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Rape as Political Theater: Do WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange’s Alleged Rape Victims Deserve More Respect?
Bond girls are often victims rescued by Bond, fellow agents or allies, villainesses, or members of an enemy organization (typically the villain’s accomplice, assistant, or mistress). Some are mere eye candy and have no direct involvement in Bond’s mission; other Bond girls play a pivotal role in the success of the mission. Other female characters, such as Judi Dench’s M, and Miss Moneypenny, are not typically thought of as Bond girls.
— Wikipedia entry, “Bond girls”
In our favorite espionage stories, women often play accessories to men who really drive the plot, usually adding something pretty to look at, or exposing the weak spot in a hero’s otherwise unflinching resolve. Then there are the women whose pleasant exteriors mask ugly character flaws and evil motivations (usually spurred by a male super-villain). But at the end of the day, they’re either dead at the bottom of a cliff or safely in the hero’s arms, and we don’t really need to worry about her (or the sex she’s been having with guys she’s not attracted to for the sake of her job).
In this week’s most popular tale of espionage, politics, and conspiracy, women are hardly elevated above those traditional, limiting roles: Whether you see WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange as hero or villain, the stories of two Swedish women, “Miss A” and “Miss W,” are significant but vague asides to the more fascinating battle between political sides. Both of Assange’s alleged rape victims (and the rapes themselves) are interesting insofar as they compromise Assange or benefit his opponents, but hardly a headline wonders about the health and well-being of two women who’ve been molested and forced to endure non-consensual sex.
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Post from: BlissTree
Angelina Jolie Says Her Film Doesn’t Offend Most People
Earlier this week, we asked if Angelina Jolie deserved to lose her status as U.N. Ambassador, as some Bosnian women suggested in response to rumors about the storyline of her new film. Jolie responded to the letter, which condemns her story of a Serbian man and a Bosnian woman who fall in love during the Bosnian war, saying “There’s one person who has a gripe. The absolute majority of the people, population, the cast, prime minister, president have been extremely supportive.” In a statement made in Paris, she also stated that 95% of the film’s cast is survivors of the war. … More »
Post from: BlissTree
Should Angelina Jolie Lose Her U.N. Ambassador Status?
Angelina Jolie’s foray into directing may also be her exit from the good graces of many humanitarian organizations, thanks to her portrayal of a love story between a Muslim woman and Serbian man during the Bosnian War. In a letter to the U.N. from the Women Victims of War Association, female survivors of wartime sexual violence called the actress “ignorant” and expressed their desire to meet with Jolie to offer their perspective for fair representation in the film. They concluded with the suggestion that she be removed from the United Nations’ Refugee Agency, saying: “Angelina made a big mistake. We feel that she did not act like a real UNHCR ambassador and we believe that she has no more credibility to remain the ambassador.”
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Post from: BlissTree
Healthy Censorship? 10 Books That Have Been Banned, Censored, or Hated as Much as The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure
The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure: A Child-Lover’s Code of Conduct has caused a wave of criticism, angry Amazon customers, and demands that the online bookseller pull the self-published book from its site. Whether or not you believe Amazon should ban the book, there are plenty of other volumes sold on the discount bookseller’s site that have sparked at least as much controversy. And we don’t just mean illicit novels or racy teenage fiction (although the American Library Association has plenty of those on its most-challenged books lists). We’re talking about books that, like The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure, approach issues of health and law from a non-fiction stance. … More »
Post from: BlissTree
Healthy Censorship: 10 Books That Have Been Banned, Censored, or Hated as Much as The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure
The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure: A Child-Lover’s Code of Conduct has caused a wave of criticism, angry Amazon customers, and demands that the online book-seller pull the self-published book from its site. Whether you believe that Amazon should ban the book or not, there are plenty of other volumes sold on the discount book-seller’s site that have sparked at least as much controversy. We don’t just mean illicit novels or racy teenage fiction (although the American Library Association has plenty of those on their most-challenged books lists). We’re talking about books that, like The Pedophile’s Guide, approach issues of health and law from a non-fiction stance. … More »
Post from: BlissTree
Poll: Should Amazon Have Pulled The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure: A Child-Lover’s Code of Conduct?
By now you’ve heard about the hot water Amazon.com is in over this new self-published e-book: The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure: A Child-lover’s Code of Conduct by Phillip R. Greaves II. During the initial onslaught of criticism and frenzied demands to remove the book from the online seller, Amazon resisted, saying that while they don’t condone criminal activity, they do support their customers’ rights to make their own purchasing decisions. And they also don’t support censorship. But late last night, after online shoppers took to Facebook and Twitter to organize a global boycott, Amazon caved to pressure and pulled the book from its Kindle shop.
We certainly don’t support pedophilia or any other type of criminal activity. But we’re not big fans of censorship, either.
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Post from: BlissTree
The Intercourse-Is-Rape Argument: What’s German for Déjà Vu?
I don’t know how to say “déjà vu” in German, but the recent argument between German feminist Alice Schwarzer and Kristina Schroeder, the German Minister of Families, over the nature of hetersexual intercourse is making me feel like I’m in Women’s Studies 101 all over again. (If you haven’t read about it, Schwarzer claimed that sex subjugates women, Schroeder disagreed, and insults ensued.)
In 1987, radical American feminist Andrea Dworkin’s published the book Intercourse, sparking especially strong controversy with comments, like the following, that imply the inherent violence of intercourse: … More »
Post from: BlissTree
The Intercourse-Is-Rape Argument: What’s German for Déjà Vu?
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