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Book post: Female Chauvinist Pigs and A Civil Campaign
Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture by Ariel Levy
There is a disconnect between sexiness or hotness and sex itself. As Paris Hilton, the breathing embodiment of our current, prurient, collective fixations -- blondeness, hotness, richness, anti-intellectualism -- told Rolling Stone reporter Venessa Grigoriadis, "my boyfriends always tell me I'm not sexual. Sexy, but not sexual."
A depressing and infuriating examination of the intrusion of what is best described as male-centred pornographic imagery into mainstream culture. Playboy merchandise, Girls Gone Wild videos, Paris Hilton and so forth. It's not precisely anti-pornography, although I wouldn't call it pro. It largely focuses on the reduction of sexuality into the stripper/porn star stereotype, the concurrent attitude that any alternative is either passe or repressive, and the claims that these stereotypes and behaviours represent empowerment. With detours through the history of feminism, the lesbian community, the invention of the G-sring and several high schools.
It is largely about a culture which mistakes artificial lust for the real thing. There is a particularly depressing set of interviews with teenage girls who are sexually active, but aren't sure how to recognise their own arousal, or how to articulate their own desires. It is, as I said, depressing, but also compelling. Also a very light, easy ready -- I had it out of the way in a couple of hours. (Even more depressingly, Cosmo's reviewer described it as "heavy reading for the girl with an intellectual bent", which is really just a demonstration of the point. It's difficult to even point out the issue without sounding like a refugee from the Right Wing Think Tank that employs my mother, but a balance would seem ... appropriate. Judging by the interviews within the book, just engaging in a dialogue on the subject could be an achivement. Have I used the word "depressing" enough yet?
A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold
Reading this for the sixth time at five-thirty this morning, I had a surreal re-envisioning of Ivan Vorpatril as the Bertie Wooster to Miles's Lord Peter. Strange, yet perfect. Some people ask, When will Ivan find a wife? And others, mostly in fandom, ask, When will Ivan be shagged senseless by By Vorrutyer?
(I don't ask. I don't see it. Lady Donna/Armsman Szabo, on the other hand...)
What I ask is, when will Ivan find hisVorJeeves?
My favourite moment in the entire book comes right at the end, and shall thus go behind a cut tag:
"So who is your blind drop? It ought to be someone I know, dammit."
"Why, Ivan. I'd think you'd have enough clues to figure it out for yourself by now."
"Well ... it has to be someone in the high Vor social milieu, because that's clearly your specialty. Someone you encounter frequently, but not a constant companion. Someone who also has daily contact with ImpSec, but in an unremarkable way. Someone no one would notice. An unobserved channel, a disregarded conduit. Hidden in plain sight. Who?"
They reached the top of the path. By smiled. "That would be telling." He drifted away. Ivan wheeled to catch a servitor with a tray of wineglasses. He turned back to watch By, doing an excellent imitation of a half-drunk town clown not least because he was a half-drunk town clown, pause to give one of his little By-bows to Lady Alys and Simon Illyan, just exiting the Residence together for a breath of air on the promenade. Lady Alys returned him a cool nod.
Ivan choked on his wine.
Perfectly set up. Immaculate timing. One very long sentence that I didn't even notice until I went to type it out. And a curious bit of revelation that could have lent itself to a whole novel had Bujold not chosen to move on to a new series.
This late in the series, the Vorish milieu was becoming well-established and settled. But there are two questions which, to the best of my knowledge, remain unanswered to this day:
1. What was Lady Alys's maiden name? The second most important woman of her class and generation, and we don't even know which clan she comes from. We do know that she has, or had, two sisters (Patty and Selma Vorsomethingorother), but not which family they belong to. Or if they're even alive. I'm sure Ivan would have complained by now, if he had maternal aunts and/or cousins to contend with.
2. Who is the poor, nameless Lord Guardian of the Speaker's Circle? He's been in several books, but remains sadly unidentified beyond his title. Perhaps he is related to Lady Alys?
Inquiring minds want to know.
There is a disconnect between sexiness or hotness and sex itself. As Paris Hilton, the breathing embodiment of our current, prurient, collective fixations -- blondeness, hotness, richness, anti-intellectualism -- told Rolling Stone reporter Venessa Grigoriadis, "my boyfriends always tell me I'm not sexual. Sexy, but not sexual."
A depressing and infuriating examination of the intrusion of what is best described as male-centred pornographic imagery into mainstream culture. Playboy merchandise, Girls Gone Wild videos, Paris Hilton and so forth. It's not precisely anti-pornography, although I wouldn't call it pro. It largely focuses on the reduction of sexuality into the stripper/porn star stereotype, the concurrent attitude that any alternative is either passe or repressive, and the claims that these stereotypes and behaviours represent empowerment. With detours through the history of feminism, the lesbian community, the invention of the G-sring and several high schools.
It is largely about a culture which mistakes artificial lust for the real thing. There is a particularly depressing set of interviews with teenage girls who are sexually active, but aren't sure how to recognise their own arousal, or how to articulate their own desires. It is, as I said, depressing, but also compelling. Also a very light, easy ready -- I had it out of the way in a couple of hours. (Even more depressingly, Cosmo's reviewer described it as "heavy reading for the girl with an intellectual bent", which is really just a demonstration of the point. It's difficult to even point out the issue without sounding like a refugee from the Right Wing Think Tank that employs my mother, but a balance would seem ... appropriate. Judging by the interviews within the book, just engaging in a dialogue on the subject could be an achivement. Have I used the word "depressing" enough yet?
A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold
Reading this for the sixth time at five-thirty this morning, I had a surreal re-envisioning of Ivan Vorpatril as the Bertie Wooster to Miles's Lord Peter. Strange, yet perfect. Some people ask, When will Ivan find a wife? And others, mostly in fandom, ask, When will Ivan be shagged senseless by By Vorrutyer?
(I don't ask. I don't see it. Lady Donna/Armsman Szabo, on the other hand...)
What I ask is, when will Ivan find his
My favourite moment in the entire book comes right at the end, and shall thus go behind a cut tag:
"So who is your blind drop? It ought to be someone I know, dammit."
"Why, Ivan. I'd think you'd have enough clues to figure it out for yourself by now."
"Well ... it has to be someone in the high Vor social milieu, because that's clearly your specialty. Someone you encounter frequently, but not a constant companion. Someone who also has daily contact with ImpSec, but in an unremarkable way. Someone no one would notice. An unobserved channel, a disregarded conduit. Hidden in plain sight. Who?"
They reached the top of the path. By smiled. "That would be telling." He drifted away. Ivan wheeled to catch a servitor with a tray of wineglasses. He turned back to watch By, doing an excellent imitation of a half-drunk town clown not least because he was a half-drunk town clown, pause to give one of his little By-bows to Lady Alys and Simon Illyan, just exiting the Residence together for a breath of air on the promenade. Lady Alys returned him a cool nod.
Ivan choked on his wine.
Perfectly set up. Immaculate timing. One very long sentence that I didn't even notice until I went to type it out. And a curious bit of revelation that could have lent itself to a whole novel had Bujold not chosen to move on to a new series.
This late in the series, the Vorish milieu was becoming well-established and settled. But there are two questions which, to the best of my knowledge, remain unanswered to this day:
1. What was Lady Alys's maiden name? The second most important woman of her class and generation, and we don't even know which clan she comes from. We do know that she has, or had, two sisters (Patty and Selma Vorsomethingorother), but not which family they belong to. Or if they're even alive. I'm sure Ivan would have complained by now, if he had maternal aunts and/or cousins to contend with.
2. Who is the poor, nameless Lord Guardian of the Speaker's Circle? He's been in several books, but remains sadly unidentified beyond his title. Perhaps he is related to Lady Alys?
Inquiring minds want to know.