Comments on: Clean up your ___!

By: Elise

Elise — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 02:48:59 +0000

I recently read the novel. I wasn’t that impressed. The story seemed very focused on the graphic descriptions but very little of the focus was on plot. The descriptions were sometimes gross, but not because it was a woman’s description. I would have been just as grossed out if it had been a man’s. The woman in the book crosses some major lines of hygiene, and I’m sure what she does could make her very sick.
I do enjoy some unexpected graphic language though.

By: PhDork

PhDork — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 22:30:06 +0000

Oooohhhh, kithkin, that Troy Patterson piece…I thought about going into a whole rant on that, but my blood pressure, you know. Whatta douche that guy is. He alone is proof that girl-parts (or girls talking frankly about girl-parts) is NOT OKAY.

By: francesca casamento

francesca casamento — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 18:24:07 +0000

Also, George Carlin and other comedians have joked about similiar topics all the time. It’s telling that we freak out when women do the same. It’s like when men get a pass on cursing and women are accused of hurting society’s sensibilities by being “unlady-like”.

By: Topics about Animals » Archive » Clean up your ___!

Topics about Animals » Archive » Clean up your ___! — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 18:04:29 +0000

[...] Brandon created an interesting post today on Clean up your ___!Here’s a short outlineI think wetlands are quite beautiful, actually. Via -Chad Johnson @ Flickr.Since we’ve been discussing blue language this weekend, I thought the English-language publication of Charlotte Roche’s scandalous German novel Wetlands was rather timely and deserving of a nod. I may not be the best… [...]

By: Shannon

Shannon — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 18:00:36 +0000

I second Francesca.

By: Francesca Casamento

Francesca Casamento — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 17:31:05 +0000

I think talking openly and frankly (and even better if with humor) is a feminist act in and of itself even if it's not meant to be. Silencing has always been a tactic of the patriarchy and we're left thinking normal things about our body are abnormal. Then we fret over what's wrong with us. I just wrote a blog post yesterday about how that affected me when I was having medical/hormonal problems that were not being addressed. I started to obsess over what was wrong with me (when it was a fairly common problem) and it really affected my self esteem and life. so yay for oversharing!

By: JDRegent

JDRegent — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 17:05:15 +0000

I found 300 gratuitously video-gamish.

By: Shannon

Shannon — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 17:00:09 +0000

I was reading about this book and thinking “what is the issue here?” and then read Troy Patterson’s review and got royally pissed off. Because 2 girls sharing a mouthful of shit in a completely contextual-less setting is just like a woman describing her bodily functions (and malfunctions) and sexual fantasies. Whatever. If you’re not into gruesome bodily details, don’t read it. Frankly, it might be overshare for shock value to a point, but who cares? There is so much out there in the way of grotesque descriptions of the male body and of the female body via male characters, it’s about time we have female characters being frank about their bodies. It’s (very) gross at points, but I don’t think it’s for naught– where do we place our own hygienic boundaries? Why do we have them, where did they come from? Are some of them worth having? If this character draws the line somewhere within the realm of “normal” hygienic etiquette, it would imply a normative judgment, cutting off the discussion about how we decide these things for ourselves. Douching was all the rage for decades and was believed to do all sorts of things for one’s vagina, and yet that has been thoroughly debunked. What is the harm in recognizing familiarity and comfort with bodily “grossness” as being on female spectrum of experience?

By: kithkin

kithkin — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:29:39 +0000

I'll never tell! I share your fundamental voyeurism, JD, but I prefer some substance with my peeping. If the overshare is a function of nothing more than narcissism, if the oversharer wants nothing more than to prove how hip and naughty she or he can be, then I lose interest and know better than to click there in the future. Do you find 300 gratuitous because it's violence not sex? And did you all read the Slate review? Troy Patterson calls it the 2 girls 1 cup of novels.

By: JDRegent

JDRegent — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:21:10 +0000

Despite a lack of boundaries though as soon as I posted I realize there are things I consider gratuitous. The movie 300, for example.