My husband and I were recently discussing why among our group of (straight) friends, it's fine when all of us go to a (straight) (female) strip club, yet we would never dream to go to a gay or male strip club. So why is it OK for everyone to get lap dances from women, but not men? When did it become so acceptable for women to appreciate other women in that way? And why hasn't the equivalent from straight men caught on?

Andy Newman in the New York Times reports on a study about women's sexuality. (I'm a little late on this as I only saw the coverage yesterday on chicagotribune.com). Basically, women's sexuality exists on a continuum. Most women appreciate naked females over naked males. But really, it's about what they are doing. Naked active people are more arousing that naked non-active people. What?

Regardless of the research (because you know it'll just be disproved next month), what is the deal with this acceptable sometimes-I'm-bi trend going on with women?

I'm no scientist, or sociologist, but I don't think it's too hard to see why. American culture treats the female form like an object. That's nothing new. But why are we surprised that after years of seeing women's bodies as objects in the media through commercials, advertising, television, film, and other forms of marketing, and being told that women's bodies are these beautiful, amazing objects .... why are we surprised that everyone, male or female, is turned on by the female form? I see the same commercials that are aimed at men, and lots of advertising directed at both men and women uses this so-beautiful-they-must-be-airbrushed women. After seeing image after image of that, and the constant association of that being "beautiful" and "sexy", is it any wonder that it starts to seep in, regardless of gender?

Interstingly, today on Alternet.org, is an article titled "Why I Hate Beauty." The premise being "Men are barraged by images of unobtainable women in the media, making it difficult for them to desire the ordinarily beautiful." Interesting. Even men are getting fed up with these impossible beauty standards.

Frankly, I'd like all this creative energy that goes into marketing to come up with something else. Every time I see advertising with some impossibly beautiful woman, it almost goes unnoticed, because it's nothing new. Seriously, what else do they have? Is that the only idea these thousands of ad agencies can come up with?