matgb: Artwork of 19th century upper class anarchist, text: MatGB (WTF)
2008-03-25 11:47 pm

Joss Whedon a rapist and Firefly irredeemably sexist?

Um, favour, having read this screed, can one of the lesbian feminist sisters reading this, or indeed anyone with an interest[1], especially those of you that said you liked Firefly please confirm my suspicion that A Rapist's View of the World: Joss Whedon and Firefly is in fact an ill-informed biased rant of the sort that can give decent feminists a bad name?

Because, y'know, while I'm happy to accept that it contains some inadvertent sexisms, that the idea of the Companions Guild is going to split opinion and that nobody is perfect, I was sorta of the opinion that, for an SF TV series, Firefly was actually pretty good about gender and race issues, and I most certainly don't think that Zoe was objectified from the get go. But, as in all things, I welcome sane alternate positions and am always open to persuasion. Just that, well, that rant has put me off giving the positions put forward any credence.

ETA: Well, she's deleting comments all over the place, not just made by you guys but also from those made by people coming in from all over the place. Bloglines gives her over 100 incoming links, Blogger Blogsearch gives her 144 (Technorati proves its uselessness yet again by giving 17). Best I've seen is this, courtesy of [livejournal.com profile] ladyegreen in the comments here. Biggest point I've seen raised that I didn't really highlight in my initial post is that by declaring Joss (and Wash) to be rapists for the reason she states is to belittle those who have actually experienced rape and devalue their experiences dealing with it. Given a few people I care about a great deal are included in that number, it really annoys me when that sort of extremist argument is used. Ah well, lunatic of the day and all that—she's censoring most of the comments that are put in, and letting some in from some people but not all of them, her journal, but I really don't see the point myself.

[1] Because, y'know, I tend to try to take the opinon of everyone seriously until and unless they prove their opinions to have no merit, and don't really like judging based on gender or sexuality, I find groupthink to be a bad idea regardless. Don't know about you.

Via James (again), who doesn't share my opinion on the merits of the show.
matgb: (Politics)
2005-11-27 10:29 pm

Rape, consent and inebriation

[livejournal.com profile] innerbrat is a friend from London I mostly know through LJ, but have met at Synthetic Culture and the Head of Steam a few times. We've been talking serious stuff; specifically, about her experience of rape. Entry from [livejournal.com profile] nolittleengland that I just his submit on:
Reading the Britblog roundup guest hosted by Philobiblion this week, there are several articles on the worrying Amnesty Report on British attitudes to rape. Unsurprisingly, this has also been a topic of conversation amongst some of my friends, and, well, I've already chosen my nomination for next weeks round up.

It's from a friends personal journal, normally the source of frivolity and light hearted banter. Not today however. You see, she, like Rachel has also, in the past, been the victim of a rapist. And she wants to do something about it. Read more... )

Is it right that a sober man can have sex with someone unable to think for themselves and not face any consequences? If it was Rohipnol, then no. But if it's alcohol? Debi thinks the law should be changed. She's persuaded me of her case. Now I want to get others to join in, or, if you do disagree, explain why, and give reasons we can try to answer. I find rape to be the most reprehensible of crimes, and I find the attitudes of certain sectors within society to be, well, wrong. No means no, but yes should not be the assumed state.

Any takers?
Please, regardless of opinion one way or another, go comment on her journal or on my blog post? Either support and agree, or try and find holes, if the law is to be changed, the argument for the change has to be solid.

*I know, I didn't get to Exeter today as planned, I was in an antisocial mood, so stayed in and got myself involved in something, again. Edit changed the opening paragraph because that's what Bloggers backlinks quote, and a few of the blogs I've linked to are showing this entry up.
matgb: Artwork of 19th century upper class anarchist, text: MatGB (LJ-Marvin)
2000-06-30 12:00 am

Hello and welcome, I guess

This is not my first post. This is just redated so it's not at the top of my journal all the time.

I'm Mat. This is my personal journal, the fun stuff. I also write in a few other places, including Not Little England (on UK politics) and TaKtiX (about gaming).

For more about me, your best bet is to read the bio and Userinfo. This post is mostly here so I can find all the tags I use easily, it may get more useful stuff in the future. It's not a 'Friends Only' Journal, but I do filter some stuff. Oh, if you're using Internet Explorer... ) go here and get help.

My Blogs: )
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