Illness induced philosophy
From other writing blogs, it seems that lately there has been a lot of discussion about 1) the "bodice-ripper" reputation of romance, 2) whether the Alpha male is everything that is wrong with the world and it's uncivilized of educated women to be attracted to him, and 3) whether romance is part of the great patriarchal plan to oppress women and how stupid we are to let it happen.
1) People who haven't read romance but are compelled to comment on it are idiots. They will never figure it out until they come out of their sad world where there are no happy endings. Pity them.
2) This is fiction. That means that we're indulging in fantasy. Alphas in real life would be extremely difficult to live with, but that doesn't mean they're all jackasses. And speaking of fantasy, why is it that women who don't like Alpha males can call them all kinds of names while they write about predatory women who step all over people to get what they want and then try to call them "empowered"? Mean is mean, folks. Even in fiction.
3) Patriarchal? Omg. Is this seriously all you have to worry about in life? Patriarchy is a societal construct that has more to do with ambiguous attitudes than anything that one individual does. So the more unique we are as individuals, the less impact the larger construct has on our lives.
I don't know. Maybe it's that I take a more existential view of things. I am real, theoretically. Therefore, in my reality, I choose other things that are real to me. I have control over that. If someone comes into my world and tries to damage it in some way, I have control over whether I let that person in anymore.
But if your reality hinges on being a victim of some amorphous "other," then all of your reality and the reality of those in your world is colored by that.
It's also possible that this is an incredibly selfish paradigm, but it keeps me sane. I only have enough brain space to get through my own days, much less manage everyone else's delicate sensibilities.
And now my brain hurts. I haven't dragged out the old philosophy cell in a while.
4 Comments:
You forgot about the anacondas =)
The bodice ripper rep is one that one go away (or a discussion that probably wont die) for a long time.
Alpha males? I don't do alpha males as a rule but I have nothing against them. =)
Patriarchal. Well that was me. I haven't been a victim in years and I won't ever be one again. It was a great ...interesting...discussion with Maili. No, it's not all I have to worry about because I'm a wolf, not a sheep, and I don't buy into most mainstream societal norms. For the most part, I do as I please, despite the weird looks people give me
;-)
By 
Amie Stuart, at
9:07 PM
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By Sela Carsen, at
9:27 PM
Busted! Good for you Cece. Sheep make my teeth grind. Hey, I spotted you over at Romance Divas today, didn't I?
By Sela Carsen, at
9:31 PM
I'm with you, Susan. Although I do think society exerts pressure to conform, I think that pressure is exerted equally over men AND women, and that can pressure can be just as damaging on both sexes.
I applaud your wolf choice, Cece! :-D
By Anna Louise Lucia, at
6:51 AM