The World Beyond BetterMost > The Culture Tent
Resurrecting the Movies thread...
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: delalluvia on June 06, 2008, 08:15:44 pm --- Most of the literature I read on the subject is that older women's attitude is if they "had to suffer, then so does the younger generation". It had nothing to do with sexual aesthetics.
--- End quote ---
Here's an excerpt from the activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali's book, Infidel, which gives some idea about attitudes in Somalia, among girls and boys, about genital mutilation
--- Quote ---But the kids at madrassah (Islamic religious school) were tough. They fought. One girl, who was about eight years old, they called kintirleey, "she with the clitoris".
I had no idea what a clitoris was, but the kids didn't even want to be seen with this girl. They spat on her and pinched her; they rubbed sand in her eyes, and once they caught her and tried to bury her in the sand behind the school.
The madrassah teacher didn't help. Once in a while he called her dammin, dunce, and kintirleey, too. My teenage cousin Sanyar used to pick me up after madrassah. One day she arrived just as a girl hit me in the face. Sanyar took me home and told the story. "Ayaan didn't even defend herself," she said in horror. "Coward!" my family jeered.
The next day Sanyar waited for me outside the madrassah with another teenager, the older sister of the girl who had hit me the day before. They caught hold of the two of us and tugged us over to an open space, then ordered us to fight. "Scratch her eyes out. Bite her," Sanyar hissed at me. "Come on, coward, think of your honour."
The other girl got the same encouragement. We flew at each other, fists tight, hitting, wrestling, pulling each other's hair, biting. "Ayaan, never cry!" Sanyar called out. The other children cheered us on. When they let us stop, our dresses were torn and my lip was bleeding, but Sanyar was delighted. "I don't want you to ever let another child hit you or make you cry," she said. "Fight. If you don't fight for your honour, you're a slave."
Then, as we walked away, the other girl shouted after me, "Kintirleey!" Sanyar winced. I looked at her, horror dawning on me. I was like that other girl? I, too, had that filthy thing, a kintir? In Somalia, like many countries across Africa and the Middle East, little girls are made "pure" by having their genitals cut out. There is no other way to describe this procedure, which typically occurs around the age of five.
--- End quote ---
In the rest of this excerpt, she goes on to describe her experience of having it done to her, at age 5. Beware -- it's not fun reading.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21160254-28737,00.html
Her parents are opposed to the procedure, but when they're away, the grandmother has it done to Ayaan and her siblings. The grandma's attitude suggests that she's not doing it because she had to suffer, therefore so do her grandchildren. She's doing it because she really does see it as aesthetically preferable, in fact "pure." To me, it seems logical that most women who grow up in that culture absorb the culture's notions of aesthetics -- even if they are its victims.
Sorry to go so OT!
Kelda:
--- Quote from: Elle on June 06, 2008, 03:04:47 am ---
And I'll tell you another part that stretched suspension of disbelief to the breaking point. When Anthony sees Stanford at a big event and grabs him, says "Thank God you're here," and plants a big kiss on his lips. In the series, Anthony loathed Stanford, so what happened?
--- End quote ---
Well I wouldn't say Anthony LOATHED Stanford but they were very different.... but you did see them get friendlier over the seasons.... but I guess lots of things happen in 4 years - it was quite fun to see them planting a biog smacker on each other on new year event! (But I wanted to know what happened to Stanford's ballet dancer!)
Front-Ranger:
I saw a very interesting Russian film last nite titled Mongol, about the early life of Genghis Khan. The acting was very good but what really made the movie were the beautiful scenes of the steppes and the amazing battle scenes. The culminating battle scene really brought home why Genghis Khan was such an extraordinary leader. I have never seen blood and dirt represented so beautifully. Of course, the real stars of the movie were the horses!
Go see it if it shows near you!
Ellemeno:
--- Quote from: Kelda on June 08, 2008, 08:21:03 am ---Well I wouldn't say Anthony LOATHED Stanford but they were very different.... but you did see them get friendlier over the seasons.... but I guess lots of things happen in 4 years - it was quite fun to see them planting a biog smacker on each other on new year event! (But I wanted to know what happened to Stanford's ballet dancer!)
--- End quote ---
Remember the episode where the women set them up to sit next to each other at some event, and when Anthony arrived and took a look at Stanford, he turned and left? When asked about it, he said some pretty scathing things.
BelAir:
I saw Hancock with family over the weekend. I thought it was pretty good as far as [recent randomish] superhero movies go... quite humorous, plot not too annoying... There was no RDJ but Jason Bateman was sweet, and I preferred it to Iron Man actually.
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