Why is the fandom not flipping its collective shit over the fact that Puck sexually propositions his teacher (and creates a threatening environment by closing the classroom door and stepping into her personal space to lick her neck) and suffers no repercussions? Instead, his academic woes (entirely the products of his own doing) serve as catalyst for a bunch of good ole boy networking and support (cleverly feminized to perhaps make it not stand out so much in an episode where the school’s football coach is the victim of domestic violence at the hands of her college football coach douche bag of a husband).
The only moment of intersection between the domestic violence storyline and the male members of the ensemble takes place at approximately 4:45, when Will Schuester enters the teacher’s lounge with Coach Beiste, and is informed by Sue and Roz that his students made a joke about domestic violence.
Will: Hey! Mind if we join you ladies?
Beiste: What are you guys talking about?
Roz: Your shiner.
Sue: William, your teenaged minions have taken this opportunity to start making jokes about violence against women.
Will: Are you serious?
Beiste: Wait a second—they think I got hit? I was at the gym hitting a speedbag, but my timing was off and it came back and clocked me.
Will: I can’t believe any of my kids would make a joke about something that serious.
Roz: Well, you better believe it, whatever your name is. I heard ‘em with my own two ears.
Sue: Yep, you got a problem on your hands, William. But not to worry—John Goodman, Black Sue, and Original Recipe Sue are gonna take care of it.
And thus the patriarchy is excused for the day…
ETA: I’m not equating what Puck did to what Cooter did to Beiste. Rather, I’m trying to draw attention to how this episode constructed the issue of domestic violence as the sole purview of women while chalking up Puck’s behavior as “business as usual.”
