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Jun. 3rd, 2015 08:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gwydion* A large passanger boat on the Yangtze has capsized. It took two hours to send help as they sunk so fast no one sent out a distress signal, so no one knew of the disaster until some survivors swam to shore. There were 14 survivors last night out of more than 400.
* Scott Walker has come out strongly against the human rights of rape survivors, calling for an abortion ban designed to force rape survivors to carry their rapists' fetuses to term and calling for them to be re-traumatized by violating their bodies with forced ultrasounds for no medical reason just to punish them for trying to exert agency over their own bodies.
* I must apologize for a figure on the number of slaves who have died in Qatar building the World Cup Stadium. The 1200 figure is the number of total slave deaths in Qatar so far this year and the 4000 figure is the expected total of slave deaths this year, including those who died for the World Cup stadium. The source I was quoting posted a correction today. I could not get a revised world cup specific figure, but honestly and slavery at all is completely unacceptable, let alone deaths, let alone for some athletic contest and my long running belief that countries with any systemic human rights abuses should be bypassed for World Cups and Olympics (Including Russia for their their persecution of their LGBT population and the US for our prison industrial complex, use of solitary, etc., the ongoing government sanction of large numbers of unarmed citizens, etc..) still stands. Slavery is completely unacceptable and I do not think countries sanctioning it should be handed prestige events. We also need to stop consuming media and consumer goods made by slave labour. It's a pretty low bar here, but we can't seem to rise to it.
* "Louisiana Girl Scout Council Bans Trans Feminine Kids:" http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2015/05/louisiana-girl-scout-council-bans-trans.html
* NSW legislates a racist celebrity to be a boofhead. http://junkee.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/BOOFHEAD.jpg
* I am super short on sleep and spent all afternoon doing necessary things, which sucks from a pain perspective, but the air quality is a bigger issue right now. By 5:30, my eyes were so closed up I was struggling to see. I tried soldiering on, but I had to retreat to my bedroom where I can control air quality, which is a problem on several fronts. I do not work well on the computer without a proper desk. It is a lot of energy draw on one circuit, and my media options are limited. It was scary how fast I started to improve once I was properly ensconced. As a result, my availability may vary.
* Looking for something like the Beka Cooper series, but without the trans fail? interested in an excellent mystery set in a well drawn, LBGT friendly low fantasy setting with a unique magic system? Want a fantasy book that handles historical class issues instead of lamp shading them and does it well? Point of Hopes is your book. Seriously, how have I never heard of this series? It was a little slow starting, but bear with it. Trust me.
* "Black Sails Speculation:" http://gwydionmisha.tumblr.com/post/120659685812/black-sails-speculation
* I'm going to talk about onscreen depiction of rape, so TW, obviously.
I am firmly on team stop raping people.
To be clear there is definitely a place for art that talks about rape and rape survivors, that focuses on the process of surviving, and/or is strongly attacking rape and rape culture. Things like Precious, Speak, or War child are important and powerful. Survivors telling their own stories in print or in media, like Maya Angelou, Oprah, the deaf gentleman in the documentary on the abuse of deaf children in church schools, or Melissa Harris-Perry are important. Survivors need to know they are not alone, that what happened to them was the fault of the rapist, and I'm for whatever it takes to get the population at large mobilized to change things: to get rape treated as the crime it is, to get people to stop blaming survivors, to try to dismantle rape culture. To me, depiction of rape in a news, book, TV, or Movie type setting needs to be there for the purpose of helping, not hurting survivors and vulnerable populations.
My issue is that I am seeing rape on a lot of TV shows that is not about that. Game of Throne routinely uses rape of women to advance male character development, reinforce characterization that we already were well aware of, or in the case of Cersei, the creators alarmingly can't tell that what they are depicting is actually rape and so throw it in there with no acknowledgement that what just happened would be traumatic. Fangs for the fantasy just did an excellent article on that, so I'm just going to leave it there for now. I am tired of rape being all about the harm being raped does to the people around the survivor instead of what it means to the survivor (Grimm depicting Juliet as the wronged party in Nick's rape; Sansa's rape being all about Theon's pain, for example). I am tired of rape being the only thing writers can think of to do with a female character. I am tired of it being used as the sole character development or motive for whatever the female characters are doing, or worse it being solely there to motivate another character, much like the fridged woman so often is. I am tired of characters being raped and then the consequences of it for that character being ignored. When it's a male character raped, the psychological consequences are almost always ignored (I remember first noticing this as a child when Jody got raped on Soap), but it happens to women as well. Yes, there are exceptions like War Child, which is much like Speak in the way it deals with silence in the wake of trauma and the power of eventually speaking out, but Nick and Cersei are more often the norm.
There's another point I want to make though, and that's about the way these things are sometimes shot. Often in movies or TV it is done not to show how terrible it is, but for the prurient gaze of the viewer. Mostly this is in cases where a woman is being raped, but for a particularly disgusting example of rape shot for the non-straight male audience, I need look no further than the Outlander season Two finally. I am literally still queasy from having been sucked into seeing that. I do not want rape shot to look like romance aimed for my gaze any more than I want it shot for the straight male gaze. It can serve no good purpose whoever's gaze is being catered to and is a huge insult to those who have survived assaults. It is saying that raping people is sexy and accemptable, and that is flat out the opposite of empowering survivors and working to make things like this not happen out here in the real world.
* Ebay Time, Four lots:
AUTUMN FANCIES 2013 (LE, Halloweenies): (Company says: Dry grasses bathed in amber light, muted by gentle shadows.) Top of label.: http://www.ebay.com/itm/301649341988?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649
THIRTEEN (13): December 2013 (LE, Lunacy): (Company says: Bringing the light of good fortune to the dark of the year! Coconut-infused white chocolate swirled with a mélange of New Year's blessings: smashed pomegranates, a slice of vasilopita, black-eyed peas, rice wine, a bunch of leafy greens, twelve sweet grapes, buckwheat, almond cookies, and glazed doughnuts.) Top of Label. http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/301651167254?
AUTUMN LACE 2012 (LE, Retail Exclusive Oils): (Company says: An October funeral, 1888. Black linen and delicate, sugar-spun lace suffused with the scent of tobacco, black tea, Indian musk, liturgical incense, and cognac, with a drop of laudanum and crushed Autumn leaves.) Just Below Top of Label. http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/301651169035?
DR. HENRY JEKYLL 2009 (LE, Retail Exclusive Oils): (Company says: A discreet men's cologne of juniper, cumin, verbena, bergamot, mint, and basil splattered with dregs from apothecary bottles.) 1/2 Full.
GEISHA IN A STATE OF RUMPLED ANNOYANCE 2014 (LE, Lupercalia, Shunga, novel ideas for secret Amusements): (Company says: French lavender, white plum blossom, white ginger, and rice wine.) 1/2 Full http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/301651171106?
* Want Game of Thrones without the creepy? We desperately need new players. We are very inclusive. "Game of Bones MUSH:" gobmush.wikidot.com
* Nepal Relief: http://thewynne.tumblr.com/post/117524778471/nepal-donations
* Trying to stay afloat until August: http://www.gofundme.com/cuovws or Lethran@gmail.com
* Scott Walker has come out strongly against the human rights of rape survivors, calling for an abortion ban designed to force rape survivors to carry their rapists' fetuses to term and calling for them to be re-traumatized by violating their bodies with forced ultrasounds for no medical reason just to punish them for trying to exert agency over their own bodies.
* I must apologize for a figure on the number of slaves who have died in Qatar building the World Cup Stadium. The 1200 figure is the number of total slave deaths in Qatar so far this year and the 4000 figure is the expected total of slave deaths this year, including those who died for the World Cup stadium. The source I was quoting posted a correction today. I could not get a revised world cup specific figure, but honestly and slavery at all is completely unacceptable, let alone deaths, let alone for some athletic contest and my long running belief that countries with any systemic human rights abuses should be bypassed for World Cups and Olympics (Including Russia for their their persecution of their LGBT population and the US for our prison industrial complex, use of solitary, etc., the ongoing government sanction of large numbers of unarmed citizens, etc..) still stands. Slavery is completely unacceptable and I do not think countries sanctioning it should be handed prestige events. We also need to stop consuming media and consumer goods made by slave labour. It's a pretty low bar here, but we can't seem to rise to it.
* "Louisiana Girl Scout Council Bans Trans Feminine Kids:" http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2015/05/louisiana-girl-scout-council-bans-trans.html
* NSW legislates a racist celebrity to be a boofhead. http://junkee.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/BOOFHEAD.jpg
* I am super short on sleep and spent all afternoon doing necessary things, which sucks from a pain perspective, but the air quality is a bigger issue right now. By 5:30, my eyes were so closed up I was struggling to see. I tried soldiering on, but I had to retreat to my bedroom where I can control air quality, which is a problem on several fronts. I do not work well on the computer without a proper desk. It is a lot of energy draw on one circuit, and my media options are limited. It was scary how fast I started to improve once I was properly ensconced. As a result, my availability may vary.
* Looking for something like the Beka Cooper series, but without the trans fail? interested in an excellent mystery set in a well drawn, LBGT friendly low fantasy setting with a unique magic system? Want a fantasy book that handles historical class issues instead of lamp shading them and does it well? Point of Hopes is your book. Seriously, how have I never heard of this series? It was a little slow starting, but bear with it. Trust me.
* "Black Sails Speculation:" http://gwydionmisha.tumblr.com/post/120659685812/black-sails-speculation
* I'm going to talk about onscreen depiction of rape, so TW, obviously.
I am firmly on team stop raping people.
To be clear there is definitely a place for art that talks about rape and rape survivors, that focuses on the process of surviving, and/or is strongly attacking rape and rape culture. Things like Precious, Speak, or War child are important and powerful. Survivors telling their own stories in print or in media, like Maya Angelou, Oprah, the deaf gentleman in the documentary on the abuse of deaf children in church schools, or Melissa Harris-Perry are important. Survivors need to know they are not alone, that what happened to them was the fault of the rapist, and I'm for whatever it takes to get the population at large mobilized to change things: to get rape treated as the crime it is, to get people to stop blaming survivors, to try to dismantle rape culture. To me, depiction of rape in a news, book, TV, or Movie type setting needs to be there for the purpose of helping, not hurting survivors and vulnerable populations.
My issue is that I am seeing rape on a lot of TV shows that is not about that. Game of Throne routinely uses rape of women to advance male character development, reinforce characterization that we already were well aware of, or in the case of Cersei, the creators alarmingly can't tell that what they are depicting is actually rape and so throw it in there with no acknowledgement that what just happened would be traumatic. Fangs for the fantasy just did an excellent article on that, so I'm just going to leave it there for now. I am tired of rape being all about the harm being raped does to the people around the survivor instead of what it means to the survivor (Grimm depicting Juliet as the wronged party in Nick's rape; Sansa's rape being all about Theon's pain, for example). I am tired of rape being the only thing writers can think of to do with a female character. I am tired of it being used as the sole character development or motive for whatever the female characters are doing, or worse it being solely there to motivate another character, much like the fridged woman so often is. I am tired of characters being raped and then the consequences of it for that character being ignored. When it's a male character raped, the psychological consequences are almost always ignored (I remember first noticing this as a child when Jody got raped on Soap), but it happens to women as well. Yes, there are exceptions like War Child, which is much like Speak in the way it deals with silence in the wake of trauma and the power of eventually speaking out, but Nick and Cersei are more often the norm.
There's another point I want to make though, and that's about the way these things are sometimes shot. Often in movies or TV it is done not to show how terrible it is, but for the prurient gaze of the viewer. Mostly this is in cases where a woman is being raped, but for a particularly disgusting example of rape shot for the non-straight male audience, I need look no further than the Outlander season Two finally. I am literally still queasy from having been sucked into seeing that. I do not want rape shot to look like romance aimed for my gaze any more than I want it shot for the straight male gaze. It can serve no good purpose whoever's gaze is being catered to and is a huge insult to those who have survived assaults. It is saying that raping people is sexy and accemptable, and that is flat out the opposite of empowering survivors and working to make things like this not happen out here in the real world.
* Ebay Time, Four lots:
AUTUMN FANCIES 2013 (LE, Halloweenies): (Company says: Dry grasses bathed in amber light, muted by gentle shadows.) Top of label.: http://www.ebay.com/itm/301649341988?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649
THIRTEEN (13): December 2013 (LE, Lunacy): (Company says: Bringing the light of good fortune to the dark of the year! Coconut-infused white chocolate swirled with a mélange of New Year's blessings: smashed pomegranates, a slice of vasilopita, black-eyed peas, rice wine, a bunch of leafy greens, twelve sweet grapes, buckwheat, almond cookies, and glazed doughnuts.) Top of Label. http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/301651167254?
AUTUMN LACE 2012 (LE, Retail Exclusive Oils): (Company says: An October funeral, 1888. Black linen and delicate, sugar-spun lace suffused with the scent of tobacco, black tea, Indian musk, liturgical incense, and cognac, with a drop of laudanum and crushed Autumn leaves.) Just Below Top of Label. http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/301651169035?
DR. HENRY JEKYLL 2009 (LE, Retail Exclusive Oils): (Company says: A discreet men's cologne of juniper, cumin, verbena, bergamot, mint, and basil splattered with dregs from apothecary bottles.) 1/2 Full.
GEISHA IN A STATE OF RUMPLED ANNOYANCE 2014 (LE, Lupercalia, Shunga, novel ideas for secret Amusements): (Company says: French lavender, white plum blossom, white ginger, and rice wine.) 1/2 Full http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/301651171106?
* Want Game of Thrones without the creepy? We desperately need new players. We are very inclusive. "Game of Bones MUSH:" gobmush.wikidot.com
* Nepal Relief: http://thewynne.tumblr.com/post/117524778471/nepal-donations
* Trying to stay afloat until August: http://www.gofundme.com/cuovws or Lethran@gmail.com