she, too, Red Crosses NY (and I, I'm just another Red Crossing fool)

So here's another one of these ads, but this time, in this case, I found myself thinking very little more than, "That girl's pretty cute"—and, "Hey, when I get way up close here I think I can see her contact lenses!"

The point I have to make here has very little to do with the ad and everything to do with me: an alternate title to this post might be, "It Turns Out I'm Heterosexual."

For reasons too ridiculous to detail, I used to operate under the illusion that I was not myself victim to the classic stereotypical male phenomenon wherein sexual attraction has a negative impact upon one's critical faculties. Well, OK, I'll detail 'em a little: because I do not find grotesque (and essentially desexualized) Barbie-doll silicone bimbo-monsters attractive, I thought that I was immune to the syndrome in question and would never shallowly conclude that a person was worthwhile or interesting just because she turned me on—when of course the bimbo-monster is not the only kind of sexually attractive woman.* And but so at some point (embarrassingly recently) it hit me that I'd in fact quite frequently pass someone on the street or see her on the subway and think, "Wow, she looks really cool and interesting," when in fact all I was really responding to was her looks. Just because she looks "cute" or "beautiful" instead of "sexy" or "hot" doesn't mean you aren't being superficial; just because you don't think she's trashy doesn't mean you aren't thinking with your dick.**

I bring all this up because if I try to imagine being gay, or being a straight woman, how do I respond to the image in this ad? For starters, there's still the ridiculous "I Red Cross NY" problem—but even the model: what in the world is she wearing?

So it is established: show me a pretty face and I turn into an idiot...just like everybody else.

...I'M JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE!!

* More to the point, to me she's not any kind of sexually attractive woman (because, as established above, I'm not even attracted to her)...so why I'd look to her as a test is a mystery.

** I'm not too fond of the "just because...doesn't mean" construction but couldn't figure out a smoother way off the top of my head. I am rather fond of the expression "thinking with your dick."