shadowkat | (no subject)

1. Enjoying Euphoria by Lily King more than I expected. Am somewhat surprised by it -- not at all what I expected from reading various reviews. Which goes to show you, take reviews with a grain of salt. Granted, it probably helps that I'm a frustrated anthropology major. I keep thinking I should have pursued anthropology, except I don't enjoy camping, traveling, and have no facility for languages. Sort of need to be able to do all three to be an effective anthropologist. The story is a fictionalized account of three anthropologists, Margaret Mead, her husband, and her lover in Papua, New Guineau in the 1930s. Told from the point of view of her lover - which surprised me. Why? Because the reviews lead me to believe her lover, the third guy, Bankson, was a charismatic anthropologist that she hooks up with....so of course I assumed it would be told via her point of view. But no...it's told via Bankson's.

It's beautifully written, in a sort of stream of consciousness style which is hard to read on subways, when people won't shut up around you. People, I don't want to hear your personal conversations. Stop talking. Shush. I need to get myself some noise canceling ear phones. Both for work and the subway. It's quieter in the morning, worst you get is someone who is blasting their ipod so loud that you can hear it buzzing next to you.

2. Cool photo of the Northern Lights in Iceland, taken by Halligrimur P. Helgason. The photo gives me hope in these depressing times.

3. Should Dictionaries Do More To Combat Sexism?

4. Speaking of sexism...when did the Muppets become sexist? Maybe it's always been weirdly sexist and I just never noticed?

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I tried watching The Muppets this go-around, and aie... it's pretty dire when a consistent fan like me finds it mostly unwatchable. I think I've made it through two episodes so far.

I'm guessing various Muppet productions (TV shows, movies) were probably more sexist than our memories would tell us, especially considering that Miss Piggy is pretty much the only female Muppet most people can name off-hand. (Janice next, probably. But she never got much screentime anyway.) So there's a lot of, um, benign* sexism right there.

*not sure what term to use for that, but it's definitely unbalanced when there's ONLY ONE of [insert any group that's not 'white men' or the Muppet equivalent of that]

Unfortunately, I have to agree. I found it a bit charming when it started in the fall, there were about two or three episodes that made me laugh -- they were satires of the entertainment industry and talk shows in general. But when the show focused on the lives of the Muppets themselves...I cringed.

It's probably worth noting that I was a kid when they aired in the 70s and a bit oblivious to it. Just as I was oblivious to the sexism in other things at that time. When you are a kid - you think, cool, talking puppets. Not really all that much beyond that. You just see Kermit and Miss Piggy and Fozzy Bear. Sort of similar to Chronicles of Narnia - as a kid, I thought, cool, a bunch of kids travel through a wardrobe into another world. Half of the...somewhat offensive metaphors went over my head. (CS Lewis's politics and religious beliefs were a touch conservative for my taste.) I'm not sure I could re-read it now without cringing. But as a kid, I adored it.