Riba Rambles:
Musings of a Mental Magpie

Posted by Lis Riba at 9:00 PM

Earlier today, somebody posed the following question:

If you [member of <group>] act in a stereotypical way -- society's stereotype of <group> -- are you responsible if society uses your actions to further bias against other <members of group>?

The original comment was about gender relations, but that statement can also apply to religious, ethnic, racial or just about any common stereotypes and prejudices.

Based upon other comments in the thread, the writer seemed to be pushing for a Yes answer, but I see a couple problems with that.

First of all, if you are in a disadvantaged group -- by which in America I mean not a rich white healthy Christian adult heterosexual male -- your opportunities may already be limited by elements outside your control. Why should you further straightjacket yourself because somebody might misinterpret your actions? It just seems like denial atop denial.

It reminded me of a recent study I heard about, which concluded:

Self-censorship may play a greater role in suppressing scientific research than laws or regulations, according to a new study.
What scientists can and cannot do is, to an extent, officially dictated. For example, human cloning and embryonic stem cell creation have been restricted or banned by some governments. But the new study suggests that such regulations pale in comparison to informal constraints -- the possibility that findings could provoke moral outrage, for example.

[Sources: LISNews, National Geographic article, Science Magazine] 

Holding back on things you want to because society might misinterpret feels like a form of unhealthy self-censorship. [Digression: That's started me thinking about Real Genius. I'm getting muddled trying to separate the victory in that movie from the constraints described in the article. Anybody else care to take a stab at it? Or does Real Genius have an underlying message that there are some things we shouldn't investigate?]

Furthermore, many of the stereotypes are contradictory. Jews are portrayed as both spendthrifts and misers. I remember when I was in high-school getting tied up in mental knots over this when making purchasing decisions. I was in a double-bind no-win situation until I cut the Gordian knot and decided to stop caring about the stereotypes and just do what I wanted.

And that's true for other groups as well. Butch or femme? Madonna or whore? Is there any way to act that somebody else can't misinterpret for misuse?

Paying attention to the stereotypes, even to flout them, still gives strength to other people's definitions. I say, live orthagonally to the stereotypes: ignore them and do what you want, regardless of others' opinions (excluding things that are actively harmful).

What say you?

Posted by Lis Riba at 7:10 AM

Something else I've been meaning to blog for a few days now. Riverbend is an Iraqi woman who has been blogging about her life and life in Iraq for about 18 months. And, well, I'll just let her words speak for themselves:

They try to give impressive interviews to western press but the situation is wholly different on the inside. Women feel it the most. There's an almost constant pressure in Baghdad from these parties for women to cover up what little they have showing. There's a pressure in many colleges for the segregation of  males and females. There are the threats, and the printed and verbal warnings, and sometimes we hear of attacks or insults.

You feel it all around you. It begins slowly and almost insidiously. You stop wearing slacks or jeans or skirts that show any leg because you don't want to be stopped in the street and lectured by someone who doesn't approve. You stop wearing short sleeves and start preferring wider shirts with a collar that will cover up some of you neck. You stop letting your hair flow because you don't want to attract attention to it. On the days when you forget to pull it back into a ponytail, you want to kick yourself and you rummage around in your handbag trying to find a hair band… hell, a rubber band to pull back your hair and make sure you attract less attention from *them*.

We were seriously discussing this situation the other day with a friend. The subject of the veil and hijab came up and I confessed my fear that while they might not make it a law, there would be enough pressure to make it a requirement for women when they leave their homes. He shrugged his shoulders and said, “Well women in Iran will tell you it's not so bad- you know that they just throw something on their heads and use makeup and go places, etc.’ True enough. But it wasn't like that at the beginning. It took them over two decades to be able to do that. In the eighties, women were hauled off the streets and detained or beaten for the way they dressed.

It's also not about covering the hair. I have many relatives and friends who wore a hijab before the war. It's the principle. It's having so little freedom that even your wardrobe is dictated. And wardrobe is just the tip of the iceberg. There are clerics and men who believe women shouldn't be able to work or that they shouldn't be allowed to do certain jobs or study in specific fields. Something that disturbed me about the election forms was that it indicated whether the voter was ‘male´ or ‘female´- why should that matter? Could it be because in Shari´a, a women's vote or voice counts for half of that of a man? Will they implement that in the future?
<snip>
There was hope of a secular Iraq, even after the occupation. That hope is fading fast.

I feel like I'm seeing my worst fears about Bush's war come true. Iraq used to be a bastion of women's rights in Iraq. Yes, Saddam oppressed everyone, but women were far better off and enjoyed far more equal treatment than in other Arabic countries. We Americans destroyed that. I actually feel afraid to reread Margaret Atwood's Handmaid's Tale (a former favorite of mine), because I don't want to think how close we're coming to those circumstances.

Posted by Lis Riba at 6:45 PM

Boskone was fun, albeit more low-key than usual. I'll confess, I worried somewhat that the boycotts on account of the GoH (more on that shortly) might've hurt the convention, but later conversations reassured me that this is normal post-WorldCon ebb on behalf of both conrunners and the usual attendees, guests and hucksters.

Boskone has an interesting feel to it. Arisia is very energetic and seems to run on the philosophy of offering a little of everything for everyone. You name the fannish interest and there's at least one panel and possibly an entire programming track devoted to it.

I won't rehash the political history, but Boskone has a more narrow focus and thus seems more sedate in comparison. More literature than media, a game room but no gaming panels, no costuming, etcetera. [Remember my bullet on the multiverse of fandoms panel at this year's Arisia? Boskone had a knitting circle on the official schedule!] So Boskone appears to appeal to a more mature audience than Arisia.

And yet... And yet...

For as long as I've been attending Boskone, regular guests have always included YA writers Jane Yolen, Bruce Coville and Tamora Pierce. The last several years, they've had an anime room running almost constantly. So, while Boskone doesn't cater to the college students and twenty-somethings that frequent Arisia, the Boskone audience seems almost bifurcated: besides the older more-literary crowd, it's also targeting YA readers. The next generation of fandom.

This is why I find David Brin's 2003 GoH speech even more ludicrous in hindsight. Because Boskone is luring in the younger fen! [A regular Boskone sight I consider utterly adorable: I frequently see Tammy Pierce walking the halls, followed by a half-dozen tweenage girls, trailing her like baby ducks, continuing the conversation from whatever panel they just left or just peppering her with questions. It's so adorable.]

And that's also why Orson Scott Card, as a writer for and about children, made an excellent GoH.

I'm going to confess something that may damage some readers' opinions of me: though I disagree vehemently with their politics, I like some of the entertainment created by Mel Gibson, Orson Scott Card, Wagner, and (yes) Eminem. I avoid spending money in ways that enable them to spread their hateful messages, but I do enjoy some of their work, and don't entirely see why I shouldn't continue to do so. But that's another essay (one that I actually started over a year ago and gave up on because I can't come to any conclusion so it just feels like pointless noodling).

Card was very witty and entertaining and insightful on the panels I heard him speak, and generally behaved in a kind, friendly and gracious manner when I saw him at other times. He carefully avoided the areas of controversy that caused so many problems with fandom (primarily his attitudes towards gays). I did hold my breath during part of his GoH speech (dealing with modern perceptions of portrayals of women and race in older works and how changing attitudes made them seem dated), but he steered clear of any talk of sexual orientation, so it seemed okay. I certainly didn't notice hands waving in the air to disagree nor did I see hordes following him out to continue the arguments after the speech, both of which happened to Brin.

A few more quick notes:

• Farah Mendlesohn was a fascinating speaker who I wish I heard more from. She's conducting a survey on SF reading habits for academic study and is looking for more people to fill it out between now and Worldcon (when she plans to cut it off). So far, she's only gotten about 700 responses, and she's hoping for another 300 to make the math easier.
• Tamora Pierce's Skylark Award seemed greatly overdue, and I find it hard to believe that this is the first genre award she's won. Hopefully (and deservedly), it won't be her last.
• For those who attended the crossovers panel at Boskone, particularly for Keith deCandido: Gashlycrumb tinies combined with Hogwarts: some beautiful artwork and (later) an entire list.
• Also regarding that panel, I think Ender Wiggins goes to Hogwarts would be less scary than Harry Potter in Battle school. And somehow I suspect both have already been done in fanfic (if you know of such, I'd love to see the links).

Anyway, hopefully these posts will get enough out of my system that I can get on with my fiction writing... [Though I'm not holding my breath.]

Posted by Lis Riba at 6:15 PM

These few lines came to me the other day, to the tune from The Fantasticks,:

[Perpetual is pronounced with three syllables, rhyming with Yule.]

Try to remember
Perpetual September,
When AOL members
Logged on to say 'Hello!'

Make of this what you will, including nothing. I haven't gone any further, so if you want to pick it up and continue the song, be my guest (though that's a different tune). All I ask is that you share with me the rest of the lyrics you come up with, solely for my entertainment purposes.

Alternately, filkers could do something similar with "Remember, remember the fifth of November..." which also (to my unrhythmical eyes) seems to scan.

Posted by Lis Riba at 6:10 PM

So much I want to blog, and yet I also want to submit a fic to a challenge with an end-of-the-month deadline (one week away), so I have to write that if I want any hope of finishing in time...

So, let's try to dash off a few quickies:

Via Gilly