# Did Grace Kelly need a beating? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 15, 2013, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-grace-kelly-need-a-beating/655762 "2013-04-15T13:40:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-grace-kelly-need-a-beating/655762/1 "2013-04-15T13:40:34Z")
I watched “Mogambo” on TV the other day, and Grace Kelly was playing the same sort of brittle, superior ice princess with a faux-Brit accent and without empathy for anyone else that I’d seen her playing in other films, To Catch a Thief and Rear Window, mainly (can’t think of much else I’d seen her in) and I commented on how that woman needed the back of some guy’s hand to straighten her out, and MAN!! did my GF not care for that remark. Apparently, the word “woman” and “beating” in the same sentence triggers a response in some women that gets you so far in the doghouse it takes three days of 'splaining to work your way out of. Ava Gardner in the same picture plays a real woman, vulnerable and sensitive and earthy, so the contrast couldn’t be plainer, but pointing that out didn’t do me much good, as it simply made my GF jealous of my open admiration for more authentic brunettes. Can’t win here–stuck up blonde makes me mad (no good), sexy brunette makes me horny (also no good). This is one movie I’d love to redub, a la what’s up, tiger lily, with dialogue that they couldn’t say in the 1950s, because the sexual dynamic is just terrific. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-grace-kelly-need-a-beating/655762/2 "2013-04-15T13:48:17Z")
In Rear Window, Jimmy Stewart needed a beating, not Grace Kelly! “Derp derp, there’s a smoking hot woman who wants to jump my bones, but I’d rather look at the guy across the courtyard, derp derp.” ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-grace-kelly-need-a-beating/655762/3 "2013-04-15T13:52:16Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > I watched “Mogambo” on TV the other day, and Grace Kelly was playing the same sort of brittle, superior ice princess with a faux-Brit accent and without empathy for anyone else that I’d seen her playing in other films, To Catch a Thief and Rear Window, mainly (can’t think of much else I’d seen her in) and I commented on how that woman needed the back of some guy’s hand to straighten her out, and MAN!! did my GF not care for that remark. Apparently, the word “woman” and “beating” in the same sentence triggers a response in some women that gets you so far in the doghouse it takes three days of 'splaining to work your way out of. > > Ava Gardner in the same picture plays a real woman, vulnerable and sensitive and earthy, so the contrast couldn’t be plainer, but pointing that out didn’t do me much good, as it simply made my GF jealous of my open admiration for more authentic brunettes. Can’t win here–stuck up blonde makes me mad (no good), sexy brunette makes me horny (also no good). This is one movie I’d love to redub, a la what’s up, tiger lily, with dialogue that they couldn’t say in the 1950s, because the sexual dynamic is just terrific. So - to be clear: you want and expect it to be considered Okay and Typical to discuss whether one woman vs another needs “a beating” to stop acting so uppity? Yeah - no. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-grace-kelly-need-a-beating/655762/4 "2013-04-15T13:58:40Z")
If any man were to lay a malicious hand on Grace Kelly’s body I would fully expect that hand to wither and fall off as punishment from the gods for offending one of their own. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-grace-kelly-need-a-beating/655762/5 "2013-04-15T14:00:43Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > Apparently, the word “woman” and “beating” in the same sentence triggers a response in some women that gets you so far in the doghouse it takes three days of 'splaining to work your way out of. Those two words in the same sentence with “need” thrown in would get you categorized by most men as something most people don’t want to be. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-grace-kelly-need-a-beating/655762/6 "2013-04-15T14:04:11Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > . . .Ava Gardner in the same picture plays a real woman, vulnerable and sensitive and earthy, so the contrast couldn’t be plainer, but pointing that out didn’t do me much good, as it simply made my GF jealous of my open admiration for more authentic brunettes. . . . Well, it is Ava Gardner. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-grace-kelly-need-a-beating/655762/7 "2013-04-15T14:11:47Z")
This is a joke, right? This is one of those false-flag operations designed to draw out the knuckle-draggers so we can all have a laugh at anyone so unevolved as to think that any woman “needs a beating,” right? Please tell me it is a joke. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-grace-kelly-need-a-beating/655762/8 "2013-04-15T14:16:58Z")
Well you GF may have disliked your words because she had considered that if you think “needs a beating” applies to another woman, you might eventually think it applies to her. Also, better phrasing could have helped here. If you had said, "Grace Kelly is badly in need of a comeuppance!’ she might not have been so alarmed, though effectively it could mean the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-grace-kelly-need-a-beating/655762/9 "2013-04-15T14:17:18Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > Those two words in the same sentence with “need” thrown in would get you categorized by most men as something most people don’t want to be. Well, it’s not as if I was saying that if my GF ever behaved like Kelly, I’d beat her bloody (though that was exactly how she took it). I mean, I coulda said, “That Grace Kelly–what a snooty bitch she always plays! It’s terrible how hateful and snotty she is in these pictures, the guy with her must really resent her attitude and would love to make her feel more humble,” and it would have been fine. I could have characterized her in any one of a number of offensive and hostile ways but that magical combo of “Woman” and “beating” set off a kind of “Niagara Falls” response that was almost funny in its self-righteous way. IRL, I would have picked a fight with Kelly long before we ever got to the romantic stage. Well, I might have condescended to see her naked a few times first, but any way you look at it, I would have been out of been out of that relationship PDQ, blonde beauty or no. What an obnoxious creature, so totally about herself and her needs. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-grace-kelly-need-a-beating/655762/10 "2013-04-15T14:19:34Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > Well you GF may have disliked your words because she had considered that if you think “needs a beating” applies to another woman, you might eventually think it applies to her. > > Also, better phrasing could have helped here. If you had said, "Grace Kelly is badly in need of a comeuppance!’ she might not have been so alarmed, though effectively it could mean the same thing. We pretty much simulposted. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-grace-kelly-need-a-beating/655762/11 "2013-04-15T14:20:19Z")
My dad used to beat the shit out of my mom. I don’t think she really “needed” any of them and if asked, she probably could have done without them. Fun fact: my dad is now slowly dying alone. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-grace-kelly-need-a-beating/655762/12 "2013-04-15T14:26:03Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > I commented on how that woman needed the back of some guy’s hand to straighten her out, and MAN!! did my GF not care for that remark. Apparently, the word “woman” and “beating” in the same sentence triggers a response in some women that gets you so far in the doghouse it takes three days of 'splaining to work your way out of. In fairness, she probably just thought you needed to be straightened out. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-grace-kelly-need-a-beating/655762/13 "2013-04-15T14:33:02Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > Well, it’s not as if I was saying that if my GF ever behaved like Kelly, I’d beat her bloody (though that was exactly how she took it). I mean, I coulda said, “That Grace Kelly–what a snooty bitch she always plays! It’s terrible how hateful and snotty she is in these pictures, the guy with her must really resent her attitude and would love to make her feel more humble,” and it would have been fine. I could have characterized her in any one of a number of offensive and hostile ways but that magical combo of “Woman” and “beating” set off a kind of “Niagara Falls” response that was almost funny in its self-righteous way. > > IRL, I would have picked a fight with Kelly long before we ever got to the romantic stage. Well, I might have condescended to see her naked a few times first, but any way you look at it, I would have been out of been out of that relationship PDQ, blonde beauty or no. What an obnoxious creature, so totally about herself and her needs. I’ll be more plain. If I heard someone say seriously that a woman needed a beating because of acting snooty, I would consider that person a contemptible asshole. It is possible that your girlfriend reached a similar conclusion. Why did you create this thread? Did you think we would all find it interesting in a movie-critiquing kind of way? ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-grace-kelly-need-a-beating/655762/14 "2013-04-15T14:42:34Z")
Would a bare butt spanking by one of her bull-dikier contempories like Eve Arden be acceptable? ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-grace-kelly-need-a-beating/655762/15 "2013-04-15T14:47:26Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > I commented on how that woman needed the back of some guy’s hand to straighten her out, and MAN!! did my GF not care for that remark. Does that really surprise you? ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-grace-kelly-need-a-beating/655762/16 "2013-04-15T14:49:12Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > I’ll be more plain. If I heard someone say seriously that a woman needed a beating because of acting snooty, I would consider that person a contemptible asshole. It is possible that your girlfriend reached a similar conclusion. > > Why did you create this thread? Did you think we would all find it interesting in a movie-critiquing kind of way? No kidding. “I said something reprehensible and my girlfriend reacted like I’m the kind of person who would say something reprehensible.” ---
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-grace-kelly-need-a-beating/655762/17 "2013-04-15T15:04:16Z")
Good lord. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-grace-kelly-need-a-beating/655762/18 "2013-04-15T15:09:55Z")
Yes, advocating beating women does not go over well with women. Or with men who happen not to be sexist assholes. Yes, this is still true, even if you allow that other, less uppity women may not, in fact, “need a beating”. Are you actually surprised by this? ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-grace-kelly-need-a-beating/655762/19 "2013-04-15T15:18:10Z")
This is a woosh, right? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-grace-kelly-need-a-beating/655762/20 "2013-04-15T15:28:58Z")
> [@koeeoaddi](#): > > This is a woosh, right? It has to be. It’s not like he’s a newbie here; he knew exactly how we’d react. Oh, and by the way, I absolutely LOVED Grace Kelly in everything she was in. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-grace-kelly-need-a-beating/655762.md?page=2)