Arwen, daughter of Elrond of Rivendell, gets on my nerves.
Now I loved Lord of the Rings, in fact I am quite a fan. My family watches the movie, by this I mean the extended version, at least once a week.
Of course JRR Tolkein has been accused of sexism aplenty. All the heroes are chummy men who think even less about women in the book than in the film - but come on girls, let's cut the gay rights movement some slack here. We'll take Sam and Frodo and their interesting 'Master/Servant' relationship. We'll also take the pretty elf Legolas and his brooding 'thing' for Aragorn, the lone straight guy in the Fellowship of the Ring.
This leaves the girls with Galadriel, Eowyn, Shelob and er, Arwen. Now these first three girls are great role models - though perhaps Shelob needs to see an analyst and try out vegetarianism. Galadriel is a great and powerful ringbearer, Queen of Lothlorien, and Eowyn is another aristocratic lass fighting to go to war with the boys and have her fair share of the g(l)ory. Even better, she points out to Aragorn that while the men would rather give a sword to a twelve year old boy than to a fully grown woman, the mothers can just as easily die by the sword men would deny them. Eowyn is really a voice of reason in this crazy world where numbers and strength seem to count so much, and one can't help think she would have made a pretty good Queen of Gondor.
But there'll be no gender revolution in Aragorn's little kingdom. Instead, the supreme love interest and feminine icon in this film is Arwen. Beautiful, swooning, sighing and lamenting Arwen. She sighs a lot, and swoons. At one point I wondered how she ever got up in the morning. She also fondles her necklace a lot and lies about on cushioned couches. Swooning, I suspect.
It turns out her love for Aragorn hinges on the existence of an unborn son. That's right. Never mind about becoming Queen of Gondor, never mind for that matter about Aragorn or Eternal Life in Valinor. Arwen just wants to be the mother of some little unborn princeling.
I have heard it argued that Arwen is simply the motherhood icon, and isn't that a valid role for women too? Well perhaps it is, but let's not go overboard here. You can be a mother and still have mental faculties and personality too! The movie just makes Arwen a boring one-dimensional character whose sole purpose is to be the Royal Breeding Machine after the interesting parts of the story have ended. Have I mentioned how boring she is? Not surprising for a woman who sees herself as nothing but a walking womb. Peter Jackson should have chopped her out and left in the interesting bits about the elfinfolk, the last alliance, the scouring of the Shire and all that - and then he still could have been friends with Christopher Lee! Lose Arwen and everybody wins.
The way to give Lord of the Rings a relevance to modern day audiences was not to make Arwen the new Madonna with child. Let Eowyn be Queen of Gondor and free the womenfolk from bondage and give the twelve year old boys a break from all that sword fighting.
No
Respect, No Relationship,
Do Not Ad Up
Real men don’t
hit women and I think it’s as good a way as I can find in my vocabulary
to describe the feelings that I have on the subject. John Howard
The 7:30 Report
Not the most articulate of men, Howard
recently was unable to make his position clear on domestic violence. In December
2003, the Liberal government stopped a new campaign aimed at educating young
people on domestic violence issues days before its scheduled release. No Respect,
No Relationship, has since lain dormant yet the controversy surrounding it is
just getting started.
Take a look (.pdf file 189Kb) at the campaign, as well as some highlights
of the debate:
1 November 1997
Partnership
Against Domestic Violence
Still active today on the prime minister’s website, this seven year old
news release announced the government’s strategy on domestic violence
called Partnerships Against Domestic Violence. Committing $25 million over three
and a half years (with further spending in the subsequent budget), Howard stated
that it was time to make domestic violence a public matter.
Quote: “Many women do not seek help from crisis services, and it is time
we addressed their needs.”
7 September 2003
Girls,
sex and violence
This Sun-Herald article reported that the government would launch a $15 million
media campaign targeting young people on the issue of sexual violence. The campaign
would be in response to government research conducted over the proceeding three
years that found fifty per cent of 19 and 20 year old girls had experienced
dating violence while 1 in 5 had been sexually assaulted.
Quote: “A government source said the campaign would start in the next
few months and Prime Minister John Howard has been ‘pencilled in’
to launch it.”
16 December 2003
Key Libs can anti-domestic violence ad campaign
The Australian broke the story, claiming that the media campaign No
Respect, No Relationship was "secretly spiked" at the last minute
by key Liberal politicians - two objected to the use of verbal abuse, as it
was "not really violence" while one felt that the campaign focused
solely on men. The story repeatedly referred to the advert in relation to Andrew
Bartlett’s behaviour to senator Jeannie Ferris.
Quote: “The objection flew in the face of crime statistics showing that
domestic violence is overwhelmingly committed by men.”
17 December 2003
$15 M Ad Blitz is Dropped
The Herald Sun reported that an anti-domestic violence campaign had been "junked".
Vanessa Swan, chair of the National Association of Services Against Sexual Violence,
was quoted as stating that 85 per cent of all sexual assault were not reported.
Quote: "It is understood last-minute objections from senior government
figures – who felt it was wrong to portray only men as aggressors –
led to the ads being pulled."
18 February 2004
Controversy
over shelved domestic violence strategy
The ABC’s 7:30 Report puts the story on television, including exerts from
the No Respect, No Relationship Campaign. Key politicians are quoted including
Kay Patterson - Family & Community Services Minister, Nicola Roxon - Labor
Shadow Minister assisting the Leader on the Status of Women, and John Howard.
As well as the transcripts of the show, ABC also wrote a story for their
News
Online.
Quote: From Donna Carson, awarded the 2004 Australia Day Local Heroes award,
herself a survivor of domestic violence: “I was like everyone else, thought
that domestic violence is physical only when in fact physical is at the end
of the cycle really.”
20 February 2004
Questions as PM dumps abuse ads
The Herald Sun publicises the issue again after John Howard told Parliament
an alternative reason for why the campaign had not yet aired. Insisting that
the campaign would eventually be publicised, Howard claimed that the adverts
needed reevaluation since they advised people to go to a website instead of
to police, doctors or parents.
Quote: “Freeman (editor of Cosmopolitan) said the PM’s comments
showed little understanding of the complexities of emotional and physical abuse.”
Other references:
Nicola
Roxon
Labor Shadow Minister assisting the Leader on the Status of Women has been
repeatedly outspoken against the government’s decision to restrict the
advert.
See her
17 Feb
media release.
Trish
Crossin
Labor Senator for the Northern Territory.
See
her
8 March posting.
Mary Delahunty
Victorian Labour Minister for Women’s Affairs
Although late to the starting block, Delahunty has called for the Prime Minister
to release the campaign to the states, where she believes Victoria would have
no hesitation to release it.
Anne
Summers
A brief posting on the topic, yet as the former leader of the Office of the Status
of Women, Summers suggests that this is another example of the Liberals' misuse
of money allocated to domestic violence.
Green
Left Weekly
An alternative newspaper's evaluation.
Partnership
for Domestic Violence
(Can anyone tell me if their is even a definition of domestic violence on this
government website?)
Do Not Be Quiet Issue #1
Web: Mensline Australia
Take another critical look at how the government is spending resources designed
to end domestic violence.
Do Not Be Quiet Issue #2
Book: The Federal Budget
How
money allocated for issues like domestic violence is really getting spent.
And
then tell us what you think.
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