So, by now most have heard about this prank: Guy goes on Craigslist and posts a phony ad, posing as a female, who says she wants to get violently fucked 3 ways from Sunday. Then guy takes the multitude of men and their surprisingly detailed, personally disclosure-filled responses and posts them all on the internet.
But in case you haven't, I've now told you, which continues my morbid necessity to tell everyone I've seen today about the whole sordid affair.
That doesn't change the fact, however, that I'm sort of ethically torn about the whole situation.
On the one hand, it's funny. Really funny. I mean, there's just a sense of satisfaction at seeing people unexpectedly exposed in pretty vulnerable ways. It's the voyeuristic curiosity. It's about what goes on behind closed doors.
On the other hand, its kind of sickening. I mean, this guy's prank is SO mean-spirited, it's probably a violation of some sort of ethical code (although that certainly is relative) and it's definitely destructive.
Again, I'm not saying that any of this stopped me from reading the whole thing from top to bottom and wishing there were other people in the room with me who I could high-five as each bizarre person's exhibitionist photograph passed by with companion self-congratulatory replies (including my favorite, though why pick just one, who wrote only that he was "6in cut" as though that mere revelation was set to rock this woman's world).
Veronica, who happily shared in the fun with me last night with Christmas Morning-like enthusiasm, had a few things to say about it today:
They were stupid enough to respond with real names and business email addresses and phone numbers and dick pictures to a total stranger that, for all they know, could be an axe-murderer. They basically did what all us women-folk are told to never, ever, ever do—because it’s not safe. So guess what? It’s not safe. You never know who’s at the other end of the line. My guess is that these same men won’t give credit card numbers to total strangers. Since when is your penis less important than your credit?
Finally, though, if you take a gander at the photo included in the ad, they were stupid enough to imagine that the perfect woman of porno-land really exists. 145 men bet their balls that the blow-up doll with a pulse is really out there somewhere, just waiting for them. These aren’t dudes that wanted to fuck a woman; they wanted to fuck an Man’s Idea of a Woman And, really, you’re not going to get much sympathy out of me with a sob story like that…. ”(sniffle, sniff) the blow-up doll, (blows nose) it bit me.” Yo. Shit happens. Move on.
I'm just not sure that this whole thing actually MEANS something. I mean, yes, anonymous sex exists, and the internet, which first provided a means for people to be more anonymously connected with their porn has now provided a way for people to become more anonymously connected to each other sexually. The sociology of it all is pretty fascinating.
But I'm not as willing to say that this is actually about "woman as receptacle for sex" issues that Veronica does. The fact is, there probably are women out there who like it rough and there probably are women out there who like to be humiliated. And, chances are, there are women like this advertising on Craigslist. So, I don't have a problem with men who are inclined towards that kind of sex for trying to take this woman up on her offer.
I dunno, even as I'm writing that, I'm wondering about what it says about the men that they get off on demeaning their female partners.
I guess what I'm saying is that, at it's base, isn't this really just about sex, and not the moral quality of the sex? This woman was offering (so the men thought) unrestricted sex and these men wanted to take her up on it. Their responses certainly weren't tasteful, but the also weren't very surprising.
I agree with you. There are certainly women out there who enjoy being submissive and more women who think that they have to like it to get a guy. Some women are just doormats.
That said, these guys were complete fucking morons.
Posted by: NR | September 13, 2006 at 10:09 AM