I am in full support of Olivia Munn on The Daily Show and in general. I just want to be clear here because I've seen people coming down on her for about a year, in a few different fandoms, and now it's happening again in yet another beloved fandom.

Now, look, I have no problem with people not enjoying her comedy or her general body of work, but I do have major issues with people casting aspersions on her for reasons unrelated to her work. If she makes a joke about her sex life (a joke =/= autobiographical), it is not an invitation to call her a whore or a slut, or to even insinuate that she's either.

I have spoken about this before, of course. There's this ugly, unfortunate tendency in many fandoms to rip apart the women there (usually because they're women), and it makes me FUCKING LIVID. PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF WOMEN, SUPPORT OTHER WOMEN. Considering that we have ONE OTHER WOMAN on The Daily Show apart from Munn, it might be a good idea to lift her up and celebrate her achievements like the supportive women we're capable of being. Olivia Munn is a PERSON, not a character; not an article in a magazine; not a Playboy pin-up; not a slutty whore, A PERSON. When we reduce this woman to just these aspects of her career or invent our own ideas of what her personality must be like based solely on her career choices, we are judging her and holding her to a ridiculously high standard of behaviour that is rooted in defeatism and self-hatred, a by-product of many centuries of gender oppression. We should be loving this lady, who has clearly worked hard to get on THE FUCKING DAILY SHOW GOD FUCKING DAMN IT, and not ripping her a new one in word form from behind our computer screens.

I couldn't care less if you're not a fan, but FUCK, keep your internalized misogyny and sexism to yourself!

An Open Letter to Chris Brown:


So, I just found this article that explained that you, Chris Brown, have taken a plea to your somehow still existent fanbase, asking for their help in getting your music back on the radio. I, for one, was quite happy when my local radio station boycotted your music in support of Rihanna, and I would not like to see that decision reversed.

Look, dude. You beat Rihanna. Not just once. This wasn't an on-the-whim slap across the face or a shove (both of which would be unacceptable as well, in my opinion); you punched her multiple times, bit her, attempted to strangle her before she was able to escape, and left her stranded on the side of the road, beaten and bloody with no way to get help. I seriously don't see how anyone could possibly want to listen to your music knowing all that; I feel physically sick to my stomach when I hear your voice and/or see your face. You gave one emotionless, long-after-the-fact apology, did not own up to what you did, came away from the trial with community fucking service, and now here you are, barely a year later, begging your fans to get your music back on the airwaves.

Listen up, moron. You have millions of dollars. What the fuck are you whining about? Go away! Disappear for five, maybe ten years. You're only 21 years old! People are still mad at you, and they haven't forgotten what you did. It's going to take more than a measly 12 months and too little too late apology to undo what you did, and frankly, the way you're handling all of this gives me the distinct impression that you are not really overly sorry about what you did to Rihanna except for the fact that you singlehandedly killed your career that night.

So, please. I am going to ask you nicely. Could you please go away?

And, because I don't feel like asking nicely, FUCK THE FUCK OFF!

-

And to the ridiculously ignorant Chris Brown fans who say:

-Oh, but he really is sorry, let's forgive and forget!
-Hey, Rihanna must have done something to provoke the attack...
-Chris Brown makes good music!
-Rihanna deserved what she got; she had it coming to her.

FOR THE GOOD OF HUMANKIND, DO NOT REPRODUCE AND SHUT THE FUCK UP.

Here's what I have to say to those bullshit comments:

-Chris Brown is not truly sorry for what he did to Rihanna. He is certainly not sorry enough. If he were, he wouldn't be worrying about his fucking music career. He'd be making up for what he's done by going around to high schools and talking to students about what he did and how negatively abuse effects relationships and people, and you know what? He'd go to fucking jail and do the time he should have done!
-LISTEN UP! It is NEVER OKAY to repeatedly punch and try to kill your boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse/significant other. Or ANYONE, for fuck's sake. Violence is never, ever acceptable. Do not support violence by supporting people who condone violence with their actions. Hold these people accountable for their behaviour.
-Being a good artist does not give you the right or privilege to hurt other people. It does not give you immunity to be a complete fucking asshole, or worse, a CRIMINAL. Come on. Don't be a fuck-up.
-If you believe that anyone deserves what Chris Brown did to Rihanna, you seriously need help. I will not even provide that bullshit with an argument. In North America we practice freedom of speech, but just because you CAN say something, doesn't mean you SHOULD. If you seriously believe that any individual in an abusive relationship deserves to be abused and has it coming to them, you are evil to the core.

Please don't support violence.



Sincerely,
Nikki

I had my first 'Men and Masculinity' class yesterday. Unfortunately, I'm a bit worried about how this class is going to go. I was excited when I saw the texts we're reading, which include Fight Club, Brokeback Mountain and various essays on gender-related issues, focusing mostly on masculinity. They look fascinating.

But I'm concerned. The teacher introduced the first class with an activity where we had to break up into smaller groups and come up with 10 adjectives that generally describe what it means to be man. So obviously we all came up with stereotypical words like strong, independent, tough, proud, dominant. There was a general smattering of laughter at some of the points brought up, some disagreements, and some vaguely sexist and stupid comments. It's unsurprising. Stupid, but unsurprising.

At first I was thinking, "ok, he's trying to establish that these are characteristics which can and do describe women quite as easily as men". He was sort of inching toward that, I think, but in the process he said some really strange things. At one point a girl said, "How bout 'impulsive'?" and the teacher responded with, "How so? Do you mean sexually, or in his actions?" Then, without waiting for an answer, he says, "I'm just thinking that it's very easily a description of women, especially if it's that time of the month."

What!??

That really threw me for a loop, so much so I didn't even think to say anything, but the same girl was clearly offended by this comment as she punched her right fist into her left hand so hard the teacher said, "you disagree?" A brief discussion followed where he went on to say that women can't really walk around alone at night or go into bars by themselves, but men can. He acknowledged this as male privelege. Which, while true, had very little to do with the discussion at hand. And I chuckled when this tough, sassy girl behind me said, "I can go into any bar I want!"

Another example was when another girl said, "I was going to say 'funny'," and then teacher said, "okay, yeah, that's certainly true. Men do tend to be funnier than women; most women don't really have a sense of humour."

Um.

I don't even...

How is that...

Tbh, I had come into the class thinking that I was going to have to try and let things go. I figured people were bound to say dumb things, and I sort of told myself before the class started that I would try to restrain myself from responding to those types of ignorant comments. But from THE TEACHER in the FIRST CLASS?

I just. Couldn't stop myself. I put my hand up and he called on me and I said, "I don't know about that. The term 'sense of humour' doesn't necessarily imply being funny but suggests having a sense of humour: what's funny. Just because a woman doesn't laugh at a specific joke doesn't mean she has no sense of humour. I mean, senses of humour are different for each person, men and women alike."

And he said, "can you give an example?"

So I said, "Sure. There might be a man who likes toilet humour but if a woman sees no humour in that sort of joke, it doesn't mean she has no sense of humour at all. It probably just means she finds humour in something else, like... political satire, or whathaveyou." Then he sort of dismissed my comment and moved along in the discussion. I should have said that it's definitely possible to appreciate a good joke without being able to make one. Or that it's possible to recognize a bad joke when it's being made, like when someone refers to the stereotypes of how a woman acts when she's on her period. Oh god I wish I'd used that as an example!

I'm trying to think positively. Maybe he was using this exercise as a test to see who is willing to speak up against dumb shit like that. Maybe he was trying to create an engaging discussion, or trying to be provocative?

I don't know, but it was weird. I mean, he'd say that both men and women can be athletic and protective or strong and tough, but then he'd make a general blanket statement, like the two I listed above, that seemed to contradict his first point.

In any case, it doesn't bode all that well for the course. I really hope it imroves.

K, enough of my woes.

Ugh. Seriously, I have so much homework already and I only have four classes! This is not lookin' good...