(no subject)

The LJ ad that I got when I logged in this morning was Victoria's Secret sponsoring some contest asking me what I loved about my body because they are now promoting their "All New Body" line as having "a body for every body." I was all set to go off on a rant because last time I was there I couldn't hardly find anything to fit me, and it's not like you can really claim to fit EVERY body while only going up to 40DD (I am less than that, but they have a REALLY limited selection of sizes in store for most of their bras). And, in a more general sense, I'm upset that the very same companies that use body shame and body hatred to make sales will turn around and try to promote loving your body to make sales and pretend they're being socially responsible.

Yes, I'm talking to you, Dove. The same company that sells Axe to men and skin-lightening creams in India can't then turn around and sell a love-your-body message to slightly chubby middle-class women and expect it to have ANY authenticity.

So I was going to rant about that and then send it to them for the contest. But the contest prize is a trip to New York City, so. I guess I can just post it to Livejournal.

(VS is rather overpriced and poor quality anyway. Meh.)

The Demon's Lexicon

There is almost no end to the number of delightful things it is possible for a book to do.

Here is one: You have a clue, and then a clue, and then a clue, and you say to yourself, "Oh-ho! I've figured out the twist!" And then as you're tapping your feet waiting for the characters to figure it out too, they hit you with the twist you DIDN'T expect, and then the other twist you didn't expect but should have given your previous deduction, and now you're not just satisfied by your own cleverness but thrown for a curve.

Here is another: You are utterly enamored of the author's cleverness in doing something like this, and you want to look up her sleeves and figure out her tricks, but you've stopped thinking of her characters as pawns for her to move around cleverly. They have become human beings enmeshed in something terribly tragic.

Recommended.