Sunday, April 07, 2002

Pimping on Prime Time

I just got in from a family gathering of sorts -- celebrating the birthday of my cousin's husband. Since I no longer live two thousand or more miles away, I lack excuses for nonattendance. Such a sad state of affairs.

I enjoyed myself and was thrilled to return to a dog incredibly happy to see me.

There is nothing quite like unconditional love. My walking in the door made his night.

Out of perverse masochism, I check the AP/Reuters feed at the ABC News site.

Nothing earth shattering there -- I keep hoping for a friendly fire death to take out Arafat or wonder of wonders, miracles of miracles to read he charged out of his "besieged" HQ brandishing a gun and had to be put down like the rabid dog he is.

All -- of course -- while the Western media tapes the incident and a camera person is wounded by Arafat's wild shooting -- proving the reality of the threat and that it was a mercy kill.

No such luck this evening (morning?).

What I did see was an ad for this bizarro bachelor show ABC is pimping. Some Stanford/Harvard loser is going to put his mack on 25 women and maybe marry one of the poor ladies -- all on network TV.

You would think the producers and other cabbage heads who "create" this drivel would have learned from Darva's experience. But no such luck.

Always conscious of societal gender roles, I was struck by how this show was being sold. Guy has 25 dates with women and gets to make choice. "What a stud," thinks the audience.

But would a female Stanford/Harvard grad fair so well? Probably not. Any woman who would go out with twenty-five men must (*gasp*) be a trampy whore. A geeky, trampy whore -- at that -- the absolute worst kind. mutter...mutter. Give a woman an education and look at how uppity she becomes.

I mean, go ahead and imagine this show with the genders flipped. Not in this century is all that comes to mind. The sexual double standard is still very much with us. No earth shattering surprise there.

posted by Bohica at 4:14 AM