My Blog's Apparently Becoming About Sexual Politics

I just chopped an onion for the first time in my life. I love all the layers and tears involved.

Roger Ebert on Twitter to-day linked to this NPR column about Wonder Woman's costume. It's a slippery slope, as my colleagues across the aisle would say. First you give Wonder Woman pants, then people will be wanting to give her a long sleeved shirt, probably body armour and a helmet, and we'll end up with a space suit.

What we have is sexual inhibition enabled by a lack of imagination. The premise of the article is "You can't fight crime in that outfit." Well, how practical is Superman's outfit? Tights? Bright blue and red? The point of superheroes like Superman and Wonder Woman is that they're so powerful that they could be naked and still do what they do. Their outfits are the wardrobe version of thumbing a nose at the criminal element--to say, "Not only can I kick your ass easily, but I can do it in a costume apparently made from part of a flag."

The columnist says to Wonder Woman, "I am all for you being gorgeous. I am all for you embracing your right to be a sex bomb and a crime fighter at the same time . . ." But I'm not so sure.

Apparently Sucker Punch, Zack Snyder's latest film, is borne of a schizophrenic idea about female empowerment and its supposed conflict with female sexiness. My friend Iain wrote about it in his facebook, and a couple of reviews on Ain't It Cool News seemed to echo his reaction, that the film is composed of two aspects that each damage the other--rampant fan service and sequences designed to make you feel guilty about rampant fan service. I hope people are finally starting to realise what a shallow meathead Snyder is.

This culture and sex, oy vey. Let me just put it plainly for you folks; in fantasy, women can be hot, naked, and kick ass. In fantasy, anything can be anything. That's what fantasy means, you geniuses. Don't make Dejah Thoris cry.

Twitter Sonnet #248

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