Subject
Re: Kournikova as "Lolita" (fwd)
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For my comment, see below. GD
From: Camille Scaysbrook <verona_beach@hotpop.com>
Not `forced' as in personally dragged kicking and screaming - but by
society. When there is magazines designed for twelve year olds with articles
on sexual technique, it's hardly avoidable. But the question always stands
on very uncertain ground - the very ground that `Lolita' stands on, in fact.
Was Lolita the sexually voracious one, or was she forced to be? Is Humbert
portraying an innocent girl in a way that is wholly sexualised, or was she
really like that?
The whole `new virgin' trend is very interesting to me - again, Britney
Spears is telling interviewers that she is a virgin and intends to save
herself for marriage, but singing about sexual relationships and `hit me
baby one more time'. It seems to me that this sexualises the image even
further, it's a manifestation of `pinku' - the Japanese name for the
obsession with debauching a virgin. It's hardly surprising - marketers
market to desires, and a lot of men out their would apparently like to
debauch a virgin, it's as simple as that.
Camille Scaysbrook
*** I have to confess, I have never seen "magazines designed for twelve
year olds with articles on sexual technique." To be fair, my teenage
daughters and quite a few of their friends subscribe to magazines like THE
NEW MOON, which is a serious and a very intelligent publication run by a
bunch of very bright girls from Vermont (if I remember the state
correctly). Magazines like that hardly existed even fifteen years ago,
when most of the publications for girls in their teens appealed largely to
their eyes and hearts but rarely to their brains. So if we are talking
trends here, this one should be taken into consideration as well for a
more balanced picture of what is available out there these days. GD***
From: Camille Scaysbrook <verona_beach@hotpop.com>
Not `forced' as in personally dragged kicking and screaming - but by
society. When there is magazines designed for twelve year olds with articles
on sexual technique, it's hardly avoidable. But the question always stands
on very uncertain ground - the very ground that `Lolita' stands on, in fact.
Was Lolita the sexually voracious one, or was she forced to be? Is Humbert
portraying an innocent girl in a way that is wholly sexualised, or was she
really like that?
The whole `new virgin' trend is very interesting to me - again, Britney
Spears is telling interviewers that she is a virgin and intends to save
herself for marriage, but singing about sexual relationships and `hit me
baby one more time'. It seems to me that this sexualises the image even
further, it's a manifestation of `pinku' - the Japanese name for the
obsession with debauching a virgin. It's hardly surprising - marketers
market to desires, and a lot of men out their would apparently like to
debauch a virgin, it's as simple as that.
Camille Scaysbrook
*** I have to confess, I have never seen "magazines designed for twelve
year olds with articles on sexual technique." To be fair, my teenage
daughters and quite a few of their friends subscribe to magazines like THE
NEW MOON, which is a serious and a very intelligent publication run by a
bunch of very bright girls from Vermont (if I remember the state
correctly). Magazines like that hardly existed even fifteen years ago,
when most of the publications for girls in their teens appealed largely to
their eyes and hearts but rarely to their brains. So if we are talking
trends here, this one should be taken into consideration as well for a
more balanced picture of what is available out there these days. GD***