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FLIRT, CHAPTER SIX, PART 2
Jan. 28th, 2013 01:37 pmI noticed something about Flirt, and that is that we've kinda seen this plot already. In the second book, The Laughing Corpse, a guy shows in Anita's office, wants her to raise a zombie, offers to provide a human sacrifice to do so, offers Anita an exorbitant sum of money to do so, and, when she refuses, sends hired thugs after her. Sound familiar? There are some differences, like the zombie wasn't his wife and the tugs weren't therians, but it's similar enough that I, if I were the author, would not have used that plot this time time around for a new book. Just me there, YMMV.
Also a I found out from browsing the archives at lashouts that we've had a previous villain (or at least character) named Bennington in one of the books I didn't read (the ones between NiC and Skin Trade). I refer to the one for this book as Tony in the sporks because it's quicker to type, but in the text he's actually referred to only as Bennington most of the time, and if she did the same for the previous Bennington, that seems like it would be confusing for readers. Bennington is not so common a name that I feel you should be reusing it, especially if both characters are bad guys. The other Bennington also has a (live) wife, one who prefers very much to be referred to as "Mrs. Bennington" which Anita looks down on her for because it shows she is not a "liberated woman"...yet all Anita seems able to call the Mrs. Bennington in this book is "Bennington's wife." *eyeroll* But then, that hypocrisy makes sense for Anita I guess, because I don't think she actually wants any other women to be "liberated" because then she can't look down on them and be the only one and so special and independent and man-like and Not Like Other Girls. *eyeroll again*
Honestly, I think the big problem for LKH and authors with similar heroines (like Talia Gryphon *shudders*) is that they completely bought in to the sexist myth that any woman is non-stereotypical, independent, strong, feminist, etc., is a constantly-angry, needlessly mean, dominance-obsessed asshole that thinks anyone only ever has a problem with her because of her gender. This was how any woman "getting out of her place" was depicted in media for a long time, and often still is. And LKH, who seems to love this idea, clearly believes it as much as the people who hate such women (or rather, ideas of women). Seriously, you ask a lot of chauvinists what their picture of a "feminist" or "liberated woman" or similar phrase is, they'll probably describe someone a lot like Anita Blake or Gillian Keys. Anita and Gillian are in fact what said sexist men tend to come up with when asked to write a strong woman with sexual agency, as beautifully parodied here by Kate Beaton:
http://harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=311
http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=336
It's ironic, really. These stereotypes were invented by a culture that was terrified of women gaining any kind of agency or thinking they deserved it, so that any time a woman or girl started to get "out of line", someone could point to the TV at the ugly images of harpies and viragos (who also always either get their commupence, are turned around by the love of a man, or both) and say "You don't want to be like THAT, do you?" to get them to behave again because, hey, no one would want to be like that. And so when LKH, who clearly bought into the myth, decides "I'm going to write a strong female character, because that's a good thing!" she still draws on the depiction of strong women as not only a very bad thing, but also one that still NEEDS men and male approval and male love rather than thinking outside this very outdated box. Thanks, LKH, for bringing back a repressive, sexist old stereotype we were starting to leave behind and grow beyond, and giving it a false sense of legitimacy by claiming it's supposed to be portrayed in a GOOD light this time. Because guess what, it doesn't matter. People are still going to read it and think 'god, that's what a strong woman is? How unpleasant!' just like they did back in the day.
Ditto for equating femininity with weakness, victimhood, uselessness, etc., and for portraying female sexuality as this monstrous force that must be contained or else, as something that a good girl would NEVER willingly give in to, something only bad women embrace by choice, etc., depicting women in power as out-of-control hell-goddesses that abuse/rape/enslave men, and oh I could go on. But instead, I'll just let her writing speak for itself, staring with...
( FLIRT, CHAPTER SIX, PART 2 )
Also a I found out from browsing the archives at lashouts that we've had a previous villain (or at least character) named Bennington in one of the books I didn't read (the ones between NiC and Skin Trade). I refer to the one for this book as Tony in the sporks because it's quicker to type, but in the text he's actually referred to only as Bennington most of the time, and if she did the same for the previous Bennington, that seems like it would be confusing for readers. Bennington is not so common a name that I feel you should be reusing it, especially if both characters are bad guys. The other Bennington also has a (live) wife, one who prefers very much to be referred to as "Mrs. Bennington" which Anita looks down on her for because it shows she is not a "liberated woman"...yet all Anita seems able to call the Mrs. Bennington in this book is "Bennington's wife." *eyeroll* But then, that hypocrisy makes sense for Anita I guess, because I don't think she actually wants any other women to be "liberated" because then she can't look down on them and be the only one and so special and independent and man-like and Not Like Other Girls. *eyeroll again*
Honestly, I think the big problem for LKH and authors with similar heroines (like Talia Gryphon *shudders*) is that they completely bought in to the sexist myth that any woman is non-stereotypical, independent, strong, feminist, etc., is a constantly-angry, needlessly mean, dominance-obsessed asshole that thinks anyone only ever has a problem with her because of her gender. This was how any woman "getting out of her place" was depicted in media for a long time, and often still is. And LKH, who seems to love this idea, clearly believes it as much as the people who hate such women (or rather, ideas of women). Seriously, you ask a lot of chauvinists what their picture of a "feminist" or "liberated woman" or similar phrase is, they'll probably describe someone a lot like Anita Blake or Gillian Keys. Anita and Gillian are in fact what said sexist men tend to come up with when asked to write a strong woman with sexual agency, as beautifully parodied here by Kate Beaton:
http://harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=311
http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=336
It's ironic, really. These stereotypes were invented by a culture that was terrified of women gaining any kind of agency or thinking they deserved it, so that any time a woman or girl started to get "out of line", someone could point to the TV at the ugly images of harpies and viragos (who also always either get their commupence, are turned around by the love of a man, or both) and say "You don't want to be like THAT, do you?" to get them to behave again because, hey, no one would want to be like that. And so when LKH, who clearly bought into the myth, decides "I'm going to write a strong female character, because that's a good thing!" she still draws on the depiction of strong women as not only a very bad thing, but also one that still NEEDS men and male approval and male love rather than thinking outside this very outdated box. Thanks, LKH, for bringing back a repressive, sexist old stereotype we were starting to leave behind and grow beyond, and giving it a false sense of legitimacy by claiming it's supposed to be portrayed in a GOOD light this time. Because guess what, it doesn't matter. People are still going to read it and think 'god, that's what a strong woman is? How unpleasant!' just like they did back in the day.
Ditto for equating femininity with weakness, victimhood, uselessness, etc., and for portraying female sexuality as this monstrous force that must be contained or else, as something that a good girl would NEVER willingly give in to, something only bad women embrace by choice, etc., depicting women in power as out-of-control hell-goddesses that abuse/rape/enslave men, and oh I could go on. But instead, I'll just let her writing speak for itself, staring with...
( FLIRT, CHAPTER SIX, PART 2 )
