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January 16, 2007
Good Morning Class
Today we're going to talk about pornography. But before I slip loose the dogs of war re: various political and cultural ideologies, I want to give you a brief history of the concept of obscenity. Triggered by my rediscovery of Justice Potter Stewart's statement, "I know it when I see it." (That's a good base for a legal definition. Nothing like basing a law on the arbitrary and highly personal.)
It's been a good weekend. I got lots done. Reading for today's class, so that I know what they read, too. (Yes, I've read it before, but it always pays to be fresh with the material.) LOTS of research into feminist film theory and the whole concept of the Male Gaze and the aforementioned history of pornography/obscenity.
And may I state for the record that I am NOT a fan of Freud, whose work triggered the whole concept? Yeah. I don't feel the lack of a penis. I certainly do not feel that I am castrated by my lack of a penis. I have things that more than make up for it, in my mind. Like boobs. And an eye for footwear. Not to mention the primary sexual characteristics that make me different from men. Yes, indeed, I think old Sigmund missed the boat when he defined women as people who don't have a penis and want one desperately. (I know that's a major generalization, but it's no worse than assuming that a man who sees a naked woman is struck first with the horror of castration because she doesn't have a penis. The human race would not have fared very well if that happened every time.)
On Friday night, there was a reading of Dave's latest play at a friend's house. Lots of people, wine and pizza. It's a good piece, and he took the suggestions of the various people there and made it even stronger. It goes up in Lewiston at LCSC in March, I think, but I'll post the actual dates here when I know them.
Then, we had people over to watch the football game on Sunday because the local cable service isn't carrying Fox right now (Some big legal fight over unpaid bills. I don't know. I only know that a whole bunch of locals missed the Fiesta Bowl and are NOT happy about it.) We have a dish, so a bunch of people (evenly split between Bears and Seahawks fans) smashed into the living room and chose to sit roughly four feet from the great big television, despite there being all kinds of room behind them.
And I did art. Which I mentioned earlier.
All of this was guilt-free, which was nice, because my wonderful husband cleaned the bathroom and the living room. Bless his heart, the place looks fantastic. I am such a lucky woman.
Posted by sally at January 16, 2007 09:34 AM
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