Spot the pun in the title! Anyway...as with most people of my general demographic, I regularly read the website textsfromlastnight.com. It's raunchy. It's hilarious. It's disturbing. And it's incredibly anti-feminist.
So obviously this poses a challenge for me. While I frequently find great joy out of reading the utterly ridiculous things that appear on the site, I am also frequently disgusted and ashamed. Textsfromlastnight.com is the epitome of a guilty pleasure for me. I read it...I laugh...and I feel incredibly guilty.
Let's take for example, this gem, which appeared today:
"she asked if i had a condom...i said yes...when we finished it wasnt on...told her it was at home on my dresser."
How can I think that's funny? Truth is, I don't. I think that's INCREDIBLY disturbing. Honestly, I think that doing shit like that should be illegal...I mean, that's a consent issue, for sure. On the other hand I also think that the woman (girl most likely) in the situation obviously wasn't doing everything she could to actually protect herself, namely LOOKING AT HIS PENIS but that's neither here nor there, and I'm not out to blame the victim.
I would estimate that 99% of the texts posted are anti-feminist. The website serves as a giant mirror for me, reflecting all that is wrong with my generation. The only feminism that is remotely present on the site is "fuck-me-feminism." I picked up that term on one of the blogs I read recently and I think it's amazing.
Fuck-me-feminism is the brand that "the man" likes. It's the type that says women should be sexually liberated but still SEXY and not lose their "femininity." It's the type of feminism that doesn't challenge any status quo other than the stigma on women being more sexually active. And let me ask you, what kind of feminism is that really? What's the point in sexual liberation if there aren't social institutions and real change behind it?
SIGH.
Either way, I keep reading textsfromlastnight.com because I can't help but laugh and stare in awe at the depravity. But at least I am viewing it through a critical eye and with a sad understanding of what is really happening here. And a reminder as to why I am a feminist and why feminism is still incredibly relevant.
