tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post6574349537061930709..comments2023-10-25T05:30:54.507-04:00Comments on Oh Get A Grip!: Revenge of the X ChromosomeAshe Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03390519279886657608noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-27506800198981881302012-09-29T02:24:07.154-04:002012-09-29T02:24:07.154-04:00Why does it have to be a case of not liking the mo...Why does it have to be a case of not liking the movie? Do you think that's what my above judgement is about? <br /><br />I love the original, and it has the exact same problem. Finding a movie's representation of women problematic and thoroughly enjoying it are not mutually exclusive to me. <br /><br />Women in refrigerators is the idea that a woman's death (particularly in superhero movies/comics) is there purely to drive the hero's story. It's based on an actual issue of a comic where the hero's girlfriend is found stuffed in a refrigerator. But the idea it's talking about applies to most modern films - that women are only there, dead or alive, to serve the hero's story. <br /><br />And I agree that women are on their way. I just don't agree that they're heading towards some mythical superiority or dominance. And I definitely don't agree that Total Recall is evidence of anything but same old same old.<br /><br />Good examples of *progress* would be Kick-Ass, or maybe Salt (which was originally written for a man), or little moments in male-dominated films like the recent Bourne, Spiderman and Avengers movies. All had wonderful moments of women actually doing stuff, saving the day, getting equal footing with a man. But the very fact that I find that very surprising and positive should tell you something about where women are right now. Charlotte Stein aka The Mighty Viperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13938045078503792108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-67926780792848668952012-09-28T19:53:46.853-04:002012-09-28T19:53:46.853-04:00So - I guess you don't like that movie?
I'...So - I guess you don't like that movie?<br /><br />I've never read about women in refrigerators, what is that?<br /><br />You and I may not agree on this, but I definately think women are on their way, at least in our culture, though you can make a case that the women in Total Recall are a little bit formula bitches. Maybe they're men's idea of bitches.<br /><br />Garce<br />Garceushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11160407485298015371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-8888238450127756312012-09-28T18:06:58.428-04:002012-09-28T18:06:58.428-04:00It's completely obvious and blatant, what Lori...It's completely obvious and blatant, what Lori represents. I've seen her trope a thousand times before - nothing's changed on that score. She's not a kick ass anything. She's the model wife, and when she stops being the model wife she is immediatly the bitch, who is then horribly killed. <br /><br />That's not progress, or evidence that women are going to take over the world. That's male writers stamping women down before they can get even the slightest taste of *equality*, never mind superiority.<br /><br />Total Recall is just the worst example of tough bitches that you could have picked. Even Melina - she exists purely to aid and propel Quade's story. You never learn a thing about her. <br /><br />Ever read up on women in refrigerators? Or the test applied to modern film to see how many times the female characters talk about something other than men? If you haven't, look them up. <br /><br />They'll tell you something about how close women are to taking over anything. Charlotte Stein aka The Mighty Viperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13938045078503792108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-810854673176684352012-09-27T21:46:47.926-04:002012-09-27T21:46:47.926-04:00Oh - and that image is from Frank Frazetta - King ...Oh - and that image is from Frank Frazetta - King of the pulp magazine illustrators. Probably my favorite painter, god help me . . .<br /><br />GarceGarceushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11160407485298015371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-23895856428087503242012-09-27T21:45:11.734-04:002012-09-27T21:45:11.734-04:00Hi Lisabet!
I think we created those images of th...Hi Lisabet!<br /><br />I think we created those images of the 60's mom and dad for ourselves in pop culture also partly because they never existed in real life. My parents weren't like that. I've heard one of the problems Romney has in this election is his family - they're too perfect. His kids and grandkids look like they're stepped squeaky clean and sane from the Eisenhower era and who knows people like that?<br /><br />Tell you what, those curvy women in skirts and pearls, sweet and accessible are still quite a turn on for me.<br /><br />Garce<br />Garceushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11160407485298015371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-46282385662023755342012-09-27T21:40:31.608-04:002012-09-27T21:40:31.608-04:00Hi Fiona!
I've noticed also the 60s style TV ...Hi Fiona!<br /><br />I've noticed also the 60s style TV shows around like Mad Men that are so popular. It does reflect a kind of nostalgia among boomers like me who remember that time, which was a great time to be a white male but not anybody else. <br /><br />I think the kick-ass women may be a reflection of men's fear, but they're also a creation of women especially as they begin to seize on their identity. I've recently been reading Betty Dodson's autobiographical "Sex For One" and I'm reminded of the awesome, and scary (to men) erotic capacity of the female. The erotic capacity of women when awakened is far beyond men. I think this is why men have kept them down through the ages.<br /><br />I've noticed also during this election season the backlash towards women from conservatives and that longing for a simpler time, but I think the tide of history is against them. You can;t put that X chromosome back in the bottle.<br /><br />Garce<br />Garceushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11160407485298015371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-33033788191482746112012-09-27T21:34:24.167-04:002012-09-27T21:34:24.167-04:00Hi Kathleen!
I think media allows for showing wom...Hi Kathleen!<br /><br />I think media allows for showing women more as they are because 1)they're buying power has increased 2) They're more actively involved in the creation of entertainment media. I've always been amazed that the movie of "American Psycho", a savage satire on male values, was directed by a woman. Most of the kick ass heroines in fiction like Anita Blake are also created by women. They've come into their own.<br /><br />Garce<br />Garceushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11160407485298015371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-25949750524187157692012-09-26T23:55:54.367-04:002012-09-26T23:55:54.367-04:00Great post, Garce (where in the world do you get y...Great post, Garce (where in the world do you get your wonderful pictures?), and as usual, full of intriguing questions. <br /><br />I think men and women collaborate (unconsciously) in the images they build of their own and the other's gender. It's also the case that in the fifties - in every era - there were women (and men) who didn't fit into the officially defined roles. In many cases, that made them invisible. (In some cases, they were incarcerated or committed to psychiatric institutions.)<br /><br />Quarantine uses exactly the images you cite from the 1950s. America in the middle of the twenty first century is nostalgic for the golden Eisenhower years. And the genetically tailored porn features curvy women in full skirts and pearls, sweet, welcoming and accessible.<br />Lisabet Saraihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05162514190572269660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-39692740421758606292012-09-26T17:46:23.179-04:002012-09-26T17:46:23.179-04:00I'm not sure how far we have come. Witness th...I'm not sure how far we have come. Witness the proliferation of 60s-oriented TV shows, and you'll catch a whiff of the longing of white men to be back in the catbird seat where they used to perch, supremely happy in their role as #1, while women and people of any color were kept in "their place", which was lower down in the pecking order.<br /><br />I once worked in a division of 14 white men and me...I asked them which made them more uncomfortable, the idea that a white woman was with them, meaning that they were all trying not to swear or tell sexist jokes around me, or the idea that a black man might get promoted, then they'd be unable to tell racist jokes. In other words, would their "male-ness" allow them to bond with the black man in a way they never did with me? (One VP told me I didn't get enough respect from "the gals" in customer service because I used the same bathroom as they did. I offered to try a urinal...)<br /><br />While it may be true that women don't need men to have children, men certainly need women to have their children. But these days we have the courts siding with rapists whose violent acts resulted in a child, and they are legally allowed to sue for joint custody! WTF? Maleness triumphs over legality? <br /><br />We have a huge backlash against women, and I think the kick-ass heroines you spoke of here, Garce, are the result of men's fear that they won't be necessary anymore, and that the female can get by without them. Most women don't want to be like that...but feel abandoned. The old meme no longer fits their lives, because men are so apt to up and leave that a female needs to be able to support herself. But no one really wants to raise children alone...it's tiring in a viscerally-draining way. And it's so comforting to have someone to hold you at night, when your fears threaten to overwhelm you. <br /><br />But men and women both face such fears, as well as the fear of growing old alone. Women also face the ever-present fear of rape and sexual violence, which men don't grow up adapting to. I read a great quote recently: "Homophobia is the fear that some other man will treat you like you treat women". <br /><br />There is still a chasm between us, even in the "enlightened" western first world. Really scared people (white men mostly, and some women) are trying to force us backwards to a reality that probably wasn't really as good as they think it was. But we need to work together as human beings...male and female... to create new paradigms for relationships. <br /><br />I'm the mother of 3 sons and a daughter. I've had these kinds of discussions with them since they learned to talk. Only by making each other think about these things, can we ever hope to progress to a new reality of true, respectful equality. <br /><br />And as for the new movie...the original of Total Recall is one of only 2 movies that I personally own. Just like the new Star Trek movie series is an abomination to anyone who loved all of the old series', the new version is not something I want any part of. Think up some new ideas or I'll stop going to movies!Fiona McGierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13495707848048468428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-34346913277850054352012-09-26T14:26:14.456-04:002012-09-26T14:26:14.456-04:00Garce - having had a great grandmother who kicked ...Garce - having had a great grandmother who kicked ass (her husband's) and took names, I think the difference now is that media allows for the portrayal of women as they are, sort of. Not how they really are, of course, because where's the conflict and drama in that? But at least we have more than two role models now (mother/saint/virgin/bride versus whore/seductress), and being a moral person no longer means being a doormat.Kathleen Bradeanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06347913255760493335noreply@blogger.com