winterlive (
winterlive) wrote2006-10-28 05:00 pm
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[ soapbox ]
i should have a tag for "things that'll piss people off". but i can't not say this one, so.
y'know, the more i think about this, the more it's. okay.
remember 1x03, dead in the water? i recently watched that episode live with some friends, and there was the infamous pen shot, you all know the one. dean's sitting in the diner and the girl comes up and says can i get you anything else and grins at him in the most unsubtle way possible.
so i was watching that episode with some friends, i mentioned, and when that girl came onto him like that - that stacked, hot blond chick - one of my friends made a little sound of disdain and said, walking STD. about that girl, who had two lines total.
because in this culture, the way women are raised, here is the equation:
female + attractive + sexually confident = worthless slut
with a strong positive correlation between the values assigned to either side - the more attractive, the more confident, the more feminine a girl is, the more worthless and skanky she is.
that is the equation getting applied to jo, that's why fandom hates her. and i mean HATES her; some people just don't care for her one way or the other, and so, okay, whatever. maybe she just rubs you the wrong way, everybody has dislikes, there's nothing wrong with that. people who just, meh, i'm not a jo fan. fine.
but the people calling her - oh my god, i wish i were making this up - "Jo The Ho"? when we have no background on her sexuality/past boyfriend(s) whatsoever? you don't just come up with monikers like that for no reason. that's an outright attack, it's stupid, mean and petty. that's the kind of attitude espoused by the girls that made your life hell in high school. and it's not the only thing i've seen, either, there are other labels and rants and outpourings that sound just like it.
i understand we were all raised like that, i honestly do. i get that that attitude is drilled into us from early on, the idea that women should compete, and if anyone looks/acts/sounds/thinks better than we do, we should immediately turn on them like angry hyenas. but i try my very hardest not to have that attitude, and i wish very, very much that every last woman i know is trying her hardest to do the same thing. i understand that we slip, we don't realize what we're saying, but here's what i'm telling you, jo-haters:
realize what you're saying. if you don't like her, let it stop at dislike. there's no need to tear her apart.
y'know, the more i think about this, the more it's. okay.
remember 1x03, dead in the water? i recently watched that episode live with some friends, and there was the infamous pen shot, you all know the one. dean's sitting in the diner and the girl comes up and says can i get you anything else and grins at him in the most unsubtle way possible.
so i was watching that episode with some friends, i mentioned, and when that girl came onto him like that - that stacked, hot blond chick - one of my friends made a little sound of disdain and said, walking STD. about that girl, who had two lines total.
because in this culture, the way women are raised, here is the equation:
female + attractive + sexually confident = worthless slut
with a strong positive correlation between the values assigned to either side - the more attractive, the more confident, the more feminine a girl is, the more worthless and skanky she is.
that is the equation getting applied to jo, that's why fandom hates her. and i mean HATES her; some people just don't care for her one way or the other, and so, okay, whatever. maybe she just rubs you the wrong way, everybody has dislikes, there's nothing wrong with that. people who just, meh, i'm not a jo fan. fine.
but the people calling her - oh my god, i wish i were making this up - "Jo The Ho"? when we have no background on her sexuality/past boyfriend(s) whatsoever? you don't just come up with monikers like that for no reason. that's an outright attack, it's stupid, mean and petty. that's the kind of attitude espoused by the girls that made your life hell in high school. and it's not the only thing i've seen, either, there are other labels and rants and outpourings that sound just like it.
i understand we were all raised like that, i honestly do. i get that that attitude is drilled into us from early on, the idea that women should compete, and if anyone looks/acts/sounds/thinks better than we do, we should immediately turn on them like angry hyenas. but i try my very hardest not to have that attitude, and i wish very, very much that every last woman i know is trying her hardest to do the same thing. i understand that we slip, we don't realize what we're saying, but here's what i'm telling you, jo-haters:
realize what you're saying. if you don't like her, let it stop at dislike. there's no need to tear her apart.