"Monk": Slut-shaming, and female bodies are just icky

[Spoiler alert]
I finally caught this season's first episode of "Monk," where Adrian apparently idolized a show called "The Cooper Clan" which is an obvious parallel to "The Brady Bunch." I'll note that this is supposed to be the final season of Monk, which leaves me feeling sad, but also relieved since it's had a good run and it's about time it ended. I'll take this moment to profess my undying love of the character Monk, and the whole show, and I will admit to having a crush on Tony Shalhoub (this is a preemptive response to the inevitable accusations that I'm bashing the show or the actor--which I'm not--I'm just examining aspects of the show).

Anyway, "Mr. Monk's Favorite Show" which you can view in full here (at least until the video is expired) is a prime example of the slut-shaming that I've noticed previously, only this time it's worse.

We all know Adrian Monk is uptight, especially in regards to sex, but for some reason it's even worse when it's in regards to female sexuality. He is repulsed by female bodies. There are plenty of examples of his disgust with the human body in general, but when we look at how many times he's disturbed by male bodies vs. female bodies, there are certainly much fewer examples of the male bodies.

In "Mr. Monk Goes to the Ballgame," Adrian and Sharona meet with an art teacher who is posing nude for his class, and Monk would rather "let a murderer go" because he "can't talk to a naked man." When Sharona insists that there's nothing wrong with nudity, and goes on to say that Adrian must see himself naked, Adrian replies in a horrific admission "Just once." At least this illustrates his discomfort with all bodies, to which even his own is no exception (though it certainly makes me sad).

In "Mr. Monk and the Naked Man," Monk is again confronted with the nude male body (and some nude female ones), and must overcome his discomfort (to a degree) to solve the case.

But then we have all the examples of female bodies that Monk must confront, and those aren't even completely naked. In "Mr. Monk Goes to Vegas," he won't look at the show girls because they are "naked-ish." In fact, it gets ridiculous because he goes to extreme lengths to not look at the women, even holding his hand up to cover all but the face of one woman whom he's interviewing.

In "Mr. Monk and the Playboy" he refuses to look at a woman in a bikini, and busies himself with something else until she leaves the room. In that same episode, while investigating the murder, he tries to look at the magazine the title playboy created, and after a few attempts he drops it, and demands that Sharona give him a wipe immediately.

And then there's "Mr. Monk Takes Manhattan," where Adrian shouts to people on the street, informing them that Sharona is a "fornicator."

And in "Mr. Monk and the Red Herring," there is a scene in a museum where Adrian goes through the miracle of birth exhibit, entering the giant vagina, and having a panic attack once inside. He begs Natalie to leave, and when she finally consents, he goes through the fire escape to avoid going "through the pelvis" again, stating "I think this one's going to be a Cesarean."

But all these can be written off as funny--Monk's quirky, he has OCD and several phobias, and is just trying to function without having to see people's nasty bodies. Okay, fine. But watching "Mr. Monk's Favorite Show" was a forty minute jaw-drop moment for me. (Note, I find it interesting that a character that identifies as straight is most repulsed by female bodies).

Natalie glances through Christine Rapp's book (Christine Rapp being the child star that Adrian loved most from the show) and is shocked at what she reads. Now, "Monk" is a pretty mild show, so a lot of things are just sort of implied. About 6 minutes into the episode, Natalie and Disher look through the book in disgust, and "page 73" is apparently the worst example. At first, it seems it could be anything, but as the episode progresses, we are sort of nudged into the assumption that Christine Rapp, is in fact, a slut.

How do we know this, you ask? Well, there's apparently astounding evidence supporting this. 13 minutes in, Adrian discovers a mirror above Christine's bed--in his naivety he's unaware of the obvious purpose of having a mirror on the ceiling (as he is also in "Mr. Monk and the Playboy"). About 15 minutes in, Christine hits on Adrian, saying "Shy, huh? I like that in a man," and after she leaves, her publicist informs him that Christine "likes anything in a man."

It doesn't end there. Nearly 19 minutes in, an ex (male) co-star of Christine's states that she's "a liar, a loud-mouth, and a tramp." OMG he totally went there! And then the Captain orders Adrian to read Christine's novel, which of course crushes him. He idolized the woman (or rather her character) and suddenly her sexual exploits tarnished his worship of her, even to the point where he suggests she's nothing but a slut 24 minutes in. When she says she's signed a million autographed photos, Adrian acidly states, "I'll bet you have." Not only is she slut-shamed, but 25 minutes in she actually apologizes to Adrian. Now, I know the show meant a lot to Adrian's character, but I was sort of uncomfortable seeing a woman have to apologize for her sexual history--and then make excuses for it, such as her being young, which makes absolutely no sense, since she's obviously still sexual with various men in her middle years. This defines a clear distinction between "good girls" and "bad girls," and the bad girls must eventually repent, or at least feel guilty about their sexual history, which I think is bullshit because this sort of shame does not exist for a man. This also plays into the myth that women don't enjoy sex, and those that do are just filthy sluts.

Oh, but it's okay, because that slut's off to jail, since she's also a murderer and all. See ladies? If you love sex, you're a dirty slut; and then you'll do other bad things like kill people, and end up in jail.

I'm interested in what the rest of the season will have to offer, but I'm admittedly worried.