Lit Ignorance is Bias: The Diversity Manifesto

Gamiel, can you give me the gist? YouTube isn't an option right now.

Rob, I don't believe anyone's ever suggested sexism was a fan idea--just that it was illogical to begin with. And on that, opinions can certainly differ; as I've said, it seemed reasonable to me at first too.

 

OK, imagine a sailing ship, then imagine either side of it a pair of whacking great warships, with cannons. Now watch that ship get blasted from both sides!

That's what the likely response will be to Watson's speech, many media commentators will refuse to budge from their declared lines, whether that be that feminists are evil or that white blokes have it all their own way always.

Still, have to give her credit for trying.

 

Most of the idea came from one author - KJA - with other authors going along with it.

 

If you have not seen it jet so the gist more or less that the Miss America Pageant's claim that they provide 40 million in scholarship is rather exaggerated and they are still the largest provider of scholarships to women, which is sad

 

It is a good way to draw attention yes, but head over to the Guardian's Comment is Free section and you'll find a whole load of articles of varying quality in this particular area, with comments to match, with the only thing in common being sheer venom. (I noticed Guardian haven't enabled comments on the video - a smart move.)

If a problem is going to be solved then accurate diagnosis is needed, but too often people will opt for ideological positions over that so nothing changes. It's the tendency to opt for destructive over constructive engagement. It's not so much people not listening, rather it's listening but only to twist it to fit their agenda that can never ever change.

If I sound sceptical and despairing, that'd be accurate too. The one bit of positivity, quite a major one, is how things get presented and responded to online tends to not always match up to reality. Therefore, I suspect and hope there are far more people who are positively receptive to it than the online responses suggest.

 

She's very brave to speak out, I applaud her. She's right the role of the male particularly the father and what being male means for the young has become damaged and continues to be mishandled and ignored. The fact that many refuse to listen/acknowledge the problem exists is a key factor why nothing or very little changes. However, just because few listen doesn't mean those that are aware of the issue shouldn't speak out. Sadly two factors that further complicate the issue are denial and lack of understanding.

 

It's funny how many crummy ideas in the EU can be traced back to KJA.

 

And as what we see on screen is that is all that needs to be explained, it made sense to use the opportunity that the revelations in AOTC provided. After AOTC, it's easier to believe the units we saw were more likely to be clones (or veterans of an early era when facilities and uniforms were still designed for Jango) -- while still allowing that the army, which would have ginormous personnel needs, would've had local recruiting policies more reflective of the general culture we'd been shown. There's nothing arbitrary anywhere, at that point: everything we see fits.

A different explanation is no criticism of what's appeared in the past: it's part of the job of tie-in writers, in all media and franchises, to try to explain what we see on screen based on the materials at hand at the time. AOTC simply opened another avenue of explanation in the 2000s -- and the ability to take that route presented itself.

(As to the on-screen officer corps, the OOU production-related explanation has always been plenty enough for me. It looks like UNIT from the 1970s in part because that's who was being cast for military roles in those days and in that location -- despite the fact that UNIT itself was an international organization and was set (at least originally) in the future! Never doubt the influence casting pools have: The LOGAN'S RUN film moved Lastday from age 21 to age 30 not just because of Michael York's age -- his lifeclock was already blinking at 34 -- but because the producers discovered they couldn't cast a whole city that young!)

 

Oh quite, tends to be very frustrating area for me though.

Too bad I can't just order everyone to "forget the old way"!

 

Oh yes, having a ball with it - you'll know when I've finished it.

 

So I'm currently staying in a little monastery outside the Vatican. And wouldn't you know it, we stumbled upon a little comic shop a couple blocks away. And looking out at me from the shop's window? Why, none other than li'l old Jes Gistang.

 

You are on vacation! Soak up the sights, not female stormtroopers.

If Jello were here, he would order you to the Imperial Palace on Palatine Hill.

--Adm. Nick

 

Who says there weren't female stormtroopers in the films? Women marched with the 501st when George Lucas was Grand Marshall of the Rose Parade, but that armor reveals nothing. We only hear the voices of about a handful of troopers, and even then, Vader's voice sounds nothing like Anakin's; who knows what the systems of a stormtrooper helmet do to a woman's voice?

There could be aliens in the stormtrooper corps, for that matter. Cad Bane hid in clonetrooper armor convincingly enough (at least until he bled all over the place), and that was back when they were all genetically identical. You could have any number of human shaped aliens in the ranks.

 

OK, I have finished A New Dawn. Let the comments commence!

Is the Empire creepier, scarier and more sinister without the sexism? For me, quite certainly. The way the Empire is presented in AND, for me, feels quite new and good more subversive. The anti-alien aspect is still there too.

 

This is where we differ in our opinions. I don't see a precedent in the films, or even The Clone Wars for that matter, that suggests significant female representation in the Empire or even the Republic Military before it. In turn I'm not sure how female Stormtroopers or female Capital Ship personnel somehow represents anything we have seen on screen, in official canon as it now stands, to this point.

I can totally accept that females/minorities are there now and will be a big part of the Empire moving forward in the new canon. What I can't accept is the "Greedo always shot first" style approach to the issue by many when looking at the situation from a somewhat historical, OOU perspective.

As CooperTFN has already mentioned, if your imagination wants it to be so, the Empire was far more diverse in the films than the Rebel Alliance was. To me something seems wrong with that picture, but to each there own.

 

Dude, foreign comic shops are the best part of traveling.

And I did Palatine Hill yesterday.

 

For me, just because we don't see something on screen doesn't mean it isn't feasible as an element. I have never felt there was a sexist slant to the Empire and the racisim is on both sides and really only shown once each. Like most things it's down to perception.

 

Pal... ooh, Palatine. I won't stop reading it wrong.

Edit: Wait, this isn't the social thread, I'm going there.

 

*Drops a "p" into "Palatine" and walks away, whistling.*

 

Wotta a revoltin' development this is:

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/sep/23/feminists-rally-emma-watson-4chan-nude-photo-threats

Such an inspired and stunning counter-critique, how did they ever come up with it?