In defense of lady humans

America’s favorite pastime was never baseball — it’s shaming women for even thinking about sex.

The reception of Miley Cyrus’ VMA performance is an easy example, but we’ve rounded these bases before.

Britney went through it. X-tina went through it.

So has the woman who sits next to you in W131, the barista who serves your Americano, the ladies reading this column right now.

That’s right, anyone can be a dirty slut!

Are you a woman?

Strike one.

Are you interested in sex?

Strike two.

Is it possible that someone else might think of you in a sexual way?

Strike three.  

You’re out, you disgusting trollop.

While much of the hatred directed at Miley is for sexuality performed in front of children — that she is supposed to remain a child star forever, even though she hasn’t been a child for several years — part of the backlash stems from the affront that a young woman would express any sexuality at all.

This is an infraction that normal, everyday girls and women are indicted on constantly, with two shining examples from the past month.

In Montana, a judge claimed a 14-year-old was “as much in control of the situation” as her 54-year-old teacher when he raped her. Two years after the incident, the victim killed herself.

The teacher, Stacey Rambold, was sentenced to 30 days in jail.

Even if this girl had a crush, even if she made clumsy attempts at seduction, the man in his 50s was the only one with any “control” in this situation.

Then there is the popular post “FYI (if you’re a teenage girl),” in which Christian mommy blogger Kim Hall chastises teen girls for tempting the angelic Hall sons.
Mrs. Hall makes her boys unfriend any girl who’s taking bedroom selfies and posting it to Facebook.

These girls need to stop it, she says. Don’t they know that her sons will want sex after they see a girl in her bedroom?

Obviously, it’s the girls poisoning her sons’ minds, rather than anything her innocent, perfect sons are doing.

Instead of telling her boys that women are not objects, instead of teaching them to respect women as people, instead of resisting the fetishization of the female body, she’s mad at girls for developing into women and having cameras. Maybe these girls want to be thought of in a sexual way by the Hall sons. So what?

Just because a girl or a woman wants to be sexy sometimes doesn’t make sex her only reason for being.

It definitely doesn’t mean she deserves to be a victim, whether it be of rape or of objectification.

Mrs. Hall should know that. Her sons should know that.

This is the bigger picture that people are missing with Miley, with the girl in Montana, with bedroom selfies — men are allowed to want sex and other things simultaneously. Women are not.

Robin Thicke performed alongside Miley in a routine they had obviously agreed to do together, but Miley’s the only one ruining America’s youth.  

Stacey Rambold is a teacher who raped a student, but somehow his 14-year-old victim is complicit in his crime.

And the Hall boys can post as many shirtless beach pics as they want — many of which were moronically included with their mother’s post — but heaven forbid girls make kissy faces at the camera.

A woman should be able to want sex without it becoming her only character trait.
Media outlets, men and mommy bloggers, get over your sexual hang ups. Start treating women and girls like the humans we are.

­— casefarr@indiana.edu
Follow columnist Casey on Twitter @casefarr.