Sports Illustrated - it's worse than you thought:

[The Straight Story]

17. Well.....

You must be a hater of some sort and can't possibly care about the issues.

You know what though - I do think we have a cultural problem with objectifying others. Especially women. Not just them mind you, but more so them than others.

What I don't think though is that every single little thing is a part of that and when you make everything that way you get a little lost.

Men, and women, like looking at others. I cannot, I will not, make that into some monstrous thing and label them all as broken people who need to be cured by jeebus or something else.

Real life, for many folks, is nothing like we see on tv, in movies, or on the cover of magazines. Myself and many others get that and simply laugh that crap off. We know that not everyone lives like the Kardashians or most other tv 'reality' shows. We really do get that.

I don't think every women looks like those in SI. Don't expect them to. There sure are a lot that do though. But, like others, I can also say I don't mind looking at beautiful people (or things like redwoods).

Just because I enjoy looking at such things does not mean I want to cut down the redwoods and mount them on my wall anymore than appreciating a beautiful woman means I want to bang her - nor does it mean that is all I see her as.

What we are hearing is that when we see such images we want to mind rape women, hate them, we think they are nothing more than meat, etc and so on. Maybe some do, but I and many don't think that way - but we are told we are monsters that need cured and that the mere act of looking at women in any way other than some business way is akin to us wanting to just use them for sex.

It is like sitting in the room with a psych dr. and they show you a photo of a woman. If you smile or like it then out comes the hammer of shame - you should not find others attractive, you shouldn't like it, you should be shamed for seeing someone as prettier than someone else. We should all just like the exact same thing. Period.

The in comes the rest of it - question every action you take. Open a door? Maybe you hate the person you opened it for and want to keep them down. Comment on something someone is wearing? You probably hate women and why aren't you talking about the outfit some guy is wearing (maybe you have because it is natural to comment on such things but no one paid attention to that - you are a hater right out of the gate.). Never mind that women wear a lot more different things than men (they have a wider wardrobe to tap into) - it is hard to talk about Obama and the suit he is wearing today because it is the same damned thing everyday. Comment on some nice dress Hillary wore and suddenly - bam! you are a sexist and you judge women, hate them, and why didn't you say the same about someone else and such.

What we have is one group who rides around telling folks that every little thing they do has to be scrutinized and analyzed and then shamed because somewhere deep inside you are sure all of those people just want to use and rape women and can never appreciate them.

It gets a little silly. Post a story about someone who committed a crime and the perp is a woman? You have an agenda and hate women and this is your way of showing they are bad. What? WTF is that shit? When you have one small group who does nothing but try to find ways to tell you that you are bad and hate women it gets tiring.

I don't have a problem calling out sexism or talking about the issues. What I have is a problem with a select few who believe they are the sole keepers of it all and if you aren't as pissed as they are over every little thing you want to screw women over and use them as toys.

When your allies become your enemy - maybe you are the problem (not you as the poster, you are fine, meant that in a more general way) and maybe you should take a little time and realize that just because folks don't see a demon around every corner does not mean they hate you, women, or the causes you support.