Flanagan Strikes Again
Dec. 2nd, 2008 08:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yendiThere's a lot of stupidity in this essay by Caitlin Flanagan on Twilight.
That's pretty much a given, seeing that the essay is by Flanagan. Likewise, it shouldn't be a surprise that the real point of the essay is Yet Another Example of how Fucked Up Flanagan Is. That said, there are many special examples of stupidity, as she continues to think that she has any insight whatsoever into contemporary teen girls by virtue of once having been a teen girl herself (a trait she shares with billions of others, most of whom are a lot less self-involved than she is).
That said, my favorite part (although far from the dumbest in the essay) is this bit:
"Reading the book, I sometimes experienced what I imagine long-married men must feel when they get an unexpected glimpse at pornography: slingshot back to a world of sensation that, through sheer force of will and dutiful acceptance of life’s fortunes, I thought I had subdued."
Yes, Cait, it's true. Being married means giving up porn, and even giving up sex. All of us hubbies have this vague recollection of porn, and when we accidentally encounter it -- say, after clicking on the wrong item in some spam, or while raiding our children's room looking for their secret pot stash -- we instantly flash back, like Nick Nolte in The Prince of Tides, to a time when we were younger, more innocent, and on a voyage of discovery towards the magical concept of an orgasm.
That's pretty much a given, seeing that the essay is by Flanagan. Likewise, it shouldn't be a surprise that the real point of the essay is Yet Another Example of how Fucked Up Flanagan Is. That said, there are many special examples of stupidity, as she continues to think that she has any insight whatsoever into contemporary teen girls by virtue of once having been a teen girl herself (a trait she shares with billions of others, most of whom are a lot less self-involved than she is).
That said, my favorite part (although far from the dumbest in the essay) is this bit:
"Reading the book, I sometimes experienced what I imagine long-married men must feel when they get an unexpected glimpse at pornography: slingshot back to a world of sensation that, through sheer force of will and dutiful acceptance of life’s fortunes, I thought I had subdued."
Yes, Cait, it's true. Being married means giving up porn, and even giving up sex. All of us hubbies have this vague recollection of porn, and when we accidentally encounter it -- say, after clicking on the wrong item in some spam, or while raiding our children's room looking for their secret pot stash -- we instantly flash back, like Nick Nolte in The Prince of Tides, to a time when we were younger, more innocent, and on a voyage of discovery towards the magical concept of an orgasm.