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Women in Star Wars


DANA-kin Skywalker
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Cerina, on 28 Apr 2015 - 12:34 PM, said:There are very few anatomical differences in boys and girls at that age that would necessitate specially cut and sized clothing, so why can't girls who want dinosaur shirts just get them from the "boy" section? You have to go to the "boy" section of the toy store to get the original LEGO sets. So why is it not ok to girlify something like LEGO sets but it is to girlify dinosaur/space/science/math themed clothing?

 

 

I've gotten more than one "That's a boy shirt!" comments from my wife (accompanied by the obligatory withering look) after getting a new shirt for my youngest. Now seven, her favorite superhero has always been the Hulk and whenever she outgrows her current Hulk shirt, I try to find her a new one. This invariably means a trip to the boys' clothing section, because despite the ever-increasing number of girls that enjoy superheroes, unless you happen to be looking for a pink Supergirl shirt, you're not likely to find what you want in the girls' section.

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On of my son's bffs at school is a girl and she loves all things Marvel. Her parents have taken to etsy for stuff for her. Also, find art online, printing it on iron-on material and slapping it on to plain girl clothing.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Here's hoping Her Universe comes out with more stuff for girls eventually.

I'm seriously impressed with the stuff Her Universe continues to produce. Especially since they have plus sizes. I haven't been able to wear a shirt in regular sizes since I was 12. At least not without trying to look like a porn star...or comic book heroine actually...:hmm:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Womens-Phoenix-Marvel-Costume-T-Shirt/dp/B00B0ZPPAO

 

I want this shirt so bad it hurts. But the largest size it comes in is roughly an 8. Size EIGHT!! My boobs haven't been that small since I was 9!! Wake up people!! But this is a whole separate issue regarding women's clothing.

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There's some legitimate grievances in "criticism" Shadowdog, but let's not pretend this isn't big business now, that "deconstruction" has not become an entrenched aspect of the very culture it's supposedly trying to change.

 

I want to get published - say as a social science or English major undergraduate. What better way to do this than through some or another gender or race based criticism of some aspect of popular culture or another. In this case, Star wars. It's not like there aren't entire fields of academic study devoted to "criticism" of this nature. That it is so deeply entrenched in the otherwise conservative and tradition bound world of academia should tell you something. Or you may not even be that deeply involved in it. You may not be an aspiring academic yourself, but if you've been to college, pretty good chance you've been inundated with its culture of manufactured, yes, MANUFACTURED race and gender based grievance. Especially if you're in one or more of the target demographics - women or minorities or the like. Again, it's not that there are no legitimate grievances - women could definitely have been better written or portrayed in the SW franchise. But don't kid yourself - this establishment NEEDS grievances in order to justify its continued existence. And it will find them, no matter what.

 

So what do you do? You do a research paper, or a blog or something like that, alleging racism or sexism in some aspect of popular culture or another. Given the propensity for such material to generate controversy, and hence more views and hence more advertising and sponsors, one or more online "news" sources snatches up the story and it ends up going viral. This is good for all involved - the original author gains exposure and maybe even some money - a good deal for an aspiring unpaid intern or undergraduate. The cause gets exposure and the numberless legions of social justice types have another crusade to go on - which they most certainly do relish. Make no mistake about that. Struggle defines people's lives, Shadowdog. People inevitably end up most strongly identified by what they oppose. Were we to wake up tomorrow in a genderless, sexless matriarchal utopia, feminists would be the wretchedest of all people.

 

Point is, people like to complain, especially about how they're victimized by our culture as a result of their being in one demographic or another. They complain because our entire culture has been built around this kind of self victimizing complaining. Gender warriors like to fancy themselves as the rebel alliance fighting against the patriarchal Empire. In reality, they are much more comparable to the Trade Federation, controlled from behind the scenes by the same forces that control the corrupt Republic they're fighting.

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No. And I have no doubt that many people like Mara who do make these kinds of criticisms are sincere and well intended, and make worth while points. I do think, however, that no small number do complain merely for the sake of complaining - to call attention to themselves, out of jealousy or some kind of personal insecurity or another, or out of a desire to play a heroic role in some great struggle or another. The deeper point, however, is that cultural criticism has become a fixture in the very culture it's criticizing. We should all actually expect the women's studies department to gripe about the sexism in the latest pop-cultural fad. That's what the patriarchy is paying them to do.

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Beautifully written Kurgan. Amazing couple of posts. I discuss feminism with my wife often and she puts it in to two categories - positive feminism and negative feminism. She hates the negative nasty band wagon jumping criticism culture and says it overshadows the good work of positive feminism.

 

Some believe that showing women holding babies in the media is degrading and shows women in a useless baby holding light and they're good for nothing else. But my wife takes no offence to this. She doesn't see it as a stereotype at all and having brought up two children herself recognises it as a key component of womanhood.

 

Obviously we both agree that depicting women as good for nothing baby holding kitchen wenches is very degrading. But there is a positive polar opposite that shows a good strong mother who is quite often more than the sum of her parts.

 

But that doesn't mean she should be a gun toting bad ass mum either. Because that's not real is it!!

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That's just it though isn't it. Us white dudes can't have an opinion on the matter at all without getting a backlash. Why does my race and gender have any bearing on my opinion. It's discrimination in its own right!!

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The politics of identity is not really the fundamental issue. A sense of purpose is the issue. A sense of having it all figured out, if I may borrow the phrase, is the issue. Post modern identity politics are merely the flavor of the month in this regard. Future generations will not care so much about gender and race NOT because racial and sexual inequality will have been eradicated, but because some other ideology positing a manichean struggle will take its place.

 

We can simply and easily ascertain the truth in any situation, and always know who's right and who's wrong and who's good and who's bad by the application of a very simple criteria: "White dudes" who have not submitted completely to their feminist imams will always act to keep or increase their entitlement and privilege while "marginalized peoples" whose every action and word are sanctified by their "experiences of oppression in a patriarchal society" (as evidenced by their tenured positions in higher education) will always act to resist this. In the past, "revolutionary classes" vs "imperialists", "the aryan race" vs "judeo bolshevism" and the eternal classic, "the true faith" vs "the infidel" have served the same basic functions. The important thing, however, is that doctrinal certitude absolve one of the responsibility of understanding complex nuances for oneself, and allow its adherants to cast themselves as heroes in some sweeping, epic historical drama. That, not discrimination, is what is at issue here.

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My point was, people complaining about feminism, people who think bothered parties want to bothered, or people bothered when a minority is cast in a white superhero part, the person who always says they just need to deal always seem to be white dudes who will never have the problem.

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