Yay!

Thanks for this, Stassa. I’m pragmatic enough to be all, “Yay male feminists! Your stance is not ideal, but I’ll take what I can get!” But you know, that kind of pragmatism isn’t going to light a fire under anyone. Thanks for reminding me that it’s OK to expect more (even of our president, who I love and already miss).

In regards to whether this is something people have always done, Marie Antoinette had her fake village on the grounds of Versailles, and there was reaction to the Industrial Revolution. Hell, you could see Mao’s Cultural Revolution as a similar urge.

I’ve been there! Now there are at least 3 Hoosiers here that I know of. Three is enough for a Jezebel social, right?

Yeah, in the hurry to be kink-positive, sometimes the reasons for kink get elided—and A LOT of rape fantasies are of the “excuse for wanting sex” variety. It isn’t OK for our heroine to want to have sex, so she gets kidnapped by an extremely handsome pirate and we have a no no no yes yes yes scene and bam! She has sex…

I’ve heard that it turned out that way, and I’m glad it ended up being more nuanced than it appeared in the first book. As I was reading, I was like, “So, Blonde Princess marries the King of the Savage Brown People (you can tell they’re savage because they have sex doggy style! Like animals!!!!) . . . looks like a…

Rape as cheap titillation rubs me the wrong way. I guess that makes me overly sensitive?

Seconded.

OK. As far as I read in GoT, it looked like lazy writing and cheap titillation, not an exploration of the dark side of humanity, but I threw in the towel fairly quickly when it bored me. It’s been years, so I don’t remember the specifics very well.

I read the whole article, and this part in particular broke my heart:

Makes Kinja feel just like home! See ya in the produce section at Marsh.

I don’t know why I’m so delighted when I find out that someone here is from Indy.

Woooooooooo! I had no idea you were from Indy.

I’m clinging to that little ray of sunshine too. Something good from my home state! Now, if only this excellent reporting leads to some major changes . . .

As I said in my original comments, I tried reading the books several years ago but bailed in the first book because there was so much rape (and the transparent White Savior narrative, but that’s another topic). I’ve never seen the show.

I don’t have a problem with sexual violence in a story if it doesn’t seem like such a crutch. I’ve read books with rape scenes where the books ended up respectful and moving—an not necessarily because they had a happy ending. With GoT and so many others though, it works more like a crutch. “I need a reason for this…

I think the thing I find the most unbearable is when people defend the sexual violence in GoT as “just being historically accurate.” He invented a world where dragons are real. When you’re an author, you can invent any world you want. Martin wanted a world where sexual violence is rampant (and socially sanctioned) and…

I find it baffling too. I tried reading Game of Thrones several years ago and quickly bailed when I realized it was WAY too rapey for my tastes.

Also, I suddenly find myself thankful that I have never needed to type or say “Rog says” up until this point in my life.

I didn’t even CONSIDER this angle! I’m so naive sometimes :/