Eye of the Beholder

[qos]

I've been thinking a lot about my own reaction to the statue I posted about last night. The fact is, I have plenty of sexual images in my own collection -- including one small statue of a scantily dressed female pirate -- which many people would find as offensive (if not moreso) as the Mary Jane statue.

So what is is about *this* statue that bugs me? And what does the answer say about me? And why am I disgusted by bent-over MJ when I have far more explicit images that I enjoy?

I'm still working on good answers to these questions, but I intend to post about it when I do. There will be images involved, so it will be posted under my General Sexuality filter.

Just wanted everyone to know this topic is not yet closed for me.

Comments

[crownofviolets.livejournal.com]

I had a really hard time identifying as a feminist, because a lot of what feminism seemed to be about was getting angry about things and pointing fingers. And there really are some things to be angry about. But you can't make people change their minds. If an artist, male or female, truly believes that this is all a woman is, it's up to men and women who believe differently to provide media, jobs, art, entertainment, whatever that says different. We live in a world of choice, and that means taking the good with what we feel is bad. We need options and choices, not more pointing fingers or condemning. And we need to be the ones to provide those options and choices. We can't rely on other people to do it for us. That for me has become what feminism is about. :)

[oakmouse]

You go!

I decided in the mid-80s to stop calling myself a feminist because it seemed to me that feminism had deteriorated from an attempt to right very real wrongs into a "can you top this" contest hellbent on identifying how many elements of special disadvantaged status someone within the feminist community could claim in an attempt to take on maximal status and credibility. ("I'm more disadvantaged than you are because I'm an ethnic minority feminist." "Well, I'm a lesbian feminist." "I top you both, I'm a disabled elderly impoverished feminist former housewife with no job skills who was ditched by my husband for a younger woman.") I also had real problems with the apparently universal blind rage toward all males which had taken over much feminist rhetoric. I decided back then that my credo would be that feminism is the radical notion that women are people, and added to it the equally radical notion that men are people too and that ALL PEOPLE deserve to be treated well regardless of age, sex, race, religion, etc etc etc. Because the only way to ensure that women are treated well is to treat everybody well, people. No point in dethroning one privileged class to set up another. And I felt that the best way to bring this about in reality is to try to live it myself. So that's how I try to be a feminist. *g*

[crownofviolets.livejournal.com]

That is awesome! :) I completely agree with you.

[professor-mom.livejournal.com]

I love this. Count me in. *nods*