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Hollywood Heavy Nikki Finke: Victim Of Misogyny, And Misogynist Extraordinaire
What If "Nuclear Wintour" Edited The New Yorker?
Lady GaGa: One Hit Wonder Or Actual Artist?
Fashion Oblate: Bill Cunningham & The Invention Of Street Style
New Yorker Gives New Perspective On David Foster Wallace
Sarah Jessica Gets Dykes To Go
Election 2008: Where In The World Was Donna Brazile?

The Olsen Fashion Aesthetic: Twin-Sets No More?
French (Photo Retouchers) Don't Let Famous Women Get Fat

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snugbug
10/05/09

In reply to Hollywood Heavy Nikki Finke: Victim Of Misogyny, And Misogynist Extraordinaire
"Her detractors aside, Finke does appear to be a powerful Hollywood presence."

OK, right there: That's a statement that betrays a profoundly uneducated approach to the workings of the Hollywood Industrial Media Complex and Nikki Finke's established role in it. Also proof of lack of acquaintance, historically, with the whole sordid/brass-balls biz of Hollywood gossiping, in the Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper tradition.

Bonus points for this piece quoting reformed crack addict David Carr who skipped on his kids' child support, to bolster the "Nikki is evil" thesis.

Yeah, potty-mouthed Finke is certainly the villain here. For being an eccentric lady who goes after the big boys. Barf.

I don't even like her all that much. But this kind of harebrained character assassination is lame.
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Edited by snugbug at 10/05/09 1:58 PM snugbug was starred snugbug was unstarred

brassinpocket
10/05/09

In reply to Hollywood Heavy Nikki Finke: Victim Of Misogyny, And Misogynist Extraordinaire
Relationships are matters of dominance and submission, in Hollywood and everywhere else. If you don't like submitting, you'll just have to dominate. I will now press the "submit" button.
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GatsbysLover
10/05/09

In reply to Hollywood Heavy Nikki Finke: Victim Of Misogyny, And Misogynist Extraordinaire
She's like the Rita Skeeter of Hollywood.
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LuvEwan
10/05/09

In reply to Hollywood Heavy Nikki Finke: Victim Of Misogyny, And Misogynist Extraordinaire
On Friday, one of my employees talked about 'sweating his balls off' in front of me and two (female, not that it matters, really) co-workers. I told him then and there that it was inappropriate, and that conversation ended before it went a word further. I know I just work at a lowly shoe store, but I don't stand for that kind of talk when I'm around.

To me, that feels like power, Nikki Finke.
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jebash
10/05/09

@LuvEwan: I think there's a difference between a common expression like "sweating my balls off" (which I have been known to say myself), and using homophobic or misogynist language.
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jebash
10/05/09

@LuvEwan: That being said, I respect anyone's decision to stand up for themselves if they feel uncomfortable.
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Leucadia
10/05/09

@LuvEwan: I use the expression "hot as balls" a lot. It doesn't even make much sense (balls hang low so they can keep cooler than body temperature!) but it just flows off my tongue easily. I do believe that language matters, but balls seem pretty inoccuous to me.
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LuvEwan
10/05/09

@Leucadia: So if I would've said I was sweating my vagina off, it would have been alright? I didn't realize references to genitals was appropriate in a work environment.
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Aesop's Foibles. YES.
10/05/09

In reply to Hollywood Heavy Nikki Finke: Victim Of Misogyny, And Misogynist Extraordinaire
I'm sorry, but spewing foul, offensive language while ridiculing certain groups of people does not make anyone-female or male-come off as powerful or progressive. It makes you sound like an asshole who is trying way too hard to be accepted into another group of assholes. Finke's style reminds me of that Wetlands woman who wrote those disgusting stories and tried to pass herself off as a woman subverting gender stereotypes, when really she came off as a shock-monger. There is nothing less appealing than someone degrading themselves/others in an attempt to fit in or stand out. Maybe Finke is really talented, I don't know. But these little snippets could not have made me less interested in finding out.
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greengrey
10/05/09

@Aesop's Foibles. YES.: You said what I wanted to say. These people give ass holes a bad name. Ass holes ARE ass holes, but some are funny/quick/original. I can put up with those. It's the unoriginal "frat boy" wannabe ass holes that I can't tolerate. They try to hard, and it's sad.
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Anna N.
10/05/09

@greengrey: I do think there's a big difference between, say, cursing a lot, and cursing a lot in a way that's misogynist/homophobic/assaultive.
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greengrey
10/05/09

@Anna N.: Totally. Major difference between "this job is fucking ridiculous" and "fuck my fucking boss".
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harperleebowitz
10/05/09

In reply to Hollywood Heavy Nikki Finke: Victim Of Misogyny, And Misogynist Extraordinaire
Nice Jaime Hernandez drawing!
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magnets
10/05/09

@harperleebowitz: For reals! If I were the Finkester I'd replace that ancient headshot with that illustration
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SarahMC
10/05/09

In reply to Hollywood Heavy Nikki Finke: Victim Of Misogyny, And Misogynist Extraordinaire
These people seem important.
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Perhaps Not
10/05/09

@SarahMC: +1. Perhaps they'll tell us why we should care so much about them.
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nyc-caribbean-ragazza
10/05/09

In reply to Hollywood Heavy Nikki Finke: Victim Of Misogyny, And Misogynist Extraordinaire
That's how people talk in Hollywood.
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theonlybirdleftintheaviary
10/05/09

@nyc-caribbean-ragazza: That is a sweeping generalization. I work in the entertainment industry - and while there are some that sink to the level of Ms. Finke- not all of us employ derogatory, sexist and homophobic language. At least not those of us who want to be taken seriously/be respected.
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nyc-caribbean-ragazza
10/05/09

@theonlybirdleftintheaviary:

I've been in it for over 10 years and I'm still shocked by how people talk to and with each other, (and I'm not even an agent).

And would like to add that many also employ racist language, but if you complain of course you're, you know, difficult or uptight.
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theonlybirdleftintheaviary
10/08/09

@nyc-caribbean-ragazza: True dat. Or "too sensitive".
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CurtCole
10/05/09

In reply to Hollywood Heavy Nikki Finke: Victim Of Misogyny, And Misogynist Extraordinaire
This is essentially why I stopped reading her blog. I wish people would learn how to talk shit without getting all misogynistic and homophobic.
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bluebears
10/05/09

@CurtCole: I know. It's pathetic, and you know all the misogynist and homophobic comments in the world will never really get her entree into the"boys club." She'll always be a woman to the very assholes she hopes to impress.
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Sev
10/05/09

@bluebears: "She'll always be a woman to the very assholes she hopes to impress."

Is she supposed to be something else?

I'm not defending her in any way, but, we're always going to be women to anyone and everyone we come in contact with. What's wrong with that? Should we be striving to be something else?
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bluebears promoted this comment Sev was starred Sev was unstarred

bluebears
10/05/09

@Sev: Because, maybe I'm wrong, but she seems to be adopting the very anti-feminist and anti-gay rhetoric of the powers that be, who are all men. Maybe she's doing it cause she really really likes it, I guess its a possibility, but more likely she's doing it in an attempt to be, "alpha" and be seen as one of the guys.
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odinsraven
10/05/09

@CurtCole: Rather than her trucker language making her look like one of the boys, I've always found it to come across as very personal and petty. And despite her frequent protestations, not every decision in corporate Hollywood is based on some vengeful quid pro quo because someone got their feelings hurt. I think she's projecting too much. I also think she subscribes to the theory that any attention, even if it's negative, means she's important.

But dammit, she gets some amazing scoops.
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CurtCole
10/05/09

@bluebears: YES.
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desertbloom79
10/05/09

@bluebears: This is the crux of the problem. She probably felt she had to make herself act like one of the guys in order to get ahead and get noticed, and it seems to have worked in some ways. But then at the end of the day she still is just "tits and an ass" to those guys- not an equal colleague who happens to be female. No amount of crass, misogynistic slurs is going to make her one of the boys. She is a female. Pretending otherwise just exacerbates the problems. She isn't improving the situation for herself or for other women who will come after her.
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PaintedTrollop
10/05/09

@bluebears: Yup. And she'll never, ever be one of them - so adopting their schtick is really kind of sad. She might as well stay home and try to grow a penis.
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Edited by PaintedTrollop at 10/05/09 12:33 PM PaintedTrollop was starred PaintedTrollop was unstarred

Miss. Money-Sterling
09/14/09

In reply to What If "Nuclear Wintour" Edited The New Yorker?
I've been job hunting, and these questions are nothing compared to what you get in a phone interview for an academic position.

BUT I did spend some years working in visual marketing and it was always kind of fascinating to see the kinds of egos that thrived in the fashion world... I always felt like I was being hazed when these conversations would happen, and that they were far more about figuring out if you were right for their club than they were about actually making the work better. Which is why I'm a librarian now.
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krismry
09/14/09

In reply to What If "Nuclear Wintour" Edited The New Yorker?
The major difference among these publications is that in the others, not Vogue, there is usually something to READ. In Vogue there is, generally speaking, nothing to read at all. This is the chief reason her magazine can't be taken any more seriously than a Needless Markup catalog.
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bluebears
09/14/09

In reply to What If "Nuclear Wintour" Edited The New Yorker?
I'm sorry, but why was she kneeling?
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Wit is periodically disensouled
09/14/09

In reply to What If "Nuclear Wintour" Edited The New Yorker?
Look, if someone got down on his or her knees in front of me and asked me a question like that, I would be taken aback at the very least. Honestly, I'd feel like they were making fun of me and beat the fastest exit out of that situation I could.
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Highsmith
09/14/09

In reply to What If "Nuclear Wintour" Edited The New Yorker?
Staci Sturrock: stop being such a cream puff & grow a pair. If you think THAT was mean, come sit next to me. I have actually made people cry.
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LvV
09/14/09

In reply to What If "Nuclear Wintour" Edited The New Yorker?
Admittedly I am a hardcore Anna supporter, and have never found her mean, just a bit icy and stern. But Staci Sturrock needs to put a (double-faced cashmere) sock in it.

Wintour politely answered Sturrock's (dumb, IMO) past questions about New Year's Eve and Donald Trump. It is not Wintour's responsibility to answer in a way that Sturrock finds warm, appealing, or effusive.

"What is style?" IS a lazy-ass question. I would expect a so-called fashion editor to have more interesting, specific, and relevant questions for Wintour.

It's pretty rich to call someone you accuse of being an über-Mean Girl a "beeyatch." And I believe it's "beeyotch."
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greengrey promoted this comment Edited by LvV at 09/14/09 4:54 PM LvV was starred LvV was unstarred

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