Is This Famous Photo Fueling Rape Culture? [View all]

[redqueen]

This much better piece was linked from the Lounge thread. Thought I'd post it here in case anyone missed it.

I don't think the photo itself fuels rape culture. I do think that a lot of the reactions to it display rape culture really well, though, and that failing to point out and discuss this kind of thing does fuel rape culture.

http://lawsonry.com/2012/08/is-this-famous-photo-fueling-rape-culture/

...

Friedman herself said that the kiss “happened so fast” and “wasn’t a big deal,” but lets not forget that this was a time in America when women were socialized into property-like gender roles. When George laid Greta over in his arms and she describes him as “very strong,” certain images of the controlling nature of male socialization and the devaluation of women stemming from that period come to mind. Need a refresher?
...

Considering the social atmosphere at the time, it’s not that far-fetched to assume that Greta and every other woman who was kissed that day might have thought the same thing – that the sailors kissing them were excited, strong, and not asking for permission. If you read the NYP’s unraveling of the story, they point out that George admitted to drinking so much that he doesn’t even remember grabbing and kissing Greta. But does this make it reprehensible?

Some argue that the celebration was tantamount to New Year’s Day, where everyone expects to give and receive kisses from willing strangers who are excited to ring in the new year. This, however, doesn’t excuse the obvious lack of consent from all accounts. After all, just because you surprise me with a clenching non-consensual kiss and I dismiss it as you just being excited, does that make it any less non-consensual, forced, and selfish on your part?

Others say that it’s “just the way things were back then” and that sometimes, “you just grabbed a girl and kissed her.”

...

And on that note, about "the way things were back then", I love this post in the comments:

"In the context of that era" is a roundabout way of saying "back then it was okay to do this to women." Anything that disrupts a firmly held belief is going to be considered "reaching," and I'm okay with that. When we're comfortable looking back on cherished American history through a feminist lens we'll have made positive intellectual traction.

In other words, what some people would describe as 'the good old days'.



Another linked piece, this from the NYP, shows an interesting quote. While talking about the moment when Greta saw the picture and realized it was her:

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/kiss_is_just_kiss_x8pgRGiSNtEL9zbSO3TTiP/2

Greta, by now married with children, had the same reaction as George: She knew it was her. “The seams in my stockings were perfectly straight — I was always careful about that,” she says. “And it was my figure, and my hairdo. I was carrying this little tapestry purse that I owned.”

Her husband, now deceased, noticed something else: The odd angle of the woman’s left thumb. According to Verria, Greta’s husband said, “You know, when you get very tense, your arm stiffens up and your thumb sticks out just like that.”