"Slap her"

[kyuuei]

Not slapping a girl simply because she is a girl isn't much of a reason not to hit someone, but I guess it's better than nothing.

It may not be the most honorable or best reason.. but again, showcasing the idea of domestic violence, harassment, sexual assault, and rape being overwhelmingly male on female, it's still a pretty big reason. And how do you explain those concepts to a young child? They didn't magically learn this at the ages of 8-11.. they were taught it when they were toddlers and pre-schoolers.

It's difficult to make children understand complex things, and it's horrifying to try explaining something heavy like sexual assault. .. and I've found myself saying 'wrong' and technically not accurate things to my own nieces and nephews because they just simply didn't understand or have the mental capacity for some scenarios and situations. A child needs something concrete to grasp onto, they lack abstract thinking.

The best answer definitely was, "because violence is wrong." But how do you synthesize that without overstepping on the toes of the parents, which allow wrestling, and some punching and kicking between father and son, etc? It was just.. more effective in the short term to tell them, "You don't hit her because she's a girl." And children are more flexible than adults.. so it's easy for them to say, "Oh, Aunt Kyuuei isn't a girl because I can wrestle with her and it's cool. My baby sister is a girl and she's NOT cool with my punch wrestling." It covered all the bases without frustrating the child and making them understand in a way that was actually implemented immediately. I can definitely see it being valid even if it isn't the smartest most bestest answer.

 

[RedAmazoneFriendZone]

I just love italian language and those kids are great !

There are emotions in their eyes when they look at the girl, and shyness when they caress her.

I don't think there is anything sexist in this video. I see this video as a message against violence and a return to innocence.

 

[Bush]

The whole thing was creepy, but at least it's a counterpoint to Milgram's authority experiment.

 

[countrygirl]

I found this video funny and cute only because they are children. Loved the comments about not hitting even if it's because she's a girl. I wonder if the caressing is to show that these boys know what it means to touch gently.

 

[Eska]

Being pro-gender equality, and respecting culture as it currently stands and not passing judgments are not mutually exclusive. You have to pick and choose your battles, and I argue they went for the bigger picture here.

It is okay to say, 'We are all for gender equality' and also recognize that men are primarily the culprits of violence. On top of that, it's simply showcasing WHY the children (which, like I said before, are mirroring adults they've grown up around) are not hitting the girl, rather than passing any judgments one way or the other. They aren't saying it's OKAY for the boys to think that.. only it's great that they made the right moral decision when it came down to social pressure. It's okay to show that a major deterrent in breaking those moralities or non-violence is simply because they are women and that the children are taught right from the start that women for whatever reason is something that is a serious, grave no-no.. So much so that even around an authority figure that tells them it's okay to do something, they veer against it and refuse. And while the reasons may be seated in positive sexism... I think the Bigger and arguably far more important picture is that it's a safer world for women if boys are taught for whatever reason that smacking and hitting a girl is seriously wrong because it is far less safe for women in this world violence-wise. The domestic violence far exceeds what, to me, is more of a first-world-problem on the motivations why. It isn't perfect, but I think the center of the video being on violence is still okay. It isn't ironic at all that they're pro-gender but highlighting a different, more specific issue, while showcasing the motivations why without passing judgments. And if you're just saying 'if' they were pro-gender because you actually don't know if they are or not... then.. why is it even an issue if they're not pro-gender? The thread wouldn't exist or need to exist at all. So I'm going on the assumption they are here..

There's a famous study where adults.. Full grown adults mind you. Functioning in society. Overwhelmingly shocked to the point of lethal doses people for the SOLE reason that they were told to by someone of authority and that it's 'okay'. For children to say no to that guy, with him having permission to talk from his parents, and him also saying it's okay, for those boys to still say no to me shows a swing in a positive direction. Even if those morals are not their own, and imperfect in their motivations, they've still internalized it. I don't see how that's showing hypocrisy in the filmmakers.

Your point being that it shows that their society is teaching them hitting girls is wrong, which is positive?

It can be interpreted as such, although, that does not refute my point that there is a sexist undertone to the points being demonstrated in the video, which would be ironic if this organization is pro-gender equality.

I'm not saying the message is "wrong", I personally don't care, I'm only pointing out the possibility of an irony.

I wonder what would have been the difference if it were boys to boys (of the same size), and they answered something along the lines of "No, because he didn't do anything to me.", that would be a global message on violence, rather than violence towards a particular sex.

 

[Ivy]

I don't think they were aiming for gender equality at all. Just to tackle the problem of violence against women in Italy which is apparently a pretty big problem.

 

[Chthonic]

Says a lot about the cultural mindset of Italy, namely that is still operates heavily under the influence of restrictive male identity stereotypes. As does most of the world incidentally. The funniest part of that is that men are usually the greatest proponents of them, preferring them to the idea that they might be 'feminised' by women. Which is a completely ridiculous idea. Just asking males to be less influenced by hormone rages and fixing issues with displays of aggression is not 'feminising' anyone. Surely we've reached a point in evolution where we choose to solve our problems in more productive ways?

I would have preferred it if the kiddies had been able to say I won't hit her because I don't solve my problems that way. But....whatever, we are where we are as a species. Which is to say technologically advanced but not much removed from where we started emotionally and psychologically.

 

[kyuuei]

Your point being that it shows that their society is teaching them hitting girls is wrong, which is positive?

Positive sexism.. where the effect of sexism actually benefits the party being discriminated against, but is still sexist nonetheless. It's also called other names. Cambridge Journals Online - Social Philosophy and Policy - Abstract - Positive Sexism

It does not indicate that it is a positive trait in people nor does it indicate desirability.

It can be interpreted as such, although, that does not refute my point that there is a sexist undertone to the points being demonstrated in the video, which would be ironic if this organization is pro-gender equality.

Well I bothered to finally go clicking around, and while it's mostly italian stuff, I highly and seriously doubt the types and number of videos posted are pro-gender-equality related at all. In fact, they seem pretty ambivalent and unrelated at best to gender equality. So... I think the issue is pretty moot. They clearly are not demonstrating being a group about gender equality, and rather they're sharing a particular video they liked and clearly support.

Even still, I don't think the sexist undertone is completely unwarranted or something taking people off guard. It's a pretty standard one that is still widely accepted and prevailing, however one might feel about it.

I wonder what would have been the difference if it were boys to boys (of the same size), and they answered something along the lines of "No, because he didn't do anything to me.", that would be a global message on violence, rather than violence towards a particular sex.

I don't think they were aiming for gender equality at all. Just to tackle the problem of violence against women in Italy which is apparently a pretty big problem.

This. The idea isn't to make a global remark. Only to speak about violence against women, and particularly to give hope to others that future generations will not support that sort of nonsense.

 

[Eska]

Positive sexism.. where the effect of sexism actually benefits the party being discriminated against, but is still sexist nonetheless. It's also called other names. Cambridge Journals Online - Social Philosophy and Policy - Abstract - Positive Sexism

It does not indicate that it is a positive trait in people nor does it indicate desirability.

Well I bothered to finally go clicking around, and while it's mostly italian stuff, I highly and seriously doubt the types and number of videos posted are pro-gender-equality related at all. In fact, they seem pretty ambivalent and unrelated at best to gender equality. So... I think the issue is pretty moot. They clearly are not demonstrating being a group about gender equality, and rather they're sharing a particular video they liked and clearly support.

Even still, I don't think the sexist undertone is completely unwarranted or something taking people off guard. It's a pretty standard one that is still widely accepted and prevailing, however one might feel about it.

This. The idea isn't to make a global remark. Only to speak about violence against women, and particularly to give hope to others that future generations will not support that sort of nonsense.

Indeed, I wasn't making a personal judgement on the sexist undertone itself, I was simply pointing it out.

 

[Qre:us]

I'm amazed they all seemed to know what career they wanted.

I loved the boy's response, "Pizza Maker."
Why?

"Because I like pizza!"

 

[Ivy]

That was cute. They were all so cute.

 

[Codex]

It was really cute up until they started caressing her. It turned super awkward and goose-bump inducing quickly.

 

[Dannik]

it was very sweet and made me cry when the kids started saying no.!..
but my tears dried quickly, and i felt betrayed and angry when the kids based their "morality" on gender rather than compassion.

to me this said more about how deeply ingrained misogyny is,
rather than being commendable.

 

[Eska]

it was very sweet and made me cry when the kids started saying no.!..
but my tears dried quickly, and i felt betrayed and angry when the kids based their "morality" on gender rather than compassion.

to me this said more about how deeply ingrained misogyny is,
rather than being commendable.

How so?

What's your process of thought in order to get to that conclusion?

 

[Crabs]

I was uncomfortable by the kids feeling okay to touch a female they don't know. They seemed to be more concerned with the filmmaker's permission about the girl's body than the girl's permission herself.

i didn't find that particularly disconcerting. they're in a public place, the narrator/camera operator introduced her by name to the boys and she appears to be complicit with the interaction and non-threatened. at no point did she display any sort of aversion to being touched after the authority figure told them to touch her. obviously, she was forewarned of the possibility that any of the boys might slap her and she agreed to participate. fortunately, they were reluctant to hit her despite his command. people in the west, particularly in the united states, are touch-deprived compared to the far east where it is more commonplace and less sexualized.

i wonder if the subjects had been girls instead of boys if it would still have made you uncomfortable. i ask because it seems it is more socially acceptable for girls to be affectionate physically than it is for boys.

Are We Touch Deprived?

Yeah...I'm kind of worried about the girl now. I hope she's safe.

i'm not sure if you were being serious, but it made me lol

 

[Pionart]

Those kids soooo wanted to slap her....

 

[HongDou]

i'm not sure if you were being serious, but it made me lol

I was being serious, but thanks for your valuable input.

 

[Crabs]

I was being serious, but thanks for your valuable input.

i wasn't trying to offend you. i just don't understand how her safety was in jeopardy.

 

[HongDou]

i wasn't trying to offend you. i just don't understand how her safety was in jeopardy.

I mean, what I was thinking was that she could have been kidnapped and they had instructed her what to do by threatening with violence. But maybe I just watch too many crime shows. She just seems pretty uncomfortable, but maybe it's a cultural difference to not be as forward and personable in Italy.

 

[tkae.]

This is so fucking staged. And it makes absolutely no sense.