I went to the gym this morning at 0700. If you thought Saturday mornings were for the crazies, you should go on Sunday mornings. Those are the really dedicated gym rats.
I saw both women and men. Most of the women were of average height and build. A few were petite. They had been working out for a while as evidenced by their highly developed physiques. They were still petite or, at best, of average size.
The men looked like viking warriors. 6' 4", 260# with huge muscles. They were beasts. I thought of all the recent grrrl powr movies where the lead chick demolishes a whole bunch of big bruisers. What a laugh! Those gym rat chicks could land all the punches they wanted on the viking warriors and the vikings wouldn't even feel them. Then, with one mighty, Nordic backhand, the hardworking gym rat chick would go flying.
If I were the gym rat chick, I'd keep going to the gym and be proud of what I'd accomplished. I'd also be saying to myself, "I want one of those guys on the end of a leash!" That would be a figurative leash, of course, the kind that makes a man proud to get up at 0500 to get to the coal mine on time to work all day so he can provide for his wife and kids.
Think of two alternative situations. In the first, petite gym rat chick is alone on the streets at night and faces a bad situation. I guess she could console herself that someone was going to take a punch or two, but she'd be going down to suffer whatever the bad people had in store for her.
In the second situation, petite chick has Throndar the Viking Warrior on the end of her figurative leash when bad men approach.
In her sweet, little soprano voice, she calls out, "Kill, Throndar! Kill!"
Throndar roars out, "THRONDAR KILL!" and proceeds to fling bad men about like rag dolls while petite gym rat chick helps out with some well-timed sucker punches and kicks to the groins.
At least the second scenario has a chance to produce a good outcome for the petite gym rat chick.
What's missing in our culture are the modern works of art such as movies, stories and songs wherein the fine art of feminine charm is extolled instead of grrrl powr.
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| On the plus side, she has a heap of "attitude." On the minus side, she's going to end up in a heap and would find herself practicing her "attitude" in the ICU. |
I prefer teamwork and not depending on physical strength.
ReplyDeleteSee if I can get the picture to pop up here.....
https://foxfier.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/teamwork.jpg?w=474
I like these movies. Want to know why? Because in this day and age, if I wait for a man to save my bacon, I'm cooked. There aren't enough real men. I know that if I fight smart, I ought to be able to get my way out of real trouble. Mother bears are feared for a reason. Females of any species will lay it all on the line for the ones they love. I really appreciate seeing a female hero. I'd rather die on my feet fighting than cowering in a corner crying.
ReplyDeleteAnother reason is that the message of these movies: if you're capable, you have a responsibility to fight. It doesn't matter if you're male, female, alien, handicapped (Dr. Strange), young (Spiderman), or old (Wolverine). Hopefully, I will never have to fight for my life or my loved ones. But, everyone has monsters and dragons in their lives that need slaying. And watching superhero movies can be inspiring.
I've been following your blog for a long time, but this series has been a serious turn-off.
I know that if I fight smart, I ought to be able to get my way out of real trouble.
ReplyDeleteThat's actually what bugs me about the "Buffy is a normal girl" version of girls-fighting movies-- and it's gone into normal movies, now, too. Guess it's been there a long time, going over some of the movies from when I was a kid.
I've had women try to tell me I don't need a gun, or worse try the same stupid pissing-contest stuff guys get into about 'hur, hur, only wimps or lazy people need a gun, just go train.' (My inability to not look at her like she was an especially stupid six year old is part of why I'm known as 'disagreeable.' My face tells the truth too much.)
In the terms that KT so amusingly put it, the only way I'd take out a Throndar is if I FELL on him, and even then it would take a great height.
My Elf is a real man, and quite a bit tougher than folks might guess (Hey, I grew up with Tolkien as my mythology-- I think elves are tough SOBs), but goblins tend to swarm. Even with my help, he's not taking out three younger, bigger, looking-for-trouble guys.
I actually like the Super movies because they've got a REASON for ridiculously unrealistic fight scenes-- Black Widow almost never goes straight up against anybody, and when they were doing the flight line fight she was the only one looking like "guys, do you realize how incredibly stupid this is?"