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The Forum > Article Comments > It's not a Blokesworld after all > Comments

It's not a Blokesworld after all : Comments

By Melinda Tankard Reist, published 22/9/2005

Melinda Tankard Reist argues the 'Blokesworld Live' event is not harmless fun.

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Noted for some time that OLO will rarely post articles that are positive regards the male gender. Almost every article and every forum post is negative of a male, or negative of the male gender. There is almost nothing positive said about males on OLO, and a considerable amount of name calling from female posters, that also goes unchecked by the moderators.

This article is no different, as it basically portrays men as being some type of sexual predators. Some men would be, the vast majority of men aren’t.

So far as "WomansWorld".

This comes from a previous forum, but it shows the titles of articles from the popular women’s magazine Marie Claire:-

“Hot Sex”, “803 Sexy Looks”,“Be Gutsy in Bed”, “Sex, Men and Your Body”, “Angelina Jolie Spills All About Sex, World Poverty and Brad Pitt”, “Four Ways to Face Your Fears and Have Better Sex”, “Secrets to a Sexy Celeb Body”, “Pro Sex Tips”, “On Sex, Power and Getting What You Want”, “Sex with Strangers”, “Extreme Sex Boosters”, “874 Hot Sexy Looks”, “Crazy Sex Tips That Work”, “How Many Orgasms Could You Have in 2 Days”

Many other women’s magazines are almost identical. The magazine covers can be changed, but the articles contained within the magazines are much the same, and basically the male is treated as a sex object, or a type of sex toy for the woman’s gratification. Those magazines are some of the highest selling magazines on the market, and apparently women also constitute about 50% of porn viewers.

So if someone wants to talk about people treating members of the opposite sex as sex objets, they should be taking a broader view, rather than just concentrating on males treating women as sex objects.
Posted by Timkins, Thursday, 22 September 2005 11:32:04 AM
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Bla, bla, Bla timmy
As we've seen a backlash from conservatives we're also seening a backlash from mullet set. We need to ensure that none of these things come back in vogue.
Posted by Kenny, Thursday, 22 September 2005 11:41:16 AM
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You make a number of important points, Timkins, regarding the way our culture continues the sexual objectification of both sexes, and increasingly of males (ref. your list of Marie Claire articles). And I wouldn't want them to be lost by your post having not addressed the central concern raised by Melinda Tankard Reist: that events such as Blokesworld are horrendous because of the high levels of sexual harassment, abuse and violence of women, girls (and boys and men) by men. Events, 'festivals', whatever you call them, that explicitly make a spectacle of women's bodies and sexuality for men's psycho-sexual satisfaction have to be viewed in that context, which appears to be the author's intent. Sexual violence, against anyone, is not a gender-equal crime: we men overwhelmingly do it to women, children and other men. My more general questions to the forum are:

Why is it that in order for 'Blokesworld' to carry any of the meaning intended in its title, that the sexual objectification of women, boozing on, and association with weaponry must be tied to otherwise worthy interests and pursuits (of both sexes) such as motoring, motorcycles, men getting together to enjoy each other's company and shared interests?

And why is it that 'Blokesworld' wouldn't be quite 'the same' if it involved perving on male bodies by men who desire men, associated with all the other fun male pursuits that we share with our gay, bisexual and queer mates?
Posted by Timbo, Thursday, 22 September 2005 11:49:54 AM
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The material in the authors article underlines the importance of a 'values' education, with a sure and enduring foundation.

The impression I gain from such an event, is that the 'make-it-up-as-you-go' crowd, did just that, and cast their moral and social anchor into the sea, and are just drifting wherever their testosterone sails take them.

The sad thing, is that there are numerous 'female' equivalents to this kind of thing 'Hens nites' where male strippers are on display, and screaming drooling women watch men do vigorous pelvic thrusts culminating in squeezing penis like objects to suggest a huge orgasm and ejaculation.

So, while the blokes thing demonstrates just how far we have slipped in the moral area, it is more suggestive of how far our whole society has fallen on both sides of the gender coin.

Is it any wonder that we godbotherers make continued calls for repentance, renewal and revival in our land. Perhaps we havn't seen it yet, because we have not gone so far as to see we are no better than the animals, but we are not far off it. Perhaps were in some ways worse, because we know what we are doing, rather than just acting on instinct.

In 2004 a Godbotherer said this.

http://www.slidellsentry.com/articles/2004/05/04/news/news06.txt

"One Category 5 hurricane coming up the river will take care of all Sodomite marriages...," Shanks said. "I believe this will open the floodgate for God to bring judgment on our land."

It happened. Prophecy ? or coincidence, u make the call.

"Don't be fooled, God is not mocked, whatever a man sows, he will also reap"

Is Sydney next ? ... its just a question.

The more important one is.. where will be each of us stand when judgement ultimately comes ?
Posted by BOAZ_David, Thursday, 22 September 2005 11:53:45 AM
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Boaz, that is just bigotry. Pure and simple.
Posted by Laurie, Thursday, 22 September 2005 12:17:43 PM
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Pay no attention to Boaz, Laurie. Just think of him as Pat Robertson with bad grammar (ie: even easier to ignore).

What I don’t like about a ‘Blokesworld’ kind of event is its tackiness. It’s almost like the ‘blokes’ need to justify themselves by expressing dominance over a sex like this. Women do it too, and it’s just as tacky then (women’s magazines, as Timkins points out).

Basically it justifies idiotic behaviour. The idea that only people of one sex can have common interests in the first place is idiotic. I despise events like ‘Blokesworld’ the same way I despise magazines targeted towards one sex, the same way I despise comedians who say 'Women be lovin shoppin!!', the same way I despise how these values are shaped and entrenched in early childhood through gender specific toys, so on. This sort of reinforcing of stereotypes does nothing but damage our common sense and dumb us down.

Objectifying PEOPLE is wrong, male or female. Obviously sexuality should be celebrated, but is this kind of tacky exploitation the way to do it? Of course not. Sexuality is a powerful human force which shapes our condition and exposes our strengths and vulnerabilities, it’s not a topless woman riding a mechanical bull.

Maybe sexual repression is what started this ridiculous culture in the first place. I don’t think anyone who was genuinely in touch with their sexuality would find this sort of thing the least bit entertaining (except for maybe ironic value, as I do).
Posted by spendocrat, Thursday, 22 September 2005 12:45:37 PM
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