A rant: In no way to be considered an Essay
Before you read what I'm about to read, please take note of the following link:
A Rapist's View of the World: Joss Whedon and Firefly.
The following author is kind enough to articulate this as a rant, so I am doing the same. I will not cite my opinions as well-researched or as particularly poignant. This is not an essay and should not be considered so. I know I wouldn't turn this drivel in.
That said, I could touch on a lot of issues. I could talk about the inherint racism in her view of the relationship between Wash and Zoe ("I have never personally known of a healthy relationship between a white man and a woman of colour" she states). I could point out that the way she discusses the role of the Companion shows a painful ignorance of the concept of the ancient courtesan, and the specific flavor that gives the world. I could go through and count each and every line divied up between women and men in other episodes to see if they compare to the first episode (though in this last point, I must admit I won't because I have a life.) I'm not going to, because these issues are issues of simple ignorance and if nothing else are laughable.
My issue is the way she trivializes rape.
I won't take the time to count how many time she uses this potent word in her rant, but a quick read through shows that she has an obsession with the word. It's a buzz word, the kind of word that gets everyone to perk up and pay attention. If you're anything like me, the very word when used outside of its conventional definition connotates extreme acts of injustice. While her point is clear: prostitution is an extreme act of wrongdoing, she overemphasizes the point. She calls Joss Whedon a rapist in her very title, as if he alone is responsible for the objective nature men tend to hold for women. Prostitution is rape. Watching your wife bathe and being aroused is rape. Suddenly even the slightest bit of sexual attraction to a woman labels you a rapist.
I'd call myself a rapist just to be funny, but I don't think I could even stomach writing the sentence.
Reality Check: Rape is an offense where one person FORCES sexual activity on someone else. A prostitute who is paid money to willingly have sex is NOT being raped, whether you agree with it or not. A man being aroused watching his wife shave her legs while she willingly lets him is not rape. Joss Whedon could even write about rape, and as long as the actors are willingly participating in the scene, he is not a rapist.
To call him one is to cheapen the crimes of the real rapists out there, and to lessen the horror of the act. Whether you believe prostitution is an act of true feminist power or just a trap left by mysoginistic society, it is not rape.
I'm sickened that she can even formulate such sentences as, "For example, one Guild rule is that the ‘Companion’ chooses her rapist, not the other way around." I'm more sickened that many of the comments left say, "This is a great post!" or "This is a very articulate and informed argument." This is a rant written to inflame, not to educate. Those who agree with her will cheer her on from the sidelines, while those who disagree will immediately assault her without reading what she's trying to say...because what she says boils down to one thing:
"Grrr. Man bad. Woman good."
Let's evolve past such inflamatory dialogue and start finding a middle ground of equality, where not every woman is victimized by every man she knows.
And as I mentioned in the beginning. This isn't an essay, or any truly well-thought-out dialogue. This is something I whipped out while at work. I didn't even proofread. This is just a bit of catharsis for me.
A Rapist's View of the World: Joss Whedon and Firefly.
The following author is kind enough to articulate this as a rant, so I am doing the same. I will not cite my opinions as well-researched or as particularly poignant. This is not an essay and should not be considered so. I know I wouldn't turn this drivel in.
That said, I could touch on a lot of issues. I could talk about the inherint racism in her view of the relationship between Wash and Zoe ("I have never personally known of a healthy relationship between a white man and a woman of colour" she states). I could point out that the way she discusses the role of the Companion shows a painful ignorance of the concept of the ancient courtesan, and the specific flavor that gives the world. I could go through and count each and every line divied up between women and men in other episodes to see if they compare to the first episode (though in this last point, I must admit I won't because I have a life.) I'm not going to, because these issues are issues of simple ignorance and if nothing else are laughable.
My issue is the way she trivializes rape.
I won't take the time to count how many time she uses this potent word in her rant, but a quick read through shows that she has an obsession with the word. It's a buzz word, the kind of word that gets everyone to perk up and pay attention. If you're anything like me, the very word when used outside of its conventional definition connotates extreme acts of injustice. While her point is clear: prostitution is an extreme act of wrongdoing, she overemphasizes the point. She calls Joss Whedon a rapist in her very title, as if he alone is responsible for the objective nature men tend to hold for women. Prostitution is rape. Watching your wife bathe and being aroused is rape. Suddenly even the slightest bit of sexual attraction to a woman labels you a rapist.
I'd call myself a rapist just to be funny, but I don't think I could even stomach writing the sentence.
Reality Check: Rape is an offense where one person FORCES sexual activity on someone else. A prostitute who is paid money to willingly have sex is NOT being raped, whether you agree with it or not. A man being aroused watching his wife shave her legs while she willingly lets him is not rape. Joss Whedon could even write about rape, and as long as the actors are willingly participating in the scene, he is not a rapist.
To call him one is to cheapen the crimes of the real rapists out there, and to lessen the horror of the act. Whether you believe prostitution is an act of true feminist power or just a trap left by mysoginistic society, it is not rape.
I'm sickened that she can even formulate such sentences as, "For example, one Guild rule is that the ‘Companion’ chooses her rapist, not the other way around." I'm more sickened that many of the comments left say, "This is a great post!" or "This is a very articulate and informed argument." This is a rant written to inflame, not to educate. Those who agree with her will cheer her on from the sidelines, while those who disagree will immediately assault her without reading what she's trying to say...because what she says boils down to one thing:
"Grrr. Man bad. Woman good."
Let's evolve past such inflamatory dialogue and start finding a middle ground of equality, where not every woman is victimized by every man she knows.
And as I mentioned in the beginning. This isn't an essay, or any truly well-thought-out dialogue. This is something I whipped out while at work. I didn't even proofread. This is just a bit of catharsis for me.