No.
Marie likes to draw: sycophantastic: marielikestodraw: Im reading the Simon Pegg twitter…
Im reading the Simon Pegg twitter disaster from last night. And I just…
Ok, wait a minute. He called a bunch of Leia Slave cosplay hot on on his twitter.
Then got a whole bunch of tweets for being a sexist asshole.The slave Leia outfit. The SLAVE….
I think chosing a costume tells a lot about how you feel about yourself and how you want people to look at you. Sure, chosing to cosplay a villain doesn’t mean you want to be treated as such, but those girls didn’t just chose a character, they chose a specific outfit that actually doesn’t give the character justice. Leila is a badass and not a sexual object, but chosing to cosplay her in her slave outfit is maybe a sign that you kinda see yourself in a certain way. We as women are responsible too for beeing treated as things if we portray ourselves as just pretty objects. All those Leila cosplayers and Lady Loki and Power girl, they’re relying on their body and their sexuality, some (most) of them even have breast implants, and then we are what, shocked and disappointed because men comment about their appereance?
1) It’s Leia, not Leila.
2) LIKE. I. SAID. Maybe those girls in the picture have a thing for metallic bikinis. Maybe they did it because they’re trying to make some sort of statement (about women & misogyny, about objectification, about fashion, about slavery, about bravery, about what the fuck ever). Maybe they reeeeeeeeeally love Star Wars and it’s just a damn costume. Maybe it makes them feel sexy and screw how anyone else feels about it because they’re allowed to wear what makes them happy, despite the problematic back-story, without being made to feel less than human because of it. Maybe it’s none of the above. We can’t know because we haven’t asked them. TL;DR - you are not a mind reader and cannot declare/assign motives to any of the women who wore the costume, period.
3) If you think that we, as women, are burdened with the task of constantly proving to the world that we are human and should be treated as such when and only when we meet this burden of proof, rather than inherently deserving of respect as human beings no matter what we wear, then you have internalized misogyny, slut-shaming, and victim-blaming to the point that I don’t know how we can relate at all.
4) I’m not shocked & disappointed when someone finds someone else attractive. I’m shocked & disappointed when someone like Simon Pegg, a highly visible and privileged cis white het dude, thinks he can make comments which paint all female cosplayers as nothing more than pretty decorations, and thinks he can drool over them like someone would drool over food, and thinks there’s nothing inappropriate about referring to those hurt by his objectification of all female cosplayers as “crazy humorless militant animals,” and thinks he doesn’t have to apologize for his actions because he didn’t mean to be offensive (which ignores the fact that intent is not magic).
5) Because this bears repeating - you are not a mind reader. Saying “all these women must see themselves as objects and must want the world to see them in the same light” is an assumption, and a pretty disgusting one at that. The fact that your mind fails to conceive of any other explanations is extremely disturbing.
6) Here’s the bottom line. Claiming that women dressed in “sexy” costumes must want the world to treat them as inhuman is just another way of saying “they’re asking for it.” I am angered to the point of pain that so many people are unaware of the simple truth that victim-blaming is hateful, backwards bullshit. We are not responsible for other people’s actions, regardless of what we wear. We do not make others treat us like things just because they fancy themselves mind readers and assume our clothing is an open invitation to demean and dehumanize us. We don’t make them think, feel, or do anything. They are responsible for their own thoughts, feelings & actions. Clothing, no matter what it physically reveals and no matter what others may think it implies, is neither a solicitation nor blanket consent for others to shame, objectify, &/or disregard the humanity of the person wearing it.
It’s Leila in the italian version, just as Darth Vader is Lord Fener.
I think everyone , female or male, is responsible for the way they chose to present theirselves to the world, anf if you chose to rely on your appereance to get approval then you should also be aware that there’s a price to pay for it, and it usually means people will judge you based on how you look no matter what. If you’re male and make a career based on how attractive female teenagers think you are you can’t really complain if they only care about that. I don’t see what this has to do with victim-blaming, you’re stretching this way too far IMO. Simon Pegg commented on those girls; were those comments inappropriate? maybe.. they weren’t to me but I can see how someone might get upset. Do those comments make those girls victims? uh.. NO. They weren’t harassed or insulted or harmed in any way, just as Tom Hiddleston doesn’t turn into a victim just because girls drool over his sauna scene in Henry IV. Why do you think they added that scene, lol? They did it cause sex sells and both the director and the actor knew that and were perfectly fine with that. But if I say that about a female cosplayer I am a misogyny, slut-shaming, and victim-blaming . Kinda sexist, don’t you think?
And before you start criticizing my grammar and spelling, I am not english, so I apologize but this is the best I can do.
Okay, let’s break this down, shall we?
I think everyone , female or male, is responsible for the way they chose to present theirselves to the world, anf if you chose to rely on your appereance to get approval then you should also be aware that there’s a price to pay for it, and it usually means people will judge you based on how you look no matter what.
You’re absolutely correct. But here’s what you’re missing: judging someone as a person is perfectly acceptable, expectable and something we all must do — on a variety of levels, beginning with how someone looks, hopefully continuing on other criteria — every day. No one is denying that or saying that it’s wrong.
But dismissing someone’s existence as a person and viewing — and treating — them as an object is not acceptable. It’s not justifiable. And not only is it not necessary, it’s actively harmful.
If you’re male and make a career based on how attractive female teenagers think you are you can’t really complain if they only care about that. I don’t see what this has to do with victim-blaming, you’re stretching this way too far IMO.
Except no one actually does that. Do they use their attractiveness (to teenagers or otherwise) to bolster or kickstart a career? Sure. But even fashion models have to have something besides their looks to have a career, and actors and singers surely do. And that has nothing to do with people who aren’t in entertainment, who cosplay for fun and to be a part of the geekynerdy fan community, and were targeted in this instance to be treated as subhuman items to consume.
Victim blaming comes into it because you (and others) have explicitly said that the women in question deserved to be objectified and mistreated because they chose to wear sexy costumes. That is victim blaming by definition: saying that someone’s mistreatment is their own fault.
Simon Pegg commented on those girls; were those comments inappropriate? maybe.. they weren’t to me but I can see how someone might get upset. Do those comments make those girls victims? uh.. NO.
You don’t find it inappropriate to address human beings as if they’re food, making drooly groaning noises at them like an animal? Okay, well that’s your lookout. But most people, especially adults, would find such behavior toward them offensive, at the very least, and threatening at worst. And those women would have every right to consider themselves the victims of dehumanizing, patronizing behavior, at the very least, as well. Whether you think so or not is beyond immaterial.
They weren’t harassed or insulted or harmed in any way, just as Tom Hiddleston doesn’t turn into a victim just because girls drool over his sauna scene in Henry IV.
Lots of problems here. First of all, dehumanization is insulting. And again, whether you think so or not is immaterial. Second of all, this is a perfect example of false equivalence because whatever thoughts you may be thinking about Tom Hiddleston while watching that scene, you aren’t telling him — or an audience of two million on Twitter — that you think he’s a piece of meat for your consumption rather than an actor playing a role.
And that’s what’s important here, the difference between thought and action. You can think all the skeevy, dirty, nasty and yes, objectifying thoughts about whomever you want, whenever you want. The problem comes when you put those thoughts into word or deed. As in most things, it’s all about how you treat people. When you aren’t treating people as if they’re even people, you’re not going to be treating them well.
Why do you think they added that scene, lol? They did it cause sex sells and both the director and the actor knew that and were perfectly fine with that.
Which again has absolutely nothing to do with objectification. They certainly didn’t add it so that people could treat Tom Hiddleston as if he were subhuman. (Though we do have to recognize here that the ways in which men and women are treated with regard to sexual attraction is vastly different, the power differential and the existence of rape culture underscores and shifts those interactions and their implicit and explicit meanings and responses.)
But if I say that about a female cosplayer I am a misogyny, slut-shaming, and victim-blaming . Kinda sexist, don’t you think?
If you say what? That they exist only to give people their jollies? Then yep, you’re doing it wrong. Again, there is such a vast difference going on here that you’re attempting to compare apples and pigeons.
Long story short: people can dress however they wish. That does not give you or anyone the right to mistreat them, to insult them, to dehumanize them or touch them without consent, whether they’re in a Slave Leia costume, a barely there miniskirt, a low-cut blouse or a nun’s habit. Think what you want, but treat people with decency.
This is not, and should not be, so very complicated.
