when that supervolcano in Yellowstone will go off. Some days I think it can't be soon enough...
ive been thinking on that too. everyone wants to do what they want to do, if one can make a case for any activity on the basis of "i want to do it" that would have to include the violent activities too, wouldnt it? whether or not the activity causes damage is a different matter, the basic factor is "i want to do... this."
ReplyDeletei was also thinking of ways people of various genders express dominance. female humans do distilled violence about 1% as much as male humans do in general, a lot of female human dominance action is carried in a sexual mode. i think perhaps the tendencies are built into the bodies: the male thing is evolved to pitch, the female thing is designed to catch, if the person wants to do the "opposite" there is a bit of a come-from-behind (sorry) situation that needs to be figured out.
sociologically the situation is that the sex people have to convince non-sex people either to go along or to just let it happen while the violent people have to qualms about beating and killing to get their way. patriarchal bs but that's what we've been living with for 6000 years. strange world.