“I think we are well advised to keep on nodding terms with the people we used to be, whether we find them attractive company or not.”
-Joan Didion
I’ll just leave this here.
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FILM CRIT HULK throws down on last night's MAD MEN and it is GLORIOUS -
WE LIVE IN A SHAME CULTURE. WOMEN GET CRITICIZED FOR THEIR CHOICES, THEIR HISTORIES, THEIR SEXUAL EXPRESSION, THEIR LACK OF SEXUAL EXPRESSION. IT IS A CAVALCADE OF MIXED MESSAGES, ALTERING DEMANDS AND SHOCKING INCONGRUITY. AND IT IS A NIGHTMARE FOR ANY ADULT PERSON, LET ALONE A YOUNG GIRL, TO NAVIGATE. AND THAT IS BECAUSE THE STANDARDS ARE QUITE LITERALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO LIVE UP TO. ONE CAN ONLY BE A PERSON THE SAME AS ANY OTHER MALE INDIVIDUAL WOULD BE.
AND HULK HAS TO SAY THAT IT FEELS LIKE SOME OF THE ANGER EXPRESSED AT JOAN’S SITUATION IS ACTIVATED BY THAT SAME PART OF THE BRAIN WHERE DEVOTED BOYFRIENDS AND FATHERS CAN’T DEAL WITH OR PSYCHOLOGICALLY PROCESS THE SEXUAL ASSAULT OR “TAINTING” OF THEIR LOVED ONES. WHICH, IN A WAY, CAN BE JUST AS DAMAGING LONG TERM AS THE TRAUMA ITSELF. IT’S ALL SOMETHING THAT TRANSPOSES BACK TO THE SAME PURITY MYTH. THAT FEMALE SEXUALITY CANNOT BE A NORMALIZED THING LIKE MALE SEXUALITY (HENCE THE DEMAND FOR DICHOTOMY). AND PLEASE, LET’S NOT PRETEND THAT SEXUAL ASSAULT IS AN ALIEN CONCEPT OR A HYPOTHETICAL. THE NUMBERS AND REALITIES ARE STAGGERING AND HULK CAN ASSURE YOU THAT WE’VE ALL HAD FRIENDS OR GIRLFRIENDS WHO HAVE BEEN VICTIMIZED BY IT.
SO THERE JUST HAS TO BE A WAY FOR THE MALE MIND TO PSYCHOLOGICALLY DEAL WITH THIS.
FEMALE SEXUALITY, WHETHER GOOD. BAD. WANTON. CHASTE. SOCIETAL. INDISCRIMINATE… IT DOES NOT BELONG TO MEN. YES, IT’S CLEARLY NOT SOMETHING TO BE BOUGHT OR SOLD, BUT LIKEWISE IT DOESN’T HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE FOUGHT OVER OR EVENFEARED FOR. AND GOING DOWN ANY OF THESE PATHS ONLY COLLABORATES WITH THE HORRIBLE DICHOTOMY WE’VE CREATED:
WIFE/MISTRESS. MADONNA/WHORE. PICK YOUR CLASSIFICATION. THE INABILITY OF THE MALE MIND TO RECONCILE BETWEEN THE TWO IS PERHAPS FAR MORE DAMAGING THAN ANYTHING.
How did a Hulk parody come to be the most insightful, truthful and sensible culture critic out there? I don’t care but it is AMAZING.
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(via juergenteller)
I’ve crossed some kind of invisible line. I feel as if I’ve come to a place I never thought I’d have to come to. And I don’t know how I got here. It’s a strange place. It’s a place where a little harmless dreaming and then some sleepy, early-morning talk has led me into considerations of death and annihilation.
Happy Raymond Carver’s Birthday.
Happy 71st birthday Bob Dylan!
Mark Frauenfelder, boingboing.netAbraham Piper of 22 Words says: “To commemorate Bob Dylan’s 71st birthday, here’s a Peanuts strip from this day in 1971.”
(Source: standardgrey)
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