DROOLING

The teeth prosthetics that Bill Skarsgård wore as Pennywise made him drool profusely. Director Andy Muschietti liked this as that the drooling adds onto the ravenous nature of Pennywise.

“If a culture lands on the idea that women must always be believed in cases not just of sexual assault but of unwanted sexual advances, then this must generate some confusion in society. What are people to think about, and how should they react to, those occasions when they have experienced women doing That Female Thing? 

How are they to reconcile the information that women must always be believed with the fact that there are entire industries set up to help women fool men? 

Or – to put the most positive spin on it– to entice them. 

After all, what are all those summer advertising campaigns about that invite women to ‘turn heads this summer’? 

Whose heads are they being invited to turn? 

Any and all passing women, hoping to purchase, say, the same dress or bikini? 

Or men? 

MAKE HIM DROOL 

The manner in which marketing addresses women tells us a great deal about what women are actually motivated by when they think men aren’t watching. 

Consider the endless numbers of advertising campaigns and pieces in women’s magazines dedicated to motifs like ‘Make him drool’. 

If car advertisements or shaving products aimed at men were pushed with the suggestion that the object, if acquired, would make women drool, it would not just be condemned but might well fail to appeal to men.

Google is a hive of assistance in this regard. 

Typing the words ‘Make him drool’ turns up reams of articles, adverts and online discussions. 

The words ‘Make her drool’ by contrast throw up a host of articles ranging from how to stop drooling during sleep to explanations as to why some cats dribble from their mouths. 

All this suggests our societies have arrived at a stage of seemingly industrial-strength denial. 

We have decided to forget or completely edit out things that were recognized to be valid the day before yesterday.”