I think many of you, whether you will admit it or not, remember an episode of Jersey Shore last season when a man at a bar punched a female character, Snooki, in the face. It was a huge controversy, so huge that MTV was not allowed to show footage of the actual punch on the show because it was far too obscene and violent for their viewers. (although viewers of Jersey shore already see heavy drinking, partial nudity, and extreme swearing on every episode of the show). It's interesting how showing that scene on TV was strictly forbidden seeing as my little sister was watching the episode of the Nickelodeon show iCarly in which a female character slapped a male character, and the audience laughed. So we are allowed to laugh when girls hit guys but we can't even see it when guys hit girls?
Today in class we talked a lot about our our own fight stories, and several people brought up that there are differences in the way people act in fights depending on what genders are involved. As seen in Jersey Shore, it is considered a huge disaster for any guy to hit a girl. Recently I was talking with a guy friend who said he would not hit a girl, no matter what. Even if the girl was the same size and strength as he is, he would think of the situation differently if he was in a fight with a girl. He said this was based on the fact that he didn't want to be seen as an "abuser," something that would undoubtedly happen if he hit her, even if she hit him first or he was acting in self defense. Not saying that I want to get hit, but if his statement was based soley on principle and not the fact that girls, in general, are smaller and can bench less weight than guys, then it seems to be a huge double standard. And even if they were based on the facts, it is not seen as morally wrong when a guy hits a smaller guy, or when a girl hits a smaller girl. What are your thoughts?
