Party Hearty!

Well, as ill as I am, as crappy as I feel, there are still some things to cheer about. One of them being the dream-come-true levelling party I fell in with on FFXI today.

( More of the same another time PLEASE... )

Anyway, overall, while there's an awful lot of suck flying around at the moment, at least there was one bright spot to which I am currently clinging. Well, that and the general fun and frolic of watching Mirrormask over dinner. Shame neither dodgyhoodoo and I have any voice to speak of owing to the Illness of Eternal Suckitude, but even despite that the conversation was good and fun, and Mirrormask is always worth a watch, really.

And tomorrow, I dunno what dodgyhoodoo is up to ... well, neither does he, to be fair, and I suppose that'll depend on how he feels at the time. And therefore what I'll be up to depends on how we both feel at the time. If he's staying home and we both feel up to it, I might ask if he wants to go on another FFXI farming expedition - maybe take him out to the Stone Monuments in Pashhow Marshlands, Meriphataud Mountains and Rolanberry Fields, or just another camp-out in Buburimu. Or both, depending. (Sneak & Invis are good things, as is the ability to Tele out of a place where people might be in over their heads.) If he's not up to it and is in, then potentially there could be more Angel episodes or something. If he's out ... well, I'll find some way to entertain myself, I'm sure. After all, there's my new Sims 2 Stuff pack that I haven't fully explored yet, and two new books courtesy dodgyhoodoo. (New Dresden Files book even though it's only out in hardback EEE!)

Drama Llama-Herding

I shall now address various species of LJ drama or potential wank.

The Open Source Boob Project
So theferrett suggests, after a particularly interesting encounter at a convention that was mostly, so far as I understand it, involving people he knew or anyone who knew enough to ask, that it might be nice if we lived in a world where anyone showing some interest in another person's body in a sensual but not necessarily sexual way would not be vilified as a pervert, and anyone having interest of that sort shown does not have to feel threatened by said interest.

Wow, that backfired, didn't it?

I watched everybody get up in arms about this. I mean, everybody. I frankly didn't understand any of it. I mean, okay, maybe it's because I live in the UK and don't go to cons much, but it seemed like the people going, "What about the people who have been attacked? They'll feel threatened! Women will feel threatened just by the very act of this being around OMG!" and all I can say to that is, "What?!?" There is touching occurring at con. It may not even involve the person - it's not like they were foisting green or red buttons on people in the manner of Jehovah's Witnesses offering up The Watchtower. And frankly, I'd put "I just wanted to say that you have lovely breasts and wondered if you would mind if I touched them - no? Okay. Thank you for your time anyway" (which, as I understand it, you'd only get asked if you were wearing a green button anyway so at least you'd be prepared for it) in a far higher "no-threat" bracket than getting leered at and knowing that you're going to be someone's wank fantasy du jour, or any one of a half-million obscene comments and gestures. The difference is respect. The difference is that the very question is acknowledging, right up front, that the woman's body is hers to decide who touches it and who doesn't.

This is, of course, forgetting that people can be pushy arseholes. There are always going to be bad apples spoiling the whole damn bunch. And that's why the Open Source Boob Project is not going to work outside a certain group of people who already have a comfort zone with each other, and anyone who wanted to come in out of curiosity. I think everybody knows that it can't work on a vast scale, including theferrett. We haven't evolved that highly yet. There's still the lizard brain, and it knows what it wants. And, as previously stated, it's been acknowledged that this will not work when extended to the population as a whole. Not yet, possibly not ever. Because people are, by and large, arseholes. Individuals are fine, sometimes, but people are arseholes.

I just don't understand why people are getting so up in arms about the mere suggestion of this on a larger scale. I don't understand how this "OMG THREAT TO WIMMIN!" reaction isn't actually proving the need for something like this. The very fact that women need to not be asked, not be told that their bodies are attractive by anyone but their lovers and girl-or-gay friends, not have any approach to their sexuality that isn't in some way proscribed isn't at least half the reason why anything sexual and sensual is still seen in some way as dirty and wrong. That part isn't all about how men leer or anything like that; it's about attitude and mindset. For fuck's sake, girls, be arrogant. If some arsehole leers at you and shows with no chance of mistake that you are going to be what he thinks about when he next jerks off? Just raise an eyebrow at him and give him a contemptuous look and think, "I know I'm that hot. And I also know that you, you little freak, are never going to get any closer than that". It's your right to be skeeved, but it's also your right to remember that the only reason this is happening is because you are worth it. Take some silver lining about it and stop whingeing that you need for this shit not to happen, ever. People have sexual thoughts. You will be involved in them in some way. Get over it.

'Faggots' in RP
So this guy makes this post on bad_rpers_suck talking about how he's not homophobic but he's getting sick of the 'faggots' that invariably swarm his RPs. Okay, badly phrased, but the post goes on to explain that he's differentiating between homosexuals, who are just people who happen to prefer the sexual company of their own gender, and those effeminate sparkly fuck-anything-of-their-own-gender-that-moves overflirty yaoi-manga-spawned girlie-boys that do, I will grant, seem to proliferate. This is something much along the lines of Chris Rock saying, "I like black people, but them niggers have got to go".

But of course, he gets shit for it because of the use of one. Single. Word.

Yeah, it's not a nice word. 'Faggot' is not a nice word. 'Nigger' is also not a nice word. But I'm not going to take away the fact that this guy made a valid point about screaming horrible stereotypes in RP just because he used a word that is generally speaking ill-advised in a social context. Sometimes people use words that are considered shocking to call attention to something. It may not be advisable at all times, but it certainly gets noticed. Which is entirely the point. If you want someone to pay attention to you, sometimes you have to shock. This person did that. And instead of blinking and acknowledging the point, there are people throwing the point away in favour of this person's "gay-bashing" attitude.

He is not. Bashing. Gay people. He is bashing RPers who insist on perpetuating the yaoi-boy stereotype in screaming, sparkling detail. I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

I mean, okay. I got aerated when that _allecto_ person started going on about how Joss Whedon rapes his wife and that kind of thing. But I sure as hell didn't take it up with her. I noted that the post existed, made my own commentary about why I thought her analysis of the Firefly programme was flawed, and went on my merry way. But that was the extent of my contribution to the drama of that. And while I think it's interesting how these things spread and grow over this particular series of tubes, there comes a point at which enough has to be enough. Look at _allecto_ funny because she's got some really weird views about what it means to be a feminist if you want to, but for pity's sake, stop going all Take Back The Night on some shmuck who had a really interesting social-experiment experience at one singular con. And stop bashing on some poor gweep for using one antisocial word.

Come on, guys. Rationality and reason, hmm?