Are Bananas sexist?

Bananas - the hidden harassment

TRIGGER WARNING

If you are terrified by phallic-shaped object which might you remember something you don't want to remember, like, for example, a big penis, don't read on.

Every woman has had this experience. You know, after a long and stressful day, like going to a mall, or getting some books, you like, as a woman, to sit down, and have a meal. In my youth, I always enjoyed something healthy, as a banana or a cucumber. Hell, even some carrots were in my lunchbox back in the day!

But, as you may have noticed on the left-hand picture, the patriarchy has made simple things like eating sexualized. Well, you may just see a woman eating happily a banana, Many will also see the horrified gaze on her face, as she is trembling in fear. Yes, at this very moment she is oppressed and is trying to surpress her feelings through "a smiling face" because "girls should always smile", right?

The overly sexualized context of this picture is a defamation of this very girl's basic human rights. Her dignity is undermined through the cultural context of what's commonly known as a blowjob.




It doesn't end there. The simple and putrid sexualization of eating food is actually connected to street harassment. Could you imagine the horrors I went through as a 19 year old girl, when I ate a banana, and I was harassed via the mal gaze all around me? It took me like 5 years of therapy to get rid of my fear of publicly eating phallic shaped food.

Studies actually undermine this claim

But it's not just about me. We should rather teach men not to stare and thus, harass rather than not eat bananas at all. I mean, you can't blame the victim of street harassment that their behaviour is somehow the cause of this vile harassment. That would be victim blaming.

An innocent girl and her harasser

There have been so many instances in my life where I can recall seeing a woman eating some phallic shaped object while getting (mostly unknowlingly) harassed.  I will say it one more time at this point, woman shouldn't be dealing with this kind of stuff. As a man, you have to look away if a woman is eating something or else you are violating her dignity in your head. This needs to stop right now!




I am so angry right now, I'm sorry. But I have to get this off my chest. Any phallic shaped object is actually playing into the (literal) hands of the patriarchy, in this case, yours. That's right, in the moment you eat a banana publicly, you are a sexualized object which is being used by the patriarchy to further strenghten rape culture. We need to teach young boys not to stare.

A Milkshake is fine too! Beware of the straw

I suggest getting your phallic shaped food through a mixer. Careful! A Straw is another tool of the patriarchy to keep woman in line! I suggest getting a spoon or something else to ingest those liquids, or you may just flat out refuse to eat non-phallic foods. Non phallic eating nature ingesting society sounds about right. In short, Non-P.E.N.I.S.

So, if you are a Non-P.E.N.I.S. yourself, or want to get into a life with less harassment in it, like, comment or share this with your (hopefully feminist) friends!




Appendix: I actually found a book supporting my thesis of this particular public harassment. It's from Cynthia Enloe , and availible on amazon right now! It's called "Bananas, Beaches and Bases" and scientifically examines the concept of street harassment via the male gaze.