Oh, Fandom, no.
The Open Source Boob Project (I've linked to a cut tag that contains the original post. The Ferrett has posted an update at the top.)
I was at Penguicon this year, and I'm really glad I missed this shit at the con.
I get where they're going with it, and it's an admirable notion of emphasizing body comfort, but as described, and focused on breasts, it's still specifically sexualizing breasts, and it's still an unequal power dynamic. Rather than the stated goal of destigmatizing sex and the objectification and sexualization of bodies, of making it all "simpler," it's singling out the breast (and the woman) as this unique item for consideration, for attention, for worship.
The language used in the original post to describe the experience was specifically about a woman's breasts (and not the woman) with a distinctly sexual, on-a-pedestal overtone. All it did was reinforce the breast, and women's bodies, as specifically sexual. And I think it's incredibly telling about just how pervasive an idea it is everywhere, that women's bodies are specifically sexual, that the whole write-up was unintentionally framed in that kind of language, despite the fact that it runs counter to the stated goals of the project
Not to mention the whole idea of women's breasts, women's bodies, as a catalyst for healing people's issues. Once again, women are responsible for everyone's shit. And no, I don't think that's how it was intended, but those paving stones on the road to hell still hurt like a motherfucker when you're smacked upside the head with one. And while I do understand that in practice the gendering wasn't so blatant, the whole focus of the post about the project was on women offering, and men touching. It was an incredibly gendered focus, and that's incredibly skeevy, especially in a subculture that is already significantly gender skewed.
And really? A lot of the initial backlash could have been easily avoided by having the women with the breasts involved in the project post about it and talk about it and lead the conversation.
Or had they called it the Open Source Body Project, de-emphasized the gendered, breast-focus aspect, and offered it as a panel or room party (or series thereof) with clear guidelines and expectations and limits and explanations? Fabulous.
Seeding it throughout the con as a quiet movement with no clear explanation to all congoers and no real avenues of control other than a colored button and the honor system? GAH.
I want to see breasts lose their objectified sexual mystique, to be seen as just a (occasionally functional and fun) body part women have, rather than open-sourcing women's bodies as part of a new movement to fix the world, which is how that whole write-up and follow-up came across.
I was at Penguicon this year, and I'm really glad I missed this shit at the con.
I get where they're going with it, and it's an admirable notion of emphasizing body comfort, but as described, and focused on breasts, it's still specifically sexualizing breasts, and it's still an unequal power dynamic. Rather than the stated goal of destigmatizing sex and the objectification and sexualization of bodies, of making it all "simpler," it's singling out the breast (and the woman) as this unique item for consideration, for attention, for worship.
The language used in the original post to describe the experience was specifically about a woman's breasts (and not the woman) with a distinctly sexual, on-a-pedestal overtone. All it did was reinforce the breast, and women's bodies, as specifically sexual. And I think it's incredibly telling about just how pervasive an idea it is everywhere, that women's bodies are specifically sexual, that the whole write-up was unintentionally framed in that kind of language, despite the fact that it runs counter to the stated goals of the project
Not to mention the whole idea of women's breasts, women's bodies, as a catalyst for healing people's issues. Once again, women are responsible for everyone's shit. And no, I don't think that's how it was intended, but those paving stones on the road to hell still hurt like a motherfucker when you're smacked upside the head with one. And while I do understand that in practice the gendering wasn't so blatant, the whole focus of the post about the project was on women offering, and men touching. It was an incredibly gendered focus, and that's incredibly skeevy, especially in a subculture that is already significantly gender skewed.
And really? A lot of the initial backlash could have been easily avoided by having the women with the breasts involved in the project post about it and talk about it and lead the conversation.
Or had they called it the Open Source Body Project, de-emphasized the gendered, breast-focus aspect, and offered it as a panel or room party (or series thereof) with clear guidelines and expectations and limits and explanations? Fabulous.
Seeding it throughout the con as a quiet movement with no clear explanation to all congoers and no real avenues of control other than a colored button and the honor system? GAH.
I want to see breasts lose their objectified sexual mystique, to be seen as just a (occasionally functional and fun) body part women have, rather than open-sourcing women's bodies as part of a new movement to fix the world, which is how that whole write-up and follow-up came across.