http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LboRuO3UMSI
The above video shows a clip from the popular 90's tv show Saved by the Bell the New Class. In the video you see a classic example of sexual harassment. While the situation in the video is quite obvious, it makes me wonder, how did we get here?That is, why does sexual harassment exist? I feel that as a people we do a really poor job of teaching people what exactly is acceptable touch. However, we make it very clear what bad touch is. To me it seems that people are always on the lookout for negative touch, we as a people have become overly touch sensitive. We instill in people that they should be wary of the opposite sex. Women are taught to fear men, because frankly they tend to rape. Men are taught to fear women because they're really after your money anyway. The animosity that we create between the sexes leads to this. Humans are the only animals on the planet that create social context, but what does social context really provide for us? Humans aren't allowed to decide for themselves anymore. From the day you're born you are bombarded with a set of unwritten rules that you're expected to follow. We punish those that challenge norms and social change often takes so long that the people who begin the fight are rarely around to finish it. Social construct works because it punishes critical thought. However, despite this I'm still encouraged. I'm encouraged mostly because I'm seeing change. Whenever our reading material describes atypical male or female behavior I love seeing how many people openly reject these ideas. Touch is not something that we can instill, it must be negotiated. The problems with the social norms of the past is that they're too rigid, there's no gray area. This lack of gray is what leads us to the sexes not knowing how to interact with each other. We must remove the pressure to follow our roles and allow for people to establish for themselves what positive touch is.
The above video shows a clip from the popular 90's tv show Saved by the Bell the New Class. In the video you see a classic example of sexual harassment. While the situation in the video is quite obvious, it makes me wonder, how did we get here?That is, why does sexual harassment exist? I feel that as a people we do a really poor job of teaching people what exactly is acceptable touch. However, we make it very clear what bad touch is. To me it seems that people are always on the lookout for negative touch, we as a people have become overly touch sensitive. We instill in people that they should be wary of the opposite sex. Women are taught to fear men, because frankly they tend to rape. Men are taught to fear women because they're really after your money anyway. The animosity that we create between the sexes leads to this. Humans are the only animals on the planet that create social context, but what does social context really provide for us? Humans aren't allowed to decide for themselves anymore. From the day you're born you are bombarded with a set of unwritten rules that you're expected to follow. We punish those that challenge norms and social change often takes so long that the people who begin the fight are rarely around to finish it. Social construct works because it punishes critical thought. However, despite this I'm still encouraged. I'm encouraged mostly because I'm seeing change. Whenever our reading material describes atypical male or female behavior I love seeing how many people openly reject these ideas. Touch is not something that we can instill, it must be negotiated. The problems with the social norms of the past is that they're too rigid, there's no gray area. This lack of gray is what leads us to the sexes not knowing how to interact with each other. We must remove the pressure to follow our roles and allow for people to establish for themselves what positive touch is.
This is a lot to think about...Great youtube video. I automatically look at the video and know for sure its inappropriate and then I think why is it inappropriate for me individually...To be continued...I enjoyed reading your post.
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