I don't watch TV. (This entry jumps all over the place.)

This comes up at least once a week, without fail. I never watch TV. I don't like TV. I don't watch any shows. I don't watch TV on my computer. I don't read episode synopses of the hottest shows so I can converse about it. I DO NOT WATCH TV.

( Cut )

I don't like the behaviors it promotes. Screaming rages, adults having tantrums, emotional abuse, back-stabbing, lying, cheating, manipulating people... Unhealthy relationships are the norm on most shows. Characters obsess after their object of desire for 'years', and women swing wildly between doing anything to please their man and doing everything to treat their man like shit.

I don't like the stereotypes. I don't like seeing a cast of dozens of characters forced into their own little slot. This is especially noticeable with women, but I think it's now coming full circle back around to the men. Women do not have to act like love-struck idiots longing for a man to make them complete. They don't become overbearing harpies the minute they become mothers-in-law. They don't have to have screaming fits when they don't get their way, or weep at their desks while their friends circle around and console them. They can fall somewhere in the middle ground.

Likewise, men do not have to be playboys, jackasses, or loveable dopes. They don't have to be clueless or insensitive. They don't have to be Homer Simpson. And while we're on that subject, there's no need to put down the men just to prove how strong the women characters are. If they're strong, they'll stand on their own as equals. And no, gay men are not all effeminate twinks or leather-bound bears.

I find it incredibly sad and funny that so many men and women have worked for years to further the cause of equal rights, but their work is being undone by something as simple as an electronic box. Why are women and minorities discriminated against? Why has so much of the work gone to waste? Because the people spreading the equal rights message (and the people hearing the message) go home at night and turn on the TV and laugh at the 'crazy woman' stereotype or the hispanic stereotype.

(On a more personal note, and can't count the number of times a certain situation has played out on blogs and personal correspondance. A woman who is very feminist links to a TV episode or movie scene, talking about how hilarious/charming/wonderful it is. I click on the link and I'm immediately struck by how very anti-feminist and counter-productive the program is to the feminist cause. Ladies and gentlemen, please. If you want women to get equal recognition, then wake up and realize that supporting negative portrayals of women IS NOT the way to go about it.)

I don't like that many people become so conditioned to hearing the TV that they have to leave it on all the time. The excuse I normally hear is 'I need background noise.' Life has background noise. Even in the middle of nowhere, there is background noise, whether it's the wind or the house creaking or traffic and people on the street outside. That's a bullshit excuse. What it really means is that these people have become so conditioned to having the TV that they're bored without it. They're aimless. They're lonely. And rather than finding a hobby or enjoying peace and quiet, they need this crutch.

Anyway, I saw a few too many stupid articles and comments today, so that's my little rant to get it all out of my system.

(Also, we might potentially be going driving tomorrow, and I'm trying to get myself out of the panic attack loop I'm stuck in.)