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What's wrong with thinking of women in a sexual manner? Women think of men in a sexual way all the time and no one gets their undies in a wad. Why aren't you protesting Utada's oh-so objectifying depiction of men in "Tippy Toe" or "Let Me Give You My Love"? Clearly because she wrote those songs, Utada sees men as mere sexual toys to be used for her satisfaction and disposed of when they fail to entertain her anymore. Because she has sexual thoughts about men, she must view them as worthless. This is your logic applied the other way. Does it make any sense?

Yes and no. Yes, because the reality of the situation is that most of the entertainment industry is interested in presenting BOTH women and men as sexual marketing tools. No, because I don't think that's necessarily the way it should be: the merits of music and art should certainly transcend the physical qualities of the performers behind them. Amanda Palmer is the perfect example of a true artist: she is perfectly comfortable applying sex appeal when appropriate and has even posed in the nude, but that isn't what she sells her music on. She's a mature artist who isn't over-sexualized (she's in charge of her own body and takes responsibility for the things she does with it) nor overly modest. And Utada DOES present herself sexually- one of the things she has repeatedly stated she likes about singing in English the most is that she feels more comfortable singing about sexual topics. But even in her Japanese work she's gotten explicit. "I want your baby"? I wonder how many different ways that line can be taken. Hmm. Just because Utada doesn't walk around in see-through tops doesn't mean she isn't sexualized. She merely presents her sexuality through her music. Plus, let's be realistic. This is the female singer who has capitalized on the fact that she isn't afraid of sharing information like what panties she bought with her fans over her blog. Now unless you can provide evidence that she WOULD be offended over a thread discussing her breasts, the overwhelming consensus by any group of reasonably minded people would be that she wouldn't care.

I have a history of dealing with women who think they're better than me just because they think they've faced more trials and tribulations than I have. I KNOW oppression isn't a contest- but these femi-nazis try to make it out to be one. The only reason I brought up my personal identity is to make the point that EVEN AS A FEMININE, WEAK "PANSY" MAN, I am expected to take crap from women that they are not expected to take from me. I can't say things to women that they can say to me, I can't say things ABOUT women that they can say about me, and I have JUST AS MUCH- if not more- of a history of oppression than most women I know. But because I am a man biologically, I'm supposed to take those experiences and deal with them myself while it's considered perfectly acceptable for a girl to cry and whine about it until the cows come home.

And your logic is, once again, self-defeating. Applying the concept that men are biologically stronger to women is the EXACT MANNER in which women were oppressed from the beginning! Men are stronger- therefore, that inherently makes them more capable of working, particularly in labor jobs. Women can't carry as much weight or handle as much physical stress, so I guess that means we should just deny them jobs we men don't think they're fit to take on. And you know that the idea of a woman slapping a man and getting away with it actually stems from patriarchal perspective? Because women are weaker than men, it is expected that a man will endure physical abuse from a woman because it would be humiliating to step down to her level. It isn't out of regard for the physical well-being of women that men don't slap back; it's to protect their machismo and maintain as high an ego as possible. So here we have more double-standards. Maintain a masculine rule of conduct that PROTECTS women from being treated fairly when they don't want to be, but eliminate all the ones that prevent them from being treated fairly when they want to be. This is madness. This is ultra-feminism.

Also, I'm sorry for taking so long to respond. Work and other things got in the way.

I'd also like to make it absolutely clear that I am NOT anti-feminist. I believe that women should be EQUAL in EVERY WAY; and that the women fighting for EQUALITY are noble and respectable. However, to me, and I know this is crazy, but that means women are attributed the same freedoms and rights as men, and they take the same level of responsibility as men for their actions. Unfortunately, this is not what I see occurring widely in America. What I see is masses of women who want to be extradited from the consequences of their actions and given free-reign to do whatever they want in the name of "correcting" the discriminatory attitudes of yesterday (ultra-feminism). That isn't equality.

Shuri/Eli