The War on Women

[82_28]

That's funny, Willow, yet not. My ex works in the cosmetics industry and that's the script basically I heard all the time. Girls, women go gaga once they're in a Sephora. It's part of the reason why we broke up -- I always brought up how pointless it all was.

I wasn't supporting her or some shit. I just said all the shit she sold was ultimately pointless and that she was just fine how she was. She didn't like that.

[Luther Blissett]

Girls and women do not go gaga in a Sephora.

[82_28]

Girls and women do not go gaga in a Sephora.

Hahaha. I don't know what your point is, but as a matter of fact they do. I've spent years going into Sephora to figure out what to get at the grocery store, say hi or whatever.

[Luther Blissett]

'Mad Max: Fury Road' draws the ire of men's rights activists

We haven't seen film reviewers this gushingly superlative about a movie since last year's Boyhood, but apparently Mad Max: Fury Road is bringing even hardened critics to their knees.

So far, the film has a 98 percent "fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes, with even its only rotten reviewer conceding that it's "visually spectacular."

But there's one group of critics who are frothing with rage over the film because—wait for it—it's about women.

Director George Miller's revamp of the original Mad Max films is an unashamed extended chase scene. The chas-ees are a group of women who've been held captive as sex slaves. Led by Splendid (Rosie Huntington-Whitely), a character who's become pregnant by rape and subsequently fears for her life, the group of women escape and enlist the aid of the renegade Furiosa (Charlize Theron) to help them survive. The titular "Mad" Max (Tom Hardy) is a bystander who's reluctantly swept up in all this action after the refugees go on the run, pursued by a crazed dieselpunk gang who want their harem back.

Here's what this plot sounds like to some people who aren't sexist:

Bilge Ebiri ‏@BilgeEbiri May 10
Just 19.5 hours left until I can tell you that MAD MAX: FURY ROAD is the Sistine Chapel of action filmmaking.

Bilge Ebiri ‏@BilgeEbiri
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD is the Sistine Chapel of action filmmaking.

Devin Faraci @devincf
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD Review - A Modern Action Masterpiece - George Miller with a masterclass in action filmmaking. http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2015/05/11/ ... asterpiece …
10:37 AM - 11 May 2015

VANITY FAIR ✔@VanityFair
For a movie set in a post-apocalyptic desert hellscape, MadMax: FuryRoad is awfully refreshing http://vnty.fr/1zWSOtE
3:09 PM - 12 May 2015

Esquire Magazine ✔@esquire
Why Mad Max blows past a decade of blockbusters: http://esqm.ag/60157b8h
2:15 PM - 12 May 2015

Slate ✔@Slate
Mad Max: Come for the feminist empowerment, stay for the tricked-out nightmare doomcars! http://slate.me/1ctc72Z
3:45 PM - 12 May 2015

We're pretty sure getting Esquire and Slate to agree on a movie is a minor miracle all by itself. But over in the land of MRAs—that's "men's rights activists" for those of you who've thankfully missed the rise of militant sexism on the Internet—all is not golden. As noted by David Futrelle's MRA watch blog We Hunted the Mammoth, the community is livid at the female characters who've disrupted their typical moviegoing experiences by being onscreen and having a story told about them.

On the popular MRA site Return of Kings, vlogger Aaron Clarey opined that he'd been "tricked" into anticipating "what is guaranteed to be nothing more than feminist propaganda" that has "ruined and rewritten" the Mad Max franchise:

The truth is I’m angry about the extents Hollywood and the director of Fury Road went to trick me and other men into seeing this movie. Everything VISUALLY looks amazing. It looks like that action guy flick we’ve desperately been waiting for where it is one man with principles, standing against many with none.

Even though Hollywood has spent literally a full century making films that match that description, Clarey apparently was eager to add Fury Road to the pile. Though at first he was hyped about the films, Clarey wasn't happy that:

Charlize Theron’s character barked orders to Mad Max.

Nobody barks orders to Mad Max.

And after learning that Miller had hired Eve Ensler, author of the Vagina Monologues, as a consultant, Clarey realized he'd been "duped":

"I was forced to accept reality. Fury Road was not going to be a movie made for men. It was going to be a feminist piece of propaganda posing as a guy flick...

[F]eminism has infiltrated and co-opted Hollywood, ruining nearly every potentially-good action flick with a forced female character or an unnecessary romance sub-plot to eek [sic] out that extra 3 million in female attendees...

...Hollywood has [had] the audacity to remove the name sake of a movie franchise called MAD FREAKING MAX, and replace it with an impossible female character in an effort to kowtow to feminism.

Clarey clearly hasn't seen the film, or apparently even read much of the plot description, or he'd know that his description of Fury Road as having "a forced female character or an unnecessary romance sub-plot" is totally inaccurate. And given that reviews have typically been describing Theron's character as intense and magnetic, it's hard to see what about her is actually "impossible," unless Clarey thinks it's impossible that women would have survived the apocalypse to begin with.

Then again, Clarey and the nearly 500 commenters his piece garnered weren't really interested in nuance, but rather in rallying each other to boycott the film in the name of manliness.

"Women and feminists in general have without a doubt, proven that they are dysfunctional by nature and cannot be trusted with anything. And this movie helps to prove it," reads the most upvoted comment. "Always maintain your masculinity."

[brekin]

Girls and women do not go gaga in a Sephora.

Girls and women going lady gaga in a Sephora.

'Mad Max: Fury Road' draws the ire of men's rights activists

We haven't seen film reviewers this gushingly superlative about a movie since last year's Boyhood, but apparently Mad Max: Fury Road is bringing even hardened critics to their knees.
So far, the film has a 98 percent "fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes, with even its only rotten reviewer conceding that it's "visually spectacular."
But there's one group of critics who are frothing with rage over the film because—wait for it—it's about women.

I wonder if some of the anger with these lads is over Mel Gibson, wife beater and misogynistic, not reprising his role? Which coincidentally shows where the road, the fury road, of hyper masculinity leads. The villain, King Immortan, in the lastest Mad Max film actually sounds more like Mel these days:

Premise
In the year 2060, after a series of catastrophic worldwide calamities caused the downfall of civilization, Max, a former highway patrolman whose family was killed in the early days of the societal collapse, meets Furiosa, a woman attempting to cross an immense desert.[5] With her are former female captives collectively known as the Five Wives. They are on the run from the tyrannical Fascist leader, King Immortan Joe and his bloodthirsty military force, the War Boys, who rule over a totalitarian desert kingdom called the Wasteland. Joe wants the Wives back because they are fertile enough to breed the next generation of the human race to be remade in Joe's twisted image.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_Max:_Fury_Road




The first couple of trailers of Fury Road looked too much like a Cirque Du Soleil tour had gotten lost in the Mad Max desert, but some of the more extended trailers have my interest piqued.

[Pele'sDaughter]

I really want to see it now. I had no idea there would be strong female characters. One of my guilty pleasures is the Kill Bill movies. I'm not what you'd call a feminist nor do I carry any angst over my lowly place as a woman. Somewhere within, though, is that powerful goddess wanting to erupt with fire and brimstone like my avatar.

[BrandonD]

I really don't like the modern concept of a "strong female character", which basically boils down to a violent jerk.

In my opinion a strong female character is the same as a strong male character, someone who does not play into gender stereotypes and nevertheless is confident in their own identity. It seems every woman depicted in movies these days is either a superficial airhead or a violent badass bitch. IMO neither of those is a strong female character, they are male fantasies.

I live in America where violence has been deified, so even though I know there is a time for violence I am particularly biased against it - so I may not have the most objective opinion on the subject.

[Luther Blissett]

It's worth noting that Tom Hardy has expressed fairly agender feelings about himself.

[Twyla LaSarc]

http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/ ... e_20150515

The authors argue that sexual equality may have proved an evolutionary advantage for early human societies, as it would have fostered wider-ranging social networks and closer cooperation between unrelated individuals. “It gives you a far more expansive social network with a wider choice of mates, so inbreeding would be less of an issue,” said Dyble. “And you come into contact with more people and you can share innovations, which is something that humans do par excellence.” …

The study suggests that it was only with the dawn of agriculture, when people were able to accumulate resources for the first time, that an imbalance emerged. “Men can start to have several wives and they can have more children than women,” said Dyble. “It pays more for men to start accumulating resources and becomes favourable to form alliances with male kin.” …

[El Amigo]

I really don't like the modern concept of a "strong female character", which basically boils down to a violent jerk.

In my opinion a strong female character is the same as a strong male character, someone who does not play into gender stereotypes and nevertheless is confident in their own identity. It seems every woman depicted in movies these days is either a superficial airhead or a violent badass bitch. IMO neither of those is a strong female character, they are male fantasies.

I live in America where violence has been deified, so even though I know there is a time for violence I am particularly biased against it - so I may not have the most objective opinion on the subject.

Some good movies with strong female characters are The Departed (the psyche) and The New World ('Pocahontas')

Quick question, a sincere question- In The Departed I noticed some little things about her, the way she held a dessert spoon, the way she walked into her apt. carrying a cardboard box and set it down on a table... Is that OK? It was all cuz she was a woman...

In The New World Colin Farrell just followed the girl around and watched her do shit. Sexist? Thas what I do, basically... Is that OK? And I like her as a woman, and yes I know what that means, and can go into great detail, both physical and metaphysical, emotional and mental, even- even pataphysical details-... Is that Ok?

Are they wars aginst her as a woman or a social cipher? I find the title of this thread demeaning! (And absurd- it lacks the charm of an antique and the poetry found in whas archaic.)

Is the war on the Taliban a war on women? Cuz that's killed a ton of women... (this sounds priggish, but I keep it- the avg. soldier may hate sexism but probly finds it hard to separate what he- at least claims to- superficially hate, from the 'Afghan'. Especially the women. Most Westerners I know hate on the women far more than the men... But I wear work boots and like girls in sun dresses and sandals with anklets, so I'm a goddam f*cktard. I must hate what is unique. Like a woman in a burqa amidst many who are not, but I actually don't. I cringe cuz I know people are hating her, but then do I accept burqas? Is that sexist..?)


LOL! Dude, You are the man! That was a great observation. I love it. You might wanna add that female action heroes propagate an impossible body image. Propagate- is that the word-? Idk...

PS: The most boycrazy girl I knew was anorexic, was she looking for herself in boys? Did she renounce being soft? Is that sexist? Her mother called her fat, drove her to it... She's fine now, lives in Manhattan! Sure she fixed all that up... I mean if she's makin it in New York... nevermind.

[El Amigo]

It's worth noting that Tom Hardy has expressed fairly agender feelings about himself.

I think I know what you mean by this... And it would help Hardy's career (what else matters!?), as Hollywood is swarming with moneyed, empowered, unscrupulous omnisexuals- As documented by this site- I mean- come on-

Otherwise how the F is he 'agendered'? Did he neuter himself? Cuz if he did that- if he did that and a ton of other things to be 'Agendered', then I would find that awesome. I'd send that smooth, eunuch some flowers- daffodils! But what body type would he have, as a cosmic entity type... Or maybe he had a vagina sewn into his grundle- that would be something else wouldn't it!? That'd show that old d-bag from the duck show, that'd trim his fake beard!

Nope, no- if he had the vag inserted (then vacuumed, I'd wager) then he'd be bigendered? Is that how that works? Would he have one boob and like one... no boob? Or is this just some civic witches brew bullshit that only exists in the minds of peeps-

This stuff hurts my head. Back in the day I read comix and the reality warpers were always going insane. Their powers drove me crazy.

[El Amigo]

http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/study_shows_gender_equality_prevailed_among_prehistoric_people_20150515

The authors argue that sexual equality may have proved an evolutionary advantage for early human societies, as it would have fostered wider-ranging social networks and closer cooperation between unrelated individuals. “It gives you a far more expansive social network with a wider choice of mates, so inbreeding would be less of an issue,” said Dyble. “And you come into contact with more people and you can share innovations, which is something that humans do par excellence.” …

The study suggests that it was only with the dawn of agriculture, when people were able to accumulate resources for the first time, that an imbalance emerged. “Men can start to have several wives and they can have more children than women,” said Dyble. “It pays more for men to start accumulating resources and becomes favourable to form alliances with male kin.” …

"Who now reads Spencer?" - Talcott Parsons, 1937

Hebert Spencer was a massive figure, an overwhelmingly popular 'polymath' way back in the day, in the late 19th century. At one point he was just about as popular as Bertrand Russell! He's responsible for such seemingly invulnerable memes as 'social darwinism' and 'survival of the fittest' (lol at 'evolution' aiding in THAT! Or the the way people imagine it anyway...)

He's forgotten today. Largely cuz he was full of it.

Who knows? Maybe in the future, Sociologists like Richard Dawkins, Mechanical Engineers like Bill Nye and Comedians like Bill Maher and all their important work on 'Evolution' will be largely forgotten as well...

I tried reading some real deal papers in journals on the science behind 'Evolution'. It dealt mainly in microbiology and not in bigfoot or t-rex so I lost interest cuz I'm dumb. Also science is an intricate system of data falsification and thas no fun.

And Chomsky said it best, "Science talks about very simple things, and asks hard questions about them. As soon as things become too complex, science can’t deal with them."

We can't go back to some idyllic past when men were men and women were women... We can't abuse the scientific method to forge social constructs that can be mistaken for physical realities.

[Elvis]

Thorstein Veblen's 1899 book, The Theory of the Leisure Class, points out that the earliest form of private property was men owning women. The very notion of private property began with men owning women.

[El Amigo]

Thorstein Veblen's 1899 book, The Theory of the Leisure Class, points out that the earliest form of private property was men owning women. The very notion of private property began with men owning women.

If men have sex with a woman, aren't they 'owning' her during the act? There can be a mighty argument made thas not the case, but I know- after the name of this site- the answer's yes... S'pretty private too.

Yes, women are 'private property' in real life. Most of them, all BS aside, demand it in some way.

The problem is between seeing woman as a gift or a right... This is the root of all evil, the dead tree that casts a pall over everything and grabs us under with it's monster-roots...

[El Amigo]

Thorstein Veblen's 1899 book, The Theory of the Leisure Class, points out that the earliest form of private property was men owning women. The very notion of private property began with men owning women.

If men have sex with a woman, aren't they 'owning' her during the act? There can be a mighty argument made thas not the case, but I know- after the name of this site- the answer's yes... S'pretty private too.

Yes, women are 'private property' in real life. Most of them, all BS aside, demand it in some way.

The problem is between seeing woman as a gift or a right... This is the root of all evil, the dead tree that casts a pall over everything and grabs us under with it's monster-roots...

Define sex....

If some farmer shears a sheep and brings his wife the wool and she makes a blanket or something (IDK how that works-) that's sex. You can make that unique and modern and progressive too. Things just are. I chose that cuz it's sexist sounding.