Last Night at Denny's

SO...last night I went to Denny's and witnessed my own little scene of Stone Butch Blues! As I walk in I noticed that there are two stone butch women waiting to be seated. Once I was seated I realized that they were sitting at the table next to mine. Later, some high school kids who seemed to have come from prom, sat at the table to my right. Once the ladies began to leave, I heard a comment from the high school kids. They ask, "is that a girl or a boy?" This automatically brings me back to the novel. It's interesting to see this happen in today's society. A society that claims to be more progressive. The reality is that people are accustomed only to things they have been previously exposed to. If they haven't been exposed to seeing stone butches, then they will wonder what the sex of a stone butch might be. These situations make me feel that people should be open minded to anything.
I personally did not enjoy reading this book. I felt like it focuses on mostly the negative aspects of being a stone butch. Also, it was extremely repetative, which made it disturbing and boring! Besides that, it opened my eyes on what women went through in that period. It must be difficult to identify with a different gender, when there is so much discrimination in this world. I can't imagine having to go through that type of agony.

Butch Commies and the Jouissance Kids

I don't know if we've got one final blog to do. If we do, this is it, I guess. If we don't, then this one's unofficial. If it falls short of the word count, the unofficial status is the reason why. This one feels short.
Regarding Stone Butch Blues, in class I expressed interest in Grant's angry penchant for calling others of her/his own circle Communists (125). Well, I found my thoughts I originally jotted down concerning Grant's sudden McCarthyist alarmism--its a stab at normative behavior. Grant's Red paranoia doesn't so much stem from her/his frustration over a brother's death in Vietnam as it does from an attempt to approximate the cultural fears of "real" males. In a society and a time when current events and cultural worries are the domain of men (worries far removed from fears of whether the police or a gang of gassed hillbillies are going to beat the shit outta you every night--worries oddly similar to fearing the shit beat outta you if you're outted as a Commie), Grant's alarm over perceived Communist threats are expressed in order to place her/his mind in a psychological mold nearer to that of the male sex.
Grant's Communist alarmism, branding other butches as the political enemy, is also very Lacanian. Think "name-of-the-father." As a butch, doesn't Grant, approximating male ("the father") traits, engage in the Lacanian male attribute of "naming" things, in this case, labeling her/his own kind as Communists? You could really go all over the map with Lacan's idea of lack here. A reversal erupts here--Grant, the butch, a metaphorical "father," can "name" all she/he pleases, but something, some signifier, is still lacking . . . ahem . . . down there.
Lacan stirs up more ideas in Stone Butch Blues--his idea of jouissance, for one. For Lacan, jouissance is "anything too great for an organism to bear" and also "eroticism bordering on death." In Feinberg's book, the transgenders represent for society something 'too great" for the masses (straight "organisms") to "bear." Persecution, beatings, harassment result for the transgenders; their sexual lot exists in a state "bordering on (potential) death."
Perhaps the transgenders represent also Barthes's idea of jouissance, the idea of the "erotic glimpse." Maybe the masses see in Jess's kind a destabilization of formerly concrete gender norms, the fragility of what gender really is--they see this "glimpse" and maybe its strangely erotic. fluid, malleable, claylike. They see it, and they see its eroticism, and they know the erotic is heady, intoxicating, destabilized--a disorienting experience. They see danger.
They look in disgust.
They pick up a bat, or a gun.
They turn a blind eye.
They go home.
They turn on the tv.

The Bettys

I am a more than a little disappointed at the throngs of young women dressing and emulating "Ugly Betty"s mannerisms, wardrobe etc.believing imitation ro be the highest form of flattery. no.only the ridiculous form of imitation. Ultimately, this masks only the masses under a trendy cloak and in their own way simply another gang of similars. not individuals, there is nothing unique about emulation.
which means when the show falters so too will the empowerment and enlightenment that is pivotal to the message. And what is that message. Is beauty in the eye of the beholder to quaint?

Apparently the point isn't as so many young women identify with the character. Yet, how many young women get their dream job without the extras extreme good looks provide.How many win the lottery about as many as the Betty's, who truly get what they desire.

Statitics state attractive over plain , trim over broad and degrees from Harvard over insignificant city colleges. While the show has a wonderful concept, failure is a part of life to. Circumstances, fate, and errors can be life altering. Hope and a healthy self image is wonderful. But Prince Charmings hunting down the other shoe so he can found out where to purchase a pair in his size and life is both cruel and kind. Maybe I am a bit of a pessimist, but I am loathe to see a positive premise turn into a campy cartoon to keep the viewers titalated in ccommercial consumption.

Genders and other mothers

I have watched Huffman performance in " Trans America' twice as there is so many subtle nuances, one viewing couldn't possibly encompass.
First, there is the reconciliation with stanly, the acknowledgment of a forgotton entity that almost has to be devoured, ingested, if you will to be complete.Oddly like the stronger twin embryo inbibing the weaker.
Second, what was once the most important life altering experience runs secondary to companionship and trust something she could not afford to do for a fear of exposure until her habits became her prison. At her job, she was a genderless dishwasher and a liar. She lies to her therapist and although not stated it is intimated by Bree's knowledge of indian knowledge that Stanly may have fabricated the heritage to alienate himself further from his fanily. He tells his son the truth and faces his family when he sees his son as a friend, then as of him/her a gift impossible without Stanly.
It is a life affirming film. As in all perceptioms, we hope that Bree's son stays with her. We hope she gets her degree. We hope he gets film work he truly wants and we hope just this once it really is like this.

fallacies

Although Wolf makes valid points regarding the negative and unrealistic
perception of women in " The Beauty Myth" , she fails to consider that pornographic "women" rate slighty higher than the blowup dolls circulating for decades. They cannot articulate, voice opinions and are embarrasing to be seen with.
Moreover, there is the issue of censorship, when one discusses pornography, what precisely is the definition? What is considered art was once labeled as pornography. And couples, lovers, and those comfortable in their sexual preferences, whose finger is going to be pointing out the error of their ways... perhaps a government that has always resented the seperation of church and state, like this one and his forefathers.
It is always worthwhile to watch technologies agenda, especially if looking your age means losing your position to a younger women as men never grow old only wiser or some such rot.
However if invasive measures are the only option open to keeping that lucrative incentive, then maybe it is time to retire the position and find something that doesn't require one to stay in the dangerous race of plastic technology. A technology that erases character, real beauty and redefines it
at the expense of the recipient, the client, the payee.
Is it me or does the connsumate botox consumer resemble a fashionable
article once delivered through a specialty catalog?

I got the BLUES

Leslie Feinberg has written a very honest, emotionally moving novel! Stone Butch Blues allows readers to get inside the psyche of a butch lesbian who grew up in an Era were sock-hops, milkshakes, and drive-in movie theaters were all the rage. The model picture of the American Family, in the 50’s, dominated billboards, laundry detergent boxes, and television shows across the nation. Children and teens coming of age in this post-world war II environment had really only one image of what “normalcy” was. Our protagonist Jess Goldberg is bombarded with cookie cutter images of how she should look and behave from quite an early age. She doesn’t fit into the perfect box everyone is trying to cram her into. I found it really very disturbing that her parents actually sent her to a psychiatric hospital of some sort just for dressing up in her fathers clothing. It is so upsetting to think about the traumatic experience she encountered while there. Two men urinating on your bed sheets is something no one should have to endure. I was also a bit surprised that her encounter with a doctor was very brief. There was no real clear cut discussion of why she was forced to spend a night in this hospital. I would like to think that doctors and people working within the field of psychology have better communication skills and sweeter bedside manners now-a-days. I liked the symbolism behind the ring that was given to Jess’s mother by Native American women. Right from the onset of Jess’s birth the Native American women informed her mom that she would have a very different path in life than others. It was interesting to see that Jess became fascinated with the ring as she got a little older. An androgynous dancing figure was depicted on this precious turquoise and silver piece of jewelry. This once again reinforces the openness that Native Americans have when it comes to ideas about gender. I found this interesting because, in Transamerica, we see an older Native American gentlemen being accepting of Bree. It was cool to have a voyeuristic glance into the subculture of Butch/Femme nightclubs in the 50’s. I found it really difficult to read about the torture that many women endured by sexist cops. It seems so odd to picture now. I can’t even imagine police breaking down the door of a gay club and demanding that every female show them that they have “3 pieces of female clothing on”! How strange, sounds like they were the Fashion Police! The brutal beatings butch women received from male cops were inflicted in order to make the butch women feel as though they could never be as tough and strong as real BIOLOGICAL males. It is so insane and narcissistic on the cops’ part to think that these butch women dressed and acted manly just to get under their skin. I mean isn’t imitation the sincerest form of flattery. I feel like this book gives readers a positive message about the importance of allowing others to live their lives in a way that they feel is appropriate and healthy. If we all just took the time to at least be tolerant of others this world would be a much better place!

Now its my turn to complain

How does everyone feel after reading the book? Do you feel better about yourself? Heck I do. Its tough not too. Her(or should I say his?) story makes my life seem easy. Also makes me think twice before complaining, but after thinking about it for a second time, I'm going to.Here we see Jess go through one bad experience after another. Relationship after relationship falls apart. The trips to the bars and clubs always go wrong. They usually end in someone going to jail and getting beaten up or raped, which changes their lives forever. Friends are constantly disappearing because they can't take the abusive lifestyle anymore. And we can't forget the struggle of finding and keeping a job. A sucky job at that. These jobs involve hard labor, harsh working environments and crappy bosses. And to put you down even more, the thought of advancement or a raise at your job is impossible and hopeless.

I found the novel quite depressing. Like I said, there was one bad experience after another. And I guess that's the life of a butch, especially during those times, but I just needed something positive to happen or look forward to while reading. There was nothing to hold onto. Of course that never really came. She never had much hope and thus neither did I. I also found the novel repetitive. It didn't take long to get used to the routine. She met someone new, went to the bar, either got or witnessed a beating, and then it was time to complain about work. So this is me complaining.

In Case You're Interested

I forgot to post the addresses for the websites for Bust and Venus. In case you're interested in feeling good about yourself:
http://www.venuszine.com/
http://bust.com/

Give them a chance.
Oh, and if you're somewhat squeamish, breeze past the vibrator ads.

This Beauty Myth is a Bitch.

I have a hard time believing that the "Second Sex" has it easier than males. This belief could lie solely in the fact that we are referred to as the "second sex". That is a serious accusation in itself. But, aside from the degradation and hatred certain men feel toward women, we have to deal with a lot. We have periods, we have serious body image issues, and we have to contend with an industry that aims to destroy us piece by piece, until we finally give in and buy what they're selling. Men "read" magazines such as Maxim and Playboy, and they see images of perfect female forms. Women read publications such as Cosmopolitan and Allure, and they, too, see images of perfect female forms. For women to face these vacant eyes and elongated necks is to face the fact that their own bodies do not compete on the same level. The excess fat on the stomach and the bags under the eyes are airbrushed out of existence.

Of course, there are magazines out there doing their best to contend the Beauty Myth, and make women and girls feel comfortable in their own skin again. This is no small feat, after years and years of being made to feel inadequate. Let's look at a couple of these magazines.
This is the cover of Bust Magazine:
The woman on the front is a French actress who graced the screen in "The Science of Sleep". She is beautiful, but not in the traditional, Americanized way. She does not have huge breasts, and her face is not perfect. Still, I think she is one of the most beautiful people I have ever seen. Her soft French accent accentuates this.
Another magazine is Venus Zine.
On the cover is a singer who goes by the name "Feist". This publication is mostly about music, but focuses on women in music, art, and the DIY (do it yourself--a craft/punk rock/independent revolution) scene. The women in this Zine and like me and you. They're regular old girls, and they're damn proud of it.
So, with these amazing publications out there, why do women still subject themselves to the torture chambers we call Cosmo? I don't know. Why would you want to look at pictures of vacuous, blue-eyed, blonde-haired, 8 foot tall robots? Well, we like to make ourselves feel bad. We probably feel like we deserve to feel bad because we gained 10 pounds last winter. Oh, I don't know. It sucks. That's what I'll end with.

Ad-Krac(auer) and Zero Gender

Alright, I wrote about the idea of Ad-Crack last time, the overpowering allure of beauty in advertisements, something we just can't seem to get enough of, but I forgot to tie it in with, yes, go ahead and pull a hair out, theory. I found myself distracted writing last week, what with the Virginia Tech tragedy (and the gendered nature of shooting rampages is, I hope to offend no one, of highly phallic imagery--an offshoot, no pun intended, of the mediations of "war porn" and, dare I say, "9/11 porn"--class, I'll just stop here and get on with it!) that I forgot to bring in Kracauer.
Siegfried Kracauer, German cultural theorist, had the idea of the "mass ornament'--a reference to the dancing Tiller Girls of the 20s and 30s, who, he claims "are no longer individual girls, but indissoluble female units whose movements are mathematical demonstrations"; the singular "ornament" consists of "thousands of bodies, sexless bodies." Bringing back the Ad-Crack, I keep thinking of images of beauty in ads as a current manifestation of Kracauer's "mass ornament," wherein a piece of a body on a billboard and another piece of a body spilling from a Panasonic flatscreen and another piece from a magazine Lancome full-page (shades of Mulvey's "one part of a fragmented body . . . gives flatness, the quality of a cut-out or icon") add up to Madison Avenue's "mathematical demonstrations" of "indissoluble female units" (and what an appropriately monetary and anatomical term "unit" is here) for the sake of peddling beauty.
And "sexless bodies?" Well, they are Baudrillardian reproductions, copies of copies of copies--enough eye candy to make you want to start an underground fighting ring, what say you? When does a copied gender supersede original gender? When does sex disappear?
And this "ornament" is rapidly being pornographized. Bikinis on a near-subatomic level--seen the Niels Bohr Collection? Jeans low-slung enough to offset gravity.
Things've evolved--or devolved, depending. We're seeing a monument to pornography, a "mass pornament." I had to go there, y'know.
Can I seamlessly segue here into Feinberg's Stone Butch Blues?
Forget it.
I can't.
Anyway, the "Impressions of the Man" essay beat me to a lot of things I wanted to say. It didn't beat me to Fight Club analogies, though.
There's Fight Club and the analogy of factory jobs and "making" gender--"for Jess [materialization] is the product of labour" and "Jess does the 'work' of 'making' and 'remaking' identity" (108). Working in steel mills and paper mills and plastics factories and binderies, places of making things parallels Jess's attempts to "make" herself. (Ah, if only he-she'd worked in a soap-rendering plant, what a nice parallel to Fight Club, a story where gender is made--and, if not made, found, rediscovered, through the cleansing metaphor of soap. AHH!!--this might help my FINAL PAPER!)
Then there's Fight Club and Jess's typesetting job--"where Jess lived in a world where he/r identity existed outside of language and text, he/r work as a typesetter, setting type in relief and in the proper order for printing, provides for he/r entry into the symbolic order" and "s/he now works at night setting in relief the code that made printed language possible" and "Jess labours to manifest histories" (136). (Ah, remember Tyler Durden's ramshackle heart of the Paper Street Soap Company--a house on Paper Street--and consider the idea of Paper Street past the fact that a paper mill--perhaps not so different from the mill Jess Goldberg laboured--is found there--consider the name Paper Street--a region where genders, identities, can be written, rewritten, typeset, copied, circulated. Tabula rasa-rama! AHHH!!!--this, too, might help my FINAL PAPER!).
Zero Gender?
I'm halfway through Feinberg's book, just past where Jess has her breasts, her "absolute female signifiers," removed. S/he has a "flat chest," the 'visual signifier of maleness" in the "Impressions" essay (123). I don't know to what lengths s/he'll go to "pass," but if s/he doesn't add an "absolute male signifier" to the equation ("mathematical" Kracauer-ism?) by the book's finish, is Jess zero gender? If one absolute sign is removed without the opposing absolute sign there to resignify, where is s/he, as a gender. Zero gender? Post-gender?
Donna Haraway, where are you?
Zero gender--a repellent to Ad-Crack?
I don't know. Jess really likes her BVDs.

Feinberg's interview brought even more clarity (or confusion, depending on how you look at it) to the subject of gender. More than hetero, homo, lesbian, and bi-sexual, there are a seemingly infinite variety of gender identifications. Her fight for the rights of the individual to express their gender is admirable. Society is just coming to accept the concept of homosexuality, but she sheds light on the fact that there is far to go.
It seems to be popular today for females to be bi-sexual. Whether this is a true gender identity or just to gain the attention of straight men, is subject to debate--I guess it depends on the person, but it sure seems more like pop culture to me. What about the bi-sexual male? Not popular. There are, I would argue, more cases of true male bi-sexuality than female--these men certainly don't do it to garner the attention of straight girls. One young woman even told me that any man who would be with another man is definitely homosexual.
In reading and talking to homo/lesbian acquaintances/friends, many see the bi-sexual as just straddling the fence--they think it is just black or white. That is why Feinberg's opinions are so refreshing; she sees the infinite variations of grey in between.
Honesty is something she mentioned that stuck out. She, like her character Jess, are honest about themselves. So many people in our culture are willing to deny their true self to fit into a nice little category. Or, these people are pretending to be something they are not. Honesty about such a personal issue can bring ridicule, embarrassment, or worse upon the the individual brave enough to stand up and "come out".
We have come far in the last 30 years in accepting "alternative" lifestyles. There are strong parallels with the rights of people of color and the rights of people to define their own gender. Each cause needs it's own flag bearer. Feinberg seems to be carrying this standard, obscure as it may be to the masses.

The grass is sometimes greener on the other side.

WOW, was the first thing I though of after I finish the movie Transamerica. Overall I do have to say that I was impressed by the performance of the actors and of what a powerful message the movie had. To me the movie represented the struggles that people go through when they don’t match society’s expectations. Many of the characters, in fact I would even go as far as to say almost all the main characters suffer from they beauty and porn myth. It’s difficult enough to meet society’s standards even if you are considered to be an average person, but to try to stand up next to these rigid standards when you are way off any guideline must be horrible, especially if it is someone as close as your own parents enforcing these rules. Bree not only represents the awkwardness of double ness, but also the effects of the beauty myth. Bree wants to be the picture perfect female, as if there is really one, and goes above and beyond to mimic some commonly thought of behaviors that are associated with females; such behaviors as soft spoken, correct grammar, floral colors, good manners, and the always perfect appearance. Bree’s mother is a constant reinforcement of what is expected from appropriate boys and girls. Which is funny considering how she tries to cover up herself as well with too much make up and the fake smile. Toby, Bree’s son, is a good representation of the porn myth. Since a young age he has been subjected to sexual abuse of his body by males, so as time has gone by he has become almost numb to sexual interactions. Sex and porn are not stimulating to him, instead they are used to get him things that he wants or needs.

HuffMAN gives a Stellar performance!

Felicity Huffman certainly did an outstanding job at capturing the character of Bree! I can’t even imagine what a challenge that must have been. A female actress playing a male, who is pretending to be female is a massive undertaking. It must have been an amazing learning experience for Huffman, as an actor and as a heterosexual woman. One thing that I found quite ironic in the film was the wardrobe worn by Bree. Most of the time she was adorned in lots of “girlie” shades. The stereotypical colors of pink and purple seemed to be a favorite for this beloved conservative transsexual. Once again this brings up the idea of what people associate with gender. Bree’s whole mannerism was so pleasant. She was definitely a do-gooder, who had a lot of love in her heart and it was because of these sweet qualities that unsuspecting characters just saw her as a beautiful person. For example, the old Native American gentleman, Calvin, seemed to be completely infatuated with the smart, sophisticated Bree. In the one scene when Bree’s son is chatting with Calvin and tells him that she is a fanatical Christian, Calvin replies, “She can convert me anyday.” These lines present the audience with a doubling of sorts because Calvin isn’t aware of the fact that Bree possesses a penis. “Convert” could be hinting at Calvin entering into a homosexual relationship with Bree.
The title of the film has a doubling as well because “Trans” means to move, cross over. Most of the film takes place in a lime green station wagon, where Bree and her son go across the country and simultaneously grow as human beings. The specific relationship Bree has with her son eventually develops into one where each can gain emotional support from one another. I must admit, the scene in which her 17-year-old son isn’t aware that he is trying to seduce his own biological father is unnerving. This puts a whole new spin on the Oedipus complex. I felt sorry for the son because of the sexual abuse he endured from his mother’s lover.The trmatic experiences he faced twisted his views on love, sexuality, and gender. In was interesting because Bree and her son’s self worth were very low at the start of the film. By the conclusion, both seemed happy and whole. While most parents wouldn’t support their son if he chose to enter into the world of video porn, Bree does. This speaks volumes because it shows that Bree is going to give her son the respect and support that she didn’t receive for so many years. Aww, if that doesn’t make you melt I don’t know what will. I thought it was really funny to watch Bree be bothered by bugs and the outdoors. This perpetuates the idea that women should be frightened by nature and all its slimy creatures. Specifically the fear of snakes was mentioned several times. I believe this reference to snakes is representative of Bree’s extreme hate and anxiety of her penis. Eventually, her own “snake” is successful turned inside out through reassignment surgery. Transamerica prompts viewers to be more accepting of themselves and others around them. This film induces belly laughs and also has the power to make you think about the hardships faced by people who feel uncomfortable in their own skin. While the bond between parent and child is pertinent to the plot, I feel the main focus of the film is about self-discover and ultimately self-acceptance. It also made me want to jump in a car and travel to those little country towns, where lemonade runs through rivers and porch swings sway in the wind!

Transamerica…Does Society Really Know What’s Important?

Let me just start by saying that I really enjoyed this movie!! I have to agree with some of the other bloggers that this movie seemed to be more about love and family than the issue of trans-gender. Maybe what that suggests is that no matter what type of personal or social issues we face, nothing can break down the ties that we each have to our family members. Blood is definitely thicker than whatever type of makeup we use to try to mask our identities!

What I really enjoyed about this movie, of course, was its happy ending. Bree was portrayed as any other “normal” person, facing her problems with her parents, her son, finding love in her own life, and her troubles with her own self acceptance and body image. By the end of the movie, however, she had resolved all of her issues and seemed genuinely happy with herself and her life. Isn’t this really what everyone wants? Still, I think the movie sends out the message loud and clear that its ok to be trans-gendered, gay, whatever…because either way, your still human and therefore just as well off as anyone else in this world. Infact, if you can end up living a life of happiness, you may be even better off than some of the rest of us.

I also think that this movie ties into the “Beauty Myth” in that Bree was portrayed as a beautiful person inside, more so than on the outside. Although she put great effort into making herself “perfect,” dressing nicely, doing her nails, constantly checking her hair and makeup, etc., she still fell short of reaching society’s standards of beauty. However, as a person, Bree successfully brought her whole family back together, gave her estranged son a parent and new live, and filled the people close to her with love, all very beautiful acts. Thus, according to Wolf’s comments about the “beauty myth” being about behavior and not appearance, Bree exceeds what society would expect of her and turns out to be a very beautiful person, and even a role model for Toby. Such a touching story!

What an Enlightening Movie

I found TransAmerica to be really eye opening and felt inspired by it. You have Bree, a male to female trangendered person who has a great heart and is extremely wholesome and to herself. Yet, although she dresses like a woman she still hates what she sees in the mirror and feels surgery is necessary to complete her as a woman. It is an inspirational and eye opening movie that anyone who has no prior knowledge or acceptance of trangendered people should really watch. Gender dysphoria is all over the place, I was watching Tyra today and she had on transgendered twins and they all have the same problem, their families! People are just not educated on the subject but if they were I know it woulod make a world of difference in the lives of the transgendered people. It is so sad that because of a lack of education of family members, transgendered people have such a huge suicide rate. All Bree was looking for was respect and all she wanted is for someone to see who she was for her and not for dressing and wanting to be like a woman.

"The Man's Myth" here's one for the guys

So we've touched on "The Beauty Myth" and mentioned how unfair women have had it throughout the years, but what about the men? I'm going to take this opportunity to show how the guy's have had it. Let's start with responsibility. Over the years, its the guys who have been looked at to provide most of the income for the family. If someone breaks into the home, its the man who should take him down with the bat. And why has it become the man's job to pay for the movies, dinners, open doors, etc.? Now, don't get me wrong. I have no problem taking on these roles. In fact I think its something all guys should take pride in doing. I shouldn't even call it a job. For me, its more about showing respect and a way to say to that special someone: I kinda like ya. But i have to add this... I think its pretty cool for a girl to step every once in a while and say, "hey, let me buy my own ticket tonight." It lets ya know that she appreciates you and the things you do. So girls, that's a freebie, go ahead and write it down in your notes. Anyways, all I'm saying is that we all have our roles to play. Were all expected to do this, or look like that. Girls, try looking at the possitive to what you have going for you. Like being able to get a job because of your looks. Or getting some special attention. You can also talk, flirt or cry your way out of getting a ticket. I could go on and on. Here's another one. Have you ever heard this while you were listening to the radio..."Girls get in free til midnight!" or "girls drink free till midnight!." Where are the advantages of being a guy and wanting to go downtown? So what i'm saying is that every side can look at the negative if they want to. Sure girls can complain about this and that and how bad it was in the past, but the past is gone and it is getting better and better all the time. So the final thought is: SOMETIMES YOU GOTTA TAKE THE GOOD WITH THE BAD!

I'd also like to recognize Virginia Tech and send the best wishes to the students and families involved with the VT incident.

More Than Meets the I

In studying gender roles and sexuality it is easy to fall into the trap of stereotyping--"all of this category are like this, and all of that category are like that." Transamerica reminds us that people are people; each of us have our own unique quirks, idiosyncrasies, and baggage--sometimes not the least of which is our gender identity. This film is not about trans gendered or pre-op individuals, it is about Bree and Toby. Bree is seeking her identity as a woman through surgical means, when in the end it is finding her role as a parent/mother that brings her the true femininity she seeks. And Toby is searching for unconditional love and learns that it doesn't always come attached to sex.
The film also quietly makes the distinction between gender and sexuality. Bree was notably asexual most of the film: her issue truly was with her gender not from a sexuality standpoint, but from a gender identity standpoint. Once she became more comfortable in her role as a mother and did some growing up herself, she became more attractive and comfortable in her new gender's sexual role.
Toby, on the other hand, is very sexual--taking it whenever and wherever he can get it. A product of a sexually abusive childhood, he associates sex with love. By the end of the film, Toby can't get it up during a male/male sex scene. Next scene is Toby at Bree's door--searching. Perhaps his journey of sexual identity is beginning. I could imaging he and Bree drinking those beers and talking about finding oneself. Toby is very comfortable in his gender role, but has sexuality issues. Bree now has her gender issues resolved, which takes care of her sexuality issues as well. But most of all, Bree and Toby are believable characters; they found each other, and in doing that they both grew up and found themselves.

Beauty is Ad-Crack, Ad-Crack Beauty

Apologies to Keats.
Ad-Crack? It's wodplay, a bit of the ol' intertextual, a riff on an unofficial e-term, i. e. a word you'll see peppered throughout online geek-film reviewers--"movie-crack."
MOVIE CRACK--a film you just can't get enough of, even though you know it's probably not good for you in light of so-called "high-cinema"--think Citizen Kane's progeny. Think, too, of Spiderman, The Terminator, the current Grindhouse, and just about every 007 flick you'd rather not admit you've seen. Movie-crack, all.
AD-CRACK--all-pervasive advertisements adorning billboards, web pop-ups, tv, films, and the rolling edifices of public transportation. You can't get away from it. You don't even realize your dependence on it. What if it suddenly disappeared? Cultural detox?
(Here I'd like to link this to a story out of Sao Paolo, Brazil, where the city leaders have stripped the billboards free of ads. Eerie pics. Unfortunately, I'm tapping this out on someone else's computer with a dial-up connection that doesn't want to link--terrible truth is I've temporarily time-warped back to the e-Pleistocene. I'll fix this on my laptop, hopefully.)
And what a cultural detox! Ad-Crack--you can't get enough of it. You can't get enough as so much of it is hawking beauty. Ad-Crack defines beauty. And who can't get enough beauty?
Who can't get enough Penelope Cruz, Andie McDowall, or Beyonce? Ryan Seacrest or Justin Timberlake? Rogaine and Botox and fill-in-the-blanks-oplasty, oh my!
Who can't get enough coded messages shrieking the heights of gendered appearances?
Is Ad-Crack so pervasive it accomplishes gendered "cross-wiring?" Is Ad-Crack mediated gender-programming? Does it orient the idea, put forth in the "Spare Parts" essay, of "core gender identities?"--if you're male and you find more beauty, more identity, in feminine ads, or if you're female, and you find more beauty, more identity, in masculine ads. . .
As signs, can ads re-engineer, reverse, the binary significations of male and female? Signs steering signs?
Alcohol and dope alter thoughts. Ads do, too.
And Transamerica? I think the film's title alludes to more than just Felicity Huffman's character's desire to surgically "gender-swap" to ease his/her gender dysphoria and find an identity. Transamerica, the title, alludes to a culture anchored in Ad-Crack to the point where gender is in constant shift, in a constant state of "crossing."
Gender has a destabilized future. Ads say so.
Ad-Crack is truth, truth Ad-Crack.

Fables and Myths

I foundNaomi Wolf's " The beauty Myth" far more credible than "The Porn Myth". It is difficult and rather extreme to view porn itself as the dealer, the peddler. I see the porn inclined personality's latching onto an available outlet. In some ways it is harmless. It is not a physically assaulted women, or man having unwanted sex forced on them. It is not rape. Although, very young women climbing to stardom via this vehicle seldom on recollection find it to be their finest hours.

However, I advocate legalized prostitution due to health issues. ie. AIDs, Hepatitis B and STDs. Moreover, many couples rent porn and since the muddling over "Deep Throat" people have begun to feel that perhaps their inclinations are shared with others.The viability of Sex therapy was born of this enlightenment and most are astute enough to understand that no, they do not look like that nor do the women playing the part. Cinemax offers the "After Dark" series
that is apparently still viewed as it is still on.This even paved the way for sexual minorities to view themselves as part of the big picture and hopefully absolved some of the stigmata of shame youths are laden with.

Finally. who needs censorship?. In the 1970's those attempting to see a movie, that had a plot about sex as in "the Green Door" were harrased and even arrested.

On the otherhand, returning to "The beauty Myth", growing old is increasingly a focus of shame for women as "Old" is for women while "Distinguished" describes men of equitible ages. it is also a shame linked to danger as women can only elect invasive and dangerous measures to reinvent youthfulness. The mis-use of the words retaining youthfulness are erroneous and used to calm those ,who choose dangerous elective surgerys, and botox. There is no retaining what is lost, so it is re-inventing.I am an advocate for excercise for cardiovascular purposes and i like the other secondary results, but they are secondary. The alternatives kill. Liposuction is an insidious non-surgical surgery that has killed women. The pressure on the sexes in business is outrageous. Men and women on Tv, films, women as anchors, public speakers etc.know that they will be plastered all over "The enquirer "for weight gain or aging then after procedures, again photographed for having it done. damned if you do...

Ultimately, is it the competition from younger women versus older in the marriage, work market or is the truth we age and where it defiles women most is by forbidding them to. It is making the term grow older gracefully an impossibility. Big business along with perhaps the wistful lover, who wants the girl back forgetting he is the old man. Yet, what is returned is not you. It is an altered you, and you are now the preoccupation of you. The you that motivates the new you to the occlusion of everything once held remotely important.

Lights out

If one stops to consider how the war has been made into a G rating viewers Tv episode by networks especially Fox.
Mcluhan's intent in the " The Medium is the Message" is that "technology" has and is an extension of ourselves." Over here we go about life thinking few are dying and we are creating independence for a abused and tattered country, a situation that our goverment instigated by putting in place one who would aquiese to our needs.oil.

However, over here with the agrrement of the media, the one's, who are supposed to inform, suppressed. While our goverment has violated the Geneva convention rules, we are supposed to injest the bilious assertion that soilders with no experience in torture, tortued prisoners, rather the enemy and with the constant use of enemy as in germany, prisoner's become non-entities with no more rights than roaming animals.

Moreover, to make physical contact, hence compassion and mercy dissipate, we put black hoods over their heads. What does black symbolize. well bad, condemned and with no face a illdesigned mannequin. How can one demoralize a faceless souless mannequin? A guiltless war is producedby those who taste power and metted out by those ultimately held resposible. With bad information coming at the american public through the internet and worse the New's media[(after vietnam) we assumed it would be more honest] relying on the president's regime to supply their fodder of truths to those, who wanted to believe God's right hand man was in charge.

Apparently, if one say's I am with God, regardless of ones actions, the mainstream will believe that if a higher power albeit, self-professed is guiding the sword, then victory is assured. what is forgotten is the loss of jobs, the destruction of souls and the lust for blood that remains.

Ultimately, the constituents have become so alienated from the original plan with the media's cooperation flooding the news reels with "Letters Home" etc. that the enemy has become anyone who queries these edicts. And ever so smoothly church and state have become so entwined and entangled, the next regime wont know where to begin hacking the vines, let alone the point of origin.

Beauty and the Beast, wk 4/11/07

From the summary of the Beauty myth that I have read it seems to be mostly directed towards females. But I think this idea also applies to males as well. Now that we have recently dived into Fight Club I feel that this ties in with each other. The Beauty Myth to me is simply another way of saying socially constructed gender norms, but being specifically referenced towards females. Society, and with the help of media, have brought forth the “ideal” image of what a male or female body should look like. We need to be tall, lean, muscular, tan, white perfect smile, with either well endowed breast or penis. If we have these things then we have achieved perfection. Of course with the constant stress of up keep and gravity. Being yourself is just not allowed to be attractive to the masses.

With this in mind we can apply this to the struggle that the main character goes through in Fight Club and even to the sensations that the Porn Myth mentions. The main character feels inadequate. He comes off as being a lonely, materialistic, and cowardly type of person. This creates insecurities and thus create Tyler, who is the complete opposite of himself. He has the looks and the personality that is more widely accepted. Why I also bring up the Porn Myth is not because I felt the novel was porn, but that the over exposure to a stimulation will eventually weaken the satisfaction of the experience. The main character is constantly trying to reach some type of satisfaction. At first, he finds a way through therapy groups and then with fighting at fight clubs. But with the constant abuse of those two outlets they eventually become eventless or unaffecting. Both of Wolf’s writings can be applied.

As The Sad Story Continues, wk 4/4/07

Most of the thoughts and feelings I had in the previously blog are continued as I read through the rest of the book. I see so much of the different topics we have discussed in class, Eros, doubleness, the gaze, gender confusion, and socially constructed gender norms. All of this seems to collide in this novel.

I see more of the Eros in his desire and wanting. Not necessarily for a lover, but just in general. He knows he is lacking, so he is wanting to be someone else and he desires to be someone else. The bittersweet is that once he gets it, in a way, it’s not all that perfect. If anything is complicates his life anymore once he realizes his doubleness. He is two in the same with Tyler and Tyler is taking over. His other side is what attracts others like Marla. Without this personality would Marla have really been as interested for so long with him. Just like P.Burke once Paul realizes there is a double he leaves in disgust.

The gaze is obvious even in the novel, though the film definitely wins hands down with Brad Pitt. From the bad boy image and the early naked scene described in the novel I find myself attracted to Tyler. He is free, wild, and reckless. With the film using a half naked Brad Pitt my gaze is like a laser beam heading right in his direction.

I only mention gender confusion because of the main character and Marla. From the film and the novel I still in part feel that Marla shows some more masculine attitudes and emotions. The main character is the opposite, he shows some more feminine traits some of which I mentioned in my last blog. The topic of socially constructed gender norms was also mentioned in the previous blog as well. My feelings on this subject still haven’t changed.

Society Strikes Again, wk 3/28/07

This book brought an interesting twist. I was kind of surprised that now a male was shown with the same struggle of doubleness to a degree that I only usually seen with women. I guess it comes down to the rules that society places on males and appropriate behavior. The poor main character is obviously overwhelmed and rebelling against them. Men are supposed to be in control, not care about appearance and objects like women do, and not show emotion. The main character is opposite of these rules. His main identity likes to own things and show them off, he is a little bit of a “wuss” if you’d like to say, and he definitely doesn’t appear to be in control of his life. With the pressure and failure to meet the stereotypical male image, he breaks down. This creates his alter ego who is “A Man’s Man!”

Tyler is what he probably feels he should be more like. He is handsome, daring, and in control of everything and everyone. The main character becomes jealous of his own self. This makes me think of a part of Eros the Bittersweet. When Carson explains how Eros is bittersweet she mentions jealousy as a component. The main character desires what he doesn’t have, a more society acceptable male personality. But once he creates it and in part has it, it turns bitter. Jealousy takes over. Now Tyler has the girl and the power, he still has nothing. Tyler is taking over and is out of control.

It must be tough to be a male, women are even having to be more careful with how they express their feelings towards other girls in fear of being called a homosexual. On this note, why is this even considered such a bad thing? Why do we fear this type of label? It does not change who we are as a person if someone calls us a name. Though it is usually men who are the most concerned with this label. Some males try so hard, like the main character, to avoid it. In the end it only hurts themselves.

Quite Disturbing.

The reality of beauty and how it is manipulated for monetary and political reasons is quite disturbing. Unfortunately it's exactly what we are surrounded with. We are constantly exposed to something that we can't measure up to. Some people try with cosmetics and cosmetic surgery and so forth. It has come to the point where it is a culture. An example would be the show "The Real Housewives of Orange County," it has become a culture there for women to have " breast implants. From what I have seen, the few times, they are proud of having these surgeries. It is second nature. Even the name of the show itself supplements the beauty myth. These women with husbands and children try to live up to these virtual perfect women. I felt that the beauty myth, along with the porn myth, was valid. I enjoyed reading about it and realizing it's development. It was always obvious that beauty was important in our society, but I never realized how it might have come to be.

Movie

Another really great movie to see along the same lines would be Real Women Have Curves, starring none other than our very own America Ferrera (Ugly Betty, ya'll!!).

Watch it.
Its good.

If you don't believe me, click here.

The Myth about Beauty is that it’s really not about Beauty…

It’s about control. In our Patriarchal society, men are at the top of the social ladder, and generation after generation of men have done what is within their power to keep it that way. The concept of “beauty” has been socially constructed by men as a way to keep women submissive to their own self-empowerment. The current generation has successfully taken the attention of women away from setting and achieving their own dreams and desires…to fulfilling those of men. “Beauty” has become the lure by which men dangle the fate of women. If women are “beautiful,” life is good…usually made so by the men in their lives. If they are not, then they suffer a life in self-loathing and possible loneliness. Either way, men hold the power to impact the lives of women, not the other way around.

According to Wolf, “the beauty myth is always actually prescribing behavior and not appearance.” In my opinion, this suggests that by men holding women to such a high standard of “beauty,” one that is virtually unattainable by the majority, what they are truly doing is controlling their behavior, more specifically women’s actions towards them. Men have put women in an obedient position, one in which they strive to be beautiful rather than successful. With women facing the enemy of an “ideal” body image on a daily basis, no time and effort can be put forth in other areas of life, such as overturning the male social status. Men have thrived as the socially dominant gender, not because they are stronger or smarter, but simply because they have devised a way to keep women busy worrying about how to perfect their own body for the better part of their lives. Beauty, unfortunately, rarely makes women happy. Instead, it makes men happy. Until women understand and accept this distinction, men will always be in control.

Haters?

Looks like we got a bunch of haters.. " Don't hate, appreciate." "If you got, flaunt it." A couple of phrases used constantly by women. Seems to me that Wolf wants to "hate on" those who have what she doesn't. Can you say JEALOUS!? haha I'm just kidding! Just thought I'd add another side to it and see what the response was.

Wolf brings up a lot of good points. Women do try to impress men with their acts, clothes, enhancements, and other fixes. When you go out to a club (except for gay male clubs), you don't see a couple a dudes grinding on each other. Its not cool. But, what is it that you do see everytime you go out? Thats right, some girl on girl action. A couple of girls, who most of the time arent lesbians, doin their thing to grab attention. You'll also see times when two girls are dancing with one guy. One in front and one in the back (aka the sandwich style). In both cases, who do ya think is getting the most pleasure?

Gregarious1, you mentioned how these porn star role models have to have an "open" mind to do what they do. But, do we really want to use the word "open?" Sure, these models have to be able to open up and allow themselves to play these roles, but do they really know whats going on? Instead, I'd say these models are more narrow minded than anything. Blind to the facts demonstrated by Wolf. What they need to do is open up their mind and realize what else is out there for them.

But is it right to blame men for these things? It goes the other way too ya know. Guys are always hitting the gym to become more buff for women. Why? Because most women like it. A lot of girls want to see the abs, biceps, pecs, and what seems to be the favorite, the v-muscle. Which brings me to the point... Why are we trying so hard to impress that special someone? Shouldn't we all be looking for the "GOOD PERSONALITY" factor. Women make the choice to shop at Victoria's Secret. They aren't forced to. Guys make the choice to join the gym. Here's an idea.. Why not look for those who find our natural beauty attractive. But then again its tough. Especially when guys like Sisqo come out with songs titled "Thong Song." Hopefully everyone remembers that one. Everyone's "got it," the difference is how you "flaunt it."

Hungry Like The Wolf

Naomi Wolf certainly doesn’t hold back her opinions on beauty and the porn biz! Her works were refreshing to read and brought to the surface some of the very ideas that I seem to harp on internally from time to time. First of all, The Porn Myth had me nodding my head in agreement. In our culture women feel more pressure than ever to appeal sexually to men. Ironically, today the real female frame in all its natural glory doesn’t seem to be quite as titillating as a bronze-colored surgically enhanced one. My sympathy really goes out to the generation of men who lack the knowledge of what a real woman’s body looks like. Even those males, who don’t search the internet for smutty clips, still have a false perception of how a woman should anatomically appear. Just by flipping on the TV one can tune in to The Girls Next Door and see fake playboy bunnies take part in a photo shoot. I totally agree that pornography has become our “wallpaper”. I mean every where we look, whether it be a liquor commercial or a Quizno’s ad there is always some underlying sexual innuendo attached to it. Music Videos are basically now just 3 minute soft-core pornos that hormonal teens can view with the sound off. It is sad that real women are being replaced by robotic one-dimensional submissive downloadable sex divas! Gosh, wasn’t there a time when sexuality was something unique, something that you could find within the flaws and corky subtleties? The beauty myth really tackles the question or whether or not the beauty industry is being pushed on females to make them feel negative about their own selves. It is rather strange that even after all the things women have accomplished there still is this undercurrent of negativity surrounding the idea of one’s physical appearance. Isn’t it also interesting to read about the ways different cultures view beauty? I won’t hold my breath till we adopt the idea that “droopy breasts” are beautiful. Sheesh. It is also quite mind-boggling to think about why older women are not considered as beautiful as younger women. Hmm, do you think this is because with age women become more powerful, self-assured, and less submissive? I agree with Wolf, that in order for women to feel wonderful about their bodies and faces, they have to develop a new way of seeing things. The Dove ads are really trying to shift people’s views about what it means to be both beautiful and sexy. However, sometimes they lose their validity when they are sandwiched between two ads that show rail thin blondes with huge jugs and orangey smooth skin. I personally am hungry for something different!

Veeerrrrrry Interesting!

I am finding some really good stuff (read: backlash) on this whole Ugly Betty thing. This is why I love the feminist community, and especially why I love being a feminist. We look past the "Be Ugly" campaign, deep into the eyes of the sharks that made this show. Hey, it might have been under totally honest pretense--it most likely was an honest attempt at outing the beauty industry as the myth that it is. But I can't help but look at Salma Hayek--one of the most beautiful women out there--and wonder what her motive was. Some people call her a feminist, but I'm going to have to do a little more research.

Expect a packet of great information today.
I'm making copies at work.
Me 1, copier 0.

Just a longer version...

Here is a longer version of the same video I posted.
Enjoy.

Oh My God, Ya'll...

Here is yet another disturbing link.
This one is for something I will be discussing in class today as Kalene and I do our "presentation".
Just look...and weigh in (no pun intended). I really don't know how to feel about this. I am torn.

http://www.beugly07.com/

--Now that I just figured out how to really put that link up, I don't think I did the last one correctly. I'll try again here.
Yep, that should work. Like I said, at the bottom of that page, click on the words "Part of the Problem".

Also, watch this:

(I hope the video shows up. If not, go here.
This is so interesting!
Really makes you examine your own beliefs in the beauty/magazine industry.

This is why we feel lousy while looking at Cosmo.

Here is a link. Please click on "Part of the Problem"
http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=14537

What a crock.

Porn Between Two Lovers (oooh! that's bad!!)

I'm gonna rat out some people here.
Naomi Wolf writes that "the whole world, post-Internet, did become pornographized."
David Amsden calls pornography "the 'wallpaper' of our lives now."
Back to Wolf, pornography has made "real naked women . . . just bad porn."
Reading Wolf's "The Porn Myth" the first time, I didn't really agree that the world had become "pornographized." Maybe some statistics would've helped, I thought, in casting some light on the popular belief that EVERYONE DOWNLOADS PORN. I myself don't believe EVERYONE DOWNLOADS PORN, and I'm not just referring to geriatrics afflicted with technophobia. Statistics lie, I told myself--no help there. In terms of the "pornographizing" of the world, of porn being cultural "wallpaper," well . . .
Isn't there a clothing line called Porn Star?
Seen the ads for Axe Body Spray, and the ways the proposed "Axe Effect" will force women to dogpile on top of some guy?
Strolled down the Film Studies aisle of the bookstore lately? Porn stars are writing autobios these days--one in particular wrote Make Love Like a Porn Star.
America's Next Top Model? Alright, this falls more in line with Wolf's The Beauty Myth, but think of the logical evolution in programming implied. Class, can you say America's Next Top Porn Star? Network? Cable? YouTube? You decide.
I can see the "wallpaper."
So can the people I'm gonna rat out. They see a lot of it.
I can't name names, but I know people who watch a lot of porn. They've got porn libraries. They've met porn celebrities. They've got autographs.
Before I go on, let me say I don't know these people closely. I don't hang out with them or anything. I don't want to, and I don't. I do know some of them are married.
And I wonder if they see their wives as "just bad porn." They've met porn celebrities, remember. What could make "real naked women" less real?
Can the "real women" measure up to the spectacle?
It's hard here not to think of Debord declaring "everything that was directly lived has moved away into a representation."
Pornography makes sex, once something "dirctly lived," a representation, a spectacle. Detached, separated, sex no longer represents a connection. This is truly sad. What a waste.
Maybe we should take a page from the Book of Debord--the Situationist Book--in order to "find each other again erotically."
SITUATIONISM--to unleash a free and spontaneous creativity leading to a revolution in everyday life, i. e. to break out from the bonds of the spectacle.
Perhaps freewheeling displays of public sex--in the name of spontaneous creativity, natch!--would snap the ties of pornography and re-establish eroticism.
And maybe not. With everyone packing camera-phones, it'd just add up to more spectacle.
And before long we'd just call it more pornography.
Sorry, Wolf.

Guys, get your fingers off your laptop

Naomi Wolf does a good job of stating the obvious when it comes to porn: pervasive, damaging, and demoralizing. She touched on the girl-girl kiss of Madonna and Britney and I think that deserves more analysis. How many young females have fallen in to the trap of “pretending” to be lesbians or bisexual? Why would they do it? Pornography has developed over time to give the consumer (mostly male) what they want. Guys seem to be obsessed with seeing two girls getting it on: and better yet, letting him join in. This really comes down to seeking attention. The girls have learned, through porn, what guys want, and to live up to that “fantasy” ideal, they take the porn to the dance floor or the stage at the Grammy’s. Many take it to the bedroom as well, in the name of either making a man happy or trying to get a man. What these girls don’t realize is that they have been manipulated by the porn system. If there were no men around, would they still behave this way? Would these girls go to a lesbian club where men are not welcome? Probably not.

Turn the situation around: why don’t we see two guys pretending to be bisexual to get a girl? Wouldn’t that turn on the girl—the thought of being with two guys who also want to be with one another? Why is it that more is better when it favors the male but not when it favors the female? I think that young women have taken a large step back from a feministic standpoint by letting themselves be the pawns in this gender game. Middle-aged women don’t do the whole pseudo-lesbian thing. But the older women were not raised in this porn-soaked culture. The older women still want to be attractive—the beauty myth has had an effect on them. They just do it with surgery and enhancements. But come to think of it, the young girls do that too, if they can afford it. I guess the difference is that many, if not most, older women still remember the days when society spoke of equality and liberation. It is a shame that this porn industry, run by men for men, has had this effect on the younger generation of females.

Now, women have been having surgeries and lifts for decades, so it is important to realize the difference between vanity and attention seeking. The desire to look good for yourself and a member of the opposite sex is not unhealthy within the limits of good judgment. It is when these limits are stretched and the degrading of a woman’s values occurs that the progress of feminism is halted, if not reversed. The porn industry has evolved with time, and with the internet, porn makers can get instant feedback on what sells and what does not. Porn doesn’t care about women’s self esteem, only money. The role models in porn are trying to make a buck for whatever reason without realizing what they are doing to the masses of their peers. If they were blessed with a “hot body” and an open mind sexually, these girls can make a lot of money. But since they represent a small percentage of women from a “beauty” standpoint, the masses of girls are left to believe that if they don’t measure up or are unwilling to perform like those girls, then they cannot please a man. And the men who expect this false-ideal perpetuate the cycle.

The bottom line is: Guys, get your fingers off your laptop and find a “real” girl—imperfections and all. And girls, realize that all that glitters is not gold. Those ads, movies, and models are not a true representation of reality. Be proud of what you have been given and find a man who appreciates you for what you are.

Some ideas for paper topics

Prompt 1:

Naomi Wolf argues in The Beauty Myth that even as women have made strides in social, legal and economic spheres, they are increasing pressured to reach impossible standards of beauty, a type of cultural backlash against female power and success. According to Wolf this “beauty myth” is assisted by advertising and consumer culture, leading even the most accomplished women to divert their energies toward an unhealthy obsession with body image. In the recent hit show Ugly Betty, Betty Suarez, an ambitious young Latina struggles to “make it” as a journalist in the fashion world, an industry fueled by the cult of beauty. Even though Betty is constantly ridiculed for her style and looks at her job, she refuses to conform to the beauty standards of her workplace, and focuses instead on her job, her family and her friendships. The show seems to satirize and fetishize the fashion industry at the same time.

Susan Faludi’s book Stiffed suggests that our cultural landscape is dominated by what she calls “ornamental culture.” She argues that “ornamental culture is constructed around celebrity and image, glamour and entertainment, marketing and consumerism, it is a ceremonial gateway to nowhere.” Faludi also argues that “the internal qualities once said to embody manhood—surefootedness, inner strength, confidence of purpose—are merchandized to men to enhance their manliness. What passes for the essence of masculinity is being extracted and bottled and sold back to men.” The film Fight Club echoes many of these themes and suggests that American masculinity is in crisis. However, unlike Faludi’s analysis, Fight Club appears to embrace the notion that men need to return to essentialist notions of maleness to overcome the crisis.

Identify the various masculine and feminine myths in one of the following texts: Fight Club, Ugly Betty, Stone Butch Blues, Transamerica, America’s Next Top Model. Does the film/book/tv show reinforce or criticize these gender roles?

(How, for instance, does Leslie Feinberg's Stone Butch Blues subvert or redefine "masculinity"?)

Prompt 2:

Along with being an adaptation of a popular Spanish-language telenovela , the television show Ugly Betty also works off the film version of The Devil Wears Prada, but changes the ethnicity and the class of the protagonist. How does this change complicate the gender script?

Prompt 3:

Imagine if you changed the gender/race/ethnicity of a character from one of the texts from class. In a 5-6 page essay address how this shift would subvert the gender dynamics in the narrative.


Prompt 4:

Create your own prompt or project but you must receive approval from me!


Final Paper due May 4!

Her Name was Marla Singer

I love this character more than any other character. Every girl/woman/person has a little Marla Singer in her/him/it. I certainly do, and I challenge anyone to say they don't. Now, this does not mean you are some drug addled psycho running around in weird clothes, going to support groups for men who have lost their balls. Au contraire. What I see in Marla is part of a personality that is sort of lost. She doesn't really know what she is doing, she floats through life not really paying attention to the details, she uses drugs as her vehicle for escape...come on, we've ALL done that. Haven't we? No? Maybe it's just me, then. I am not afraid to say that I have acted as impulsive, compulsive, obsessive as Marla Singer in the past. But she is an integral part of the story. Without Marla, Fight Club would just be a bunch of dudes beating on each other (or beating on themselves, which you can interpret any way you like). Marla adds dimension (dementia?) to the story. Her character really loves the narrator/Durden. Her character allows us to take a peek into the inner workings of the male psyche via the third person. We watch her trying to spend time with the narrator/Durden, we watch her having sex with him, and we watch her get hurt by him. But we also see that the narrator is not altogether there with regards to the relationship. He uses Tyler as a mechanism for escape, in the same manner Marla uses drugs for an escape. So, really, they're perfect for each other, no?

Drowning in Testosterone

It seems to me if one can no longer gage a person's age with in ten years, there is something insidiously inserted, a tainted commandment that has become standard in our society.

Growing old includes gracefully deciphered means regular botox injections, liposuction, face lifts and bodies that look like someone replaced on these sculpted frames, heads borrowed from nursing homes, cartoons and the morgue.

Hollywood, and the media has given the average person unreal expectations and a dishonest billion dollar's worth of equipment to look
like the models displaying, the thighmaster, home gym, and the millions consumer's spend on comsmetics to cover, cleanser's to erace, glue-like substances to paralize one's face, guaranteeed for at least eight hours.

We are at the point that taken to extremes and in the mildest form, no one is sure, who you are as you are a stranger to yourself. Not to mention
disreputible plastic surgeons, who are enablers to plastic surgery junkies.

There are women, who want Matels' Barbie's look and worse receive it. There is a reason it is called plastic surgery. No wonder Tyler's are conjured up as no one cannot be made sleeker, drive a better car, or buy the car and voila are transformed into the chick magnet. The car is the promised genie.The unwritten warranty, a " gentlement's" agreement with the chivalry of advertising.

It seems fashion/age/type and weight is decided by what stars wear, don't wear, don't eat. won't eat, drink, don't etc. thus the viewers are in state of perpetual confusion on who and how they can become another, as the media has informed as they way it stands, we don't measure up..so spend, tithe, give till it hurts and Jesus will reward you. too.

I think it warrants repeating, mantra style, when the urge to scout out Zanadu or emerse oneself in the fountain of youth...it is only a movie...it is only a movie.

The Good Fight

Man's greatest struggle has always been with himself. Is there a good me and a bad me, or just one? The dualistic concept of self goes way back--yin/yang, God/Devil. It is natural, I guess, to want to believe that we are separate from the aspect of ourselves that we dislike. Tyler and protagonist (let's call him Jack), are fighting for control of one body, mind, and soul. The fight club itself is borne out of a fight between these two--I mean one. Because this is required reading for this class, I have to look at the gender aspect. What of that? Well, to refer back to Mulvey, Tyler is the ideal mirror image of Jack--the one that does, says, and thinks what Jack is afraid to do as himself. Tyler is active and propels the story forward. Jack is reactive/passive and is a follower until he finally stands up for himself. Something big here that is worth noting is the gender role: men have been programmed to be "the man" or if not, then a homosexual, which society generally regards as the same as a woman. The dualistic idea applies here to sexuality. Why can't a man be somewhere in between? Sexually and emotionally. If a man is attracted sexually to another man most consider him gay, even if he is attracted to females as well. Society cannot accept that this is one person, whose sexuality may "swing both ways". What of the emotional aspect? Emotional attachment does not always follow sexual preference. So now this creates a bigger problem, dualistic sexuality as well as emotional attachment. The subject of society's dualism has come up before on the blog--society must categorize, put things in nice, neat, compartments. But we are all individuals with unique backgrounds, needs, desires, and dreams. Used metaphorically, I think that Palahniuk's social commentary is valid: blow up the establishment, all of it. The good and the bad, the art and the commerce, the world's tallest building and the museum.The symbolism that I think was used is that art is feminine and capitalism is masculine. What is left? In the end just Jack is left. Tyler may have failed to destroy the physical establishment, but he succeeds in destroying Jack's dualistic notion of himself. We are, however, left with the reminder that there are plenty of people out there who are ready for Tyler's return.

While reading Fight Club, I started to feel as if I had a clue what it would be like to be inside of a crazy person's head. The way the book was written somewhat reminds me of the way The Catcher in the Rye, was written. Lots and lots of meaningful yet confused rambling. Once I got towards the end however I realized that the narrator or main character in the book is schizophrenic and that explains a lot. It explained why Tyler could never be around when Marla was around and it also explained why Tyler always worked night shifts and he always worked day. He was an insomniac who was driving himself even more nuts by believing he would be sleeping when in fact he was actually Tyler, running around pissing in soup at the hotel he worked at and splicing pictures of penises into children's films. He created this alter ego best friend for himself because he was lonely and miserable in his own life. Tyler was somewhat of an outlet for him, Tyler fulfilled "the lack" in his life. He was brave, impulsive, hard, masculine and didn't give a crap very much the opposite of himself. The whole book has a sort of gloomy overtone to it, always hanging around in dim-lit basements, not only to knock the crap out of people or be beaten to a pulp himself but to attend those creepy support groups in which he hadn't had any of the illnesses. At first I thought he was a hypochondriac but once Marla came into the picture and they started to argue over who got to attend what support group it became more clear that they were both just miserable with their own lives and twisted to the point that they somewhat self-fulfilled by being around dieing or very ill people. There is a lot of reference to gender in the book, the first prime and completely graphic example in the book for me was when he said Tyler would, "splice this frame of a linging red penis or a yawning wet vagina..." it sounded as if the mans parts were strong and forthwright while he made the female genitalia sound lazy and boring. Oh and there were some more example in between but in the haiku on page 63 it says, "Worker bees can leave Even drones can fly away but the queen is their slave" that sort of was contradictory because although she is the queen bee she is the only one who can never leave the nest. I thought he wrote this because he felt that although women may have some power over men they are still incapable of creating a life for themselves if the competent and capable male drones or the common worker bee leave.

Speak Club

If we aren’t who we want to be, can we assume the identity of another and find solace in the duality? As long as you do not talk about Fight Club you can. The Alfa male and the lesser male- yet the same male. The glory of man code. Which got me to thinking is there a Fight Club for women? If so, what is it called? Is the character of duality a soft spoken charming girl and a punch throwing bitch. I think not. I believe that she may be a soft spoken charming girl, upholding a classic trait of femininity while at the same time she punches with her tongue, not her fist. Women fight in spoken word, not with a geared fist. Women get out their aggression attacking with a silver tongue not a powerful punch. So again, what would Fight Club be called for women? Is there different divisions seeking Mayhem? Would that Mayhem be? Setting fire to the cosmetic counter at Macy’s? Perhaps it would be cutting the thong backs in half at Victoria Secret? Or maybe it would be launching a real beauty campaign as did Dove? Going against the grain, speaking independently, thinking freely- empowerment in the release of the day’s stresses. Again, spoken word not a geared fist is how a woman can create mayhem. Spoken word is how she can get the attention of others- she goes against the grain of the traditional feminine stalk. She speaks up, she is not spoken to. This is how she fights. Think about it, the first rule of Speak Club is you don’t talk about Speak Club. The second Rule of Speak Club is you don’t talk about Speak Club. The third rule of Speak Club is two women per word. The fourth rule about Speak Club is one word at a time. The fifth rule of Speak Club is no monologues, no silence in the speaking. The sixth rule of Speak Club is the words go on as long as they have to. There has been a pattern here, if any of you have noticed with a few of the writers lately, duality in self…….. James Tiptree Jr. - actually a female, her name is Alice Bradley Sheldon. Ann Rice has written sado-masochistic erotica under the name of A.N. Roquelaure. With that being said, would a soft spoken female speak of a girl plugged in or about satisfying pleasure pain? Think about, Speak Club. The good news is that more than likely women will not be doomed to a life of lunch served on a tray and meds in a plastic cup. Women will be doomed to a life of being called a bitch, a dike and engaging on the upward battle of releasing their aggression per status quo for girls are spoken to, they do not speak up.

Twisted

Let me first correct my previous blog when I said homosexuality was cleary evident in the book/film Fight Club. I take it back. After reading the book and watching the film, I realized what was truly going on in the story. But, without knowing the endingm, I think its safe to say there is the hint/feeling that there may be a homosexual relationship going on. Or at least the wanting of one. While I was reading the book, it took me the longest time to find out that they were the same person. But I guess that's normal for those who have never seen the movie in previous years. There were the small hints I now notice though, Like when he would say stuff like... "Tyler disappeared or he came back without ever making a sound." Or how important it was that he promised he would never talk about him around Marla, "thats three times you promised." So without catching on it was quite a ride for me.

I think it would be pretty sweet experience to be able to create this other side of yourself. As long as it didn't have the side effects that Tyler experienced. Such as getting shot, beat up, and feeling confused as hell all the time. Who wouldn't want to be able to better themselves through creating an alter ego. That is what he did. He created Tyler to be everything that he wasn't and what he wished he was. He now had the girl. He could fight. He was now a leader through fight club and others looked up to him for answers. He was in control. This is what he needed. And it became his therapy. We all have our own ways where we create our own therapy sessions when we are frustrated or unhappy. For me, I drive around in my car and listen to the tunes. Some girls go shopping. I guess some guys go too, if thats your thing. Others start eating. Whatever it is you do, keep doing it. Its the ones that hold everything in that you have to worry about. And if we all start doing that, we might just see some more Tyler Durden's around. EXPRESS YOURSELF! more words of wisdom will come next week!

The Pressure to be a Macho Male

You can always rely on good old Chuck Palahniuk to warm our hearts with images of blood, guts, and tainted food. Fight Club is a wild chaotic ride that made my head spin into overtime and also caused me to suspiciously glare at individuals around me who had the slightest scratch or bruise on their body. There is a certain appeal and intrigue surrounding secret societies that meet in dingy underground spaces. But, it is certainly not how I would want to spend a Friday night! Fight Club allows us to look at our own culture’s obsession with violence. America gobbles up oversized spoonfuls of fist pounding action from their major motion pictures and their televised sports. Now, competition is all fine and good, put when an adolescent youth wants to join a hockey team just for the opportunity to clobber an opposing player with a stick, we have a problem. Fight Club forces us to ponder the question, “To prove one’s masculinity must one be able to pulverize another human being”? It just seems rather sad that the only outlet our protagonist find cathartic is one consisting of shedding another strong males blood. While the whole idea of faking an illness and envying people who are battling real terminal illnesses is twisted, the idea of beating one’s buddy seems to be so so so much more perverse. Our narrator makes a startling transition from being a victim to being the ultimate macho man survivor. It is amazing how everything really seems to start falling into place for him when he takes on this role of ferocious seedy underground street warrior. What is even more amazing is that the act of fighting helps other men break out of their hum drum mediocre lives. It ultimately gives them a sense of control and no doubt allows them to know that they are living-breathing warm blooded humans. There is nothing like a black eye and a few bloody loose teeth to pull you right back into reality. But, is this truly the best way to get out of the numbing routine everyday life brings? I feel it is very telling about society and the pressure and harsh expectations that come along with being male. And, isn’t it interesting that a weak sickly male character, Bob, has enormous breasts, a feminine attribute and? Yes, I know the “bitch tits” were a result of the testosterone radiation being to high and the body’s estrogen levels rising, but it seems like Chuck threw this in for a reason. Also, Bob has had to have his testicles, surgically removed. This, my friends puts a whole new spin on the phrase “You don’t have the BALLS”! While Marla Singer clearly has no business being in “Remaining Men Together” her very presence could be Chuck’s way of crossing gender boundaries. Amid the asshole-looking scar in the side of the face, heart-stopping graphic violence and naughty raw dialogue lies a novel teeming with subtleties about gender. The movie did a brilliant job with capturing the creep uncensored vibe of the novel. Oh and any excuse to watch Brad Pitt run around with his shirt off I’ll savor and take full advantage of!

The Fatherless Fight

In my opinion, the most apparent theme that in existed in Fight Club centered on the Father, or lack there of. Specifically, the book implies that the Father bears the weight of influence on males, and of being a guiding light in the life of his children. The Father is even referred to as a “God” in the book by the mechanic, shedding light on the degree of importance that the “lack” of a father has on the main character. The mechanic states, “If you’re male and you’re Christian and living in America, your father is your model for God. And if you never know your father, if your father bails out or dies or is never at home, what do you believe about God?” (pg 141). The answer, I think, is that you don’t know what to think about God, hence the struggle that takes place throughout the book.

Without a father, someone to look up to and something to believe in, the main character has no idea who he is. He even remains nameless in the book since he has no father to take the name of. The result of this “lack” and confusion is that he lives dual lives, one the life of a decent member of society, but who is consumed by all the “things” around him. The other, Tyler, is the outward expression of rage and chaos. He constantly fights an internal battle against his uncertainty in life and his lack of guidance, both of which stem from a weak or non-existent father. Tyler even states when asked who he is truly fighting against that it is his father (53).

So what is this book truly about? The “double” personality and “dual” lives of the main character…not in my opinion. That is certainly what makes up this interesting and twisted plot, but more importantly are the references to the state of our society. According to Tyler, too many males are being raised by women these days, with no male influence or father figure in their lives. This then leaves their roles in society confused and out of place…the reason, our social construction. Within our “social construction” is the implied fact that men are the head of the family and household, our political and social leaders, our warriors, fathers, and quite literally the Gods to their children. Fathers are the ones that boys look to when making decisions between right and wrong, deciding how to live their lives, and when trying to figure out what kind of men they will grow up to be. Fathers bear this responsibility, and when they are not present in the lives of their children, specifically for their sons, all of this is left up to chance.

Without a father, such as the case in this book, males in our society literally don’t know how to live their lives, or who to be. Hence the dualism and the internal struggle that the main character faces. It’s the unfulfilling and rigid “good” life of a no-name vs. the out of control, but satisfying, “bad/evil” life, represented by Tyler. Unfortunately, in the end of the book, no one wins. Self-destruction prevails. That’s quite a strong statement about the future of our society, if you ask me.

Genderless in the Megaplex

This ain't no review.
This ain't no rating.
This is just musin' around.
Alright, I went to see the film The Lives of Others not long ago--in original German, Das Leben der Anderen, of interest for "anderen," or "others," and I couldn't help thinking of Cruise's Anderton character in Minority Report, Anderton translating on German screens as "Otherton," and referring to his future "other" committing a crime that isn't allowed to happen; hey, Spielberg's got German blood, but I don't know about Phil Dick--and the film does an excellent job of recreating the look and feel of Communist bloc East Germany; the country is given an empty warehouse aesthetic. Bland exteriors and bland interiors prevail, floor-to-ceiling absence of decor, wall-to-wall lack of design. Difficult, I thought, to imagine a happy place like the former GDR looking any other way.
And what does this to do with anything gender-related, you ask?
Screen-bleed. I could see the film's warehouse aesthetic bleeding into the darkened auditorium where I sat. Cinemas aren't the once-heralded movie-palaces of yore--that stopped long ago. Cinemas these days aren't far from the warehouse aesthetic of yesterday's East Germany. Yeah, plush carpeting and stadium seating up the luxury ante a little, but, as a whole, a current movie theatre is a warehouse with lights playing tricks against one wall.
And the gender thing?
Such modern cinemas are genderless. I've seen black-and-white photos of movie-palaces long gone, back when MGM and Paramount had strings of theatres and could dump hefty industry revenues into the look, into the architectural and interior design of the venues flickering their circulated spectacles--Roman columns and heavy tasselled drapes, elaborate balconies and flying buttresses, hell, maybe even a stone gargoyle or two. And such interiors were gendered.
Amped imaginations, minds geared for impending spectacle and the hyperstimulus the moving image can foment, tend to see charged images in things. Interiors can be eroticized.
Imagine a vintage poster ad campaign for eroticized cinema interiors:
SEE THE TOWERING PHALLUS OF DORIC COLUMNS LOOMING HIGH!
SEE THE SHAPELY LEGS OF THE BALUSTRADE ENCIRCLING THE BALCONY!!
SEE THE SHIFTING SCARLET DRAPES LIKE THE FOLDS OF A WOMAN"S DRESS!!!
And these days, warehouses.
A de-eroticizing of interior cinema-space design. A "de-genderizing." Maybe it's got something to do--accch! a LOT to do--with what Laura Mulvey writes about the cinema's scopophilic tendencies, the "pleasure in looking" the cinema engenders with its "playing on [our] voyeuristic fantasy" (170). Can't have super-charged, super-eroticized patrons filing out of the darkness, can we? Products of voyeurism coupled with erotic interiors? Far-fetched, I know. Probably just the laziness in building standards. Ya never know, though.
I don't know. Every film I've ever seen I saw in a warehouse. In fact, the warehouse I saw The Lives of Others in is the same warehouse chain I saw Fight Club in years ago.
And so a word about Fight Club.
In the film, we hear Tyler's "As I See the World" speech. This is better elaborated in the book, wherein Tyler wants to "blast the world free of history," a world where "You'll hunt elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rockefeller Center, and dig clams next to the skeleton of the Space Needle [and] paint the skyscrapers with huge totem faces and goblin tikis" (124) and "you'll climb the wrist-thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Tower" (125).
Ah, Project Mayhem. To my mind, it seems like Project Mayhem has a specifically gendered agenda--to return the world to a state of fertility. Fertility, traditionally a female aspect, here commandeered by a man who, in the film, says "we're a generation of men raised by women" and "perhaps another woman isn't the answer."
Mass gender re-orientation?
Fertile not in the body, so fertile in the mind.
And a fertile mind it is--so fertile it whipped up another personality.
Just a thought.

The Gayze

Another week, another book or film, another story involving homosexuality. Throughout the semester, the theme has obviously been centered around homosexuality. Once again, this theme is present in Fight Club. In some of the novels/films we've covered, there is no question that it it present. Such as Fight Club and Maurice. Other times, the film or novel only hints us to thinking there might be some kind of other action going on. Such examples would be Interview With the Vampire, Louis and Lestat, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, between Brick and Skipper. Nevertheless, the idea is there.

Speaking of ideas... Can we also say that Laura Mulvey's idea of the "gaze" is also present in some of the works we've covered? I think so.. In the films Maurice and Interview With the Vampire, we were shown nude scenes in order to capture our "gaze" and attention. In the film Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, we are forced to "gaze" thanks to the director's use of close-ups. The audience is shown several scenes where Maggie is obviously displayed for visual pleasure. The use of close-ups is also present in the novel Fight Club. "Tyler spliced a penis into everything after that. Usually, close-ups, or a Grand Canyon vagina with an echo, four stories tall and..." I'm looking forward to see in what direction is Fight club is going to lead us!

Durden's Slamposium

I think it's a little too easy to do a homoerotic reading of Fight Club. A little too easy, and a rather misleading.
Yeah, I know, early on in the book, page 14, the nameless protagonist (and we'll come back to this nameless thing) says, "We have sort of a triangle thing going here. I want Tyler. Tyler wants Marla. Marla wants me." "I want Tyler"--you could base an entire homoerotic argument around those three words, if you wanted. Oh, and you could base another argument around the "triangle thing" idea, too--relate it to what Anne Carson says about triangulated jealous relationships in Eros the Bittersweet. In "The Ruse," Carson writes "Desire moves. Eros is a verb." "Want" moves in the Fight Club triangle, yes, yes. I won't delve into this, though. Not here. Not now.
No, in Fight Club, eros is self-eros. Narcissism--love for one's self, one's image. I hope I don't spoil anything for anyone who's unfamiliar with the book or the film, but Tyler Durden and the nameless protagonist are two minds inhabiting the same body. A split mind. Ah, but this makes things a bit more difficult. Is it really narcissism?
Can there be narcissism between ego and ego ideal? An ego ideal is what Durden represents. Durden is "funny and charming and forceful and independent, and men look up to him and expect him to change their world. Tyler is capable and free, and I [Mr. Nameless Protagonist] am not" (174). An ego ideal. Methinks the case so.
(And, going into Mulvey territory, casting Brad Pitt as Durden in the film adaptation reinforces ego ideal status for male spectators to establish "recognition/misrecognition" with, specifically when contrasted against the casting of the rather rodentlike Edward Norton in the nameless insurance claims role)
Durden has the knowledge, too--the knowledge to make napalm and soap and exploding computer monitors. Durden has the knowledge and the ideas. Durden is the teacher, too. Durden leaps from the pages of Plato's Symposium, embodying (as much as a one half of a split mind can embody) one half of the student/teacher relationship the ancient philosophers pondered.
(And, if you wanted to see a genuine homoerotic undercurrent in Fight Club, don't Durden and the nameless protagonist reflect a split mind variant of Halperin's "superordinate/subordinate" relationship?)
Narcissism for a self-image projection brought around through a split mind? Alright, this is trickier to sum up than I'd thought. I've got an idea linking this self-image projection idea to Debord's 'The Commodity as Spectacle," but it's in the early phases right now. Maybe in the following blog.
Before I go, there's the nameless thing I said I'd come back to
It involves everybody's friend, Lacan.
"I asked Tyler what he'd been fighting."
"Tyler said, his father."
"Maybe we didn't need a father to complete ourselves." (53-4)
Ah, here we go, the name-of-the-father. It runs all through Fight Club.
A nameless protagonist? Is his namelessness a result of his father's indifference toward him? Does his father's indifference negate the idea of a name? Is namelessness another form of lack?
Durden springs from the nameless protagonist's mind. A radical father? Durden teaches anarchy, instructs pranks.
And Durden wants to "blast the world free of history" (124), and usher in "the complete and right-away destruction of civilization" (125). Durden wants to break down everything given a name by the father. Radical fatherhood--you don't need a father to complete yourself.
And perhaps this breaking down and destroying everything given a name by the father is the central theme of Fight Club. After a fight, smashed noses and cracked jawbones and ruptured lips render the name-of-the-father moot. Misshapen and rearranged, you are far from the thing given a name by the father, far from something recognizable by the father. Rebirth.

The Division of Power Within Gender

This book, Fight Club, has given me a new look at the novels and films that have been assigned. The thing that has been stressed is gender and it's correlation to all the characters. One thing I have now noticed is that within each gender, male or female, there is active/ passive within each sex. With Fight Club, Tyler is the active male while No Name Protagonist is the passive. Same goes with Interview With TheVampire; Lastat is the active and Louis is the passive. With The Girl Who Was Plugged In, P. Burk again the active and Delphi here the passive. What it all boils down to is PROPERTY/OWNERSHIP. It seems that whomever has more knowledge (or convinces the other this is so), is the one who controls the other. This control gives them a feeling of ownership over the other, who they treat as property. The passive feels the lack of knowledge makes them inferior, and they accept their role as property. Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, gives the impression that Brick is passive, yet he welds control over Big Daddy, Gooper, (and Maggie as well). Showing no desire for the plantation or it's destiny, he has the control to do what he wants regardless of anyone else. Woo Hoo, strong Big Daddy succumbs in the end to show the love Brick claims Big Daddy doesn't or never did have for anyone. Gooper continuously is trying to show his great concern he has for the welfare of the entire situation (Big Daddy and the future of the homestead) but he just looks like a fool in comparison to Brick. So it's this . . . Brick comes across as the passive one but it isn't so; he holds the knowledge that is the most important! This also gives him the property and ownership of all the males around him, he has them in his hot gorgeous hands.

One last thing, power/control/ownership/property can change hands rather quickly. Think about it . . .