Cheat To Win

I’m really loving how Brooks delves into the psychology of fear and the impact of globalization on political science and human interaction.  There are echoes of (harbingers to?) Contagion in this text that I find fascinating.

I am in love with this text, and fascinated by the research into other cultures, including but not limited to:

• The Amazonian culture where they believe that the fetus is an accumulation of semen, which leads a pregnant woman to continue having sex in order to make the fetus grow.  She also has sex with different men in order to transfer characteristics like athleticism, kindness, humor, and good looks to the baby.
• The Mosuo people in rural China who created a matriarchy.  Women invite any man they want into their rooms for sexual relations, so long as he is gone by morning.  There are no long-term relationships and no expectation of marriage.  She is welcome to have sex with the same man every night or even different men in the same night with no judgment.  Men are expected to help raise their sisters’ children, as there is no way of knowing what children “belong” to them.
• The bonobos - primates as close to humans as chimpanzees but with reduced aggression and increased promiscuity. 

Seriously.  Go buy this book now and devour it.  I find it truly enthralling in every way.

And there you go.  The money shot in porn flicks usually involves male ejaculation.  In reality TV dating shows, it comes when cameras zoom in on the tear-soaked force of some woman shattered by romantic rejection.  Producers bank on such scenes to reinforce the notion that single women are simpering spinsters who can never possibly be fulfilled without husbands.  From casting to editing the reunion shows, everything builds to that moment when some sad sack sobs miserably from embarrassment and self-doubt, bemoaning her broken heart.  Glowing about the start of their fourth season, Bachelor producer Mike Fleiss told Entertainment Weekly that he was thrilled with the opening episode because, “Normally, there’s nothing more challenging than getting girls to cry when they’ve only known the guy for three hours.  Not this time.”

This is a phenomenal text that delves into how “reality” programming is manipulated and depicts women and people of color in ghastly and distorted ways in order to sell more advertisements.  The first chapter focuses solely on dating shows like The Bachelor and Joe Millionaire, which prey on women’s idea of a fairy tale while purposely setting women up to be brutally rejected and ridiculed.

Devouring this in record time, and it certainly makes you think constantly about the depiction of women in surrounding media.

That said, it can certainly be hit or miss in some chapters.