Comments on: Who’s afraid of Amy Winehouse? http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/ Blogging politics, culture, sociology and life from Brisvegas Sat, 22 Nov 2008 17:34:35 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: Madeline Bruce http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-503639 Madeline Bruce Sun, 07 Sep 2008 17:55:10 +0000 http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-503639 The humorist and theologian (a very rare combination) G. K. Chesterton said "Gossip is the lifeblood of conversation". Another well-known writer, William Shakespeare, used the word gossip in the ancient sense of the roots of that word, which is Godparents. Looked at in that light, we talk about celebrities because they are the only people that we all "know". The good side of gossip can be taking care of people, like, "Have you seen old Mrs. Smith lately? I hope she's allright." Gossip can also serve the purpose of hammering out a culture's ethics. Case in point: People felt uncomfortable with Tom Cruise jumping up and down on a couch on National Television, perhaps because he had just dumped his beautiful, talented, and faithful wife Nicole Kidman. The humorist and theologian (a very rare combination) G. K. Chesterton said “Gossip is the lifeblood of conversation”. Another well-known writer, William Shakespeare, used the word gossip in the ancient sense of the roots of that word, which is Godparents. Looked at in that light, we talk about celebrities because they are the only people that we all “know”. The good side of gossip can be taking care of people, like, “Have you seen old Mrs. Smith lately? I hope she’s allright.” Gossip can also serve the purpose of hammering out a culture’s ethics. Case in point: People felt uncomfortable with Tom Cruise jumping up and down on a couch on National Television, perhaps because he had just dumped his beautiful, talented, and faithful wife Nicole Kidman.

]]> By: Madeline Bruce http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-481459 Madeline Bruce Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:23:58 +0000 http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-481459 June 27, 2008. Amy will perform at Nelson Manela's 90th Birthday Concert, which is also an Aids Benefit, at his personal invitation, today, at Hyde Park in London England. I'll be watching this in Canada on live TV, and so will millions of others. If all of her millions of fans say a prayer for her, we can pull her out of this hell of addiction that she is in, with the help of God. Amy needs love and kindness, and appreciation, not vilification, along with rehabilitation and rest. When we are at our lowest ebb is when we need our friends to show some respect for us. Amy has worked very hard to hone her talents to the pitch they are at - singing, song-writing, guitar playing, and performance. It must be harder and harder for her to face the world when thoughtless, lesser people are jeering at her. June 27, 2008. Amy will perform at Nelson Manela’s 90th Birthday Concert, which is also an Aids Benefit, at his personal invitation, today, at Hyde Park in London England. I’ll be watching this in Canada on live TV, and so will millions of others. If all of her millions of fans say a prayer for her, we can pull her out of this hell of addiction that she is in, with the help of God. Amy needs love and kindness, and appreciation, not vilification, along with rehabilitation and rest. When we are at our lowest ebb is when we need our friends to show some respect for us. Amy has worked very hard to hone her talents to the pitch they are at - singing, song-writing, guitar playing, and performance. It must be harder and harder for her to face the world when thoughtless, lesser people are jeering at her.

]]> By: Margo http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-477607 Margo Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:32:46 +0000 http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-477607 Amy could be on death's door if someone does not take control of her life soon. Where are these exceptional places where those with addictions are placed. Poor girl, life is ebbing away. Amy could be on death’s door if someone does not take control of her life soon. Where are these exceptional places where those with addictions are placed. Poor girl, life is ebbing away.

]]> By: Madeline Bruce http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-477576 Madeline Bruce Fri, 13 Jun 2008 04:59:27 +0000 http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-477576 It is not so unusual for highly creative people, like Amy Winehouse, to be troubled by alcohol and drug addiction. We must remember that they are not run-of-the-mill people. Truly creative people take the culture a step beyond where it was, and that is what Amy Winehouse has done. Who, in the history of the world, has actually written words, and sung them, about the reality of the role of psychological denial in the illness of alcohol and/or drug addiction, and made a hit record of it to boot? As the saying goes in Alcoholics Anonamous, "Denial aint just a river in Egypt". Amy is like a microcosym of the earth at this point in history. We are all addicted to consumerism, to dependence on our institutions which are faltering, to the gas-guzzling and polluting automobile, to the terrible expense of war, while millions are starving. We are all in denial, and how ready are we to change, and clean up? Amy Winehouse is the mirror image of ourselves, and we don't like what we see. Myself - I like Amy and I think she is a marvellous talent. It is not so unusual for highly creative people, like Amy Winehouse, to be troubled by alcohol and drug addiction. We must remember that they are not run-of-the-mill people. Truly creative people take the culture a step beyond where it was, and that is what Amy Winehouse has done. Who, in the history of the world, has actually written words, and sung them, about the reality of the role of psychological denial in the illness of alcohol and/or drug addiction, and made a hit record of it to boot? As the saying goes in Alcoholics Anonamous, “Denial aint just a river in Egypt”. Amy is like a microcosym of the earth at this point in history. We are all addicted to consumerism, to dependence on our institutions which are faltering, to the gas-guzzling and polluting automobile, to the terrible expense of war, while millions are starving. We are all in denial, and how ready are we to change, and clean up? Amy Winehouse is the mirror image of ourselves, and we don’t like what we see. Myself - I like Amy and I think she is a marvellous talent.

]]> By: paul walter http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-472762 paul walter Thu, 29 May 2008 02:18:43 +0000 http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-472762 Steve Munn, actually they have a point. There is a thesis here and it was further unpacked by Rayedish in the excellent 24 before that poster fell into the same the same gender essentialist trap as her targets, the myoginists, at 27. But am both suitably chastened and better informed for the thread and JPZ'sc omments are the reward for perserverence. I think the post mod "audience complicity" theory of curent media studies certainly is the necesary response to Frank furt media critique, but whilst helpful and a part of the dialectic of media theory, is nonetheless just a bit to twee, a bit nice as a way for lefty academics to oblige neolib patriarchal vice chancellors eyeing off departments for funding cuts. The left wingers go first and those willing to subscribe to"blame the victim" complicity and ultimately social atomisation and consumer capitalism alibied find life less stressed than they might have otherwise ( btw, I know that I'm going to be seen as contesting a certain interpretation of certain types of feminist theory, but those theories themselves arose out of contestation of Frankfurt new left theorising, after all ). I understand the points being made by Kim, R ayedish, Helen and others and agree it is rewarding to "see" a situation from the new vantage point, once the intial surprise wears off. Contrast is all. Steve Munn, actually they have a point. There is a thesis here and it was further unpacked by Rayedish in the excellent 24 before that poster fell into the same
the same gender essentialist trap as her targets, the myoginists, at 27.
But am both suitably chastened and better informed for the thread and JPZ’sc omments are the reward for perserverence.
I think the post mod “audience complicity” theory of curent media studies certainly is the necesary response to Frank furt media critique, but whilst helpful and a part of the dialectic of media theory, is nonetheless just a bit to twee, a bit nice as a way for lefty academics to oblige neolib patriarchal vice chancellors eyeing off departments for funding cuts. The left wingers go first and those willing to subscribe to”blame the victim” complicity and ultimately social atomisation and consumer capitalism alibied find life less stressed than they might have otherwise ( btw, I know that I’m going to be seen as contesting a certain interpretation of certain types of feminist theory, but those theories themselves arose out of contestation of Frankfurt new left theorising, after all ).
I understand the points being made by Kim, R ayedish, Helen and others and agree it is rewarding to “see” a situation from the new vantage point, once the intial surprise wears off. Contrast is all.

]]> By: FDB http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-472758 FDB Thu, 29 May 2008 02:15:05 +0000 http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-472758 Yep Kim, Winehouse would have been a superstar regardless of persona - with her particular musical stylings, any time in the last 40 years would have done nicely. Lyrics might not have gotten a run though (at least from a honky). Yep Kim, Winehouse would have been a superstar regardless of persona - with her particular musical stylings, any time in the last 40 years would have done nicely. Lyrics might not have gotten a run though (at least from a honky).

]]> By: Kim http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-472749 Kim Thu, 29 May 2008 02:05:09 +0000 http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-472749 Yes, these surveys are pretty gross indicators. It'd be good to have a much more rigorous one! <blockquote>the vilified have celebrity because they’re (or their partners are) famous, and have achieved almost nothing that might deserve it.</blockquote> But not always - as a number of people have said, Winehouse has a lot of talent as a muso. Yes, these surveys are pretty gross indicators. It’d be good to have a much more rigorous one!

the vilified have celebrity because they’re (or their partners are) famous, and have achieved almost nothing that might deserve it.

But not always - as a number of people have said, Winehouse has a lot of talent as a muso.

]]> By: Craig Mc http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-472747 Craig Mc Thu, 29 May 2008 02:01:03 +0000 http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-472747 Self-selecting population perhaps? People who aspire to celebrity are quite possibly not that nice to begin with. The popular/vilified lists highlight one thing to me. The popular people are celebrities because they do something well with celebrity as a by-product, whereas the vilified have celebrity because they're (or their partners are) famous, and have achieved almost nothing that might deserve it. It would be interesting to know the gender vote breakdown for those lists as well as how many votes each candidate got. I suspect they would reveal many other patterns. Self-selecting population perhaps? People who aspire to celebrity are quite possibly not that nice to begin with.

The popular/vilified lists highlight one thing to me. The popular people are celebrities because they do something well with celebrity as a by-product, whereas the vilified have celebrity because they’re (or their partners are) famous, and have achieved almost nothing that might deserve it.

It would be interesting to know the gender vote breakdown for those lists as well as how many votes each candidate got. I suspect they would reveal many other patterns.

]]> By: steve munn http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-472738 steve munn Thu, 29 May 2008 01:48:04 +0000 http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-472738 The most ecstatic applause I ever heard was at a film premiere maybe 15 years ago, when the actor Liam Neeson made an appearance and gave a banal speech. I found that depressing. If I understand things correctly, in Shakespeare's day actors where only one step up the status hierarchy from whores and were more likely to be pelted with rotten cabbage than put on a pedestal. I think the medieval types had it about right, although they may have been a little harsh towards the whores. Hell I'm getting old and grumpy. The most ecstatic applause I ever heard was at a film premiere maybe 15 years ago, when the actor Liam Neeson made an appearance and gave a banal speech. I found that depressing. If I understand things correctly, in Shakespeare’s day actors where only one step up the status hierarchy from whores and were more likely to be pelted with rotten cabbage than put on a pedestal. I think the medieval types had it about right, although they may have been a little harsh towards the whores.

Hell I’m getting old and grumpy.

]]> By: j_p_z http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-472732 j_p_z Thu, 29 May 2008 01:31:06 +0000 http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-472732 You know who I always loved? Margaret Hamilton. She was I think in her early 30s when she created the role of the Wicked Witch of the West. Back when cinema was much more highly structured and elaborated (thinking mostly of Hollywood, but also of the British and German studios, and the fact that back then it was just a younger fresher art form), the star system provided the public with an elaborate panoply of archetypes: sexual, social, psychological, historical figures whom you could love or hate, emulate or use as an object lesson. Some of the lessons were complex: there were monochrome types like Edward G. Robinson and Pola Negri and W.C. Fields, but there were also ambivalent, complex creatures like Bette Davis and Joan Crawford and James Cagney who moved back and forth across the good/bad lines. It was also a very outward-looking, society-oriented manner, an art form that served its public unabashedly; if it served its own interests as well, this was a more arcane matter. I think now that Hollywood fictionalizing has become somewhat more enervated, restricted, and self-serving in its interests (rather than reflecting a public ethos), some of the void has been filled by "reality" programming and fixation on tabloid scandals in supplying archetypal characters. But since a lot of this stuff is driven by the antics of people who are not really elaborate "creations" but merely folks at the mercy of their weaknesses (like Britney Spears or Amy Winehouse), the story lines are thinner and duller, and the public's responses cruder. Why the gender split among the most-loved/-hated columns? Probably a lot to do with the fact that women are more interested in these particular story lines than men, whose attention is divided between the sports pages, the tabloids, and other stuff (where you'll find similar narratives under different auspices). Men and women, being kind of different, just tend to like different things, and if women like stuff that's about personal behavior and relationships and so forth, well that's their prerogative and they probably have their reasons. It's the crudity of the story lines on offer that I think jars us, not the fact that they exist in the first place. I haven't been to the UK in a gazillion years, but I keep reading that there's this mad binge-drinking youth culture that is much more decadent and crazy and drunk than I remember it being, back when I last visited. Is that true? If it is, do Amy Winehouse's antics have something complex to do with the phenomenon at large? (btw, I like Amy Winehouse fine, she's got a good voice and talent, but I find her musical conception somewhat pedestrian. Didn't PJ Harvey kind of do this whole thing to completion in just one album, during her "To Bring You My Love" period?) As to this business of the "policing of femininity," well, geez louise, you'll discover steam next. In a complicated highly-structured society with a lot of moving parts, as a matter of simple maintenance (and the methods are likely to get cruder and less refined the bigger the set is) lots of things are going to be "policed" including masculinity (and boy have I got some good stories!). I remember the excellent Mets pitcher Tom Seaver being vilified as a cry-baby in the sports pages in the early 70s for the mildest deviations from a masculine sports ethos. So it's not new, and it goes on in many more arenas than gender. But you already know that perfectly well, so instead of just calling it out, why not explore it more carefully? The weird thing I think about a Foucouldian anatomy of complex power structures, is the concomitant but not strictly necessary idea that simply because a thing exists and is structured, that evil must inhere in it. "Room for improvement" is a constant in human affairs, and it's not synonymous with "evil". Is your gall bladder wicked because it isn't your lung? I wish we could ask Margaret Hamilton! You know who I always loved? Margaret Hamilton. She was I think in her early 30s when she created the role of the Wicked Witch of the West.

Back when cinema was much more highly structured and elaborated (thinking mostly of Hollywood, but also of the British and German studios, and the fact that back then it was just a younger fresher art form), the star system provided the public with an elaborate panoply of archetypes: sexual, social, psychological, historical figures whom you could love or hate, emulate or use as an object lesson. Some of the lessons were complex: there were monochrome types like Edward G. Robinson and Pola Negri and W.C. Fields, but there were also ambivalent, complex creatures like Bette Davis and Joan Crawford and James Cagney who moved back and forth across the good/bad lines. It was also a very outward-looking, society-oriented manner, an art form that served its public unabashedly; if it served its own interests as well, this was a more arcane matter.

I think now that Hollywood fictionalizing has become somewhat more enervated, restricted, and self-serving in its interests (rather than reflecting a public ethos), some of the void has been filled by “reality” programming and fixation on tabloid scandals in supplying archetypal characters. But since a lot of this stuff is driven by the antics of people who are not really elaborate “creations” but merely folks at the mercy of their weaknesses (like Britney Spears or Amy Winehouse), the story lines are thinner and duller, and the public’s responses cruder.

Why the gender split among the most-loved/-hated columns? Probably a lot to do with the fact that women are more interested in these particular story lines than men, whose attention is divided between the sports pages, the tabloids, and other stuff (where you’ll find similar narratives under different auspices). Men and women, being kind of different, just tend to like different things, and if women like stuff that’s about personal behavior and relationships and so forth, well that’s their prerogative and they probably have their reasons. It’s the crudity of the story lines on offer that I think jars us, not the fact that they exist in the first place.

I haven’t been to the UK in a gazillion years, but I keep reading that there’s this mad binge-drinking youth culture that is much more decadent and crazy and drunk than I remember it being, back when I last visited. Is that true? If it is, do Amy Winehouse’s antics have something complex to do with the phenomenon at large? (btw, I like Amy Winehouse fine, she’s got a good voice and talent, but I find her musical conception somewhat pedestrian. Didn’t PJ Harvey kind of do this whole thing to completion in just one album, during her “To Bring You My Love” period?)

As to this business of the “policing of femininity,” well, geez louise, you’ll discover steam next. In a complicated highly-structured society with a lot of moving parts, as a matter of simple maintenance (and the methods are likely to get cruder and less refined the bigger the set is) lots of things are going to be “policed” including masculinity (and boy have I got some good stories!). I remember the excellent Mets pitcher Tom Seaver being vilified as a cry-baby in the sports pages in the early 70s for the mildest deviations from a masculine sports ethos. So it’s not new, and it goes on in many more arenas than gender. But you already know that perfectly well, so instead of just calling it out, why not explore it more carefully?

The weird thing I think about a Foucouldian anatomy of complex power structures, is the concomitant but not strictly necessary idea that simply because a thing exists and is structured, that evil must inhere in it. “Room for improvement” is a constant in human affairs, and it’s not synonymous with “evil”. Is your gall bladder wicked because it isn’t your lung?

I wish we could ask Margaret Hamilton!

]]> By: steve munn http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-472731 steve munn Thu, 29 May 2008 01:30:09 +0000 http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-472731 I've never heard of Amy Winehouse and couldn't give a toss about about Heather whoever. Surely it's mostly women, and in particular tween and teenage girls, who find this star stuff interesting. Yawn. I’ve never heard of Amy Winehouse and couldn’t give a toss about about Heather whoever. Surely it’s mostly women, and in particular tween and teenage girls, who find this star stuff interesting. Yawn.

]]> By: murph the surf http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-472728 murph the surf Thu, 29 May 2008 01:25:08 +0000 http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-472728 "Pete Doherty seems to get a bit too - is that just cos he dated Kate Moss?" Oh I dunno ,maybe the photos of him shooting up ( with heroin )an unconscious 17 year old fan might have negatively impacted his media profile? “Pete Doherty seems to get a bit too - is that just cos he dated Kate Moss?”

Oh I dunno ,maybe the photos of him shooting up ( with heroin )an unconscious 17 year old fan might have negatively impacted his media profile?

]]> By: Kim http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-472725 Kim Thu, 29 May 2008 01:23:35 +0000 http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-472725 Word, Helen. Word, Helen.

]]> By: Helen http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-472719 Helen Thu, 29 May 2008 01:17:50 +0000 http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-472719 <i>Kim, Don’t you think its more to do with the monotony, intensity and frequency that the likes of outhouse, spears, wayne carey or whatever/whoever was last weeks fetish but now we’ve forgotten the name, is shoved down people’s throats by media?</i> Paul, why do you feel the need to call her "outhouse" if you don't want to play the media game? If you know the media are manipulating you to hate Amy, why do you so willingly roll over and oblige? Also, please resist conflating AW with the vapid, 'famous because they're famous' sexbots like Spears and Paris Hilton. Look at her Wikipedia page for a quick rundown. She's a singer-songwriter, not some chanteuse. Go to Youtube and pull up the video of her performing "Rehab" live on some UK TV show (and a comedy talk show similar to Spicks and Specks, the name of which escapes me now, pre-anorexia, where she displays her conviviality and good humour.) She was a delight (and look at her band. No Spice Girls / Britney-style production there.) This is a genuine musician who has crashed and burned, and I find it immensely sad, not least, selfishly, because there may not be another <i>Rehab</i>. Yes, she looks terrible now in her photographs. That is the object of the paparazzi who stalk these people. She is ill, tired and pyschologically unwell, that's clear. I read a very sad account of her scuttling through the city, in tears, trying to avoid the constant photographs and just get to the bloody shop. And when they get a truly bad photo, all the magazines lap it up with glee. They are scum. Kim, Don’t you think its more to do with the monotony, intensity and frequency that the likes of outhouse, spears, wayne carey or whatever/whoever was last weeks fetish but now we’ve forgotten the name, is shoved down people’s throats by media?

Paul, why do you feel the need to call her “outhouse” if you don’t want to play the media game? If you know the media are manipulating you to hate Amy, why do you so willingly roll over and oblige?

Also, please resist conflating AW with the vapid, ‘famous because they’re famous’ sexbots like Spears and Paris Hilton. Look at her Wikipedia page for a quick rundown. She’s a singer-songwriter, not some chanteuse. Go to Youtube and pull up the video of her performing “Rehab” live on some UK TV show (and a comedy talk show similar to Spicks and Specks, the name of which escapes me now, pre-anorexia, where she displays her conviviality and good humour.) She was a delight (and look at her band. No Spice Girls / Britney-style production there.) This is a genuine musician who has crashed and burned, and I find it immensely sad, not least, selfishly, because there may not be another Rehab. Yes, she looks terrible now in her photographs. That is the object of the paparazzi who stalk these people. She is ill, tired and pyschologically unwell, that’s clear. I read a very sad account of her scuttling through the city, in tears, trying to avoid the constant photographs and just get to the bloody shop. And when they get a truly bad photo, all the magazines lap it up with glee. They are scum.

]]> By: FDB http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-472707 FDB Thu, 29 May 2008 01:07:19 +0000 http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-472707 "Germaine might be relevant here." She's only ever an 'i' away from it! I love Winehouse's voice. Okay, maybe her boobies too. But she's putting herself right out there as a 'tude-toting wastrel, so can hardly object to her portrayal as such. As to why women cop it more from the tabloids, I dunno. Pete Doherty seems to get a bit too - is that just cos he dated Kate Moss? “Germaine might be relevant here.”

She’s only ever an ‘i’ away from it!

I love Winehouse’s voice. Okay, maybe her boobies too. But she’s putting herself right out there as a ‘tude-toting wastrel, so can hardly object to her portrayal as such.

As to why women cop it more from the tabloids, I dunno. Pete Doherty seems to get a bit too - is that just cos he dated Kate Moss?

]]> By: Rayedish http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-472705 Rayedish Thu, 29 May 2008 01:01:59 +0000 http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-472705 Was referring to DR's link at 25 Was referring to DR’s link at 25

]]> By: Rayedish http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-472700 Rayedish Thu, 29 May 2008 00:56:54 +0000 http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-472700 That link is just horrid. But it does show misogyny in all its glory. The concept itself is distasteful enough without the sexy girl ads the page is littered with. That link is just horrid. But it does show misogyny in all its glory. The concept itself is distasteful enough without the sexy girl ads the page is littered with.

]]> By: Zarquon http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-472699 Zarquon Thu, 29 May 2008 00:56:18 +0000 http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-472699 Shoulda used this graphic from <a href="http://www.glyphjockey.com/pix08/fron.jpg" rel="nofollow">Lex10</a>. (via BoingBoing) Shoulda used this graphic from Lex10.
(via BoingBoing)

]]> By: Darryl Rosin http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-472683 Darryl Rosin Thu, 29 May 2008 00:24:29 +0000 http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-472683 Well, I would have said it's just plain ol' misogyny, but I'm not one of those high-flautin' theory types. http://www.whenwillamywinehousedie.com/ Well, I would have said it’s just plain ol’ misogyny, but I’m not one of those high-flautin’ theory types.

http://www.whenwillamywinehousedie.com/

]]> By: Rayedish http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-472658 Rayedish Wed, 28 May 2008 23:18:16 +0000 http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/05/28/whos-afraid-of-amy-winehouse/#comment-472658 I think that there is is ancient unconscious culture idea that women are custodians of the morality of a culture. (Warning: painting with very broad brushes strokes here to convey a general idea) That way the men of a given culture can do what they will, but if the women are behaving then the society is not in decay. I am thinking of the Athenian codes and Roman laws which restricted women and the double standard apparent in myths like Ulysses (where he has an affair with Hecate but if Penelope his wife did the same thing, she would die). I think that women are still judged more harshly than men for similar transgressions and that when men misbehave its just 'boys being boys'. We have inherited our moral codes from some pretty patriarchal sources and while I feel society is striving to be 'post patriarchal' there is still echoes and hang up which reflect society's overtly patriarchal origins. I think that there is is ancient unconscious culture idea that women are custodians of the morality of a culture. (Warning: painting with very broad brushes strokes here to convey a general idea) That way the men of a given culture can do what they will, but if the women are behaving then the society is not in decay. I am thinking of the Athenian codes and Roman laws which restricted women and the double standard apparent in myths like Ulysses (where he has an affair with Hecate but if Penelope his wife did the same thing, she would die). I think that women are still judged more harshly than men for similar transgressions and that when men misbehave its just ‘boys being boys’.
We have inherited our moral codes from some pretty patriarchal sources and while I feel society is striving to be ‘post patriarchal’ there is still echoes and hang up which reflect society’s overtly patriarchal origins.

]]>