During our class discussion, a few things popped into my head that I felt would sound better if I had a little extra time to think about them before sharing with everyone.
First of all, there is a misconception in our society where "men are the only ones to masturbate". Yes, many women report that they do not masturbate, but there are plenty of us out there that do. Another comment I'd like to make is that it's not necessarily a horrible thing that some men masturbate to nonsexual representations of women and sexualize their appearance for their own pleasure. Some women are guilty of that too (I mean, come on, have we all seen Ryan Gosling in an interview? Sheeeeesh).
The problem that arises with this sexualization is that is happens in a society that teaches men that they are entitled to not only masturbatory gratification, but sexual gratification. Jean Kilbourne explained that the media uses a woman's physical appearance as a reward for men if they buy the right products and act a certain way, and portray to women that they should appear a certain way in order to be desirable to the men in our society. This combination of giving a sense of sexual entitlement to the men and instilling a submissive, insecure mindset into the women, is what makes for trouble. Instead of keeping the masturbatory gratification to themselves and seeking fulfillment on their own, society encourages men to go out and use an actual women as an object of sexual gratification.
Now, please please please understand that I'm not trying to say that all men that masturbate visual images of women are wrong and think they are entitled to using a woman's body for their own pleasure. I'm just commenting on the fact that the media has taken this to an inappropriate level by using the heightened sexuality that exists in our society to portray sexuality in an unhealthy manner.
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