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Originally Posted by Ustwo
I only feel guilty over wrongs I have done to people in deed, and those are few and far between. Some were completely unintentional but they still make me feel guilty because I DID it, I don't worry about thought crimes.
Worry about what you do to people, not if you should be liking a movie.
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I really appreciate that everyone thus far has approached it seriously, and I like the anecdote, Ustwo - it's always nice to see a little bit of personality.
That said, I agree with you in staying true to our nature, and it's not that I dislike my "nature" as a man or somehow feel guilty for liking the things I do. We're different in that I extend my 'guilt' further than you. I can't be content knowing that the only things I'm responsible for are the things which I
directly influence. You and I would feel bad for directly harming someone, physically or mentally, or deliberately being sexist or racist to them. However, I also feel guilty about the role that I play in perpetuating bad things. How can I be "true to my nature", knowing that by consuming things I am directly encouraging companies to market towards men, to marginalize women, and even to normalize and desensitize sexual violence? If I didn't buy their things, they wouldn't make
as much profit, and my hands are clean of the negative socialization of young men and women..
I want games and movies that women like to be more popular, I want women to think that they can grow up and be succesful without objectifying themselves, I want young women feel like they can to go into math and science instead of being a trophy wife, and I want women to feel like they can take care of themselves and not be the victim of sexual assault. I also want men to feel like they can grow up without being hyper-masculine sex-machines with air for brains who use anger and physical force to solve conflicts. But I know that buying Grand Theft Auto IV or Girls Gone Wild or Bangbus or Penthouse or
Dead or Alive Beach Volleyball or Exit Wounds does nothing for this goal, and actually serves to harm it by normalizing the opposite - women as always willing sex objects and men as angry protectors.