Urban v's the Commentariat

[Theisticle]

I wouldn't be surprised if it did happen. Regularly? I somehow doubt it (or hope not).

 

[Spanky Longhorn]

it does sound plausible to me, seen similar things happen quite often. some peoples cheek is quite astounding.

of course, if le penster did her work at home, or in an office, that wouldn't happen to her

yes and if women didn't go out in short skirts and get drunk...

 

[emanymton]

I wouldn't be surprised if it did happen. Regularly? I somehow doubt it (or hope not).

I suppose it depends on what you define as regular, once every 12 months is regular.

 

[butchersapron]

It's self obsessed bullshit. Not the bald stuff, that brilliantly takes the mick out of that self-obsession. Here's a pic of me i put in a national mag that i edit because i think i look great.

 

[J Ed]

I've heard of people making much worse comments out of the blue in public situations to female friends. LP makes so much shit up though that even the plausible stuff becomes implausible.

 

[Theisticle]

I suppose it depends on what you define as regular, once every 12 months is regular.

True.

 

[Theisticle]

Do gay women only have short hair? That seems to be the implication.

To be frank, my hair is a great deal gayer than I am, and sometimes accidentally cashes cheques that my heart and loins don’t deliver, to the extent that I’ve considered letting my hair go out out to Candy Bar to play all by itself. It’s fabulous enough to pull it off. Anyway.

 

[butchersapron]

She plagiarised a poem with her beat a path shit the other day btw.

 

[emanymton]

I've heard of people making much worse comments out of the blue in public situations to female friends. LP makes so much shit up though that even the plausible stuff becomes implausible.

People do feel more entitled to comment on the appearance of women they don't know then men. But in my experience it tends to be women who do it more then men, I am perfectly prepared to be told I am wrong on this by any women on here. however she does say 'strangers' rather than 'men'.

Sad thing is I bet these people think they are actually being complementary/helpful.

 

[Theisticle]

Laurie Penny ‏@PennyRed 2h
All love and praise to @helenlewis who is handling some copy from me on a Saturday morning. Please send her baby animal gifs and treats.

Problem with the piece? Blame the sub.

 

[rekil]

Must be something in the air. A bit of hair related banter from earlier

.

 

[J Ed]

Being privately educated and going to Oxford sounds great. You get to write shit articles about your hair and get paid for it. Meritocracy I am not in you.

 

[Libertad]

Totting up the disabilities, chronic illnesses, social exclusion and ethnic mix, I get a full wheel.

If it weren't for the bipolar they'd give me a set of steak knives and ornamental fright mask as well.

Made me laff that did.

 

[Theisticle]

She plagiarised a poem with her beat a path shit the other day btw.

Which poem?

 

[butchersapron]

Which poem?

I'm on the case. When i find it, you'll know.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Totting up the disabilities, chronic illnesses, social exclusion and ethnic mix, I get a full wheel.

If it weren't for the bipolar they'd give me a set of steak knives and ornamental fright mask as well.

You can have the steak knives, but only if corks are glued to the tips.

A bit like that, and NO, you CAN'T have an eye patch!

 

[weepiper]

Genuine question - does this actually happen or is this artistic license from lp?

That's never happened to me and my hair's been Penny-short or shorter for 8 years or so. I have been mistaken for a man a couple of times at work though and people often assume I'm gay.

 

[weepiper]

I am pretty abrasive though.

 

[rekil]

Ragged bands of stylists, suffering from much reduced circumstances due to a devastated economy, have been forced into itinerant existences, going street to street, cafe to cafe, offering their unsolicited services willy nilly. "Scuse me dear, that bob is WAY too angular for your face shape. Care for some side-swept bangs? Tousled textured waves? No? Err, just a trim then? No? Ah ok." Maybe it was one of them.

 

[Theisticle]

And yet, the amount of male attention I got - from friendly flirting to unwanted hassle - increased enormously. Not because I looked better, but because I looked like I was trying to look more like a girl. Because I was performing femme. Every time I cut it off, I noticed immediately that the amount of street harassment I received, from cat-calls to whispered sexual slurs to gropes and grabs on public transport, dropped to a fraction of what it had been - apart from total strangers coming up to tell me how much prettier I’d be if I only grew it out. People have done this when I’ve been quietly working on my laptop in cafes, because I really need to be interrupted in the middle of a deadline to be told I need to work harder on my girl game.

It's borderline victim blaming. Want less street harassment? Cut your hair short, men will not approach! Again, all she has done is made broad assumptions based on her own limited (white and middle class) experience without understanding that for some women harassment increases with short hair. Women will most likely face harassment for whatever they decide to wear or do with their hair.

An incredible lack of self-awareness. Had it been a personal piece I could have maybe let it go, but her assumptions are deeply problematic.

 

[butchersapron]

It's borderline victim blaming. Want less street harassment? Cut your hair short, men will not approach! Again, all she has done is made broad assumptions based on her own limited (white and middle class) experience without understanding that for some women harassment increases with short hair. Women will most likely face harassment for whatever they decide to wear or do with their hair.

An incredible lack of self-awareness. Had it been a personal piece I could have maybe let it go, but her assumptions are deeply problematic.

I think that you've totally misread that bit. It's ridiculous made up shit - but it's now blaming any victims for anything.

 

[Theisticle]

George Eaton ‏@georgeeaton
On Fabian panel, @pennyred says "I'll probably grit my teeth and vote Labour". #fab14

LOL, I'm sure she admitted to voting Labour in 2010 after originally claiming she'd vote Lib Dem. Radical.

 

[rekil]

She's a autonomist!

 

[toggle]

People do feel more entitled to comment on the appearance of women they don't know then men. But in my experience it tends to be women who do it more then men, I am perfectly prepared to be told I am wrong on this by any women on here. however she does say 'strangers' rather than 'men'.

Sad thing is I bet these people think they are actually being complementary/helpful.

I suggest you have a look at everydaysexism if you still have doubt on whether people feel entitled to comment on women's appearance.



the majority of comments telling women their priority should be in becoming more pleasing to the eye is from men. few women playing idiot games, a few old baggages that mostly won't know better. reckon it's the latter who think they are being helpful. and yes, that does include suggestions that on'es allure would be improved by following closer to the ideals of femininity.

but mostly men. or at least it was before i got too fat for me to be worth getting anything other than reminders. I'm fat, really, did you think I'd forgotten i brought my bum with me this morning?

and her advice? nah. I'd go for the hat and earphones if i want to be left alone to work. I'm actually imagining her deciding to work in the middle of a busy cafe, doing the postures of attention* seeking until someone comments so she doesn't fall off her chair.

* think madonna's vogue video. with added leg crossing.



but i'de suspect that madamme's problem with comments is that she's fucking looking for them.

 

[Bakunin]

but i'de suspect that madamme's problem with comments is that she's fucking looking for them.

Perish the thought...

'I'd just like to stand in the busiest possible place to say that I really don't want any attention. Obviously, as an Oxbridge graduate, feminist icon and voice of an entire generation I also need my solitude. So, I'm going to stand here and say this as loudly and often as is humanly possible in the hope that you'll all stop noticing my very existence.'

'As you were, peasants...'

 

[revol68]

I wish Penny would grow her hair out, my contempt for her politics is always offset by the fact I think she has really good hair.

 

[emanymton]

I suggest you have a look at everydaysexism if you still have doubt on whether people feel entitled to comment on women's appearance.



the majority of comments telling women their priority should be in becoming more pleasing to the eye is from men. few women playing idiot games, a few old baggages that mostly won't know better. reckon it's the latter who think they are being helpful. and yes, that does include suggestions that on'es allure would be improved by following closer to the ideals of femininity.

but mostly men. or at least it was before i got too fat for me to be worth getting anything other than reminders. I'm fat, really, did you think I'd forgotten i brought my bum with me this morning?

and her advice? nah. I'd go for the hat and earphones if i want to be left alone to work. I'm actually imagining her deciding to work in the middle of a busy cafe, doing the postures of attention* seeking until someone comments so she doesn't fall off her chair.

* think madonna's vogue video. with added leg crossing.



but i'de suspect that madamme's problem with comments is that she's fucking looking for them.

Sorry my fault you are right if course, I wasn't really thinking about the sort of harassment women tend to get from men. But the more' polite' sort. 'You're really pretty but you would like better if you wore you hair like this...' sort of thing.

 

[The Pale King]

"If I were really to stoop to the level of the original piece, I’d have to reassure readers that from personal experience, this sort of warning is there to be ignored. My own “game” hasn’t suffered at all from having short hair, and it’s a really good way of filtering out the douchecanoes. Neo-misogynists tend not to want to sleep with me, date me or wife me up however I wear my hair, because after five minutes of conversation it tends to transpire that I’m precisely the sort of mouthy, ambitious, slutty feminist banshee who haunts their nightmares, but if I keep my hair short we tend to waste less of each other’s time. If you've a ladyboner for sexist schmuckweasels, short hair isn't going to help, although they might let you administer a disappointing hand-job."

Douchecanoes?

Neo-misogynists?

Schmuckweasels?

...time to get out of Brooklyn.

 

[J Ed]

...time to get out of Brooklyn.

I wish she would stay there, or somewhere with no internet access

 

[Favelado]

Brooklyn, East London, Berlin. The same people in the same bars saying the same things.