Misogynistic Pornographic Media: Wrong in Any Form

With so much attention on misogynistic films and games, ranging from "Grand Theft Auto" to "Rapelay" to "Stockholm: An Exploration of True Love," each of which so spectacularly supports violence against women, it is sometimes easy to miss the more subtle, but equally dangerous, culprits. Take the recent novel "Concubine." Those of you who have seen the website for Stockholm: An Exploration of True Love have probably seen the innocent seeming ads, but may have not seen this: http://rmdglobal.net/concubine/

I'm going to reprint it here, it all its ludicrous glory, just in case the company decides to take it down:

Are you fucking kidding me? I don't know where to begin. Maybe point out that it's making light of a tragedy comparable to the Holocaust? Maybe point out that this is exactly the type of male-fantasy bullshit that we need to keep the fuck out of our culture? Maybe point out that teenage girls do not want to be sex slaves, unless they have been thoroughly brainwashed, which is even more tragic? Maybe point out that young women are having their LIVES stolen, and maybe writing a porno book about it is not the best idea?

Or maybe it's time to take this a step farther. Free speech is important, but every retailer has the right to express its own free speech by refusing to sell anything. Now for a long time, paranoia over Fahrenheit 451 and 1984 have given the written word a kind of social protection that movies and other visual media have not enjoyed. But are they really that different? Is a misogynistic book that directly supports one of the most heinous crimes against humanity that different from a game like "Stockholm" or "Rapelay"?

I think it is perfectly fair, and right, to ask a private company to remove something disgusting and misogynistic from its shelves. We need to let people know that profiting from the current and horrific suffering of young women all over the world is absolutely unacceptable. I will be sending the following letter to amazon.com:

To Whom it May Concern,

I am writing to request the removal of a book from your catalogue. As can be seen in the following advertisement:

http://rmdglobal.net/concubine/

this book makes light of, and even supports, one of the most heinous practices in history. I believe that as a private company, you have both the right and the responsibility to prevent people from profiting from and encouraging such heinous acts. In the same way that texts such as "The Anarchist Cookbook" have been removed for sale, I believe that the book Concubine, by Kota Ozembwe, should be removed. This book is misogynistic and dangerous. Unlike the highly graphic books written by the Marquis de Sade, or books like Mein Kompf, it has no historical value.

I believe that your company is in a unique position to send a powerful message about a heinous crime. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

__________.

Maybe some Men NEED a bit of "Domestication"

In his latest travesty, Stanton Audemars, notorious creator of Stockholm: An Exploration of True Love has explained that his kidnapping/rape video game is not, as it turns out, about kidnapping and rape. Oh no. Apparently, it is actually about challenging the "feminist endorsed" version of love. This version of love, as Mr. Audemars explains, is monogamist, not possessive, and also involves limiting some kind of wild male spirit. This laughable travesty of an article can be seen at http://stantonaudemars.blogspot.com/2009/06/its-not-dating-guide-dumbass.html.

Well boo-fucking-hoo. Poor men. They can't go around having ten wives, actually have to respect the wishes and feelings of their significant others, and have to live a "domesticated" life. It breaks your heart.

Let me explain something to Mr. Audemars, and the millions of men who feel that men have some kind of God-given right to live some wild free orgiastic lifestyle free of "domestication." Women have been facing "domestication for" centuries. While men went around doing whatever they wanted, whoever they wanted, women were limited in every possible way. Every way. And you have the audacity to say that "domestication" of the male spirit is unfair? Fuck you. I think that men could use a little domestication.

Even now, it's more socially acceptable for men to cheat than for women to. Even now, women in marriages are expected to constrain their own desires, career or otherwise, far more than men are. There is an imbalance, and if the "official" love that Mr. Audemars so protests happens to constrain men a little bit, then I have to say that I am a fan of that "official" love.