Saturday, June 21, 2008
(12:05 AM) | Adam Kotsko:
Making Sexism Sexy Again
A recurring motif in recent movies -- particularly Judd Apatow-brand film products -- is that if men fulfill their most basic human duties, such as treating others like human beings, displaying basic competence in any activity, etc., women will fall in love with them. It's not even that this marginal effort will allow the woman to finally see the diamond in the rough that the man really is -- it's just that there literally are no better options out there.On the one hand, the most likely interpretation of this phenomenon is sexism. On the other hand, maybe we men have unconsciously colluded to depress expectations to such a degree that these movies turn out to be fair-minded sociological portraits -- yet more proof that homosexuality is not a choice.