The War Room

DOES BORAT AROUSE YOU?

One of the more important news items recently was the Alliance of Women Journalists Awards.
Among the many important nominations were:

BEST DEPICTION OF NUDITY OR SEXUALITY:
1. Babel
2. Borat
3. Little Children
4. Notorious Bettie Page
5. Sherrybaby

At first glance, these awards might seem like a step in the right direction; but one quick read of the website proper proves we have a long way to go.

First off, there are countless references to the word "women" which only fosters a subtextual reliance on patriarchal norms and assunptions in our phallocentric society. Could the more proper and appropriate 'womyn' not have been included instead?

Similarly, what of the semiotic implications for usage of the misogynistic term 'actress'; another word that only furthers the capitalist, post-colonialist exploitation of class and gender in Hollywood and society at large.

Were generations of 'actresses' not exploited for profit by an imperialist corporate patriarchal structure that sought to define 'women' only in terms of the male gaze?

The nominations are equally distressful. The inclusion of Kate Winslet (Little Children) seems to imply a woman can be sexual even after birth; but upon closer inspection it only furthers the slave-like condition that womyn are little more than 'baby machines' and seeks to lull them into a dichotomy with themselves in that hetero-normative societal role.

If I have to tell you what is wrong with the inclusion of Gretchen Mol (Bettie Page) you are a dupe to the patriarchal, capitalist, Judeo-Christian power structure.

The only glimmer of hope is the inclusion of Borat. By including male nudity amongst the womyn, these awards can make a point about nature vs. nurture and the hetero-normative gender assumptions that plague all of us.

Hopefully, enough men will see Borat's nudity and feel comforatable in being aroused by him as the more patriarchally convential, Ms. Winslet and Ms. Mol.

posted by Nicol DuMoulin @ 9:35 AM