Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Sexual Relationships

by Krystina Johnson

The popular song “No Scrubs” by TLC discusses how women only want a man with money. In the chorus of “No Scrubs” the man is talking to flirt with a woman walking down the street while he is sitting on the passenger side of the car. The man is seen as not having any money so he is not worth the effort to get the young lady’s phone number.

Here is the link to song and lyrics: No Scrubs.

This popular song shows that women do not want to date the man that is willing to take money from them. Brennan says that “men are praised for sponging off of women and for working less” although this man has the material gains he is unattractive for marriage because he is not the one buying the material gifts.

To be in a sexual relationship money is required. A man must prove that he has some money for a woman to take notice of him, “premarital sexual relations also involved money” (Bähre). Proving that women will only give sexual favors when money is involved. Some women avoid becoming sex workers but start dating so to receive money for sex, “her boyfriend should only come to her for sex and before having sex she wanted to see money. . . she explicitly stated that money had to be given in exchange for sex” (Bähre). Sex in relationships for money is not always the actual money but can be seen in other products such as sex toys, lotion, as the like. Curtis says that “romantic and sexual promise, insinuates itself into the consumer’s aspirations and sexual-subjectivity . . . consumption and desire within this ethnographic context are closely tied to sociality” (Curtis). The only difference between prostitution and dating is that the money is given freely and not because the man is required to give his girlfriend or wife his money. Traditional gender roles do require men to take care of his family so the money is required. When men does not have money or a job and are involved in a sexual relation they are “constantly afraid that their wives or girlfriends were going to leave them because they had no money” because they are not needed to take care of their family which makes them emotionally depressed and vulnerable (Bähre). The raunch culture creates emotionally strong people since the constricting gender roles and thoughts of sex are not in effect also because sex and intimacy is connected to commodities the thought of sex as a commodity is a positive thing.

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