Stipping and Moral Hypocrisies

There is something that I have been wanting to say about this show for a long, long time. Well, ever since Martha got into the stripping (well, 'exotic dancing').
This isn't the first time that there have been strippers on the show- every time there is a bachelor/bachelorette party there is someone getting partially naked. Sooooo...
How come it was okay for the guys to go to a strip club but it wasn't okay for Martha to be dancing there? Doesn't it actually make it worse that they are taking advantage of these women? Objectifying them? How come it is okay that other daughters/wives/friends/mothers can be there for the men to ogle, but not one of their own?
If it was that objectionable, then maybe they just shouldn't be going to see 'dancers'.

Give them there dues where abortion is concerned (though they still will not use the actual word)- Jack is all pro choice. Of course they were never going to let Martha be okay with it, that's just not going to happen (not that I think that is necessarily a bad thing). The point is that Jack went and said that there was no right or wrong in those sort of things. So, there.

Sexual Harrasment & Abortion

There isn't much to say on the subject of the abortion talk, other than the fact that I was wrong. Yes, that is right, I was wrong. They actually discussed abortion. Of course we knew that they weren't going to do it, they couldn't condone abortion without outrage and it is the only way to get Mama Rose back in later on (because remember she disappeared).
Anyway, most of what they said was decent.
Tash: "I know this sounds terrible but I don't know how I am going to feel about the baby... On top of all that I don't know if I am ready to have a baby."
When she said the first part I wasn't at all surprised, there aren't that many people who could bring the progeny of their rapist into the world and love it without always thinking about what happened. It was the second part that came as a surprise- contemplating having an abortion just because she wasn't ready to have a child. Absolute blasphemy in the do-good world of Home and Away! So, what is the word, progressive?
Of course what Robbie wanted was more obvious, he wanted her to keep the baby:
Robbie: "All I know I love you and I know we can get through anything no matter how desperate... What happened isn't the baby's fault."
You see he talks about the baby as though it is a baby, not just a foetus, which makes Tasha think twice. Of course this talk about the foetus as a life rather than as a lump of meat would likely infuriate the pro-choice crowd.
But what would have pleased them is when Tash asks Robbie to make the decision for her and he tells her that he can't make that decision for her.
In the end Tash says: "No matter how I tried to justify it in my head I can't get rid of it... What Jonah did to me was awful but I can't take it out on an innocent child." More talk of the foetus as a life rather than a part of the mother's body.
This is a touchy subject that everyone has a view on, but what was so good was that they actually discussed it on H&A. I'll leave it at that.


Sexual harassment on the other hand and the treatment of women in what is generally a man's world has been done rather poorly.
Rachel is the new girl in town, a psychiatrist and doctor who was pretty much put in there to replace Flynn. Since moving to The Bay she has been sexually harassed and bribed by her boss, Dr. Helpman. As a doctor and supposedly a smart person you'd think she would have been smart enough to call him on it early, collect evidence and all of that. Instead she lets him continue to pressure her.
When he discovers that she has had a relationship with a prior patient he blackmails her- have sex with him or he will tell the Board. This in itself should get him fired immediately, but of course she's not smart enough to have told someone.
Its only after she saves his child and he still harasses her that she finally, after weeks, calls the department. FINALLY!
What is making it worse is that there are other women standing around watching it happening and doing nothing about it. There is something going on in H&A where women seem fine with watching other women being abused by men.
Good point: they are showing the way that men are favoured in the working world by having Dr. Helpman only put under investigation yet Rachel gets suspended because she had a consensual relationship with a patient. See, Man tried to force woman to have sex= Nothing. Woman has sex at all= Bad.

I'm going to guess that Rachel finally gets Helpman kicked out, because The Bay needs a doctor! And of course they are going to have good things happen to their characters. Everything works out eventually.

The Issue of Rape

Because I haven't really started this yet, I am going to try get a little down even though I don't have the time.

This is
the second time that I can remember Home and Away dealing with the issue of rape, though they never actually say the word. The first time it was Danni Sutherland who was 'assaulted' by Kane. I won't go into detail except to say that Danni's sister ran away with the rapist and got married to him something no loving sister would ever do, and the whole family forgave him. And poor Danni was supposed to deal with this, which she did.
Also following that when Dani was dating Scott he got all uppity because she couldn't get over the fact that she was raped (and then stalked and assaulted) and it was about time that she moved on in his opinion, it was all somehow her fault. It was awful.

This time it is only just the beginning (before it was only insinuated, now we know for sure), but it is going to be fun seeing how they deal with such a serious subject this time round (who wants to place bets on Tasha forgiving her rapist?).
It began with Tasha Andrews (now Hunter) joining a cult called The Believers who believed that she was the chosen one and she was to be impregnated by Mama Rose's son- only Tash didn't know this.
The first clue we got was when Tash awoke one morning with a nasty hangover from being drugged and all she could remember was the sensation of being smothered. No one figured it out. I don't know where to start- should it be the all encompassing idea that a woman is nothing more than a womb? Or the fact that there were women who condoned (and even one who began) this idea.
The episode saw Tasha finally discovering that she was pregnant and putting two and two together- the same day as her wedding! Of course it meant that she had to tell her new husband- who had been the first one to object to her joining The Believers after he found what they were up to. But she didn't do it immediately because she was afraid that he would hate her, that it was her fault.
But Robbie didn't, funnily enough, and ran off to the prison where her rapist (not that they would ever use that word) was being held to protect her honor. I don't know what to say about this, except to say that if I was raped I too would hope that my family/partner/whatever would want to beat the crap out of him and protect me. So I'll avoid all feminist interpretation.
We'll see what happens. My money is on Tasha forgiving Jonah (the rapist), her and Robbie raising the baby together (if she doesn't miscarry, but a full term pregnancy would mean that Mama Rose could come back later and I doubt they would ever advocate abortion on H&A) and her getting over it in about five minutes because in Summer Bay you have to move on.
I'll talk about sexual harassment tomorrow (and whatever other stupid thing happens).