A friend recently showed me the app Lulu: an app for girls that anonymously rates the guys they are friends with, have hooked up with, or dated. The app connects directly to Facebook so that any guy you are friends with on Facebook appears with his picture. You can then click his name, view his average score, and read what his past hook ups have said about him. She showed me this because I was reviewed.
There is no way I would ever dare to say that women aren’t objectified. I, as a white male, have so much privilege that I am very aware of and certainly have privilege I am unaware of. I know that I will never understand how a woman feels in today’s society. How could I? Gender equality is still certainly in the works. I see ads daily that attempt to reinstate the patriarchal society. Celebrity women are criticized publicly for their appearance, their body type, their mental stability, and their sex life much more than men are.
Still, I cannot see how people try to tell me men are not objectified when there are apps like Lulu around.
People always tell me that they are surprised by my insecurities. Still, how can I not be insecure about my skinny body, the tambour of my voice, my daily activities when society tells me that this is opposite of what a man should be? I certainly do not get the same amount of societal pressure that women do, however I am tired of people pretending that men do not undergo pressure. This app, really pushed my buttons because there are so many women fighting to be freed from said pressures, yet there are women counteracting that fight by rating men on this app. I did not sign up for this app, I was simply put on it because I have a Facebook.
Thankfully, none of my friends or past girlfriends or people I have hooked up with have objectified me for my masculinity. I am incredibly thankful for that. But still this app pissed me off and I couldn’t stay silent.
1. While not as much, men are still objectified. 2. An app that lets you view ratings of how a person has sex? How fucked up and Brave New World is that?
