sundries

[rm]

From the Department of Know Thy Enemy: Extremely triggering stuff about Pastor Jeff Owens who preaches that "we should stop burning flags and start burning fags."

Every time I see a casting notice for background players for a scene in a gay club that goes on and on about how actors must be comfortable with the scene and being perceived as gay in the role and must say so to be considered, I just want to weep. It's background work, and isn't it our job to pretend, and aren't we in New York City?

Votes on DADT repeal too close to call.

The two cadets receiving the highest honors in this year's graduating class at West Point are both women. (Scroll to the bottom, it's the last story).

Appearance-based discrimination. In the past, I've been told I'm not a team player for refusals to wear makeup in the workplace. These were jobs that involved sitting at a desk and writing and in no way required feminine performance. You know, except for the part where they did, because they people I worked with, whether they wanted to admit it or not, wanted something something pretty to look at. Every time I've been out of an office job and needed one, I have worried that I wouldn't be able to get one because I am not attractive enough in traditionally gendered ways, and am not capable of being such on a day in and day out basis - the disconnect, it shows. And the thing is, I'm pretty much way above average in looks, and yet, this type of shit terrifies me, and I don't think that's just because I'm neurotic. Telling, isn't it?

Harlem churches fight for survival.

In the wake of Diana Gabaldon's need to say something about fanfiction in the least informed or appropriate way possible, lots of other people have been weighing in on the subject of fanfiction, and I find most of the discussion annoys me: not just the fear, self-importance and people who aren't lawyers playing lawyer; but also, conversely, lots of people who support it or are neutral on it or squicked by it but get that it's an unavoidable part of cultural discourse going on in its defense. Like a lot of things that are up for discussion, I find myself less irritated by the content of the discussion than that the discussion is even happening. Not that it shouldn't be. It's just -- does anyone think this is a manner of discourse that is ever going to go away? Because it's always been here. If we say it's bad, will people stop dialoguing with narratives and artifices this way? Not gonna happen folks.

Does anyone have budget hotel recs in London? I could stay where Patty and I stayed, but it's, despite being a budget hotel, running at over 80 quid a night for when I'm there, and that's ABSURD (although, I may stay there anyway, as I loved the location). Zone 1 or Zone 2, clean, safe, no shared bathrooms.

Similarly, anyone have hotel recs for Bristol? I've a list of places from the Uni, but it's not helping me make decisions at all.

Last night on Buffy and Angel:

The Willow magic addiction plotline continues to blow and is stupid. The idea of the problem with magic being that it's bad or the easy way out, contradicts the rest of the show's mythology. The problem isn't magic; it's Willow.

Meanwhile, invisible Buffy for the win. Also, poor James Marsters. That's what we call a bad actor day.

And on Angel we have an episode that exists merely to get the cast into nice clothes. It's overwraught, and ridiculous and at times sort of moving. The facial expressions of the tragic ballerina as she danced were great. And every single moment of Wesley's life from here on out is going to be a misery, isn't it? I can't tell you how glad I'm watching this show now as opposed to at other points in my life.

So the dude with the watch and the nest of vampires and all that shit? It's like there was a storyline there and no one told us what the fuck it was. Dead boyfriend? Something that gets explained later? Really confusing and upsetting, actually, because of my suspicions of what it was and the total execution fail.

Comments

[mobobocita.livejournal.com]

Did you just watch Waiting in the Wings? If so, that tragic ballerina is Summer Glau, it's where Joss picked her up and later uses her as River in Firefly.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Oh! Oh! Her face is much rounder there.

[thatwordgrrl.livejournal.com]

My main problem with the whole Gabaldon mess is that the more people wring their hands about it, the more power they give her.

So she doesn't like fanfic. So what? What can she do about it? Practically nothing, other than flail about as she has.

I guess my thing is that if people want to write fanfic, there's NOTHING she can do to stop it. So go write fanfic and ignore the flaily woman in the corner.

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

"My main problem with the whole Gabaldon mess is that the more people wring their hands about it, the more power they give her."

This! Some of the counterarguments are so full of epic fury and defensiveness I just end up thinking, "Wow, you really, really care what a random assortment of professional genre writers think of you for reasons that escape me."

[xo-kizzy-xo.livejournal.com]

I learned about appearance discrimination the hard way when I kept getting passed over for promotion to management at Now Defunct Department Store. Had nothing to do with my looks as the fact that, at the time, I was probably 25-30 lbs. overweight. Someone in upper management told me this, adding that the store "had an image to maintain" and that, physically, I "didn't fit the image". I was a shoo-in for the position in every other way, though.

I should have quit the job right then and there, but I didn't.

[sparkindarkness.livejournal.com]

I watch that video and my jaw drops... such terrifying hatred

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

Dear god that Preacher. That is too fucking scary for words.

It was too ironic that yesterday I overheard some geeks talk about how much they disliked fanfic because it changed canon.

I had just printed out my paper and really wanted to hit them over the head with my manilla folder.

[kaydeefalls.livejournal.com]

Huh. I went to high school with one of those two West Point cadets - she's the younger sister of a close friend. Small world.

[gement.livejournal.com]

Additionally impressive: the salutatorian survived West Point with the last name of "Betterbed." I quail to think of the harassment.

[redstapler.livejournal.com]

I had the same thought.

[nicoli-dominn.livejournal.com]

Finally, someone talks about appearance discrimination. That's one of those topics that seems to be scoffed at as soon as it's mentioned - most people don't want to admit that they judge people's performance based on their looks, but god, is it EVER so true. As an overweight and unattractive non-cisgendered female, I have often attended job interviews where I felt completely out of place and knew that I was being judged based on something other than my solid resume.

Then there's just the uncomfortable experience of standing around with your male coworkers while they sigh over the merits of Halle Berry's tiny waist and perfect stretch-mark-free skin and symmetrical features and complete lack of belly pudge...and while you think about the fact that none of those features apply to you.

[mamadar.livejournal.com]

I bet none of those features apply to your co-workers, either.

OT

[magicwoman.livejournal.com]

Could have sworn I saw a "younger" you on an episode of Law and Order: Criminal Intent over the weekend - episode title - Graansha. I thought you might have been the younger daughter. But I checked your movie/tv credit page and no mention...

Re: OT

[rm.livejournal.com]

Nope, I've never been on CI. And I've only done background work on the other L&O properties.

[juniperus.livejournal.com]

Fat (and without a classic female build, no less), rarely wear make-up and yeah... appearance discrimination. Former Director? No issue. Current? He's a marathon runner and I think it's pretty clear he formed An Opinion of me based on my weight that no amount of reality (damn, that reality) will alter.

[elisi]

The problem isn't magic; it's Willow.
Well the whole season is about people running away from problems instead of facing them, so if you can cope with the current stupidity, it pays off.

And on Angel we have an episode that exists merely to get the cast into nice clothes. It's overwraught, and ridiculous and at times sort of moving.
Also, we get lines like this: "Oh, yeah. Yeah. I saw their production of Giselle in eighteen-ninety. I cried like a baby. And I was evil!"

So the dude with the watch and the nest of vampires and all that shit?
??? 'Couplet'?

Votes on DADT repeal too close to call.
*crosses fingers* (Did you see this story back in '08? It still gives me hope, even though that particular battle was lost.)

[rm.livejournal.com]

So the dude with the watch and the nest of vampires and all that shit?
??? 'Couplet'?

I don't remember the episode name. It's when everyone decides they have to make money for Connor and Fred has to solve that puzzle and almost loses her head and there's some random subplot with this dude Angel is helping?

[rhiannonstone.livejournal.com]

"Waiting in the Wings" ends up having a significance beyond getting the cast all spiffy and intensifying Wesley's angst. (And I don't just mean it's where the Whedonverse gets Summer Glau.)

[maudelynn.livejournal.com]

The whole judging people on looks is so hurtful to everyone involved. The people who are judged because they aren't given the same chances and the people who judge because they miss out on great people.
I cannot tell you how upset I used to get when people would say "Wow, you are surprisingly well educated." or "I didn't think you would have a brain like that." Sigh. Now I just think of it as my secret weapon :P

[weirdodragoncat.livejournal.com]

I've often wondered if my appearance is part of why I've had such a hard time getting a permanent job over the last 2 years. I've had a handful of interviews for positions I was very well qualified for but I suspect that my being fat and not conventionally attractive (and also not wearing makeup with any level of regularity) has something to do with it. That and the fact that I'm approaching 40 and (even though I try to not mention it as much as possible) have a child.

oh..and yeah...that sound bite of that sermon was...frightening.

[firefly124.livejournal.com]

That video is appalling. The letter from that pastor towards the end at least suggests he's woken up slighly, but I don't think it's enough to counter the damage. He really riled people up in that sermon, and I rather doubt he did a similar job whipping up a frenzy over, "Well, no, violence isn't the answer."

[malle-babbe.livejournal.com]

Did you see the fixed, wide-eyed stare on the Youth Pastor in that article? Now I understand why Jim Jones wore sunglasses...

[laufeyette.livejournal.com]

So the dude with the watch and the nest of vampires and all that shit?

Jeffrey Dean Morgan on Angel! *happy sigh*

I know you don't watch SPN, but perhaps you'll remember him from Watchmen? :)

[citrinesunset.livejournal.com]

Ah, thank you! I knew when I saw him on SPN that I'd seen him before, but I didn't maket he Watchmen connection.

I can't remember his role on Angel, though. I've forgotten a lot of little things over the years.

[axejudge.livejournal.com]

I haven't really thought about the attractiveness issue. Maybe it's just the jobs I've been drawn towards haven't had the same focus on looks. (Maybe I just avoid those jobs because it would be too aggravating to be forced to wear that type of "uniform" because it isn't ME).

Good thing: I've always been a "brainy" person, not a "looks" person. I'm short, not conventionally pretty, seldom dress in an overtly "feminine" way (dress, heels), and I almost never wear makeup unless I'm competing in a costume masquerade - where I'm wearing stage makeup.

[thunderemerald.livejournal.com]

The problem isn't magic; it's Willow.

I remember thinking that the show was saying that, too. Not necessarily that Magic Is Bad, but that being overly reliant on ANYTHING is bad -- and since this show uses supernatural problems as a metaphor for "real life" problems, it made sense that if they wanted to give an addiction arc to one of the characters, this is how they'd do it.

But then, I haven't watched that arc in a long time. Am I remembering wrong? (Genuinely curious, not being facetious.)

[weirdquark]

I remember wondering why magic stopped being lesbian sex and started being drugs. They may have been going for other things, including "using X to run away from your problems instead of facing them is bad" but that was my take-away message.

[cruentum.livejournal.com]

The ones I'll be staying at fitting those specs both run 45 a night. Have stayed in one before (Hammersmith area) and it was okay, haven't stayed in the other (Argyle Street or Road or whatever, near King's Cross) but the reviews were all right for that type of hotel and private bathroom etc since that is a must for me too

[jendaby.livejournal.com]

The last time we were in London, we booked through GoToday.com and managed to stay walking distance from kensington Town Hall and Portobello road at a very nice little hotel with enormous bathrooms. I can't recall the name of where we stayed, but if I find it, I'll let you know.

As far as appearance discrimination, I have been there (along with a dose of regional discrimination). When I first moved to New York, I had several temp agencies tell me that I couldn't get a job without direct NYC experience (for general clerical work, mind) unless I was willing to look a certain way. I had one woman tell me specifically, with gestures, that I needed to highlight my assets (and she indicated by chest) by wearing tailored dresses that also showed some leg. She told me it was a disgrace that I had worn a pantsuit to an interview.
I told her that my assets were my computer skills and walked out, but I really hit so many walls just because I had come here from the Midwest. I was called Dorothy at 90% of my interviews, and I was criticized for all kinds of random things - too heavy (was only about 130 at the time), too lightly-complected, nails too short, etc. People can be nasty creatures. :(

[jendaby.livejournal.com]

Ah, I hit reply before mentioning Buffy. I despised the magic as addiction plotline! I felt it was terribly insulting to just wreck such a positive and upbeat character to push their own personal writing agendas. If they wanted to deal with addiction, there were plenty of people who could have actually had a real (drug) addiction to deal with instead of suddenly making magic into heroin. At the time, I remember there being a big backlash against pagans because some dumbasses thought that this was further proof of how evil magic was. Having watched people go through major addictions, I thought it was trivialized and forced, and having grown up in a mostly pagan household, I was a ball of fury about the show I liked being so insulting.

[saomigray.livejournal.com]

Like you, I am not an unattractive lady. When I worked in the corporate world, I always felt his immense pressure to look cute all the time. I spent most of my time buried in an office in the middle of a department and rarely interacted with people outside the company.

I felt my appearance was valued much more highly than my performance, and I struggled to get the image right the first couple of months. Once I finally did figure out how to look how to blend in, I got along much better in the department.

I resented every single day I had to get up and put more effort into my appearance than my male coworkers and was disgusted by the competition between the ladies in the company and the way it distracted from the work that we were there to do.

[kel-reiley.livejournal.com]

So the dude with the watch and the nest of vampires and all that shit? It's like there was a storyline there and no one told us what the fuck it was. Dead boyfriend? Something that gets explained later? Really confusing and upsetting, actually, because of my suspicions of what it was and the total execution fail.

i honestly can't remember this...

[anonymityblaize.livejournal.com]

The Royal College of Surgeons in London rents rooms out to anyone, and it's really near Covent Garden. I've never found anywhere else so central for the price.

[elainasaunt.livejournal.com]

The London School of Economics rents out rooms during the school holidays, some of which have en-suite bathrooms. Google: LSE vacations.

[citrinesunset.livejournal.com]

I'm increasingly worried these days about appearance and gender-based discrimination, and I don't know how much I need to worry about, yet.