Uh...What do you say to this?

[3894]

Originally Posted by tracilicious

he doesn't have a clue about sex. I'll just call it primal instinct. He spent the rest of the time watching her and asking for more money.

Objectification of women is not a primal instinct. Your son has had an early lesson in the values of our society.

[RStar]

Originally Posted by 3894

Objectification of women is not a primal instinct. Your son has had an early lesson in the values of our society.

Which is to say that our society doens't always have the best intentions with their values, and I would discuss that with your son at times like this.

That girl was just working, and tipping her was just like tipping a waitress, in a way. But the fact that her dancing was enough to make a small child want to see her nakid tells us what was wrong with it.

I would be sure to let him know that it's an exotic part of another culture, but it can be taken two ways. The proper way is that it is an interesting dance. Just like the two ways the human body can be viewed. There's a "dirty" way, and a "clean" way (terms a pre-schooler may understand).

The human body is a beautifull thing, a wonder in all it's atributes. The fact the we have our senses, can reproduce, and the differences between male and female (although he brought this up, it still may be a little soon for the birds and the bees, but you're the best judge of that) makes it a wonder to behold. And viewed that way in art, like the David sculpture, there is nothing wrong with it.

I also wonder why he said that to you in the first place. I'm sure he doesn't understand what sex is, so had he heard it somewhere before? Like with some older boys that looked at a girl and said "Wow, I'd like to see her nakid!" and so he thought it is what should have been said at the time? Or perhaps he was trying to be a "grown up"? However at his age I'm sure he most likely didn't know what he was saying, and I wouldn't worry too much about it as kids do repeat what they hear withought knowing it's meaning. And if things like this continue, I'd gently nudge him the right way with life lessons. That is our job as parents, to mold our children and guide them along the right path.

[€uroMeinke]

Originally Posted by 3894

Objectification of women is not a primal instinct. Your son has had an early lesson in the values of our society.

Hmmm - I'd like to dig a bit deeper by what you mean here. The "objectification of women" is such a cliché phrase with a lot of negative connotations attached.

If I put my Existentialist hat on, all human interactions are a struggle between being subject and object - and when I'm one I can't be the other. Sure the woman is being an object, but so is the wait staff, the other patrons, and probably at least partly mom and dad.

But I suspect you're going anthropological with this one, which also makes me curious as your comment to me suggests there are cultures where concepts of beauty and desire are not intertwined, or that cultures exist that where there is no objectification and my existentialist self doubts that to be the case.