Jezebel 
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New York, 7:20 PM
Thu Nov 26
42 posts in the last 24 hours
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Editor-in-Chief:
Anna Holmes
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11/11/09
11/11/09
10/13/09
10/13/09
I'm confused. Is there an inherent problem with MCs mix of fluff and gravitas? Isn't that what Jezebel does, with Dirt Bag and fashion alongside rape and wage gap stories?
10/14/09
10/14/09
10/14/09
Can't women be interested in dresses, shoes, and ending sex slavery all at the same time?
10/13/09
Ten years after getting out, Sreypov still shrinks at the thought of sex and love: "As for marriage and children? 'I don't want that,' she says, shaking her head. She can't imagine herself ever being with men." Sreypov's real life doesn't have a Hollywood ending. She may be doing far better than most child sex slaves can ever hope to do. But her history of sex slavery is still impeding her ability to live a full life. She may never enjoy something most of us take for granted: romantic love.
This kind of made my head explode. I can't believe I read it on a feminist blog.
10/13/09
Yes, the worst thing about her story is that she will never have the "pleasure" of living out some stupid pretty princess Disney fairytale.
10/13/09
I will admit that the phrase "But her history of sex slavery is still impeding her ability to live a full life" is problematic in that I think she can have a full life without romantic love, particularly since she has dedicated her life to helping other girls. Mother Theresa led a full life and I'm fairly certain (/sarcasm) that she led a full life. But Mother Theresa was a nun and she chose to give up romantic love, Chan wasn't given the choice. Her ability to engage in a romantic relationship was robbed from her by her abusers.
10/13/09
10/13/09
Men don't deserve her.
10/13/09
10/14/09
10/13/09
What a sad, sad story though. Sreypov Chan is not only hope personified, but strength personified. How anyone could come back from such horrors is beyond me. I despair for those poor girls.
10/13/09
I guess one way of interpreting that is as Anna has, which is to say that it's simply a ladymag concession to frivolity. But I also think that Pesta is trying to use the example of the raw-silk dress and the button-down blouse and black pants to show how stark Chan's transformation has been, from a sex slave to a professional young woman. I don't think that's a frivolous thing to note, although I think Pesta could have framed it better. But don't you think that's interesting, the idea that someone who probably spent a lot of her time naked or being forced to wear whatever skimpy things the men who paid to sleep with her found attractive, can now make those kinds of choices for herself?
10/13/09
One thing is the audience: they are interested in fashion. Hearing what this woman is wearing, thinking that she sounds like then, gives them a connection to her that they didn't have before. "Why, that sounds like something I/my daughter/my friend would wear!" can translate into a shared connection instead of "those foreign things that happen in foreign lands". It's a frivolous connection, but it's still there.
Also, that many people living in less-than-ideal situations often treasure their nice things. The nice clothes they have, or the jewelry. They are proud to show them to others to assert their value and improve their status in society, as well as to enjoy fine things. Pesta could have framed it a little better, but I got more of the shock-and-horror aspect of the article, and the clothes serve as a tool to bring it back to realities that readers are familiar with.
10/13/09
I agree. In both mentions of clothing, the clothing she is wearing to contrast her life and personality before. The pink, eye catching dress is contrasted with her personality when she was first released: a teenage girl so terrified of people and made to feel so dehumanized that she couldn't believe other people would look her in the face and greet her kindly...but a year later she was wearing a bright colored, probably attention grabbing outfit and greeting people with ease. And the mention of her professional outfit (and posture) comes right after this paragraph:
"It's around 10 a.m. and the women are wearing pajamas and earrings, resting from the night's work. They look beaten up. Their garish evening dresses hang in the bathroom, beside a door frame that's been decimated by termites." She's gone from a similar situation to being a proud, put together, professional woman.
10/13/09
Frankly, anytime there is a description of the outfit that an interviewee is wearing, it usually serves to describe how the person is projecting themselves to others.
Did anyone else read this and think it was a non-issue?
10/13/09
10/13/09
I agree with you; I think it's fantastic that someone who has been through such horror can outwardly project such a positive image.
10/13/09
10/13/09
10/13/09
10/13/09
Ideal mag issue: pull out on how pick a good wine with interview of women-owed wineries from different countries, on the street work attire make-overs (and make-up make unders) Interview with female presidents/queens/ prime ministers about looming global issues, spread and interview with Anderson Cooper vs. Jon Stewart titled "The Two Sides of the News Man", fashion spread with the ladies of Mad Men with a tutorial on 60's inspired make-up, special interest piece on the alternatives to monogamy (NO sensationalizing, please), and a "last look" on musician Paolo Nutini. :D
10/13/09
10/13/09
10/13/09
10/13/09
10/13/09
09/18/09
This story is dangerous because it is an attempt to establish a false equivalency to the corruption of the right. Is what this lady did on video more or less dangerous then female workers for haliburton and KBR being raped and the cover up being sponsored on our dime?
I'm sorry but some minor corruption by a bunch of poor people just doesn't rise to
the level of that other stuff, but we can't talk about that in this country, that would be disrespectful to the president and the troops.
09/18/09
09/18/09
09/18/09