The General Discussion Thread

The most frustrating thing about 30 Rock, an otherwise excellent show, are the constant references to the fact that Tina Fey's character Liz Lemon is ugly. The thing is, Tina Fey fits conventional standards of female beauty almost to a T. Liz Lemon, like Rachel, is a flawed character, but the constant references to her ugliness are just absurd. And while beauty is of course subjective, these two women absolutely meet our culture's standard of female beauty: they're young, white, slim, cis-gendered, well-proportioned and able-bodied, with long shiny hair and smooth skin.

So, what does it mean when even the "ugly" women on our screens are conventionally beautiful? Firstly, it means that the bar for female beauty is being set higher than ever: if Tina Fey, Lea Michele and America Ferrera are "ugly," what hope is there for the rest of us? It also means that we're being told one thing and sold another.

http://www.feministing.com/archives/020413.html

YouTube video

At least for 30 Rock, it's a joke. That's a long running gag on the show.

How do I feel about my period?

hows my friends?

When foot-binding was popular and customary, women and their families and husbands took great pride in tiny feet that had achieved the desired lotus shape. This pride was reflected in the elegantly embroidered silk slippers and wrappings girls and women wore to cover their feet. Walking on bound feet necessitated bending the knees slightly and swaying to maintain the proper movement. This swaying walk became known as the Lotus Gait and was considered sexually exciting by men.

reading too much depressing shit today

heh.

Qing Dynasty sex manuals listed 48 different ways of playing with women's bound feet. Some men preferred never to see a woman's bound feet, so they were always concealed within tiny "lotus shoes" and wrappings.

Feng Xun is recorded as stating, "If you remove the shoes and bindings, the aesthetic feeling will be destroyed forever" -- an indication that men understood that the symbolic erotic fantasy of bound feet did not correspond to its unpleasant physical reality, which was therefore to be kept hidden. For men, the primary erotic effect was a function of the lotus gait, the tiny steps and swaying walk of a woman whose feet had been bound.

Bound feet rendered women dependent on their families, particularly their men, and therefore became an alluring symbol of chastity and male ownership, since a woman was largely restricted to her home and could not venture far without an escort or the help of watchful servants.

alright your turning into walshy.

Originally posted by mikeydude
alright your turning into walshy.

KMC is so dead

wonder if it'll ever be liek 05/06 again hmm

I should edit my profile

signature is so pixel-y but I can't be bothered to change it. slide

who are the kadashians and why are they on my tv

But remember, while today it is me, we all shall fall

😱 Sancty!

Originally posted by Sancty
wonder if it'll ever be liek 05/06 again hmm

No 🙁