PROCRASTINATORS UNITE - Post a comment

or: Why it's best NOT to read old posts by people.


So I've been subjecting myself to the biased claptrap that is another LJ user's (name omitted to keep anyone who gives a fuck from bitching her out on her journal) rant on feminism and Joss Whedon's Firefly, and I just got so fucking mad at the clueless bint writing it, I had to say something, or my brain'll explode. Granted, I suppose it can't be helped. She seems to be operating under the misapprehension (and it is a misapprehension, before any of you open your mouths) that every man wants nothing better than to have an infinitely subservient, fawning harem of wives who cater to his every whim. Well, then, I must be a woman, by her definition; I'd be perfectly content with ONE woman who is independent, but chooses to stay with me. First thing she bitches about? (after an amount of bile directed at Whedon himself that Yahtzee would be proud of, of course.) Zoe calling Mal "sir." That bothers me during the flashback scenes, but not for any political reason. Wanna know why it bugs me? Mal's not an officer. He doesn't rate being 'sir'ed. But apparently, this woman is under the impression that Whedon deliberately wrote it this way to be a racist, sexist pig. To which I would tell her to pay a visit to sunny Parris Island, South Carolina (yes, that bastion of testosterone known as the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, or 'boot camp.' Or, to simply observe the behavior of any member of an infantry unit when that person is talking to their squad or platoon leader. Someone in a position of authority over them. It could be the most redneck sonofabitch this side of the Mississippi river, and his boss could be blacker than my chair. But it doesn't fucking matter. The boss *will* get the respect due his position, or the subordinate person *WILL* get slapped with an insubordination charge, and get his ass kicked to Leavenworth, or wherever.

Next thing, is in the next goddamn SCENE. Zoe and Jayne are yammering about getting busted by the Alliance for illegal salvage. Mal silences them with a quick 'bi zuei' ('shut up' in Chinese). She takes issue with THAT, as well, because, apparently, the captain of a ship isn't allowed to tell members of his crew, even if they are black women, to observe radio silence to keep from being picked up by the goddamn law. That was a self-preservation call, and any sane being in Mal's place would have done the same goddamned thing, and I DARE you to say you wouldn't, without lying.

And now, we come to the post-opening-credits bit. The crew is loading up the haul in one of the old boats myriad hiding places (referred to in a later episode as 'troublesome little nooks'), and Kaylee is being her usual interminably cheerful self. The exchange is thus:

Kaylee: We takin' on passengers at Persephone?
Mal: That's the notion. Could use a little respectability on the way to Boros. Not to mention the money.
Kaylee: No, it's shiny! ((note: 'shiny' here is approximately equal to 'cool' in present-day parlance)) I like meeting new people, they've all got stories..!
Jayne: Cap'n, can you stop her bein' cheerful, please?
Mal: I don't believe there's a power in the 'verse, stop Kaylee from bein' cheerful. Sometimes you just wanna duct-tape her mouth, and dump 'er in the hold for a month.
*Kaylee kisses Mal's cheek*
Kaylee: I love my captain.

Apparently, Overzealous Feminist Bint thinks that Mal abuses his crew, and that they enjoy it. Um. Issue. Kaylee's so bloody sweet, it's almost impossible NOT to like her. It doesn't take a college degree to see that Mal's idea to dump Kaylee in the hold for a month was A FUCKING JOKE. Mal was being facetious, as he is whenever he suggests doing anything bad to any member of his crew. With the possible exception of really bad stuff happening to Jayne, but then, Jayne's sorta the comic relief/pseudo-redshirt of the crew. If anyone were expendable, it'd be him, and everyone knows it.

First rule of any ship: the captain has the final word on EVERYTHING. This is an inviolable rule, and has been for centuries. That said, the crew have several options for redress; they can appeal his decisions (duh), mutiny (never really advisable), or leave. It's not pretty, and it's not fair. But that is how maritime law works, to the best of my interpretation. At no point during the entire show, nor the movie, does Mal overstep his authority as ship's captain. He comes close to abusing it a few times, but he never quite does.

Another thing the ditz whinges about is Inara. Starting with her profession. Yes, the major part of her job is sex. But, that's not a requisite. What the person pays her for, is her time. During which, they can have sex, they can lay in bed, fully clothed, and just talk, the client (or, indeed, the Companion her- or himself) can be treated to a massage, spa treatment (within the limits of what the Companion and client have available; don't expect a mud bath with Inara unless you can supply the mud and the bath, for example), or just a simple dinner date. But getting off of my opinions of that before this turns into an entirely different rant altogether.

Another major thing she complains about is that, though Inara rents her shuttle from Mal, Mal has an annoying tendency to violate the rules that he agreed to with annoying frequency. Well, two of them, anyway. Those two being: Never enter her shuttle without permission (which he does anyway, but only when he knows Inara does not have a client), and don't call her 'whore.' Mal explains the latter by saying that he may not respect Inara's profession, but he does respect HER, and everything we see in the series reinforces that statement. In the episode 'Shindig' (where Mal makes that statement), he demonstrates quite clearly that he knows where the line is. And he knows to apologize when he crosses it.

She then goes into a long-winded rant about how, by citing a few examples out of context, with her own interpretation, Joss Whedon must be a hypocritical little bastard who hates women, beats his wife, watches porn, and engages in other activity that feminist extremists (and in my opinion, she qualifies) apparently think that all men engage in whenever they've got a free moment between conspiring to keep women subservient. Grow up and listen to yourself. You think that all men want to keep women down? Get a grip, will ya? You want women to be equal to men? Fair enough. I agree with you there. But guess what. There are physiological differences between the two genders that means that men are more well-suited to certain tasks than women are. And before anyone bites my head off, let me add that the inverse is also true. Anyone who thinks otherwise can talk to pilots. My guess is that they'll find that women pilots are capable of handling higher-G maneuvers better than their male counterparts can. Not for much longer, and certainly not for extended periods of time, but it's there. The female body is, by and large, more compact than the male one, and focused more on keeping itself alive (biologically, for purposes of reproduction, but that's beside the point). As well, we must find something that men are better at, mustn't we? After all, we're being equal to both sexes, aren't we?

So let's look at the Poor Bloody Infantry. The infantryman must be naturally aggressive, and be physically powerful; strong and fast. If he is strong, but not fast, he'll get shredded by a wild bear (or, in the modern era, a machine gun). If he is fast, but not strong, he'll get to the objective, but he'll barely be able to do anything. So the infantryman must be a precise balance of speed and power. Can women do this? Absolutely. Should they? I'm not stopping them. I know for a fact that if my online girlfriend and myself ever got into a physical fight, I'd be on my back, unconscious, or dead in seconds; she's an accomplished martial artist, and I'm terribly out of shape (though i'm working on that). But, by and large, women are not well-suited for line infantry. The USSR proved that women can serve as infantry in World War Two; a very appreciable number of women were trained, and deployed, as snipers, and racked up an impressive number of kills. Along the way, many were killed and wounded. My point is: If they want to fight, let them fight. Were I an infantry commander, my concern would not be as superficial as do I have any women under my command? gays, lesbians, whatever? My concerns are, in order: "Are they physically and mentally capable of doing the job?" and "Can they work with the rest of the unit?" That's it. Because, at the end of the day, that's all that fucking matters. If they are physically or mentally incapable of doing the job, they will get themselves killed, and are likely to take other people under my command with them. And if they can't work with the rest of the unit, then they're similarly useless.

Sorry, this is getting tangential.

But I've run out of things to say! whoohoo. now my brain is no longer in danger of exploding, I'm going to bed.