Tags
bisexual, circle of bitches, circle of witches, daughters, fairies, gays, lesbians, MeeMaws, mothers, nuturers, Pamela Swynford de Beaufort, people who love peace and freedom, rape culture is bullshit, sisterhood, sisters, Tara Thornton, transgender, you're swallowing rape culture
This producer was a woman, a type I became acquainted with at the beginning of my stand-up career in Denver. I cared little for them: blondes in high heels who were so anxious to reach the professional level of the men they worshipped, fawned over, served, built up, and flattered that they would stab other women in the back. They are the ultimate weapon used by men against actual feminists~~~Roseanne Barr, Presidential Candidate
~~
Perhaps the True Blood fandom would like to take a good hard look at itself and ask itself why it hates Tara, and Sookie for that matter, so much.
Take a good hard look. Why do you love the rapists and hate the victims? Franklin is the best thing to ever happen to True Blood, right? Oh I know you don’t condone what he did to Tara, but you still love him and hate her. Don’t you? Same goes for Bill and Sookie, though thankfully the number of women who love that Patriarchal nightmare is dwindling by the minute.
Young women of this fandom, I have a few words for you. Breaks over. Get off that damn pole, stop wanting your sexy men to be powerful alphas who will throw you around a room, and for God’s sake show a little sisterhood. You’ve had your Chris Brown loving say, so sit down and…
[h/t Exit, Pursued By A Sloth for 'Miss Ogyny']
Amen amen amen. I am sick and tired of all those who wanted badass Eric back.They want rapist Alcide not a man who tells a woman she is the most beautiful he has seen,who listens to her heart beating, who doesn’t want to extinguish her light, who does not latch onto her like a leech or demand her blood but confirms she really wants to give it then returns to her in kind. We need more men like Jason who has finally realized that he has been filling a hole in himself with meaningless sex and has the courage to say that is wrong. We need Andy who has given up first alcohol then V and now is sharper mentally,and more attractive not necessarily because of cutting back carbs but because he is taking responsibility. He is turning down the fairy for the real woman with teenage kid.
Sorry hit the wrong button. As to strong females who does TB give us?Salome whose interrogation/persuasion is sex? Who betrays her boss/lover by digging up someone she interprets as strong enough to overthrow the man who trusts her. Her idea of a goddess is one who advocates death and blood when we as women should be the givers of life and growth and love, antiwar,antihate, antideath,antirape and fangrape. It takes more strength to stand up against the flow than to go with it. Eric as parent appears more nuturing than Pam as parent though Pam steps up when she recalls her upbringing. Will Tara continue the cycle of abuse perpretrated on her by Franklin and LM? There is hope that she will not, she has recognized how she has beenmistreated and sought help from support groups and she has not descended into self hate,she is adapting. And what about Sookie? She has been abused over and over, she has teetered on the brink with her drinking binge but she rallied and led the charge into danger acknowledging that she is the most powerful weapon,that the men need her to protect them.She is not perfect, trying to dump that power but willing to face the unknown to discover truth at the reconstruction. Which of us is perfect? Sookie could be in a straitjacket at this point but she is hanging in and for each step back she takes two forward. The future is yet unknown but both she and her brother are learning both about themselves and about the situation around them. And knowledge is power.
I believe Pam has been testing Tara. What is Tara made of?
Stronger stuff than her haters, that’s for sure.
Amen and hallelujahs. Great post and soooo glad you’re charged up again.
It has frightened me sometimes when I read some of the comments from what I can only think must be very young women. It frightens me that they have bought into and internalized so much of the anti-female propaganda that permeates TV. Women fighting with one another over some bachelor, wives and ex-wives arguing about how much they have and who has the best car,house yada. Those are fantasies. Not every man is an alpha. You’re being sold a bill of goods.
The reality is the job you have to do everyday to put food on the table, clothe your children and hopefully save some money for a higher education.
Then it hits you, the guy in the next cubicle doing the same job, gets more money than you, still…. in this the 21st century.
Bet you don’t know that the woman down the aisle is abused at home and hides her bruises with makeup. Do you care? If you care about her why do you hate Tara? Does Tara’s situation make you uncomfortable? Well you should be uncomfortable. Tara’s life till now has been a disaster. How would you feel if she was your married sister, niece, or your daughter? Would you hate her too?
Think before you spout off about a women who was abused by a parent as a child, or spouse as an adult. Tara is showing the viewer what may happen to a woman who is marginalized economically and emotionally.
If this were happening to you wouldn’t you be pissed off in all kinds of ways?
Learn some empathy.
The old saying is never more true…Divide and conquer. Those who have the power and money don’t want to share. Keep women fighting amongst themselves and they won’t look around and see the shit that they have to put up with.
Keep it coming ladies, I love it.
One of the saddest things I have heard is my patient with three kids,three fathers pregnant again but changes her mind about a tubal because this guy says he will marry her and if she gives up her fertility he won’t want her. This is not just some damn welfare mom whoevilly somehow plans to rob taxpayers by being a baby machine (only a man could think that up )this is a woman who has been brainwashed into thinking her only worth is as a incubator for a man’s sperm,she is worse than a sex object.
Divide and concer.
Very true… I can even say it for myself, I get on much better with men, as most of the girlfriends I had had stroke from behind… Although I keep watching my back with everyone for years, and even then people still surprise you with how untrustfull they are
But apart from how many women like to fight against other women… There is also what so many of the other gendre and of our own thinks about the roll of women. Its very sad… And have other young women, teenagers and children watching movies like Snow White or Twilight gets me sick… Even young women of my age, already in the early twenties, watch the patriarcal movie and think of it as good, romantic and blah blah blah.
Sorry, I’m getting furious, in between that and how TB is going… And the real life… Buff!
I know, right? It’s hard enough to fight the patriarchy without having to fight our sisters too. They are collaborating with their own subjugation–and in many cases, they know this, and they like it.
Ah! A shout-out!
Dude, you are so right about Tara and Tracey (Miss Ogyny) being a big old FU to the haters (especially with Tracey owning the clothing store, like Tara in the books, which certain fans can’t shut up about, as though owning the clothing store that Sookie buys her Soon-To-Be-Covered-In-Blood dresses is the most important thing about Tara, or the fact that show!Tara is a bartender makes her somehow Less Strong). And, for not the first time this season, I begin to wonder if the Villains (at least, the new ones) are stand-ins for spheres of the fandom…although who would TU/TAP be…Dieter? Hopefully we’re not a villainous sphere of the fandom at all.
Hey!
HBIC Pam demanded the collective Miss Ogyny to worship Tara, to be her slave. And Miss Ogyny will cooperate, as they do. I think Pam’s about to school some little girls.
Story-wise, what Tara says and does next is the test of her character, for real. I think Pam put her through the gauntlet to test her mettle and Tara is about to put some people to shame.
Hmm, you pose an interesting question about spheres of the fandom being represented, because it’s certainly gotten meta up in Bon Temps. I have a number of ideas on that front which I should be writing about soon.
Oh my goodness. Holding the mirror up to the viewer again. I guess I keep thinking that the writers don’t really pay attention to what the fandom bitches about. Thanks for the reminder.
Yeah, Tracey was the most blatant example of this to date. If the collective Miss Ogyny– the status-obsessed female who can only view other women as competition for the Alpha— is being represented it stands to reason that the rest of the fandom is too.
Who represents us, the ones out here on the fringe? I’m almost afraid to know…but I have to admit that Junior spoke to me on certain levels–’protecting themselves against monsters…leveling the playing field’, ‘theorizing’ on ‘other supes’ etc.
I’d like to think that it’s Godric. This is wrong. Damn I can’t recall the exact words.
The wholesale feeding off less powerful. The planning of wars, engineering terror.
And hopefully trying to make others understand.
Right, Godric said vampires are ‘wrong’ and he’s not wrong about that. It boggles my mind how people romanticize creatures who want to eat and kill them. But that’s the way of the world, isn’t it?
Sam spoke for me too when he said he was tired of fighting against ignorance and prejudice. He feels his efforts are futile, that they don’t really reach anyone. I can so relate to that. It can get tiresome in real life, and it’s certainly become tiresome within this fandom.
True dat. I think that’s part of the frustration some feel.
It’s a huge part of my own frustration, that’s for sure. Trying to analyze this show–which is just my way of editorializing about real world conditions- often makes me feel foolish in the face of so much apathy and hate. I’m with Steve Newlin–hate is good if it’s directed at darkness and evil but when it’s turned on ordinary people like Tara it BECOMES dark and evil. Fandoms of any fictional work seem incapable of understanding that their response to the work is a reflection of their own deeply held beliefs. Hating Tara is THE SAME as hating real life strong women, no matter what excuses they make to justify it.
I agree it’s an uphill battle all the time. And I admire your efforts even in the face of stupidity. One thing to remember, is that many people are afraid to buck a trend. Secretly they may feel the same as you do, but lack the courage to express it publicly. I can’t always fault that because I’ve had it proven to me that they can be supportive in the long run. Not everyone has the same amount of courage for whatever reason and sometimes life experiences can educate the seemingly dense. You can’t always lump those that don’t vocally support a position as uninformed.
For those people that aren’t as forward as some it can be reassuring that the ‘message’ whatever the platform, remains consistent.
This is true, and I do agree. I’m reminded of some workplace fights I had to undertake alone because the ladies I worked with feared reprisals. Who could blame them for not wanting to jeopardize their ability to feed their children? Economic insecurity is engineered to keep the masses compliant to boss man.
That’s why it’s a good thing to read your posts and your opinions on what happens in the seemingly fantastic Tv series about vampires, were, faeries telepaths and mediums. DO NOT GIVE UP. That’s what TPTB want.
Great post Sunny!
Thank you, my dear!
@BG–
As ever, thank you for your kind encouragement. It truly helps.
You’re welcome, anytime. Comes from hard boiled, real life experience.
You should write it all down sometime as an example for young women. I really mean it. I would be MORE THAN HAPPY to publish it right here at TBU, if that idea appeals to you.
Thank you, I’ll think on it.
I must admit I do look forward to regaling you with some humorous episodes in person if we manage to get to NOLA for a season 6 party. Even if it winds up further into the season than the premiere.
I intend to branch out considerably after the finale this year. I want to make this blog into something of a feminist round table so we can fight the ignorance together!
NOLA here we come!
I look forward to it. Thank you sunny.
I would love to relate my life experience in medical training and practice toany discussion. There are plenty of lows but one of the biggest highs for me was when my young son on having an appointment with a male doctor for the first time said to me “so men can be doctors too?” It is possible to educate the next generation.
Please don’t give up! I may not comment a lot but I really appreciate what you write.
I’m not going anywhere. I just have a need to bitch and moan from time to time.
hey sunny/ i just wrote many words of praise, admiration & agreement with you *& got wiped out,,,.So good to see u active again. always admired your writings. I’m an old very liberal feminist from way back,,I Hated Tara, but i’m better now. I wouldn’t consider Tara a strong woman. I considered her a victim & I guess I don’t care for women “victims”when the WAY out is there. She was happy & not bitching screaming or blaming when she was in NOLA.She had a healthy outllet for her anger, & had a real job, living with another adult. She was relaxed/ then chose to go back into the snakepit of Bon Tempts to be with her other victim friend.s. They didn’t help each other, they all just got worse. I believe AB hates women. (my opinion).Sookie is as bad as her Southern accent. ” another blamer”,, so far they are both tolerable this season.getting better. I just don’t want to hear any more *&&&^% screaming,Sookie, another adult woman still living at home. Her Gran had to die to make her a independent, then there’s BILL.. excuse me while I throw up.
I will admit. I love Eric, but it’s all pure SEX SEX SEX. The important word here is RESPECT. Eric treated SS, & any other woman we’ve seen him with with respect.
Pam,his daughter, he loved. He gaves the whores what the whores wanted. He’s a bad boy & I admit I like myself a badoy esp one I can pack up in a box during the day & pull him out at night.still being PURE SEX,
Did I tell U I want to know when you’re having a TB gathering. in NOLA or anywhere else. I live in the NYarea & in Paris. & I am as free as the breeze to go when or where Iwish. got rid of my spouse & son/ keeping my Chat Noir. I’m aka freeone
Can I start by saying thank you for voicing (once again) what I was thinking. Get out of my head Sunny! I was feeling as if I was the only person who liked Tara, and could see the immense inner strength she has, even before vampire. Tara has always been my fav character with Pam a close second. Maybe it’s because I have a background very very similar to Tara, (with the exception of race) right down to the crazy abusive preacher mother. I live in the south and often abused women (children and grown) are taught or indoctrinated about putting up with a lot out of a sense of honor or duty to your family or religion. So sometimes it’s not about the victim not having enough strength to leave a situation, sometimes the Tara’s stay because we know we are strong enough to come out the other side of the tunnel. Sometimes we put up with a hell of a lot to protect other people. For all the Tara haters, would you have been able to stand in Tara’s place in any situation and have done better….no I didn’t think so. Just as an example most women I know would have cried like a bitch if their mother disowned them like Letty Mae did (not me though). I have a real soft spot in my heart for Tara, and she is not a victim she is a warrior…the perfect progeny for Eric and Pam.