The blinking blue light I see in windows of the rows and rows of apartments in New York City at night makes me crazy. It also makes me sad.
This blue light emits from the television that almost everyone sits in front of night after night after night. At my office, co-workers talk about TV programs they watched the night before. The gossip in the news is all about television celebrities and their shenanigans. Television drives American society like an expert chauffeur.
I know couples who have forsaken sex for sitting shoulder-to-shoulder on their sofa to watch television until they start snoring on the couch, or head to bed—their eyes tired from the blinking blue light.
I think there must be interesting things on that screen, or why would so many people prioritize the flat screen above all else. But, I truly believe there are better things to do than sit in front of the ol’ tube, which is why I haven’t owned one about 20 years. Oh, I’ve been in the background of lovers’ tee-vees: I’ve witnessed Logo and Sundance, Raymond, the Nightly News, even the L Word on the rare occasion. I am not impressed, especially if TV is replacing sex and intimacy.
My gal and I, we can find millions of things to do other than watch TV. We have to (and want to) in fact because neither of us has one—and we like it that way. Moving in together soon, we decided early on not to buy a blinking blue screen, of any shape or size. No need we said, we’re busy women, both together and apart. And, when we are together we like to actually relate, and part of that is having sex: wild sex, fun sex, raw sex, sexy sex. Getting wet and dirty sex, the kind of sex one must search for on their computers and cannot watch on free TV.
No, we are not at all about getting into our jammies and planting our butts in front of the tube.
And now 20+ years into my non-television owning/watching, I cannot imagine even having time to watch even 30 minutes of whatever reality show du jour is playing or the series of the year. Even Weeds, which sounds like it has an interesting premise, does not entice—why do I need to live vicariously when I can actually live?
My main objection to television is that it’s a sex and relationship killer. It really is. People get into the habit of automatically turning on the set when they walk in the door and it’s running from then until they go to bed, sometimes after. Couples start eating in front of the TV, sit there the rest of the night, and are too busy with TV, then too tired, then have to work, then TV again, dinner in front of the set, then tired, then work. Where’s their relationship? And, most importantly, where’s the sex?
Let’s not forget that we are lesbians because we like relationships with women, emotional and sexual, even political.
Get off the couch already—move, quickly, away from the television.
Now, start living!
Blogger Bio: Stephanie Schroeder is a dreamer, wanderer and writer based in Brooklyn, NY. She likes to exchange apartments with artists and other interesting folks from around the globe and travel in search of new friends and singular experiences. She makes purple a way of life and also fancies green, purple’s complementary color on the color wheel. (stephanieschroeder.com)