Comments

1. juliaclare wrote:

   For me, a fantastic conversation this week — the discussion of the issues facing young black women in Maxwell Reddick’s piece was eye-opening and the conversation about “Madmen” and questions of representation/representation by absence in historical work was fascinating. Thanks.

   Posted 16 Aug 2009 at 11:39 pm ¶

2. tj in dc wrote:

   re: don draper’s identity- he is also a war deserter, that’s a huge reason why he’s had to cover up his past.

   Posted 17 Aug 2009 at 11:55 am ¶

3. Boothe wrote:

   copied from my posting on the ATR blog

   “if you try to force a narrative in a place where a narrative does not fit, then the whole thing kinda falls down” – Maxwell Reddick

   Great point made my Maxwell, which immediately brought to mind the Sex and the City feature film.

   Though her “blackness” was not necessarily part of the narrative, the addition of Louise (played by Jennifer Hudson) felt like a response – later confirmed by producer/writer Michael Patrick King – to the criticism of a lack of people of color on the show. Jennifer Hudson’s forced entry into this world, and lack of chemistry with Sarah Jessica Parker was very distracting.

   There doesn’t seem to be much dealings with people of color in the lives of those involved in the world of Sterling Cooper. I share similar feelings about this issue as Carmen does. I’m ok with the lack of color in the workplace, because it fits in with time period.

   That said, I wouldn’t mind seeing a character of color added to the narrative, as long as this narrative doesn’t include: being ignored (but respected) by Don; humored by Sterling; gossiped about by Crane, Kinsley and Cosgrove; disparaged by Pete; respected and befriended by Sal (oh the hardship of our peoples); and of course develop a relationship with Thick Red, which will lead to his firing due to the firm’s policy on…interOFFICE relationships.

   Posted 18 Aug 2009 at 12:11 pm ¶

4. MoneyPenny wrote:

   Maxwell Riddick grated my nerves on this one, but that’s mostly because his voice reminds me of a man who molested me when I was younger, so it’s a personal thing.

   Having said that I really appreciated the topic, even if the conversation wasn’t what I thought it would be. Were there no survivors available? 1 in 4 black women is molested/raped before she reaches 18, surely there was someone with a nearness to the topic, geez. Being a survivor you like that this stuff gets brought up but you hate when it’s all from the POV of the observer. There’s only so much guessing you can do. There are many reasons why some black men screw little girls, all of them terrible, but the most important one is because our community devalues and sexualizes young black women very early in their lives. I haven’t been a child since my next door neighbor started feeling me up at 9, and my story isn’t an anomaly. You never get to go back to being a kid once you’ve been screwed by an old man, so you attempt to have adult relationships with adults, and there are many many men who are more than willing to humor you.

   I’d totally have been up for this call, i’m volunteering, because I don’t know what else I can do….helplessness is such a fucked up feeling.

   Posted 19 Aug 2009 at 5:30 am ¶

5. Adrianna wrote:

   old men ” dating “teenagers really Guys. Let’s call it what it is pedophiles praying on young girls it is the idea that girls have no value. Read what about our daughters or your foreign news about girls and young women in poor countries. Surely you cannot be that naive about this going on in communities of color.

   I’ll tell you a story about this young girl
   ( slave child ) Who was staying with someone I knew and I’m no longer talking to , Because this little girl was beginning to rebel against her condition the person sent the child back to their family. As I got in the car thinking about how to get the girl out of there and find a safe place for her with a family member she blurt is out that maybe the woman was sending the 9 year old girl away , because she might have been” sleeping” ( she put it in more crude way ) with her husband who is in his 70’s . Akl I thought was 1)I wanted to vomit
   then 2) anger and then disgust for the woman who was accusing a CHILD of 9 enticing an old men into sleeping with her. Mind you this is all speculation from her , but it was disgusting she was going there in her mind.

   PS: I found an Org to help the little girl It’s called Limye lavi (Light of live) and frees slave children and help them out.

   Posted 19 Aug 2009 at 6:03 am ¶

6. gatamala wrote:

   Moneypenny I hear you.

   I learned what happened to girls when I was in middle school. It was frequent, blatant and normalized.

   Reddick annoyed me with his equivocating on “middle class sensibilties”.

   THIS IS WRONG. If anything, middle class condescension and acceptance of the lowest common denominator needs to stop.

   Posted 19 Aug 2009 at 10:16 am ¶

7. Tami wrote:

   My take…

   I understood what Max was describing as ephebophilia–grown men having relationships with teen girls. He was expressing shock, not that older men might prey on young girls (which is all too common), but that those relationships seemed to be, at best, ignored, at worse, condoned and encouraged by adults whose aim should have been protecting the girls in question.

   I attributed this to the all-to-common belief, even in the black community, that black girls (and women) are sexually advanced, promiscuous, predatory and unrapeable. I used reaction to the R. Kelly case as an example.

   In the podcast, Max was reacting to a friend who told him his middle class sensibilities made him out of touch. Those were not his words, but the words of someone who questioned his shock that people ignored the situation of the young girl in question.

   Posted 19 Aug 2009 at 4:03 pm ¶

8. JEM wrote:

   One thing I wish you could have touched on is the role of religion in how Black America views the sexuality of women and girls. Black people are still considered more religious than any other group in America and blacks tend to a conservative christian theology/ideology (which can lend itself to more liberal politics – see. M. Harris-Lacewell youtube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJwu3PZBins)

   There is an element of conservative christian thought that believes women are guardians of their own virtue, that it is the woman’s responsibility to stay pure and not be a temptation to men. It’s an idea that crosses race and religious boundaries most often reflected these days in discussions of the FLDS and Islam but it something that I think may fuel some of the attitude behind the belief that young girls/women have some culpability in their own “seduction.”

   Posted 21 Aug 2009 at 11:36 am ¶