(522) Mary Dell
I frequently think people are on the verge of a raging fit when they're merely irritated or grumpy--leftover mental gunk, I think, from ducking around an angry alcoholic or two in the bad old days.
Sometimes you are right. Levels of anger that would have led to chair throwing when I was in grade school merely produce a scowl now. It doesn't mean that I'm not really that angry. Yes, I bottle it up. It's not good. Particularly since it makes it hard for other people to calibrate their "anger detectors."
(462) Diatryma
Does anyone remember the trick to saving the entire Scifiction archive? Just after Scifiction ended, a bunch of people posted a way to save the entire thing, but I don't remember enough about it to Google.
Here's a free, open source program that makes whole copies of sites. Works pretty well, though some others work slightly better.
http://www.httrack.com/
You don't even need to install anything if you don't want, you can just download the program itself. (The "no install" version.)
You just point it at the address you want to save, and it follows all of the links and makes a copy of everything. There are settings you can mess with that control how deeply it digs, and how far it drifts, but you can probably skip that for this project.
(Tip: don't point it at google, unless you want a copy of the internet.)
Slavery/Murder/Shaving distinction.
One construction of "sin" is anything that breaks the bond between worshipper (I) and worshipped (Thou). Shaving breaks the bond, because, in this case, He-who-is-worshipped asked people not to. "Not shaving" - a particular, arbitrary bit of compliance - becomes a form of respect for a Person and the relationship with that person. (Similar to my asking you to take off your shoes in my house. Ultimately trivial, but your attitude towards my request would tell me a lot about what you thought of me.)
(I'll note that Jews and Christians have thought for some time that slavery is inconsistent with honoring God and respecting others.)
yay! I was right! *warm glowy feeling*
(950) Bruce Baugh,
Well said.
369, Clifton, joann, et al.
Bruce Schneier has a brief bit on how much more restricted and paranoid the lives of uk children are> See which quotes the beeb.
Matthew Skala has a rather pity comment on notability here.*
*A deletionist's work is never done.
(847) kouredios,
Good point. I did notice that note-I was hoping to expand the discussion a little. Definitely, the majority of rapes are perpetrated by men.
(849)
Upon a reread, I realize I focused on your prison rape note, and also had Greg's exceptions in my head. I was not attempting to say that few women will be heard to say things along the "she deserved what she got" spectrum. I would suggest, though, that this is a learned attitude that women did not originally learn from other women.
Right, I didn't think that was what you were saying. What you originally said is much more correct than what I did:To degenderize the statement is to miss the point of the inherent nature of the problem. I think the meaning and practice of rape in our culture is bizarrely gendered. Rapes are primarily perpetrated by men, but women also participate in assigning meaning to them, in ways (or for reasons) that men do not.
For some women it is socially useful* to use the "deserved what she got" construction because it reinforces the social order. (In that sense, it doesn't really matter if men started the meme, but rather, who uses it.) It is very similar to the lax attitude toward men being raped by other men in prison that seems shared by both genders.**
*probably less useful nowadays than 40 years ago.
**Or the invisibility of the small number of rapes perpetrated by women - society doesn't assign the same meanings to them.
(838) kouredios
I may be putting my foot in it here, but I think, Greg, that the essential point is that women ALREADY know that rape is wrong.* They know it in their bones. The VAST majority of the people who need to be taught that rape is wrong (or what qualifies as rape) are men. To degenderize the statement is to miss the point of the inherent nature of the problem.
Are there not women who say "she got what she deserved, dressed like that/walking where she was/working for a man like him/etc."? Certainly not as common as it used to be, but the idea of the "fallen woman" still lingers. There is this idea that rape is wrong, but only for some people.*
*see also discussion of prison rape last month.
Another bit of fun: one of the duct tape manufacturers has a "Stuck at Prom" contest. Yes, really, prom dresses and tuxes made out of duct tape.
(828) Heresiarch,
-What I choose to wear in public, and other matters of personal grooming, are seen as largely personal choices, not subject to casual critique by all and sundry. It isn't expected to convey any messages regarding my sexual availability either.
That is harder than it looks. Clothes (and grooming) are a form of one-way communication. Meaning changes not just in context, but depending on how the receiver was acculturated. I think the broadcast nature of the message means that we will always have casual critiques by all and sundry (and little agreement on meaning.)
This is not to say that we have to tolerate audible critiques! That fits in well with:
-Being rude is a viable option for me.
Constance,
this is a better link to the same article. Printer friendly, and doesn't ask you for your zipcode.
832 - joanne
What browser are you using? I'm using Firfox 2.0.0.3, and most of my wait time is watching the comments load from the top down. (When I'm on dialup.)
Doctor Science (184)
3. Conversely, text is telepathy, which I think is a large reason the idea of text-based fanfic revolts many authors.
Thanks for writing that. You said in one sentence something that took me a whole post.
Thoughts.
The characters that are intimately familiar to me in the stories that I have in my head, I pour out upon the paper. Others read them, and sometimes they seize upon the story as a cool thing, and the story lives in their head. That is the intended transaction.
The problem is that to read a story is to participate in a reality inside your head. If someone responds to my story by creating fanfic, and I read it, then their perversions of my characters, of my story lives within my head!
Good sense dictates that I should not read fanfic of my own stories, unless I am sure of the author. Good morals dictate that I should not put fanfic in the path of unwary authors. As TNH says*, for us to read something is to pipe it into our consciousness; it is not enough to tell someone to disregard that troll, truly vile speech must be disemvowelled in order for the reader to have choice.
Jo would rather not have other people's interpretations of her stories rearrange the space inside her head. That is perfectly understandable. One's head-space is very personal, and very important. (If it wasn't, what would be the point of writing?)
I prodded her almost immediately about where her boundaries were - whether the mere knowledge that someone, somewhere, was making stories from hers was sufficient to dismantle her composure. I think I should not have done that. I still want to know what her boundaries are, or the boundaries of people who feel as she does. It's hard to act ethically if you don't understand the scope of harm you can do.
Are there any derivative works that are truly innocent of the power to get inside an author's headspace? Parody, satire, filk, illustrations, comics, buttons, cosplay, roleplaying games, or sestinas? What makes something harmful to the author? I quoted Fred Gallagher above, because he actually does describe some very specific boundaries, and has illustrated his tolerance through his actions for many years now. Do authors have a duty to clearly delineate their limits? Is that part of the unspoken contract that comes with the gift and the respect between storyteller and audience?
*paraphrased, of course.
111
Doctor Science: 87 -- Charles, I am *confused*. How would portraying Captain Kirk as a swaggering tin-plated dictator with delusions of godhood (and I mean for real, not just in the words of a half-drunk Klingon) acts against the property identified by that mark — Star Trek *not* count as protected parody for legal purposes? Even though/if it "tarnishes" the trademark? And also, what would count as "for real" in this example?
I can't speak for him, but:
if fanfic is supressed on the basis of Trademark law, then parody is not a defense.
The other thing that we aren't talking about is that since Trademark law requires the business (you) to actively police (sue) their mark, you could lose the right to suppress fanfic or other derivative works if you don't. You have to take an active role to keep your trademark. So start suing your fans now*, before someone with bigger pockets (Simon and Schuster?) realizes they can grab your work by fanficcing a sequel.
*It's worked great for the five member companies of the RIAA, hasn't it?
There's a cartoon called Kim Possible, which I haven't watched, but what I gather from previews is a butt-kicking girl and a dweeby, nerdy guy sidekick who provides some technical assistance but otherwise is clueless.
Kim Possible is really, really, quite good, and quite subversive. There is a "oh no, we switched brains" episode which very handily underlines how sexist traditional adventure fiction* really is, when the clumsy, emotional sidekick who's always getting tied up by the bad guys ends up in the woman's body.
One of the things that makes the series really quite fun is that it shows Kim kicking butt and taking names in a sensible, confident way, while still juggling the usual teen angst. (It is probably nerd wish fulfillment also, in that the supporting males** are, well, nerds who do about as well in combat as you'd expect in real life. Including offering "helpful" suggestions to the villain regarding SPINNING TOPS OF DOOM. Oops. Sorry Kim.)
(Also, find the episode with the "Oh Boyz" for a delightful parody of boy bands.)
*From Flash Gordon to Indiana Jones, etc.
**She has two, not counting additional (semi-ineffectual) technical help from a pair of dweeby twin brothers, and a dad who does rocket science. Mom's a brain surgeon, but usually offers her maternal advice via speakerphone during surgery.
| Year | Number of comments posted |
|---|---|
| 2007 | 50 |
| 2006 | 8 |
Total: 58 comments. View all these comments on a single page.
The most recent 20 comments posted to Making Light by Kimiko:
Show all comments by Kimiko.