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Yeah, so I'm a a bit of a feminist -- not in any studied way. But a lot of my thoughts tend to lean in that direction. And yeah, I did get a tad worked up about seeing some people (not just one person), calling Lori a "whore" or "slut" on The Walking Dead. And I guess there's two reasons that this sort of thing bugs me. And it's not specific to this show, or to any of my lovely flisters. Lori is just a convenient example.
One reason can be (mostly) summed up by what I saw someone post today about the Fringe fandom:
-- Hm, well, coming from the perspective of someone who gets upset when people use words like ‘slut’ and ‘whore’ at any time—not just in Fringe fandom, or in fandom in general, but whenever—it’s because such words carry baggage with them, whether we intend them to or not. They carry negative implications about female sexuality. One of my favorite quotes about the use of these words is this: “[Slut-shaming] is about the implication that if a woman has sex that traditional society disapproves of, she should feel guilty and inferior.”
Whatever our reasons are for calling a character a slut or a whore are, the fact of the matter remains that we are, in the process, promoting a worldview that shames female sexualities, especially those that are considered to be “untraditional”. I understand that this is most often not the intention when calling someone a slut, but in the end, it’s not the intention behind the action that matters. It’s the results of the action. - vengeancebuiltmehastily
And that really is a huge part of why it just makes me crazy when I see this sort of thing. But on top of that , situationally, it just doesn't make sense to me. Maybe I am too open minded or too into the whole breakdown of what happens to people when they are thrust into these unimaginable fight-for-your-life hopeless situations. To me, Lori hooking up with Shane after weeks of thinking her husband is dead makes absolute sense to me. It's not discarding her life with Rick, and in fact, when she took the necklace off during the sex scene at the beginning of episode two, the way she handled it, I mean literally the way she touched the object, the way she moved, the way she laid it down, her body language was almost apologetic (if body language can be considered apologetic) and it was almost even what I would call reverent.
I don't have any strong feelings about the character, and I'm pretty sure that I don't even really like the show that much. But I was still shocked to see people reacting in such a negative way to her.
In the end though, I know the specific details don't really matter. No matter what a character has done, what her motivations are, or what kind of a person she is, when I hear those words it's always incredibly offensive to me. I have the same problem with the b-word the majority of the time -- but not always. Even when used in a supposedly positive manner. (Or maybe even especially.)
And don't even get me started on the whole "hbic" thing.
I don't really have much more to say on the matter except that 99% of the time I'm most likely to ignore it. There have been a lot of fictional ladies before Lori that have faced the same judgment -- Kate from Lost being a big one, along with Dexter's Rita -- whether they're being called sluts or bitches or whatever. So it's not exactly a shocker.
My thoughts on this matter are in no way comprehensive, but seeing that Fringe post made me feel like I should address it.
One reason can be (mostly) summed up by what I saw someone post today about the Fringe fandom:
-- Hm, well, coming from the perspective of someone who gets upset when people use words like ‘slut’ and ‘whore’ at any time—not just in Fringe fandom, or in fandom in general, but whenever—it’s because such words carry baggage with them, whether we intend them to or not. They carry negative implications about female sexuality. One of my favorite quotes about the use of these words is this: “[Slut-shaming] is about the implication that if a woman has sex that traditional society disapproves of, she should feel guilty and inferior.”
Whatever our reasons are for calling a character a slut or a whore are, the fact of the matter remains that we are, in the process, promoting a worldview that shames female sexualities, especially those that are considered to be “untraditional”. I understand that this is most often not the intention when calling someone a slut, but in the end, it’s not the intention behind the action that matters. It’s the results of the action. - vengeancebuiltmehastily
And that really is a huge part of why it just makes me crazy when I see this sort of thing. But on top of that , situationally, it just doesn't make sense to me. Maybe I am too open minded or too into the whole breakdown of what happens to people when they are thrust into these unimaginable fight-for-your-life hopeless situations. To me, Lori hooking up with Shane after weeks of thinking her husband is dead makes absolute sense to me. It's not discarding her life with Rick, and in fact, when she took the necklace off during the sex scene at the beginning of episode two, the way she handled it, I mean literally the way she touched the object, the way she moved, the way she laid it down, her body language was almost apologetic (if body language can be considered apologetic) and it was almost even what I would call reverent.
I don't have any strong feelings about the character, and I'm pretty sure that I don't even really like the show that much. But I was still shocked to see people reacting in such a negative way to her.
In the end though, I know the specific details don't really matter. No matter what a character has done, what her motivations are, or what kind of a person she is, when I hear those words it's always incredibly offensive to me. I have the same problem with the b-word the majority of the time -- but not always. Even when used in a supposedly positive manner. (Or maybe even especially.)
And don't even get me started on the whole "hbic" thing.
I don't really have much more to say on the matter except that 99% of the time I'm most likely to ignore it. There have been a lot of fictional ladies before Lori that have faced the same judgment -- Kate from Lost being a big one, along with Dexter's Rita -- whether they're being called sluts or bitches or whatever. So it's not exactly a shocker.
My thoughts on this matter are in no way comprehensive, but seeing that Fringe post made me feel like I should address it.
no subject
As for her sleeping with him. They're in the middle of an apocalypse and she thought her husband was never coming back. She's not a slut, she's human and freaked out. I don't understand fandom sometimes.
I'm not going to continue watching the show. Between the racist/misogynistic brothers and the wife abusing jackass in the last ep, I've seen more than enough. Add to that Shane and even Rick who apparently thinks the difference between men and women is that ladies are cold hard bitches and men never say cruel things---I mean, has he seen his show?
The whole thing makes me feel ranty. And the idea that of all of the horrible characters on that show the one fandom is attacking is Lori just boggles my mind.
no subject
Yes, rant away my dear. It is welcome here.