tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22053471210907279322024-02-20T09:51:41.629-08:00Double TeamUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205347121090727932.post-49901385094413505092012-08-31T23:48:00.000-07:002013-02-05T16:15:22.651-08:00Unpacking women's supposed sexual power over menNote: This post is not meant to imply that women can never have any form of power over any man and are always de-facto victims. On a case-by-case basis, this can and does happen, of course. This post is meant to de-construct a view of women's sexual power over men as the consistent, broad, and enduring phenomenon it is often portrayed as. <br />
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I saw an image online of a little girl in her underwear, pulling on the elastic so she can see what it's covering, as a little boy near her looks on. A speech bubble above the little girl's head reads: "with this, I'm gonna rule the world!" And of course, it's difficult to be a woman or a man in this country and not be familiar with that sentiment; you hear it almost every time a woman brings up her oppression and male privilege: "no, it's actually you women who have power over us men, because you can use the power of sex!" Which of course doesn't address the issue of institutional, socio-political, and cultural inequality, or the fact that even when/IF this sexual power is operable, it would usually only apply to women men found conventionally attractive and cis-hetero women. But let's just unpack this assumption and PRETEND that there's something to it. When people say this, what sorts of things do they have in mind? Just how are these instances of power supposed to play out?<br />
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A woman getting free drinks at a bar, either because men buy them for her or because it's Ladies Night? Men CHOOSE to buy drinks for women, and they usually do so in the hopes that they'll get laid, (even if all they want is a phone number, it's so they can get laid at a later date). Ladies Night is a way for bars to get more business, because more female customers = more male customers, so it's for the sake of money and appealing to men's desire to hit on women at bars.<br />
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Do they mean it in a more direct, transactional way, like getting money for sex? I doubt it, and sex workers are one of the most abused, disrespected, and disenfranchised groups in this country. Often their finances aren't even in their own control, but in the hands of a usually abusive pimp.<br />
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Does it refer to women deciding who they want to have sex with and being the gatekeepers of their own body? That's not a privilege or power over anyone; that's a human right, but one that is violated and ignored at an alarming rate, anyway.<br />
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Using attention and/or sexual favors to advance professionally? I don't think this is all that common and is pretty problematic, but wouldn't needing to give sexual favors in order to advance from a subordinate position underscore your position as a member of an underclass anyway?<br />
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Becoming famous and/or wealthy through being sexually attractive? This is quite possibly the only example that even remotely makes sense here, and 1. it only affects a handful of women, and 2. it can also apply to attractive men (actors, models, musicians, etc.) so it is not unique to women. Many women would be completely barred from this avenue of wealth. What's more, even these women are still exploited in some way; their successes belittled, their minds dismissed, their whole being objectified and often reduced to the sexual pleasure they can offer men (quick and easy example: men's magazines like <i>Maxim</i> and <i>Equire</i>. The latter referred to Rihanna as "the essence of the word 'fuck'". Talk about reducing someone to a sex object, even when they're a successful, accomplished woman!). They are often slut-shamed for using their body for capital gain, as though they created the system and weren't simply trying to take advantage of it. And doubtless there is usually some man or multiple men behind the scenes profiting from her success. Most importantly, being famous or wealthy hardly translates into ruling the world. Money usually does not necessarily entail political power for women, especially not as a group.<br />
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The sad thing is, it was a woman who posted this comic (I don't know if a woman created it, though), and I know that many women agree with this view and find it empowering. When women use the system to their advantage, I don't blame them for it. But I think awareness of the fact that women's bodies, either the disseminated image or even the real physical body, are linked to sexist oppression (through pornography, sex trafficking, rape, and femicide), is key to understanding what we're up against. Calling objectification empowering is like living in bondage and calling it freedom. It's like using the master's tools to dismantle the master's house. I'm not suggesting that a woman's own body and sexuality can't be instrumental in her liberation. It definitely is. Sex is a part of life, and no liberation is possible by denying ourselves sexual pleasure. But cis-hetero men's obsession with women's bodies as an object for sexual consumption is not a source of real power for women; it's linked to men and their pleasure, it's a "power" men give us, that they allow themselves to be affected by, because they know how fake it is, how flimsy, how it ties into their desires and forms no real threat to their power and privilege, to the socio-political order, not even close. It holds as much power as a diversion, as a game before the return to real matters at hand; there may be some resistance, some refusal, some playing hard to get, some flaunting, some teasing, but he knows that he'll get what he wants in the end, through force, coercion, manipulation or simply by moving on to the next one. <br />
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-JUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205347121090727932.post-74322609429464476802012-08-23T11:41:00.001-07:002013-02-05T15:46:01.719-08:00I take it we're too sexy for you?<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>[CN: Sexual harassment, bullying, victim-blaming]</i></span><br />
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.6007821215316653" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I want to talk about a few things that have been on my mind lately that were crystallized in </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://geekfeminism.org/2012/08/17/i-take-it-we-arent-cute-enough-for-you/">this</a> </span><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">post over at </span><a href="http://geekfeminism.org/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Geek Feminism</span></a><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.6007821215316653" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The post begins with a </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.chicagonow.com/portrait-of-an-adoption/2010/11/anti-bullying-starts-in-first-grade/">story</a> </span><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">about a girl in first-grade who was bullied for bringing a Star Wars water bottle to school. It got so bad she wanted to bring a pink bottle instead, just to avoid being teased. This story generated a lot of sympathy and even action on her behalf:</span><br /><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Katie’s story went viral including</span><a href="http://starwarsblog.starwars.com/index.php/2010/12/10/may-the-force-be-with-katie-day/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> at the official Star Wars blog</span></a><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and a year later</span><a href="http://geekout.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/16/one-year-later-the-force-is-strong-in-katie/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> CNN reported </span></a><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">that at GeekGirlCon when a brigade of Storm Troopers formed an honor guard for Katie, and that there’s an annual Wear Star Wars day as a result. </span></b><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We had our own smaller burst of geek support on the Geek Feminism blog in May this year,</span><a href="http://geekfeminism.org/2012/05/08/girls-and-robots/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for five year old Maya, who was turning away from her love of cars and robots</span></a><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">...In addition, it wasn’t an especially difficult thread to moderate as I recall: a few trolls showed up to tell Maya goodness knows what (sudo make me a sandwich LOL?) but in general people left warm, honest, open stories of their geek life for Maya.”</span></b></span><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #373737; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just as Mary specified in her post, I also want to clarify that I think this kind of support is a very positive thing. But I too have to ask: why doesn’t this degree of unified, unequivocal support exist for women who point out gender-based bullying and harassment, especially in male-dominated spheres? What about cases of sexual harassment or rape?</span><br /><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I think one important distinction lies in the latter: much of the harassment women discuss is different precisely </span><span style="font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">because </span><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">it is more likely to be sexual. Mary briefly alludes to this contrast too: </span><br /><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“What they </span><span style="font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">don’t</span><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> seem to have in common is a universal condemnation from geekdom: bullying children? Totally evil. Harassing adults? Eh… evil, except you know, he’s such a great guy, and he hasn’t got laid in a while, and (trigger warning for rapist enabling)</span><a href="http://captainawkward.com/2012/08/07/322-323-my-friend-group-has-a-case-of-the-creepy-dude-how-do-we-clear-that-up/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> he does have the best gaming table,</span></a><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> so what are you gonna do, huh?”</span><br /><span style="color: #373737; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But I think this point merits deeper analysis, particularly because it accounts for a broad array of bullying women face, as distinct from the kind that Katie and Maya dealt with. This type of bullying exists on a continuum:</span></span></b><br />
<ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li style="font-size: 16px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Targeting a woman’s presumed sexuality or promiscuity as a way to justify disrespect, invalidation or exclusion (this is especially relevant in </span><a href="http://geekout.blogs.cnn.com/2012/07/24/booth-babes-need-not-apply/"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">geek culture</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">)</span></span></b></li>
</ul>
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<li style="font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Targeting a woman’s presumed sexuality as a way to demean them, by using hyper-sexualized rhetoric and slurs and/or pornographic imagery (which Anita Sarkeesian </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.feministfrequency.com/2012/07/image-based-harassment-and-visual-misogyny/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=image-based-harassment-and-visual-misogyny">discussed</a> </span><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">as just one component of the bullying* she faces online)</span></span></b></li>
<li style="font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sexual harassment</span></b></li>
<li style="font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The threat of or act of sexual assault and rape</span></b></li>
</ul>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You may be thinking: how does this relate to the topic at hand? A couple ways: 1) I’d venture to say that the above encompasses the vast majority of bullying that women face and discuss (whether in geek culture or not). Any discussion about the bullying and exclusion [geek] women face is woefully incomplete if sexual harassment/violence isn’t also addressed and 2) I think it’s another important component in understanding why the same people that felt sympathy for Katie and Maya will feel far less for [geek] women who experience this kind of bullying. </span><br /><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I understand that there are a lot of reasons that Katie and Maya received more sympathy than adult women, and Mary already discussed a lot of them. Thus, I’m not arguing that sexual harassment is the only factor or even </span><span style="font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the most</span><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> important factor in explaining this difference in sympathy. But I think it's an important factor that merits more discussion.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let’s use Katie’s story as an example. Perhaps her story seemed universal to other geeks and that made it easier for a broad array of them to empathize with her--after all, she was being teased and bullied for being different and for her “geeky” interests.** But what </span><span style="font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">exactly</span><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> did those boys say to her that made her feel bad? Well, isn’t that a ridiculously callous question? All we need to know is it was bad enough to make her cry and no longer want to take her Star Wars water bottle. In the face of her unhappiness, I’m betting no one would feel right about grilling her, especially with an aim to argue that she somehow wasn’t justified in feeling that way.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But once you reach adulthood, that callous reaction becomes much more commonplace when talking about harassment and exclusion; people want to know what happened, largely so they can assess whether they find your emotional response justifiable. “Wait, what made you feel uncomfortable? Oh, that? That isn’t even a big deal/That wouldn’t bother me/Others have it worse/Can’t you take a joke/You should just suck it up/Well, if you don’t like it, you can just go somewhere else/</span><a href="http://kotaku.com/5889066/competitive-gamers-inflammatory-comments-spark-sexual-harassment-debate"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s part of the culture</span></a><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">” etc. </span><br /><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I acknowledge that part of this callousness is due to the fact that there’s less compassion for adults, regardless of their gender. But that doesn’t account for all of it. The problem is compounded when a)the harassment is sexual and b)the victim is a woman. </span></span></b><br />
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For one, the lack of empathy (“this isn’t a big deal”) can be tied to a lack of perspective: not everyone experiences sexual harassment, and men certainly don’t experience it on the same scale or in the same way that women do, so it may be more difficult for them to empathize (this of course doesn’t give them a free pass, just explains why some men have trouble being sympathetic). Some men don’t understand the ways that sexual harassment and bullying can make the victim feel uncomfortable, alienated, or even unsafe because they’ve never been subjected to it. And of course, some men just don’t care either way because they’re not personally hurt or excluded by it, and in fact, enjoy being able to harass women and and don’t want to give it up. If they felt sympathy for one victim of sexual harassment, wouldn’t they have to question their own behavior? Cognitive dissonance? Oh no, we can’t have that!</span><br /><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For another, sexual harassment opens the door to victim-blaming in a way that is far less feasible in cases like Katie’s. No one asks if there was something Katie did that meant she was “asking for it” or deserved to be bullied. But in the case of sexual harassment, there will probably be a lot of interest in what the victim was wearing, whether she was being flirtatious, whether she was drunk, etc. (i.e., victim-blaming and slut-shaming). This means that, for some people, sympathy for women who’ve been sexually harassed is conditioned on whether they conform to the flawed notions of what a truly “blameless victim” looks like. </span><br /><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With all of this in mind, let’s take one more look at Katie’s story. What moved people? I think it was ultimately because it was sad to think of her giving up something she loved, something that made her happy, all just to avoid being made fun of. It was sad to think that gradually, she might change herself and her interests to avoid being targeted, instead of just being herself. And it was sad to think that all of this trouble was caused by some arbitrary, baseless notion that she wasn’t supposed to like Star Wars because it was “for boys.” But the point is: all of that is still sad regardless of her age, interests or the nature of the bullying. </span><a href="http://fatuglyorslutty.com/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And</span></a><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="http://www.notinthekitchenanymore.com/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">it</span></a><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="http://kotaku.com/5889415/this-is-what-a-gamers-sexual-harassment-looks-like"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">happens</span></a><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/internet/2012/07/what-online-harassment-looks"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">all</span></a><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="http://kotaku.com/5918084/aisha-tyler-rants-ive-been-a-gamer-since-before-you-could-read"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the </span></a><a href="http://doctorher.com/?p=923"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">time </span></a><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(</span><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://skepchick.org/2011/07/the-privilege-delusion/" style="color: #1155cc;">and</a> </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.themarysue.com/inclusion-what-jennifer-heplers-story-is-all-about/">this</a> </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://catvalente.livejournal.com/675153.html">is</a> </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://gizmodo.com/5935440/your-nasty-nerdy-sexism-isnt-cute">only</a> </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.themarysue.com/destructoid-writer-takes-aim-at-felicia-day-shoots-himself-in-the-foot/">the</a> </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2012/08/sexual_harassment_in_the_gaming_world_a_real_life_problem_for_female_gamers_.single.html">tip</a> </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://adainitiative.org/2012/08/defcon-why-conference-harassment-matters/">of</a> </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.genevievevalentine.com/2012/07/readercon-the-verdict/">the</a> </span><a href="http://www.kotaku.com.au/2012/06/513794/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">iceberg</span></a><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.) </span><br /><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">-C</span><br /><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*Yup, bullying, not “trolling.” Jay Smooth </span><a href="http://www.illdoctrine.com/2012/06/why_you_should_feed_the_trolls.html"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">does a great job explaining</span></a><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> why these coordinated attacks should not be understood as harmless trolling, but as an effort to intimidate, bully and silence. I want this distinction to catch on because it’s essential to understanding the nature of harassment and bullying in a digital world. </span><br /><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">**Although Nick Mamatas makes a </span><a href="http://nihilistic-kid.livejournal.com/1779804.html"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">good case</span></a><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that the perception that geeks are bullied for their interests does not reflect reality, I’ll still argue that the perception is fairly strong, and was probably at play in this case.</span></b></span>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205347121090727932.post-9657955352916056892012-08-10T16:30:00.002-07:002012-08-28T12:46:36.978-07:00The Linkbait Project<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If you follow big-name blogs and op-eds, chances are you've come across any of the following at least once: a) authors overstating or misinterpreting the results of an academic/scientific study, often so they can argue a controversial opinion as if it were fact OR worse, b) authors that make a controversial argument without even attempting to offer facts to support it. Although this is nothing new to journalism, I get a feeling that it's getting worse--especially due to an online publisher-advertiser model that incentivizes publishers to drive as much traffic as possible. Enter linkbait.* Is it good writing? No. Is it sound science/argumentation? No. Will it drive traffic? Yes, in part because it's so controversial (or sometimes downright offensive) that it gets people talking and linking to it on blogs and social media, which ultimately drives that sweet, sweet traffic to their site. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /><br />I don't think this trend is going to go away any time soon. So, why am I even talking about it? Well, mainly: I want people to be aware of it, recognize when they're reading an article that's clearly linkbait, and take any claims made with a grain of salt. Be skeptical and critical! Really, this is just a good rule of thumb when evaluating any argument.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But while plenty of bloggers talk about the shoddy argumentation and offensive rhetoric in these pieces--and there will be plenty of that--I also want to focus on the pseudo-scientific claims, poor research design, and confirmation bias (and how readers can spot it, too!)** </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So if you're into that kind of thing, stay tuned for future posts with the "linkbait" tag!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /><br />-C</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">*Linkbait doesn't just come in the form of articles. Sometimes it's provocative (and often <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uviJRuGTg0" target="_blank">sexist </a>and problematic) imagery.<br />**You might be thinking: but C, won't you just be driving more traffic to their site by discussing their articles and linking to them? Well, joke's on them, I don't have a big enough readership to generate a significant amount of traffic anyway (ha ha)! But seriously, I don't think I could put a dent in this practice even if I had a big following. Linkbait is pretty entrenched, and will likely remain that way as long as publisher-advertiser dynamics stay the same way too. For what's it worth: if I put on my "online marketer cap" I do predict an eventual shift in the publisher-advertiser model because a) paying for ads on a CPM basis is for suckers and b) why drive traffic if you can't even <a href="http://mashable.com/2011/01/24/better-banner-ad/" target="_blank">monetize </a>it? </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205347121090727932.post-9233197691991257332012-07-30T14:32:00.000-07:002012-07-31T10:02:53.833-07:00Creative Writing Prompt #9: Write about an addiction<span id="internal-source-marker_0.5002865934428814" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I
never felt complete without it. Ever since childhood, there were subtle
encouragements, affirmations that I should feel that way. It was
sanctioned, normalized... for a woman, at least. She could not feel
complete and truly happy without a man by her side and romance in her
heart. I became addicted to romance, but I saw it as a healthy
addiction. It had positive outlets; love poems, stories, dreaming,
crushes. No harm done, right? During my teenage dating phase, I always
made sure I was with someone who claimed to love me back and treated me
decently. It wasn’t until I fell in love with someone who didn’t love me
back that it became a bad addiction; one that could hurt me. And it
wasn’t until then that I became so thoroughly addicted that all of life
without a hit (a glance, a conversation, a smile, a wayward hope) became
washed out, dull, empty. Incomprehensible. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I
wrote much to describe it back then, but even though I was plumbing its
depths, in a way it was shallow, reflexive, animal obstinance. I was
convinced it was something high and lofty, expanding my spirit, touching
everything, giving me panoramic, bird’s-eye sky-sight of the whole
world. But it was also a contraction, a compression of the whole world
into a single person. Even my Self was lost in the crush of the
singularity. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Still,
I felt it was the highest pursuit, the intensity of all of those love
poems and romantic stories finally made manifest in my own life. There was no better reason to be steadfast in suffering, and in my mind, I
could do nothing </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">but</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
be steadfast and hold onto my feelings. They were a part of me. He was a
part of me; thoughts of the most random subject would eventually find
their way back to him; I had conversations with him in my mind. But when
these conversations occurred far more frequently than those in real
life, I felt depressed and worthless. I wasn’t loved in return because
it was difficult, perhaps impossible, for him to love me. Something was
wrong with me. I wasn’t interesting or confident or cool enough. I was
ashamed of who I was, yet addicted to what gave me that shame. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I
was fully aware of my state of addiction, but didn’t want to stop. It
was a test of my will, of the depth of my feelings; a way to prove that
my love of romance was not hypocritical, not counterfeit, not in vain. I
was addicted to both the experience of being in love and the
possibility of fulfilling it. Perhaps there could be some change, some
break in the cycle, some amazing victory. A moment where he understood,
he reciprocated in the same way. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The dream of that moment fueled my addiction. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Now
I see that the Endless Mystery of His Feelings and Actions that I wrote
hundreds of pages about could be reduced to a single line of code. That
I was engaged in a struggle for which there could be no victory. I was consumed in masochistic reflection that
convinced me that my Self could be re-made if it was un-done; re-shaped
into someone who could get me what I wanted. But this only made my Self
assert itself even more, like a red stain soaking through a white metal
mesh screen of a bird’s cage as it flies against the sides and bleeds. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">-J </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205347121090727932.post-86392141606503339312012-07-24T19:05:00.002-07:002013-02-05T16:20:12.125-08:00Tradition vs. Freedom in Pixar's "Brave"<span id="internal-source-marker_0.3167059324035538" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I
saw Pixar’s “Brave” a few weeks ago. It was well-executed and I liked
it, but it was somewhat predictable and I don’t think it was Pixar’s best.
Because it was their first full-length animated feature with a female
protagonist, I was scrutinizing it quite a bit (I wasn’t specifically
trying to, but I knew that I probably would regardless). I’m not posting
this as a review, I just wanted to outline the impressions, issues, and questions the
movie raised for me. It will discuss some plot-points, so if you haven’t
seen it, spoilers are ahead.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“Brave”
centers on a young Scottish princess named Merida who loves archery,
horse-back riding, and adventure. Her mother disapproves of Merida’s
tomboyish nature and wants her to be more lady-like and act in a manner
more befitting a princess. Merida and her mother butt heads frequently,
but she gets along well with her father. Now that she is fifteen, her
mother tells her that tradition dictates that her marriage be arranged.
Merida rebels, claiming that she is not ready to get married. They argue
bitterly but her mother refuses to budge on the issue, and Merida runs
away, angry and distraught. She comes across a witch, and asks the witch
to “change her mother” so that she can “change her fate”. The witch
gives her an enchanted pastry to feed her mother, and it ends up
transforming her mother into a bear. This puts her mother in grave danger,
because Merida’s father is obsessed with killing a bear that attacked
him years ago and is responsible for the loss of one of his legs. We
find out later that that same bear was also once human, and that he’s
part of a legend that Merida’s mother has told her repeatedly about a
man who ruled Scotland equally with his three brothers, until he used
magic to try to become stronger than they (which transformed him into a
bear) and thus disrupted the harmony of the kingdom. Merida must find a
way to save her mother from becoming a bear for good.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In my eyes, the movie had two main themes: one, the importance of owning up to the consequences of one's
actions, and two, the importance of maintaining communal and
filial harmony. The latter struck me as rather conservative, in a way. I mean,
it’s still great that Pixar finally created a female protagonist, and
that she is strong, resourceful, and excels at typically “masculine”
activities, and that they focused on the performance of femininity
that was expected of Merida and the limits imposed on her freedom as a
result. But when Merida refuses to get married, her mother chastises her
for breaking tradition, and tells her (for the umpteenth time,
apparently) of the legend of the four brothers, which is painted as a
cautionary tale about how asserting your individual agency and
independence can harm your community. Her mother is likening her fifteen
year old daughter’s refusal to get married, which would severely
curtail her freedom, to an adult man’s selfish, destructive power grab. Merida's marriage would be a political one; her choice of suitors is limited
to the princes from the three neighboring kingdoms (although she only
marries a prince from one, so go figure). We are told that peace between the kingdoms hinges on her actions, so her position is tied to the legend in that respect. However, I don’t think we are supposed
to support Merida’s arranged marriage (the developers are American,
after all), and after her mother is turned into a bear, she eventually
decides that Merida doesn’t have to get married yet.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The problem is, there is no explanation given as to why Merida’s mother changes her
mind. And in real-life situations like this, where people are convinced
of the rightness and necessity of tradition and a woman’s proper place
within it, they usually don’t abruptly change their mind like
that. What option would be left for a woman who rebels, in that scenario? The movie couldn’t imagine a situation where her
mother </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">didn’t </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">change
her mind about the marriage, but before the whole magic bear business,
that was the main conflict of the story, and it seemed pretty
intractable. It’s wrapped up rather quickly in order to shift focus to
the new magic bear conflict. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The
movie casts Merida’s desire to change her mother as deeply wrong; a
severing of their bond that endangers her family and the broader
community. But the only reason she wants to change her mother in the first place is
because she doesn't want to get married, so the film seems dangerously close to
condemning Merida's resistance to marriage itself. At the end of the film,
Merida is in tears, contrite for changing her mother and for not owning
up to it. It’s easy for her to forget the importance of why she did it
in the first place, now that her mother has changed her mind about the
proposal. I’m not sure that the movie differentiated enough from the
cause of Merida’s unhappiness and the method she used to solve it; it’s
insistent that Merida got it wrong and needs to be remorseful, but it
doesn’t make it clear that she was right to advocate for herself and her
rights. Furthermore, her mother doesn’t go through a similar moment of
contrition for trying to force her teenage daughter to marry and for
generally brow-beating her for not being lady-like enough; she just
randomly has a change of heart, prompted by moments where
Merida’s "un-feminine" knowledge impresses her when they’re in the woods.
They obviously go through a lot and learn about eachother’s strengths
while trying to reverse the spell, but I still think that more
explanation and development was needed here (I guess it is pretty
typical of parents to not admit when they’re wrong with regards to their
parenting and simply change their mind at their own whim, though</span>).<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
But I keep thinking about Merida's tears at the end, which to me was the
most powerful moment of the film. She was wrong to want to use magic to fundamentally change her
mother, especially before understanding the implications and dangers of
all that that might mean. And she was wrong to not admit that it was her
fault that her mother was in terrible danger. But she was <i>not</i> wrong to
want her mother to change her mind about marriage, not wrong to be angry and upset that
her desire for freedom was ignored and vilified, and not wrong to want
to change her fate. Maybe the writers thought that this would be so
obvious to us that it would go without saying. But when it comes to
women’s right to autonomy, I think it’s best to just say it.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">-J </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205347121090727932.post-41089048001786607182012-07-23T16:02:00.000-07:002012-08-23T11:55:10.381-07:00Double Team in Action: More Thoughts on "Offensive Humor"<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>[CN: Rape, rape culture]</i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Recently the two of us had a conversation with someone about the Tosh issue and thought we'd post some of it here--especially because it covers a lot of topics that might typically come up in discussions of "offensive" humor. Hopefully it's useful to some readers out there!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>"</b><span style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">Not all good comedy is inoffensive and that not all offensive comedy is unfunny.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><b>"</b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">J: That <span style="line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">isn't a fact; that's opinion. For some people, if comedy offends them, it's not funny. Rape jokes can do more than offend; for survivors, it can make them relive their trauma and feel humiliated, like this horrible thing that happened to them is just something for people to laugh at. Few comedians seem to factor that rape survivors might be in the audience or listening at home and instead treat rape as some remote, abstract concept, ripe with shock culture potential they're itching to exploit. But it's not actually that shocking or subversive to minimize rape in this culture; it's done all the time, and if a rape joke adds to that, we should try to recognize it. Most feminist commentary online has said that telling a good, funny rape joke is possible ; it just should be well-thought out, critical of the rapist, rape culture, and/or rape apologia, not further mocking the victim. Then there are a few feminists who believe that no rape joke is funny because they all normalize rape. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">C: A big part of this argument </span><span style="line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">turns on the usage of the word "offensive"—I think people aren’t often on the same wavelength regarding its definition. If you tell a joke insulting someone's hometown, they may be offended, but it's not unreasonable to believe they might also find the joke funny. But if you tell a joke about rape, depending on what you say, and at whose expense, you may make a member of the audience feel ashamed and hurt. That's not the same thing as feeling offended and those feelings are much more viscerally incompatible with laughter and feeling good. Additionally, it's about the content of the joke—myself and most feminist bloggers are not arguing rape jokes are off-limits, just that telling rape jokes in which rape victims are the butt of the joke, rather than rapists, can be cruel and a dick-move overall--and THAT’S the issue here. </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">A joke at the expense of rapists in qualitatively different than a joke at the expense of rape victims--especially coming from a dude who has never and most likely will never have to deal with the threat of rape as a reality.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>"This is just the PC movement trying to silence comedians!"</b></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">J: </span><span style="line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">I don't know that I buy that there's a "PC Movement" per se, or that whatever you're referring to should be given that name. There's a difference between some knee-jerk, prudish, FCC-motivated offense at something and being angry or upset from a personal, empathetic, or socially-conscious standpoint, and it seems like you're conflating the two. When it comes to a rape joke, most people are not criticizing it because it offends their delicate sensibilities, but because they believe it supports rapists, minimizes the gravity of rape, and mocks rape victims. In the case of Daniel Tosh, he wasn't just making rape jokes (not the "good" kind described above either) but also lashing out at the woman who stood up to him and using the threat of rape to put her in her place. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">C: </span><span style="line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">The idea of a “PC movement” has got to be one of the worst mischaracterizations of this kind of criticism—on top of it being a terrible misnomer. I could dissect the concept in greater depth in a later post if you want, but for now I’m just going to focus at the issue at hand: rape jokes. I don’t think I’ve ever read an objection of them that claims that the actual language and terminology used is arbitrarily out-of-bounds. It’s not some knee-jerk, schoolmarm-like reaction of “You can’t say that! It’s inappropriate!” which is what people tend to be invoking when they talk about political correctness. In this case, it’s not about the words and terminology being used—it’s not about the word rape being thrown around—it’s the content of the jokes, it’s the subtext. As I mentioned earlier, there is a big difference between a joke in which the subtext is “aren’t rapists terrible people?” and “it’s funny when drunk girls get raped, they’re really asking for it anyway.”</span><span style="line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><br /><br /><b>"But what about free speech? This is censorship!"</b><br /><br />J:</span><span style="line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"> Free speech means you CAN say anything you want, not that you SHOULD, or that you can say anything and no one can give you shit for it. Likewise, any criticism for a joke is also free speech, but you don't hear that one thrown around as often. <br /><br />And I'm curious, in terms of free speech supporters--- why do you think someone's right to tell some joke is more important than causing someone pain? This isn't a matter of "anyone who's offended needs to stop being so sensitive, it's their own fault for feeling that way", because again, for rape survivors, it's not a choice so much as being triggered into the memory of trauma. As for having everything on comedy on the table; it should be, but again, both the comedian and the audience should examine what the joke supports and perpetuates. Comedy at its best criticizes the powerful and supports the powerless, or makes unique, cogent, subversive observations. This isn't a matter of "hurt feelings" or making the world a "perfect" place, but being aware of existing power dynamics. A joke told at the expense of a rapist is not equivalent to a joke told at the expense of a victim; they function very differently.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br style="line-height: 14px; text-align: left;" /><span style="line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">There are few people that can say anything with impunity, especially while on the job. Why should a stand-up comic be any different? If anything, their job is MORE dependent than most on making everyone feel like they're having a great time. I love to laugh and I've watched a shit-ton of stand-up throughout my life, but I'm not willing to let them say anything they want with impunity. And it's not like all we do is laugh at comedians; they're telling stories, making observations about society, and further shaping our perceptions.<br /><br />C: </span>Free speech and censorship issues<span style="line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"> are straw men arguments. I haven’t come across anyone advocating that comedians should be thrown in jail or censored. Even if there are critics that have argued that, let me be clear: that is not my argument. Anyone is free to make whatever joke they want, just as I am free to criticize them for the implications of their jokes. Anyone is free to continue making fun of rape victims, just as I am free to consider them an unempathetic, uncritical asshole for doing so. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br style="line-height: 14px; text-align: left;" /><span style="line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">One more reason free speech is a red herring: free speech, as a constitutionally protected right, does not govern certain relationships between individuals. A comedian can tell his jokes without the threat of being jailed, that’s true, and that’s already his situation. Does he have a constitutionally protected right to be on stage doing stand-up? No, it’s a privilege. People can boo him off the stage, the event coordinator can cancel his show, etc. etc. These aren’t free speech or censorship issues, so let’s not distort the term by calling them that. He *can* say whatever he wants. Is he constitutionally guaranteed a nation-wide platform to distribute it? No, that's a privilege.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>"But it's comedy! Everything is and should be fair game!"</b></span></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">C: <span style="line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">Yeah, everything is fair game for a comedian to joke about, that doesn’t mean that if they say something really uncritical and unempathetic that no one is allowed to criticize them for it. It’s not as if comedy is divorced from society and language. Words have meaning. Words about social phenomena have meaning. It's not as if tacking on a punch-line at the end magically makes that meaning and social relevance disappear. Comedy is part of an ongoing discussion and exchange over how to talk about and represent a host of different issues—and sometimes, comedians (as fallible humans sometimes tend to do) get it wrong. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"> This is especially important because lot of the jokes in question don’t just hurt people, they also shore up damaging ideas that shape our culture and society. At most, I just want comedians to understand and own up to that. If they see it and just don’t care, that’s one thing, but when they deny that their words can have such an impact at all, it’s pretty grating.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><b>"But this would be too hard on comedians!" </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">C: I guess the ideas I’ve expressed would be “hard on comedians” if you agree that thinking critically and being empathetic and intellectually honest is somehow difficult. But I hold everyone to that standard, no matter how difficult it might be for them, and comedians don’t get a free pass on that. Also, other comedians have done it no problem: George Carlin, Richard Pryor and Wanda Sykes tackled rape in a way that embodies that standard. In all honesty, all I want is for comedians to be aware of the social and individual impact their words can have, and either own up to their own indifference or try to actively change it. </span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205347121090727932.post-4892412297914749442012-07-17T13:59:00.000-07:002012-08-23T11:49:26.628-07:00Owning the Subtext: Thoughts on Humor and Satire<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>[CN: Rape, rape culture]</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I've been planning to make a post on shock-humor and effective satire and irony, especially in light of <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/may/30/enough-irony-art-eurovision" target="_blank">similar</a> <a href="http://jezebel.com/5905291/a-complete-guide-to-hipster-racism" target="_blank">discussions</a> and <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/10/tracy-morgans-homophobic-remarks_n_874699.html" target="_blank">debacles</a>, most recently <a href="http://breakfastcookie.tumblr.com/post/26879625651/so-a-girl-walks-into-a-comedy-club" target="_blank">this </a>incident involving Daniel Tosh.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /><br />I should start off by saying that I recognize what an incredibly powerful tool humor can be, especially irony and satire. It's one of the reasons I love the Daily Show and the Colbert Report so much--which is not to say I agree with every view or every joke ever made on those shows*--but rather that I appreciate the way they're utilizing humor. Their coverage of current events can be more memorable, engaging and overt in a way that conventional news programs can't replicate. For instance, when news programs reported on the House Oversight Committee hearing on birth control back in February, you might have simply heard an anchor say flatly "There were no female participants at the conference." Jon Stewart, on the other hand, is able to belabor the </span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/21/jon-stewart-slams-congress-all-male-birth-control-panel_n_1290541.html" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">absurdity</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> of the fact in a way that sticks and has a greater emotional impact. And this kind of engagement has an impact: there are more young people politically informed and engaged because of these programs who might otherwise have been uninterested in politics.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /><br />Despite the fact that not all humor is necessarily social or political commentary, there is one thing that almost all jokes share: subtext. If we take Stephen Colbert's brand of satire as an example, the subtext is the absurdity of conservative tv pundits--it's the butt of all the jokes, it's the punchline we're all in on. And because it's satire, Colbert's rhetoric itself is insincere--the literal meaning of his words is the exact opposite of the intended message. But although we're not supposed to take his actual rhetoric seriously, we are most certainly supposed to take the subtext seriously.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /><br />While the subtext in The Colbert Report is intentionally and skillfully crafted, the subtext in other jokes is not well thought-out or intentional--but unfortunately, it's still there, whether the joke-teller likes it or not. And sometimes that subtext offends or worse, actually hurts people. In those cases, joke-tellers have three options: 1) stand by the original subtext and attempt to justify it; 2) engage with people's complaints, clarify the intended subtext (while still admitting to the flawed execution) and/or apologize; 3) derail and deflect by claiming things like "you're not supposed to take it seriously, can't you take a joke?" and/or "quit trying to censor me!" or denying that jokes have subtext in the first place.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /><br />So now that we have a framework for evaluating jokes, let's take a closer look at Tosh's rape joke fiasco. What's the subtext? It's pretty simple and hackish: there is something funny about the idea of someone being raped (and that even if it is horrible, it is also funny). Note the specificity here-- the butt of the Tosh's joke is rape </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">victims</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, not rapists and not rape culture. This has been </span><a href="http://jezebel.com/5925186/how-to-make-a-rape-joke" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">covered</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/168856/anatomy-successful-rape-joke#" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">by</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><a href="http://kateharding.info/2012/07/13/15-rape-jokes-that-work/" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">others</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><a href="http://anarchish.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/dear-comedians-and-people-like-me-who.html" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">before</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, that what separates a "good" rape joke from a "bad" one is that the former invokes the horror of rape at the expense of rapists and rape culture, while the latter is at the expense of rape victims by seemingly mocking and belittling their pain and trauma, as if it was an amusing sport.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /><br />To say that mocking and belittling trauma "offends" people is a gross understatement--in fact, I resent that word being used, because it's not even accurate. If you insult someone's favorite sports team, they may be merely offended. If you make someone relive a traumatic experience, make them remember all the hurt and fear and shame, except this time in a room where everyone is laughing at the very idea of their experience--then they are not offended, they are experiencing something painful. Even if the listener has not experienced rape, if they have ever felt anxiety or fear over it, can imagine how horrible it would be, or even simply feel empathy--that joke doesn't simply offend, it is unsettling and still painful. That is not the same as feeling offense and indignation. And it's no longer about "political correctness."</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /><br />Let's take a look at Tosh's response: </span><br />
<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">"</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 20px; text-align: left;">All the out of context misquotes aside, i'd like to sincerely apologize,”</span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br />While I'll give him credit for attempting to apologize, it is pretty irksome that he simultaneously writes some throwaway line about "out of context misquotes" without actually ever specifying what was misquoted or taken out of context. I suspect he didn't specify anything because, assuming it even existed, it didn't actually change the subtext of the joke. </span><span style="background-color: white;"><br /><br />He then followed up with this gem: </span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">
</span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"The point i was making before i was heckled is there are awful things in the world but you can still make jokes about them. #deadbabies."</span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />As noted earlier, there is a difference between making a joke that illustrates how horrible rape is and making one that makes light of it. Tosh did the latter. If he were trying to do the former, he failed. If he wants to do better in the future, he needs to be cognizant of the subtext of his jokes and actively change it. Somehow, I doubt this is going to happen.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /><br />I'm not saying that it's not possible for critics to ever misinterpret the subtext of a joke. That certainly happens, especially in cases with jokes less simplistic and hackish than Tosh's "joke." But what I am saying is that the conversation should at least revolve around both the joke-teller and the listener agreeing that jokes <i>have </i>a subtext, and from there they can discuss the intended meaning and whether it was executed properly. That is a much better conversation to have than denying that subtext exists at all, that it can hurt people and that it matters. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">For an example of a comedian genuinely engaging with the subtext of his joke, see Jason Alexander's statement </span><a href="http://news-briefs.ew.com/2012/06/03/jason-alexander-gay-cricket-apology/" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. It's not impossible. It's not even difficult. It just takes some thoughtfulness and empathy.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /><br />One last point I want to discuss is a response to hurtful jokes I mentioned earlier: </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">derail and deflect by claiming things like "you're not supposed to take it seriously, can't you take a joke?" and/or "quit trying to censor me!" or denying that the subtext exists in the first place. This is the tact that the bulk of Tosh's supporters took when <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/11/comedians-defend-daniel-tosh-rape-joke-twitter_n_1666072.html" target="_blank">defending </a>him. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /><br />Regarding the claim that jokes "shouldn't be taken seriously": I think this is ultimately a poorly constructed phrase (similar to "offended") that obscures what critics of hurtful jokes are really trying to say. It's not that they've lost sight of the fact that it's a joke and are trying to interpret the words literally. In Jason Alexander's case, it's not as if they thought he was literally saying only gay men played cricket, or that he was giving a serious appraisal of the sport. But what they did take seriously was the inescapable subtext: that men acting "effeminately" is worthy of ridicule. They took this seriously because it's a serious problem in our society that has serious consequences: homophobic discrimination, bullying and killing.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /><br />There is no space where you can make commentary about society and have it be divorced from social issues, no matter how subtle the commentary might be. Comedy is not a space that can be free from social criticism so long as it is full of individuals talking about society. Words have meaning. Words about social phenomena have meaning. It's not as if tacking on a punchline at the end magically makes that meaning and social relevance disappear.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /><br />We understand this about comedy perfectly well in some contexts. We understand that when a little boy bullies another boy he considers effeminate by jokingly calling him a girl that the bully doesn't actually believe he's a girl. But we also understand that his bullying is serious--both in terms of it being a serious problem and the bully's serious intention to inflict pain. We also understand that it's wrong. Would it magically not be a serious problem if suddenly the bully had a microphone and was in front of a crowd? Would it suddenly not be wrong? </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /><br />This brings me to the next point: censorship. This is a particularly frustrating straw man. Not one critic that I've come across has advocated that Tosh should be thrown in jail, or should be prevented from ever making these kinds of jokes. Even if there are critics that have argued that, let me be clear: that is not my argument. Tosh is free to make whatever joke he wants, just as I am free to criticize him for the implications of his jokes. He is free to continue making fun of rape victims, just as I am free to consider him an unempathetic, uncritical asshole for doing so. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />And more importantly: he is free to make jokes about rape all he wants. He will simply be a more decent human being if he actually thinks a bit about what he is saying, and whether it's the rape victims or rapists he's laughing at. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /><br />-C</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">*EDIT: For instance, I'm not happy with <a href="http://www.shakesville.com/2012/07/nope.html" target="_blank">this</a> at all...</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205347121090727932.post-25165244872919658892012-07-17T00:20:00.000-07:002013-05-14T14:33:50.009-07:00No free pass for HBO's "Girls"<span id="internal-source-marker_0.06344004438359374" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This
may seem like belaboring a point, but even with all of the coverage
it’s been given, I would like to discuss a few things. The fact that the "Girls" controversy
centers on the representation of women, race, and class makes it a
topic of great interest to me. And being a white twenty-something recent
college graduate, I’m pretty sure I was part of the show’s target
demographic.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Anyway, "Girls" got heat for a couple of reasons: for not including a woman of
color as one of its main characters, for portraying the few minor
characters of color it does have in stereotypical, other-izing ways, and for having a hipster ethos and whiny, entitled characters. The last two
points are less important to me, although personally, I can’t stand
whiny, entitled white people (and I’m sure I’ve been one at various
points in my life, but that doesn’t make it less annoying). My main
point is that TV shows, movies, videogames, and comics need to be more
racially diverse. Period. More diverse in general, from class to race to
sexuality. It isn’t a matter of numbers, the ethnic break-down of the
country, or some strict (but convenient) adherence to “realism”. It’s
about representation, belonging, and exclusion. It will not be solved by
stereotypical portrayals or tokenism. I’m not naive; I know how
entrenched white American power is in this country. I know why there
hasn’t been an honest effort to have diversity in the media or promote
and invest in work by people of color. But none of it is a good reason.
There isn’t a good reason for “Girls” lack of diversity either. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Nevertheless, some excuses people are making for it:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">1. It’s only the first season! OMG, lay off poor Lena Dunham!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">2. You weren’t saying this shit about shows like “Sex and the City” or “Freaks and Geeks”, so you can’t say it about this show.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">3.
If you’re a man criticizing it: it's only
because the show is made for women, by a woman. You’re a sexist! If you’re a
woman criticizing it: you need to support this show, because there are
so few shows out there that privilege a woman’s perspective.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">4.
It’s realistic--- some white people only hang out with other white
people. Can’t we make a show about that? Also, other races hang out with
people of their own race too. If this is racist, then so are they.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">5. Wait, HOW is this racist? It’s not openly hateful to black people or anything...</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">6. Lena Dunham is white--- how is she supposed to know how to portray people of color?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">7. Blame the system/the industry, not Lena Dunham.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I would like to address each of these.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(Note:
You can criticize a show on one level and praise it for others. You can
be aware of a show’s failings, and still enjoy other aspects of it.
Being aware of problematic representations of marginalized peoples, and
not silencing anyone by dismissing their importance, is the key thing.
“Girls” may be valuable for other reasons, but discussing those is not the
purpose of this post. It is also not the purpose of the post to attack
Lena Dunham, rather to address the arguments that people have made in
defense of her/the show and its lack of diversity.) </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Moving on:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">1. It’s only the first season! OMG, lay off poor Lena Dunham!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I
think it’s fair to judge a show on its first season. Can anyone think
of a show that had an all-white or mostly white cast the first season
and then came back the second season with non-tokenizing, meaningful,
multiple characters of color? Because I can’t. And since there was such a
poor showing this season, it’s obviously not a priority to Dunham. The </span><a href="http://www.racialicious.com/2012/04/19/dear-lena-dunham-i-exist/"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">casting calls</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
for the first season were made available by the time the first episode
aired, and there were only minor characters of color requested and it
was obvious they would be stereotypes and/or flat, menial extras. At
that point, we knew what to expect from the entire first season. If we
do see more diversity next season, it will be because of how much shit
the show got, not because it was the intention all along or Dunham had
some independent epiphany about race representation.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">2. You weren’t saying this shit about shows like “Sex and the City” or “Freaks and Geeks”, so you can’t say it about this show.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Actually,
I bitch about the lack of diversity or problematic representations in
many shows, even the ones I like. Many people do this, it’s just usually
not listened to or taken seriously. The blogging scene, which has
democratized the propagation of news and opinion beyond the established
media, wasn’t as big back when “Freaks and Geeks” aired, but I’m sure
that many people, especially people of color, were aware of how white
the cast was. And with “Sex and the City”... do socially-conscious
people even watch that? (just kidding). </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Also, you
could just as easily say “we” (whoever this *we* is) “didn’t criticize
the lack of diversity in other shows, BUT WE SHOULD HAVE.” To say
instead that "we didn’t do the right thing back then, so we shouldn’t now" is fucked up, cowardly, and not a good argument. It’s a deflection and an
avoidance of the real issue at hand. I’m not sure why “Girls” is getting
more heat when other shows aren’t, but I have a couple theories:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">a. Annoyance with hipster culture and the whiny entitlement mentioned earlier.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">b.
We’re used to seeing white female characters on TV but they’re usually
movie-star white: tan, thin, polished, expert make-up, impeccably
dressed. These girls aren’t tan. They’re pale. They’re white-bread,
urban-chic, real white people white. Culturally white. Maybe this
flagged people’s attention more than the usual depiction of whiteness.
These girls look more like “normal” white girls you might see on the
street, which is what Dunham was going for. There’s nothing wrong with
this; in fact, it’s a good thing to have characters look more like real
people. But I think it might’ve drawn attention to their race more.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">c.
It’s set in present day, in Brooklyn. Whites are the minority in
Brooklyn, and Brooklynites (obviously many of them POC) know this. Thus,
the show doesn’t ring true and seemed to go out of its way to be
exclusionary.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">d.
The show has been marketed as fresh, unique, and truly representative
of our generation. But to the point where it’s excluding so much of that
generation, and therefore not providing anything
ground-breaking in that real sense... yeah, expect it to get more heat than
a fluffy show like “Sex and the City”.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">e.
It’s written by a woman, for women. Yes, I do recognize that the
ensuing storm of criticism could have had some opportunistic sexists
jumping on the band-wagon. But they were probably going to diss the show
anyway, and I doubt they care much about the race issue. I also don’t
think they formed the majority of critics in any sense. However, if
anyone is cloaking their sexist contempt for the show in the racial representation argument,
that’s wrong and insincere. In a way, though, does it really matter WHY
people are talking about this? The point is, they’re right, and this is
something we should be talking about. No, “Girls” certainly should not
be the only show getting heat for this, and anyone who zeroes in on it
and no other shows is a hypocrite.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<b><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">3.
If you’re a man criticizing it: it's only because the show is made for women, by a woman.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> You’re a sexist! If you’re a
woman criticizing it: you’re aiding and abetting sexism, and you need to
support this show, because there are so few shows out there that
privilege a woman’s perspective.</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Yes,
this show is one of the few that is trying to represent (young, white) women’s
experience and is actually written by a (young, white) woman, but we can’t give it carte blanche just for that. It has a
problem that’s endemic to mainstream art and media in this country that should be
addressed wherever it arises. It should also be acknowledged that the show is only about young, white, middle-class women and not every woman writ large.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Furthermore,
it’s unfair to label all men who would critique the show as
necessarily sexist, and again, it’s a deflection. In addition, most of the race-based criticism I
read was written by women. But even if we address that claim
directly, the implication is that you can’t criticize a show about
(white) women without being sexist. As though the only reason you could
find fault with the show or want to is because you don’t like women, or
you want to bring other women down. Or that even if this wasn’t your
intention, you are essentially betraying “the cause” if you critique
something created by women for women, regardless of racial politics.
Women of color’s opinions, unique racial experience, and valid criticism
are being rendered totally invisible in this equation (uh, they’re
women too, so don’t they deserve to be supported by white women? You
rarely hear that one). You can be both pro-racial equality and
pro-feminism, and situate both at the center of your political ideology.
In fact, the more recent Feminist theory is integrated with examining
the intersectionality of identity based on gender, sexuality,
class, ethnicity, nationality, coloniality, religion. Feminism isn’t
some zero-sum game where you either support any endeavor of (white)
women or you’re a sexist. It’s more nuanced. And to pressure women of
color to support any white woman regardless of differences, as though
their identification as women mattered more than their racial identification, implies that
white cis-hetero women are the universal embodiment of all women, and
assumes a unity between women that doesn’t exist. It erases both the
privilege of white women and the unique struggles that women of color
face. Telling all women they need to blindly support this show because
it’s a measly crumb of female authorship that mainstream TV has allowed
us is not only a lazy, disingenuous attempt at unity, but also a way to
silence dissent from marginalized voices that we already hear from the
least. That’s never a good thing for Feminism. We can have solidarity, certainly, but we also must be free to criticize eachother. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">But
solidarity can’t be genuine when there’s such a double-standard and no
acknowledgement of inequality between white and non-white women. We need
to encourage debate and discussion among all women, from every
community, if we can ever hope to unite in a meaningful way, not stifle
it. Solidarity needs to flow from both directions, not just one. As African-American Feminist poet Audre Lorde said: “the oppression of women knows no ethnic or racial
boundaries, true, but that does not mean that it is identical within
those differences”. Lorde writes of how, throughout the history of the
women’s movement, it has been all too common for white women to expect
women of color to support their endeavors, while not supporting women of color in turn, continuing to marginalize and stereotype them, and not
acknowledging their own privilege vis a vis race. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />In this case, stories
about white women are posited as stories for all women to support and
enjoy equally despite unequal representation. In a telling way, the show is just called
“Girls”, not “White Girls”. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">4.
It’s realistic--- some white people only hang out with other white
people. Can’t we make a show about that? Also, other races hang out with
people of their own race too.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Whites who only hang out
with other whites get represented much more frequently than Asians who
hang out with Asians, Arabs who hang out with Arabs, Native Americans
who only hang out with Native Americans... you get my point. Where are
the shows about them, by the way? Nonexistent. Even shows that simply feature a mainly non-white cast or non-white protagonist are often purposefully not funded or given
a chance to air. For </span><a href="http://www.racialicious.com/2012/04/19/girls-that-television-will-never-know/"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">example</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">:
when Issa Rae, creator of the popular web-show “Awkward Black Girl” met
with TV executives to discuss bringing ABG to TV, they made it clear
that she would not be given full creative control the way Dunham has
over “Girls”, despite Rae’s level of success and accolades. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Also, even if something happens in reality, that doesn’t
necessarily justify its existence in art. The artist’s representation of
the world has the potential to be anything, so when they choose to make
it an exclusionary, white-bread world, we can say something about it,
because it was their deliberate decision.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">5. Wait, HOW is this racist? It’s not openly hateful to black people or anything...</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">True,
but this is a more subtle, insidious but prevalent form of racism;
exclusion. Marginalization. Being either absent from the popular
narratives that shape and drive American culture or only available in
stereotypical or inessential capacities. And anyone who denies the
importance of this is taking it for granted.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">6. Lena Dunham is white--- how is she supposed to know how to portray people of color?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">To
me, this is by far the most legitimate excuse for not having a diverse
cast. Given the stereotypical POC side-characters in season one, it’s
obvious that this was a stumbling block for Dunham. Some claim that it
would have been better at that point if the POC side characters didn’t
exist on the show, because they only perpetuate stereotypes and serve to
reinforce the white character’s realness and depth next to their
flatness. I understand this position completely. Yet I’m torn between pointing out that on the one hand, non-white
people are people too, so you can write them as you would any other
character rather than treat them as “Other”, and on the other hand, not
wanting a non-white character to be white-washed, removed of cultural
markers and unique experiences they’ve had as a result of
their race. I understand that it’s a tough balancing act for a white
writer and entails straying from the “write what you know” maxim, but if
it really mattered to Dunham, couldn’t she at least consult or
collaborate with someone who could help her there? It’s worth going out
on a limb for. Also, shouldn’t the fact that white writers have such
trouble conceptualizing characters of color show us how racially
stratified our apparently post-racial society still is? It’s pretty
troubling....</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">7. Blame the system/the industry, not Lena Dunham.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We
can do both. Lena Dunham has been influenced by the system/the
industry, but she has her own agency and could resist if she wanted to
(and has resisted tropes of the industry, on other fronts). Yes, we do need to take issue with the
entire industry, but Lena Dunham is part of the industry now--- it’s
made up of individuals. Again, she doesn’t get a free pass because she’s
an indie writer or a woman. We need to be firm about what kinds of
worlds we want to see portrayed on TV; we need to insist upon inclusive,
diverse worlds. “Girls” takes its place alongside the majority of TV
shows in which characters of color, as blogger Jen Wang </span><a href="http://disgrasian.com/2012/05/people-of-color-finally-appear-on-girls-and-its-the-same-ol-fucking-story/"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">puts</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
it, “function as props, plot devices, foils... for the white leads.
[They’re] one-dimensional, which only [throw the white lead’s]
three-dimensionality in starker relief... their stereotypical
un-realness only makes the white lead’s ‘realness’ seem all the more
staggering, [a] realness for which [“Girls”] has been endlessly lauded
for thus far by its admirers”. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">For
so many, “Girls” is not the first show that they have criticized for
its race problem. But even with those for whom it was, I hope they don’t stop
here. I hope they don’t ever stop, even with art and media that they love.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>EDIT</b>:
It looks like what I predicted might happen, (i.e., Lena Dunham
back-pedals and tries to make the next season more racially diverse
because of all the heat the show got) is exactly what </span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/18/hbos-girls-hipsters-diversity-greenpoint-brooklyn-casting-call_n_1528179.html"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">happened</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.
I’m glad she got the message and is working to remedy it. More people
should be this receptive in the industry. However, it remains to be seen
how these characters of color will be portrayed; note that the casting
call is not for any specific race, and in fact, is open for "Caucasians"
as well. Also, it asks for “hipster-types” of all ethnicities, which
could lead to white-washing over their identities in favor of
emphasizing their hipster-ness. They might only be side-characters as
well. I don’t think we should close the book on this and stop
scrutinizing. And oh, in response to the tweet by The New Yorker’s Emily
Nussbaum at the end in that article (“Who is more entitled, the
character of Hannah [on "Girls"] or the young bloggers who feel Lena Dunham owes them
everything?”): Yes, how entitled of people to want equality. The nerve
of some people.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">-J </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205347121090727932.post-337133671703077252012-07-11T15:48:00.000-07:002014-10-15T15:52:48.166-07:00"Fifty shades of fucked up"...yeah that pretty much sums it up<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>[CN: Abuse, misogyny]</i></span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Many writers and bloggers are weighing in on the success of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fifty Shades of Grey</span><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. While most can agree that the </span><a href="http://www.vulture.com/2012/04/fifty-shades-of-grey-the-thinking-womans-guide.html"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">writing </span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is </span><a href="http://www.everywhereist.com/50-reasons-why-i-wont-be-reading-50-shades-of-grey/"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">abysmal</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, the story itself has proven polarizing, with readers either </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fifty-Shades-Grey-Book-Trilogy/product-reviews/0345803485/ref=cm_cr_pr_hist_5?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addFiveStar&showViewpoints=0"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">loving</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> it despite its flaws or </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fifty-Shades-Grey-Book-Trilogy/product-reviews/0345803485/ref=cm_cr_pr_hist_1?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addOneStar&showViewpoints=0"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">hating</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> it. For context, I’ll provide a basic plot summary of the first book in the trilogy (SPOILERS AHEAD): A 24 year old virginal college graduate named Anastasia Steele falls for a 26 year old business magnate named Christian Grey, who in turn wants her to sign a contract that would make her his submissive sex slave. The contract also stipulates what she eats, when she eats it, what clothes she wears, how she exercises, and prohibits eye contact or touching him without permission. Fifteen women have signed this contract before Ana. Ana </span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">NEVER ACTUALLY SIGNS</span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> the contract, and asks for some time to think it over (really? You’re not going to make a run for the door after hearing about this shit?) During that time, he is still a controlling, abusive dick, and she has conventional “vanilla” sex with him. Eventually she </span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">has </span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">sex as his sub</span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> three times, twice where he spanks her with his hand and the third time where beats her with a feathered flogger. While she does orgasm from these activities, she tells him she would prefer a more “normal” sexual relationship and only agrees to these activities for his sake. But Christian still wants to inflict real pain on her, so after he beats her bare bottom with a belt, she tearfully leaves him, saying that they’re incompatible (oh, okay, THAT’S the problem, not that he’s a control-freak, misogynist, and<span style="font-size: small;"><b> </b></span></span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">doesn't care about getting your enthusiastic consent</span></span></span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">). At some point we learn that Christian had a difficult childhood in which his "crack-whore" mother’s boyfriend/pimp burned out cigarettes on his chest, and an older woman made him her sub when he was 15, which I guess is supposed to make us forgive him for his misogyny.</span></b><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />Despite its laughable execution, the book has sold many copies among both young and middle-aged women. Granted, maybe one of the reasons why this story has been able to get so much traction among female readers is because its poor execution made it easy to dismiss the more troubling aspects of it and take it as light entertainment/escapism and erotic stimulation. But I don’t think it’s that simple. In order to like </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fifty Shades of Grey</span><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in any capacity, you have to be okay with a male/dominant/active and female/submissive/passive dynamic. Although the more intense, extreme BDSM erotica (like </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Story of O</span><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) may not be as popular as the comparatively more watered-down </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fifty Shades</span><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, subtler versions of the dom/sub relationship between men and women is echoed across TV, cinema, other erotica, and even more high-brow literature. </span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have no issue with women reading and enjoying erotica, and support women engaging their sexuality. I’m also not judging those who found the love story of Ana and Christian compelling. But I never stop there and say to myself “well, people like what they like, and that’s all there is to it” because there are a lot of deeper implications here that didn’t start with this book but are encapsulated within it and its popularity. If women weren’t historically taught to be and socially constructed as submissive, if abuse, violence, and rape were no longer present in society, and if men weren’t largely the beneficiaries of female submission, whether social or sexual, maybe I wouldn’t feel such a strong urge to write this post. But that isn’t the world we live in, and it’s delusional to believe that any art, no matter how stupid or bad or fluffy or purely about entertainment, fantasy, and pleasure, can be divorced from societal and cultural conditioning. At its core, this book is about excusing a man’s attempt to control a wom<span style="font-size: small;"><b>a</b></span>n and fetishizing male domination and female submission. Again, the latter has been going on in erotica and porn for years, and is nothing new.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #3c78d8; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The book is also about a woman compromising her own </span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">happiness</span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and comfort in order to not only secure a relationship with a man (even when he explicitly says he doesn’t want </span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">one</span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) but also to tame him and change him into the "nice guy" she wants him to be. This is also a conventional theme in romance. And they are both damaging ideas that usually do not end up so neatly when played out in real life.</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />Many people seem to believe that fiction/fantasy, especially erotic and romantic fantasy, is immune from cultural conditioning--- as though for some inexplicable reason, it is a space of total freedom and organic expression. But the truth is, there is no space like that; or at least, never one that isn’t agonized over, analyzed, critiqued, and fought for. I know there are some who don’t care about the sociopolitical origins and implications of anything they do--- least of all in the pursuit of the almighty orgasm. But when it comes to fetishizing a woman’s pain and utter subordination (to the point where it’s encoded in a contract), when a woman's pain is so often dismissed and when she is so often made to be subordinate in real life... I mean, fuck. The fact that a woman wrote it this book means little when the script is so utterly conventional to patriarchal erotic imagination. The voice and point-of-view might be different, but the basic dynamic of dominant male and submissive female, is the same. It’s male fantasy, internalized by a woman and re-packaged as authentic female expression. Some people seem to believe that the scenario in the book is fresh and edgy, like it isn’t just some bare-faced, extreme version of sexual relations between men and women throughout history. The success of the book underscores the success of the patriarchal project. As Ashley Judd stated cogently in her recent and awesome feminist</span><a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/04/09/ashley-judd-slaps-media-in-the-face-for-speculation-over-her-puffy-appearance.html"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> article</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> addressed to those who criticize her based on her appearance: </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="color: #222222; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Patriarchy is not men. Patriarchy is a system in which both women and men participate. It privileges, inter alia, the interests of boys and men over the bodily integrity, autonomy, and dignity of girls and women. It is subtle, insidious, and never more dangerous than when women passionately deny that they themselves are engaging in it”.</span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Whether it was the sex scenes or the romance that readers enjoyed, how the hell did Christian’s obsession with contractual slavery thing, even in the face of Ana's reluctance, not disrupt that enjoyment? “Love” and “great sex” make that kind of behavior okay? Or does it only make him more attractive to some readers?</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Despite having all the qualities of a misogynist, Christian has moments of being a </span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: small;">decent human being</span></span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">; apparently he doesn't take advantage of Ana when she's drunk, asks her permission before they have sex for the first time, and wears condoms each time they have sex subsequently. However, </span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">he does not ask</span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> permission for all subsequent sex and sexual activity, even the more extreme ones, despite the fact that it is all new to Ana. Obviously, the sex-slave contract is the antithesis of consensus-building, so it’s not a priority for him. Even during the first time they have sex, once Ana agrees, he goes full-out and does not pace himself, which doesn’t usually work out well for virgins. This isn’t just me promoting the Feminist values of trust-building and consensus-reaching; even BDSM in practice is </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bdsm"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">supposed</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to be built on trust, safety, defined boundaries and a respect for those boundaries:
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“many practitioners and organizations have adopted the motto...’Safe, sane and consensual’, commonly abbreviated as "SSC," which means that everything is based on safe activities, that all participants be of sufficiently sound/sane mind to consent, and that all participants do consent. It is mutual consent which makes a clear legal and ethical distinction between BDSM and such crimes as sexual assault or domestic violence. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">...</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Informed_consent#Sex"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Consent</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is the most important criterion here. The consent and compliance for a sadomasochistic situation can be granted only by people who are able to judge the potential results. For their consent, they must have relevant information (extent to which the scene will go, potential risks, if a safeword will be used, what that is, and so on.) at hand and the necessary mental capacity to judge</span></b><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="background-color: white; font-weight: normal; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">". </span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="background-color: white; font-weight: normal; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="background-color: white; font-weight: normal; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />Whether these principles are followed by BDSM practitioners is another matter (hint: not always, as I discuss later). But my point is that even a community that is built on edgy sexual practices and performing abuse and degradation scenarios values consent; indeed, recognizes that consent is even more important for this extreme sexual play, to differentiate it </span></b><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: normal; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">from</span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="background-color: white; font-weight: normal; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b> </b>sexual assault. So </span></b><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="background-color: white; font-weight: normal; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in case it wasn’t already clear, I’m not criticizing this book out of some knee-jerk, prudish aversion to BDSM. I don't believe that practicing BDSM nullifies one's desires for social equality or one's commitment to Feminism. However, I maintain that female domination and female submission are NOT socially equivalent acts; the latter is bolstered by a history of oppression and its continuing forms in society, while the former is not and can arguably subvert existing gender dichotomies. It is also important to remember that BDSM, regardless of the "role" a practitioner takes, does not exist in a vacuum and thus is not removed from </span></b><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: normal; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: small;">our social context</span></span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="background-color: white; font-weight: normal; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />I’m sure some might say that it’s easy for me to judge behavior I don’t partake in (erotic fantasies of submission, in this case) but that if I did, I would defend it more. Well, those people would be wrong. I’m ashamed to say that I have in fact had such fantasies (not about being physically hit, but certainly submission). It’s not like I want people who have submission fantasies to feel my same sense of shame (it's my issue to work out), but I do want everyone to recognize that our fantasies--- like everything else we like, feel, and do--- have some underlying socio-political and psychological reasons. And maybe, when it comes to enjoying the thought of being hurt or submitting ourselves to someone else’s power (or fantasizing about dominating and hurting someone), we should ask ourselves what those reasons might be. </span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To some, it<span style="font-size: small;">'s <span style="font-size: small;">a meaningless question, I know<span style="font-size: small;">; <span style="font-size: small;">all they need to know is that they like <span style="font-size: small;">something</span>, so they shouldn't be shamed for it. I agree they shouldn't be shamed (if enthusiastic consent is given <span style="font-size: small;">by their partners)</span></span></span> but <span style="font-size: small;">still the question of <i>why</i> we like these things has</span> always preoccupied me personally.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />This does not mean I support evo-psychologists making sweeping claims about all women based on the book, which is exactly what happened in this</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Billion-Wicked-Thoughts-Largest-Experiment/dp/0525952098"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">pseudo-scientific</span></a><a href="http://www.hookingupsmart.com/2012/04/09/girltalk/what-50-shades-of-grey-tells-us-about-the-nature-of-female-fantasy/"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: #1155cc;">post</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that states that women are “biologically hard-wired” to be sexually aroused by submission. This arguement not only renders invisible those women who do not have submission fantasies or who have domination fantasies, but also legitimizes male dominance as a biologically imperative. For a good rebuttal to this garbage, see</span><a href="http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2011/04/12/feminism-makes-boners-sad/"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">here</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/04/15/working-women-s-fantasies.html"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Others</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> have made the argument that enjoying submissiveness is transgressive and revolutionary because it’s what the “feminist regime” (uh, what?) doesn’t want you to do. But I think this book is totally counter-revolutionary; it’s the same old conservative, patriarchal inequality and </span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: small;">indifference to consent</span></span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, this time through a woman’s (poorly written) voice. Not only that, but I think the appeal of female sexual submission can be linked back to purity--- if you relinquish control in the bedroom, then you’re not a slut, or you’re at least less of one. “Sluts” seek out sex, rather than waiting for love, the way “good girls” do. I think there is so little openness and honesty in dealing with women’s sexuality that it’s difficult for some women to even imagine participating in it, especially because they’re not quite sure what it will entail. So they imagine someone aggressively taking it instead. Someone experienced, to compensate for their utter lack of experience (that society told them to have, otherwise they </span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">would be</span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> slut-shamed and not taken seriously). </span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I<span style="font-size: small;">'m not</span> <span style="font-size: small;">makin<span style="font-size: small;">g</span> the </span>generalizatio<span style="font-size: small;">n</span></span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that this is the reason behind all women enjoying sexual submission, but I think it can be a factor.</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />The book certainly seems to support this--- the protagonist is a virgin. This authorial decision could also be based on making the experiences more intense and new, and for the reader to put themselves in the intensity of Anastasia's position, but it’s also about not viewing the protagonist as some “nympho” who we can’t take seriously, and who (gasp!) might not be there for love at all, just a good time. The whole female virgin with the experienced partner is also a</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/yes_sexy_puritan_thats_it_exactly" target="_blank">male</a> <a href="http://www.thefrisky.com/2012-07-06/girls-is-now-inspiring-virgin-hunters-on-craigslist/" target="_blank">fantasy</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, by the way. I think the fantasy has just trickled down to women, who are allowed by mainstream mdiums so little space to create more organic, subversive sexual fantasies of their own that aren’t just reproduction of men’s. The virgin/experienced lover is also just another permutation of the submissive/dominant dynamic; Christian is deemed superior to Ana with his wealth of experience.</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />The fact that the story arose out of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Twilight</span><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> fan fiction is telling. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Twilight</span><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> itself is about a girl subordinating herself to the ultimate alpha male who she is convinced, we are told <i>ad nauseum</i>, is smarter, stronger, and better-looking than her. Stephanie Meyers claimed in a response to </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fifty Shades of Grey</span><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that BDSM is “not [her] thing”, but isn’t the dom/sub dynamic what Twilight is all about, even if it doesn’t play out in overtly sexual ways (at first)? If it isn’t about masochism, why does Bella’s first sexual encounter with Edward result in bruises, and she likes it? Why is she so amenable to the thought of him killing her violently, and only seems more drawn to him after she learns that he is perpetually on the verge of doing so? Both stories involve women who have no regard for </span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">their well-being,</span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> who are consumed in their obsession with the alpha-male. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fifty Shades of Grey</span><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> just takes a more overtly sexualized approach and adds some BDSM flavor to the same tired, damaging idea.</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> This ties into what is one of the worst things about </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fifty Shades of Grey</span><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">--- that abusers would read it or hear about it and think “see? Women actually get off on this stuff--- they pretend they don’t like it but deep down, they want to be dominated,coerced, controlled, <b>even <span style="font-size: small;">when</span> they express reluctance and don't give enthusiastic consent</b>”. They’ll think that sexual submission and pain is what the erotic is all about, and even women know it. I’m aware that this isn’t exactly what the author was saying and in a sense, it isn’t her fault that misogynist sickos would misinterpret her work that way. However, all artists should try to be aware of how their work will be interpreted. What does their work support and perpetuate? What does it stifle and negate?</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />It's important to reiterate that Anastasia isn't giving her informed consent for BDSM play--- she deliberately puts herself in situations she is not comfortable with and frequently alludes to her fear of Christian, while he frequently states his desire to inflict her with real pain</span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(note: THIS IS MISOGYNY. It’s not even subtle here). He also frequently asks her to “trust him” when she seems uncertain of something, but he hasn’t earned her trust at all, and in fact, given his uncontrollable sadistic urges, it seems like he would very likely violate her trust. And he pretty much does when he beats her with the belt, but the seriousness of that is downplayed in the book as a conflict of desires rather than a violation of Ana’s very legitimate boundaries. In real life, those types of situations can go much worse. Case-in-point: there was a similar situation recently called the “Philadephia incident” described </span><a href="http://hidingfromsomeone.tumblr.com/post/22270527450/fifty-shades-the-philadelphia-incident-im-not"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">here</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: </span></b></span></div>
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<br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The “Philadelphia Incident” concerns a younger, inexperienced female submissive who entered into a domination and submission relationship with an older dominant man. Her limits were violated and she was forced to enter into oral sex with the man against her will. Some people in the BDSM community are calling this rape. Some people have suggested that the submissive woman consented. Others have criticised the submissive woman for not fully understanding what she was getting herself into. The young woman has now been run out of her home due to the criticism, publicity, and notoriety she has faced.”</span><br /><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In fact, rape and sexual assault </span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: small;">are</span></span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> common in the BDSM community (which shouldn’t come as much of a surprise; if it happens in the “vanilla” world, too why wouldn’t it happen there?</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">). </span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Putting yourself in the power of a person you don’t know <span style="font-size: small;">can be unsafe</span>, <span style="font-size: small;">but the story makes it only s<span style="font-size: small;">eem </span>titillating</span> and exciting</span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. I’m not victim-blaming; ultimately it’s the perpetrator who is responsible, and we must never lose sight of that. But it makes me depressed to see women swooning over an image of masculinity that is predatory, controlling, insensitive, and uninterested or flat-out unwilling<b> </b></span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">to put</span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> you on equal terms. Christian is portrayed as a character who is beyond simply role-playing as a dominator; it's who he is. </span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />If a reader's attraction to this character-type feels beyond their control, I hope they can at least recognize its problematic relationship to patriarchal history, gender norms, and the oppression of women on a macro-level. At the very, very least, recognize its real-life dangers on a micro-level. Controlled role-playing is one thing, but it doesn't always take that form; some men like to dominate you in other areas of your life, too. And if you stay with a man who wants to hurt and control you, who views you as a thing to dominate and abuse rather than a human being, if he wants you to fear rather than love him, if he does not respect your independence and views you as inferior... then he will. And I don’t buy that a man like that can suddenly make a total 180 and become grade-A husband material. Sure, an abus</span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: small;">er</span></span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b> </b></span>is not a villain-ish abuser 100% of the time; they ha</span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: small;">ve</span></span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> moments of contrition, tenderness, vulnerability, interspersed throughout </span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: small;">their</span></span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> violent abusive periods. It’s precisely this inconsistency that usually causes </span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: small;">the abused</span></span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to stay in the relationship, believing that their partner is on the cusp of changing into </span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: small;">someone</span></span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> who will not make </span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the<span style="font-size: small;">m</span></span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> afraid and hurt<span style="font-size: small;"><b> </b></span></span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: small;">them</span></span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> anymore. Even if </span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: small;">th<span style="font-size: small;">e </span>abuser</span></span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> professes that they want to change, they usually relapse. Sometimes </span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: small;">their</span></span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> promises of change are only more manipulation to put </span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: small;">their <span style="font-size: small;">partner</span></span></span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> right back under </span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: small;">their</span></span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> control. But in part because of stories like this, women often believe that love, and making sacrifices and suffering for love, are the noblest, highest aims, and that you just don’t understand, she can take it, and he’s actually a great guy once you get to know him, but he’s just damaged, she’s trying to “heal” him and maybe one day he’ll change and maybe sometimes it’s her fault for being too demanding or nagging or unreasonable and he just gets jealous because he loves her so much. I know because I’ve heard this all before. And it makes me angry to know that these men are rewarded and validated with love, because they don’t deserve it. At least not until they honestly change and stop abusing, which won’t be easy or instantaneous. </span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9270568056963384" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />I’ve heard the bad boy that women stereotypically “want” described as a coconut; hard on the outside, but soft and sweet on the inside. This is a dangerous way to think of people. You can’t ignore outward behavior and focus only on some elusive interior that contains wonderful potential that you must bring out, that will come into prominence in the future. Take them as they are. The hard shell isn’t a shell at all--- that’s part of who they are. If they hurt you now, they very well might always hurt you.</span></b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: small; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />There are those that would say “but it’s just one book, it’s not reality”. They would say that the Philadelphia incident and real-life abuse should be treated differently, and they are not connected to this book. But art, especially the stories we tell each other, shape reality. Yes, reality also shapes art, and there’s a feedback loop going on, but when it comes to our identity and how we interact with and perceive others, stories exert a collective influence on all of us. Especially for women, romance novels, film, and erotica shape our conceptions of how relationships are “supposed” to be. Most popular mainstream art doesn’t show reality as it could be; it shows constructed reality, usually with the biased view that this is how life inevitably is, as though there was not the invisible hand of cultural conditioning guiding the author's creation of fictional worlds. This story could not exist the way it does without existing systems of thought that permeate our culture. It doesn’t exist in a vacuum; it’s a product of society, because the author is. Yes, it is just one book. But it’s part of a continuum of so many other books, TV shows, movies, video games, pornographies, comics, songs, that say the same thing--- it’s one more brick in the towering edifice of Western gender norms. And we really can’t afford even one more brick to this depressingly solid wall.</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205347121090727932.post-38768268735511632742012-06-29T16:35:00.001-07:002012-09-01T03:20:38.198-07:00"Bitch Bad?" How About "There's No Such Thing as a Bitch"<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>[CN: misogyny, rape culture, slut-shaming]</i></span></span></b><br />
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.9720877972431481"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lupe Fiasco just released a new single called “Bitch Bad,” and it’s probably accomplishing what Lupe ultimately wants: a lot of discussion. He wants to be thought-provoking, and he never fails to deliver on that front. But I wanted to add my own voice to the discussion. </span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now, I can’t pretend to know exactly every argument that Lupe is trying to get across in his lyrics--I understand that song lyrics are limited by rhyme and meter, so admittedly he can’t be as clear and thorough as he would be able to be in normal prose. So I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt when I inevitably have to read between the lines to flesh out the songs message.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If we break down the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.killerhiphop.com/lupe-fiasco-bitch-bad-lyrics/">lyrics</a> we get a young boy who hears his mom call herself “a bad bitch” as she sings along to a song on the radio and thus starts to relate the word with his mother. Then we have two young girls watch a music video in which an artist describes “bad bitches” in a [sexually] desirable way, so they feel pressured to be like the girl they see in the video (in addition to thinking that being a “bad bitch” is a good thing). </span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After this story is set up, the song culminates with: </span></span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“</span><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sure enough, in this little world</span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The little boy meets one of those little girls</span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And he thinks she a bad bitch and she thinks she a bad bitch</span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He thinks disrespectfully, she thinks of that sexually</span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She got the wrong idea, he don’t wanna fuck her</span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He thinks she’s bad at being a bitch like his mother</span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Momma never dress like that, come out the house, hot mess like that</span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ass, titties, dress like that</span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All out to impress like that</span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just like that, you see the fruit of the confusion</span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He caught in a reality, she caught in an illusion</span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bad mean good to her, she really nice and smart</span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But bad mean bad to him, bitch don’t play your part</span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But bitch still bad to her if you say it the wrong way</span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But she think she a bitch, what a double entendre”</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You can see what I mean by needing to read between the lines, because it gets a little convoluted at the end. I won’t do too close a reading here, because that’s not the point of this post.*</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What I really want to talk about is the discussion this song prompted, because it reveals a lot about language, sexism and misogyny--even outside of the context of hip-hop. I also want to talk about it because as soon as I read the lyrics, I had a sinking feeling that a lot of people would interpret it in a misogynistic way--and that’s exactly what a lot of commenters did: </span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Lol I knew wat dis song wuz bout from wen I saw da title. Nd I couldn't agree more. A bad bitch is da hoe dressed da skimpiest wit da colored weave( something I hate 2 see on black women). Females, if u call urself a bad bitch, don't complain wen u get raped or disrespected, u call it on urself."</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This comment is probably the worst out of them all--it manages to victim-blame and slut-shame at the same time. I don’t even think I need to waste energy refuting it...right? It’s pretty obvious that just because a person refers to themselves using a derogatory term or they dress a certain </span><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">way, it doesn't mean they deserve to be abused or disrespected, or that they “can’t complain” if that does happen to them. It also ignores the fact that a lot of women use the word bitch to attempt to subvert it or reclaim it--that when someone like Nicki Minaj raps “I’m a bad bitch” she means it completely differently than a man who hatefully spits it out at a women he looks down on. She means that she’s strong, formidable, powerful--whether or not using the word “bitch” is counterproductive in those instances, whether or not the word can be “reclaimed” is debatable (more on that in another post). But regardless, it’s still important to note that when a woman calls herself "a bad bitch," the context, meaning, and use is vastly different.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Most of the other comments embody the same kind of sexism and misogyny in the above example--even if they attempt to word it less blatantly. I’ll spare you the experience of reading all of them in detail, especially because I perused 70+ pages. To sum it up: their assumptions mainly come down to two different messages, one for women, one for men. For women: they need to stop being “bitches,” despite the fact that that’s what the media (and mainstream hip-hop) told them to be, particularly because guys will [understandably] treat them badly because of it. For men: they need to make sure not to disrespect </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">all </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">women because not all of them are “bitches.”</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /><br />And here we finally come to my main argument, and what I hope Lupe’s ultimate message is: that it's not that some women are bitches and some are not, but that <i style="white-space: pre-wrap;">none </i><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">of them are--that that there is no such thing as a “bitch.” There is no such thing as this fabricated caricature of a human being--a willfully ignorant, petty, “slutty,” and subservient woman not worthy of respect, who is “just asking” for mistreatment and abuse. This is also an important corollary to </span></span><a href="http://womynews.wordpress.com/2011/11/05/theres-no-such-thing-as-a-slut/" style="background-color: white; font-weight: bold;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There’s No Such Thing as a Slut</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Beyond the fact that this kind of caricature doesn’t actually exist in real-life, it’s also important to stress that the presence of these individual traits in a real, living person would also not justify her abuse. Any argument to the contrary, that justifies the abuse of women, is sexist and misogynistic.</span></span><br />
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And really, this is what mainstream misogyny comes down to, and it's at the core of common misogyny apologia. You can hear, in the same breath "no, of course I don't hate women, I love my girlfriend/mother/sister!" and "well what did she expect? she was asking for it, she's so stupid, dressing like that, acting slutty like that." Misogyny isn't about necessarily feeling hatred for every individual woman you ever meet. It's about conditionally assigning respect, humanity, empathy to only certain women who "deserve" it, and casting the rest off as unworthy of such basic qualities. It's about classifying whole groups of women as "worth less" based on imagined, constructed distinctions and stereotypes. It's the same idea when we talk about racism--someone may not hate all black people ("but I have black friends!") but if they subscribe to stereotypes about "certain kinds of black people" and believe them to be less worthy of regard and empathy, they're still a racist.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">These arguments feel really blatant and self-evident. I almost stopped writing this post several times because of that. But then I just kept looking at more comments, and realized that, for at least some people, these arguments were clearly not obvious enough. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*I think interpreting the song really comes down to one simple question: are we supposed to think that the boy is wrong for assuming that the girl is a "bitch" when in fact she isn't? And <i>that's </i>his only mistake? Or that he's wrong because he believes that any woman could ever embody the term? The song is pretty murky on this critical distinction, especially with lines like: "He caught in a reality, she caught in an illusion," the slut-shaming "</span><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">Momma never dress like that, come out the house, hot mess like that/</span><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ass, titties, dress like that/</span><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">All out to impress like that" and "</span><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bad mean good to her, she really nice and smart/ </span><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">But bad mean bad to him, bitch don’t play your part..." I wish there weren't lines like this that all too easily play into the kind of misogynistic thinking displayed in the comments.</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0