Vindauga

Okay, I realize that this is going to be a ridiculous question but I can’t help myself.

I was just flipping channels and caught a scene from that schlocktastic What Women Want. Mel Gibson was in a department store hoping that he no longer heard women’s voices but it turned out that he did (two deaf women, sounded like every other woman, which is weird if you think about it. I mean, is it his brain that is translating stuff into English or the women’s brains that are thinking that way? Does he hear Chinese women in the movie?) I am going to ignore the obvious issue regarding the tone of the thoughts of women (which are, at the same time, stereo-typically female and stereo-typically male fantasies (all those women thinking about him and how much they want him?)

But the question I want to ask is, in a vein, feminist. It is certainly inspired by the work of feminists. How exactly is the differentiation made? He can’t hear men’s thoughts, only women’s. In the story it is quite clear that this is supposed to be some hard line between sexes. But what about the chromosomal structure would allow this? And what about all those inter sexed people? Can he only hear them in a mumble? What about Jaime Lee Curtis or anyone else with an XXY? What about pseudo or true hermaphrodites? What is this a sexed thing and not a gendered thing?

Yeah. Everyone should boycott that movie because it exemplifies and furthers the patriarchal status quo.