Background: I've asked Anna de Logardiere about where to adress this issue, as I didn't find an appropriate thread for doing so when searching the board. Two options became obvious; either to start up a new thread as a venue for people interested in approaching this sort of issue generally, or to use this space in particular, as the issue is related to mysogyny, and the thread has expanded to the point where it doesn't seem quite as derailing if it is brought up here - I went for the second, since how I've interpreted the situation relates in good part to my reading of this thread and how it's made me reconsider the way I approach language (and specifically humour) of mysogynist content, and because I am generally speaking somewhat nervous about starting new threads when they might be approaching issues that could be more suited/enrichining to already existing discussions.
Lets get to the point then: "You were to ugly to rape, so I beat you up".
This is displayed as a contact of mine's personal message on MSN, and is a lyric by, lets just say "controversial" band Anal Cunt.
When I saw this, I felt, well, disgusted and bizarrely offended myself (male), even. It trivialized rape, physical abuse and implicitly, the complete objectification of a female - taking in consideration AC's general attitude, this can be easily read as objectification of females, period. And yet, this person bandies it as, I suppose, a way of provocation. I honestly doubt even he (characterized by a general tradition of condescension, disrespect and arrogance) would be going for it for the "wit" of the thing (absent).
Of course, I doubt anyone who has experienced it would be on this person's list. So, since people directly related to the phenomena are out of the picture, it seems like it doesn't matter, in a way. Only I feel it does, in that "Well I know it's mysogynist, but I'm not taking it seriously in this istance" just veers much, much too close to "I don't care about rape/physical abuse/objectification of females", in a way. I think that there's a slight issue at play of distancing oneself from various serious issues and yet being willing to take them on for the sake of provocation, of controversy, or pure comedic effect that really solidies one's relationship with such concepts as purely disrespectful, to the extent that the intent becomes irrelevant - the underlying denial to acknowledge something as serious, regardless of effect on others but in and of itself, which puts one's consideration of it in very dangerous territory, is actually deplorable enough.
But at the same time... my concern with language and comedy as means of trivialization of matters that really shouldn't be so, or which should at least when handled comically be done with great care, is, in a way, a new phenomenon. It comes from a greater understanding, in recent times, of the potential for loaded words and concepts for perpetuating harmful views, regardless of the intent of the one responsible for their expression. This is a process greatly fuelled by me coming to terms with how priviledged I am in many ways, and how that relates to how I view certain aspects of life and society and expressions relating to them.
Meaning: this is somewhat shaky grounds, for me. I turned to a friend (a female, at that), and her reaction was, essentially, "Well geez, soon you'll lose your sense of humour". And I end up wondering to what an extent I'm not just having a knee-jerk reaction to something which I should consider inoffensive - to what extent intent should, indeed, be playing a role in this.
Mind you, I don't think it's inoffensive: hell, it offends me, of all people. I've pinpointed, in this post, why, I believe But taking in consideration that, as I said, the way I interpret this sort of thing is somewhat shaky as of yet, and I'm trying to juggle a number of issues at a time, I turn to Barbelith - which incited my questioning of how I view such things in the first place - for opinion.
And especially female posters. Some of them, in part in this thread, have contributed a great deal to said questioning of my perspective.
Essentially, with this, I'm putting the issue out there with people whose views on such things are firmer and clearer than mine, as a way of providing myself with some food for thought that might aid me in consolidating my point of the view as to the matter on further reflection - one way or the other, I suppose.
So, in essence: What do you think and feel when confronted with this sentence?
I reread and think this might be really stupid and bizarre, but I don't know, acknowledging other opinions might clear it up. Yes, I realize very much of this is me letting loose and playing with my ideas to see how they're working.
(I am aware that a) this is largely anecdotal and b) in good part, beyond the issue of mysogyny itself, but since mysogyny is at its core, even if randomly, I do hope this is the appropriate place for posting this for consideration. If people object to this post, as being off-topic, I'll be glad to take it to another thread they find more appropriate or indeed invest in the other option, of creating a new one.) |
