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raincitygirlTruly rage-inducing Daily Telegraph obituary for recently deceased Irish novelist Maeve Binchy is eviscerated at Feministe. Short version of the obit: even though Binchy never publicly expressed any unhappiness over being childless, CLEARLY she is less as a human and as a writer. Bonus points to the author for using Jane Austen as another example of a woman who could've obviously written deeper, more meaningful books if only she'd spawned. That last one takes chutzpah, I'll give the obituarist that.
Edited to Add: Actually, it turns out that Binchy DID want children, and she and her husband were plagued by infertility issues. Which doesn't actually make it any better. Is there anything tackier than hijacking an obit to proclaim that the subject was a worse writer because she didn't have kids? Yes, hijacking it when the subject was a worse writer (in Craig's view) involuntarily.
I think my mum has a girl crush on Gabby Douglas. She's been watching the women's gymnastics religiously, watching her interviews, etc. Please note that my mother is not even American. Of course, I don't think Canada was ever really expected to pick up any medals in women's gymnastics, so perhaps that's why the suspension of national hostilities.
Condom seizures as evidence of prostitution are undoing years of progress on AIDS prevention, according to the Guardian.
The Readercon thing is continuing to blow up. You know, I realize the Board were probably trying to do Rene Walling a favour by giving him a two year ban instead of the lifetime ban in their policy. But now that it's blown up all over the internet, his name recognition is much higher than if they'd just given him the lifetime ban. It's just one con, after all. Now tons of people at tons of cons associate his name with sexual harassment. Doncha just hate when you try and do something nice for someone and you actually end up making it worse for them?
Please note that I have NO problem with Walling suffering reputational issues. I just think it's darkly funny that the Board, in their very leniency towards him, triggered this shitstorm and probably ensured the next con he goes to everybody's whispering about him behind his back.
Edited to Add: Actually, it turns out that Binchy DID want children, and she and her husband were plagued by infertility issues. Which doesn't actually make it any better. Is there anything tackier than hijacking an obit to proclaim that the subject was a worse writer because she didn't have kids? Yes, hijacking it when the subject was a worse writer (in Craig's view) involuntarily.
I think my mum has a girl crush on Gabby Douglas. She's been watching the women's gymnastics religiously, watching her interviews, etc. Please note that my mother is not even American. Of course, I don't think Canada was ever really expected to pick up any medals in women's gymnastics, so perhaps that's why the suspension of national hostilities.
Condom seizures as evidence of prostitution are undoing years of progress on AIDS prevention, according to the Guardian.
The Readercon thing is continuing to blow up. You know, I realize the Board were probably trying to do Rene Walling a favour by giving him a two year ban instead of the lifetime ban in their policy. But now that it's blown up all over the internet, his name recognition is much higher than if they'd just given him the lifetime ban. It's just one con, after all. Now tons of people at tons of cons associate his name with sexual harassment. Doncha just hate when you try and do something nice for someone and you actually end up making it worse for them?
Please note that I have NO problem with Walling suffering reputational issues. I just think it's darkly funny that the Board, in their very leniency towards him, triggered this shitstorm and probably ensured the next con he goes to everybody's whispering about him behind his back.
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Date: 2012-08-04 02:56 pm (UTC)Also, WTF is up with a bunch of people (directors included) failing to see that Austen wasn't a romantic? I figured that one out at 14.
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Date: 2012-08-04 05:10 pm (UTC)I had no plans to buy Amanda Craig's books before, simply because I'd never heard of her. Now I *actively* have no plans to buy her books. If not for the tackiness, then for the misreading of Jane Austen.