December 7, 2011
I know, I know, I said was I wasn’t gonna do this to myself any more. I will say this, my commentary might end up being disjointed and miss the point because I was doing *a lot* of fast forwarding.
Anyway… So Sam turns out to be a stripper/sex worker. Interesting. It is interesting how the two people who have ended up in exploitative sexual situations are the two people least likely to have to do so. Also, interesting how because it is two white, cis guys they are framed as having chosen to do so and, thus, completely erasing the larger context of how these situations actually occur in the real world. Now, I’m not one of those people who believe that sex workers have no agency and can’t choose to live as they do. They can. However, it doesn’t change the fact that Sam’s family is broke/poor and his circumstances play a role in the decision he made. Where is the commentary about the socio-economic circumstances in the states that lead to a high school boy into stripping?
Instead we get this, “you do what you need to do to survive” bootstrapping bullshit. We also get Blaine (of all people) shaming him for doing this with misdirected anger. This is turning into a habit for Blaine, who seems to have problems with getting angry then shaming people (first Kurt for not being spontaneous enough to want drunken sex and now Sam for being a stripper — this is an interesting discussion for what might be up with him)^[1].
Even worse was the running plot about Quinn reporting Shelby and Puck. The whole issue was framed as Quinn was being childish and immature for wanting to report an unethical (if technically legal — which I’m doubtful about but I don’t know the laws in Ohio well enough to comment) situation at the school. That somehow Quinn doing the right thing is actually wrong. WTF!?
This approach is especially troubling given what has recently gone down at Penn State. Where some high profile people have been fired from their jobs for failing to report something similar? Teachers have a duty to protect their students. This never, ever includes sleeping with them. Even if they are boys over the age of 18 and want it. There is a reason this sort of thing isn’t allowed. What is also worrying about the situation is that Shelby isn’t stopping because it is wrong, but because she isn’t getting what she needs from Puck.
I’m troubled by the consequence free world that Glee is creating for people who do things that are legitimately wrong. Blaine should have consequences for sexually assaulting Kurt. Shelby should have consequences for exploiting Puck. Finn should have consequences for outing Santana. Yet Quinn is continuously punished for having sex. Mercedes continuously punished for being Black. And so on.
Note to self: stop watching glee.
Ps. OMG! Blaine looked so good in that scene with Finn. His eyes were radiant. Oh, but why, oh why, did he have to shave his chest? I mean, glee has already white washed him, so why not keep the chest hair?
Pps. I also noticed how Sam decides that his need to get back with Mercedes is more important than her explicit, ‘move on, I’m with Shane.’ Again, glee shows how little it regards women.

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