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Dr. House Is Sexy

I’ve been sick with the flu all day and watching HOUSE re-runs, which have convinced me I’m actually dying from a rare form of parasitic infection combined with hypertensive amyloidosis. Impending doom aside, I’m marveling at the fact that my two major TV crushes of the moment are Dr. House himself and (of course) Don Draper from MAD MEN. In other words, the two biggest bastards on television. It has to be said: WTF?!

I was reminded of this great piece from the Newsweek Pop Vox blog by Katie Baker, where she writes of Don:

“By any measure, the character’s a cad. He constantly cheats on his wife. He skips town for weeks and won’t write or call. He doesn’t talk much, and anesthetizes any feelings with copious amounts of booze. He’s an enigma, a locked box of a man who resists, maddeningly, easy explanation.”

Certainly the last sentence and a half is true of my beloved Dr. House as well. He could go up against Don any day for emotional unavailability and lack of scruples.

Katie Baker’s point is that women of our generation are attracted to the hyper-masculinity of Dons and Houses, despite their ugly sides, because the sexual revolution, and feminism, and women’s equality happened – and now – “We’re supposed to want men who are sensitive and respectful; men who emote and help around the house, and talk openly about their feelings.” And so now we don’t want those men.

I basically agree – though I would add to this point that I feel confused enough about what’s going on in my love life – and in the dating scene in general – that I’m not sure I trust what I feel about what I want and don’t want. Maybe I’m afraid to want that sensitive, respectful guy because so many guys who seem like that to us girls…end up being epic Guys Who Just Blew You Off. At least with a House or Don I would know exactly where I stand and nothing would surprise me… Is it cynical to say that there’s comfort in knowing the heartbreak’s a given?

Maybe as women we always somehow want what we can’t have. And who is more unattainable than a brilliant, sexy, COMPLETELY FICTIONAL television character?

Feb 23, 2010

0 F-YEAH! F-YEAH!

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