The Viewpoint Podcast Extra: Margaret Corvid's New Statesman article.

I mentioned this in the latest edition of The Viewpoint Podcast, my good friend Margaret Corvid has writen an article for The New Statesman about men's rights activism, feminism, and the real problems that men face in a patriarchal society. 

This is the most intelligent and balanced article, that I have read in a long time, and the most balanced I've read on this subject ever.  It is well worth a read.

Madonna and Katy Perry raunch it up, dominatrix style

I rarely post about the celebrity obsessed side of the media, as to be honest, it mostly bores me.  It either builds them up or tears them down, and that’s pathetically predictable and predictably boring.

Another predictable story angle is when a celebrity does a raunchy photo shoot or video, the more culturally conservative elements, will go batty over the raunchiness, and hyper-criticise the shoot.

So, when we had the raunchy shoot that involved Madonna and Katy Perry in lots of leather and thigh high boots, we got it all.

Personally, I believe in artistic freedom, and that means doing things that maybe aren’t quite so family friendly, alongside the more family friendly material.  Adults are fans of these singers, as well as kids, so they should be allowed to do something that is designed to appeal to their more adult fans.  Besides, there’s something really refreshing about seeing Madonna being dominated by Katy Perry in a few of those shots.

Toronto Dominatrix challanges criminalising prostitution

Toronto's all news radio station 680 News reports that a Toronto dominatrix who was raided back in 1994, is pushing for a review into the criminalisation of prostitutionm in Canada.  She talks about her time as a streetwalker and as a dominatrix, and how she felt safer working out of her "bondage bungalow"

Whilst I certainly don't feel prostitution should be promoted, I feel that the women caught up in prostitution are sometimes victims and should not be criminalised.  Those who force women into prostitution however, should face the full weight of the law and justice on their shoulders.

The world of the Dominatrix is different again.  These women are providing a diferent kind of service, which by the way does not involve sex usually.  These are people who are in control of their lives and are not engaging in criminal activity.  I see no reason to attempt to criminalise them at all.

A form of legal prostitution should be considered, one that keeps both the workers and the clients safe from prying eyes of the more unscrupulous parts of the media and away from unwanted prying eyes of other kinds.  It also needs to keep the workers out of the hands of pimps who seek to profit from the workers and keep them poor. 

It's a complex matter, and has to be handled delicately, not with the usual political mentality of a bull in a china shop.  Whilst I support her aims, I fear that the usual political point scoring mentality will prevent a real solution to the problem emerging.  I have been wrong before, and I would love to be proved wrong this time, but I won't hold my breath waiting...

American TV Icon: Julie Newmar aka Catwoman

Laura Ingraham subbed for O'Reilly last night, so no Talking Points Memo.  However, O'Reilly had pre-recorded a segment with Julie Newmar, better known to us bat-fans as Catwoman from the 1960s TV series 'Batman'

Now, very little real time was spent on the actual interview, but I'll forgive them that.  They did show a lot of Julie Newmar's work both from Batman and from other material she had done before Batman.

 

 

Not only is Julie Newmar a TV icon for the role, but the whip-cracking feline fatale has gotta be regarded as one of the most iconic characters in television.  She was an on-screen dominatrix, long before that kind of fetishistic imagery was even considered to be fashionable.

Julie Newmar's Catwoman has to be one of the most indelible images in my whole life, and I have been a bat-fan and a Catwoman fan for more years than I care to remember.  I have to admit I also liked Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman in the 1992 move Batman Returns.

 

 

And unlike some, I completely got the Halle Berry 2004 version of Catwoman.  I still feel that her "Razzie" award was unfair, but full credit to her to actually turn up at that ceremony to accept it in person!  I understand she is only the third person person to ever accept a Razzie at the ceremony, and so far, the only actress to do so.

Make no mistake, Catwoman, the feline fatale, is iconic.  The catsuit, the whip, the way she dominates her male underlings, she is a dominatrix.  One that is as popular and enduring today as she has always been.  I dare say there will be other cat-women on screen over the years, but few will ever match the original performances on the 1960s TV series Batman, of Julie Newmar, the original screen Catwoman.

Putting the BOOT in!

I love reading Teri's Booted Up blog which is part of the Bootlovers.com site. I love boots, and gloves, the longer, the better in my book, and Teri is great for all my favourite pictures, but this time, I actually agree with her on something she says.

She posted a real vintage picture and then actually went off on a tangent about Rush Limbaugh and other "...dickless wonders..." who go off on one about "...femi-nazis..." as they call them, but comes the Universal Translator as fetishists.

I support every word she says. Read and inwardly digest.