I'm cheating somewhat by using a joke rather than a TV programme, but here's my take on a joke that my mum read out to me last week:
A snake visits his doctor.
"Doctor, I could never see very well, but now things look fuzzier than ever." The doctor prescribes him some glasses, and the snake goes on his way.
A few weeks later, the snake returns.
"Doctor, please help, I feel depressed."
"Oh, but didn't the glasses help you?"
"They did, but now that I can see I've realised that I've been married to a hose for the past two years!"
After I'd finished laughing, I thought of a few things:
a) The snake only realised that his wife was a hose when his vision was clear.
b) This implies that before that, he didn't use any of his other senses to tell that she wasn't a snake, namely hearing.
c) This implies that he didn't think it odd that the his supposed wife had never spoken to him.
From this we wonder:
a) Did he get her consent to marry him?
b) If he'd asked her, did he take her lack of answer as a yes?
c) After they'd married, did he receive any consent for sex? (I'm assuming that they would sleep together as a married couple.)
Doesn't this make the snake seem like one who either doesn't care about women's responses, or who doesn't expect women to have responses? Did he feel that it was his right to claim any woman for himself, without asking for her feelings on the matter? Does he feel that as a married man, he could have sex with his wife without her consent? He doesn't think to ask her thoughts on anything in two years of marriage, yet doesn't seem to view this lack of communication as a problem with his relationship. When he receives his glasses, he sees that his wife is in fact an object - but has he not treated her as one for as long as he's known her? Has he taken the time to know her as anything more than what he sees her as? Given that there's no communication between the two, all he has in terms of feedback from his wife is her appearance - when his glasses show him what she really looks like, he feels depressed. Clearly all that matters to this snake is his wife's appearance, nothing more.
Positive message: This is a funny joke about a snake who'd unknowingly lived with a hose.
Negative messages: Women aren't expected to have opinions, women don't need to consent to marriage, husbands don't need their wives' consent for sex, no communication in marriage isn't negative, and all that matters when choosing a mate and keeping a relationship strong is what a woman looks like.
A snake visits his doctor.
"Doctor, I could never see very well, but now things look fuzzier than ever." The doctor prescribes him some glasses, and the snake goes on his way.
A few weeks later, the snake returns.
"Doctor, please help, I feel depressed."
"Oh, but didn't the glasses help you?"
"They did, but now that I can see I've realised that I've been married to a hose for the past two years!"
After I'd finished laughing, I thought of a few things:
a) The snake only realised that his wife was a hose when his vision was clear.
b) This implies that before that, he didn't use any of his other senses to tell that she wasn't a snake, namely hearing.
c) This implies that he didn't think it odd that the his supposed wife had never spoken to him.
From this we wonder:
a) Did he get her consent to marry him?
b) If he'd asked her, did he take her lack of answer as a yes?
c) After they'd married, did he receive any consent for sex? (I'm assuming that they would sleep together as a married couple.)
Doesn't this make the snake seem like one who either doesn't care about women's responses, or who doesn't expect women to have responses? Did he feel that it was his right to claim any woman for himself, without asking for her feelings on the matter? Does he feel that as a married man, he could have sex with his wife without her consent? He doesn't think to ask her thoughts on anything in two years of marriage, yet doesn't seem to view this lack of communication as a problem with his relationship. When he receives his glasses, he sees that his wife is in fact an object - but has he not treated her as one for as long as he's known her? Has he taken the time to know her as anything more than what he sees her as? Given that there's no communication between the two, all he has in terms of feedback from his wife is her appearance - when his glasses show him what she really looks like, he feels depressed. Clearly all that matters to this snake is his wife's appearance, nothing more.
Positive message: This is a funny joke about a snake who'd unknowingly lived with a hose.
Negative messages: Women aren't expected to have opinions, women don't need to consent to marriage, husbands don't need their wives' consent for sex, no communication in marriage isn't negative, and all that matters when choosing a mate and keeping a relationship strong is what a woman looks like.
No comments:
Post a Comment