Girls Gone Wild in Morgantown
I've been spending my spare time prepping the Podcasts, so I know I've become the hermit (again). It reminds me of those first few months in Venice Beach, when I was busy getting my feet under me after moving across the country, away from friends nd family, and still trying to set right my relationship with the Panther.
This time, not quite as jarring, but still a time of focus and purpose. It feels good...but at times like this I tend to neglect my health and other people. Something I need to look out for, lest I end up actually hampering myself in the long run.
I'm on track for the debut on Tuesday/Monday (as a nod to my international readers, I am keying the podcasts off of GMT instead of the USA-centric Eastern Standard Time)...I hope you all find some pleasure in it all.
I see the Girls Gone Wild bus was in Morgantown these last few days. Don't know if they got any material (knowing them, if they didn't find something, they manufactured it). I did not see local media mentions of it (of course I don't assiduously read everything local as I did in Los Angeles, I can only stomache so many 60-column-inch stories on a local car dealer's hobby of putting things on top of other things) but figure the local community was less than excited to see them...this is the Eastern edge of the Bible Belt, you know...I'm considered twitchy by some locals for writing poetry, so guys who get college girls drunk to video tape them stripping and having sex have to at least be ranked somewhere less approvedly.
My view on them is simple, their advertisements are problematic on television, making it awkward for parents to let their kids watch late night or early morning television. The concept behind the videos is mildly disturbing, get drunk or exhibitionism-disposed girls to sign releases, then video them acting up...my issue with this is the same as it is with Hugh Hefner...he lives in a mansion, I don't see many of the girls (who are the real reason people buy the magazine in Hef's case and the videos for GGW) living in mansions. It's pimping...some guys making money off of stuff that, for the most part, exploits young women who are desperate for some attention and have been convinced that out of the thousand who have come before them, they will be the one who gets "discovered".
Of course, lots of guys will argue that, since they are old enough to know better, the women are not to be concerned for. I wonder what kind of treatment girls who appear in these videos get from co-workers, classmates, employers and family when the videos surface?
Where is the chivalry? I never considered "they should know better" or "they're old enough" or "she had it coming" to be ethical pillars. But as long as it pays for your limo, your bus, your plane or your fountain, most will manufacture a defense for exploitation when the truth is this: it makes money. This would be like trauma surgeons arguing that since crash helmets reduce the amount of money they make on accident victims, they should not be required...the old "screw you I'm making money" philosophy.
4 comments:
I have to disagree with you on this one. You are a guy, telling any other female or me how degrading it is to show off your chest or beyond. If the money factor weren’t there, would you still believe it degrading? Haven’t you mooned anyone? That’s a low ranking exhibitionist. You don’t feel pity or feel a knot in your stomach if they told you they did it on a ten dollar bet. What’s the difference?
I have a hard time believing anyone is naïve enough that they have no idea what they are getting into. The camera crew, the money and contract they have to sign should be pretty good indications.
The right to make money by bouncing, why not? They probably found it cold but not degrading.
I respect your position, Frida...my issue is not with the women. My issue is with the (mostly) men who exploit to make themselves rich and give little consideration to the women. If a woman chooses to strip naked, act out or have sex, whether for her own purposes or for pay, that's her body...I'm not a big fan of guys who get rich off of it. Yes, the women should know better by now. But motorcycleists should know better than to ride without helmets.
Any woman who wants to get naked, as long as she is not forcing it on others, I have NO issue with. And, I'm happy to watch and enjoy beautiful women, as long as I do not feel like they are being exploited by others.
Being upset with those who will make a mint is like being upset at Wal Mart. Their employees make what a dollar fifty an hour? While they are making a 150 million a day in profit. My figures are off but it is the same principal.
Actually, I believe it is more useful to be mad at Wal Mart, the largest employer with the lowest wage base.
It is more useful to be mad at the exploitation of a large employer than a small exploiter on many levels, I agree (but I also stand by my point that GGW feeds a stereotype that encourages dangerous conduct, the objectification of women and date rape...)
But, if we only go after the largest offender we would have to prosecute or condemn only the killer who kills the most, taken to a logical end. Exploitation, particularly by corporations, is rampant in modern society, as the entire concept of a corporation allows for a disengagement of morality or personal accountability from a financial enterprise.
I have spent decades of my life working in and form major corps and although some are better behaved than others, the generic holds true. But you make a very valid point.
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