Slate Strikes Again!

Slate strikes again with a gender politic article by Christina Cauterucci that makes me feel a little funky.The article is about two famous celebrity stars flirting with the reporter with the twist that they are female.

Cauterucci states that, "Johnson and Mann’s shameless flirting is degrading, and definitely creepy." This is in response to the male bloggers who point out this "gender inequality." She rationalizes it by saying that this bad action is ok because it is uncommon. Men are usually the ones doing what Johnson and Mann perpetrated on this poor defenseless reporter. Women need to make men into victims every once and a while to upend the patriarchy.

I want to say that both Cauterucci and the male youtubers screaming of gender inequality are wrong because of context. Looking at the context of the encounter is incredibly important. Does the "victim" want the attention? Does the "victim" seem to like the flirting? Is the flirting happening in an appropriate place (say a party, a date, etc.). It is wrong to flirt hard like that in a workplace. It is wrong to not stop when you get negative signals. Respect the other person's signals. Don't flaunt your position of power.

Here's one piece of information that I would need before I make a ruling. Did they talk before the camera started rolling? It seems to me that he is in on the flirting from stage 1, and probably had the camera turned on early to capture some of it. There's nothing wrong with flirting, and certainly nothing wrong with flirting on camera. Flirting can be interesting television is all of the success of America's Romance movie industry is to be believed.

His reaction probably redoubled their efforts, as he was clearly loving it. There was never a single sign I saw for them to stop. Quite importantly, he flirts back. He lets loose a terrible pick up line, and they call it terrible but ask for another. They actually find the second one funny, and the routine goes back and forth. Quite importantly, he flirts back.

I honestly think there's nothing wrong with the male gaze as long as it's met by the female gaze or vice versa.