…albeit Thursday (Friday?)
There’s something totally **rad** about Australia. There must be (in amongst all that “mucho macho” culture). The Australian press is actually publishing articles that point fingers at and ask questions of the ‘norm’. (I could do a Dame Edna and hubby joke here but…I’ll spare you.)
Either that, or the Sydney Morning Herald is one brave, independent newspaper that hasn’t been totally Murdochised yet (I just googled – NewsCorp have a 7.5% holding).
The Sydney Morning Herald published a Radical Feminist! And not just any old radfem, oh no. They published a radfem with clout and clarity and vision and miles and miles walked not just hours and hours talked – a radical feminist with *respect*.
Big Up to the SMH!
They published this. Written by Sheila Jeffreys. (I love Sheila Jeffreys. She’s so right on – and so funny while she’s about it.)
She says that pornspeak is:
protected from analysis by the cruelty and misogyny of its language and practices, which are hard to discuss in public.
Well, isn’t that so? Isn’t there some kind of faux divide that prevents human people from acknowledging the intrinsic patriarchally racist capitalist hatred contained within “tight-assed cum-supping asian virgins” or “huge cocks ripping tight teen pussy” or even “double ass fuck” – which are search terms I get on a regular basis. It’s kind of difficult, if you’re claiming to be a ‘civilised’ society, to admit that level of racism, misogyny, baseness; that lack of humanity – that level of cruelty.
So what do we do? We don’t talk about it! We just let it carry on and pretend it doesn’t exist…pretend none of it affects ‘us’ because it’s fucking easier that way. No matter that we all see the escalating level of Personal Ads in our local paper – ‘Thai massage’, ‘New Oriental Girls Every Day’, ‘African Fingers’, ‘Exotic Young Masseuer’ – I know I don’t need to go on…
Read Sheila Jeffreys. Buy her books and learn more.
Sheila Jeffreys fucking rocks.
19 responses so far ↓
Mr. Morgan // June 1, 2007 at 4:29 am |
YES! (er and it’s Sydney)
It’s outstanding to see anything that’s both anti-porn but not also motivated by a suspiciously high level of respect for the missionary position.
Incidentally, ‘our’ communication minister has just recently proposed an ISP-level porn blocker – a useless approach regardless of its motivation – so maybe they wanted to print an anti-porn perspective as an alternative to the normally puritan anti-porn perspectives they print as an alternative to the ‘incidentally, we’re pro-porn’ free speech view.
Then again, it’s Sheila and she’s in a mainstream paper! That means readership and the transmission of ideas. Knowing the SMH, I’d expect fallout, but I’d also expect highschool English classes to debate the article, and girls in particular being made intellectually aware that things are [b]wrong[/b]. I’m talking 14 year old kids writing 1000 words about how pornography harms, instead of on whether or not we should decriminalise cannabis.
A definite improvement.
This would've been my Wednesday Wow... « Well I’ll Go To The Foot Of My Stairs… // June 1, 2007 at 4:37 am |
[...] Witchy-woo… ← This is a total Wow… [...]
shannon // June 1, 2007 at 4:46 am |
I read that article, but I was sad because our Memphis library doesn’t have any of her books. *sad* No transgendered books, no sheila jefferys. what do they spend their money on, Left Behind?
witchy-woo // June 1, 2007 at 4:46 am |
eeeks Mr M.
*blushing* and correcting.
witchywoo // June 1, 2007 at 5:08 am |
Shannon – where do you live – the back of beyond? Or some “we’re right, you STFU” culture?
S’okay.. I know where you’re from – the great USofA – that bastion of “free” speech.
Honestly, one day soon they’ll all realise how fucking stupid they look. Trust me.
Mr. Morgan // June 1, 2007 at 5:40 am |
Aw, I didn’t mean it [i]that[/i] way. Look, I’ll even make a markup error, b[]just for you[/b].
Shannon: maybe on new editions of Les Droits of the fucking Homme? O liberal theory. America does love it so. Tempered by foundationalist godbaggery, of course.
Seriously though, her books are hard to find wherever you go.
Mr. Morgan // June 1, 2007 at 5:43 am |
Oh god, and I was already making them even before my deliberate bracket stuff-up. :$
See, now we’re even.
eilidh70 // June 1, 2007 at 7:08 am |
What a breath of fresh air, and brilliant to think of it having a readership that might not otherwise be exposed to those ideas or the realities of porn.
exangelena // June 1, 2007 at 3:16 pm |
WW – Actually I think that my university library in the US has a Sheila Jeffreys book in their catalog, I went looking for it last year (I wasn’t even much of a feminist then, but I liked the title “Beauty and Misogyny”) but alas, it seemed to be missing from their shelves.
shannon // June 1, 2007 at 4:03 pm |
*sniffles* I’ll try at school. Stupid TN libraries.
simply wondered // June 1, 2007 at 7:13 pm |
‘Sheila Jeffreys fucking rocks.’
Is that a conclusion or just the weirdest perve search ever????
Gayle // June 2, 2007 at 1:10 am |
I haven’t read her yet either, Shannon. I may have to splurge and buy a book or two. I seriously doubt she’s in my local library.
*Sniffles* is right.
PS: Not exactly apropos, but so what? I like your blog. You must do a lot of research to find all those interesting links!
shannon // June 3, 2007 at 2:27 am |
Actually..what you call ‘research’ is what I call goofing off. Buying books is hard. *spent nearly $60 on summer school book*
stormy // June 3, 2007 at 8:23 am |
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again:
I *heart* Sheila Jeffreys.
Laurelin // June 4, 2007 at 10:30 pm |
I love Sheila Jeffreys too. She’s amazing!
sparklematrix // June 5, 2007 at 10:54 pm |
Me three. And I’ve just ordered “The Spinster and Her Enemies — Feminism and Sexuality 1880-1930″
*swoon*
Dewey // June 6, 2007 at 9:38 pm |
Shannon: DEMAND that your library order the books you want! Well, start with politely requesting, of course. Most libraries value patron input and will comply with requests.
I really appreciated this post as I know a lot of people who look on me as some sort of prude for my distaste for porn. I’m going to share that article with all of them. Thank you!
witchywoo // June 6, 2007 at 9:44 pm |
Liz // June 13, 2007 at 4:05 pm |
Ooh yes, I think she’s great too. Beauty and Misogyny was the first book I read that made real sense to me feminism wise!