The following is a commentary in an ongoing series of “Reflections” by John Mill. John Mill is the radio persona of Ronald Bruce Meyer and can be heard on “American Heathen.” The “American Heathen” Internet radio broadcast is aired, live, on Friday nights from 7:00pm-10:00pm Central time on ShockNetRadio.com.
Spanish Orgasm
A Reflection by Ronald Bruce Meyer
This is one of those times when I wish this were TV and not radio, but by now you must have heard about the get-out-the-vote TV ad by the Young Socialists of Catalonia, Spain. It shows a young, attractive woman checking in at the poll for this month’s regional elections – and getting sexually excited as she inserts her, uh, ballot in the box.
Well, the ad got both liberals and conservatives in Spain all hot and bothered. Conservatives called the ad an "attack on the dignity of women." Liberals thought it disrespectful. Nobody in politics or government thought it was funny. Or clever.
Me? Well, I was offended all seven times that I watched the video. I confess I developed a sudden urge to come out and vote. If only the candidates in the US inspired that kind of passion! No, in the US we get attack ads and puritan non-witches. I wonder which of us, Spain or the US, has the more advanced civilization. Maybe if we had ads like that in the U.S., it would cure our electile disfunction.
Be that as it may, I’m not sure what the demeaning part was. The fact that women have orgasms, too? Or would the ad have been more effective if the main character was a man getting excited – instead of just creepy. Remember, the ad was produced by the Young Socialists of Catalonia: Next thing you know these Socialists will want orgasms for everybody!
But seriously: if you thought the ad was offensive, you are probably not offended by… bombing countries that have never attacked yours, torture, Ponzi schemes and insider trading, warrantless wiretapping, using drones to kill people half a world away from the safety of your office in the US, destroying the environment for profit, tens of millions of people without health care. And so on.
But back to the ad: Frankly, I think her orgasm was faked. I've worked at a polling station several times, never saw a woman come close to an orgasm. But I wonder: if she was faking it, would that be considered "voter fraud"?
Copyright © 2010-11 Ronald Bruce Meyer. To hear an audio version of this Reflection, click on this link: Spanish Orgasm