[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by maverickstruth

Been thinking about this since I last posted, a lot.

In my previous post, I had said that it really was the comments that got to me. But as I think more about it (and as I did, I actually went and looked at the YLYL thread again), I realized that's not true.

Because even if it's just pictures, it's still objectification. And at the core, that bothers me.

Even as I think about some of the arguments used in support of the thread, such as "what's wrong with appreciating the female form?" or "at least then it's restricted to one place, not all over the forum."

Those statements, in and of themselves, are extremely objectifying. To appreciate the form, the body ... that's not appreciating the person / woman. That's objectifying her, as an object to be appreciated. Restricting it to one place? Really? That suggests that objectifying women is okay - and you're just being polite by keeping it localized to that one thread.

Now, some will say (and have said), "well, the girls have had a thread of hot guys, you know!" or "well, why don't you just have a hot guys thread, then?"

That doesn't solve the issue of objectification. It expands it. I also looked at the 'hot guys draft' thread. It bothered me, too.

Finally, a few people have made the comment "If you want to look at hot women, you can do so lots of other places on the web. Why do you have to be able to do it here?" I agree with the sentiment, but would go further. In my opinion, when you start posting pictures of hot guys/gals here, you are no longer just passively objectifying them - you are actively propagating the notion that objectifying them is okay. You are going out of your way to collect and share images, with no context or purpose other than to share a 'hot body'. That, by definition, is objectification. And I don't see why CP as a community has to be a place where objectification of men or women is promoted.

I realize I'm probably in the minority, even of the other gals here. But the more I thought about it, the more it bothered me. So, there you have it :-)

I can appreciate this. If we, as a group, are trying to hold ourselves to a higher standard than what happens in the rest of the world, then I can get behind that, as long as we do it together and not a "he said, she said" kind of argument.

I am skeptical though, it's incredibly hard to do so and there will always be posts you don't appreciate. My advice is to be critical to the post without damning the person's character. Too often we associate something we don't like with the person being "bad".