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February 21, 2004
The Random Entry of Sleep-Deprived Randomness
I'm sure someone will catch and remove the spam comment in the Porn, Feminism and Tech entry over at misbehaving.net soon, but in context it's almost amusing. Or, as the title says, sleep deprivation.
From the actual entry part of that:
Porn is a long-standing feminist debate, full of nuanced discussions about consumption and production, objectification of women, power/empowerment and control, consent, violence, economics, and desire, etc. There are academic volumes on the topic and it's a highly contested and heated debate. Thus, i can't imagine any of us agreeing on the topic, let alone thinking that we can represent anyone else!That said, we are quite curious to know how porn is affecting women in tech. With a hefty percentage of the web economy depending on porn, how does this affect women's participation in the tech industry? Does the exorbitant presence of porn discourage women from entering tech? What have you heard?
And there were few actual comments at the time. Don't suppose the folks at Daze Reader could/did link that?
As usual, I have nothing worthwhile to contribute to the debate, and am keeping schtum.
Mentioned a few dead-tree thingees recently, Venus (possibly still available at a finer bookstore near you, featuring Natasha Lyonne on the cover) and Utne Indie Culture 2004 (description of cover and link in previous entry). Neither posts their full contents on the web, probably to encourage people to actually buy the thing so they can continue to publish. Is this sort of thing frowned upon? Not the whole continuing to publish thing, the linking/mentioning material not available on the web?
Not that it makes a difference, as lots of people don't even bother hitting the links. For y'all's benefit, from the About Venus page:
Venus is the No. 1 source for coverage of women in music, art, film, fashion, and D.I.Y. culture.Published quarterly and distributed internationally, Venus features interviews with edgy musicians and up-and-coming artists and fashion designers, along with reviews of CDs, films, and books. In addition to sassy reviews and interviews, each issue of Venus features such popular regulars as the "Sexy" section, "About Place," "Where You At?" "On the Road," "Retro Fetish," and a short story.
I mentioned the Emmylou Harris interview, yes?
They (well, specifically Charlotte Robinson) have/has nice things to say about Wig In a Box, too. Haven't seen it in stores, but may not be looking in the right places. Anyone actually snagged a copy?
Going to the blogger reading tonight. Doors open at 7, $5 cover, and B.Y.O.B. You will know me by my bottle of Two Buck Chuck merlot. I might even let you have some if you come up and ask nicely.
Assuming Lauriean doesn't grab the bottle and guzzle the whole thing before she goes on. . .
Update: Also via boingboing:
WN: Why do you feel that the right to anonymity -- online and offline -- is important? How does privacy relate to porn?Flynt: Privacy is not explicitly spelled out in the Constitution as freedom of speech is in the First Amendment. But the right to privacy has always been something that lawmakers and the judiciary have taken into consideration in the course of our country's 200-year history. You know we're going to be giving up more and more of it, though. But there are still a lot of people who want to be able to remain anonymous, and some lawmakers who also feel that way.
WN: What are your thoughts on the current state of civil liberties and individual rights in the United States?
Flynt: Benjamin Franklin once said that those who would trade liberty for security deserve neither. I think Bush and Ashcroft could learn a lot by taking a page from Ben Franklin's book. I just can't believe that our lawmakers actually voted for it (the Patriot Act). We basically gave away all of our civil liberties.
A lot of Americans think, "I'm not Arab, so it doesn't affect me." But the Patriot Act has no color barriers. They just used part of the Patriot Act to bust a strip club owner in Las Vegas. The law is on the books, and you don't need a judge's authority to do wiretaps, and you don't have to provide a person you arrest with an attorney, and the books you check out of a library can be placed in question, and attorney-client conversations can be monitored. Ashcroft went to Capitol Hill and intimidated lawmakers into passing this by effectively saying "Blood will be on your hands if you don't pass it."
Xeni Jardin interviews Larry Flynt for Wired News. I just thought it was best to put the quote before the attribution, so people wouldn't see Flynt's name and automatically recoil in horror.
Posted by Aaron at February 21, 2004 07:04 AM
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