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New York, 6:48 PM
Sat Nov 7
42 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/06/09
He reads superhero comics (side note: I dislike Uncanny X-Men and was so disappointed in the lack of race, gender ANYTHING nuances. I had heard so many good things about X-Men and it just didn't stack up). I get annoyed with people who draw all the women with the same bodies. Granted, they draw men all the same, too. But this is what's frustrating! People look different! Give them different proportions and faces!
He argues that it's an escape fantasy, and that people want to read about what are essentially wet dreams about what they wish they were - beautiful, strong, superpowered, adventurous, whathaveyou people. I think that's bull. I want to play lots of different people when I game. I always choose a race other than human (or its equivalent), because I find that more fun. I make characters that I wouldn't really ever want to be, but I want to explore what it might be like to be a princess, or an assassin, or have giant-ass horns. He always picks someone who is more or less him.
I don't want a fantasy world full of idealized characters. I want flaws, I want scars and missing limbs, different races, different genders, sexualities, abilities and all of that. It's so much more of an escape fantasy that way, I feel. I don't want to be me, I want to be someone else, to try to figure out what that might be like. I'm wrong, of course, but it helps me relate to people better. I remember playing a deaf woman, and how challenging it was to know that she couldn't hear anything (it was D&D and she was a bard. That was a roleplaying challenge). It made me think about my own abilities, my own prejudices, and my privilege to be able to hear in a way that I probably never would have experienced in any other way. Do I know what it's like to be deaf? Of course not. But it made me think more about what life would be like and made me a little more sympathetic to my own privilege.
I don't think this is necessarily a dangerous thing, but I think it's like erosion. A little is not that big of a deal. But over time, it starts to matter. We start to see this as "normal" - I know too many people who already do. They see this as what men/women should strive to be, and those who don't are strange and uneducated. This is the picture of health and beauty, and they won't settle for less. Sometimes for themselves, but most often for partners. I don't think video games will like, bring down society or anything, but I think it can exacerbate problems that already exist. It doesn't happen overnight, but over years and years of escaping into this fantasy, so many of my friends seem to have trouble breaking out of it. #videogames
11/06/09
Tell him to read Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol. The three main characters are a woman with multiple personalities, a man who had his brain put in a metal body, and a male/female amalgamation. #videogames
11/06/09
I just really want to be a Panda. #videogames
11/06/09
11/06/09
Blame China! I would be a panda person too! #videogames
08:19 AM
11/06/09
My point, I guess, is that people already feel like they have permission to be total tools when they’re online, and I think the hypersexualization of female avatars exacerbates that. That dick would have been unlikely to treat my mom like that in real life. These creations don’t look like women, who should be respected, they look like blow-up dolls, which exist purely for the gratification of men. So the men who are already douchebags are even more likely to objectify and mistreat the female avatars. #videogames
11/06/09
I take issue with the idea that they do not look like women "who should be respected."
All women, even those who "look like blow-up dolls" and are dressed in a sexual manner, deserve respect. Those creations may not look like the majority of women, and their body types should not be the only ones to represent women as a whole, but women who look or dress like them still deserve respect.
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11/06/09
That said, most of my Sims are incredibly pretty. #videogames
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11/06/09
I stopped playing much because well.. I do have other things to do... and also, the amazing sculpture-like hairstyles with realistic movements were ruining my graphics card... #videogames
11/06/09
I too am incapable of making a truly ugly Sim. Even the one I made to be the "village idiot" is kind of handsome. #videogames
11/06/09
@purpleshoes reminds everyone to take typing breaks and stretch, ow: OMG, if you have Sims 2, at Mod the Sims 2, they have a ton of ethnic garb from all over, including salwaar khameezes. I even had 3 burkhas from Sims Resource. Damn, I miss that game. #videogames
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09/01/09
09/01/09
09/01/09
Pisses me off b/c I'm still holding out for decent non-toxic affordable skincare...how would I feel better about losing my looks when that's compounded by wasting my money and being duped (not to mention the irritants often found in a lot of these creams)?
09/01/09
The internet is a gift for consumers who are tired of being suckered by the beauty industry (which includes magazines like Allure). Beauty blogs, user review sites like Makeupalley, and YouTube are the best sources for advice on what actually works and what's a scam.
Thanks to MUA, I've become MUCH better at reading labels. I used to buy whatever was advertised for my skin type, but now know to check for certain ingredients and to pay attention to the ordering of them on the label (FYI: if the active ingredient touted on the label is way down in the list, then there's not nearly enough of it to be effective). You'd be shocked at how many of the skincare products on the market are really the same five cheap filler ingredients dressed up in different packaging.
09/01/09
09/01/09
And I only just turned 25.
09/01/09
I'll admit it...I have wasted countless hours (and plenty of dollars, but more time) looking at skincare stuff, for the cheap sunscreen/moisturizer/anti-aging thingamajig that is neither toxic, nor will break me out.
Brought me right back to the same drugstore lackluster shit, but at least there are scent-free versions of the topical stuff manufacturers normally fill with perfumes and dyes (perfume....in a face cream? God, why? How disgusting!).
09/01/09
09/01/09
Besides, using a straw is better for your teeth and your enamel will not wear down as fast as not using one. So there!
09/01/09
09/01/09
She totally misses the point. If a woman is coerced, fooled and lied to into thinking that the $400 jar of eye cream is better than the $12 one, how much control does she actually have in the process?
I might also add that I am 40 and have found that exercise, sleep, healthy food and very little smoking or drinking have done a much better job keeping me looking and feeling pretty damn good about myself than the $400 eye creams did when I was buying them in my 20s.
I've found I actually spend less on beauty products now than I did a decade ago because I've honed down what I need (as opposed to the items that just sound good) and what I have time to slather on my face. Also, maturity has taught me I will get more out of $75 in groceries than $75 in beauty products.
09/01/09
09/01/09
09/01/09
If aging is what you are really concerned about you need to hit the Vitamin A (Tazorac) or retinoids. These I think, are the only two things that are PROVEN to prevent lines and wrinkles. Rx only.
09/01/09
Yes, a dermatologist should be consulted for serious skin problems and in this case you should go to someone who is unabashedly interested in cosmetic issues. Don't go to someone who says "Do you know how lucky you are, in Third World countries people's noses are falling off from untreated conditions -- my residency was fascinating."
Go to a place where of all the patients you have the worst skin.
And as you said, avoid the ones with their own lines to push.
09/01/09
But yes, retinoids are the only proven anti-ager out there. That and a stable, broad-spectrum sunscreen used daily.
09/01/09
"a stable, broad-spectrum sunscreen used daily."
is my only "anti-aging" product. The fewer things I put on my face, the better. I agree, retinoids -- the ones that require a prescription -- work, but prevention is always better. Over the counter creams temporarily plump up the skin or exfoliate, but I find them more irritating than helpful.
09/01/09
09/01/09