Random Thoughts 3: A Little Bit of This, and a Little Bit of That...

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You lol as though you could name "anything that appeals to straight men" and I couldn't find an article claiming that it "oppresses women".
 
I don't think such people exist Syn. Actually I googled it and found that:

The trans activist movement is an existential threat to women

Meghan Markle's brand of feminism may do more harm than good

Pregnancy is an existential threat

The fear of death informs both the condemnation and objectification of women’s bodies


*oh, and one on toxic-masculinity of course.


Although I fear these topics support my case more than the idea that anyone is silly enough to view feminism as an existential threat.
 
I love that every single person on CFC that could be defined as being right wing all go for the literalist counterargument while ignoring the actual substance of what was said.
 
I think that was Synsensa's point, really.
 
Meh. I think we've cleared the shark and landed in the bog of eternal stench. I hear you stop smelling it after a while.
 
Dredd doesn't get enough liberal cudos in the whole "feminist-ish action film" discourse. The film is really Anderson's story, she's the one who gets an actual character arc where Dredd just gets to do a bunch of heroic murders, but it also shows its commitment to taking female characters seriously with a non-sexualised female antagonist. Plus, the Chief Judge is also female, and although she only gets one scene, she's the only character that Dredd treats with any sort of deference.

Anderson and Ma-Ma are also pretty strong examples of characters occupying traditional male roles, both narratively and in-universe, without coming across as male characters played by female actors. Ma-Ma is probably the best female villain in any comic book adaptation to date, even admitting that's not a very crowded playing field.

On the one hand, I completely agree with everything here. On the other hand, I couldn't help but immediately think, the first time I saw it, that the entire "a helmet would interfere with her powers" was just a post-hoc justification to show her pretty face and hair.
 
On the one hand, I completely agree with everything here. On the other hand, I couldn't help but immediately think, the first time I saw it, that the entire "a helmet would interfere with her powers" was just a post-hoc justification to show her pretty face and hair.

I thought that too, but fact is they were paying a whole lot more money to get Karl Urban's star power face and they didn't hesitate to stuff that in a helmet, so I dunno...
 
I've never seen The Handmaid's Tale, for me I feel it's subject matter is too difficult, especially with my own history suffering domestic abuse, but I can totally appreciate how symbolic it is from what I've read other people say. Would you be willing to share that line you mention from Remembrance Day celebration that you found to be interesting?
It's the opening dialogue, spoken by Aunt Lydia, that's taken directly from the Act of Remembrance. I recall feeling really dumbfounded that they would use that in this show, as it's supposed to honor the fallen soldiers, and it's so obvious that the zealots in charge of Gilead couldn't begin to understand what Remembrance Day ceremonies really mean. It's an observance, not a celebration.



This is the breakdown of how the scene was filmed, by director Kari Skogland. She's a Canadian director, and her credits include the first two episodes of The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, from 20 years ago (that series is another that really made an impression on me... to the tune of several bindersful of fanfic and poetry):


Oh definitely both, I was just talking academic there, lol! I myself spend a lot of time playing The Sims and just using it as a virtual dollhouse, I'll spend hours just playing with my characters' outfits, but my object was to sort of say if you're a man and do that same thing as myself, I wouldn't view you as being less masculine, if I'm making sense? I believe that sort of attitude is often called "toxic masculinity", where femininity is defined as being traits of weakness and submissiveness which are only for women and not for men, and it hurts everyone, right?
I like creating weird houses. There's a game over at the Big Fish Games site that's a really cheap sort of Sims thing - limited interior design, and you end up with zombie-like people that do nothing but walk around with blank looks on their faces. Even the babies do that, and nobody ever looks after them. Anyway, I got tired of these zombie people, so I decided to create rooms that had no room for them. I forget how many tables it took to totally crowd them out (a LOT). So I've got a house full of furniture and no room for the people. One of them decided to just walk through the wall and stroll across the lawn and right off the screen... never to be seen since.

Given the number of interior design shows that are hosted by men, I'd say it's a profession (or hobby) that's for anyone who wants to take a crack at it. Don't forget that in centuries past, it was men who did the designs for cross stitch and lacemaking, and women used the patterns to sew the actual items. Gradually women took over creating most of the designs, though there are still men who do that.

I'm very glad your SCA is like how you describe, that sounds just so wonderfully liberating for everyone, women and men both. Oh but it's ever so much fun to do things like kick butt in Starcraft, then go paint your toes, lol.
You might have a branch near you; most of them have public demos where they show the public things such as fighting, dancing, and crafts. Our branch did those, and if anyone was interested, they could come to the next feast we had (we supplied them with a basic costume and set of dishes). Picture a feast hall lit only by candlelight, banners hanging all around, everyone in a variety of medieval garb ranging from early Viking era to Tudor/Renaissance, eating from wooden dishes... there are multiple courses, with a court held at some point - there would be announcements, awards ceremonies, performances of music and poetry, and dancing after the feast. A fair number of the guys in attendance would have made their own costumes (my boyfriend at the time was better at sewing than I was; he made his own stuff, whereas I had to persuade my grandmother to make mine).

Tia Carrere's character was also delightfully villainous, with how she used Arnold and she also had her own objectives, she just happened to be allied with those terrorists.
Did you ever watch Relic Hunter? She played Sidney Fox, a sort of female Indiana Jones-type character. She could do "femininity" when called for, flutter her eyelashes at the bad guys when she wanted them to think she was some ditzy woman, but then she'd follow that up by kicking the crap out of them or pulling a knife or her crossbow.

Some behaviors have changed from gender to gender over time, like high heels used to be something men wore to appear taller
It hasn't been that long. I remember when guys used to wear high heeled shoes, back in the '70s. Of course I realize that this must seem like the Dark Ages to people who weren't born until the '80s or '90s, but those were my childhood and teen years. It all seemed perfectly normal to me.

Unless you're thinking of King Louis of France (pick one of several).

I was totally thinking of Bryce Dallas-Howard's character when I wrote that, lol! As a woman who's worn heels, it's hard for me to relate, even simple things like walking down stairs can be tricky (you're supposed to remove your shoes during a fire emergency, for example). I've seen many realistic portrayals where a woman takes her heels off before needing to run or something and it's very refreshing, like remember that final scene in Crocodile Dundee? Even if you can manage walking well in them, why would you? Even if you're proficient, you're still going to be much more capable in your bare feet, but of course a woman wearing heels is "sexy" from a man's perspective, right?
Yep, if Sue hadn't ditched her shoes, she might not have caught up with Mick. This is something I wish the soaps would catch up on, since there's one of the characters who wears spike heeled boots all the time - when she's running, walking, and 9 months' pregnant.
 
Huh. From her name and look, I'd have sworn that Kari Skogland was Scandinavian.
 
You lol as though you could name "anything that appeals to straight men" and I couldn't find an article claiming that it "oppresses women".

It's sort of weird how people whose general schtick is "it's the economy, stupid" seem absolutely obsessed with the cultural superstructure as manifested in Tumblr posts and the like.
 
Can't be that obsessed if it's not their general schtick hmm?

It's almost as if people are sharing their opinions on a discussion forum.
 
Queen Bees are not born, there are no special queen eggs. Rather, one larvae is fed a different diet which radically alters her DNA and makes her turn into a queen. Not really that similiar, but still really cool :lol:
Alters her hormones and pheromones, not her DNA.
 
Huh. From her name and look, I'd have sworn that Kari Skogland was Scandinavian.
From my real name and look you'd swear I'm Scandinavian (both my dad and I were platinum blond when we were children). My grandmother was the first person in the family on my dad's side to be born in Canada, and that was just over a century ago. :huh:

Many people in Canada have ethnic names, no matter how long they/their families have been here.
 
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On the one hand, I completely agree with everything here. On the other hand, I couldn't help but immediately think, the first time I saw it, that the entire "a helmet would interfere with her powers" was just a post-hoc justification to show her pretty face and hair.
That's fair. They probably could have figured out some way for her to lose her helmet early on, and it seems a missed opportunity, in terms of establishing the early, less-than-chill-bros relationship between Dredd and Anderson that they didn't go that way. I guess they thought just having her outright declare "no hats for me!" was maybe less contrived?
 
On the one hand, I completely agree with everything here. On the other hand, I couldn't help but immediately think, the first time I saw it, that the entire "a helmet would interfere with her powers" was just a post-hoc justification to show her pretty face and hair.
And yet they did not make Lena Headey into a stereotypical villain in high heels, improbably tight leather/latex and indestructible evening makeup.
I thought that too, but fact is they were paying a whole lot more money to get Karl Urban's star power face and they didn't hesitate to stuff that in a helmet, so I dunno...
TVTropes says that Karl Urban insisted on not taking the helmet off, ever, because it wouldn't really be Dredd otherwise.
That's fair. They probably could have figured out some way for her to lose her helmet early on, and it seems a missed opportunity, in terms of establishing the early, less-than-chill-bros relationship between Dredd and Anderson that they didn't go that way. I guess they thought just having her outright declare "no hats for me!" was maybe less contrived?
At least it's an in-story justification, of sorts. And Dredd does point out that a bullet to the head would also interfere with telepathy.
 
Years ago; three, maybe four living room TVs ago, my gf bought a big screen TV that was state of the art at the time. We were asked if we were sure our cable box had an HDMI output. It didn't, but our DVD player did and we wanted to hook that up so we bought an HDMI cable for a price that currently would buy a small television. She was just clearing an area I use for a working space (thanks babe!) and held up two never used cables and asked "What are these?" Hey, HDMI cables...now packaged with damn near every piece of home entertainment gear that you can buy whether you need them or not.
 
Or maybe you're one of these strange people who like having birds as pets?

No. The only pet I would ever accept is an English Bulldog. No exceptions. And I hate birds even more than I hate cats.
 
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