Tuesday, September 29, 2015





Putting your arm around someone is not an ‘act of ownership’

In a recent interview with the Mail on Sunday, Dame Helen Mirren, award-winning actress and Naturist of the Year 2004, said that, ‘It annoys me when I see men with an arm slung round their girlfriend’s shoulders. It’s like ownership.’

In response to Mirren’s comments, many tried to discredit her by digging out images in which a man had his arms draped around her on the red carpet. But others came to her support. Writing in the Guardian, Lucy Mangan said that ‘it is a sign of ownership, undoubtedly… the male equivalent of the girlfriend’s hand on a man’s lapel’.

Frankly, it’s a struggle to see how either are in any way problematic. It seems like Western culture is becoming increasingly hypersensitive. From calling creepy compliments ‘misogynistic’ to accusing people of committing ‘microaggressions’ simply for not believing in race, we are increasingly obsessed with reading unconscious biases into everyday social interactions, and constantly thinking the worst of our fellows.

The intention behind what one says or does no longer matters; it is the way in which the words or actions are perceived by others that matters today. Consequently, people can be pilloried for committing wrongs they weren’t even aware existed.

It is ridiculous to read physical gestures between men and women as self-evident acts of ownership. Such constant offence-taking will only suck the fun, and, indeed, the romance, out of modern life.

SOURCE




4 comments:

Dean said...

So when my wife, um, the woman to whom I am married (there, that should be non-offensive) puts her arm around my waist she is indicating ownership? Nah, she's indicating she likes me and wants to be close.

Of course, I am her husband, and she is my wife. We stood up before a bishop and took the vows solemnizing that relationship. I am hers, she is mine. We own each other.

Anonymous said...

@2:35 - I was just going to say - when the man might have his arm around a woman's shoulders (because he's often taller), it's usually noticed that the woman has her arm around his waist (because she's shorter).

Anonymous said...

Helen Mirren should pull her head in. Why do we allow celebrities to dictate social behaviour especially when most of them commit misbehaviour on a large scale. I refuse to be preached to by a misandrist.

Alpha Skua said...

I realy wish whiny liberals would go away and stop behaving like annoying little twats