Less than a week into the online courses and it’s making me uncomfortable. Keep trying to tell myself to bide my time, get a few courses under my belt (particularly these needed economics and political science prerequisites) before doing anything drastic or pitching attitude. Read the rest of this entry »
Archive for October, 2009
Hump-Day Update
Classes have started so my time is very limited. Probably will stay this way quite a while. Ah well. Such is life. Read the rest of this entry »
A Beautiful Mind
Just watched this movie last night a friend and loved it. I didn’t know much about John Nash and am now interested in learning more, particularly about his theory of equilibrium (i.e., the “prisoners’ dilemma”). But it will have to wait for another night. Very, very busy lately.
Minors present?
Hmmm…learned last night that a well-publicized “hobby” party hosted by a well-known provider involved her minor child being in attendance. This I am not okay with. Read the rest of this entry »
Conversations with Hobbyists, Part 4
This week’s correspondences with a big-time hobbyist. I met this man once socially, never as my client, and occasionally interact with him online. His responses will be in blue. Read the rest of this entry »
Pitching a fit
Today I am miserable. Or at least tonight. First I made the mistake of looking at this month’s cell phone bill. Goddamn overage charges. Seething…oh…my…god. Read the rest of this entry »
“Teeth”
Just finished watching the film “Teeth” (2006), which was better than I originally expected. I’d only heard it compared with the film “Deadgirl” which sucked on so many levels as to be completely pathetic, so I assumed this would be a senseless violence flick as the other had been. But no. Instead, it has wonderful acting, a plot you can at least follow, and confronts a real issue young women are confronted with: sexual assault and mishandling. The premise is that the lead actress has “vagina dentata” where her vagina, by some weird mutation that’s never explained, has serrated teeth much like those of a shark. The leading lady isn’t going looking for trouble and is in fact a virgin when trouble finds her.
Trailer:
I liked this film considerably more than “Deadgirl” and not simply because the protagonist is female. Goes much deeper than that. “Deadgirl” was violent for the sake of being violent. In “Teeth,” the gal is trying to maintain her sexual purity in a culture obsessed with sex, fending off boys who otherwise would have left her as the weeping, powerless victim. In “Deadgirl,” the protagonist turns into a rapist and was in no way coerced into accepting that fate. “Teeth” is nice in that it presents a fantasy of sorts, not of possessing a toothed vagina but of being able to protect yourself to some extent against sexual violence. And it’s not as though the protagonist was attack-proof; her vagina just had the capability of biting off penises and fingers. Come at her with a gun and force anal sex and she’d have no greater means of protection than any other female.
It’s not about “hating” men or wishing harm upon them, at least not for me. It’s just that it would be nice if something, somehow, existed to thwart men’s brawny overpowering of women and made them think twice before treating rape like no big deal. Seems to me that men care more about an organ on their bodies than they do about womankind as an aggregate. Tell me, when did penises become of such supreme importance? You don’t see women running around worshiping our vulvae and uteri anywhere near to the extent that men commonly celebrate their penises. I just don’t get it. Seen a few penises, you’ve seen them all basically. The penis itself means absolutely nothing, IMO, if not attached to a man worth caring for. And I say this as a sex worker who has seen my fair share of penises, both in and out of the “hobby.” The novelty wore off for me long ago, probably back in my teenage years when I realized sex has everything to do with individuals and interpersonal connections and much less to do with one’s anatomical proportions. I wish more men would understand this.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and connections absolutely do matter. What our culture does to virgins is a damn shame, giving young people the impression that virginity is the last thing they ought to be concerned with protecting. Myself, I was 12 years old when I chose to have sex for the first time. My reasoning was simple: I wanted to get losing my virginity “out of the way.” Isn’t that a sad way of looking at things for people so young and impressionable? I used to not think so and, in fact, only began realizing the err of my ways in recent years. Not that a person has to be a Christian or a moralist to grasp that their body need not be shared with others who don’t genuinely appreciate it. It’s as if we have spite toward those who choose not to share themselves in full with whoever asks…’course we have spite for those who choose to as well. Seems you truly cannot win, not as a female, not these days. Sex is absolutely expected, and you are treated as abnormal if you decline or refuse.
Isn’t that odd? I find it very strange.
Not to mention the lies we tell one another to pressure for sex and attention. Too much sex on the brain, if you ask me. Seems we need to get lives that don’t revolve incessantly around what’s happening in our pants. Hormones matter, but not as much as we seem to think. Human nature matters too, but accepting this doesn’t negate the need for self-control. I’m tired of hearing people argue that we can’t expect better than violence, rape, competition, and underhanded manipulation tactics from our fellow man because we’re helpless apes driven by hormones and ‘human nature’ beyond our control. Bullshit. We didn’t develop this complex frontal lobe and a sense of self-conscious self-awareness just so that we could throw our hands in the air and pretend to be developmentally-challenged and incapable of discerning right from wrong. I don’t believe it. It’s little more than a scapegoat to avoid personal accountability.
That’s what rape is really…one person’s decision to behave very badly toward another, usually thinking it’s their right or entitlement, telling themselves and others that the victim had it coming and doesn’t really deserve sympathy. And yet, I’ve read a number of reviews professing deep pity for the rapist male characters in the film “Teeth,” whining about how NO man deserves that sort of punishment. But au contraire, rapists and asshole perverts surely do.
I wouldn’t go so far as to call this “feminist horror,” but it definitely gives you plenty to think about. Made me think about those anti-rape devices being used elsewhere in the world that I posted about on my blog last year. One looked like a spiked tampon that you insert. Let me see if I can find a pic…
It’s called Fem-Defense and is now available in Sweden.
Another method is the anti-rape condom pictured below:
Rapex brand is worn internally like a female condom and has rows of sharp teeth that somehow embed in the penis upon penetration and require medical aid to remove.
Men won’t be happy to learn that instruments to guard against rape are in the works and are designed to cause penile harm. Ah well. Can’t expect much sympathy if your original aim was to abuse a woman. Doesn’t seem fair that rape is as tolerated as it is, yet means to thwart or disrupt the frequency of rape come under fire as being unfair and/or dangerous to men. Some things I will never understand…living in this so-called “man’s world.”
What really upsets me is that devices like these would even be necessary in the first place. These are the times we live in, where women hide spikes in their vaginas to teach men that rape is wrong. Damn tragedy that we could come so far and yet still be unable to effectively communicate and respect one another’s wishes and now must resort to taking such drastic measures. “No” means “no”…and pussy spikes mean “no” too, in case that isn’t readily apparent for the dull and dim-witted.
This makes me nervous that other forms of violence toward women will escalate in response.
SuperNews!
Mugged At The Gas Station:
Jabba the Rush:
Passive Aggressive Email Boxing:
A Night with Ann Coulter:
Too funny!
Frances Farmer / Kurt Cobain
Watched the film “Frances” about the life of ’40s actress Frances Farmer a couple days ago. Never knew anything about her and haven’t watched any of her movies yet. Word is that this movie is based on info from questionable sources, as was apparently the book titled “Will There Really Be a Morning?” which I haven’t read. Her sister’s book “Look Back in Love” is said to be very insightful and well-documented, if you can find an affordable copy.
The jury’s still out on what exactly transpired in Frances Farmer’s life, but what we do know is the mental health establishment certainly did her no favors. Scary. I wouldn’t want to be committed in this day and age, let alone in the nutty ’40s and ’50s. Super scary. Poor woman. All for what? Not playing the game correctly? Such bullshit.
R.I.P. Frances Farmer. I hope to learn more about her as time goes on.
Speaking of tragic souls from Seattle, Kurt Cobain comes to mind.
Part 2: Read the rest of this entry »
Crazy Love
The other day I watched the documentary “Crazy Love” (2007), about the “contorted love affair between Burt Pugach, a 32-year-old lawyer when the liaison began in the late 1950s, and the woman he pursued, a much younger Linda Riss.” It’s a nearly unbelievable story that leaves you seriously wondering what the fuck you just watched. Plenty to ponder here.
Kyle Grooms & Other Comedians
Got distracted on Wiretap Magazine.
Comedian Kyle Grooms, in a monologue titled “Slap the Donkey”:
Funny Career Builder ads:
Further sidelined by Dave Chapelle:
Thoughts on volunteering
I have an activist’s spirit without the idealist’s utopic vision. Resulting in a perpetual feeling of dissatisfaction. There’s so much to learn, so many organizations needing and deserving public support, but the liberal organizations stuck on trying to communicate with Congress irritate me. Sure, they mean well, but Congress obviously doesn’t give much of a damn what we commonfolk think. They may care what we do, but what we think is pretty well irrelevant. Read the rest of this entry »
Lame, dope-smokin’, slackin’ little sucker you are
“Who’s gonna teach you how to dance, who’s gonna show you how to fly? Who’s gonna call you on the lame dope-smokin’, slackin’, little fucker you are? … Who’s gonna get you from behind? Who’s gonna ring your little bell?”
“I’m never gonna work another day in my life. I’m way too busy power-trippin’…”
The actual lyrics by Monster Magnet: Read the rest of this entry »
You Are Not Alone
” …Never far away…always here to stay…” Michael Jackson, you pulled a heart string in people. Even I want to believe your child-like spirit was real.
Listening to “You Are Not Alone” on the playlist. This song twists me up a bit when I do listen.
Michael Jackson confuses the hell out of me.
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