life and fandom and music... go figure which takes over? also, feminist reading

[rivendellrose]

Tonight: Work, then dinner with narsilion, then a little shopping - I bought three CDs, most of it with one of my Christmas gift certificates, so I really only paid for one, which makes it okay by my budgeting scheme... oh, and groceries, too - and then came home to four episodes of Angel. Yay for the dumb and the cute and the angst. All together in one big pile.

Long story short, I saw the "human for a day" episode. David Boreanaz is unbelievably adorable when he actually gets the chance to (gasp) smile for a change, and, to my great dismay, my last vestiges of defense against full-fledged Buffy/Angel shippiness have totally been crushed. They are obscenely, disgustingly, adorably cute. And I have no life of my own, and thus find this fascinating. I also feel a horrible desire to write fic for them. Which is just bad, given that I've already got two Buffy fics in my mental queue, neither of which want to be written quickly or easily. Wah. Since when did new fandoms have to beat me over the head this badly?

New Music:
Shawn Colvin, Saving Jane, and I actually own Abigail Washburn's CD now, rather than just stealing it from Kendra. XD

Edit: Also, who here has read Naomi Wolf's The Beauty Myth? I'm reading it right now, and I'd love to have somebody to talk it over with... although at the moment all I can think about is the fact that she's quoting Kinsey's 1953 statistics on female orgasm as though they actually had some bearing on women's sexual behavior in the 1990's, which really leaves me wondering whether she couldn't possibly have found some more recent studies to work from.

Comments

[ruuger]

I swear there are some subliminal messages in "I Will Remember You" because it manages to turn me into a Buffy/Angel shipper every. single. time. My shipperiness lasts about five minutes after watching the episode before I suddenly remember that B/A is probably my least favourite ship in the show.

One of the reasons why I never got into B/A (even though it hits a lot of my kinks) is that I thought Angel was the dullest character on BtVS, so I was very surprised when I watched AtS and really liked him (how I sort of fell out of love with him during AtS S5 is a whole different story). Because he is such an adorable dork, isn't he? Just wait until you get to "She" - it's a crappy episode, but it has the most adorkable scene ever (the only thing cuter than dorky Angel is dorky Angel with dorky Wes).

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Alas, I'm just a sap - I already love the two of them. I wanted very badly to hate Angel... but he's so dumb and cute, I couldn't resist just liking him and mocking him. Which only got worse once I started watching AtS.

The dork-love really is what gets me with Angel, every time. He's just such a cute little spaz. ♥

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

I read The Beauty Myth but it was a long, long time ago - pretty much when the book first came out. I don't remember a whole lot of it. But I'm always willing to discuss.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Maybe I'll put up a post when I've finished it, then. I definitely like the book, but there are some things in it that kind of make me go "wait... big conclusion, little evidence." Other parts, though, downright fabulous. I adore the comparison between dieting and cults. ♥

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

That is a definite problem with some of Wolf's writings ('big conclusion - little evidence'). In her "Fire with Fire", she used the 1992 Presidential race (you're probably too young to remember it) as evidence of two different moods in the country when it came to women's rights. But she framed it as totally a two-sided thing (those who voted for Clinto vs those who voted for Bush) and she didn't once make mention of Perot or the many who voted for him! (So which camp do *they* fall under?)

[nos4a2no9.livejournal.com]

I totally, totally adore "I Will Remember You". I think it's one of my favorite from AtS, and I really wish they'd done more with that concept. Because a happy!Angel is just so...I dunno. Fascinating. And to sacrifice that happiness was pretty heroic, and sometimes that thread of heroism got lost amidst all the other angst and drama of the series. I actually liked AtS better than BtVS, but I think of IWRY as a standout from both shows.

And I actually did a presentation on "The Beauty Myth" twice, once as a teacher and once as a grad student. I only read selections, however, so I'm not sure how much I can offer in a discussion where I'm not lecturing, but Camille Paglia has some interesting points about Wolf's work, particularily when it comes to race. (Because Wolf argues that the cosmetic industry is what is keeping women down. And black women and hispanic women and other minority women say, "Uh, not so much. There are other forces at work.") Anyway, it's fascinating stuff. I wish I could remember more from my presentations.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Happy!Angel breaks my brain. And makes me squeak in a most undignified manner, because damn... that boy is suddenly, miraculously, strangely adorable when he actually gets the chance to smile. Like an honest grin, with happy behind it. I squealed. *Shame*

This is one moment wherein Angel feels genuinely heroic, as opposed to the episode about the ring (argh, can't remember titles) wherein I was mentally screaming at him to stop being such a sniveling self-sacrifice-whore. "Woe, this ring will make me invincible and Buffy wants me to have it so I can do good but it will only cause PAIN because I don't deserve to be happy or have good things!"

...Yeah, I know there were other factors involved in that, but... for crying out loud, that's how pretty much everything Angel says translates in my head. He doesn't need a curse, he's got guilt. If he woke up tomorrow and found out he'd been spared from his curse, he'd still make himself miserable, just on the basis that there must have been a mistake somewhere along the line, because he's supposed to SUFFER.

Okay, cool. I might try to post a discussion page later, once I've finished the book, but I'll definitely track down Paglia's responses to the book. It definitely feels like a book that one can't just take at face value, amazing though it is.

(Drat it - I need an Angel icon, now. For now, have Giles.)

[bluerose16.livejournal.com]

Well, I've never seen that show, but I know that there's nothing wrong with getting really into a pairing and spontaneously wanting to write fic. And I'm pretty sure EVERYONE has a fic backlog, it's not just you. ♥

I haven't read that book, is it interesting?

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Nope, nothing wrong with that... Except I've got another huge-ass fic from the same fandom that's been eating my brain for months. o_O

Wah, backlog. I miss college. I had so much more time to write back then...

Very, although there are some arguments in it that I feel aren't made on enough evidence. Favorite bit so far is a chapter arguing that the weight-loss culture (stuff like Weight Watchers in particular) functions exactly like a cult. Kind of scary and funny all at once. ♥

[ursula]

I've read The Beauty Myth, but not since high school.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

I really seem to have missed the boat on this one... that seems to be about what everybody's said.

Must try to read books like this when they actually come out, from now on, rather than some decade or so later.

[ursula]

I've been sort of wondering if I should re-read it, actually, since it's one of those books which forms a background to a lot of my thinking, but often more in attitude than in thought-through argument . . .

I read The Feminine Mystique around the same time (they're similar arguments, intentionally so, about economic forces & their effects on women). Promiscuities is more recent. My guess is that if Wolf came up with better stats on sex, they're in that book.

[ithildyn.livejournal.com]

I'm notoriously anti-shippy in my fandoms, but Buffy/Angel is my one of my few exceptions. And that episode just killed me [sigh]

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

I guess I'm fairly shippy (although not, I like to think, in the "my way or the highway" kind of way that I see a lot in bigger fandoms) - I like romance- and friendship-focused plots, and I love to watch the way different characters "work" together. But dear gods, Angel and Buffy are just too stupid and adorable together.

Watching this episode after seeing all of Buffy S5 is kind of like having Joss and Jane Espenson dangle a happy ending for Buffy in your face... and then say "Okay, but now remember what really has to happen." Even though I'd been spoiled for it, it was seriously traumatizing.

[cirakaite.livejournal.com]

I think I'm the only person who watched that episode and shipped them less than ever. There's a certain level of sap that just rubs me the wrong way -g- And that was before Angel really got a character of his own (I never liked him on BtVs - excepting, of course, the second half of S2 *cough* In Angel, he picked up a lot more - less cardboard brooding, more dorky humour).

I'll join in with the people who've read it, and are willing to discuss. Interesting book, but I'm with you on the lack of evidence for some of her arguments.

[sigelphoenix.livejournal.com]

I read The Beauty Myth back when I was first learning about feminism (~2 years ago), so I don't remember much of it. I did study Naomi Wolf more recently, however, in a class that examined the way she sort of backpedalled and became a more conservative/apologist. I would definitely like to talk and/or throw articles at you about that, because I think it's a pretty interesting demonstration of how media can be damaging to feminism.