Men Hate Jane Austen
In Time Magazine this week writer Joel Stein wrote a humorous column titled, Stein and Sensibility. It deals with how men react to anything Jane Austen related, including the new movie, Austenland, with more than a few amusing quotes. The online link is here, but you won't get the entire piece until later this month because Time charges for fresh online content. I get a subscription, so these are quotes from the print magazine.
Listening to rich women plot out which milquetoast guy to not have sex with before marriage sounds worse than those Real Housewives shows.
I felt a little weird being one of the only men there, so I walked up to one of the actors, Ricky Whittle, who, unlike his character, owns a shirt. He was not an Austen fan either. "At first I was like, 'Will she be at the premiere?' And people were like, 'She's been dead for years, Ricky.' But I'm a fan now," he said. When I asked which novel he liked best, Whittle said, "I've still not gotten through the books. But I've made more of an effort on the films."
It's a funny article meant to be taken with a proverbial grain of salt...you know, a sense of humor, bloggers. But what I do find interesting is that there is a clear difference between how women relate to Austen and how men relate to her. And I don't think that has anything to do with emotion. The other night while watching a reality show on TV where something emotional happened, the women were out for blood because they wanted to win the money and the men were emotional wrecks. I often see this in the m/m romance genre, where gay men and women react differently to m/m romance novels, especially when it comes to sex.
Paula Deen Wins in Court
A federal judge on Monday ruled that a white former employee had no standing to bring claims of racial discrimination in a lawsuit against Paula Deen, the celebrity chef who was the target of criticism this summer after she acknowledged using a racial epithet.
This case with Deen has seemed to rule the news all summer, and I think it's partly because racial tensions run so high in the US now. Unfortunately, what we don't have are leaders on either side that are working to bring people together. I think what Deen said was awful and I honestly don't ever use that word, but I don't think deep down Deen is a racist at heart. She may be a product of her generation, and her background, but that doesn't mean she's the worst human on the planet. If anything, I think Deen has a platform to help racial tension in the US by bringing it out in the open, in ways no one else seems to be brave enough to do. Whether or not she will do this remains to be seen, though.
Australia Gay Marriage
You have to understand that when you're a gay person, articles like this just hit you in the face and they are very hard to understand. I know it's a positive thing, but in the same respect, it makes you feel so isolated and peculiar.
This part is fine:
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Monday it was time to end the "acrimonious" debate on gay marriage, after he vowed to introduce a bill legalising same-sex unions if returned to office.
But this part is what I don't get:
"Frankly, in 2013, I think the time has come to put this acrimonious debate behind us," the leader, who has previously been against gay marriage, told reporters on Monday.
Rudd, who is trailing conservative opposition leader Tony Abbott in opinion polls, said it was a reform millions of Australians had waited a long time to see become law.
"I've been thinking about the meaning of marriage for a long time - and I won't hide the fact that this has been a journey for me," he said.
"It is a difficult discussion, and I won't force this on anyone. It will be a free vote for members of the Labor party.
For something that has always seemed so natural and normal to me, I find it hard to process comments like that, especially the part where it's been such a long journey for him. Frankly, I don't get a lot of things about the straight community, but I don't think those things should be illegal, and I don't think anyone in the straight community should be discriminated against because of them. And why this even has to be a difficult decision passes me by.
In any event, at least it's another step forward for gay people in Australia...unlike gays here in Pennsylvania where gay marriage is still illegal just about 70 miles from NY where it is legal.
Tuesday 13 August 2013
Men Hate Jane Austen; Paula Deen Wins in Court; Australia Gay Marriage
Posted on 08:32 by Unknown
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