Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Monday, October 29, 2012
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Okay Feminists, listen...
You're basically right. Let's get that out of the way. 98% of what feminist are currently saying is more or less correct. Dismissal of Intellect? Yeah, that happens. Objectification on a Mass Scale? Yeah, we still do that. Rape? Yeah. Reproductive rights? We've got problems like wow. Male Gaze? Guilty, though I'm not really sure how you intend to fix it without changing genetics. I agree with the substance of your arguments and endorse the whole of your ideas. (you can already hear the "but" coming, can't you?)
HOWEVER!
Pretending that there was NEVER a time when the man-hating feminist was a thing?
That's a lie.
Argue they were a minority, argue they don't matter, argue that those ideas were part of a process and are no longer needed, but don't say they never happened. Valerie Solanas was a popular and influential feminist of her time. And the SCUM Manifesto was, by her word, a serious work. She stated several times that she meant every word. Now, if you want to say "That doesn't represent current feminist attitudes and never really represented mainstream feminism" no one would be happier to listen to you than me. I don't think those ideas where ever really picked up on by most women who were looking more for better pay, less objectification, and maybe a little more understanding about what we all have to go through.
Except of course, a few mainstream feminists pick up on those ideas and expressed great admiration for those works. Gloria Steinem does represent mainstream second wave feminism and I found her hateful enough that I recoiled from her works when I tried to read them. Germaine Greer gives me similar problems as well. Both of them are intelligent women, with a lot of important things to say, but it gets lost in passages that left me going "Oh, it's like that is it?" Sort of a shame, but there it is. I got burned at an early age by some very harsh talk and had to make my way to the idea that you're getting fucked over on my own. I've had problems with a lot of the second wave feminism that I've read. I've read a lot I agree with as well, but on the whole I end up feeling like being born with a penis was a failing on my part. I sort of prefer the purity of the first wave, from what I've read of it. I'll grant, I haven't read all there has been to read, but I've read a few of the books and articles over the years. Of course, you also have Betty Friedan, who is the originator of the phrase, "Men weren’t really the enemy — they were fellow victims suffering from an outmoded masculine mystique that made them feel unnecessarily inadequate when there were no bears to kill." which is pretty good.
NOW!
Current feminist? Third Wave Feminist? Fine group, interesting ideas. I'm sort of annoyed that many of them are saying the exact same things that first and second wave feminists said, but that's more of a "Are you really still having to talk about that? Haven't we fixed that yet?" which is more a problem with society than the writer. I find that those feminists are much more even handed, and tend to extend out the idea that men aren't the enemy, but a fellow combatant. I like the idea that it won't really work until we're all free. I get a better feeling that third wave has done more to embrace the "Man is not the enemy here, but the fellow victim." mindset.
So far I haven't had much of a problem... EXCEPT! This wish to pretend those second wave feminists didn't exist. It is a problem. It smacks either of ignorance or of dishonesty, and we can't have an intelligent conversation with either of those hanging over our heads. It's like saying misandry doesn't exist. Yes, it does. I can prove it does. I've seen examples of misandrists in my own life. The level of misandry I have seen, as compared to the level of misogyny is akin to that of the rainfall of Des Moines as opposed to the rainforest of the Amazon. But let's not try and pretend that it never rains in Des Moines, okay? It does, just not as much as the Amazon.
To say that it never rains, or that there are no man hater, when we can pull out sheets of paper to the contrary, is far more problematic than having to deal with the fact that someone can justifiably call you a liar. Stand up tall, say "Yes, that happened, however that doesn't invalidate everything else I've just said. The amount of shit women have to put up with is far and away far more than men have to deal with." Yeah, some asshole will try to shut you down once you agree it happens to both sides, but that guy is shutting you down RIGHT NOW with far more justification because you are either lying about or are ignorant of what your own side has previously said.
You can't let those assholes have any more ammo than you can help. Why give them that? I don't want to be 60 and still having people asking if there are any funny women despite the fact that Kate Beaton, Josie Long, Susan Calman, Tina Fey and Ellen DeGeneres out there. Never mind the republicans talking about how awesome rape is, let's sort out if women can be funny first. Yes, they can. Okay, glad that's settled.
Look, I'll make it simple. It comes down to veracity, and I want this discussion to have some. We must remain truthful. Yes, the bra-burning was false, never happened, but that doesn't mean that nothing bad has ever come from our side. Accept it, and move on.
I have never considered myself a feminist, because I don't have the equipment for it. I mean the mental equipment, there is not going to be a cheap penis joke here. I am far to entrenched in the male mindset to really understand what women are going through, in much the same sense that I can never really understand what it's like to be a poor black growing up in the ghetto. I can say "Yeah, that's bullshit and it shouldn't happen." but I can't even begin to say I understand what that person went through. I've got my own sexual-socio-political problems to work out. Now it may be that some of our issues actually coincide, but I've got to come from a different angle and I'm attacking from the other side. But I do so with as much honesty as I can muster and I ask you to do the same.
Also, if anyone can tell me if Anne Rice was endorsing Valerie Solanas's ideas in Queen of the Damned or satirizing them, I'd appreciate it.
HOWEVER!
Pretending that there was NEVER a time when the man-hating feminist was a thing?
That's a lie.
Argue they were a minority, argue they don't matter, argue that those ideas were part of a process and are no longer needed, but don't say they never happened. Valerie Solanas was a popular and influential feminist of her time. And the SCUM Manifesto was, by her word, a serious work. She stated several times that she meant every word. Now, if you want to say "That doesn't represent current feminist attitudes and never really represented mainstream feminism" no one would be happier to listen to you than me. I don't think those ideas where ever really picked up on by most women who were looking more for better pay, less objectification, and maybe a little more understanding about what we all have to go through.
Except of course, a few mainstream feminists pick up on those ideas and expressed great admiration for those works. Gloria Steinem does represent mainstream second wave feminism and I found her hateful enough that I recoiled from her works when I tried to read them. Germaine Greer gives me similar problems as well. Both of them are intelligent women, with a lot of important things to say, but it gets lost in passages that left me going "Oh, it's like that is it?" Sort of a shame, but there it is. I got burned at an early age by some very harsh talk and had to make my way to the idea that you're getting fucked over on my own. I've had problems with a lot of the second wave feminism that I've read. I've read a lot I agree with as well, but on the whole I end up feeling like being born with a penis was a failing on my part. I sort of prefer the purity of the first wave, from what I've read of it. I'll grant, I haven't read all there has been to read, but I've read a few of the books and articles over the years. Of course, you also have Betty Friedan, who is the originator of the phrase, "Men weren’t really the enemy — they were fellow victims suffering from an outmoded masculine mystique that made them feel unnecessarily inadequate when there were no bears to kill." which is pretty good.
NOW!
Current feminist? Third Wave Feminist? Fine group, interesting ideas. I'm sort of annoyed that many of them are saying the exact same things that first and second wave feminists said, but that's more of a "Are you really still having to talk about that? Haven't we fixed that yet?" which is more a problem with society than the writer. I find that those feminists are much more even handed, and tend to extend out the idea that men aren't the enemy, but a fellow combatant. I like the idea that it won't really work until we're all free. I get a better feeling that third wave has done more to embrace the "Man is not the enemy here, but the fellow victim." mindset.
So far I haven't had much of a problem... EXCEPT! This wish to pretend those second wave feminists didn't exist. It is a problem. It smacks either of ignorance or of dishonesty, and we can't have an intelligent conversation with either of those hanging over our heads. It's like saying misandry doesn't exist. Yes, it does. I can prove it does. I've seen examples of misandrists in my own life. The level of misandry I have seen, as compared to the level of misogyny is akin to that of the rainfall of Des Moines as opposed to the rainforest of the Amazon. But let's not try and pretend that it never rains in Des Moines, okay? It does, just not as much as the Amazon.
To say that it never rains, or that there are no man hater, when we can pull out sheets of paper to the contrary, is far more problematic than having to deal with the fact that someone can justifiably call you a liar. Stand up tall, say "Yes, that happened, however that doesn't invalidate everything else I've just said. The amount of shit women have to put up with is far and away far more than men have to deal with." Yeah, some asshole will try to shut you down once you agree it happens to both sides, but that guy is shutting you down RIGHT NOW with far more justification because you are either lying about or are ignorant of what your own side has previously said.
You can't let those assholes have any more ammo than you can help. Why give them that? I don't want to be 60 and still having people asking if there are any funny women despite the fact that Kate Beaton, Josie Long, Susan Calman, Tina Fey and Ellen DeGeneres out there. Never mind the republicans talking about how awesome rape is, let's sort out if women can be funny first. Yes, they can. Okay, glad that's settled.
Look, I'll make it simple. It comes down to veracity, and I want this discussion to have some. We must remain truthful. Yes, the bra-burning was false, never happened, but that doesn't mean that nothing bad has ever come from our side. Accept it, and move on.
I have never considered myself a feminist, because I don't have the equipment for it. I mean the mental equipment, there is not going to be a cheap penis joke here. I am far to entrenched in the male mindset to really understand what women are going through, in much the same sense that I can never really understand what it's like to be a poor black growing up in the ghetto. I can say "Yeah, that's bullshit and it shouldn't happen." but I can't even begin to say I understand what that person went through. I've got my own sexual-socio-political problems to work out. Now it may be that some of our issues actually coincide, but I've got to come from a different angle and I'm attacking from the other side. But I do so with as much honesty as I can muster and I ask you to do the same.
Also, if anyone can tell me if Anne Rice was endorsing Valerie Solanas's ideas in Queen of the Damned or satirizing them, I'd appreciate it.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Yes, uncle, now take one of the yellow ones.
Whenever people say something like "Kids today..." or bitch about Das Bieber or whatever it is kids are listening to I just want to scream "WHAT'S THAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THE SOUND OF YOU BEING YOUR FUCKING MOM!"
And then I want to engage in an elaborately annoying monologue "YES, YES! I KNOW GRANDMA THE BEATLES OR WHATEVER THE FUCK BULLSHIT BAND YOU LISTENED TO AS A KID WERE BETTER! YOU HAVE TO SHUT UP NOW THOUGH, BECAUSE YOU'VE TURNED INTO ONE OF THOSE OLD PEOPLE WHO BITCHES ABOUT THE YOUNGER GENERATION! SHUT UP NOW OR I'LL SEND YOU TO A HOME! ONE OF THOSE BAD ONES! LIKE THE ONE WE SAW ON 60 MINUTES!"
Seriously, people my age are doing this. I want to drive a stake through their hearts, cut off their heads and stuff their mouths with garlic. Or at the very least slap them. I mean, yes Das Bieber is bad, but so was MC Hammer. Look up billboard for your favorite year, you'll be surprised at how many of the great bands that everyone talks about for decades to come weren't on the top 10 like ever.
It's more than that though, and I thought at the very least we would be more aware of this horse shit and not put up with it. I mean, I've got a book somewhere, and in this book is a music critic. Now this music critic was based in Vienna at the time of Mozart and he starts one of his reviews with "The kids today, this garbage they listen to is just noise. There's not music there, just a lot of noise." Now, having read that, I've always been aware that those complaints have always been around, and that they hold no merit. I thought more people my age were also aware of this and would take means to prevent being Those Fucking People.
I mean, clearly I was wrong, but it's still disheartening.
Now git off mah lahn.
And then I want to engage in an elaborately annoying monologue "YES, YES! I KNOW GRANDMA THE BEATLES OR WHATEVER THE FUCK BULLSHIT BAND YOU LISTENED TO AS A KID WERE BETTER! YOU HAVE TO SHUT UP NOW THOUGH, BECAUSE YOU'VE TURNED INTO ONE OF THOSE OLD PEOPLE WHO BITCHES ABOUT THE YOUNGER GENERATION! SHUT UP NOW OR I'LL SEND YOU TO A HOME! ONE OF THOSE BAD ONES! LIKE THE ONE WE SAW ON 60 MINUTES!"
Seriously, people my age are doing this. I want to drive a stake through their hearts, cut off their heads and stuff their mouths with garlic. Or at the very least slap them. I mean, yes Das Bieber is bad, but so was MC Hammer. Look up billboard for your favorite year, you'll be surprised at how many of the great bands that everyone talks about for decades to come weren't on the top 10 like ever.
It's more than that though, and I thought at the very least we would be more aware of this horse shit and not put up with it. I mean, I've got a book somewhere, and in this book is a music critic. Now this music critic was based in Vienna at the time of Mozart and he starts one of his reviews with "The kids today, this garbage they listen to is just noise. There's not music there, just a lot of noise." Now, having read that, I've always been aware that those complaints have always been around, and that they hold no merit. I thought more people my age were also aware of this and would take means to prevent being Those Fucking People.
I mean, clearly I was wrong, but it's still disheartening.
Now git off mah lahn.
The Republicans Have Endorsed Rape
As a party, I know republicans THINK they're talking about abortion, but they've come off like they're endorsing rape.
This year I've heard how it's a wonderful gift from god, how it give women's bodies special magic powers, and how all the good things in life come from rape. WOW! It sounds like rape is either a good thing, or a fucking awesome thing that the whole family can enjoy. They've fully gotten behind the idea of rape.
Consenting adults, who love each other? FUCK THEM! They can't be really in love unless there is some kind of rape going on! Yeah, as far as these guys go God hates it when people consent. Got to keep gays illegal because if gays are allowed then what happens to the quality of Republican Rape?
I just... you know just fuck these guys.
This year I've heard how it's a wonderful gift from god, how it give women's bodies special magic powers, and how all the good things in life come from rape. WOW! It sounds like rape is either a good thing, or a fucking awesome thing that the whole family can enjoy. They've fully gotten behind the idea of rape.
Consenting adults, who love each other? FUCK THEM! They can't be really in love unless there is some kind of rape going on! Yeah, as far as these guys go God hates it when people consent. Got to keep gays illegal because if gays are allowed then what happens to the quality of Republican Rape?
I just... you know just fuck these guys.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Monday, October 22, 2012
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Twins in Death: Chapter Four – Part Six
Twins in Death
A Tale of The Weirdo
By Brett N. Lashuay
Chapter Four: The Red Twin
October 23rd, 2002
6:15 p.m.
“What's gonna happen to us motherfucker?” The laughing man said.
“Something very bad.” The Weirdo reassured them.
“Like?”
“I will happen to you.” The Weirdo said and smiled.
The Bengal tiger can smile; most people don’t know that but it’s true. It’s not a very pleasant smile, but the large animal does indeed smile. The reason most people don’t know that the
“Yeah, fuck you crackhead.” The first talker said, pushing his hand out to shove The Weirdo into the street.
His plan had been to push The Weirdo into the street, maybe make him fall. It would have been perfect to make him trip and fall, and then they could all start beating on him. Perhaps a truck would come along at the right time and run the guy down. The problem with this plan is in
In
The Weirdo’s hand swung up quickly and caught his hand before the young man fell over. He yanked the young man forward and as he came close, brought a curled fist hard into the young man’s solar plexus. A gloriously hideous sound escaped the young man as something inside him gave way. The Weirdo, still holding his arm, spun him around and smacked him face first into the ground. In the sudden, and one hesitates to use this word, struggle The Weirdo’s hat fell from his head and tumbled to the ground, rolling across the pavement and landing in one of the beams of light. The Weirdo’s knee was pressed into the man’s back, and he had twisted his arm so that his elbow was pointing at heaven, when it should have been parallel with the ground. As it was, a great amount of pressure was on the youth’s shoulder and elbow at that moment.
“This is not going to end well for you.” The Weirdo said conversationally. “You’ve got the shoulder dislocated, but if you like I can rip it from the socket and beat you to death with the bloody end of it.”
“Weirdo?” Jack’s voice was even, but held an edge of worry in it. “Could we maybe forgo this?”
“No.” The Weirdo said in a calm, plain manner.
“Ah.” Jack said, drawing the automatic from it’s hiding place and priming a round into the chamber. “Very well.”
“You fucking bullies.” The Weirdo said fixing the crowd of them with an angry glare. “Always trying to beat on a weaker person. Notice it took five of you to start shit with him.”
“My fucking arm.” The young man under The Weirdo’s knee said.
“Quiet you.” The Weirdo said twisting again.
The popping sound, which came with a sort of tearing, was sickening to those who had become part of the playlet that was being spun out on the street. They each knew that if they all ran together, in different directions, that anyone of them might get away. The problem is that the other four would be killed, and maybe not just four. It was thoughts like this, rocketing through their unprepared minds that kept them rooted. Had he begun to explain complex algebra they would have possibly ceased up like this. Unaccustomed thought has a way of doing that to young male minds.
“Weirdo.” Tommy’s voice came across, and it made The Weirdo stop.
His turned and looked at his friend’s eyes. Tommy’s eyebrows raised and The Weirdo relented. He let the arm loose, but didn’t release it. He reached into the young man’s hair and lifted his head, turning it around to see where Tommy and Jack were standing.
“I moved his head because I want you all to look at something.” The Weirdo said looking at the rest of them. “You see those guys over there?”
There was no answer, he took in a lung full of air and released it. There was still no answer. His free hand reached into his coat and produced the colt forty-five automatic and held it up.
“Do you see them?”
“Yeah, yeah.” They all began to say at once.
“Good.” The Weirdo said smiling. “Now we are getting somewhere. That guy with the Thompson sub-machine gun is called Tommy, and the big Englishman on his right is named Jack. Now they were bad motherfuckers when your granddaddies were nothing more than an itch in his daddy’s pants. The young man on their left, about your age I’ll note. Well, his name is Max. Max has been an official badass since two thousand two when he actually capped a motherfucker who was A- his friend and B- trying to kill him. Y’all ain’t bad mutha’s, y’all is a bunch of crap asses. Am I making myself clear?”
“My fucking arm man.” The one under him complained.
The Weirdo rolled his eyes and placed the handgun down on the young man’s back. He then took hold of the free arm again. This time, when he twisted there was a splintering sound as well as the tearing. The young man screamed but The Weirdo clapped his gloved hand over his mouth. He didn’t want to hear screaming, he wanted to be obeyed.
“Am I making myself clear?” He asked in a calm measured tone, which was completely at odd with the fact that he was twisting the man’s arm out of the socket.
“Yeah.” One of them spoke up. “Just don’t hurt him anymore man.”
“Don’t hurt him?” The Weirdo said standing up, letting the useless limb fall limp and picking up the handgun again. “Would you have listened if nice little Tammy had asked you not to hurt Mister Soun?”
He lifted his hand and brought the butt of the gun down across the young man’s nose. Blood sprayed immediately, and The Weirdo hit him in the stomach and shoved him back. He tripped over his friend and hit his head on the stonewall behind him. His scalp split and blood began to pour from behind his head. The other three looked and didn’t wait. They scattered like rats when the lights come on. The Weirdo stepped over the two fallen and slid his gun back into place, he then bent down to pick up his hat. There was a single blade of light still falling on it as he reached down for it. The light was just touching the top of the crown. He picked it up before the light was gone from it, and held it up into more protected area where there was much more light.
“Are you done now?” Tommy asked.
“Yeah.” The Weirdo said, “I think they’ve learned their lesson.”
“Yeah.” Tommy said. “I think they have at that.”
“You have, haven’t you?”
“My fucking arm.” The one whined.
“I think we can take that as a yes.” The Weirdo said.
“Should we wait around for the police?” Max asked.
“Why?” The Weirdo shrugged. “They can’t do anything to us. Mr. Soun and Tammy over there can tell them what happened.”
“So let’s go then.” Tommy said.
The Weirdo looked around and then nodded
“Yeah all right.”
© 2012 Autumn Knight Productions
Friday, October 19, 2012
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Monday, October 15, 2012
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