I hate to make my first blog entry here a negative one, but I feel compelled to have my say on this issue of the "Shitbag Misogynist Plans to Exploit SuicideGirls".
I'm not a big fan of knee-jerk reactions. They tend to be totally wrong way too often. But when it comes to the issue of 'torture porn", it's very difficult for me to imagine myself finding a compelling reason to become a booster.
The arguments in favor of movies like the soon-to-be-released Captivity have been offered here on SG. We're all grown-ups here, lots of people enjoy horror movies, etc. They sound like very weak rationalizations to me. A movie like Captivity doesn\'t just randomly, accidentally end up having a female victim to be tortured. Saraah links to a very thoughtful Joss Whedon post concerning the cross-cultural depth and breadth of hostility and violence directed at members of the female gender all across the planet.
These torture porn movies are not harmless - the very real harm done to millions of women on a daily basis ought to be all the evidence necessary on that score. I\'m not suggesting movies of that sort be banned. Far from it - I\'m an ardent advocate of free speech. What I am suggesting is that we, as a society, ought to stop and take a close look at ourselves as we enjoy this "entertainment". Why is it that we derive so much pleasure in observing the torture of women? Why is it that a relatively enlightened entity like SG would feel no compunction at all in endorsing and validating the message of a deeply misogynistic purveyor of torture porn?
The world is not black and white. I\'m not trying to say women are inherently saints - that idea is all wrapped up in the whole madonna/whore syndrome that so many cultures fetishize. I\'m certainly not trying to say all men enjoy seeing women tortured. I\'m not even trying to say that BDSM is necessarily a bad thing - I loved the movie Secretary. What I am saying is that it\'s absolutely wrong for people to derive enjoyment from seeing the most extreme sorts of imagery of women being tortured. I'm hoping folks will grow the fuck up and eventually find their conscience on this issue, but I won\'t be holding my breath.
I'm not a big fan of knee-jerk reactions. They tend to be totally wrong way too often. But when it comes to the issue of 'torture porn", it's very difficult for me to imagine myself finding a compelling reason to become a booster.
The arguments in favor of movies like the soon-to-be-released Captivity have been offered here on SG. We're all grown-ups here, lots of people enjoy horror movies, etc. They sound like very weak rationalizations to me. A movie like Captivity doesn\'t just randomly, accidentally end up having a female victim to be tortured. Saraah links to a very thoughtful Joss Whedon post concerning the cross-cultural depth and breadth of hostility and violence directed at members of the female gender all across the planet.
These torture porn movies are not harmless - the very real harm done to millions of women on a daily basis ought to be all the evidence necessary on that score. I\'m not suggesting movies of that sort be banned. Far from it - I\'m an ardent advocate of free speech. What I am suggesting is that we, as a society, ought to stop and take a close look at ourselves as we enjoy this "entertainment". Why is it that we derive so much pleasure in observing the torture of women? Why is it that a relatively enlightened entity like SG would feel no compunction at all in endorsing and validating the message of a deeply misogynistic purveyor of torture porn?
The world is not black and white. I\'m not trying to say women are inherently saints - that idea is all wrapped up in the whole madonna/whore syndrome that so many cultures fetishize. I\'m certainly not trying to say all men enjoy seeing women tortured. I\'m not even trying to say that BDSM is necessarily a bad thing - I loved the movie Secretary. What I am saying is that it\'s absolutely wrong for people to derive enjoyment from seeing the most extreme sorts of imagery of women being tortured. I'm hoping folks will grow the fuck up and eventually find their conscience on this issue, but I won\'t be holding my breath.
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I remember watching MTV after school and dancing around in my hammer pants. Errr... wow, yeah that's lame. Yay internet!