Danger said:
The media does not have to give a "free pass". They merely need to celebritize the behavior, which is the same as endorsement. This is the exact same thing as advertising.
•They see a celebrity with a Gucci bag and they must have it.
•They see women acting as men and they think women are the new men.
•They see men as feeble and incompetent and suddenly most men are feeble and incompetent.
•They see a "Sex in the City" actress sleep with half of Manhatten and still find her rich, hot Mr. Big to give her a grand wedding and happily ever after when she is at the ripe age of 35 and.........lo and behold the women around you start doing it too.
The mistake so many people make is not realizing that ALL of tv is advertising. Not just the paid ads.
Behaviors considered positive do go viral and become the norm. Do not forget that this very entire lifestyle IS considered positive by the media, and is sold as such. Much like it is considered positive for Men to marry the 30 something single mom and "do the right thing".
When I mentioned positive behaviors I was referring to what we as men considered positive, as in those who would participate in this type of discussion.
This is sort of a chicken/egg argument. There are definite influences that can shape a persons world view, but as far as this topic goes I don't think the media is necessarily the source.
There are laws and social norms that keep men in line, this was also true for women at one time. Of course many of our frustrations come from how much these things have changed to favor women. This wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for modern technology which provided "incentive" for businesses to hire women they could pay at a lower labor cost. This in combination with changes in government and legislature created the perfect storm for women (in a nutshell).
They're simply taking advantage of "opportunity". They can follow their emotions and mating preferrences to their hearts content, so they do.
I think this applies to all people. There are incentives and disincentives to behaving certain ways. You can't expect women to behave the way you'd like simply because it would be nice of them to do so, there has to be some real consequences involved to motivate them.
I don't believe the media is the cause of this. It perpetuates it because current conditions allow it, and women control a large portion of wealth. Women have been acting this way even before all the reality TV hype. It just wasn't on camera.