Quiz! Who said the following, in reference to the presence of women on television?
Enough, ladies. I get it. You have periods. … [W]e’re approaching peak vagina on television, the point of labia saturation.
Was it?
- W.F. Price of The Spearhead
- Christopher in Oregon, legendary vagina-hating Man Going His Own Way
- Reddit commenter VjayjaysAreIcky69
Trick question! It was actually Two and a Half Men co-creator Lee Aronsohn, complaining to The Hollywood Reporter about the female-centric sticoms that have popped up of late. (There’s plenty to complain about when it comes to shows like Whitney and 2 Broke Girls, but “the main characters have vaginas” ain’t it.)
In a keynote address at the Toronto Screenwriting Conference, Aronsohn also defended his show’s tendency to portray women in a less-than-flattering light:
Screw it. … We’re centering the show on two very damaged men. What makes men damaged? Sorry, it’s women. I never got my heart broken by a man.
So brave, Aronsohn, so brave, standing up to the Matriarchy like that!
On ThinkProgress, Alyssa Rosenberg lays into Aronsohn:
[H]aving to hear that ladies have menstrual cycles, take birth control pills, and enjoy sex is just unbearable, right? Because even though the number of female characters on television tends to hover in the low 40 percent range, we’re just saturated with vaginas, because god forbid stories about men and their ish don’t absolutely dominate the media? Because even though those shows Aronsohn’s complaining about have actually created more writing and directing jobs for men than women, and resulted in some really awful portrayals as a result, we couldn’t possibly let women come to expect that they’ll have access to stories both about them and by them, could we? Because where would that leave poor, suffering, disadvantaged American men?
And then she takes on the entertainment industry in general, for tolerating his troglodyte views:
[T]hat Aronsohn is dumb and woman-fearing enough not just to believe this, to blithely admit he believes it to a major publication tells you everything about how cosseted Hollywood’s disgusting sexists are. You want to know why we get what we get on movie and television screens? … Because there are, apparently, no consequences in Hollywood for being perfectly open about how much you despise women’s bodies and the contours of women’s lives.
Maude Lebowski, what do you have to say about all this?
Isn’t Two and a Half Men mostly a show about guys complaining about their own body parts anyway? We’ve reached peak penis on television, the point of foreskin saturation!
We don’t even know that these women have vaginas. Genitals are pretty much never shown on US tv, even on pay channels. When was the last time you saw some genitals on U.S. TV?
He is reducing women to their (presumed, by him) genitals.
When was the last time you saw some genitals on U.S. TV?
Game of Thrones.
“When was the last time you saw some genitals on U.S. TV?”
Spartacus =P
Somehow I’m not shocked that the creator of horrible television is also a horrible human being. Also, “I’ve never had my heart broken by a man?” wow, good for him, but other people have. A misogynist with no empathy is not surprising either.
I have never been happier that I don’t have cable.
WOO HOO! I’m in the stands of this blog, shirtless with my face and chest painted… and a huge foam NUMBER ONE finger waiving ALYSSA ROSENBURG wooo !!! You fuckin ROCK!!
Then I get out my big foam middle finger for the douche she’s laid waste to… boooooooo!!!!
And that’s how I feel about this pretty much.
-Back to my beer hat.
I wonder how long it’ll take to see the mansplainin’ from other men in the entertainment industry in response to Rosenberg’s editorial. ‘Cause you know it’s coming!
It’s funny because it’s true. Less than 24 hours ago.
Also a giant misogynist (I have this on good authority): the creator of “Three’s Company.” I’m sensing a pattern here.
Enough, menz. I get it. You hate women…
Since the issue is “vagina peak”, when was the last time you saw a vagina on U.S. TV?
Apparently women are vaginas. Therefore if a woman appears on camera, ipso facto, a vagina appears on camera.
Zuh??? Not that I expected much out of the guy who created the unfunny garbage that is Two and a Half Men, but wow. I get the feeling that he thinks periods is all he needs to know about women.
You need cable to see a vagina on US tv.
Aronsohn should shut up and keep doing what he knows best: bad tv that insults everyone’s intelligence.
“Screw it. … We’re centering the show on two very damaged men. What makes men damaged? Sorry, it’s women. I never got my heart broken by a man.”
Perhaps it’s because you’re a heterosexual man, eh, Aronsohn?
And this is why I got bored of television. Except Doctor Who, QI, HIGNFY, and MLP.
Funny, I never got my heart broken by a woman. Why is that, I wonder? Whatever the reason, it couldn’t possibly be because I’m straight and I’ve never actually had a romantic relationship with a woman.
Jesus, does this guy take stupid pills or something?
Cuz gay men don’t exist, amirite?
Well, that’s it ladies! They finally get that we have periods! Time to pack it up – this was our whole message and what we’ve been trying to get across for decades. It’s a shame we had to saturate the media with our labias for them to finally acknowledge we have periods! Now the men can have their turn, poor things are so under represented in sitcoms.
I’ve gotten my heart broken by men and women so I guess I have a free pass to hate almost everyone now?
…I think I won’t cash in that pass, thanks.
I’m sure that Aronsohn will refer to his dick, or his rod, or his… johnson without batting an eye.
Also, being “damaged” is never caused by your own choices, or by the actions of anyone in your life you aren’t sexually interested in. Choosing to ingest vast amounts of cocaine, for example, is super-not-damaging, whereas being turned down by a hot woman at the bar is CRAZY damaging. Especially if she you find out that sometimes she has periods, because ewwwww.
To say that ‘men only get damaged by women’ is an extremely narrow view of human experience. Seriously, what about family, friends, lovers, society, school, work, enemies, rivals, random wankers, ones own brain? I happen to have a group of close friends who are ‘damaged’, and whilst poor treatment by significant others is one way in which some of us became ‘damaged’, it’s not in all of us, and it’s generally a mix of all of the above.
I’m pretty sure you could use my teenage years as a source of extremely dark comedy (with drama moments) – and no mention of a single romantic encounter. But I guess that would put more labias in the media, and we can’t have that, can we? [/sarcasm]
I’ve never had my heart broken by a toothbrush. Either they are the most remarkable thing on Earth or they didn’t have the occasion because I never was in love or even in a relationship with one.
I’ve never been lied to by the king of Morroco!
I’ve never been betrayed by people living in Taïwan!
I’ve never been disinherited by my neighbor!
I’ve never been insulted by a mouse!
I’ve never been hit by my teachers!