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PaperclipPerfector  8mo ago (text post)   34350 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026

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I watched a Sabrina Carpenter video (Espress) and then an Avril Lavigne video (Complicated), to see the contrast. The thing that really stood out to me was that in the Sabrina Carpenter videos men are either servants (holding her up, massaging her, doing her feet), eye candy, or threats (handcuffing her, putting her in a police car while she rolls her eyes) while the April Lavigne video is full of her having fun with her male friends.

I'm reminded of a comment made here a while back that men like female characters who have a close relationship with at least one man who is not their love interest. A father, a friend, a brother, whatever. It's a strong signal that they like at least some men for their own sake, and that they wouldn't be a complete bitch to you if you ever met them just because they don't find you hot.

I'm not sure how far to extrapolate or reverse this. Women often go for sausage-fest cast shows like Sherlock, or the Avengers, where there are no women and/or the main character is actively hostile to any female characters. Likewise men go for cute girls doing cute things and magical girl genres which have no men at all.

April Lavigne

Avril. I wouldn't bother if it was just once but you're both doing it, at least one consistently.

Ha! I wrote Avril, then reread @MadMonzer's comment and 'corrected' mine :P

Guilty as charged.

I'm reminded of a comment made here a while back that men like female characters who have a close relationship with at least one man who is not their love interest

This seems to just be filtering out a particularly hamfisted brand of woke politics is all.

Women often go for sausage-fest cast shows like Sherlock, or the Avengers, where there are no women and/or the main character is actively hostile to them.

Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock (Avengers movies have female cast-mates) is a high-status, mercurial genius who doesn't care for people except a few that impress him who he forms a deep and abiding relationship with. Watson, one of the few people this applies to and the one it applies to most strongly, is the usual partner in all of the slash fics.

This is basically 50 Shades of Grey by proxy. Or Metropolis. Many such cases.

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