I became aware only recently of author Sarah Gailey‘s twitter, but I’m making a point, from now on, to check it often–and to check out her work.
Why? Well, a couple of reasons…:
First, the springboard for yesterday’s post:
If you ever wonder why we need feminism, consider that a ton of people got furious today just because they saw a woman in a movie preview
— Burr Shot First (@gaileyfrey) April 7, 2016
Then, there’s this awesome bingo card¹: Continue reading
Yet another rant, yet another what the fuck moment chez aztec.
On Sunday, Wendy posted her feelings about the current state of the romance blogging community.
On Monday, Sunita posted her reaction to that post.
Below are my responses to both blog posts, in the order I posted them.
It has been almost 32 years since Cheryl Ann Araujo was brutally and publicly gang raped in Big Dan’s in New Bedford, MA.
It has been almost 27 years since the case, and the systemic societal condemnation of rape survivors, was immortalized in the movie The Accused.
At the time, the late Roger Ebert, in his review of the movie, wrote:
“The Accused” demonstrates that rape victims often are suspects in their own cases. Surely they must have been somehow to blame. How were they behaving at the time of the crime? How were they dressed? Had they been drinking? Is their personal life clean and tidy? Or are they sluts who were just asking for it? I am aware of the brutal impact of the previous sentence. But the words were carefully chosen, because sometimes they reflect the unspoken suspicions of officials in the largely male judicial system.
…
I wonder who will find the film more uncomfortable – men or women? Both will recoil from the brutality of the scenes of the assault. But for some men, the movie will reveal a truth that most women already know. It is that verbal sexual harassment, whether crudely in a saloon back room or subtly in an everyday situation, is a form of violence – one that leaves no visible marks but can make its victims feel unable to move freely and casually in society. It is a form of imprisonment.
More than a quarter of a century later, and nothing has truly changed.
Now not only do we still deal with the assholes of both genders who automatically assume rape victims actively ask for it.
Now we also have all the assholes of both genders who, when rape culture is brought up, dismiss the entire issue as that leftist, feminist, political correctness bullshit.
My list of people whose work I’ll never try because they are assholes towards readers grows by the minute.
Which is kinda sad, because I’ve heard that some of those books are awesome.
On the other hand, there are thousands upon thousands of new books out there, many of them written and published by writer-type people who respect readers even when they disagree with them. I know. What a concept, right?
Plus my TBR pile is scary, so it’s not as if I’m going to be running out of reading material any time soon.
I have been pondering the whole dust up going around over an author doing a Kickstarter for her book. Jane at Dear Author talked about it here, and Lori poked some fun here.
(edited 3/29/15 to add: excellent piece by Jenny Trout)
(edited 4/7/15: storyfy with hard numbers and discussion)
Me? I’m just a little fed up with how some people feel entitled to my money and my time.
Her Hands, My Hands 