Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Peaches, Snowflakes, and Envelope Factories



Trigger warnings: gendered slurs, crude language, sexual content


“Key & Peele” is a popular series of sketches produced by Comedy Central. In the linked video, two men are depicted as teaching a “cunnilingus class” to male youths, and later the teachers are revealed to be women with the goal of teaching their techniques to all men. As the characters so eloquently point out: “Now, bitches aren’t being satisfied, so check it!” What was your initial response to the video?

Although primarily amusing, the sketch has problematic elements. The video uses gendered slurs to grab the viewer’s attention and to colloquialize the content. In addition, the women at the end of the sketch are portrayed in a malicious, “taking over the world” light. Media often portrays women who seek a fulfilling sex life as being manipulative, nymphomanic, or immoral. How does this sketch perpetuate these stereotypes?

“Key & Peele” also fails to mention the reasons for youths to engage in oral sex, choosing rather to focus on the techniques of such acts. In a study conducted by Jodi L. Cornell and Bonnie L. Halpern-Felsher at the University of California, 425 ninth-grade adolescents were presented with the the following prompt: “Please list the reasons why teens your age have oral sex.” Responses (in order of frequency) included: improve relationship, pleasure, curiosity/for experience, peer pressure/friends are doing it, pressure/force/fear, wants to/can’t wait, under alcohol or drug influence, to rebel, popularity/reputation, media, low self esteem/stupid, less risk than vaginal sex, fun/bored, family problems, and don’t know. Which reasons (if any) for oral sex have you or your friends experienced?


Cornell, J. L., & Halpern-Felsher, B. L. (2006). Adolescents tell us why teens have oral sex. Journal of Adolescent Health, 38(3), 299-301.

9 comments:

  1. Well, at first the sketch seems to try to raise men's awareness of women's issues (sexual satisfaction) by hyper-masculinizing their performance (calling them bitches and emphasizing the hyper-masculine stereotype of African American men) which is an interesting component of third wave feminism ("being on of the boys" in order to influence from the "inside"). I'm still not quite sure how I feel about 3rd wave. But I think it was interesting how they were promoting communication more than actual techniques. I do think making women seem hard to satisfy, demanding, sneaky, mysterious, and incomprehensible is problematic but on the other hand, the clip portrays women as ultimately in control and active agents working on the solutions to their issues. -Connie K.

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    1. I think that you raised an interesting point regarding race. I wonder how the skit's impact would be different if the characters hadn't been African American?

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  2. Connie-I also think that it was interesting that they were promoting communication, and liked that they explained everyone is different and has their own desires. I didn't like how they were disguised as men because it suggests that women have to hide in order to talk about certain topics and that it wouldn't have been socially acceptable for women to be telling the group of boys what to do. While I realize the video is a comedy sketch, I found the language to be extremely vulgar and unnecessary.

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    1. I also found the language to be extremely vulgar (I definitely winced at a few places in the video), but I also think it is interesting to think of how the sketch would have been received by the public if it hadn't used such language.

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    2. I found it very interesting that through all of the vulgar language and offensive gender slurs they were promoting communication that actually is useful and necessary in a relationship of any sort. I did not like that they were disguised as women either since it further shows how women must disguise their sexuality and can not be up front about telling men what they want as it would be viewed as promiscuous and not "lady like". I felt as thought this comedy sketch reflected a lot of the societal issues that revolve around female sexuality. It's interesting to think that that is viewed as an effective way to get the attention of men by swearing and using terms like "bitch" and "hoe" about a topic like cunnilingus yet women are supposed to be submissive and quiet about things regarding sexuality.

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  3. I agree with you, Connie and Josie, with the fact that it is interesting to see how the video focuses on the importance of communication rather than technique. I thought that if women were really disguised as men trying to educate adolescent men about oral sex, that would be one of the things they would end up saying. I also like the comment they made together which was, vaginas need respect, though I wish they would have said women or females rather than vaginas.

    At the end of the video, I really wondered about the intention of them putting women in disguise.

    Although the fowl language expressed throughout the video is inappropriate, I feel that if they were to express these topics without the fowl language and the energy they put into speaking these topics, they would not have gotten the attention that they have, though I do hate to say so.

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  5. I think the points that have been discussed are all really interesting. One particular point that called my attention was the disguise and what this implies. This camouflage element conveys the idea that in order to effectively communicate sexual desires as a woman one has to talk like a man and look like a man, which is problematic when related to real life scenarios. It also makes it seem, like Josie said, that it is not okay for women to talk about certain topics as women, rather they have to be masculine-zed.

    I appreciated the recognition that all women are different and therefore what works for one person might not work for another. I also think the emphasis in communication with a partner and how important it is to listed to one's partner to understand what works and what does not was valid and important.

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  6. I was similarly surprised by the vulgar language and questioned the intent behind the women disguising themselves as men in order to have such a conversation. In many ways, I see this video as conveying conflicting and paradoxical messages. On one hand, it is encouraging communication and open dialogue between sexual partners. Though this message is conveyed through the use of crude and sexist language, I completely agree with these claims and believe that such open dialogue is very important and beneficial for relationships. However, at the same time, through the women disguising themselves as men, the video is suggesting that such an open discussion surrounding cunnilingus would be inappropriate or off limits to have between a man and a woman. Through this, it also feeds on the stigma and negativity surrounding women being sexual, as the women are shown as needing to disguise themselves in order to express their sexual desires. It is commonly seen as "wrong" and "un-feminine" for women to have such desires and voice them so strongly.

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