Always listen to your doubts ~ not just because they might teach you of your fears, but because, sometimes, they might teach you of your wisdom ~ The Universe
To continue with feminist-lite* and other stuff that will not make the patriarchy go ~bang~ anytime soon.
We here at sparksville proudly present you with the Institute for Wotsits Research that delves deep into the feminist phenomena of - “aremenbetterthanwotsits?” Regular readers will recognise that this is a frequent and persistent query presented here on sparksblog and we are committed to examine this on-going question in an ethical and scientificy manner.
Stay tuned for findings and peer reviewed articles folks.
* Third person sparks is doing madz things with graphs at the mo - which is not a good idea.
A US chat show (Tyra) had a segment really on an 18 year old adult film actress called Summer. Nothing new in that. Except her manager is her father. And her manager is “responsible” for her grooming including her brazilian wax.
You getting the muse here? You think it is starting to sound like a porn narrative, yeah, funny so do I except this “father” gets to act out his porn fantasies - in public. With his eighteen year old daughter.
It starts off with him patronising her about ensuring she’s packed “sexy clothes” and then rounds off by telling her she shouldn’t be in a relationship as “boyfriends are not really conducive to this business”. What business? He’s taking her for her first day at one of Nevada’s brothels. His managerial advice - “Always make sure your make up is right as you have to be every man’s fantasy”. On delivering her to the brothel Summer is in tears and obviously having second thoughts - he response “the decision is made, this is what you want to do, I don’t want to sound unsympathetic but go in there and think happy thoughts”. But, thing is, she obviously doesn’t want to do this. I mean how is this not abusive and coercive? I mean what (sane, rational, empathetic, caring) father would behave in that way? (Debates about the rights and wrongs of prostition aside, that really isn’t the point I’m making here).
Is the word “groomed” grating on you, perchance? In addition, who sanctioned this young womans public humiliation?
I guess there was a time in the not too distant Victorian era when the extent of women gardening would have probably limited itself to delicately weeding the pansy bed whilst kneeling on a silken kneepad. For the middle classes of course, but that’s another story.
You see, Sparks & Co have been doing a spot of minor landscape gardening - in public. Yes, “public” is the problem here - even though we often partake in landscape ventures they are usually hidden from the civic gaze. So, more often than not these are typically concealed projects, where we are usually left in peace to poodle around laying paths in secret gardens, or rearranging decorative stones and pots around a pond. We also do occasional work for an “estate,” (the landed gentry that is - not Scotswood Barbed Wire Hoystey Car* Estate) you know where Tories say “hoyce”** for house and you hear the occasional ‘the hunt’ mentioned as in yes the FOX sort. It’s fine actually, no bother to be had and there is a definite lack of sight seekers on their extensive ’estate’ So I guess what I’m saying is that apart from some visiting members of the public, medical / herbalist students and other various minor assortments to our main project, we don’t really do humans.
Anyway, this new venture - located next to a busy car park and serving a rather large rural town involved full public scrutiny. Raised up from ground level due to the steep incline of the road the garden served as a sort of ’stage’ for the ’oddities’ also known as women doing hard manual graft.
Every five to ten minutes a passer by (disproportionately male I may add) felt forced to offer some paragon of advice, disbelief, encouragement or hails of “can you do my place next pet?” These ranged from “Ha Ha you two will never get all of that cleared” or “sure you can manage those paving stones?” to “ He He have you buried him under there” (at this stage we did have a grave size heap of earth in the centre of the plot so I got the joke - for the fiftieth time)
Now let me introduce the electricians who worked in side the house doing electric things while we outside got on with garden things, all trying to pull the practicalities of an expanding business together (the client also owns next door and this is the point - the gardens have to match) Three of them in the team and the apprentice was definitely about twelve. It’s undeniably symbolic that this work is taking place at the offices of a child psychologist (who is also a friend of my colleague - yes nepotism is cool)
Mr boss lecci is fine and asks serious questions regarding which sort of plants would grow best in this terrain and what sort of membrane would we be using for the ‘decorative stones’ and so forth. However, little greenhorn insists in repeating that we should have used a rotavator. As if we were too dense to weigh up hire cost and cast a jaundiced eye on the freaking minuscule-ness of it all and not forgetting the quaint twisty steps needed for access…while he clutches his Zoo magazine.
While he clutches his Zoo magazine…
So, after about the fifth delivery of his superior dudely wisdom I reply “well yeah maybe you should read the Beano or maybe even the Dandy but yanno I‘m not in your face suggesting it” says she while calmly rolling another Golden Virginia feminine allusion destroyer. Young lad and his repeated suggestion scurry indoors never to be seen again while his mates laugh in a cruel manner. Poor boy.
Now colleague and I afforded no conclusive societal analysis as to how or why two women gardening in public should generate such interest from all sexes across an age range of about four*** to ninety. However, we did come to the decision that when heavy graft is involved men assume superior knowledge and cannot wait to dispense advice and wisdom whether it is asked for or not. On the other hand, as much as some of the ’suggestions’ deeply vexed my last nerve***** we did have some good banter and a few laughs. However, one important lesson was learnt by a barely out of adolescence lad… do not offer advice to Sparks when you are clutching a Zoo magazine.
Now that is just asking for trouble.
* Hoyce is different from Hoystey. The former is “house” in upper-middle class English language dialect. See ** for latter.
** Stolen car chase.
***Young boy of about four wanted to know if we were making a fishpond. No? Oh well, could he still come back tomorrow to watch.
**** “last nerve” - Twisty. No plagiarism here folks
I think it would be difficult to cram any more offence in to this advert, which looks like something a sixteen-year-old male would conjure up not realising that his highly unoriginal and done to death sexism is hardly innovative or clever. In addition, up here in my neck of the woods a “bike” is often a reference to a woman who has had many sexual partners, which just rounds up nicely with Smack my Bitch Up*. If fact I am just going to have to stop right there or I will be here all day just stating the freaking obvious.
What?
*The Prodigy reminds me of my work in a drugs rehab where they enjoyed extreme popularity. My clients reckoned that “smack my bitch up” was in reference to “smack my heroin up” (which was also challenged for its sexism)… Of course, when withdrawing from substance dependency folks will regularly perceive reference to drugs from a never-ending resource of every day objects and interactions. Therefore, I have never really found out.
Anyway, just in case I suffer a flood of trolls enlightening me as to the subtleties of The Prodigy’s lyrics.
This snippet of information, plus the inevitable news that the men took photos of the girl while they abused her, provides the clues women need to understand why this rape occurred, and what it means for our lives in Australian society.
Pornography users will immediately recognise the brand of rape the men used against the girl. There is a genre of pornography called “bukake” in which men stand around a single woman masturbating and ejaculating while they wait their turn to orally penetrate her. The anti-pornography documentary Pornography: the musical features footage of bukake scenes being produced, as well as a heart wrenching interview with a woman immediately after being filmed in bukake pornography. Readers can also consult the Internet, of course - it is teeming with bukake pornography sites.
Last night while driving home in the dark, I experienced a run in (almost literally) with a bipedal Lesser-Spotted Runt. Negotiating my way down a windy country lane a bloke suddenly appeared in my headlights waving furiously for me to stop. As the road was narrow, I had to slow right down while navigating my way around him without ploughing the idiot over. Then - when the wanker realised that I was not going to stop - he PUNCHED my car! Chrrist what did he think I was going to do? Stop and give a lift to some strange geezer who just happened to leap out of the freaking bushes and then jump in front of my car because that is just - you know - normal behaviour?!
Ha! It had just started snowing and it rapidly deteriorated into a full on blizzard a few minutes later, so I hope he got bloody wet!
Five years after the invasion on Iraq, which generated a wave of political and sectarian violence - killing over 1 million Iraqis and according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, left more than four million Iraqis displaced from their homes, with roughly half of them outside of the country.
Facing starvation, as many as 50,000 women and girls forced into prostitution in Syria alone, according to Hana Ibrahim of the Women’s Will Association.
In addition and according to the Times.
Inexpensive Iraqi prostitutes have helped to make Syria a popular destination for sex tourists from wealthier countries in the Middle East. In the club’s parking lot, nearly half of the cars had Saudi license plates.
Within the above video I can find many criticisms, however, I feel it demonstrates the basic reality of the situation. Though, I would like to add that these women and girls are not purely “victims of war” but also, and more accurately “victims of men who exploit war”
Driving women and girls into prostitution violates numerous human rights agreements, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children. George Bush himself denounced sex trafficking at the United Nations in 2003.
Of course, we are very well aware of how historically war generates prostitution, abuse and exploitation of women and children under many guises. Whether it be organised brothels in “R&R” ,or a systematic ‘ethnic cleanse’ combined with the intended and complete degradation of specific cultures as we have seen in Kosovo and the DR Congo (to name but a few) or now, the 20th century opportunist “sex tourist”- every ready to exploit with their dripping privilege and total disregard for human suffering. It just never ends.
Especially if it is female suffering - that is.
When desperation strikes, the men with their money will be at hand in an instant, helping impoverished women to feed themselves and their families - but only if you suck my cock - let me and my mates gang rape you - I don’t give my dollars away for free…you know.
Oh, lookie they say, cheap sex and its young. It’s okay because I didn’t rape her (see above), I used my capitalist patriarchal piggy bank…snort…oink**
Only goes to show, just how little their fancy ‘convention’ of this and oh so clever ‘protocol’ of that really means - when nothing is done to avert, control and then throw the book at the men who are forcing these girls and women into a life of sex slavery.
Words men - just words.
* Of course, no one falls for the - yes but, that’s those “Arab” men, I mean, we are - different…yeah right.
“This is now our place and we will not run from here,” said Nasara Lekutas, as the women sat in the shade of a wide acacia tree quietly nodding their determined agreement.
