The G Bitch Spotat which a mad black woman rants about New Orleans, insomnia, teaching, education and "education," various -isms and anything involving a bitch, a spot or the letter g
And unfortunately I was right [that Sadie the puppy had parvovirus]. So then began the ordeal of trying to save her. Plasma transfusions. Antibiotics. Probiotics. And daily visits. I wish for every citizen of this country the kind of healthcare [sic] and treatment this little dog received. The first four days, she got increasingly worse. At one point I told her doctor, “I’m prepared to let her go. She shouldn’t have to fight this hard.”
Winfrey, Oprah. “What I Know for Sure.” O Magazine, June 2009, 209. Print.
While listening to, and after having heard, a lot of health care talk and scare tactics and bludgeons and fallacies and the few accuracies, I skimmed through old magazines for some brainless activity, I thought, and this irritated me. She means well but it doesn’t come off well. I don’t believe animal companions are below some standard of care. It just irritated me in the context of my day.
The Girl’s best friend told her that M-, another girl in their class, told the best friend that atheists can’t get married. [This is rich after all the kerfuffle over now-resigned Keith Bardwell.] The best friend, who comes from a very Christian family, reported the information but didn’t believe it or care much. The Best Friend actually, as The Girl says, “forgets” The Girl is a committed non-believer. When I said M- probably came to that conclusion from things seen and said at church or home, The Girl said that no, she didn’t think M- was clever enough to come up with that idea on her own and that she must’ve heard it in church.
Chick lit—the range of fiction by women about contemporary city life, friendships, sex, jobs, climbing out of the wreckage of youthful dreams—gets a lot less respect than the male equivalent, which people tend to approach as if it were automatically more artful, more written. Women write “thinly veiled accounts”; men write “romans à clef.” Women writers may have a room of their own, but men who thrash around in front of the mirror and record their every failure, humiliation, moue, and excretion for an audience’s consumption still own the house, even if all they do in it is lie on the couch—and then write about it.
The work of Jonathan Ames, who created the new HBO series “Bored to Death,” lies in this vein of self-fascination and self-conscious inertia.
At first, I thought what bored me about “Bored to Death” was the boredom and boringness of the main character. I’m not much for “self-fascination,” especially in men and most especially in white men, mostly because with degrees in literature, I’ve seen four lifetimes worth of white male solipsism though I have watched, read and even enjoyed other creations that can fit into the WMS category. But after I read Franklin’s insertion “(Suzanne [the ex-girlfriend] is played by Olivia Thirlby, for what it’s worth, which isn’t much; all the female characters in the series are underdeveloped, and none of the actresses stand out, except for Kristen Wiig, of “Saturday Night Live,” who is a client of Jonathan’s in one episode.)”, I realized what ultimately turned me off on “Bored to Death.” Yes, Ted Danson is good, a wild-card character with more self-absorption than the main character, and when he appeared, everything got a little better. Yes, it’s “interesting” that he’s a bored, stuck writer [though even as a writer, especially as a writer, I'm in half-yawn before it starts] who dabbles in private investigating. What really soured me, or was the final sour, was the flophouse hotel scene with his client’s sister tied to the bed in black underwear. Gagged. Unwilling-to-be-ex boyfriend lurking wearing everything but pants. And it was supposed to be funny. What wasn’t funny to me was the woman tied to the bed, gagged, and this potential, or expended, violence and truly scary-as-shit situation being glossed over by all these guys in the room, the show, and, I assume, the writer’s room. The terror and edge of having aa woman tied to a bed in a shitty hotel room could’ve worked into the humor. It could’ve still been funny with the fear and terror. But there was no fear or terror since no man in that room felt any fear. Or really noticed her. And the character was so throwaway that there was no chance for any edge or depth from or assisted into being by her. And there was no humor, even though I am not an ideologue or absolutist and laugh at all kinds of offenses if they’re funny, because being tied down—and she’d been gone long enough for her dippy sister to worry—and alone in a room with a man for an hour, a day, 2 days, a week is on its own not at all funny. Unless, I gather, you are a male viewer and that girl-tied-up shit is just hilarious. [The reverse---a man tied down to the bed and gagged---is funny because it is less realistic, less dangerous, less likely to actually happen or turn out bloody and is not a possible or commonly-known ideograph of fear.] As a character, she’s completely written off instead of used for potential because she as a she doesn’t matter. This male self-fascination genre is just as bad with women as characters as…I was going to say porn but porn doesn’t do “character.” And “Bored to Death” has no titillation, for me anyway. So yeah, I’m bored.
Join Congressman Anh “Joseph” Cao and
WBOK for a public health forum.
With Special Guests:
Nancy Cassagne, West Jefferson Medical Center
Mary Joseph, The Children’s Defense Fund
Judge Calvin Johnson, Director of the Metropolitan Human Services District Congressman Cao will take YOUR opinions to
President Obama and Congress in Washington, D.C.
Moderated by WBOK’s Gerod Stevens
Thursday
September 3
6:00 – 7:30 PM
Schaumberg Elementary School
9501 Grant Street
New Orleans, LA
For More Information, Visit www.josephcao.house.gov or Call:
New Orleans: 504-483-2325
Washington, D.C. 202-225-66
The Times-Pic again discovers the local blogosphere and has the joy of printing the real name of Ashe Dambala. [Along with a picture.] As if the most dangerous thing going on politically in NOLA is Dambala’s question about Ellis and the conflict of interest his wife’s clients may pose. Conflict of interest is not a game, is not fluff, but real. Lawyers often think that “normals” are turned into quivering piles of piss by the threat of a lawsuit. Wouldn’t Ellis have to prove malice in a libel suit? And isn’t malice more than “I think I am above mention and suspicion because I am me”?
It is not a secret that the political class in NOLA thinks it is or at least should be above suspicion as individuals do exactly what they want, regardless of the effect on citizens or the city as a whole. They see no problem with skimming their “cut” off contracts, or steering money towards friends, relatives, spouses, while the rest of us scrape the fuck by. Only when it finally feels threatened do members of the Stolen Privilege class get nervous and start sputtering about libel suits and insults and “delusions.” Assistant city attorney Bob Ellis calls Dambala a “delusional nut,” which shows Ellis doesn’t read much online except what he feels might threaten his reputation and salary. Any random search will find 100s of delusional, badly-written and lacking-cogent-thought-processes blogs. And not all of them are free or written by nobodys. The best strategy post-Bush-and-Cheney is the logical fallacy attack—ad hominem, straw man, anything goes.
Why are bloggers seen as such a threat? Because they are not as under thumb as newspaper reporters? Because they do not have a publisher who makes sure a certain ideology is generally or specifically presented? Because jebus knows the sure way to chaos and destruction of the civilized world is free speech?
Excerpts from Women’s Action 33.1, May 2009–Japan: Rape simulator games and the normalization of sexual violence
The aim of the RapeLay game is for the player to repeatedly rape the mother and her daughters until they begin to “enjoy” the experience.
…
Japan ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1985 and was last examined on its report in 2003 by the CEDAW Committee, which reviews government compliance with CEDAW. While in its report the Japanese government recognized that “violence from husbands or partners, sexual crimes, prostitution, sexual harassment and stalking behaviour are grave violations of women’s human rights” the CEDAW Committee expressed concern that Japanese law characterized stalking as “acts to ‘satisfy love or other favourable feelings towards the person,’ or to ‘work off grudges resulting from the failure to satisfy these feelings.’” Such characterizations are rampant in hentai, which include a successful Japanese comic book series called Rape Man, portraying a male teacher who transforms into “superhero” Rape Man by night, raping women in order to settle grudges or “teach them a lesson” for jilting their lovers.
…
When reporting to the CEDAW Committee, the Japanese government admitted that “the image of women in the media, who were often portrayed as objects either of sex or violence, had a great impact” on gender stereotypes. The CEDAW Committee expressed concern about such stereotypes of women, “the prevalence of violence against women and girls and about women’s apparent reluctance to seek assistance from existing public institutions.” It also noted that “the penalty for rape is relatively lenient.” To prove rape in a court of law in Japan, judges often look at the level of violence perpetrated and/or the degree of resistance put up by the victim rather than whether the woman actually consented to intercourse.
Japan has an obligation under Article 5(a) of CEDAW “to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary and all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women.” In addition, Article 14 of the Japanese Constitution guarantees equality under the law and states that there shall be no “discrimination in political, economic or social relations because of race, creed, sex, social status or family origin.” Computer games such as RapeLay condone gender-based discriminatory attitudes and stereotypes, which perpetuate violence against women. Rather than allowing them to flourish, the Japanese government should be taking effective measures to overcome these attitudes and practices, which hinder women’s equality.
Recommended Actions
Please write to Illusion Software asking it to withdraw immediately from sale of all games, including RapeLay, which involve rape, stalking or other forms of sexual violence or which otherwise denigrate women. Suggest that corporations have a responsibility to consider, as good business practice, any negative impact their activities may have on society and the public interest. Please write a similar letter to Amazon Japan. Write also to the Japanese government officials below, calling on them to comply with Japan’s obligations under CEDAW and the Japanese Constitution to eliminate discrimination against women and particularly to ban the sale of computer games such as RapeLay, which normalize and promote sexual violence against women and girls.
Mr. Tadashi Yoshimura
Managing Director
Illusion Software
1-10-1 Nishikanagawa Kanagawa-ku
Yokohama-city, Kanagawa 221-0822, Japan
Tel: (+81) (0)4-5312-1551
Email: illusion@illusion.jp
Prime Minister Taro Aso
2-3-1 Nagata-Cho, Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo 100-0014, Japan
Tel: (+81)(0)3-3581-0101
Fax: (+81)(0)3-3581-3883
Email: via website
Mr. Eisuke Mori
Minster of Justice
1-1-1 Kasumigaseki
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8977, Japan
Tel: (+81)(0)3-3580-4111
Fax: (+81)(0)3-3592-7393 Email: webmaster@moj.go.jp
Ms. Yuko Obuchi
Minister of State for Social Affairs and Gender Equality
1-6-1 Nagata-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8914, Japan
Tel: (+81)(0)3-5253-2111
E-mail: via website
With a copy to:
Ms. Seiko Noda
Minister of Consumer Affairs
1-6-1 Nagata-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8914, Japan
Tel: (+81)(0)3-5253-2111
Please keep Equality Now updated on your efforts and send copies of any replies you
Equality Now P.O. Box 20646, Columbus Circle Station, New York NY 10023, USA Equality Now Africa Regional Office, P.O. Box 2018, 00202, Nairobi, KENYA Equality Now P.O. Box 48822, London WC2N 6ZW, UNITED KINGDOM info@equalitynow.org
The Girl is cultivating her own online life and interests. Cats have always been an almost Asperger’s-like obsession-”interest.” She sent me an email about this YouTube video the other day:
Professor Zero tagged me. I thought I could do it quickly but it’s taken me at least a week, maybe more. So here it finally is, in no particular order:
Vladimir Nabokov
Robert Walser
Margarita Karapanou
Alice Walker
Toni Morrison
Toni Cade Bambara
Judith Herman
Noam Chomsky
Jim Thompson
Marcel Proust
Joyce Carol Oates
Angela Davis
Franz Kafka
Barbara Ehrenreich
Patricia Williams
Valerie Solanas
Molly Ivins
Samuel Beckett
Yasunari Kawabata
William Julius Wilson
WEB DuBois
Ralph Ellison
James Cain
bell hooks
George Orwell
I’m not tagging 25 people, even though I probably do know 20. If you’re reading and have a blog, tag yourself.
"G Bitch" is a persona-pseudonym brought to you by a person with a "real" life, job, family, friends, etc. And nothing on this blog has anything to do with the views, practices, needs, or pet peeves of any employer, association, profession, clan, family member, or BFF.
Bitches are aggressive, assertive, domineering, overbearing, strong-minded, spiteful, hostile, direct, blunt, candid, obnoxious, thick-skinned, hard-headed, vicious, dogmatic, competent, competitive, pushy, loud-mouthed, independent, stubborn, demanding, manipulative, egoistic, driven, achieving, overwhelming, threatening, scary, ambitious, tough, brassy, masculine, boisterous and turbulent. A Bitch takes shit from no one. You may not like her, but you cannot ignore her.
ATTRIBUTION: Joreen, U.S. feminist and author. From “The Bitch Manifesto,” originally published in Ms. magazine in 1969. As quoted in The Decade of Women, by Suzanne Levine and Harriet Lyons (1980). link
