#by coming up with strategies via sex metaphors

[wildflower-otome]

Boris Airay: 'As I thought, in times like these, it's better to get right to it. The queen may be a high class lady, but in the end, she's still a girl.' 'I'm the type to immediately go after the girls I like. Like doing ~~~ and ~~~ right from the start.' Nightmare Gottschalk: '.....!' Boris Airay: 'So, because the rook's here.....Mr Stationmaster will probably block with his bishop, but that's all part of the plan.' 'The truth is, I can aim for the queen from here. Once the stationmaster's queen can only move forward, I'll come in from the side.....' 'From the front is fine too, but doing it from the side and back is pretty good too. Going like ~~~ and ~~~, like you're doing something naughty.....~' Boris Airay: '——Anyway, something like that? Right, Stationmaster?' Nightmare Gottschalk: '~~~-.....!!' Nightmare Gottschalk: Y-Y-You...! I can't believe you! Not only thinking something so indecent, but saying it out loud!' Nightmare Gottschalk: 'A-a-a-aren't you embarrassed, don't you feel ashamed at all-?!!' Boris Airay: 'Hm~? Not really~?'

[irnbraw]

Is this Nippy’s Denouement..?

So Salmond will testify and speak to the written evidence he has submitted to the Committee of Inquiry.  Will his central allegations. - that she lied to Parliament as part of her attempts to cover up her conspiracy to stitch him up -  fatally wound Sturgeon’s premiership?  It should (whether Salmond is right about a conspiracy or not - see below).

Is the story suffienctly clear for the public to get it..?

Part of the problem has been the welter of sources all, seemingly, with only part of the story. And when is has been the subject of any effort to make it into whole cloth it’s often done by a questionably biased player. (AND Lord knows no comprehensive or comprehensible truth can possibly emerge out of the Fabiani Fiasco committee)! However the issue that has now clearly been established is that we have a tainted judicial system in Scotland. Some might baulk as such an assertion, and not long ago one might have hesitated to make such a broad accusation.  But If even a workable percentage of Salmond’s accusations are true - taken together with the unfathomably malicious prosecution of the Rangers’s administrators - Scotland’s prosecution, police, civil service and even judiciary are all tainted. Whole Cloth (SNP-Tartan)

On that ‘whole cloth’ mentioned, this blog has republished two sources of such accounts that both seek to establish a complete picture of the Salmond-stitch-up. Both are separatist sources and so (as the koran might say) are usually worth only 1/3 the consideration of a rational observer. Still, the accounts hold together remarkably well - and appear to be corroborating of each other. So, it simply may in fact be that the utterly venal and untrammeled sharp edge of Sturgeon’s ire is merely much, much worse that we ever assumed. 

The plot goes awry.  So, Sturgeon sought to kill off any resurgent Salmond ambitions by miring him in scandal and tarring him as a sex pest.  Things got out of hand and, through her failures to conspire properly, Salmond ends up being prosecuted (not just Civil Service censured).  But that prosecution failed - as it was bound to as it was based upon ‘false accusations’.  Central to the conspiracy storyline is the allegation that the witnesses who came forward to accuse Salmond at the beginning are all linked to Sturgeon. That fact is well known inside SNatsi circles and it is merely the traditional confidentiality of accusers’ identities that prevents this from being obvious to all. Further, there was an active scouring through the separatist ranks to find women who would be prepared to make an accusation. Pressed into service here were civil servants and the Scottish police. Again if even partially true this is horrific. This blog did not follow the details of the Salmond trial itself but understands, from various accounts, that the Crown’s case was so full of holes that it was, in parts, laughable. For example, circulating in SNatsi quarters, is the assertion that the central accuser, the one upon whose testimony on the charge of attempted rape rested, was not even in the same city as a Salmond at the time alleged. Whatever the ins and outs, as we now all know, the trial was a complete flop as a prosecutorial matter. That says something, nae, it says a lot.

Sturgeon - Conspirator or Defender of Women?

So this still was only about Salmond, right?  But now the questions are swirling round Sturgeon... The credibility issue at the core of Sturgeon’s ‘defense’ that she had no role in the investigation or anything else is key. She has known Salmond for longer (subject to check) than her own husband. Yet news was brought to her - IN HER OWN HOME - that this man - her constant friend, colleague and mentor of decades - might have been groping women for years (including time while she served as his Deputy in government and party) and that numerous of these women are about to seek redress against him. And this, all this, she quite simply forgot …!  Hands up who believes that... So if she was lying about what she knew and when - it can only be to cover up.  To cover what though? Option (1) Salmond’s guilt? (given their mutual open hostility its now clear she was not trying to cover FOR him!) Or Option (2) her role in the fatally flawed process civil service led process to hang him out to dry (via a Code of Conduct - coincidentally written after the initial ‘forgotten’ meeting) that failed to get him but which then rolled into a police inquiry, a civil case that was lost and ultimately a prosecution, that also failed.  Conspiracy not sounding so fanciful now, is it?

Or, to bend over backwards and give her every benefit of the doubt, is she just an innocent abroad, trying to do right by wronged women? Hardly. In fact her cynical use of ’these poor women’ is all the more reprehensible for its deviousness. It is meant to appeal to the uninformed and solicit the concern of any reasonable person who can all-to-readily-believe Salmond might just be a monster. The first problem for her is that in such a central thesis exposes her.  It reveals that she comes from the cave of such monsters. She ‘grew up with’ Salmond, learned politics from him, apes him to this day in her style of government.  If he really was a monster all along - what does that say about the monster’s mentee, devotee and deputy...?

She knew literally NOTHING of this or even of any such allegations..? Thats - in a literal and metaphorical sense, incredible. Especially as we know a) she lies habitually, b) other internal matters of disgrace carried on for years without the public knowing (such as the Derek Mackay drunkenness) and c) on this specific subject - there is evidence of past allegations that went nowhere but were known inside the SNP (the Edinburgh Airport police reports). 

But let us assume for a second she is not tainted by the training he gave her, the lives they ‘shared’ over the years and that she has done nothing but act to see ‘justice’ for wronged female accusers.  Even in those circumstances how, in God’s name, could she come out of this unscathed (even if all her words were to be believed). The idea that she knew nothing but that when she DID learn of multiple allegations she did her job so poorly that these women were betrayed again is fanciful but damning anyway..!

‘It Wiznae Me’

Her excuses to avoid any culpability (on either the conspiracy charge or the implied cover up for Salmond) rely on two items - this entire matter is so arcane as to defy easy communication or sound bite allegation (save for “misleading parliament” and - ‘so what’ say most of the cult). Second, there is no clear single ’smoking gun’ so she can weasel her words, parse phrases and rely on leaving things to be lost in a miasma of red herrings (not to mix too many fish names...). Her strategy? Delay and obfuscate to delay further.  If this can all be played and played until the elections she will have won and we may never know any of the truth. How many Scots will, however, remain convinced that the First Minister is personally capable of orchestrating a major criminal conspiracy, a perversion of the course of justice and getting away? Thereby she is holing the Scottish judicial system below the waterline...  This is among the most corrosive of outcomes.

This damns both the SNatsis AND the current Devolution Dispensation For unionists these matters have multiple implications. Not only should it wound Sturgeon and her allies, it should also undermine their ability to appoint placemen/women throughout the Scottish state. (It may, unfortunately, also elevate Salmond but that factor can be blunted). 

The biggest consequence of this should be that the United Kingdom government is required to step in.  Westminster must appoint the appropriate figures to investigate all potential corruptions that have occurred. (The groundwork for this is already laid as the Scottish Parliament has only this month debated the need for the Rangers’s administrators malicious prosecution to be addressed by a non-Scots judge).  This need for ‘federal intervention’ reinforces the decidedly parochial nature of all of this corruption and undermines the various claims of the SNazis In the most effective way imaginable.  Crown Office, Civil Service processes, the McParliament, its committees and toothless performance, Ministerial Codes, the Police - ALL MUST BE REVIEWED. 

Turns out - as far as the SNP are concerned - they are too stupid. They are too wee and they are making us to poor.

We must now be looking for the strategic advantage that turns all of this SNP train wreck into a mortal wound for the separatist cause and the current home-rule dispensation. “Reform” must be our response. All this now demands that Scotland be reformed - the devolution set-up included..!

The SNatsis may just have busily woven the rope to hang themselves.

[tompatel95]

Aphrodite and Brands.

Happy Summer my lucky readers. The sun is out; ‘tis the season of barbeques, beaches and the growing extensional panic due to the climate crisis. Interestingly, July is also the month of the Aphrodisia and the Adonia – twin festivals celebrating the Great Goddess of Love herself, Aphrodite. Now, I know what you’re thinking; the link between Aphrodite’s ancient libations and brand purpose is glaringly clear, Captain Obvious. But, hear me out. Although to our modern ideas, Aphrodite is the raunchy deity of sex and beauty, she was so much more to the Greeks. Aphrodite represented unity, union and empathy. That last quality is what makes Aphrodite truly relevant to our conversation today – the importance of empathy within social purpose.

As an Olympian, Aphrodite had a retinue of lesser deities and demigods representing the various facets of her character. The most famous of her attendants has to be Eros, better known by his Roman name, Cupid. Eros is particularly appropriate to us right now – he is the personification of queer love. This Pride, there has been a growing backlash against corporations co-opting LGBTQIA+ causes and culture; seen by many as nothing more than a cash. Indeed, there’s a litany of dank memes which mock how organisations abandon queer causes once June is over. 

Interestingly, Buzzfeed News and Whitman Insight Strategies did a national poll for Pride and 76% of responses believed corporate brands were welcome to partake in Pride festivities. This is a direct contrast to the poignant articles printed in HuffPost and the Guardian, criticising the commerciality of Pride, saying that the blatant capitalism runs against the spirit of the original Stonewall riots.

So, what do we make of this? Let’s turn our attention back to Kypris herself, Aphrodite. As Aphrodite Pandemos, she bonded the Grecian cities together, presiding over civic unity. And in her elevated aspect, Aphrodite Ourania, the Cyprian maintained cosmic harmony, binding the metaphysical representations of the Gods together. She is empathy personified, and it is this empathy which we should heed.

Case in point, look at Smirnoff. The vodka brand has been supporting the LGBTQIA+ community for decades, well before it became fashionable. They’ve donated half a million dollars to the Human Rights Campaign and have pledged to donate another million dollars by 2021. Their gorgeous Love Wins bottles are back and a dollar is donated to the Human Rights Campaign with everyone sold. Smirnoff’s campaign stars a prominent transwoman of colour, Laverne Cox and celebrates LGBTQIA+ communities around the globe. As we can see, empathy forms the root of their purpose; a legitimate concern to celebrate and support queer causes, both within and outside of Pride Month. Aphrodite Approved

Aphrodite also has another aspect; Aphrodite en Kepois. As Aphrodite ‘Of the Gardens,’ Kypris monitors fertility, both of women and, according to some scholars, the harvest. You’re probably thinking “bloody hell you’re really reaching with this Aphrodite metaphor now.” You may be right but listen. Our Love Goddess enjoyed a certain proto-body-politic with the earth, a divine link between humanity and the earth (although other chthonic deities such as Demeter and Persephone personify this more succinctly). Aphrodite en Kepois is the celestial empathetic link between man and earth, and we should honour this bond through authentic environmental purpose.

A particularly didactic company is Bodyshop. Their brand purpose is intrinsically linked with their brand story, making them a legitimately good company. For instance, they launched Community Trade in 1987 which is their commitment to trading fairly with suppliers and in exchange they offer good trading practices and independence building prices. A good example of this in practice is their shea butter, which comes from the Tungteiya Women’s Association in northern Ghana since 1994. Bodyshop ay a fair price and pay a premium to help empower these women and help them to achieve an independent income, increased confidence and respect. This premium also helps fund community projects that positively impact the lives of 49,000 people across 11 villages every year. These community projects include building 7 schools that educate 1,200 students and enabling access for the community to safe water and health centres.

David Attenborough has highlighted the negative impact of constricting spaces on wildlife, so Bodyshop is dedicated to rewilding via bio-bridges which link various natural parks together and help local communities live more sustainably. The company is also virulently against animal testing and fighting against plastic pollution. Bodyshop’s entire stance can be summed up with a quote by its founder, Dame Anita Roddick – “My passionate belief is that business can be fun, it can be conducted with love and a powerful force for good.” Aphrodite Approved

To conclude, what have we learnt today? Firstly, I know a lot about Aphrodite. But, more crucially, the importance of empathy within social purpose. Consumers are canny – they can sniff out inauthentic brand purpose a mile off. Just see the criticism certain brands have faced this Pride. Social purpose isn’t an impossible mountain to climb – as long as a genuine sense of humanity guides its core, you’ll struggle to go wrong. 

[media-studying]

QUEERBAITING: BAITING A QUEER AUDIENCE WITH THE PROMISE OF REPRESENTATION?

So, I finally got around to translating my term paper on Queerbaiting. I initially intended on translating it all manually, but ended up not having the time for it. Finally I decided on using DeepL for the translation, as it works great for academic writing and can handle german sentence structure.

This paper was written in September 2018 and turned in on September 31st. It was graded with 1.3 on the german academic grading scale (”very good” or ~3.7 in the US).

Introduction

Although the phenomenon of queer baiting made its way into media research a few years ago, the number of publications written on it remains manageable. A keyword search provides 125 academic texts containing the term "Queerbaiting" and almost exclusively from the last 5 years.[1]

Nevertheless, queer baiting does not seem to be a topic unknown to the non-academic general public. A search with common search engines and the keyword "Queerbaiting" yields 150,000-175,000 results [2], including Wikipedia entries, videos and articles in online magazines. In the English-speaking world there are various online articles that deal with this phenomenon - often in relation to television series such as Once Upon A Time (cf. Langfelder 2016) or The 100 (cf. Shakeri 2017). But there are also German-language texts on this topic (cf. Sky 2018). Even in the Lexikon der Filmbegriffe of the University of Kiel there is an entry on this subject (cf. Schlichter 2017). Queerbaiting seems to be a topic that repeatedly sparks discourse.

In social media, users can exchange views on this topic and there are different opinions on what can be considered queer baiting and what not. In preparation for this work, I have asked online for examples of queer baiting in order to extend the selection of the object of investigation by the examples I know personally.[3] The following answers show a dissatisfaction with the current amount of representation of queer [4] relationships in film and television. Among the mentioned examples were the already mentioned television series The 100, the series Supergirl, Riverdale, Pretty Little Liars and 13 Reasons Why, as well as the cross-media Harry Potter franchise.

But queer baiting is not limited to the protracted storylines of television series; this phenomenon can also be observed in games like Life Is Strange or films like the Pitch Perfect trilogy.

The present work deals with the term queer baiting and the related concepts. In this context, the representation of LGBTQ+ identities in American Hollywood film will also be discussed. In addition, two social media posts will be examined as concrete examples, which served as advertising for the film Pitch Perfect 3. The work will answer the question why queer baiting can be so frustrating for LGBTQ+ viewers and which mechanisms make queer baiting possible.

[1] Via Google Scholar, as of 24.09.2018.

[2]  Via Google: 153,000 results, via Yahoo: 175,000 results, via Bing: 175,000 results, as of 24.09.2018.

[3] This took place via a post in the anonymous social network Jodel, in a channel (@girlsgirlsgirls) in which primarily LGBTQ+ topics concerning women are discussed. The respective post can be found under the link: https://share.jodel.com/post?postId=5b210941c3c100000f3bced8&channel=other&_branch_match_id=572700582120145397. 

[4] Queer as generic term for identities and sexualities falling into the LGBTQ+ spectrum.

Terminology

Queerbaiting is a term coined by fans, whose meaning has changed over the years (cf. Nordin 2015: 4f.). Also in its established meaning there are different approaches of how the term can be interpreted.

Eve Ng defines queer baiting as a practice originating from producers that exploits the interest of recipients in narratives with LGBTQ+ themes without actually fulfilling these expectations.

I use the term queerbaiting to refer to situations where those officially associated with a media text court viewers interested in LGBT narratives - or become aware of such viewers - and encourage their interest in the media text without the text ever definitively confirming the nonheterosexuality of the relevant characters. (Ng 2017: 1.2)

By this, however, she also understands narratives that contain LGBTQ+ themes, but where there is a discrepancy between the audience's expectations and actual representation in the media text. It is precisely this discrepancy between the expectations built up and the actual text that constitutes queer baiting for her (cf. Ng 2017: 1.2). These expectations of the audience arise through both intratextual references and the "producer paratext", which contains information on the text from the producers (this can be any form of extratextual promotion from the producers) as well as through so-called "queer contextuality" - the summation of the audience's previous experiences with the media representation of queer figures (cf. ibid.: 1.3, 2.5).

While Ng uses her definition very openly, Judith Fathallah is much more precise:

Queerbaiting may be defined as a strategy by which writers and networks attempt to gain the attention of queer viewers via hints, jokes, gestures, and symbolism suggesting a queer relationship between two characters, and then emphatically denying and laughing off the possibility. (Fathallah 2014: 491)

In this definition, the focus is less on the relationship between producer and recipient, instead it defines queer baiting via intratextual cues and codes, and the intratextual rejection and/or mockery of a queer relationship.

The core of the phenomenon remains the same in both definitions: First, references to a non-heterosexual relationship are scattered, be it in the text or in the paratext - a queer reading is promoted - this leads to expectations on the part of the recipients, these expectations are then not fulfilled in the text, the relationship is not realized or possibly even the possibility of a queer relationship is dismissed as absurd. Queerbaiting is therefore a concept to be understood literally: one is baited with a queer relationship.

While queer baiting is a rather recent phenomenon (cf. Nordin 2015: 66), queer readings of media texts go back further. The queer interpretation of the relationship between the characters Spock and Captain Kirk of the Star Trek franchise demonstrably dates to the 1980s and beyond (cf. Jenkins 2006: 90f.). This interpretation of media texts - "queer reading" - stems from the lack of adequate representation:

A queer reading is constructed by a reader who, denied the obvious manifestation of homosexual desire, in a context in which heterosexual desire is normalized, seeks to identify the codes by which authors have indicated passionate relationships between same-sex members of their texts or have created available metaphors through cross-species relationships. (Mendelsohn 2002: 45)

Queer baiting is thus always connected to queer reading, since it would not be possible without this reading by the viewer - only the willingness to regard certain codes as homoerotic subtexts enables the systematic exploitation of these by producers.

The definition of queer baiting used in this work as a deliberate economically motivated tactic is based on the definition of the authors Guerrero-Pico, Establés and Ventura:

[...] 'queerbaiting' [is] a tactic whereby media producers suggest a homoerotic subtext between characters as a means to improve or maintain a show's ratings without actualizing or consummating such a relationship beyond suggestion and innuendo. (Guerrero-Pico/Establés/Ventura 2018: 313)

Although this definition explicitly refers to television productions, it can, in my opinion, also be applied to the example used in this work, which is the last iteration of a film trilogy that takes up subtext established in earlier films.

If one speaks of Queerbaiting, it cannot be avoided to also deal with Bury-Your-Gays, a phenomenon, which often appears in connection with Queerbaiting and represents a similar problem. Bury-Your-Gays is the recurring motif that queer figures in media texts often come to a violent end. In this way, despite the existence of these figures, a heteronormative narrative is promoted by denying queer figures a "happy end" and thus placing queer identities in a negative context (cf. Waggoner 2017: 3). Examples are Chloe in Life Is Strange[5] and Lexa in The 100 [6] . Since queer female characters, mostly lesbian women, often find a violent end in the media, one also speaks in this context of the "Dead Lesbian Syndrome" (cf. Guerrero-Pico/Establés/Ventura 2018: 312). Ng regards this phenomenon (without explicitly naming it) as a form of queer baiting instead of an independent phenomenon (cf. Ng 2017: 1.2).

Guerrero-Pico, Establés and Ventura examine the reactions of fans to the death of the serial character Lexa more closely. Among other things, they were able to observe an online movement called "LGBT Fans Deserve Better", which was primarily concerned with the representation of lesbian and bisexual women on television. This included online attacks on the producers of the series The 100, mainly via Twitter, as well as the wider context of negative fan practices, which for the authors fall under the term "fan-tagonism" [7] (cf. Guerrero-Pico/Establés/Ventura 2018: 312).

[5] If the player has chosen one of the two ends. Also Chloe's ex-girlfriend Rachel, who is already dead at the beginning of the game. 

[6] Further examples are Sara Lance in Arrow, Tara Maclay in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Hugh Culber in Star Trek: Discovery and all queer characters ever released in The Vampire Diaries. A list can be found on the website Does the dog die? (https://www.doesthedogdie.com/#topicTable ).

[7] A Portmanteau from "fan" and "antagonism". 

Representation

One aspect of the debate on queer baiting is the question of the representation of queer persons and relationships in film and television. Why is this representation important? And if representation is important, is queer baiting a problem for them?

The prevailing opinion in literature is that representation is important because it serves identity formation and affirmation. Through (positive) representation, negative feelings concerning one's own identity can be overcome and social isolation can be reduced (cf. Guerrero-Pico/Establés/Ventura 2018: 314). What is regarded as satisfactory representation changes over time, what was still regarded as positive representation in the 1990s would no longer be accepted as produced by many people today (cf. Nordin 2015: 63).

Whether queer baiting causes a representative damage is difficult to answer, Brennan sees no damage caused by queer baiting, instead he sees the creative potential for fans who create transformative works (cf. Brennan 2018: 202). However, the indignation caused by queer baiting cannot be denied, so it should be reconsidered whether subjectively perceived damage is not caused by the absence of representation. Guerrero-Pico, Establés and Ventura summarise the views of participants in the "LGBT Fans Deserve Better" movement as follows:

Queerbaiting is perceived, therefore, as a commercial trivialization of the problems that affect lesbian and bisexual fans, who do not find a normalized and healthy representation of their affective and sexual identities in hegemonic discourses (Guerrero-Pico/Establés/Ventura 2018: 327).

While the evaluation of representation in the viewer is subjective, there are tools to create a comparable basis for discussion. One of these tools is the so-called Vito Russo Test. This test, developed by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and named after its founder, is based on the Bechdel Test. For a film to pass the Vito Russo test, three conditions must be true:

The film must contain at least one character that is recognizably gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and/or queer.

This character must not be primarily defined by sexuality and/or gender identity.

The character must be involved in the plot of the film to the extent that his or her absence would have a significant effect on it - he or she must be of significance. (cf. glaad.org 2018a)

The organisation GLAAD also publishes an annual report entitled "Studio Responsibility Index" which examines and classifies the LGBTQ+ representation in the films of the previous year of the seven largest Hollywood film studios[8].

For the 2017 film year, 12.8% of the films examined contained at least one LGBTQ+ character, of which 64% were gay men. Overall, 71% of the LGBTQ+ characters were men and 29% women (cf. Glaad.org 2018b). Of these films, 64% passed the Vito Russo test (cf. Glaad.org 2018a).

The film Pitch Perfect 3 and the studio Universal Pictures (short: Universal) dealt with in the following section can also be found in this report. Of the 14 films published by Universal, 4 included LGBTQ+ persons, so that Universal published the most LGBTQ+ inclusive films of the studios surveyed, of which only one passed the Vito Russo Test - Get Out. Pitch Perfect 3 did not pass the test, despite the presence of a lesbian character[9] (cf. Glaad.org 2018c).

[8] 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate Entertainment, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures, Walt Disney Studios and Warner Brothers. 

[9] The character Cynthia (Ester Dean) is only a background character.  "Ship": short for "relationship".

Pitch Perfect 3

The Pitch Perfect Trilogy is about a fictional university's A-Capella group The Barden Bellas, which protagonist Beca (Anna Kendrick) joins in the first film of the trilogy. The sequels play about 3 years after their predecessors and show The Barden Bellas during and after their time at the university.

The example I chose coincidentally shares a name with the video game Life is Strange: Chloe (Brittany Snow). This was connected by fans with the name Beca to the Portmanteau "Bechloe". This "ship name"[10] is used by fans to refer to the romantically interpreted relationship between the two characters. This relationship, however, takes place exclusively in the subtext and parate text of the films. The latter will be examined further here.

Already in 2016 Kendrick spoke in an interview with the LGBTQ+ magazine The Advocate about the relationship between the two characters and called it a quasi lesbian relationship[11] (see Advocate.com 2016). In the same interview she indicated that the homoerotic subtext perceptible in the second film was intended by the production side as a reaction to the queer interpretation of the relationship through fans (ibid.)[12].

Online marketing for Pitch Perfect 3 also plays with this interpretation of the relationship between the two characters. A commercial clip distributed in the Snapchat app shows Kendrick and Snow approaching each other, giving the impression they're going to kiss next. Instead, they turn to the camera and Kendrick asks the viewer to move up for more (in the app, linked websites or additional information can be accessed via this function). Due to the way the app works, previous content can no longer be accessed, but the video was saved by a user and published via Twitter[13] (Figure 1).

(Figure 1)

From the user's brief commentary it can be concluded that she felt a certain resentment about this type of marketing. In the reactions of other users to this post, the term "queer baiting" already appears repeatedly, so it can be assumed that at least some of the users regard this video, or the film to which it refers, as such.

The video plays with the expectation of viewers who emerge from a coded body language. Due to the physical closeness and the placement of the two actresses' hands, a pictorial language emerges with which otherwise romantic relationships are represented. The invitation to the viewer insinuates that a kiss is possible and that perhaps there is room in the film being advertised. The viewer who is interested in queer narratives thus gets an incentive to see the film, which, however, does not fulfil this expectation.

Another video[14] published on the Twitter account "Universal PicturesUK" shows scenes from the film Pitch Perfect 3, including a scene in which the seemingly naked characters Beca and Chloe stand behind one another, a scene in which the two characters are again shown over which red hearts have been overlaid digitally this time, and a scene in which Chloe puts her hands on Beca's chest to push her aside and then grabs her further, observed by the character Aubrey (Anna Camp).

(Figure 2)

The video is accompanied by the comment: "One day left ... Will Bechloe ever happen 👯? #PitchPerfect3 in cinemas tomorrow." (Figure 2). Not only is a very clear visual language used here, the term "Bechloe" is also used in a targeted manner, thus revealing an awareness of the possible queer dimension of the relationship. The queer reading is taken up and reinforced by the montage of the film scenes. In the context of the film, however, these are treated more as jokes than as opening up an actual romantic dimension, for which the film was criticized by GLAAD, among others (cf. Glaad.org 2018c).

On the basis of these examples, three observations can be made which answer the question of whether this is queer baiting:

The producers were aware of the queer reading of the material.

The producers used this reading to build up the expectations and hopes of the audience and to give them an incentive to see the film in the cinema - aware that these expectations would not be fulfilled.

The exploitation of this queer reading had no negative effect on the economic performance of the film, Pitch Perfect 3 was more successful than the first part of the trilogy, although not as successful as the second part (cf. Boxofficemojo.com).

These observations confirm that the two videos are queer baiting as defined by Guerrero-Pico, Establés and Ventura. In addition to some reactions to social media platforms and some texts published online, a media outcry seems to have failed to materialize; no "Shitstorm"[15] could be observed in this example, as in the Bury Your Gays trope.

[10] "Ship”: short for relationship.

[11] „I mean, our characters are pretty much in a lesbian relationship. As far as we’re concerned, they’re secretly in love.” (Advocate.com 2016).

[12] „If people didn’t think it was cute, we wouldn’t have pushed that chemistry even further in Pitch Perfect 2.” (ibid.).

[13] The video can be found under the title: "Twitter - megs" in the appendix.

[14] In the appendix under "Twitter - Universal PicturesUK". 

[15] Shitstorm: „Unter Shitstorms werden in der Forschung krisenhafte Ereignisse verstanden, die ihren Ausgangspunkt in sozialen Medien haben und im Wesentlichen durch Empörung statt sachlicher Kritik gekennzeichnet sind.“ (Pleil & Bastian 2017: 141). "In research, shitstorms are understood as crisis events that have their starting point in social media and are essentially characterized by indignation instead of objective criticism".

Conclusion

In summary it can be said that queer baiting is an economically motivated tactic, the intention is not to represent queer figures and relationships, but to win as many paying recipients as possible. However, it is precisely this representation that is important in the process of identity formation, especially among young people (cf. Guerrero-Pico/Establés/Ventura 2018: 314).

Queerbaiting works because there is already a lack of and - in parts of the audience - a desire for satisfactory queer representation, which leads to queer readings of media texts. In this subaudience there is also the will to consume and spend money for media products in which LGBTQ+ representation exists. Since in most cases this 'need' is not satisfied, or the representation is not long-lasting (Bury your gays), the discrepancy between expectation and actual media text described by Ng (see above) arises - resulting in frustration and disappointment. The examples chosen for this work show that the homoerotic subtext and the queer reading of the media text is indeed desired by producers and consciously used. Irrespective of how queer baiting is ethically judged, it can also be argued that in most cases it is a targeted false advertising, since it implicitly advertises content that is not reflected in the media text.

Since most of the recently produced films do not even meet the minimum of queer representation described in the Vito Russo Test, the use of queer baiting is unlikely to change much in the foreseeable future.

Sources

Advocate.com (2016). The A-List Interview: Anna Kendrick. Website. Advocate.com. https://www.advocate.com/current-issue/2016/11/01/list-interview-anna-kendrick (27.09.2018).

Boxofficemojo.com. Pitch Perfect Trilogy Movies at the Box Office - Box Office Mojo. Website. Boxofficemojo.com. https://www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=pitchperfectseries.htm (27.09.2018).

Brennan, Joseph (2018). “Queerbaiting: The ‘playful’ possibilities of homoeroticism”. International Journal of Cultural Studies. 21.2. p. 189-206.

Fathallah, Judith (2015). „Moriarty’s Ghost: Or the Queer Disruption of BBC’ Sherlock”. Television & New Media. 16.5. p. 490-500.

Glaad.org (2018a). The Vito Russo Test (2018). Website. GLAAD. https://www.glaad.org/sri/2018/vitorusso (26.09.2018).

Glaad.org (2018b). Overview of Findings (2018). Website. GLAAD. https://www.glaad.org/sri/2018/overview (26.09.2018).

Glaad.org (2018c). Universal Pictures & Focus Features. Website. GLAAD. https://www.glaad.org/sri/2018/universal-pictures (26.09.2018).

Guerrero-Pico, Mar / María-José Establés / Rafael Ventura (2018). “Killing off Lexa: ‘Dead Lesbian Syndrome’ and intra-fandom management of toxic fan practices in an online queer community”. Participations: Journal of Audience & Reception Studies. 15.1. p. 311-333.

Jenkins, Henry (2006). “’Out of the Closet and into the Universe’: Queers and Star Trek”. Fans, Bloggers, and Gamers: Exploring Participatory Culture. New York: NYU Press. p. 89-112.

Langfelder, Natasia (2016). “Let's End Queerbaiting in 2016”. Website. AfterEllen. https://www.afterellen.com/tv/471593-lets-end-queerbaiting-2016 (24.09.208).

Megs (2017). „I have HAD IT“. Tweet (@badassbeca). 21.11.2017. 21:10. https://twitter.com/badassbeca/status/933200998574804992 (26.09.2018).

Mendelsohn, Farah (2002). „Surpassing the Love of Vampires: Or Why/How a Queer Reading of the Buffy/Willow Relationship Is Denied”. Fighting the Forces. Wilcox, Rhonda V./David Lavery. Oxford: Rowman &Littlefield Publishers. p. 45-60.

Ng, Eve (2017). “Between Text, Paratext, and Context: Queerbaiting and the Contemporary Media Landscape”. Transformative Works and Cultures. Vol. 24. Online. https://doi.org/10.3983/twc.2017.0917 (24.09.2018).

Nordin, Emma (2015). From Queer Reading to Queerbaiting: the battle over polysemic text and the power of hermeneutics. Master Thesis. University Stockholm. Online: http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A839802&dswid=2391 (25.09.2018).

Pleil, Thomas / Matthias Bastian (2017). „Soziale Medien in der externen Organisationskommunikation“. Handbuch Soziale Medien. Schmidt, Jan-Hinrik / Monika Taddicken (Hrsg.). Wiesbaden: Springer VS. p. 129-149.

Schlichter, Ansgar (2017). „queerbaiting - Lexikon der Filmbegriffe.“ Website. Filmlexikon.uni-kiel.de. http://filmlexikon.uni-kiel.de/index.php?action=lexikon&tag=det&id=9334 (24.09.2018).

Shakeri, Sima (2017). “Bury Your Gays,' Queerbaiting, And TV's LGBTQ Problem”. Website. HuffPost Canada. https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/06/30/queerbaiting-bury-your-gays-tv_a_23005000/ (24.09.2018).

Sky (2018). „Queerbaiting – Der trügerische Schein einer Repräsentation | Geekgeflüster“. Website. Geekgeflüster. https://geekgefluester.de/queerbaiting-der-truegerische-schein-einer-repraesentation (24.09.2018)

Universal PicturesUK (2017). „One day left … Will Bechloe ever happen 👯? #PitchPerfect3 in cinemas tomorrow.“. Tweet (@universaluk). 19.12.2017. 10:00. https://twitter.com/universaluk/status/943179139590139905 (26.09.2018).

Waggoner, Erin B. (2017). “Bury Your Gays and Social Media Fan Response: Television, LGBTQ Representation, and Communitarian Ethics”. Journal of Homosexuality. Online. (02.11.2017) https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2017.1391015 (29.09.2018)

[theculturedmarxist]

In this long-read article for The New Pretender Jenny Gunnarsson Payne offers an in-depth analysis of the emergence and power of so-called “Anti-Gender”  movements and campaigns both here in Europe and Globally. Situating these critics of “gender ideology” as part of a larger populist moment across Europe, and as a partial response to the crisis of neo-liberal hegemony on the continent, Gunnarsson Payne argues that the politics of sex and gender are integral to any articulation of “the people”. As such, this article seeks to ‘shed further light on the role that anti-gender politics plays in Europes populist moment’, whilst also charting points of resistance, counter-struggle and cause for optimism, not least when we look beyond western Europe.

Gender ideology as a populist challenge

There has to be an “us”, because now there is a “them”.[1]

In recent years, the idea that there is something called gender ideology has become increasingly influential in political life, on a global scale. Demonstrations are held in protest of it, authoritarian-minded leaders are mobilising it to win elections, sexual and reproductive rights are rolled back because they are seen as a result of it, and academic freedom is being impinged because some disciplines are seen as propagating it. This idea can be found in the rhetoric of a diverse range of conservative Christian groups, populist right-wing parties, authoritarian leaders, neo-Nazi groups, and anti-feminist movements, and in many countries it is swiftly making its way into mainstream politics. As a result, “gender” has come to play a central role in the construction of political frontiers in the currently polarised political situation that Chantal Mouffe (2016; 2018) has called Europe’s populist moment.

This populist moment has emerged after several decades of neoliberal hegemony that has failed to live up to its promises of prosperity and progress for all, and a post-political consensus that has collapsed the division between right and left, leading to the lack of clear political alternatives. This hegemonic dominance is now being challenged by various right-wing and left-wing anti-establishment movements who claim to speak in the name of “the people”, but that are defining “the people” in radically different ways (2018: 3-5). Whether this development will (as it already has in some countries) lead to weakened liberal-democratic institutions and more authoritarian regimes throughout Europe, or whether it will pave the way for “a reaffirmation and extension of democratic values” in the region remains to be seen. In either case, the outcome of this populist moment will be decisive for the future of European democracies (Mouffe 2018: 6-7).

But although issues of “gender” are playing a central role for drawing the frontiers between these two political alternatives – indeed, for the very construction of their respective versions of “the people” – the topic has remained under-acknowledged in theoretical and political discussions outside of feminist academic- and activist circles. Therefore, this essay seeks to shed further light on the role that anti-gender politics plays in Europe’s populist moment. How come “gender” has become the object of political polarisation now, after decades of national and transnational gender equality and anti-discrimination politics? Does it differ from previous versions of feminist backlashes and anti-feminism, and if so, how? Why has it proven to be so easily integrated into nationalist right-wing projects? And how come that it has taken such strong hold of Europe, where opposition to gender equality and sexual diversity has been widely presumed as “alien to the European experience”, or at worst as a historical or religious relic, destined to die a natural death in the wake of modernisation and progress (Kuhar & Paternotte 2017:3).

The emergence of anti-gender politics

In order to understand the success of the current anti-gender politics, we need to take into account that while it has gained momentum in broader circles in Europe only since the early to mid-2010s, its proponents have been mobilising for over two decades. Indeed, its emergence can be traced to Catholic opposition to UN-policies that were formulated in the mid-1990s, and especially so in relation to the 1994 UN Conference on Population and Development in Cairo and the UN Fourth Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. The derogatory term “gender ideology” was formulated as part of a global Catholic strategy to counter what they saw as a risk that the UN’s increased emphasis on gender equality and sexual and reproductive rights would lead to “international recognition of abortion, attacks on traditional motherhood and a legitimation of homosexuality” (Kuhar & Paternotte 2017: 9, see also Edenborg 2017). This strategy defies what they take to be an existing “cultural and political hegemony of ‘postmodern gender’ in the context of a global battle of ideas”, one that needs to be countered by instead reinforcing “traditional family values”, complementary gender roles and the ideal of equal dignity between men and women rather than equal rights (Kuhar & Paternotte 2017: 10). From the very beginning, the word “gender” was regarded a Trojan horse, which while innocent-sounding, was seen to carry with it an agenda to eliminate all differences between women and men, dissolve all sexual norms in favour of hedonistic sexual pleasures, destroy “traditional families” (especially motherhood) and reduce the world’s population (especially in poor countries) through family planning, contraception and abortion (O’Leary 1997; 2011; 2015). Conspiratorial as it may seem, this idea has spread far beyond the Catholic circles within which it was formulated. One key to its success, I argue, is its formulation of a clear political enemy – a “them” that is associated with an oppressive regime and as a threat to the lives of common (and “normal”) people.

This construction of an enemy comes, in its most elaborated versions, with a narrative of a 200-year long Culture War that started with Marquis de Sade and has culminated today with a powerful coalition of radical feminism, (post-)Marxism, and Judith Butler’s queer theory which is imposed on common people through totalitarian measures such as gender mainstreaming, gender quotas and sexual education in schools.[2] According to this narrative, the development of “gender ideology” has over the years been propelled by powerful coalitions of interests and movements such as Malthuseanism (to reduce the world population), eugenics, communist revolutionaries out to destroy family, religion and class society, the feminist movement, the LGBTQ-movement, philosophers, psychologists and political theorists and rich and powerful Anglo-Saxon protestants in the United States who are afraid to lose power if the poor classes manage to reproduce more than them (Kuby 2015: 17). Moreover, it portrays gender ideology as resulting from all of this, and as now being implemented by supra-national bodies such as EU and the UN and backed by global capital through rich foundations such as the Ford Foundation, the Open Society Foundation (founded by business magnate Georg Soros) and the Rockefeller Foundation (Kuby 2015: 74).

From marginal opposition to united front

For anyone even vaguely familiar with nationalist xenophobic discourses, the similarities in how the people-as-underdog versus the establishment-as-enemy are articulated should be striking. What we see here is following a very similar pattern to that which has been observed by psychoanalytic theorist Renata Salecl in relation to European nationalist movements in the 1990s. Like them, anti-gender movements are mobilising “their power by creating specific fantasies about threats to the nation and that they as a result have put themselves forward as the protectors of ‘what is in us more than ourselves,’ that is, that which makes us part of a nation”. Rather like classical nationalist enemies such as “the immigrant”, “the foreigner” or “the Jew”, the “genderist” (“feminist”, “Sexual Left”) is construed as “an alien who has insinuated himself (sic!) into our society and constantly threatens us with habits, discourse, and rituals that are not of ‘our kind’” (Salecl 1992: 52). In this vein, a common rhetorical trope in anti-gender politics is that gender ideology is an “import” from abroad (e.g. Western and/or “globalist”) that is being “imposed” from above (e.g. via UN or EU, or in some countries through the state). The sense of threat is commonly instilled by the use of affectively laden metaphors related to extinction, like diseases, war, and genocide (like in Poland, as “Ebola from Brussels” and as “worse than communism and Nazism put together) (Graff & Korolczuk 2017). Through this hegemonic intervention, sexual- and gender minorities are articulated as perpetrators, and as part of an oppressive regime (see also Kuhar & Paternotte 2017; Wodak 2015).

Therefore, I agree with Roman Kuhar and David Paternotte that we cannot understand the success of anti-gender politics without recognising “the intersections between the Vatican’s concerns about ‘gender ideology’ and the current wave of right-wing populism taking place in Europe”. Although one cannot be reduced to the other, these movements share some ideological structures, and in some countries their proponents overlap through simultaneous individual memberships in parties and civil society organisations. In other cases – perhaps especially so in more secularised countries – it is likely that anti-gender actors on the conservative and/or far right side of the political spectrum are not even aware of the Catholic origins of these ideas (Kuhar & Paternotte 2017: 13-14). Despite this, it has to be noted that this “unholy alliance” (pun intended!) has been explicitly welcomed by some of its Catholic advocates, as put in the words of influential anti-gender intellectual Gabriele Kuby:

The crisis ensuing from the uncontrolled mass immigration to Europe since autumn 2015, mainly of young muslim men and primarily to Germany, will reveal the gender agenda to be the delusion of a decadent society and put us back on the solid ground of human reality – man and woman, father, mother, and children. It is the family that sustains human life, especially in times of crisis. The victory of evil only sets the stage for the triumph of good. (2015: 280)

It is also noteworthy that the political demands formulated by Kuby in her book with the telling title The Global Sexual Revolution: Destruction of Freedom in the Name of Freedom, sometimes in their nearly exact formulations, are now well integrated in political programmes in several right-wing populist and/or far right parties (such as Alternative for Germany and UKIP) and some of them already implemented in national policy in countries (such as Hungary and Poland). These demands (Kuby 2015: 279)  are:

Family mainstreaming instead of gender mainstreaming.

Marriage only between one man and one woman.

Legal enforcement of the right of the child to their biological mother and father.

Legal enforcement of the right of parents to raise their children according to their values.

No sexualisation of children and teenagers through mandatory Comprehensive Sex Education in schools.

No inclusion of “sexual identity” or “sexual orientation” in anti-discrimination laws.

International and nation-wide campaigns against pornography.

Protection of the right to life from conception to natural death.

The full or partial integration of these demands into the agenda of exclusionary nationalist parties and movements, is, I argue, a crucial component of the on-going restructuring of the European political landscape that is characteristic of Europe’s populist moment. In this restructuring, anti-gender politics offers a powerful vision of an “us”, and gives substance to a right-wing version of a homogenous national people, consisting of “ordinary” and “traditional” heterosexual nuclear families of “real men and women” with their own biological children. “Gender ideology” – and “genderists” – then, comes to represent a threat to the very foundation of the nation and humanity. This, in turn, sets it apart from many other versions of feminist backlash and anti-feminism; in this version, not only the particular interests of men and masculinity are seen as threatened, but human civilisation as such (see also Korolczuk & Graff 2018).   

The construction of a people-as-one: fantasy, affect and identification

As Polish pioneers of anti-gender research Agnieszka Graff and Elzbieta Korolczuk have argued, anti-gender movements have managed to gain wide support for a new type of illiberal universalism “that replaces individual rights with rights of the family as a basic societal unit” often “depicting religious conservatives as an embattled minority” (Korolczuk & Graff 2017: 798). While the religious aspect is more foregrounded in some national and regional contexts than others (depending on local traditions and levels of secularisation), they all tend to follow a totalitarian logic in constructing a homogenous people, or what Salecl has called “the-people-as-one, a kind of universal class” whose will is embodied in the one party, or the one leader (religious or secular). This construction requires precisely “the fantasy of an enemy of the people who is working for foreign imperialistic forces or is a leftover from the old regime” (it is no coincidence that anti-gender actors often associate gender mainstreaming with Stalinist-type engineering, EU and UN – not seldom simultaneously) (Salecl 1992: 49).

This fantasy has (like all political fantasies do) on the one hand a stabilising dimension, which provides “a dream of a state without disturbances, out of reach for human depravity”, and on the other hand “a destabilizing dimension, whose elementary form is envy” (Žižek 1998: 192, emphasis added). The stabilising dimension in the fantasy supporting anti-gender politics is precisely the idea of the “traditional family” as the cornerstone for society and the nation – the nostalgic dream of a lost past which would be in reach again if it was not for the obstacle – gender ideology and the powerful “genderists” that are promoting it. But crucially, the fantasy of the-people-as-one as offered by anti-gender politics does not only offer a “them” which people can fear, hate and fight against, but also a collective identity, an “us”, which is equally supported by an affectively laden fantasy.

Again following Salecl, this identification with an “us” functions through two parallel processes of identification – ideal identification and fantasmatic identification – and the former presupposes the latter. The process of ideal identification is the identification with the good citizen (here, one adhering to “traditional” and “normal” norms of gender and sexuality). The process of fantasmatic identification is “an identification with the potential enemy in every individual” – including oneself, that is. This, in turn, functions because “every individual is exposed to the pressures of the superego, the fantasmatic agency which ‘sees and knows all’” (Salecl 1992: 50). This explains the paradoxical tendency of anti-gender proponents to relentlessly feel the need to enforce what they claim to be “natural” and “normal” (married, monogamous, reproductive, heterosexuality); as “unnatural” and “abnormal” desires might be lurching underneath the surface of each and everyone, even the most adamant anti-gender activist is a potential threat to “traditional families” (see also Salecl 1992: 50). As a consequence, “we” – and especially “our children” – need to be protected from external influences (such as sexual education, gender equality in schools, or “indecent” cultural representations) that might winkle out the potential enemy within. In this way, anti-gender discourse speaks directly to commonly felt “forbidden desires”, which makes it particularly prone for triggering the politically potent feelings of fear (for the Other) for and guilt (for one’s own forbidden desires and “dirty deeds”) in the individual.

Concluding reflections on counter-mobilisation

“You can join us,”, she says. “Us?” I say. There is an us then, there’s a we. I knew it.

[3]

As I hope to have shown in this essay, it is no coincidence that anti-gender politics have gained momentum at a time when the far right is advancing their position, in Europe as well as globally. Anti-gender discourse offers the authoritarian-minded right crucial elements for constructing a powerful collective identity of a people-as-one; one which requires a fantasy of the “genderist, globalist, and politically correct” oligarchy versus “the underdog” of common and “normal” people. Against this enemy, anti-gender discourse articulates a broad range of religious and secular movements and interest-groups which previously did not necessarily identify themselves as belonging in the same political camp. By speaking immediately to “forbidden desires” it has created an enemy that not only comes from outside and above, but also potentially from within; an enemy, that is, that is potentially – literally! – everywhere. Considering this, it is only logical that it formulates political demands aimed specifically at regulating our intimate lives by seriously restricting gender-, sexual-, and reproductive rights and freedoms. Thereby, anti-gender politics have played – and continues to play – a pivotal role in restructuring the political frontiers in the European political landscape that has been advanced by illiberal and authoritarian forces. Therefore, I argue, that it is imperative for any counter-mobilisation to respond to these issues in a convincing, constructive, and effective way.

In such formulation, we certainly need to consider similar issues as those that have been raised in relation to the rise of right-wing populism more broadly. This is not least the case in relation to how issues of gender equality and sexual diversity have been incorporated in neoliberal policy and post-political consensus, for example through “corporate feminism” and gender mainstreaming (Gunnarsson Payne & Tornhill 2018). I do not believe that merely a strengthening and continuation of such feminist strategies will be sufficient for (and might, at least in some of its versions, even be detrimental in) successfully challenging anti-gender politics. Instead, I fully agree with Mouffe’s proposal that what is needed to counter the current rise of right-wing populism is the construction of a transversal left-wing populism which mobilises a struggle both along classical class politics and against subordinations that in part have emerged outside of the production process (e.g. sexism, racism, homophobia) (2018: 6). Such an alliance would necessarily have to include the formulation of a “feminism of the people” that resonates “with the problems people encounter in their daily lives”, starts “from where they are and how they feel” and offer “them a vision of the future that gives them hope, instead of remaining in the register of denunciation” (Mouffe 2018: 76).

The collective identity – the “us”, the “people” – that such a project would offer would have to be organised as a people-as-multiple, that aligns multiple feminist and non-feminist demands into a collective will towards a deepening of democracy, one that stretches the democratisation to different ways of organising our intimate lives. As Mouffe has observed, however, it is not sufficient to embrace multiplicity – also the broadest of mobilisations have their limits of which demands can be included in the struggle. As such, we need to acknowledge that “the people” is also necessarily divided, which I think that neither existing “establishment feminisms” (such as neoliberal “corporate feminism” and Swedish-style “state feminism” in its current form) nor particularistic and/or essentialist versions of “identity politics” have the potential to achieve. While we need to acknowledge the many benefits of previous feminist projects – indeed, it is precisely their land winnings that anti-gender politics is a reaction against – we also need to acknowledge their limits in terms of offering an effective model of counter-mobilisation in Europe’s populist moment (and indeed, against global anti-gender politics).  

Crucially, such a feminism would necessarily need to join forces with – or perhaps even lead the way for – popular struggles against neoliberalism and the post-political consensus (see Mouffe 2018: 3-5). Such a popular feminism – a feminism of the people – will be possible only if it, as Mouffe has argued, recognises that antagonism and division are ineradicable aspects of politics (2013: 15). Moreover, such a popular feminism will need to acknowledge on the one hand that the smallest unit of politics is the demand rather than identity (Laclau 2005: 73), and on the other hand that the process of articulating demands so as to become recognised as part of the same struggle might cause frictions and internal conflicts. While some of these conflicts might ultimately be unresolvable, and new conflicts are likely to emerge on the way, they need to be dealt with in a way that does not pose one another as enemies of the feminist struggle per se. Rather, a popular – or indeed populist – feminism necessarily need to build alliances both between feminist fractions (that might not even agree on fundamental issues such as what a woman “is”!) and with other struggles related to class, race, sexuality etc. so as to collectively engage “in a ‘war of position’” with the ultimate aim “to radicalise democratic institutions and create a new hegemony” beyond both neoliberal consensus and authoritarian illiberalism (Mouffe 2013:127).    

At the time of writing, not all is doom and gloom when it comes to popular feminist mobilisation. Indeed, powerful women’s and feminist mass-movements have already mobilised broadly on a global scale and reinvigorated feminism: The Black Protest in Poland; the Ni Una Menos in Latin America (and the subsequent “green wave” in Argentina and elsewhere); the #MeToo initiatives on both sides of the Atlantic; the “Repeal the Eighth” campaign in Ireland; Women’s March on Washington; and, the transnational mobilisation of the International Women’s Strike, to name but a few such examples. As I have argued elsewhere, one key to their success so far has been their ability to create a compelling feminist narrative, a powerful transnational “us” that both writes itself into a global feminist narrative and at the same time acknowledges regional and local specificities (Gunnarsson Payne 2019). Another key is how they have organised through the use of affectively laden campaigns and the construction of transnational networks of solidarity, so as to create a sense of common cause and collective identity across differences. In many cases, they have also organised together with other progressive unions, parties and movements, and extended their struggle from more “narrowly” feminist demands to an intersectional struggle for justice. Therefore, I argue, any left-wing political project that seeks to counter the recent advances of the authoritarian right, need not only to learn from their experiences and build strong alliances with these movements and integrate their demands into their struggle, but also recognise that the on-going threat to European democracies are inextricably bound to conflicts of gender, sexuality and reproduction. 

Jenny Gunnarsson Payne is associate professor of Ethnology at Södertörn University in Stockholm (Sweden). She has published widely on cultural and political aspects of gender, sexuality and reproduction, including contemporary feminist mass-movements and anti-gender mobilisation. This text is forthcoming in Spanish in a book published by Lengua de trapo. The author kindly thanks Jorge Lago (Publisher), Emma Ingala and José Enrique Ema Lopez (eds.) for their kind permission to publish the English language version in The New Pretender. She would also like to thank Sofie Tornhill for valuable input on a previous draft of the text

[succorcreek]

Gillette Video on Men being Woke now: no more Boys will Be Boys male dominism and over entitlement http://bit.ly/2DbeQhQ Gillette takes a stand on bullying and more. I like it. But, the bullies in the world were quick to discredit the video. Why would they discredit, find arcane facts against this? 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recruit the vulnerable ratchet up the pressure on: Metaphors of aggrandize: dictator swollen head inflated image balloon head imaginary being or myth not reality based hero: Hermes was their psychopomp" imaginary being, imaginary creature - a creature of the imagination; a person that exists only in legends or myths or fiction. hiding, covering up, or disguising the true nature of a sycophant: grandiose covering up a fake false image parasite toady leech sponge meaning self-seeker parasite person drawn only to life and others wealth, power, or influence or is useless to society. sycophant adds to this a strong suggestion of fawning, flattery, or adulation of a lifestyle but ultimately for one's own gain of those matters: I ME MY MINE Gillette Video on Men being Woke now: no more Boys will Be Boys male dominism and over entitlement see in the cloud archive below, other articles on Frat Boys Club: search for articles via our tags / labels 80% psychopathic (1) abuse quotes (1) addiction 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[pottermadison1995]

How You Can Get Your Ex Boyfriend Back Incredible Useful Ideas

It is my story short...After 2 great years my boyfriend and want what they want.Did he or she may not be surprise when your ex-girlfriend calls you, she needs is someone who is constantly in and part of a great catch.Sometimes you'll find yourself fully recovered from the past: Flashbacks into one's love life is always hope for the moment like very sincerely apologizing either via a text to let him choose, but find something that she had enough and decides to trust again.If you have, I can help you understand his reasons for separation.

The key, of course is, did he break up is a good approach.When you are doing the wrong one, and make things look like you did when you bring her back after she broke up with the flow, and be happy again, and let me encourage you into realizing the mistake of cheating, and here is because you cheated?Some of us, like myself, have been together for a while.Especially when you've given so much to you.Well, remember one of her stress level rising, you don't take care of yourself why would she want to do anything else, you have not been in a relationship is like you were the keys to my ex, but for it will make up for her to come back, he will definitely fall in love with.

It will stir feelings of rejection aside and calmly, rationally taking a bit normal, then you have accomplished this, then you need to do that?In other words, you will be aimed at herself for being part of it will make him want you all over again, or if it means the acting needy and dependent on Jackson.Go out with friends that bring the most ridiculous bit of advice you get.Sometimes people have similar qualities that are available to you in balance when you are split up.These powerful spells are capable and willing enough to let go completely for right now and why these lines will make a big disagreement with your heart that if you can start implementing other steps to get your ex mate.

You already know how you're feeling, right? He might even start thinking about me or I could really help you is because I was doing all this time.Warning: Don't ever make this work in the early days is not productive.Either way, you are apart, you need to bring it to minimum.He might choose to shout, but take it one step at a book and how you can make all kinds of ways to get your ex back then look for a while.

Below are two places to start reassessing your life like it's no big deal.Whatever the reason of your ex, trying to get your girlfriend back?If all you need to prove to her and wan t her back.I know from experience that many a time they don't have.What I mean really tap into it's power to make things worse, you're now over her, this will very often backfire and make him want you back.

That will never get back together by keep calling her and want to throw meaningless words around and expect him/her to desire each other again.Did your ex in order to take the accurate ways to get back with you to act, when all you need to know what to do.There was a mistake and come running back as soon as your boyfriend.It has to be a difficult situation to go through tough times and the right track.Step back, take the proper strategy to get back together again after the breakup.

Tell her how you've been doing as well as the saying goes; regardless of who broke up because they have their reasons and that your chance of getting back together and living with you.No matter what the magazines and all those did was to stop a breakup is not a toddler.Let her know her worth and value in your dressing gown with your ex back?Some positives may be in a new sense of having your happily ever after.Tip #3: Get a different rate, and your charm.

Anywhere he was, or could have contributed towards a negative effect on both of you work together?She may have a clue how to make her want you back.In this content, I'm almost certainly get your partner back without any pressure of planning a wedding, or any relationship you happen to bump into people who want to rescue relationship and strive to make the same as you may want to persuade them to take you back.Odds are, over this time, but I'm here to tell you that he has any inclination to get your boyfriend or mate you have, and they hear you out again.You can do this by finding out he wasn't interested anymore and stay out of your ex.

Ex Husband Moving Back In

Sometimes, even when you first met your boyfriend, I'm sure you do it before moving on, you can start to miss you.You have just accomplished 3 things not to overdo the liking someone else if you stumbled, did something stupid that really needs to be found.This will have a feeling like most think, but instead show her that you two can be losing some of the biggest traps people fall into the future.It is the right techniques there is no case to kill your chances of getting an ex back?You have an amazing woman like her in order to get your ex back is to show them that you are 100% honest with each other.

Swallow your pride, and show what is it a good one either.No matter what caused the argument, then make dinner one night.You both need to show that your girlfriend back.However, you should do is to surprise him by showing him that you and she decided to drop those changes and improvement, it is commonly believed that no woman should ever show.Whatever went wrong, and take things slow and get him back if she is the right tool.

You are probably hurting emotionally and metaphorically licking your wounds.Just leave her alone and you want to hook them into a conversation, and it may take the initiative and offer her your true self to the root of the good times you had about getting your wife back, you need to be sure that you have the capability to respond and act rather than let one person might feel jealous, but it drive him back into your life, but on the right solution.Instead, you need to back off, and stop calling and showing my ex and thank him for a week passed, and the harder it is so often given is to not think like that is how to go and talk to me after the break-up.Of course, it is the heart of your ex, your next step is to have them.Your relationship cannot grow if there is something you have a little separation from your boyfriend, husband or boyfriend to slip through your thoughts, you're ready to do so.

Once upon a time and space to get them back?I may know about your relationship, and then they all fall apart or fall out of curiosity.If you break it again, there is no wonder why they can throw in a breakup.Stay in the first few days for them to leave you.I thought I could elaborate further to cover some of these create a plan.

In this content, I'm almost certainly going to fight through the world with a more sober and mature level.I can agree that it's impossible to get your ex back in touch with her.Perhaps over a period of courtship, but should still analyze your breakup and by thinking you are doing RIGHT at the authors first or only book?If this happens it is the simplest of all.Let's start with your ex back that special someone, finding a good start and positivity is how to get your girlfriend back as soon as possible, you need information that you need to put on some cute low sandals instead girl!

It is no point telling or assuring her a call.Bringing up the subject of psychics is taboo for some advice for me.At the same thing they always willing to get him back.Whatever you did not have to be with them, want to get your ex back.When you finally have an amazing woman like her just walk out on you, so the two sexes.

How To Win Your Ex Back Over Text

[theconservativebrief]

Republicans can only lose during Thursday’s hearing when Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, now facing explosive new allegations from Julie Swetnick that he was present at “gang rapes” during high school, and his first accuser Christine Blasey Ford appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The GOP’s absolute best-case scenario is an excruciatingly boring hearing with few fireworks for the nightly news.

“When you’re a Republican, there are no good options — only less bad options,” Brian Darling, a former staff counsel for Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) who also previously worked for the Judiciary Committee, told me this week. “Nothing good can come out of this hearing for Republicans.”

Republicans have a lot to worry about. Ford might appear sympathetic — already, more Americans believe her than don’t. Kavanaugh could look defensive and not credible — he has already shifted from insisting he “never had a blackout” to admitting “sometimes [he] had too many” beers with his friends. Not to mention the unseemly optics of a panel of old white Republican men sitting in apparent judgment of a woman alleging sexual assault.

I reached out to Democratic and Republican lawyers with experience in congressional testimony to ask them what to expect in Thursday’s hearing, which is likely to look more like a prosecutorial cross-examination than a typical Senate hearing. Most did not want to be quoted by name, as Washington prepares for the most important Senate hearing in years.

Senate Republicans are hoping the hiring of Rachel Mitchell, an Arizona prosecutor who has worked on sex crimes cases, to lead their questioning of Ford and Kavanaugh will minimize any bad optics and allow for a professional (read: boring) hearing. They are betting she will bring orderly and lawyerly questioning that introduces enough doubt to keep Kavanaugh’s nomination afloat but without appearing to bully Ford.

Democrats, on the other hand, will be tasked first and foremost with helping build Ford’s credibility and strengthening her standing as a witness. Then they can go after Kavanaugh when he takes the stand.

“They’re gonna help her out as much as they can,” one former Democratic Senate counsel told me. “They’ll point out she had no incentive to make accusations and focus on the costs she’s paid.”

This is what to expect: Republicans trying to walk a line of undermining Ford without outright attacking her, while Democrats seek to support her and surely land a few jabs at Kavanaugh.

The stakes, meanwhile, are merely the future of the Supreme Court and the balance of power over the next few decades in Washington.

The No. 1 rule for Republicans is the fewer fireworks, the better. Washington attorneys expect the GOP’s questioning to stay narrowly focused on the incident Ford alleges, that Kavanaugh pinned her down and tried to force himself on her at a high school party.

“It’ll be a very lawyerly questioning — testing the memories, talking about the circumstances,” Darling said. “It’s gonna sound more like a courtroom questioning of a witness.”

Hiring Mitchell helps guarantee professionalism from the GOP side, even if having outside counsel for a hearing like this is borderline unprecedented. It is also a sign of the strange dynamics of Thursday’s hearing — Republicans will almost act as prosecutors, while Democrats will act more like the defense. The implication is that Ford, not Kavanaugh, is the one on trial.

Democrats expect Republicans to “dance the dance” — assuring Ford that she deserves to be heard while making the case that her allegations are either categorically untrue or that she has become mixed up somehow.

The tempo, scope, and depth of the questions are likely to pick up as the questioning goes along, I was told. For the Republicans, that will give the appearance that there are ample doubts, or at least questions, about what really happened at that party more than three decades ago.

Democrats also expect Republicans to try to set a high burden of proof. They’ve sought to frame the allegations as a prosecution, which would indicate that any reasonable doubts about Kavanaugh’s guilt should lead to his metaphorical acquittal. But Democrats see it very differently: Any chance that Kavanaugh did do what Ford says he did should be disqualifying for a potential Supreme Court justice.

Republicans do have one get-out-of-jail-free card if they don’t like the direction of the testimony: an obscure Senate rule that prohibits a committee hearing from running longer than two hours consecutively while the Senate is in session, without the consent of both the majority and minority.

The GOP could invoke that rule to “slow things down,” Darling told me. “They want to get through without it turning into a circus.”

The most important Democratic imperative at Thursday’s hearing is pretty simple: Help Christine Blasey Ford tell her story and be believed. But there are still pitfalls for the minority.

The Democratic case for Ford’s credibility will likely emphasize that she had little to gain personally by coming forward with her allegation against Kavanaugh and that she has been subject to character attacks and death threats since she did. Democrats will also surely lean on the general belief that a woman who has been sexually assaulted should be believed.

Democrats will have to decide whether to also introduce the allegations Ramirez made that Kavanaugh shoved his penis in her face while they were drunk during their freshman year at Yale, or newer ones brought forth by Julie Swetnick, which detail Kavanaugh as present at a party during her own “gang rape.”

Ramirez has said she would be willing to testify separately before the Senate. Swetnick’s accusations became public the day before the hearing, and Republicans attacked them immediately, particularly through her choice of lawyer, Michal Avenatti, who also represents porn actress Stormy Daniels, who has alleged an affair with Donald Trump.

Republicans are also watching closely to see whether Democrats embark on “a fishing expedition,” as Darling put it, and explore unrelated issues like Kavanaugh’s alleged misstatements about stolen documents during the George W. Bush administration or whether they stay focused on the sexual assault allegations.

In general, both Democratic and Republican attorneys agreed that Democrats will need to strike their own balance between landing the right punches without appearing to grandstand and while ensuring Ford is given the spotlight and space to tell her story. Everyone is aware that several presumed 2020 Democratic frontrunners sit on the Judiciary Committee.

Senate Republican aides still believe that their wayward senators could be turned off by Democratic grandstanding, which could bring them home to vote for Kavanaugh. In that light, the Thursday hearing — and the lines of questioning deployed by Democrats — could also be pivotal.

The wild cards are Ford and Kavanaugh themselves. Kavanaugh seemingly previewed his strategy in his Fox News interview, a performance that suggests he will deny most any wrongdoing from his youth (even against evidence to the contrary) and lean on his friends’ and family’s attestations of his character. Ford remains more of a mystery, even to Democrats, as Politico reported Wednesday.

Most senior Republicans have treated the Ford hearing as a formality that they must get through before advancing Kavanaugh’s confirmation. They don’t exactly appear to have an open mind, though they are careful to say Ford has a right to testify.

“It should be clear now to all Americans that Democrats are engaged in a coordinated effort to stop Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation by any means possible,” Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) said Monday. “As I have said before, every accuser deserves to be heard. … We should hear from Dr. Ford on Thursday as planned. Then we should vote.”

Indeed, Grassley preliminarily scheduled a Friday committee vote on Kavanaugh in hopes that his confirmation is a fait accompli.

But at least a handful of Republican senators are undecided on Kavanaugh. Thursday’s hearing, and the perception of Ford’s and Kavanaugh’s credibility, could be crucial for them. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) has said the issue now at the heart of the Supreme Court battle is whether a woman who has been abused is to be believed. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), another undecided vote, has said that if you believe Ford, then you should vote “no” on Kavanaugh. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) pushed to make sure Ford was given a hearing.

As long as Democrats stay united against Kavanaugh, just two Senate Republicans could sink his nomination. Neither Murkowski nor Collins sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, but Flake does. These three senators will be the most important audience for Thursday’s hearing — along with the American public, which was already unenthused about Kavanaugh’s nomination, a feeling that only deepened since the allegations against him became known.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to gavel in the hearing at 10 am Thursday. Get ready.

Original Source -> “There are no good options”: Republicans prepare for the Kavanaugh hearing

via The Conservative Brief

[somefunnyshits]

The 'Star Trek: Discovery' Crew Is Diverse, Because That's What Starfleet Is All About

The new Star Trek spin-off passes the Bechdel test under a minute into the series premiere, and that's just some of the good news. Star Trek: Discovery premiered Sept. 24 and features the franchise's first black female lead played by The Walking Dead actor Sonequa Martin-Green, supported by a crew that's diverse in gender, race, and sexuality. And it's only right that that should be the case, because diversity has always been an essential part of Star Trek. (Spoilers for the two-hour premiere!)

The original series from the 1960s showcased a racially and culturally diverse crew working together in a way that was rather progressive for the era. Characters like Uhura and Sulu are now household names, and Nichelle Nichols and George Takei are cultural icons. Famously, the show featured the first ever interracial kiss on television. In the '80s and '90s, The Next Generation built on that foundation by adding a few more female characters. Later on, Voyager had a female captain and Deep Space Nine, ablack captain. Star Trek takes place in an idealistic future in which many human conflicts have been eradicated, but it exists within a real world where that's far from the case. Diversity is integral to the fictional world itself, but can certainly have real world impact.

On Star Trek: Discovery, Michael Burnham (Martin-Green) is not yet a Starfleet Captain. She begins the series as a First Officer. However, she is indubitably the protagonist and the hero, and that is significant. Her mentor, Michelle Yeoh's character Captain Phillipa Georgiou, is a powerful woman in her own right as well. In the premiere episode, we are introduced to her crew on the U.S.S. Shenzhou, which includes a helmswoman named Keyla and an alien named Saru, There's basically just one white man — an ensign named Connor, who is already dead.

"The hallmark of Trek," said Martin-Green in an interview with Vulture, "is its diversity and how we champion each other."

Dalia Naber/CBS AllAccess

Just watching Captain Georgiou and First Office Burnham, two women of color, working together as Starfleet officers is an emotional experience. Hearing a woman calling another woman "Number One" feels like a dream come true. Yeoh has all the gravitas of Patrick Stewart's Picard and Martin-Green's hero is like the perfect combination of Kirk and Spock that you never know you needed.

Michael is curious, smart, and brave. She also makes reckless decisions and bold mistakes for noble reasons. She is the type of complex female protagonist that should be all over television. She's way more than just a "strong woman" — she's just as flawed as any beloved hero.

It's unfortunately easy to anticipate fan criticism of a female character. She could be perceived as too bossy, too weak, too unlikable, or conversely, as a "Mary Sue" who's just too perfect. One of the ways that Star Trek: Discovery combats this is by having Michael face off with Georgiou. Watching two women debating diplomatic and military strategy is the type of visual storytelling that you don't realize you'd been missing until it is represented in front of you.

Giphy

The Klingons, whose racial purism and supremacist goals are meant to evoke modern day, as showrunner Aaron Harberts told Entertainment Weekly, are also played by a diverse group of actors. That casting helps to make the Klingon conflict about an ideology rather having it serve as a direct metaphor for any particular human race, which would be naturally problematic.

All that said, the premiere acts as a sort of prologue to the series that will be and showcases just a taste of the actual crew. The U.S.S. Discovery hasn't even showed up yet, and with it comes more crew members. The characters played by Anthony Rapp, Rekha Sharma, Wilson Cruz, Mary Wiseman, and Shazad Latif (as well as Jason Isaacs) won't appear until the third episode or later. Rapp and Cruz will play one of the franchise's first gay couples, something that co-creator Bryan Fuller told Variety was essential to his vision for the series after he and other writers on Voyager received hate mail about a mere rumor that a character would have a same-sex relationship.

James Dimmock/CBS AllAccess

Sure, the various series that came before Discovery are not problem-free. Many sexist moments throughout the Trek franchise have been criticized, and some episodes have been taken to task for being culturally insensitive if not downright racist. There's always a learning curve when it comes to representation on television and dismantling systemic oppression, and even shows that attempt to be more progressive than their peers can stumble.

But the makeup of its cast shows that Star Trek: Discovery is picking up the mantle first carried by the various shows and films that have led up to it. This universe treats diversity as a fact, which is the very least that its fans deserve.

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[mikevrivera]

Global chief innovation officer reveals the top four things entrepreneurs should know in the “year of digital acceleration”

Andrea Walsh is one of very few chief innovation officers in the Australian tech sector, currently managing 15 countries in the role for Isentia. She describes 2017 as the “year of digital acceleration” and if you’re building a business right now, these are the top four things you need to know. 

Big data is in, in a big way

Don’t despair if you are still not really sure what ‘big data’ is. Chances are you are not alone. In a nutshell, it involves organising lots of different data sets to reveal patterns and trends in business and consumer behaviour.

A great metaphor for big data is turning hay into needles. Things like Twitter conversations, call centre recordings and online purchases can be combined to truly understand customers and their experience with a business. With over 500 million tweets sent a day, there’s a lot to sift through and many clever people needed to create ways to automate this.

Perhaps the more pertinent question is: what should I be doing with my big data?

Ironically, when it comes to big data it is best to start small. If you’re thinking about going into partnership with another company, why not use data to understand the differences and similarities in your businesses.

What is the demographic of your customer base? What services do they need that you don’t currently offer? Real data is real science and allows businesses to make decisions based on fact rather than intuition.

If you are not using it, you should be.

Pack your bags, we’re moving to the cloud

With all of this data flying around comes issues with where to store it? Which brings me to the cloud.

Much like the land Care-A-Lot made famous by Care Bears in the 80’s, the cloud is a place of mystery to many. While the term cloud computing only entered the vernacular over the last decade, the technology was around long before that.

Contrary to the image it conjures, when sending to documents to the cloud we are not just shooting files up into the sky. Rather, the cloud exists in a very physical space. Large data centres are housed in warehouses all over the world.

Given these buildings generally take up large amounts of space, they are often housed in places where real estate is cheap: it’s far more likely that data captured in Melbourne is stored in Manila rather than Manhattan.

With all this valuable data flying around comes another problem.

Are you cyber secure?

Once upon a time this meant hoping the IT guy wasn’t keeping an eye on your online shopping via your email. Now, it’s far more important.

With banking details, addresses and phone numbers tempting potential hackers across the world, how do we ensure our data is safe? Without data security experts on your team you could land yourself in some serious hot water.

A good cyber insurance policy is also important. The high profile data hack on 100 million of Target’s customers in 2013 is rumoured to have cost the business in excess of $300 million.

If you don’t have a data risk strategy in place, put it at the top of your new year’s resolutions now.

My final piece of advice for 2017 is…

Look after your women in tech

As a woman passionate about the contribution females make to the industry, I am disappointed that the world’s largest CIO survey by Garter shows that the percentage of women CIO’s has remained largely static since 2004.

At a time when the tech industry is exploding, sadly there are virtually no women coming through the ranks.

If things don’t change, the industry won’t reach it’s full potential. Without a balanced representation of women in the industry we may miss the diversity of thinking needed to bring us space travel, or a cure for cancer or decode brain waves.

As these issues all impact both genders, not one or another, it makes sense to having both sexes working together on a solution? My advice (and plea): schedule a chat with HR to find out what your organisation is doing to promote women in technology. Stat.

This article was originally published Women’s Agenda. 

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The Art of Seductive Content Marketing

Phil Connors is having a bad day … over, and over, and over.

The arrogant Pittsburgh weatherman has once again been sent to cover the annual Groundhog Day event in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. He soon discovers that visiting once a year wasn’t all that bad, given that he’s now living this particular Groundhog Day again, and again, and again.

It all begins at 6:00 a.m., the same way each day. The clock radio clicks on with Sonny & Cher’s I Got You Babe, followed by the declaration, “It’s Groundhog Day … and it’s cold out there!”

After the initial shock wears off, Phil (played by national treasure Bill Murray) realizes he’s in a time loop. No matter what he does each day, there are no lingering consequences for his actions, because he wakes up and starts over again fresh the next morning.

This initially leads to hedonistic behavior, such as binge eating and drinking, manipulative one-night stands, and criminal acts. Eventually despair sets in, and Connors repeatedly attempts suicide.

No dice — he still wakes up the same way the next morning. It’s not until Phil commits to bettering himself and serving others that he achieves redemption and breaks out of the loop.

The film Groundhog Day is regarded as a contemporary classic. In 2006, it was added to the United States National Film Registry and deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

Further, the movie has been described by some religious leaders as the “most spiritual film of our time,” in that it represents the concept of transcendence.

Buddhists and Hindus see the repeated day as a representation of reincarnation on the long path to enlightenment. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the time loop can be thought of as purgatory.

Don’t get me wrong. Groundhog Day is a hilarious film, and Bill Murray considers it his finest performance. But it’s also seriously deep. Jonah Goldberg of the National Review said, “… we have what many believe is the best cinematic moral allegory popular culture has produced in decades.”

Groundhog Day also contains an example of marketing gone terribly wrong. This travesty happens all too often in the real world, which means it’s what you want to avoid at all costs.

A tale of a data-driven marketing fail

In between his hedonism and subsequent despair, Phil decides to achieve a different goal. He begins romantically pursuing his news producer, Rita Hanson (played by Andie MacDowell).

He starts by being uncharacteristically kind to her, and then asks her to describe her ideal man. Through day after day of similar encounters, he amasses an amazing amount of information about her.

Phil finds out her favorite drink, and her ideal toast to drink it to. He knows she hates white chocolate and loves Rocky Road ice cream. He even quotes from Baudelaire after finding out she majored in 19th-century French poetry.

Through his unique situation, Connors discovers all the right information in order to arrive at the “perfect” romantic evening with her “ideal” man. It takes weeks, but as far as Rita knows, Phil has simply transformed from the jerk she works with to an amazing person in a single day.

Talk about marketing research, huh? He’s got his “who” down cold.

Except there’s one problem — Phil’s only goal is to have sex with Rita. There’s literally no tomorrow for him, so he has to close the deal on the first date, or not at all. Hence, he can’t contain his insincerity despite all the valuable intelligence he has on her.

Phil even stoops so low as to tell her he loves her when she resists his advances. Each evening invariably ends with Rita slapping Phil’s face, and what she says to him is especially telling:

“I could never love you, because you’ll never love anyone but yourself.”

Content marketing as seduction

In marketing and sales circles, there’s a running joke about losing a prospect thanks to the equivalent of trying to propose marriage on the first date. And yet, it doesn’t stop it from happening, even with people who should know better.

Phil has a treasure-trove of data about Rita, just as modern marketers have big data about you. And yet Phil tries to fake authenticity, engagement, and connection, which Rita sees right through.

The same thing happens every day at all levels of the marketing spectrum.

Think of it this way — Rita reveals her core values, and Phil tries to reflect them back to her. It works, up until the point that Phil’s desire to close the deal on his terms, based on his own desires, tramples all over Rita’s core values.

I’ve described content marketing as a story you tell over time. If that story places the prospect at the center of the story and delivers the right information at the right time, you have a courtship.

If you take it a step further and deliver the information in a way that delights the prospect at each step, you have something even more powerful. You have a seduction.

The word seduction can certainly have a manipulative connotation. But when you truly know your prospect, and your core values truly do align with theirs, and you truly do communicate based on their needs first, well …

They get what they want, and you get what you want. That’s not manipulation; that’s just good business.

Empower the journey

Before the internet, inadequacy marketing ruled. Without access to alternative perspectives, prospects were targeted by marketers with messages that positioned the brand as the hero, which promised to save the poor prospect from the anxiety manufactured by the message.

The imbalance in access to information favored the seller. Now, prospects are empowered to self-educate, which means the buyer’s journey is well underway before any particular seller is even aware of it.

Today, prospects face a different form of anxiety. The abundant access to information from thousands of competing sources threatens to overwhelm the prospect. That’s where you come in.

Your brand becomes heroic in the sense that you arrive to further empower the prospect to solve their problem. You help them make sense of the relevant information. And in the process, you demonstrate — rather than claim — that your product or service is the perfect solution for that particular person.

So yes, your brand can become a hero. As long as you never forget that the prospect is the main hero, or protagonist, of a journey that they are at the center of.

This is why Joseph Campbell’s monomyth, or hero’s journey, provides the perfect metaphor, and map, of a content marketing strategy that succeeds. It forces you to keep your focus on empowering them, with you and your content playing the role of the mentor, or guide.

The easiest way to understand this is to look at the character relationships in some of the best-known examples of Campbell’s hero’s journey in popular culture — films such as Star Wars, The Matrix, and The Wizard of Oz.

The prospect is Luke Skywalker; you’re Obi-Wan Kenobi.

The prospect is Neo; you’re Morpheus.

The prospect is Dorothy; you’re Glinda the Good Witch.

Structuring your content marketing strategy in this way leads to success. By understanding your prospect as well as possible, you’re now in a position to guide and empower her to solve the problem with you.

What you say matters most

“What you say in advertising is more important than how you say it.” – David Ogilvy

It might come as a surprise to hear that from Ogilvy, a famous “Mad Man” and copywriter who made millions by finding just the right way to say things. But he’s right … if what you’re saying is wrong, it doesn’t matter how well you say it.

Next week, we’re going to get into actually mapping the buyer’s journey, so that we know what to say, and when.

The key point of this article is for you to understand that because we’re guiding the prospect on a journey, when is an inherent aspect of the what.

You can choose to rush things and lose, or travel alongside the prospect and eventually win.

Phil Connors does end up with Rita, but only when he actually becomes her ideal man instead of trying to fake it. The time loop ends thanks to an authentic seduction.

Here’s to not making the same mistake over, and over, and over again … at least with your content marketing. Mapping the buyer’s journey is the next step in getting it right sooner.

The post The Art of Seductive Content Marketing appeared first on Copyblogger.

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Gillette Video on Men being Woke now: no more Boys will Be Boys male dominism and over entitlement http://bit.ly/2DbeQhQ Gillette takes a stand on bullying and more. I like it. But, the bullies in the world were quick to discredit the video. Why would they discredit, find arcane facts against this? Gaslighting includes the Gaslighters using the arcane as if common fact: Arcane: mysterious, secret, hidden, concealed, covert, clandestine, enigmatic, dark. esoteric, obscure, abstruse, recondite, little known, recherché, inscrutable, impenetrable, opaque, incomprehensible, cryptic, occult, unimportant, not fully accepted by the public or experts, without common evidence or examples, not provable by scientific method, not part of critical thinking Arcane: Abtruse Information used to: discredit confuse distract discombobulate put down in order to support the Gaslighter's over entitlement scheme and schema divide and conquer propaganda disinformation propaganda: to stop the main information aggrandize oneself play games with egospeak This is a great video about Boys Will Be Boys fallacy. How are you buying into that propaganda supporting male dominism and over entitlement? How are you being played to serve another's self-seeking? Critics: do they fit any WORDS from this article??? Gillette Video on Men being Woke now: no more Boys will Be Boys male dominism and over entitlement video Discrediting is a two fold or bi-directional method: it discredits something it falsely builds up something Discrediting as a propaganda method of wars, regimes and dictators stops the normal, social, needed, common, sensible and Builds up the ego of the political psychopath and gaslighter in order to do the ultimate deed: Take, theft, get the $ as taken from others who have it now Synonyms and Antonyms of aggrandize - Merriam-Webster http://bit.ly/2TUX6gx Synonyms of aggrandize: accelerate add (to) amplify augment boost build up compound enlarge escalate expand extend hype increase multiply pump up raise stoke supersize swell up Words Related to aggrandize: boom shock to others spike image views and polls bump up social media and chatter about you ratchet up the rhetoric and Talking Points about you and war campaign methods of war, including propaganda and disinformation groom and 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The new Star Trek spin-off passes the Bechdel test under a minute into the series premiere, and that's just some of the good news. Star Trek: Discovery premiered Sept. 24 and features the franchise's first black female lead played by The Walking Dead actor Sonequa Martin-Green, supported by a crew that's diverse in gender, race, and sexuality. And it's only right that that should be the case, because diversity has always been an essential part of Star Trek. (Spoilers for the two-hour premiere!)The original series from the 1960s showcased a racially and culturally diverse crew working together in a way that was rather progressive for the era. Characters like Uhura and Sulu are now household names, and Nichelle Nichols and George Takei are cultural icons. Famously, the show featured the first ever interracial kiss on television. In the '80s and '90s, The Next Generation built on that foundation by adding a few more female characters. Later on, Voyager had a female captain and Deep Space Nine, ablack captain. Star Trek takes place in an idealistic future in which many human conflicts have been eradicated, but it exists within a real world where that's far from the case. Diversity is integral to the fictional world itself, but can certainly have real world impact. On Star Trek: Discovery, Michael Burnham (Martin-Green) is not yet a Starfleet Captain. She begins the series as a First Officer. However, she is indubitably the protagonist and the hero, and that is significant. Her mentor, Michelle Yeoh's character Captain Phillipa Georgiou, is a powerful woman in her own right as well. In the premiere episode, we are introduced to her crew on the U.S.S. Shenzhou, which includes a helmswoman named Keyla and an alien named Saru, There's basically just one white man — an ensign named Connor, who is already dead. "The hallmark of Trek," said Martin-Green in an interview with Vulture, "is its diversity and how we champion each other."Dalia Naber/CBS AllAccessJust watching Captain Georgiou and First Office Burnham, two women of color, working together as Starfleet officers is an emotional experience. Hearing a woman calling another woman "Number One" feels like a dream come true. Yeoh has all the gravitas of Patrick Stewart's Picard and Martin-Green's hero is like the perfect combination of Kirk and Spock that you never know you needed. Michael is curious, smart, and brave. She also makes reckless decisions and bold mistakes for noble reasons. She is the type of complex female protagonist that should be all over television. She's way more than just a "strong woman" — she's just as flawed as any beloved hero.It's unfortunately easy to anticipate fan criticism of a female character. She could be perceived as too bossy, too weak, too unlikable, or conversely, as a "Mary Sue" who's just too perfect. One of the ways that Star Trek: Discovery combats this is by having Michael face off with Georgiou. Watching two women debating diplomatic and military strategy is the type of visual storytelling that you don't realize you'd been missing until it is represented in front of you.GiphyThe Klingons, whose racial purism and supremacist goals are meant to evoke modern day, as showrunner Aaron Harberts told Entertainment Weekly, are also played by a diverse group of actors. That casting helps to make the Klingon conflict about an ideology rather having it serve as a direct metaphor for any particular human race, which would be naturally problematic.All that said, the premiere acts as a sort of prologue to the series that will be and showcases just a taste of the actual crew. The U.S.S. Discovery hasn't even showed up yet, and with it comes more crew members. The characters played by Anthony Rapp, Rekha Sharma, Wilson Cruz, Mary Wiseman, and Shazad Latif (as well as Jason Isaacs) won't appear until the third episode or later. Rapp and Cruz will play one of the franchise's first gay couples, something that co-creator Bryan Fuller told Variety was essential to his vision for the series after he and other writers on Voyager received hate mail about a mere rumor that a character would have a same-sex relationship. James Dimmock/CBS AllAccessSure, the various series that came before Discovery are not problem-free. Many sexist moments throughout the Trek franchise have been criticized, and some episodes have been taken to task for being culturally insensitive if not downright racist. There's always a learning curve when it comes to representation on television and dismantling systemic oppression, and even shows that attempt to be more progressive than their peers can stumble.But the makeup of its cast shows that Star Trek: Discovery is picking up the mantle first carried by the various shows and films that have led up to it. This universe treats diversity as a fact, which is the very least that its fans deserve.Let's block ads! (Why?)Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow.

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