What We Missed
Pam Spaulding: How many fundie parents passed out when Adam Lambert did this on the American Music Awards? See video above at 1:13. Awesome.
Popular "chick flicks" that secretly hate women.
A new poll shows that most women are likely to ignore the new mammogram guidelines.
A group of women ski jumpers lost their lawsuit by British Columbia's highest court ruling, stating that Vancouver Olympic organizers didn't violate their rights by not allowing them to play because the International Olympic Committee is the power behind it. Sign the petition.
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I never cared much one way or the other about Adam Lambert. I consider myself converted. Good for him.
Really? That was a terrible performance. The sound was terrible, he was out of breath, he fell down, and he really did not sing all that well. Oh, and the song sucks.
I'm assuming you like the man, not the talent he possesses, then.
Apparently Adam's kiss was edited out of the West-Coast version. Now how's that for the media. Thanks guys.
Good luck finding it on Youtube, too. They've tried to erase it like it never happened. Nice.
Actually, I think the Youtube removal was about copyright issues, not content. That's nuts about the West Coast, though.
I have to admit I am a sucker for "Twilight" but I can see how it is sexist. Same thing for "Memoirs of a Geisha". And, Geisha are NOT hookers, and they are not sold to the okia ether, that was made up by the author of the book (it's also a book).
The real geisha that Goldberg took much of his information from, Mineko Iwasaki, has a much interesting life story and actually, much more empowering than Sayuri's story. Her book is called "Geisha of Gion." Check it out!
Geisha made a shit ton of money back in the day---you really think they need a rich man to save them???
I didn't like Adam Lambert having a guy on his knees simulating giving him a blowjob anymore than I would if another performer had a woman in that position. I try to be consistent and I know for damn sure if that were a rocker or rapper video with a female in that position howls would go up around here.
yes. exactly. here's a prime example. (may be considered NSFW).
That's what I'm talking about, same rules with me apply across gender or sexuality, that video was not cool either.
i actually saw that performance (not the one from the video, but on the same tour) live, and was very uncomfortable by the cheering. it was even more disturbing to me that women cheered too...
here's a prime example for you. (note: NSFW).
Why? Is there something inherently degrading about performing oral sex? I'm not trying to be sarcastic or anything, I just have conflicted feelings about this. I personally don't feel that portraying an erotic act must always be considered offensive, but I realize that it often can be.
I feel like broadcasting it for everyone to look and jeer at is degrading.
It's not about the sex act itself, oral sex is fine in all forms amongst consenting persons. Maybe I'm wrong but I think if that were M&M or lil Wayne there wouldn't be a person on here would be supporting that performance. And on this forum where we complain about unwanted comments from men on the streets we think it's cool for a guy to snatch an unsuspecting person and stick their tongue down their throat because they are both male? Please don't tell me it was okay because they "work together". This wasn't an Adam Lambert concert and it wasn't cable. This was a Dick Clark Production as much for a 12 year old Taylor Swift fan as for anyone.
"And on this forum where we complain about unwanted comments from men on the streets we think it's cool for a guy to snatch an unsuspecting person and stick their tongue down their throat because they are both male?"
If Adam Lambert sprung this kiss on a member of his band without any notice, then yeah that's completely wrong and I understand your disgust. I was under the impression that this kiss was a planned part of the performance that both people agreed to, but if it wasn't then I don't support it at all.
I don't care for Adam Lambert's music, but I like him as an entertainer.
I have to agree, Twilight is sexist but I am still glad there is a female-friendly franchise for females to embrace and have a safe space, unlike other certain sci-fi/fantasy franchises which tend to be dominated by males (who also happen to be sexist and mysogynistic).
I see what you're saying here, but there are other female-dominated (or at least not overly male-dominated) fantasy/sci-fi fandoms that aren't so disgustingly sexist in content - Harry Potter (*heavily* female), Buffy, and Firefly immediately come to mind.
Battlestar Galactica
It bothers me to see how much bashing Twilight gets, especially from folks that live for sci fi/superhero movies. I was on a comicbook board where every other thread was bashing the movie, godforbid a sci fi movie cater to a female audience.
Way to go, Adam Lambert.
RE: Twilight, I don't think it's a particularly "safe space." I think it makes an example of a relationship involving a man who's some 90-odd years older than his teenage gf, who stalks her, tell her what to do, makes her sexual decisions for her, and to top it off - can kill her and wants to drink HER blood more than any other girl in the world.
no, you misunderstood me. Twilight is a safe space for females to bond over and not worry about sexist attitudes from males.
As a former Star Wars fangirl, I've had my fair share of mysogynistic, sexist assholes who would question my love for Star Wars, dealing with sexist jokes against females, and their objectifying females, which made me feel very unwelcome as a fangirl. But-- with the Twilight franchise, girls wouldn't have to face that kind of scrutiny (or attitude) from males, since the franchise is very female-dominated.
but I do agree the storyline in the Twilight saga is sexist.
i'd like to point out that the "chick flicks" link, while making a relevant point regarding movies targeting women, contains ableist language, and a transphobic slur. thought everyone should get the heads up...
I wasn't a fan of the beginning of Adam's performance, though. Dragging a woman around the stage by her leg? Implications.
My fundie next door neighbors passed out!
Neighbor: It was porn. I liked him on American Idol but now....
Me: He's gay.
The clip isn't working for me so I don't know exactly what happened. However, one of my friends said that he grabbed a girl's head and shoved it into his crotch. If this is the case then I am not amused.
Dick Clark Productions removed the clip. They are no fun. :(
Twilight is beyond the realm of sexist - it portrays a controlling and abusive relationship as not just okay, but freaking romantic! Because apparently, young girls don't already receive enough mixed messages regarding sexuality and relationships - they also need to be bombarded with images of the ~perfect couple~ EVEN THOUGH HE'S CONTROLLING AND EMOTIONALLY ABUSIVE. Ugh.
...I'm sorry, Twilight just reeeeally hits my buttons. I was willing to have a "live and let live" attitude about the whole series before I knew more about the Edward/Bella relationship, but now? Definitely not.
Wait, so why are we happy about this Adam Lambert performance again? Just because he's a gay man that is openly displaying his sexuality?
That's all well and good, but it doesn't change the fact that he's being defined solely by his sexuality, at least in this performance. I think that sexualizing men in such a strong way can be just as dangerous as sexualizing women.
For me, this isn't an issue of censorship or his performance being 'inappropriate.' It's about who he is to his fans and to the people that watched the AMA's. His performance was about literally nothing but sex, and whether gay or straight, man or woman, that's not something that should be embraced. What about, say...his music? (Which I don't like, I'm just saying...)
Why are we celebrating Adam Lamberts performance? Just because hes gay doesn't mean its okay. The simulated oral sex and grabing the womans crotch was unnecesary and weird. Not to mention the whole slave theme-leashes-draging a woman across the stage by her leg-all of which I did not like. I am sick to death of absolutely everything being hypersexualized. True its not any worse than the other crap people try to pass off as art, but its frustrating to hear people say its all okay just because he gay.
Just because he's gay, doesn't mean sex isn't dirty and shameful.
Well duh. I never said it was. I don't care if hes strait, gay, bi, or a chiken lover. This kind of hypersexualized performance creeps me out.
I think the thing that annoys me most about Twilight is the fact that the books have been such a success - being a scifi/fantasy fan I read a lot modern fiction, and out of all the brilliant writers around (including Kelley Armstrong and Trudi Canavan who are good writers and write about very strong female characters) it was the poorly-written sexist dross of Twilight that took off. Part of what was to blame was the massive marketing campaign that none of the other writers had, including (strangely enough) Laurell K. Hamilton, who wrote some books many years ago about a beautiful woman who is lusted after by a brooding vampire and a sexy werewolf (remind anyone of anything?). Although Hamilton's lead female character is also a necromancer and vampire slayer, thereby putting her character in a slightly better and stronger position than that boring sap in Twilight.
Seriously, if you want good books with a sexy demonic twist there are better ones to find than badly written teen (non)romance! Withe believable and likeable female leads who save the day too!
Laurell K. Hamilton is good if you want a large dose of a heroine whose life motto is "Women are icky, I'm MANLY" and lots of glorified nonconsensual sex. Hooray to a main character who calls a woman who was raped by her boyfriend someone with "buyer's remorse"?
I must admit I'm not particularly a fan of Laurell K. Hamilton either (more especially when she drifted in later books towards personal pornographic fantasies) - I was using her more as an example to say that not only is Twilight crap, it's not even ORIGINAL crap!
Agreed, there!
You mentioned Kelley Armstrong, and while loving Bitten/Stolen, I've been less than enamored with the two Paige books that came after them...does the series get stronger? I've been trying to decide whether to read further or spend my time elsewhere.
The books get much stronger - later ones come from other people's perspectives, including Jaime Vegas, Eve, and even Clay and Jeremy! There are also another couple from Elena's perspective too, and some new characters. I love Elena but the ones from Eve and Jaime's perspectives are two of my favourites - I don't know why, I guess I just quite like the whole flawed character thing! The ones I would recommend the most are "Haunted" (Eve), "Broken" (Elena), "No Humans Involved" (Jaime), "Men of the Otherworld" (Jeremy and Clay) and "Frostbite" (Elena). The others are ok too, and nice easy reads, but I think any book written in the first person needs to have a character whose head you want to see into!
...out of all the brilliant writers around (including Kelley Armstrong and Trudi Canavan who are good writers and write about very strong female characters) it was the poorly-written sexist dross of Twilight that took off.
THIS so much. There are so many good female sci-fi/fantasy writers out there who create strong, self-sufficient heroines - Anne Bishop is one of my favorites - that it makes me cringe every time I hear someone gush about how wonderful or romantic Twilight is. STALKING AND MANIPULATION ARE NOT ROMANTIC.
And I won't even go into the goddess-awful writing except to say that Stephenie Meyer could benefit from a few (thousand) creative-writing classes.
Thanks for the recommendation as well - I'll check Anne Bishop out, not read any of her stuff before. I could always do with a few more strong female characters on my bookshelf!
I just want to take this time to say that Cracked is awesome.
The only thing about Adam's performance that I find troubling is that apparently the keyboardist was not aware he was going to kiss him. I don't think forcefully kissing anyone is ever ok - even in the context of a 'performance'. It just doesn't sit right with me.
I think I read that the rest was choreographed, and thus, consensual in the context of 'work' - but the kiss was unexpected and perhaps unwanted. Just something to think about.
I have always loathed chick flicks, which tend to be sexist, sizist and racist. Glad to see my opinion backed publicly.
As for Adam Lambert, not only was his performance questionable, I think the song itself is suspect: "No escaping when I start
Once I’m in I own your heart
There’s no way you’ll ring the alarm
So hold on until it’s over "
Something about the whole thing was just off.
I really liked the Adam Lambert choreography and set, but the vocals were terrible.
Yeah, it was pretty slutty. Slutty does not equal degrading. I really liked the way he used BDSM tropes to make something beautiful and interesting to watch. If he were a straight male, I'd probably still be defending it. Because he's gay, it was pretty subversive in a pretty awesome way.
Violent oral sex fits very nicely with the BDSM theme, and the kiss was sexy.
As far as Adam Lambert ...
Seen it.
If it was good enough for 16-year-old Japanese girls ten years ago, it's good enough for all of America now.
(Not really sfw, you know. The music video is "worse" ... oral sex with a severed head or something. I haven't watched it in a while.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mp6KF28JH64