‘Say that again,’ is my partner’s remark when, during dinner, I ask him whether he also thinks that there should be more penises on the television. I don’t say it again, because as expected: he heard me perfectly clear.
While being on the sofa – most of you know you can find me there for the better part of the day, apart from my bed – I listened to a podcast of Woman’s Hour by the BBC. Bim Adewunmi, a journalist for New Statesmen, was discussing that breasts are shown in all kinds of TV shows, series and movies. But hardly ever a penis is seen on TV, and why is that, she wondered. People were asked to comment at the Twitter account of the radio show.
Adewunmi argued that she could only think of three TV drama series that she indeed saw a penis and that shows how rare it is. The same thing cannot be said about ladies with a bare torso. Showing a male chest is hardly the same thing as breasts, I agree with her. It doesn’t have the same connotation. Personally, I think breasts can be on TV since it is part of life. Also being part of life, a naked man walking to or from the bathroom should be in a shot of a movie or drama.
I like to make clear that this comes to a higher level when regarding what is shown on television hardly corresponds with reality. There are more double standards than the difference of showing undressed women or men. More elderly actresses should be on the screen, as well as people who are not that beautiful, of all kinds of colors, gay or transsexual people. And what about the chronically ill or disabled people?
For me this discussion is not only about feminism, but I do embrace statements like the one made by this journalist. There is a lot to be said about women in imagery, both on TV and in advertising. With this issue at the back of my mind, I saw an ad for a sofa in the newspaper. Let me tell you that with this condition of mine, I indeed am knackered after taking a shower, but even on a bad day I am not like this on the sofa. Apparently, if Justin Timberlake can earn his money with showing (almost) naked ladies in his Tunnel Vision video, why not sell furniture this way? It is unnecessary to state that all reality lies far away and sexism raises its ugly head again.
In the discussion on Twitter during the broadcast of that episode of Woman’s Hour a funny remark was made, suggesting ‘factoring in a 2:1 breast to penis ratio as being the natural order of things.’ Let me be honest and tell you I am more a butt kind of girl. Why not show butts as often as breasts? For every two breasts, two male butts – yes please.
While trying not to have double standards, I would therefore like to suggest to include sagging butts, butts of all colors, ages and sizes. The same goes for female body parts. Oh, and of course this also includes moobs (male boobs), whether you like it or not.
Here you can read my article Butt naked – part one;
Here you can find the article written by Bim Adewunmi;
And the website for Woman’s Hour can be found here.
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This post is also available in: Dutch