The video is realistic. That doesn’t make it good (it’s totally rubbish) but it is re-a-lis-tic!

So when you all are saying that it is “demeaning to the women of Denmark” what exactly do you mean? Of course it’s stupid to present Denmark as if it only consists of women like Karen. But reality is that the events Karen describe are NOT unusual in Denmark and they are NOT seen as “slutty”. In Denmark there is absolutely nothing wrong with having one-night-stands and it is not seen as “demeaning”. That is what we do – until we get tired of it, of course. In fact, I’d say it’s pretty demeaning to young Danish women in general to claim that their activities and lifestyles are “demeaning”.

The only thing “Karen” did wrong was to not have SAFE sex. Stop slut-shaming her – that is so misguided “feminism” you are doing. And stop judging her with your US (extremely sexually conservative) values – that is just bad sociology.

I want to make sure I understand what you are implying here.

I was also initially alarmed at the nonchalance toward unsafe sex in the context of an ad, but I think I would’ve been fairly ambivalent otherwise. Excessive drinking and unsafe sex with anyone (including strangers, but not excluding your own spouse) are both high-risk behaviors, and I’m more used to seeing content that tiptoes around risk or PSAs that discourage it. On the other hand, right now as I look out my window and see ads for cigarettes and cars, which both represent unnecessary high-risk activities that kill far more people in Europe than STI infections. If we tolerate these being directly endorsed, it seems hypocritical to attack the indirect endorsement of ill-advised but less potentially lethal sexual practices.

Also, I can see how the idea that Karen is intended to represent 3 million Danish women is troublesome when one perceives her thoughts and behaviors negatively. But is generalization ever inoffensive, let alone accurate? It’s pretty common for conventional tourist ads to more directly characterize the local population as catering to the desires of foreigners without any thought for themselves (Moroccans take you home to feed you! Canadians always stop to give you directions! Aboriginal Australians take you on walkabout! Thais are the friendliest smiliest people ever!).

Unlike the usual character in a TV spot, Karen doesn’t just do whatever thing tourists fantasize about the locals doing for them. She also acts on her own desires, conveys realistic personality, and even displays life-altering consequences from the tourist’s visit. Despite the sexist cliches engaged in creating her character, it’s actually the least dehumanizing characterization of a country’s people that I’ve ever seen in an ad. But I hope there are better ones out there…

Heh, careful about using 2nd person singular when interpreting a statement. For instance, if you merely said “there is sometimes a tenuous line between rape and sex”, then I would agree and the discussion would move forward. But, instead, I have to start out by either correcting an assumption, let it go, or make some weird meta statement, like this one.

But yes, I agree that “predator” has a different meaning from “rape”. That is at the other end of the spectrum from consensual sex. My interpretation of ONS is consensual. So, “forced ONS” seems like an oxymoron.

“And you can’t tell the assholes from the decent guys.”

Here’s a 2nd hand account of a decent/asshole:

A friend mentioned that, when her father died, she went into her housemate’s room to cry on his shoulder. She was naked. One thing led to another. She wanted it to stop, but it didn’t. She didn’t file charges. But later, when he got on the bus she was riding, she shouted “rapist!” That was her form of “pepper spray” – of getting control back.

Perhaps the transition from normal to asshole, consensual to non-consensual sex, is due, in part, to the man’s amygdala hijacking the neocortex. Maybe this approach can be adapted: http://www.inspirations-unlimited.net/images/Hijack.pdf
Or maybe not. I’m not a trained therapist, merely curious.

And now that I’ve ventured completely off topic, time to say: Thanks! Has been great reading you all. Until next time.

I think what you’re missing, Ikoino, is that there is sometimes a tenuous line between rape and sex. It’s not as if a man announces, “I’m going to rape you now” and a battle ensues. You could think you’re having great sex, and then you decide that you don’t want to go through with it after all, and suddenly you’re being held down and raped. (Which sounds like what Kat almost went through.) It’s dangerous to call rapists predators, because while some are, the majority of them are normal men. They don’t consider themselves rapists – they just think they’re entitled “to finish” if the woman changes her mind in the middle of sex, or if he bought her dinner, or if he just feels like it, or any of the other justifications they use and no doubt learned elsewhere. It’s not as if you get into a one night stand and discover you’ve picked up a crazy rapist; you get into a one night stand and discover that this man has decided to be a rapist tonight; it may be something he does often, or something he’s decided to do this one time only.

One of the most dangerous myths of rape is that it is committed by criminals, repeat offenders, or crazy people. The guys that do it are normal, absolutely normal. Assholes, but normal. And you can’t tell the assholes from the decent guys.

http://www.cphpost.dk/news/national/88-national/47028-visitdenmark-director-resigns.html

Instead of googling “fired,” I searched, “resigned,” (as most of the references I found alluded to a forced resignation.) It’s true.

I would love to see the other videos (or maybe not?) Apparently outrage was huge, mainly from people angry that the government of Denmark would use an emotional lie to elicit tourism.

So you say that Dorte Kiilerich, the CEO of the VisitDenmark Tourism Board was fired due to the video?