fake: transforming sexism

words words words

Walter Wink: Naming the Powers: Language of Power in the New Testament (The Powers : Volume One)
i like wink a lot. anyone who can write an essay entitled "how i got snagged by the seat of my pants while reading the bible" is an instant hit in my book. couple this with an astute academic mind and a sincere desire to discover what it means to follow god in this generation and the man rises to virtual sainthood! this is the first in wink's series on the principalities and "powers" mentioned throughout the bible. it is necessarily the most academic of the three as it sets the groundwork for the subsequent conclusions he pulls out on the other two books. but he writes well and covers the technical ground well. this is an important book (particularly for the evangelical church i feel). wink's central thesis is that both the evangelical tradition (in believing the 'powers' to be wholly other-worldly, AND the liberation theology tradition (in locating the powers solely in this present world) are mistaken. both are challenged here - though his writing will raise the heckles of conservative evangelicals moreso than the liberationists i think. this is a welcome surefire antidote to the inane and socially irresponsible teaching that spiritual warfare is conducted solely (or even mostly) on one's knees, rather than on the picket line, in the workplace, in the voting booth, in the day-to-day of normal living. read it and buy an extra copy for your pastor! (***)
David Bodanis: E=mc2: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation
an immensely readable account of the equation most people are likely to be able to quote but few can explain. bodanis takes each element in the equation and tells the tale of the people responsible for the major discoveries in that area to show upon whose shoulders einstein stood and what the consequences for the 20th and 21st centuries and beyond have been and are. don't be put off by the scientific nature of the subject matter, it really is written with the non-expert in mind. neat appendices tucked away at the back of the book and a web-site are where those wanting more detail are directed so as not to intimidate or overwhelm the masses. it really does read more like a social commentary/biography than a science book. enlightening and light. a rare combination. nice. (****)
Peter Rollins: How (Not) to Speak of God
How_not_to_speak_of_god_cover how (not) to speak of god is an important and beautiful book. we are living in a fractured time. we do not yet know what we are let alone where we are going other than (in rollins’ words) “away-from-here.” we are defined by what we are not (postmodern) and by the fact that we are moving, or emerging, but not yet by what we are or by any final destination. it’s easy to lose hope in this generation. all the enlightenment promises of certainty, provability and universal Truth now look jaded in the cold and often terrifying light of postmodern philosophical thought. into this arena steps my good friend, peter rollins and he is like a breath of fresh air. rollins is uniquely positioned to write this book of popular philosophical a/theology. he hails from the evangelical/charismatic tradition, so he is perfectly placed to offer a sensitive critique to that community; he has a doctorate in philosophy, so he is well-versed in nietzsche, jaques derrida, meister eckhart, jean-luc marion, hans-georg gadamer and so on and is able to appropritate their insights and criticisms into his and our theology; he has been a youth-worker and a conference speaker, so he has well-honed gifts in communication and is adept at making the profound intelligible to ordinary plebs like you and me; and he is actively involved in leadership of a christian community, so these issues are not theoretical to him, but deeply personal and practical. if you’ve heard pete speak you’ll know how passionate he is about these issues. if you have heard him on more than one occasion, then to be honest there will be little new here for you. but that is a long way from saying that the book is not worth buying and reading. i read my copy in one sitting and will no doubt return to it again and again. as i do with every book i read this with a pen and a yellow highlighter in hand so as to be able to remember the important bits and note where i disagreed or was provoked to think about something. it’s now with some sense of dismay that i flick through a book where practically every page has a radioactive glow to it! one of pete's chief gifts is in analogy and parable. how sad it is that jesus’ parables no longer take our breath away. truly great parables always have the audience nodding their heads as the story starts, thinking they know the ending right from the get-go only to be slapped in the face and completely offended by the shocking twist-in-the-tale. rollins stories are clever, poignant, offensive and often very moving. this is not a book of dull theology. this is a book of poetry. rollins’ concern is that people often ask him what he believes but never how he believes. in his view belief should always be transformative “the reversal from ‘right belief’ to ‘believing in the right way’ is in no way a move to some binary opposite of the first (for the opposite of right belief is simply wrong belief); rather, it is a way of transcending the binary altogether. thus orthodoxy is no longer (mis)understood as the opposite of heresy but rather is understood as a term that signals a way of being in the world rather than a means of believing things about the world… it is an approach which emphasises the priority of love: not as something which stands opposed to the knowledge of god, but, more radically still, as knowledge of god… orthodoxy, as believing in the right way, as bringing love to the world around us and within us … that will cost us everything. for to live by that sword, as we all know, is to die by it.” (pg 3.) if you find yourself agreeing with everything rollins says here, he’d probably say himself that you’re not reading carefully enough. this is a book to rock our comfortable boat, to provoke thought, to engage and begin a conversation with the reader. don’t read this if your theology is rock-solid and water-tight, this book will either shatter that faith completely or make you want to crucify the author as a heretic! i guess my only criticism of this book is that it’s left me hungry for more. i wish it had been two books rather than one. the first half of the book is the argument/discussion/theory; the second a series of ten liturgies, used by the ikon community in belfast to attempt to outwork the implications of living for christ today. liturgy needs to be experienced/said/shared to be truly effective. i want more of the thought-provoking insight contained in the first half. roll on book number two. i’m concerned that this review doesn’t do justice to the book. rollins is a much better communicator than i am. his words are much more poetic than mine. if i’ve made it sound dull, philosophical and high-brow i’ve misled you. if you think this is another book of wishy-washy new-age theology again that’s probably my fault, for nothing could be further from the truth. read this book and if you ever get the opportunity, go and listen to this humble pilgrim. it sounds like i’m on his payroll. to be honest i struggle with much of rollin’s insight and thought. as paul tillich points out, “most human beings of course are not able to stand the message of the shaking of the foundations. they reject and attack the prophetic minds, not because they really disagree with them, but because they sense the truth of their words and cannot receive it.” i may disagree with his thinking at times (though I fear he is right more than i like to admit) but his commitment to and love for god are never in question. this book is a call to love god and love people. sit up church. the voice of one calling “in the desert prepare the way of the lord.” there is a transformative message here for those who have ears to hear. (*****)
Bruce Ellis Benson: Graven Ideologies: Nietzche, Derrida & Marion on Modern Idolatry
ah what a welcome book! at last an evangelical who actually understands and takes seriously what nietzsche, derrida and marion (as well as many others such as husserl, heidegger, leotard, gadamer...) say. i'm so tired of reading christians, who really ought to know better, wailing a lament for a non-existent time past when everyone 'knew' the Truth, God could be proved and placed in a little rational box, and everyone knew right from wrong. these writers herald deconstructionism and phenomenology as simple relativism leading to inevitable nihilism; they set postmodern philosophy up as a straw man, astonishing (and sedating) us with their intellectual prowess, as they proceed to scare the big, bad, postmodern bogeyman away. benson points out that not only is this bogeyman not going anywhere fast, but he should be welcomed as a friend.

foundationalism is dead and gone - everyone (with the possible exception of the christian writers referred to above) knows this. the enlightenment deceived us. rather than nietzsche being the nihilist, benson points out that he simply pointed out the inevitable nihilism which results from modernism, and the christian morality which ties itself too closely with it.

now that we know that there is no foundation for knowledge (and never has been) which cannot be undermined somehow, benson forces the evangelical church to sit up and ask, 'what now?' here we find help in surprising places (at least for some). benson shows how the three thinkers in his title offer us some possible paths through this crisis.

his writing is clear and engaging and one quickly realises that this is somone who has read beyond the flycover of these authors - he has grappled with their thought at length. this would be a great first introduction to these philosophical greats, and really ought to be read by every thinking christian to see how we in the church ought to 'be' in our time.

brilliant. go. read.

now.

that is all. (*****)
Stanley J. Grenz: Renewing the Center: Evangelical Theology in a Post-Theological Era
stan grenz died in march 2005. his voice will be much missed in the contemporary debate within evangelicalism. although holding on to (too?) much traditional evangelical orthodoxy, grenz argues that evangelicals harken back to enlightenment principles (such as decartes' foundational view of epistemology) rather than facing up to the realities of the current thinking and new philosophical discoveries. this book is useful again as it addresses evangelicals in their own terms. no evangelical will be alienated by this book, but will find themselves gently nudged leftwards. therein lies my only criticism: the evangelical church needs dragged kicking and screaming and i wonder if this nudge is too subtle to really do the job. (***)
carl raschke: the next reformation: why evangelicals must embrace postmodernity
raschke writes from within the evangelical community. he writes with academic acumen and passion - a rare combination. this book is a really great introduction to the genuine postmodern debate, rather than the characature or straw man often presented in evangelical circles. raschke neither demonises nor lionises postmodernity, but simply shows the opportunities now facing church as a result of this new zeitgeist. rather than ignoring or rejecting culture outright, the church must realise that culture is amoral - available for appropriation and shaping - NOT immoral. that being the case, raschke is unrelenting in revealing just how completely the church has bought in to (or sold out to) modernity. the new challanges postmodernity presents us with as christians cannot be disregarded any longer. fore-warned is fore-armed. this book is apposite counsel. agree or disagree with raschke, he will not be easily dismissed. he is too briefly dismissive of the radical orthodoxy movement and his last couple of chapters are less rigorous and academic than the rest - he seems to come close to suggesting that the charismatic movement is the ideal representation of postmodern church. this could have been remedied by more rigorous editing as it is obvious they would be better suited to a more testimonial-type book. the rest, however, is excellent. (****)
E.P. Sanders: Paul: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introduction S.)
this is a lovely series of books - beautifully simple presentation. this one is a reprint of sanders earlier "paul" (1971). he single-handedly changed the way the apostle paul is studied in theology - reponsible for the so-called "new perspective on paul". this is a very readable and enjoyable introduction to the most important christian theologian of all time. whether you've studied theology or not this tiny little book will whet your appetite for more! while you're at it buy a copy for your pastor/minister/priest. easy to fit in your pocket and read in a couple of hours on the train. (****)
John Caputo: On Religion (Thinking in Action S.)
ok so jack caputo's a total heretic. tell him something he doesn't know! this book is beautiful. caputo is an inspirational writer. his most mundane prose still rings with a poetry that puts most authors (never mind theologians!) to shame. his thoughts are always challenging (especially to those of an evangelical persuasion) but this is postmodern theology at its best. you don't have to believe everything he says to appreciate the beauty of his thinking. highly recommended. (****)
James D. G. Dunn: A New Perspective on Jesus: What the Quest for the Historical Jesus Missed (Acadia Studies in Bible and Theology)
a genuinely fresh insight. james dunn's book attempts to do for jesus what he has previously attempted to do for paul - get back to the original. traditionally trying to get back to the 'real' jesus results in 'the jesus seminar' type approach - religating anything which smacks of the supernatural to get back to 'the historical jesus.' dunn argues tis approach is doomed to fail; that the ONLY record we have of jesus is that written through the eyes of faith. jesus' disciples talked about him, wrote about him, followed him BECAUSE they believed he was the messiah. the 'historical' jesus is therefore synonymous with the christ of faith. wonderful insight. easy to read and thoroughly engaging. a great counter to post-liberal scholarship. a valuable voice in the continuing debate over the nature and identity of jesus. (****)
Alain Badiou: Saint Paul: The Foundation of Universalism (Cultural Memory in the Present)
an interesting find this one: an atheist writing on paul! now before you turn away in disdain, he's got some really interesting and profound insight. it's only 128 pages so it's not going to suck up your entire life to take some time looking it over. he argues that paul sees the world in terms of jews and greeks who look to prophets and philosophers respectively as sources of authority. badiou argues that paul is able to appeal for universal acceptance of the truths he proclaims by appealing to apostolic authority in opposition to jewish and greek authority figures. interesting, challenging and insightful. (****)
ed. Merold Westphal: Postmodern Philosophy and Christian Thought
i liike westphal. this book is clear and challenging and includes many diverse responses to postmodernist thought. there is no doubt at all that we are moving beyond modernism yet (as with most things) the church has been slow to respond. this reader, although academic, is very approachable and clearly written. Contributors include: Steven Bouma-Prediger, John D. Caputo, George Connell, Andrew J. Dell'Olio, Garrett Green, Lee Hardy, Brian D. Ingraffia, Walter Lowe, Jean-Luc Marion, Gary Percesepe, Merold Westphal, W. Jay Wood, Norman Wirzba, and Edith Wyschogrod. if there's not someone in that group who gets under your skin and makes you itchy for more, you're just not trying! (****)
Brian D. McLaren: A Generous Orthodoxy: Why I Am a Missional, Evangelical, Post/Protestant, Liberal/Conservative, Mystical/Poetic, Biblical, Charismatic/Contemplative, Fundamentalist/Calvinist, Anabaptist/Anglican, Methodist, Catholic, Green, Incarnational, Depressed-yet-Hopeful, Emergent, Unfinished CHRISTIAN
What a breath of fresh air Brian McLaren is. He's another one like Jimmy Dunn who encourages me to stay within the evangelical church. he's DELIBERATELY provocative and abstruse to encourage and open up discussion rather than close it down (a point many of his detractors seem to forget!) He tries to take the best from the many traditions within Christendom while generously overlooking their weaknesses. of course i don't agree with all he says. but of course i've never found an author with whom i totally agree. How dull if i did! that's what makes them thought-provoking and challenging to me! fresh and inspiring. (*****)
D. A. Carson: Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church : Understanding a Movement and Its Implications
ok so it's carson so you prety much know from the outset where he's coming from. I'm fascinated by the emerging church movement (no doubt you'll read more and more about it on this site.) The biggest criticism i have of the it is that often it's a movement in search of a theology. although carson critiques the movement from the right he gives a more sympathetic hearing to emerging church than you might think. it's certainly a good book to introduce mainstream to conservative evangelicals to the opportunities (as well as what carson sees as some pitfalls) presented by living in our times. (***)
G.K. Chesterton: Orthodoxy
what do you mean you haven't read this???!!! Stop wasting your time on the internet and GET THIS BOOK!!! I first read this book 15 years ago but i think it's only now that i'm appreciating the sheer genius of the man! If anyone can read chapter 4 'The Ethics of Elfland' without a huge smile on their face i'll eat ... well at least a donut on your behalf!! Truly postmodern apologetics at it's best. Chesterton argues persuasivley that the MOST real and factual things we know do not come through science or mathematics but fairy tales. GENIUS!!! (*****)
Leonard Sweet: Church in Emerging Culture: Five Perspectives
Another book that gives me hope. The Church in general and the evangelical church in particular seems hell-bent on ignoring culture at best or, in the scant attention it does pay, seems to be focused soley on denouncing rather than on understanding and assimilating where appropriate. This book is a good popular attempt to support a dialogue within the evangelical church on various options for progress. The foramat of this book is also novel and interesting. Each of the authors writes their owb chapters (coming from very disparate theological stances within evangelicalism) which are interspersed in grayscale with supportive or argumentative responses from the other authors. [Not really sure i'm communicating that well. Take a wee look at the book and you'll instantly understand what i'm talking about.] The overall impression becomes one of an emerging conversation and discussion rather than a univocular polemic. This isn't an academic book (i mean that in a good way!) so definitely pick it up and give it a go. (****)
Anthony C. Thiselton: The First Epistle to the Corinthians (New International Greek Testament Commentary Series)
Well it's not exactly a quick read weighing in at an astounding 1480 pages but this commentary is EXCELLENT. What can i say. I've had the privilege of being taught by Anthony. He's a legend. Reading Anthony is like reading EVERYONE who's ever said ANYTHING theological about 1st Corinthians. It's easy to become overwhelmed with the sheer enormity of the research this volume represents, but Anthony's style is always fresh and engaging. He gives his own translation from the Greek and then gives lucid and (IMHO) balanced comment on the various positions that have been taken on this letter while not hesitating to nail his own colours to the mast. This is highly recommended for anyone who has an interest in hermeneutics or Pauline theology in general or 1st Corinthians in particular. (*****)
James Dunn: The Theology of Paul the Apostle
jimmy dunn's a bit of a star. he's one of the authors that keeps me calling myself an evangelical. if there's room for the likes of him there's room for me. his writing is easy to read, scholarly and engaging - an unusual mix! add to this dunn's ability to take on board the latest theological discoveries on Paul without losing the wonder of the salvation Paul himself seeks to describe and proclaim and you've got a great theology text. (****)
Bible & Culture Collective: The Postmodern Bible
an interesting collection of essays on various approaches adopted by postmodern theologians to biblical criticism - including reader-response, deconstructionalist and a host of others. (***)

sites to see

atto :: helloatto.com
this is the site of my good friends pete and heather. you've just gotta take a wee look. they're doing some really lovely things in visual communication. their main focus at the moment is on interactive children's books which are really quite delicious. pete worked for me when madministries was a thing. he made me look good. the site's still there (www.madministries.com) if you want to go see though mad* has expired long ago and is no more. everything that looks lovely here, from web design to posters for cheap date all originated in his wee head. how clever!
emergingchurch.info : a touching place for the emerging church
this is a place which intrigues me. you'll be challenged, provoked, infuriated and hopefully enlightened (maybe even altered?!) especially check out pete rollins wee interview at http://www.emergingchurch.info/stories/cafe/peterollins/index.htm. nice.
ikon - belfast
a rare and beautiful thing: an emerging church with thought and theology behind it! the founding guy behind it, pete rollins (philosopher/theologian/prophet/guru/teller of tales) is a good friend of mine. i miss seeing him more regularly now we live over in chester but i don't think there's anyone in my life who challenges my thinking more than pete. he's probably the smartest person i've met but isn't totally arsey with it - another rarity! we disagree frequently and vigorously but pete has an integrity linking his theology to his life which means he is always worth listening to and learning from. he says people ask too often what he believes but rarely want to know 'how' he believes; how his belief alters him, betters him, makes him more like jesus. in this vein i think pete believes well.
madministries.com
well the site may look a little outdated now but back in the day it was way ahead of the field thanks to the genius of pete kerr. what's more important is the content. i founded mad* in 1999 and worked for it for three very happy years before moving over to Chester. read some of the testimonies of people who where impacted by this ministry. it was such a privelege to be involved. hopefully Fake will take things in a new and even more exciting direction.
Third Way Magazine
i've subscribed to Third Way for over a decade now. every issue there'll be at least one article which will cause you to think. the only christian magazine in the uk worth handing over your hard-earned cash for. essential reading!
wee alli's page
this is the page of my beautiful, smart wee wife alli, with all her thoughts and musings on life and stuff. click constantly on it as she's much more faithful at updating than i am! o and she's nice.
Welcome to Emergent Village
it was brian mclaren who first switched me on to this project. come and be.

i'm a feminist. there. i said it.

i'm proud to believe that women have as much intrinsic worth as men; that there is nothing they should be barred from doing because of their gender - either inside, or outside, ecclesial circles. i believe that women can be very sexy, but that they are not sex objects, placed here for the exploitation and enjoyment of men. i believe that women have a valuable contribution to make in society: politically, economically, spiritually, manually - just as men do. i believe that women should be measured by more than their bra size; that they can grow more beautiful with age; that their beauty (or value) does not necessarily depend on their physical looks (as society chooses to rate them). i believe that motherhood is sacred, precious and honorable in and of itself and that a woman has an intrinsic right to choose it as her life's work. i believe that she likewise has the intrinsic right to choose other paths in life. i am not commenting at all here on the whole "pro-choice/pro-life" debate, but am simply stating that a woman is no more a de facto parent than any man.

doesn't seem like very radical stuff to me. seems pretty axiomatic, in fact. we have come a long way since suffrage when these arguments really needed to be made, haven't we?

then tell me why, when i go to see some good, fun, popcorn nonsense, i am assailed for two and a half hours, by probably the most sexist (and racist) diatribe i have been exposed to in mainstream cinema for well over a decade.

transformers is the latest high-tech, cgi-packed summer blockbuster to hit the big screens. at 2.5 hours, it's at least 1 hour too long. ninety minutes would have made a much bigger impact. shia laboeuf is excellent in pretty much the same geeky-guy-getting-the-beautiful-girl role that he played so well in the rear window rip-off, disturbia. there are also some really great action scenes and a couple of good belly laughs.

but then there's the casting. all the guys have that boy-next-door thing going on. none of them could be described as in any way typically handsome (with the exception of the jock boyfriend, who is on screen for a couple of minutes and is portrayed as completely unsympathetic).

but the girls!

every one of the girls on screen look like they've walked straight from a swimsuit modeling contest. they are all unusually beautiful (in that very traditional all-american kind of way) and the two main female roles are occupied by a brunette and a blonde to ensure that all our male peccadilloes are adequately catered for. the camera slowly slides over megan fox like a drooling lothario. i challenge you to count the number of times there's a close up of her perfectly tanned face with those azure blue eyes peering out - really, you'll lose count well before the first hour's gone!

there's even a random shot in one of the city fight scenes where a car is thrown down the street over the heads of some by-standers and the only one we see in sudden, strange close-up "just happens" to be some brunette stunner! why, o why, could this shot at least be reserved for some 'ordinary' 50 year old with a slight belly and bad skin?

the portrayal of afro-americans here is equally appalling, falling lazily for the over-played stereotypes of black people as overweight slackers there solely for comedy value, with over-bearing, intellectually challenged mothers. sloppy. unfair. racist.

but it's the sexism that is the most blatantly in-your-face. i'm surprised that none of the reviews i've read have made anything of it.

now, i hear what you're saying, "come on. hollywood using sex as a marketing tool. quelle surprise!" i'm not naive. neither am i some right wing prude who's scared of sex. i love sex, i delight in the female form and i love seeing beautiful women on screen. it's the inequality and lack of self awareness in it all that really gets my back up. you expect the beautiful girls to be cast in teen comedies, where there's an obvious wink at the audience which says 'we know she's far too good-looking to be hanging about here, but that's what makes it so funny.' but here, why did the producers feel no need to cast gq models for the lead guys? why just the girls?

in the same vein, why is all our news anchored by one older guy, who can look like anything (so long as he has at least some gray in his hair to indicate his trustworthy wisdom) with a younger, beautiful woman at his side? why does catherine zeta-jones (aged 13) find sean connery (aged 1 million) utterly irresistible in entrapment? why can i name dozens upon dozens of male actors who have become more famous, sexy, desirable, marketable after fifty than before (think bob deniro, jon voight, sean connery, al pacino, gene hackman, mel gibson, jeremy irons, and so on ad nauseam!) but can only think of a handful of women for whom this is true (judi dench, helen mirren, vanessa redgrave)?

the message all of us pick up, is that guys can look any which way mother nature throws them out and still be sexy, achieve fame and fortune and be envied by all. and to crown it all, they can grow old and actually become more desirable, not less. women, on the other hand, unless they are preternaturally lucky in the gene-pool lottery are disadvantaged from the get-go and, regardless of genetic gifting, peek at 25 and then begin the inexorable and rapid slide from life in the public eye and lose the power/right to contribute. every single 15 year old boy swallows this lie, but, much more damagingly, so does every single 15 year old girl. self-harming, bulimia, anorexia and plastic surgery are all rampantly out-of-control in the west.

houston, we have a problem!

we, the church, must speak out against this nonsense. that's the wrong word. it's not simply nonsense, it's a perfidious obscenity. not simply vocally, but in leading by example, throwing our arms open to women, honoring them with as many behind-the-scenes roles as men and as many prominent ones. if i hear the "but jesus didn't chose any women apostles" argument one more time... he didn't chose any gentiles either so by that measure most of us men are screwed too!!!!

ok, just needed to get that off my chest. it's 11:30, time for my diet coke break!

Comments

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Love it! Haven't read a blog entry in quite awhile that was worth my time, but this was well worth the 2 minutes. I wish you had the power to get this concept into the thick-headed skulls of everyone everywhere.

Thanks for posting this shane.

Posted by: Heidi | Saturday, 14 July 2007 at 09:18 AM

agree wholeheartedly...

although transformers are still awesome. wish i could turn into a plane.

why isn't that a spiritual gift?

Posted by: andi | Sunday, 15 July 2007 at 04:43 PM

shane, thank you for an excellent blog, as i sit here with tears in my eyes. dont know what else to say, maybe silence is enough?

xxx

Posted by: christina | Monday, 16 July 2007 at 07:45 AM

Thanks. I've observed a revitalisation of female subjugation teaching in the last few years. It must be countered, strongly, because it is having a devasting effect upon women, men and the life of churches. Men and women who know that this is wrong need to speak out because in some quarters the anti-woman backlash is gaining momentum and power. This isn't about feminism or equal opportunities, it is about liberty, liberty to be in Christ.

Posted by: Karen | Monday, 16 July 2007 at 09:32 AM

I dont know if it is age...a privilaged live or the generation gap...but i dont think I have ever felt less for being a woman. I admire and revear what you have said and find merit in the words, especially comming from a man. However, it seems to me that I have been fortunate enough to have encountered little problems because of my sex. It is not that I disagree with much of what you have said...I just wonder if what you have said is entirely valid in many parts of todays society. In western culture there is a very pressing matter of what is considered beautiful and that is mirrored in mags, movies and on television. What people find beatutiful in real life does not necessarily reflect what they love to ogle on the big screen.

Ugh, what i would give to be able to argue with you until all hours of the morning in person! Its much more fun:)

Posted by: Lyse | Sunday, 12 August 2007 at 01:34 AM

I totally get it. I tried to tell a friend why he shouldn't be photoshopping to move a woman's eyes in a bridal magazine. What? Our EYES aren't perfectly placed anymore?

The thing is - he doesn't move the groom's eyes - those seem to be fine. Actually it's not that the men are perfect - it's that they're not expected to be perfect.

Posted by: Tracee Sioux | Saturday, 29 December 2007 at 10:42 PM

men are definitely held to a different standard tracee, although with the smooth chests, washboard stomachs and recent explosion of men's magazines espousing this look, i think things may be changing there too. but slowly. and we're a long long way behind.

lyse, i'm grateful for your insight and i'm gald you don't feel victimised by dint of your sex. however, the stats are terrifying. you (even in the 21st century) are highly unlikely to earn as much as your male counterparts in any given sector over your lifetime (this even without taking time off to have children - a societal task for which all of society should pay). the incidents of anorexia, bulimia and other eating disorders are exponetially greater among womyn than among men and although there are complex processes at work here, it is safe to say that within cultures where the mass media do not operate, these illnesses do not exist.

although others will doubtless be able to see the beauty in you, these images do not help you to see the beauty in you. and that's a big point. although i also believe that men's view of what a beautiful womyn looks like has been sullied by this one-size-fits-all female form with which we are bombarded on a daily basis.

and andi: transformers is a TERRIBLE movie!! get out more!!! :o)

Posted by: shane magee | Sunday, 30 December 2007 at 07:58 PM

This was very refreshing to hear! I twitter'ed about this movie (rachlcountry) a few nights ago, and you replied to it with this link.

I really believe people do not honour genders or just anything ordained by God anymore - and we're not to treat one sex as better than another or keep drooling at them... I mean, come on, saliva was meant to stay in your mouth - that's why our mouths stay shut 75% of the time. And I don't think the media industry really honours these values or lets people see the other side: how you can be so happy by being mentally pure. It's true: we don't give much respect to the female generation (and sometimes we don't do it to the male generation), and it really needs to stop... Movies like Transformers or Mr. & Mrs. Smith or even some Disney movies really just need to show the true side of life and how there can still be enjoyment, entertainment, and happiness by being modest and pure.

Thanks for referring me to this post! :)

Posted by: Rachel | Thursday, 05 March 2009 at 05:34 PM

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