And you wonder why feminists are angry...

Okay. So I went to make myself a frothy hot mocha to stave off the winter chill. Imagine you're a woman. I know, it's hard. But imagine it. You have pressure every day of your life, at every fucking moment to lose weight.

Don't believe me?

I can't even make a MOCHA without being reminded that I should be watching my calories. "Only 45 calories!" it enthuses on the tin.

Guess what, tin? I DON'T FUCKING CARE. I'm an adult! And I will drink my fucking mocha without the slightest hint of shame!

I don't see any calorie advice on the regular unisex jars of coffee. No no. Just the girly frothy cocoa tins. Well fuck you, cocoa. I don't care. And my hips don't either.

I love my kitty.

The joy a cat exhibits while lazing in front of a heater is something surely to behold. I hope to enjoy all the simple pleasues in my life with such unrestrained joy.

Wonder Woman: Ever Complex!

I was reading this io9 article about Wonder Woman. She's incredibly complex and I think that's why I love her so. She's also the Apex Woman Heroine. She is up there with Superman and Batman. Every modern female heroine owes something to her. Megan Fox dissed her and, well, like I need another reason to hate that silly twit, am I right? LOL! Anyway, Gail Simone had this wonderful quote that embodied heroism to me:

I have a scene in one of my early issues where Wonder Woman lets an opponent kick the crap out of her, without fighting back, just her extending an open hand to him, no matter what his rage makes him do. I think that's a big part of it - she COULD tear someone's head off, she COULD destroy a country if she chose. But she would consider that a failure as a warrior for peace. The death of an enemy is not victory to her. I love that stuff. I think it's a far better blueprint for the future than most of the action hero stuff out there right now.

I'm a huge pacifist, so that really hits home with me. As a person that's so very, very tired of the dark antihero who has muddy morals, that is a shining beacon of truth. And that's what I love about Wonder Woman. She's complex, yet intrinsicly good. It is not impossible to be both. It's hard to write, yeah, but being both? Not impossible.

That article also made me feel better about my comic Carrie. Most men that hear about it tend to tune out after I describe the girls and their challenges. It's not as punchy as my other comics, as in BirdMartiaN "Space Comedy about Martian Hero Paid by their Government - Satire" or The Muse "Artist driven mad by her own must, inject Celtic and Gnostic imagery".

I felt bad that Carrie had a lot of feminist and woman issues in it. I felt bad that it was basically a comic for women. That it was less somehow. Well not anymore.

Sure, I tackle weight issues, power issues, poke fun at the fashion industry and even indulge myself in dressing up the girls and idealising the curvaceous form. I felt this comic was an indulgence on my part, and as a result, was weak. But if my greatest role model for women in comics isn't so easy to sum up either. She was an indulgence for HER creator too. You know, the bondage thing. His heart was in it, though. And in the meantime, some important things were said. I can only hope that I manage to say a fraction of the good things that were said with Wonder Woman.

In Australia, No Free Pass for Gordon "Butt-stain" Ramsay.

I barely need to tell you who Gordon Ramsay is. If I do, I consider you a blessed individual. In this day and age of arrogant asshole TV personalities, this man is something of an extreme.

Generally I ignore this fuckneck’s rabid behaviour, but he brought his crap onto my soil and attacked one of my own.

Now, I have had some choice epithets for Tracy Grimshaw at times. I have a loathing of most current affairs programmes aired after the news as they rarely cover anything of real importance. It’s a waste of airtime and generally a thinly veiled advertisement for whoever the network wants to schill that particular week.

A Current Affair, I will admit, is less on the nose than Today Tonight. And Tracy Grimshaw has actually covered some good things in the past. I remember that Channel Nine covered Anonymous’ activities with little paranoia, and put an unforgiving light on some of Scientology’s bullshit. So I have a soft spot for her from that time.

But even if it were the blonde woman on Today Tonight getting the heat, I would stand up for her. Gordon Ramsay’s candor is just too fucking reprehensible. Most people would say “Hah, he’s just being playful! A naughty guy!”

No, no he’s not. He’s seeking to further his fame and fortune, and when Tracie Grimshaw did not play his bullshit game, he attacked her on air. It was childish, manipulative and cruel.

You can see some of what happened here.

For the link-phobic I can sum up what happened thusly:

– Tracy Grimshaw interviews Ramsay on ACA. In the middle of the interview, he asks her what turns her on. She laughs, she blushes, and tries to get the interview back on track. Ramsay is not used to this sort of behaviour, or maybe he is but he doesn’t deal with it very well. To him, she’s clearly rebuffed his attentions on television and he’s embarrassed. So he attacks her by making fun of a little mole on her top lip. On. AIR. She laughs it off but she’s very embarrassed and he’s made a fool of her on air.

– At a book signing in Melbourne after the event, he badmouths Tracy Grimshaw in front of the audience there. He calls her various horrible things. Apparently he even showed a picture of a naked woman on all fours, with multiple breasts (more than one pair) and a pig mask on. He pointed to it and said it was Tracy Grimshaw.

– Tracy Grimshaw calls him on his bullshit on air. She says, “I’m not taking this shot. O yeah, U ugly, natch!”

– Ramsay does the equivalent of call her a humourless feminist. He’s clearly embarrassed by his behaviour, but being the arrogant prick he is, would never bring himself to actually apologise for his horrible behaviour.

– Wassat? Is that a smackdown from the PRIME MINISTOR?! (typo, but it’s funny so it stays). OOH BURN, SCROTE-FACE! I THINK IT IS!

I applaud for Tracy Grimshaw seeing his crap for what it was and NOT taking it. I applaud her for not letting it slide. I applaud her for calling the fucker out on national television and defending herself. I’m pretty sure Gordon Ramsay can get away with that shit elsewhere, but I’m relieved to see that in Australia, it wasn’t recieved light-heartedly, but with the gravity it deserves. Sure, we’re still a fucked-up country with problems of our own, but it makes me damned proud that when one of our reporters is treated so damned absymally, being dehumanised and belittled so horribly, that the Prime Minister takes time out of the very important affairs of running a country in the middle of an economic downturn to say to this buttwipe Ramsay, “STFU and STFD, jerkwad!”

It’s not much, but it’s something that made me feel like maybe, just maybe, it’s not a sea of misogyny and cruelty out there. There are some oases to crash at.

Crossposted at my blog.