The One About I Don't Want To Sound Like Sir Boring Old Fart Here But...

[Toriach]

(This article originally appeared at The One About...)

Is it just me or are we striving for a new low lately?

I mean I understand that American culture has always flirted with the edges of “taste” and “decency” while at the same time behaving with a sense of self righteous judgmentalism that would have made our Puritan forezealots proud. But in the last few days I have seen the more extreme ends of both and I can't say that I like what I see.

First there was the cover to the latest Cosmo. Now I'm used to the low level T&A fest that is the cover of each month's issue

Image via Wikipedia

of Cosmopolitan. And I'm used to the cover text, which promises on a regular basis the seven sex secrets every woman should know, etc., etc. However as I was glancing at the current cover with Kim Kardashian on it (and BTW how fucking frightening is it that I am able to recognize these people by sight?) and I saw a bold red circle with black lettering proclaiming it their “Bad Girls” issue or some such nonsense. I frankly didn't pay it much mind. But then as I drew closer to the magazine I was able to see the much tinier print below that. “For sexy bitches only!” W!T!F?!?!

Now, while I am not a believer in the notion that everything in the world should be made “safe” for the eyes and ears of children, I am a believer that in the public sphere care should be taken so as to be as respectful as possible to the greatest number of people within reason. While this is a delicate balance, I can't imagine how anyone in their right mind would think that putting “For sexy bitches only!” on the cover of a magazine sold in just about every venue imaginable where anyone, including and especially kids could see the damn thing, was right, appropriate, or in good taste. Frankly it would be every bit as inappropriate if someone started reciting The Vagina Monologues at the top of their lungs in the middle of Wal-Mart. (And for the record, I don't want to hear about anybody's genitals. I just don't need to know. Also please spare me amusing anecdotes about the time that your senile aunt Myrtle mistook you for your mom's dead cousin Lurleen.)

Then there is the flip side. Recently Meghan McCain posted a snap shot of herself to Twitter. It's a picture of her holding a book with Andy Warhol on the cover, she has a hair band in and is wearing a black tank top. Apparently because of this picture she has been called a large number of fairly derogatory things, up to and including “slut”. For posting a picture? Now I'm not unwilling to consider that this is her way of drumming up a little publicity, but then again I'm a cynical bastard. However knowing exactly how little a woman has to do, to be labeled “slut”, I tend to imagine that those making negative comments fall into one of a few categories. First there are guys who desperately wish it were true. In their case I would like to share with them the advice that David Krumholtz's character in Ten Things I Hate About You, gives to Joseph Gordon Levitt's, “Put her in your spank bank and move on.”

Next there are women who see a young woman who is blonde, attractive, and not terribly self conscious, and they are jealous. For them I have no advice, except that maybe if you spent more time working on yourself, whether it's diet, or exercise, or just coming to accept your body the way it is, maybe you'd be happier. Hating and denigrating others will never accomplish anything.

And finally there are those, both men and women who really believe that a woman who dares to show the least little bit of flesh must surely be of loose and easy virtue and poor character. My advice to those people is to join the rest of us in the twenty first century, and try not to trip over the twentieth where most of society has shed such tired notions.

Now I'm not going to deny that Ms. McCain is an attractive young woman and the picture certainly doesn't hide that. However I think my comments in the first half of this article should clearly demonstrate that I am more than aware of the difference between tasteful and tasteless, between appropriate and inappropriate, between classy and vulgar. I not only am aware of the difference, but I'm even willing to publicly proclaim my opinions for all the Internet loving world to see. I see nothing in that picture worthy of scorn or shame. It's an attractive young woman who is rather curvy, in a relaxed setting, wearing casual clothing. No different than a lot of pictures on the Internet of both men and women in similar settings. Anyone who wants to make more out of it, especially if they are doing so simply because of who her dad is, really just needs to grow up and get over themselves.

Now be good or I'll find pictures of Rush Limbaugh in a Speedo and make you look at them.

Keep The Faith My Brothers And Sisters!