Maybe it's all the feminism posts I've been reading. Or the #YesAllWomen movement before that. Or the zealous passion with which The Mary Sue keeps reminding me to view our TV shows and movies with an analytical eye that notices how the women on screen are portrayed. Whatever the case, I think differently these days.
I used to think it was funny when someone said something like, "You know a man invented __, because it inconveniences women in __ way." Or to poke fun at perceived gender differences. "Haha, women are so irrational." "Men are so emotionally dense."
Remember the Crazy/Hot scale from that one episode of How I Met Your Mother? I thought that was pretty funny. Especially when Ted was starting to think, "Uh oh, this girl is going too far into the crazy area" and then she whispers something in his ear which ups her "hotness" and he instantly changes his mind. Silly men!
It was probably in one of The Mary Sue articles that I saw the first negative reference to that. About how the message overall about women isn't that great. I didn't really want to hear it. How I Met Your Mother is good, wholesome fun! Nothing wrong here.
But a coworker sent me this video.
Whatever it was, this really rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe I'm getting overly sensitized to it and I can't take a joke anymore. Or maybe I'm finally sick of us trying to trivialize and categorize each other into neat little types when what we really all are is just human beings.
I used to think it was funny when someone said something like, "You know a man invented __, because it inconveniences women in __ way." Or to poke fun at perceived gender differences. "Haha, women are so irrational." "Men are so emotionally dense."
Remember the Crazy/Hot scale from that one episode of How I Met Your Mother? I thought that was pretty funny. Especially when Ted was starting to think, "Uh oh, this girl is going too far into the crazy area" and then she whispers something in his ear which ups her "hotness" and he instantly changes his mind. Silly men!
It was probably in one of The Mary Sue articles that I saw the first negative reference to that. About how the message overall about women isn't that great. I didn't really want to hear it. How I Met Your Mother is good, wholesome fun! Nothing wrong here.
But a coworker sent me this video.
And for whatever reason it's not funny this time. Maybe it was the added sections. Maybe it was the exactitude with which the chart-draw-er places women into tidy little categories. Maybe it was the "No woman is less than a 4 crazy, so the crazy axis will be from 4 to 10."Whatever it was, this really rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe I'm getting overly sensitized to it and I can't take a joke anymore. Or maybe I'm finally sick of us trying to trivialize and categorize each other into neat little types when what we really all are is just human beings.
Do you think the video is funny or obnoxious? What cultural issues has blogging or social media raised your awareness of?
