Penis, please! A Request from your Female Viewers

     Taking a social justice course, I find this video intriguing. Only yesterday I was discussing the term "privilege" and what it means to be part of a majority "in-group" (social circle). Up until this point, I didn't really know what privilege meant - I knew the Oxford Dictionary definition, but I had never really considered it. One professor explained it in such a way that it finally hit home. An example of privilege, he said, is that (as a man) he had never thought, while walking alone at night, that someone might actually harm him. 

This hit home for me because, as a young, small in stature woman who tends to run and go out at night, this is something that constantly crosses my mind. Another example that I came up with on my own is that men do not need to leave the house with perfect hair or make up because society doesn't pressure them into thinking that they need to. There are all sorts of examples - no they don't all revolve around the privilege of men. Women, for example, are thought of as primary caregivers. This stereotype and enforcement of gender roles may offend some of you, but it actually gives us the privilege of being the person our (future) child(ren) will come to in times of need. 

Enough about privilege, we are here to talk about penis... or, rather, lack of penis! I am writing this article in response to the above mentioned video which you can watch here:

What makes this video great?

1. The multitude of wordplay: "I've got a boner to pick with you." "I want a little dude tube on my boob tube."
2. Their pop culture references used to illustrate their points: "... a scene where Rob Stark and Khal Drogo compare penis sizes... oh, and it's a tie so they have to, like, wrestle naked and there's some cross-dong action."
3. Their hand motions and actions. See 1:45 for example. 
4. The ending. The women threaten to boycott HBO until penis is in place.

we know his other sword is probably bigger...

What is not so great...

This video is hilarious, and that is the point. These women are going to reach a lot of people who agree that not enough penis is shown on TV. Of course we want to see Rob Stark's junk and Khal Drogo in the buff, but there is a seriously larger issue here (which a lot of people will not understand due to the presentation style of the issue). These women, although they preach for and request more male nudity, are actually protesting the use of female objectification and sexualization in pop culture.

This is evident at the end (1:56) when they propose a compromise to HBO regarding the double standard:

"For every topless background extra, every actress that bares her bouncies and doesn't even get a line, every minute that we have to sit through this DUMB double standard, you owe us an inch of grade A man meat. And, if you don't do this, or try to shut us up by throwing us some scr... (no one wants to see that!) we will boycott!"

I just wanted to set the record straight on what they are actually trying to get across. Women are blatantly exposed while mainstream media rarely addresses the sexuality of other viewers. So, either stop objectifying women, or at least level the playing field a little bit. I am sure they wouldn't have any issues finding a man out there willing to put his "johnson" out on display.

 Yours in the quest for penis freedom,

Ashley