Cheesecake
A run down so everyone knows what this is about. Its about women and sex. Cheesecake magazine for lack of a better description were similar to playboys. The title is to indicate the old problem of sex is dirty, sex is great! How confusing is that . On one hand a person does not want to be objectified. They want to be respected for their personality, their mind and what they can contribute. On the other hand most people wouldn’t mind being considered one of the beautiful people and having individuals desire them. It’s a two edge sword objectification is a bad word or is it if you are in the right mood. Cheesecake, the story, explores this and other subtle group created taboos. It is about perceptions of social norms. Cheesecake is not a battleground for issues that divide friends. It is a battleground where friends hide secrets that should have no cause to be hidden. It looks at less obvious articles in the preverbal closet.
The story will explore the rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors. These rules may be explicit or implicit. Failure to stick to the rules can result in severe punishments, the most feared of which is exclusion from the group. A common rule is that the some norms must frequently be displayed; neutrality is seldom an option.
Other norms: From a reference material ofcourse.
Injunctive Norms are behaviors which are perceived as being approved of by other people.
Descriptive Norms are perceptions of how other people are actually behaving, whether or not these are approved of.
Explicit Norms are written or spoken openly.
Implicit Norms are not openly stated (but you find out when you transgress them).
A common group norm amongst academics is that dress is casual (with the underlying implication that what goes on in the mind is more important than what goes on the body).
So with this in mind what norms might be created and by no means ever broken by a gay support group, and gunclub, a woman’s Bible study?
Cheesecake will display the norms in actions, destroy them and then neatly put them back in place.
What is right and what is wrong and who knows? Abortion, Capital Punishment, Immigration, Liberal spending, Affairs these are debatable and big. Now how about Drinking, smoking, tattoos, piercing, fetishes, divorce this is the subject matter that will be focused on. Depending on what group you are in these may be rejected or prerequisites. Drinking in an AA meeting would not be tolerated. Not drinking at a Kegger would also come to a quick and drunken end.
Cheesecake explores 6 women at a Bible study brought together by the hope of letting their guard down around their church sisters. We see they are restrained by the group consciences and unable to be themselves. It is not meant to be a slam on Christians or Bible studies. It is also not meant to support them. I just could not have thought of a better environment where norms are created out of thin air but haunt a person even when they are not there.
Here are some of the ingredients in the mixture of Cheesecake.
The hope is to have 2 to 3 dedicated women writers, a female director and female co-producer on the project. The setting is intended for stage and possible webisodes. I’m not focusing any of my attention on this right now but will meet with any women interested in seeing this happen.
