The Sarah Connor Chronicles, as most of you probably already know, is officially canceled, and I honestly thought I was OK with it. I pretty much made my peace with the possibility of cancellation after the season finale. Except, well, I'm really not OK with it. I'm especially not OK with it when Dollhouse gets a second season but TSCC gets canceled. I just- it just fucking burns on so many levels, that of course they would renew the show that represents women as sex objects instead of the show depicting women as human. I'm just really angry with this.

Otherwise, have some awesome meta and review about the new Star Trek film.

Testing out the new crossposting capabilities of dw.

A few meta-ish thoughts; I’m not a contributor to fandom, at least not in the ways of fanfiction, fanart or other fan-activities. I do reviews, I meta and I squee, but mostly I consume fan-products; fics, arts, music-mixes and so forth. Even then I don’t do these activities with much discipline as my attention span is like that of a gnat. Sparkly things will distract me, and if a show becomes ‘bad’ or becomes something I no long care about I tend to stop talking about it all together. This is a bit of a double-edged sword; on the one hand it means I don’t get caught up in wank and have a much saner outlook on fandom (LAUGH people, laugh, we READ porn about FICTIONAL people, how can we take it seriously?), however, it also means I don’t have the social capital (thank you charmian) to influence others into my way of thinking (I like to be right, being wrong ruffles my feathers, I’m trying to change that) or to even discuss my pet-theories because no one knows me. Thank gods I have RL people to blather to.

Anyways, my next fannish/meta-ish thought, the one I have had since Dear Awesome Bela was killed, and Castiel became the new bicycle for the SPN slash fandom. To put into context (post via fools_game... I wonder how the user name tag will crosspost), when Misha Collins was asked why he thinks certain guest-stars are more popular than others.

"It's because I'm not female."

And with that I’m going to go and have some lunch.

ETA: Some minor issues with this. I'll need to work on the cross-posting aspect of it.

Testing out the new crossposting capabilities of dw.

A few meta-ish thoughts; I’m not a contributor to fandom, at least not in the ways of fanfiction, fanart or other fan-activities. I do reviews, I meta and I squee, but mostly I consume fan-products; fics, arts, music-mixes and so forth. Even then I don’t do these activities with much discipline as my attention span is like that of a gnat. Sparkly things will distract me, and if a show becomes ‘bad’ or becomes something I no long care about I tend to stop talking about it all together. This is a bit of a double-edged sword; on the one hand it means I don’t get caught up in wank and have a much saner outlook on fandom (LAUGH people, laugh, we READ porn about FICTIONAL people, how can we take it seriously?), however, it also means I don’t have the social capital (thank you charmian) to influence others into my way of thinking (I like to be right, being wrong ruffles my feathers, I’m trying to change that) or to even discuss my pet-theories because no one knows me. Thank gods I have RL people to blather to.

Anyways, my next fannish/meta-ish thought, the one I have had since Dear Awesome Bela was killed, and Castiel became the new bicycle for the SPN slash fandom. To put into context (post via fools_game... I wonder how the user name tag will crosspost), when Misha Collins was asked why he thinks certain guest-stars are more popular than others.

"It's because I'm not female."

And with that I’m going to go and have some lunch.

Paris Hilton being awesome. I feel very conflicted.

I have always seen Paris Hilton as someone who is very smart when it comes to cashing in on the general mass. She makes the best out of her situations and while I don’t like the idea of her as a role model for young girls, there is something to be said of a woman who has become a culture icon (and rich) purely based on her name and her gender. It is fascinating because she is earning money not because some big corporation decided to exploit her sexuality; she is earning money because she went and decided that if her sex tapes are out there already than she was definitely going to earn some cold hard cash from it.

So, not someone I’d recommend as a female role model, except she is rich, happy and obviously have more control of her life and image than many people. I wouldn’t say I respect her, but it is hard not have a bit of respect for Paris Hilton when you realise just how in control of her own life she is, and how she make evey public humiliation work in her favour.

Conflicted.

My problems with the current media trend summed up in a much more coherent and awesome way.

and i feel this way a lot. like movie makers and tv show producers are breathlessly hovering, waiting for the audience reaction to yet another death of yet another female character meant to propel yet another protagonist into action or character development. like they're waiting for the audience to be shocked so they can be smug and say, "bet you didn't think we'd go there, did you? bet you didn't think we'd make such a brave choice with our story, did you?"

well, you know what? i did. of course i did.

Thank you.

ETA: I need to watch Iron Man again because Pepper Potts is awesome, and it is nice to see a female character that doesn't get killed to further the plot or to create angst for the protagonist.

Watching Miss Universe has always been an exercise of utter rage and wilful glee on my part. This year’s contest was both scary and mediocre. There is something very wrong with the world when Miss Japan looked physically healthier than Miss Venezuela (ala Miss Universe 2008) or that most of the Asian competitors appeared to have more flesh on them than their Caucasian counterparts. The swimsuit-shoot was horrifying because I could see the RIBS on most of the contestants. Anorexia is not sexy and many of them looked like pre-pubescent girls. Their arms were so bony that they looked like spider legs; so SPINDLY, it was really unattractive. I do, however, admit that most of them looked good when they had clothing on.

So, things I have noticed while watching the contest; A) I couldn’t tell half of the contestants apart as they all seemed to have the EXACT SAME face. B) Their median age was 21; yes, youth sells, but it seems the American-run competition is trying to send a very simple message - women have use by dates. C) Not one contestant listed gaming or computers as their interests; I’m really kind of disappointed. Not one geek, then again I remember the days when most contestants actually had a university education. D) I really liked Miss USA as she was 26, had flesh on her bones, and had an amazing presence. Was very disappointed when she didn’t get into the top 5, she may have fallen but she dealt with it with such amazing grace and aplomb.

Overall Miss Universe is doing a bang up job of promoting anorexia, a homogenous idea of beauty and that 19-22 year olds are the only one considered to be beautiful. Oh, and let’s not forget the single-minded focus on their physical presence, beauty, and really very little focus on their intelligence. Some of those girls seemed quite intelligent but that was glossed over in favour of the hair and outfits.

In conclusion, still a meat market.

Women GIs in fear of the enemy in their army

From the above article:

When Dr John Johnson finally brought himself to look at the slain body of his beautiful 19-year-old daughter flown home from Iraq, he knew immediately he was looking at murder. This was no suicide from a self-inflicted M-16 wound, as the military would later claim.

Private LaVena Johnson's nose was broken, teeth were loose, one eye was concave and there were abrasions over her body. The supposed M-16 hole to the head was far too small for the revolver-sized exit wound, and was on the wrong side of her skull for a right-handed woman to have pulled the trigger. Her genital area showed evidence of acid, perhaps used to destroy DNA evidence. She had white military gloves glued to her burned hands.

When I asked LaVena's mother if she felt her daughter's case was being covered up by the US military, she replied without hesitation: "Absolutely. There's no doubt in my mind."

tripoli8 has a much more comprehensive post on the situation. And this is one of the reasons that I think the world should just fucking end already.

So, Doctor Who love. Yes, I'm still 4 episodes behind but that's not the point. It is just I'm currently going through the monthly ritual of my uterus shredding itself, and I just really want to remind myself that the world is full of awesome women who are still women while saving the day. And you know, Doctor Who is full of awesome women who are still women.

Rose Tyler - I love Rose Tyler, without her I would not have continued watching the first series of DW. She made me love the Doctor, and she was so brave in the face of everything. There is so much courage, compassion and love in her. Rose Tyler who came back despite being sent away. My heart broke for her at the end of season 2.

Martha Jones - Martha Jones, Saviour of Humanity. Honestly, what else can you say? Martha Jones is a doctor, who wants to save people, and she does, she saves the whole world. She fell in love with the Doctor and she knew when it was time to leave, because she wasn’t going to be that girl. Martha Jones who travelled throughout the world; alone, changing people and giving them hope. Martha Jones, Saviour of Humanity.

Donna Noble - Oh gods, how I love seeing a companion who knows herself. Donna Noble, who is not in love with the Doctor, who is in love with wanting to see the fantastic, to see the universe, who is compassionate enough in wanting to save the few if not the world. Donna Noble, I hope I can be like you when I grow up.

In conclusion; DW is a show filled with awesome women.

One thing though; I’m still confused about the Rose hate, I don’t understand it. Please explain in a coherent and logical manner. If your logic is not Earth logic I may ignore.

On the life front - a friend of mine was out at a pub with a group of her girlfriends. All of their drinks were spiked. There have been hospital visits, police visits, and possibly long lasting effects. Nothing can be determined until the blood works come back and the doctors can figure out what they were spiked with.

Shit like this makes me want to put my default setting when meeting male of the species to Hate until proven otherwise. Considering the statistics on murder, rape and other forms of assaults committed by men against women I'm thinking it is a pretty good default setting. Hell, it is the smart setting.

Oh wow. I really shouldn't be surprised by the sheer venom and hypocrisy crawling out from both sides of the fence but wow. It is like politics; not agreeing with someone means slinging mud at their reputation, their ideology and apparently if you see misogyny you are reading too much into it. Let's not mind the fact that most of us are in this fandom for the INCESTOUS PORN. HELLO PEOPLE! INCESTOUS FUCKING PORN that is NOT supported by canon. Or if you DON'T see misogyny then you are obviously a SELF-HATING woman who is an embarrassment to her OWN gender, and just DON'T understand the TRUTH! Could it be, just the tiniest bit that we, yes, that mean we as WOMEN see things DIFFERENTLY because of our DIFFERENT UPBRINGING. And it is due to these DIFFERENT experiences that we bring DIFFERENT baggage to the table whenever we view a text and as result interpret things differently. But no, it CAN’T BE, because we, as WOMEN, are UNANIMOUS, we obviously CAN’T have DIFFERENT THOUGHTS from one another. And if other women don’t see what we see then they are OBVIOUSLY fucking insane and wrong.

Wow. Just wow. Fandom, you fucking fail so badly.

ETA: No, not posting any links.

Talks of misogyny in this season of SPN have been on again, off again and now on 24/7 since the season finale. I have been playing catch up to all the very intelligent posts that has been happening, and while they have been fascinating I admit I can’t seem to connect with them, either on an emotional or intellectual level. In short – I just don’t see the misogyny on SPN (I do however, have issues with MM).

People can try and convince me until they are blue in the face, but the point is what has been depicted on the show does not equate to my personal paradigm of misogyny. I can see why someone else’s view can be different from mine, but I don’t have to accept it as the truth because I don’t agree and more importantly I don’t see it.

There have been talks that the use of words such as ‘bitch’, ‘slut’ and ‘skank’ has raised in relation to female characters. But I have always seen it as a result of an increase in female antagonists on the show. I’m really unsure what else Dean and Sam are meant to call them when expressing anger, fear or hate toward them. I personally don’t like the terms ‘slut’ and ‘skank’ but honestly speaking, this is Dean we are talking about, and as much I love him he isn’t exactly what I call politically correct.

More intelligent people have made much more thoughtful posts about the issue, and while I may not agree with them, they do make very interesting points.

Rape Is Not a Crime? Who Knew?.

I swear if one more person says she deserved it, or she should have, or it is her own fault I will go for their fucking face and their fucking genitalia with a sharp object. Yes, this will include any of my guy friends who open their fucking mouths without thinking.

Murder victims are not given the same level of crap as rape victims. It is never the fault of the murder victim even if the victim chose to walk home by him/herself, it is never their fault when they are in bad part of town, and it is never their fault for living alone. But by the gods if a 16-yr-old-girl was drunk and raped it is of course all her own fault. Oh no, it couldn’t possibly be the fault of these upstanding young men who didn’t do anything by got her drunk and then gang-raped her. Fuck you dickheads, I hope to gods someone cut off your dicks.

There is no gender equality, and hence I’m a feminist.

The Open Source Women Back Each Other Up program.

I would like to start the Open Source Women Back Each Other Up Program. Here's my pledge: if I see somebody groping you in public, and you're not moaning Yes! Yes! Yes!, I will break through your Somebody Else's Problem invisibility field and come over and ask if you're okay. If your situation looks dangerous enough I can't help on my own, I will call over friends or, if it's a situation in which I think the cops would be on your side, I will call the cops. If you're being harassed by a guy, you can say so to me, even if you don't know me. I pledge I will distract him so you can get away, or I will tell him that he needs to leave, or whatever I can do to the best of my ability. I pledge that yes, actually, because you are a woman I will give you the benefit of the doubt. If you tell me that a guy just did something shitty to you I will not refuse to look at any evidence and tell you that I know him and he's a great guy and you must have been imagining things. I have great loyalty to my male friends but I will not allow that to blind me to the fact that none of us are saints and even my best friends can screw up and may need to be called on it. I pledge that I will walk you to your car if you don't feel safe walking alone at night, and then you can drive me to mine.

LOVES!

Also, casting spoilers for season 4 of Supernatural. Um, I'm actually not too happy about it, I mean I'm not disappointed or anything but ( spoilers )

So, some guy talked about asking to touch Women's Boobs, and right off I can think of the arguments for it.

1. He asked first.
2. She can say no.
3. She didn’t say no.
4. We only want to touch nice boobs.

My reaction - sure, you can touch my boobs, if I can cut your dick off first.

I love how it is all about the MAN PAIN, and that OH NOES! I was so horribly scarred in high school, blah, blah, blah sob story. Do not speak to me about your emotional trauma if you have never been viewed as a piece of meat with no higher brain functions but for your breast and your vagina. So, fuck you and your ‘movement’, if I ever meet you in person I will kick you in the nuts.

I'm a woman, I live with the background thought that I can be attacked at any time because I am woman, because apparently being a woman means it is OK to be harassed in a sexual manner.

If you cannot see what is wrong with asking a woman whether you can touch her boobs then I really don't want to talk to you or know you. Please de-friend me it would make you and I feel much better.

ETA: Open Source Swift Kick to the Balls Project - YAY!

Fuck no.

Homocide is one of the leading causes of death in pregnant women. One in five pregnant women is murdered. So, fuck you dickhead, I hope someone cut off your dick and serve it to you on a plate.

I went to the Everywoman Expo at the convention centre today. It is an expo that's supposedly aimed at women, to cater to their needs and wants. I went with the assumption that it was an expo trying to assist and support women - training courses for women who want to develop themselves professionally and personally. Instead, it was a whoring session on the part of cosmetic companies trying to sell their products to women, because apparently getting rid of cellulites, spending $300.00 on cosmetics and health club membership are everything a woman need or want.

While I would like to get rid of cellulites and look shiny, I really didn't need to spend $15.00 to be allowed admittance to the equivalent of a market; except the products at the expo are about 100% more expensive. It did not feel like an attempt to help and support women, it felt like a chance for companies to make a quick buck off women in general, it isn’t as if women aren’t bombarded with image issues already. All sarcasm meant.

And just for the record - I did not spend a cent, the ticket was a gift, so yay for me.

ETA: And since I'm blabbing about gender issues anyways, the new official SPN promo for season 3 - it is cool, creepy and all sorts of awesome. But, (you know it was coming) is it just me or are all the evil/supernatural beings they show in the clip are, um, well, women? (Wait, I spotted the serial killer ghost). Hell, why are all the victims women (beside Sam and Dean, but considering they only have shots of women screaming in terror and Sam and Dean being all proactive...). What happened to the YED? Not going to go into too much detail, basically, the clip makes all my gender issue antennae go nuts. That's all.

Joss Whedon speaks out about the torture and murder of Dua Khalil.

I don't talk about the issue of gender equality much, mainly because I think I'm pretty damn lucky, and my guy friends tends to present a pretty convincing case of how feminism have gone too far. But you know - every time I hear about a woman being raped, every time I see a religion/culture punish a woman for being a woman, and every time I turn on the fucking television and it is about sexualising a woman and not returning her the dignity she deserves, I think feminism didn't go far enough.

I don’t understand how anyone would want to punish someone because of their gender, I don’t understand how anyone can think a girl deserves to be tortured and stoned to death, and I don’t understand how someone can have the fucking time to film it but the not the time to stop it.

This hurts - there are days that I honestly hate humanity, and the thought of us nuking ourselves out of existence because of our own stupidity doesn’t sound so bad.

So, I went to the library during lunch today to pick up some light reading (NO MORE taxation), and picked up 3 books.

1. Action Chicks, edited by Sherrie A. Inness
2. Our Space, Our Place: Women in the Words of Science Fiction Television, by Sherry Ginn
3. Athena's Daughters: Television's New Women Warriors, edited by Frances Early and Kathleen Kennedy

It is time like these that I wish I had the same type of interest in light reading when I was doing film-studies. As it is I've come to the realisation as to why I prefer to read fan-written wank than academic-written wank. It is the love and the shameless fanaticism fans show for the object of their obsession. The energy comes through in fan-wank that is greatly lacking in academic-written wank, and I find myself missing the humour and the sheer enthusiasm as I’m reading through the articles.

I do like the articles about women in Farscape though.