I recently read an article talking about an episode from Big Mouth’s third season on Netflix. The article was about how this animated comedy show is breaking down the influences that lead young men to adopt sexist ideologies.
The plot of the episode was how boys’ distractions with girls’ bodies leads to a change in girls dress code. The principal said this was in order to “protect our strong, empowered women from the white-hot male gaze.” The girls, feeling that this was unfair, organized a SlutWalk. Ultimately, some of the male characters misinterpret this walk as catered for their desires rather than for girls rights, so to speak. When a girl corrects them by saying the walk was for girls and their reclamation of the derogatory term “slut,” the boys are left confused and angry.
The article talks about how Big Mouth offers young male viewers the chance to challenge their instinctive responses to things that seem to contradict. One male Jewish character goes to a “Men 4 Equality” meeting which ends up being hosted by a white-surpremacist group. After seeing the attendees views on Jewish people, he realizes that he has irrational feelings of anger towards the girls and their SlutWalk.
Big Mouth makes a point that young boys’ regressive attitudes are informed by the men around them. There is so much more that should be done to counteract the toxic messages that young boys and teenagers receive.
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