Feminist Monday, September 10

Sorry the image is all white. It's from the 1968 protest against the Miss America pageant. Also, that image is a real ad. No joke. We studied it in Graphic Design school in 2005 or so.

I finally saw Crazy Rich Asians with my husband last night and wow! That was amazing. It also had a lot to say about the role of women in families and marriage. So, I'm going to discuss it behind a cut because, well, SPOILERS. 

I deeply enjoyed the way the film both underscored the differences between American culture and Singaporean culture. It also didn't force a compromise or underscore "money isn't important" as often happens in these types of films. Money is important. More to the point, money is important to super rich people. If it weren't, they wouldn't be super rich. That's how it works. So, I loved that everyone was forced to give up something unimportant (pride for example) for the things that were most important to them (love, family, and money.) That rarely happens in a Romantic Comedy.

Next, I wanted to talk about Astrid. Astrid was a wonderful character. She's rich, powerful, beautiful, talented, smart, and above all, empathetic. However, she faces a frequent problem for women like her--a man who simply isn't secure enough in himself to handle the fact that his wife is more famous and powerful than he is. I never once doubted why she married him in the first place. In my experience, there is a type of man who goes out of his way to "win" a powerful woman, and then once he has her, he spends the rest of the relationship tearing her down.[1] Mind you, we don't know for sure that this is the case. What we do know is that she hides herself from him like she does the shopping bags and servants. She let him buy the apartment where their family lives. Yes, he cheats on her, and I have to say I strongly disliked him for that--so much so that it was difficult for me to have any sympathy for him. One of my favorite moments was when she walks in on him packing. And she's all: "What are you doing?" He says, "I'm leaving." And he starts to go on about how he's leaving her and the kids the apartment. Blah. Blah. He has it in his mind that he's the one in power. She just looks at him and says. "No. You're staying. I'm taking the kids and leaving you." The next line is key.

"Where will you go?" he asked.

Think about this for a moment. That one line says so much about their relationship. He's been married to a woman who is a multi-billionaire for at least six or seven years and has no idea that she probably owns a zillion properties? He's so stuck in his, "I am the man and I'm leaving my family for a mistress like men do." narrative that he doesn't for a moment question who actually has the power in the relationship? Her last words to him  comprise the best delivered put-down I've seen on the screen since Cyrano de Bergerac rapid-fire self-insult-quipped in front of an entire pub of drunk people.

"It was never my job to make you feel like a man. I can't make you something you're not."

Blam. Not only does she not need your cheating ass for support, you were the one being supported, asshole.

I love scenes that are so magnificently constructed that character development is revealed in simple lines. It took my breath away.

​It also didn't hurt that Astrid dumped his ass. 

​And now...links.

Literary/Entertainment: First, Olivia Munn Spoke Out About a Registered Sex Offender Being Cast in The Predator, So Her Co-Stars Let Her Handle the Press All by Herself. I'm appalled that the men involved with the new Predator have left her to stand on her own with this issue. I'm not happy with Shane Black at all. Have Kate Elliot's brilliant: Writing Women Characters Into Epic Fantasy Without Quotas. It's an oldie but a goodie. WELL, ACTUALLY: THE TROPE OF THE MANSPLAINER IN COMICS. And the whole GamerGate crap seems never-ending. Two Riot Employees Leave Under Complicated Circumstances After PAX Session Excluding Men [UPDATE] Go ahead and explore the related stories on the bottom of the page because it gets worse when you place the article in context. 50 Shades Of Black: Young Hollywood Has A Colorism Problem That Can’t Be Ignored. Next, Was She J.D. Salinger’s Predator or His Prey? Almost Famous is one of my favorite films. In it, there is a scene that hit me hard in spite of being a throw off line. The fact-checker mutters something to the effect of "--they refer to all the women as chicks. I realize this is a side issue." It stands out every time I see it. Anyway, “It Was Us Against Those Guys”: The Women Who Transformed Rolling Stone in the Mid-70s. Turns out, not only does Rolling Stone owe a lot to the women who worked there, but so do Cameron Crowe AND Hunter S. Thompson.

General: So, this happened: Campaigners celebrate as India decriminalises homosexuality. Yayayayay! In The #MeToo Conversation, Transgender People Face A Barrier To Belief. And that sucks because transgender people often face not just sexual harassment and assault but murder--even more so than CIS women. Unfortunately, even in the Arts and sports industries women have problems with patriarchy. One athlete is fighting back. Professional ballerina, 19, made jaw-dropping find on computer of colleague she was dating — and now she’s suing. And The Disturbing, Shameful History of Childbirth Deaths. Because birth control and abortion are often life-saving options. And from NPR: Why Schools Fail To Teach Slavery's 'Hard History'. And The Catholic Seal of Confession and the securitisation of Muslims. Then Meet the Ultra-Organized Teenager Masterminding Parkland’s Midterms Push. And Sperm Count Zero.

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[1] I can't help thinking of the (non-existent in my world) movie Alien 3. The male writers took a powerful woman and tore her down to nothing. They even dumped her on a planet where rape and murder was a constant threat. They ripped away everything that made Ripley, Ripley and did it with such a mean spirit. I hated it so much. They lost what made Aliens so great: it was a Feminist duology.