*Sigh* Japan disappoints me again

Alternet is hosting this conversation between two clinical psychologists as to whether or not pornography is really harmful to its consumers or society. One of the writers says something that I found quite profound and essentially rang very true to me:

If there is one nearly universal common denominator in heterosexual porn it is that the women in it are generally portrayed as easily, constantly and powerfully sexually aroused, driven wild by whatever men want to do with and to them. For most men, this fact is crucial to their arousal, not because they're looking for a rationalization for their violent impulses but because they are guilty about feeling strong, selfish and masculine; feel overly responsible for and worried about women; and secretly believe that women are unhappy and relentlessly dissatisfied with men and their own lives. In the service of masturbation, these portrayals of "women in heat" momentarily reassure men against their fears, relieve their burdens and offer them a freedom they find lacking in relationships with real women.

That whole quote really rang true for me and I kinda hoped it was an accurate depiction of the genre. And then this morning I stumbled upon a manga this morning, a 230-page tome: Rape of the Warrior Princess, and in the lower right-hand corner it read, Volume 11. I don't find that topic particularly arousing, but... so much for the "nearly universal common denominator." It might be a common theme in Western smut, but it's hardly "universal." Not nearly.

Win!

I have the original on vinyl! And its follow-up album! How geeky is that? Thanks to vodou_chile for turning me on to: 88 lines about 44 fangirls.

Too fucking right!

It's a shame that the same party that was able to turn an attack launched by religious fundamentalist Saudis in Afghanistan into an excuse for invading secular Iraq can't find away to turn a mouth full of man meat into a patriotic act.