SEX IS DEATH. (Raunch culture)

I came to Carthage, where I found myself in the midst of a hissing cauldron of lusts. I had not yet fallen in love, but I was in love with the idea of it, and this feeling that something was missing made me despise myself for not being more anxious to satisfy the need. I began to look around for some object for my love, since I badly wanted to love something. —St. Augustine, Confessions

From Arizona State University's online newspaper, the WebDevil, comes further evidence that women have lost their minds and the battle against male sexual mores.

Let us start with an attempt at being clever going horribly wrong:

Feminism: Show Us Where the Babies Feed
"Girls Gone Wild" feminism claims to empower women through sex -- but at what cost?
by Lisa Przystup

Not a good start, Lisa, but I know what you are trying to say.

I remember the event clearly. It was a weekend night at some awful bar that caters to dewy-eyed ASU students, eager to live out their MTV fantasies. The dance floor (and I use the term "dance" loosely) was packed, girls were wasted and guys were either a) watching or b) standing in as a human stripper pole as some stumbly gyrating girl went to town.

I was doing my best, awkward version of the robot, when a sweaty girl whose body was pouring out of what she was wearing, came up behind me and started dancing very, very close. She leaned toward my ear and whispered in an excited slur, "C'mon! Look, look, they're watching us!" I turned my head and saw a group of guys staring stupidly at us as if they had just discovered their dad's collection of Playboys.

Ok, let me honest. As a guy, I admit seeing that sort of thing gets me me all hot and bothered. But, as a gentleman, I must say the magic wears off very quickly, girls. Usually it takes about two minutes of conversation with a lovely young thing to make me lose interest (Admittedly, I bore easily.) and I'll nod off after three.

This was one of my first experiences with what has now been coined, "raunch culture" or "f--- me feminism." (I am not a prude, but I decide what appears here and what doesn't. Besides, it does not take a ton of brain power to figure it out. - F.G.) Both these terms refer to the current mainstreaming of pornography -- a backlash to the anti-porn feminism of the 1970s. According to Saucebox.com, a feminist blog, f--- me feminism is a "school of thought that suggests women are empowered by reclaiming and controlling our own sexual objectification." Basically, it's women objectifying themselves and passing it off as a legitimate contribution to the women's movement. Early feminists burned bras; we stuff ours with oversized synthetic mammaries.

What do you mean "synthetic"? Hey, wait a doggone minute there...

My dance partner unwittingly tapped into this movement that encourages women to participate in "Girls Gone Wild" antics, and to exist in a world in which the hottest accessory a woman can have is another woman.

Yeah, right. Like two women could ever be less trouble than one.

With the rise and proliferation of this new kind of feminist movement comes an influx of books exploring this phenomenon.



I now turn my 'male gaze'*upon the incredibly hot (for a chick who writes feminist tracts) Ariel Levy. (left)







In Ariel Levy's Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture the author asks, "How is resurrecting every stereotype of female sexuality that feminism endeavored to banish good for women? Why is laboring to look like Pamela Anderson empowering? How is imitating a stripper or a porn star going to render us sexually liberated?"

Smoking hot (I'm a sucker for soft-focus and black and white) Ariel has a point. The only good thing about old time feminism was its opposition to pornography (Big Masturbation) and, by extension, the "objectivization" of women. Without it, today's feminists are merely what their enemies always claimed they were - totalitarian thugs only interested in political power at any cost.

There are many women who respond to this question with the argument that what Levy and other feminists criticize as the problem is in fact the solution. On the Web site, The F-word, Contemporary UK Feminism, an article written from a stripper's perspective says, "The pleasure we derive from displaying our bodies 'for' men may have its roots in male domination, but the more we show that we like it too, the more that power dynamic is challenged and the fewer rights men can assume over our bodies."

"Show?" Read that last sentence carefully. It displays contradictory elements at best, and is utterly meaningless at worst.

Nope. I take that back. At worst, words like that will lead women to destruction.


Kate Zinke, co-director of ASU's production of "The Moronic Vaginalogues", takes the middle ground.

"It's about choice. Things like stripping can be both empowering and exploitive. It's all about how much control you have," Zinke says.

Instant Translation: If you are a rich and powerful woman, you will hurt slightly less.

She adds that it is unproductive to play the blame game and place the responsibility solely on women, or even on men.

"We put the responsibility on women when we should be looking at the misogynistic society that doesn't allow women to freely choose what they want to do without judgment," Zinke says.

Huh? Men and women can't be blamed, but society can? Which society, that of the squirrels?

Valerie Flaherty, a teaching assistant in the women and gender (The proper word here is "sex". - F.G.) studies program, says a danger of "raunch culture" is the tendency of women to subscribing to it without realizing the full implication of their actions.

"I think that some women flaunt their sexuality as a way to feel empowered or feel like they are in control. It is easier to not feel devalued when a woman says, 'This man can't hurt me because, I only want him for sex,'" she says.

I cannot even begin to imagine the stupidity necessary to think that way. The best I can do is guess.

"Raunch culture" might mean a woman descends to the depraved level of much of male sexuality and then pretends it was really her idea in the first place. She must also stifle her conscience and lie to herself and others, insisting it is all fun, normal, liberating, et cetera. Most importantly, the idea that anything she likes to do might be sinful must be shouted down and ignored at the same time. This in turn will result in depression, self-loathing, madness, and even self-destruction - the natural consequences of not heeding one's conscience.

In her book, Levy agrees saying, "Women have come so far, I learned, we no longer needed to worry about objectification or misogyny.

Ariel, sweetie, isn't it reasonable then to doubt those from whom you learned this nonsense, and everything they taught?

"Women often forget that the society we live in still fosters the "male gaze,"* in which women are the objects, says Flaherty.

She says she's afraid some women justify "having people look at my half-naked pictures on MySpace" because they want to show people these images. "This can feel empowering to a woman, initially," she says. "However, women are still living up to standards created by another person, usually a man."

In other words, the male gaze does not see the empowering decision process of a woman that has chosen to pose nude or strip; he is still only seeing the product of that decision.

Here's a real news flash, ladies. We will only care about something other than your looks when you force us to do so. If you are chaste and make it clear you will stay that way and you insist we behave similarly, then you will attract a man who is smart enough and decent enough to settle down with one woman for life. This method also has the added advantage of scaring off the not inconsiderable number of men who are only interested in having sex with you (NO!) now (NO!) while you are still young (NO!) and pretty (NO!). In case you haven't figured it out girls, these are the guys who will dump you before you hit thirty and then go after your little sister.

I know this is not very flattering to my sex. But sometimes the truth hurts. What we need from women is tough love. Do not put up with our nonsense, no matter how much you love us (or how much we love you). Walk away and don't look back. Ever. Just say a little prayer for us and hope we become gentlemen before we meet women without morals and spines.

I can hear the whining from the distaff side all the way over here in my little idiot's corner of Bloggerdom:

"Why do we have to be responsible for making men behaving decently?"

"The pressure is too great."

"We just want to have fun like men do, that's all."

Sorry, girls, but that is reality. You can beat your head against reality if you like, but I feel obligated to tell you the track record of such efforts does not look good.


"A man doesn't care if a woman is showing her body on MySpace because she wants to and it feels liberating to her," says Flaherty. "All the man cares about is that he is fulfilling his needs, so really, what type of liberation is that?"

Remember this, kiddies. Most rebellions do not end in liberation. Most end in the death of the rebels.

Part 1: SEX IS DEATH. (Stories for boys) is here.
Part 2: SEX IS DEATH. (Distaff death) is here.
Part 3: SEX IS DEATH. (Joyously dispensing death) is here.
Part 4: SEX IS DEATH. (Sex is depression) is here.
Part 5: SEX IS DEATH. (When self-pleasuring becomes self-destruction) is here.
Part 6: SEX IS DEATH. (Sex is theft) is here.
Part 7: SEX IS DEATH. (A review of Bareback Mountain) is here.
Part 8: SEX IS DEATH. (What is the ultimate penalty?) is here.
Part 9: SEX IS DEATH. (Haven from reality) is here.
Part 10: SEX IS DEATH. (Sin-redemption-reasons-reason) is here.
Part 11: SEX IS DEATH. (Mommy loves you) is here.
Part 12: SEX IS DEATH. (George Gilder offers a clue) is here.
Part 13: SEX IS DEATH. (Post-killem depression) is here.
Part 14: SEX IS DEATH. (Whither womanhood) is here.
Part 15: SEX IS DEATH. (Saving psychology 1) is here.
Part 16: SEX IS DEATH. (Saving psychology 2) is here.
Part 17: SEX IS DEATH. (Fear of the boomers) is here.
Part 18: SEX IS DEATH. (The battle continues apace) is here.
Part 19: SEX IS DEATH. (Hot for teacher) is here.
Part 20: SEX IS DEATH. (Kids do the darndest things) is here.
Part 21: SEX IS DEATH. (Defects) is here.
Part 22: SEX IS DEATH. (Privates' privacy) is here.
Part 23: SEX IS DEATH. (National Condom Week) is here.
Part 24: SEX IS DEATH. (Wegenics) is here.
Part 25: SEX IS DEATH. (White wedding) is here.
Part 26: SEX IS DEATH. (Literally) is here.
Part 27: SEX IS DEATH. (Can't get me no satisfaction) is here.
Part 28: SEX IS DEATH. (Wrestle with mania) is here.
Part 29: SEX IS DEATH. (Press one for death/Presione uno para la muerte) is here.