Consider this a pre-lunchtime rant.
I've been busier than normal and spending every spare second reading OotP [page 595…Exit Fred and George. Page 596…Enter Grawp. Sigh.], so the computer hasn't been switched on a lot recently at home - I'm miles behind on the f-list again. I can't access e-mail at work and so I don't access lj either, but I can and do check the cinema's times online. So I discovered that HP is on about three screens, so I'll optimistically go and see if I can get a ticket at some point for tonight, otherwise it'll have to be tomorrow afternoon or Monday (impossible"), and I'd rather see it at night for the first time.
Harry P, handbags and feminist zines.
The cinema has now asked - if possible - that customers don't bring bags into the cinema. Er, what? Are they afraid of terrorists?
More seriously, I suspect they're actually trying to cut down on rubbish, perhaps, and relatedly, people bringing in their own food and drink. As I go to the cinema often, and have been conditioned to want sustenance while watching a movie, but am not so keen on buying an over-priced giant bag of sweets that not even I will end in one sitting and/or a bucket of pop, I do bring in my own food, though I do my very best not to litter with it, either folding the rubbish up in the dreaded bag or carrying it out with me into the bin. (Because I was not raised by wolves). I am also aware that cinemas make money off selling overpriced junk food, so I tend to buy something small to drink (and not roll my eyes too much at the price.)
I feel chary of raising this, given where I'm going at the end of this post, but this request is going to hit their female customers more than their male. Cliché and generalisation though it is, experience backs it up. Since mid teens, the number of times I've walked outside my house without a bag has been tiny - I need a bag to hold my keys, cash, mobile phone, pen, paper of some shape, book, tissues, whatever. Contents and bag size vary to suit the situation, as I am not Mary Poppins (it was her with the awesome bag, wasn't it?) When I am going out to a party or do where I know I'll only need a small number of specific things, I'm less likely to be wearing something with pockets. So, again, I carry a bag.
Moreover, this particular cinema is in a city centre. I like going there of an afternoon, having been shopping, and yes I do take in shopping bags, and I'm not the only one (it is more often than not women who I see doing the same). Assuming that the cinema customer is going to have the time or inclination to put the bags in the car is a bit much, especially if you're me and you don't have a car and don't see why going to the cinema as part of an afternoon in town is something to be discouraged. Yes, people use seats to hold their bags, but they will move them for people, and there's usually space under seats (umbrellas are more tricky, maybe there could stands for them), and blockbusters like Harry Potter are the exception, most times I've been in there there has been plenty of space and bags aren't an inconvenience. I just…I have a chip on my shoulder about how going to the cinema is assumed to be the province of the 14-24 year old male, and I find this restriction on bags annoying.
Bleh.
Saw an article about the sudden increase in 'femzines' - to which, yay. About the only magazine I get regularly is Empire (which irritates me with its Star Wars fetish and love of most beardy directors), I'll pick up Private Eye on occasion, and even more rarely read other people's magazines, especially ones aimed at women, and they invariably remind me of why I don't buy those sorts of mags. I don't wear make up, and while I am interested in clothes and fashion, I'm the wrong size, shape and temprament for Topshop; in short, I don't fit into the feminine mould of whom the market these magazines support want to sell to. But I've often wondered why I couldn't access a lot of the content that I get on the internet in a collected, portable form with pictures and illustrations - I like the women's pages on the Guardian, even if I disagree with the writers on some things. You know, the sorts of articles that people on the f-list point me to - popculture viewed with sensitivity to gender issues and political (with a capital P and in lowercase) issues that affect women - stuff that is interesting, that is written about articulately and informatively.
Invariably, in the article, the carnival of feminists got a mention, though I have to say that it rarely lives up to the hype for me. I do think fandom's meta has spoiled me here. Granted, there isn't the awareness when you're writing fannish meta of metafandom , as the feminist blogging community is wider, although some blogs get linked to the carnival more often, so posts are picked up from personal weblogs, where a heads up to an issue without analysis (or editing of thoughts or spell-checking) is fine. But I'm often left shrugging after reading interesting-sounding links.
Having said that, I will be getting an edition of one of the mentioned zines (even though it has yet another interview of that definition of over exposed, Beth Ditto. Actually sold-out back editions look more interesting). But yeah, a non-stupid magazine for women would be fab.
Harry P, handbags and feminist zines.
The cinema has now asked - if possible - that customers don't bring bags into the cinema. Er, what? Are they afraid of terrorists?
More seriously, I suspect they're actually trying to cut down on rubbish, perhaps, and relatedly, people bringing in their own food and drink. As I go to the cinema often, and have been conditioned to want sustenance while watching a movie, but am not so keen on buying an over-priced giant bag of sweets that not even I will end in one sitting and/or a bucket of pop, I do bring in my own food, though I do my very best not to litter with it, either folding the rubbish up in the dreaded bag or carrying it out with me into the bin. (Because I was not raised by wolves). I am also aware that cinemas make money off selling overpriced junk food, so I tend to buy something small to drink (and not roll my eyes too much at the price.)
I feel chary of raising this, given where I'm going at the end of this post, but this request is going to hit their female customers more than their male. Cliché and generalisation though it is, experience backs it up. Since mid teens, the number of times I've walked outside my house without a bag has been tiny - I need a bag to hold my keys, cash, mobile phone, pen, paper of some shape, book, tissues, whatever. Contents and bag size vary to suit the situation, as I am not Mary Poppins (it was her with the awesome bag, wasn't it?) When I am going out to a party or do where I know I'll only need a small number of specific things, I'm less likely to be wearing something with pockets. So, again, I carry a bag.
Moreover, this particular cinema is in a city centre. I like going there of an afternoon, having been shopping, and yes I do take in shopping bags, and I'm not the only one (it is more often than not women who I see doing the same). Assuming that the cinema customer is going to have the time or inclination to put the bags in the car is a bit much, especially if you're me and you don't have a car and don't see why going to the cinema as part of an afternoon in town is something to be discouraged. Yes, people use seats to hold their bags, but they will move them for people, and there's usually space under seats (umbrellas are more tricky, maybe there could stands for them), and blockbusters like Harry Potter are the exception, most times I've been in there there has been plenty of space and bags aren't an inconvenience. I just…I have a chip on my shoulder about how going to the cinema is assumed to be the province of the 14-24 year old male, and I find this restriction on bags annoying.
Bleh.
Saw an article about the sudden increase in 'femzines' - to which, yay. About the only magazine I get regularly is Empire (which irritates me with its Star Wars fetish and love of most beardy directors), I'll pick up Private Eye on occasion, and even more rarely read other people's magazines, especially ones aimed at women, and they invariably remind me of why I don't buy those sorts of mags. I don't wear make up, and while I am interested in clothes and fashion, I'm the wrong size, shape and temprament for Topshop; in short, I don't fit into the feminine mould of whom the market these magazines support want to sell to. But I've often wondered why I couldn't access a lot of the content that I get on the internet in a collected, portable form with pictures and illustrations - I like the women's pages on the Guardian, even if I disagree with the writers on some things. You know, the sorts of articles that people on the f-list point me to - popculture viewed with sensitivity to gender issues and political (with a capital P and in lowercase) issues that affect women - stuff that is interesting, that is written about articulately and informatively.
Invariably, in the article, the carnival of feminists got a mention, though I have to say that it rarely lives up to the hype for me. I do think fandom's meta has spoiled me here. Granted, there isn't the awareness when you're writing fannish meta of metafandom , as the feminist blogging community is wider, although some blogs get linked to the carnival more often, so posts are picked up from personal weblogs, where a heads up to an issue without analysis (or editing of thoughts or spell-checking) is fine. But I'm often left shrugging after reading interesting-sounding links.
Having said that, I will be getting an edition of one of the mentioned zines (even though it has yet another interview of that definition of over exposed, Beth Ditto. Actually sold-out back editions look more interesting). But yeah, a non-stupid magazine for women would be fab.