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Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Susan Brownmiller Asked Us to Rethink Everything We Thought We Knew
Last Saturday, after a long illness, the radical feminist Susan Brownmiller died at 90. She leaves behind a few distant cousins, loving friends, and a public conversation about sex and gender that was transformed by her journalism, books, activism, and media presence. The author of seven books, Brownmiller is best known for Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape, still in print 50 years after its 1975 publication. This surprise bestseller came on the heels of a boomlet in radical feminist theory, criticism, and fiction marketed to a commercial audience. Brownmiller was, hands down, one of the savviest feminist media figures of the twentieth century. The architect of a savage takedown of Playboy mogul Hugh Hefner that aired on the March 26, 1970, episode of The Dick Cavett Show, she was a star in a movement that deplored self-appointed leaders or spokespeople. Accounts of Susan Brownmiller's life, as they have emerged in the press and in popular culture, rightly note the controversial stances she took over the course of her life in feminism. But perceiving Brownmiller as singular in this regard misses important context. Radical feminists were inherently controversial, not only because they promoted a gender revolution but because their insights emerged from intimate conversation, conflict, and arguments. Clashes over ideas and personal styles were also consistent with the radical political movements that Brownmiller and her sisters were forged in before feminism: Communist and Communist-adjacent groups, Fair Play for Cuba, anti-nuclear politics, the Civil Rights Movement, and the mobilization to end the war in Vietnam. Although she did not anticipate, or accept, some of the criticisms that would be aimed at her, Brownmiller also knew that the claims about male power that structured Against Our Will would be broadly controversial. Its project was to create a national debate about sexual assault based on facts that already existed, a debate that had not yet happened outside radical feminist circles. By recasting rape as a political act, Brownmiller asked her readers to rethink everything they thought they knew: Western civilization, their own attitudes, the law, and social science—among other things. In the introduction, Brownmiller also foregrounded the radical feminist principle that talking and listening can change minds. She, for example, had not believed that rape was a feminist issue. Yet other women 'understood their victimization,' she wrote. 'I understood only that it had not happened to me—and resisted the idea that it could. I learned that in ways I preferred to deny the threat of rape had profoundly affected my life.' From conflict came transformation, and the idea for the book that commercial editors had been soliciting from her since Brownmiller's 1970 insider account of the women's movement in The New York Times Magazine. Against Our Will was widely praised but also had its detractors. Black feminist intellectuals such as bell hooks and Angela Davis pointed out that Brownmiller's attempts to weave the crime of lynching into her theory of gender and power were clumsy and confounded history. For example, Black men were historically controlled not by the fear of rape but by the fear of being put to death by a false rape charge, a fact that Brownmiller acknowledged but then displaced in a tortuous section on the Emmett Till lynching. It isn't true, however, that only Black feminists thought Against Our Will was flawed. Some male, and a few female, reviewers were outraged by Brownmiller's conclusion that the patriarchy was promoted and preserved by the ever-present possibility of sexual assault. Some radical feminists who had always been uncomfortable with Brownmiller's high media profile deplored her use of ideas developed in consciousness-raising sessions, and challenged her to take her name off the book. Brownmiller's theory that the patriarchy is propped up by the possibility of sexual assault, as well as positions she took later—her fight to push sex workers and the adult entertainment industry out of Times Square; her assertion that Hedda Nussbaum, a battered woman and the subject of Brownmiller's 1987 novel, Waverly Place, was not an innocent victim; and most recently, her skepticism about the #MeToo movement—remain controversial, particularly among younger feminists who are fighting these fights in their own way. But what is often missed in accounts of Susan Brownmiller's life is that, in addition to her deep commitment to social justice, she was a fundamentally generous, good person with a terrific sense of humor. She loved dogs, the theater, movies, poker, and baseball. When she became prosperous, she put money back into political causes she cared about and took her friends on international trips. Brownmiller was profoundly loyal to, and generous with, those friends. Her archived correspondence is full of instances in which she connected other women with agents and editors, encouraged them to write books, and boosted their self-confidence. When she worked for ABC in the 1960s, assigned to the Washington bureau over one weekend, she asked the female assistant tasked with orienting her: 'Why aren't you in charge?' This woman quit her job, went on to her own career as a journalist, and became a lifelong friend. For the last 25 years, Susan Brownmiller played that role for numerous researchers too. In 2009, long before I imagined the biography of her that I am now writing, I went to interview Brownmiller. Nervously stepping off the elevator, I saw the woman on the back of the book I read back in 1975, draped against her door jamb. 'Welcome to Jane Street,' she greeted me, flashing a warm smile designed to put me at ease. By the end of the afternoon, I had not only a terrific interview but a fistful of appointments with other veterans of a political movement who are justifiably wary about how they will be represented. 'Her name is Claire Potter,' Susan would say, waving a lit (or sometimes unlit) cigarette with one hand and holding the phone in the other. 'She's a feminist—the real deal. Talk to her.' She would then thrust the receiver at me, and I would make another appointment. It was, to paraphrase a classic film, the beginning of a beautiful friendship. I was not Brownmiller's best friend, or her most daily friend, or the person who helped her the most in her final years. I'm the biographer. But as a feminist who will be in dialogue with her until my book is done and a new generation can argue with her, I will nevertheless miss the living, breathing Susan Brownmiller terribly.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Kate Moss's extraordinary row with neighbour revealed, a nepo baby admits what everyone's thinking... and a Marchioness's quip to Meghan: RICHARD EDEN'S DIARY
She has, for years, been splendidly indifferent to bien pensant opinion whether taking a drag on a cigarette while sauntering down the catwalk on No Smoking Day in 2011, posing naked for Playboy in celebration of her 40th birthday or pointing out that her then husband, Jamie Hince, 'would go mental' if she dressed 'like a wife'. But now, at 51, comes definitive proof Kate Moss is embracing maturity in a manner unthinkable in her glory days.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Pamela Anderson, 57, reveals how she looks just as 'healthy' today as she did 10 years ago
Pamela Anderson has revealed the secret to her incredible good looks that have made her a Playboy cover girl, a Baywatch actress and a poster woman for hotness after 50. Turns out it is pretty much luck. The Canadian admitted that she feels genetically 'lucky' as she talked to People before being unveiled as the new face of Biolage haircare. Pamela - who will turn 58 in July - said: 'I can't believe I still have a hair on my head with everything it's gone through, with all the hot rollers, and the heat, and the sun, and everything. But I think, genetically, I'm lucky. 'My hair is very thick and strong, and it's seen a lot. But that's what's so fun about this time in my life, where I actually just go to sleep with my hair a little bit damp, wake up, and it is what it is. And it doesn't matter the haircut. As long as you have good products.' The ex of Tommy Lee added, 'I think the number one thing for me is just for it to look healthy — with my hair and with my skin.' She also said she 'never thought' she'd still be in the 'beauty world' at the age of 57. The Hollywood star is amazed with where's she at in her career. She told People: 'Who would've thought at this age, I'd be in this industry, in the beauty world, and just kind of starting my career? There's hope for all of us. 'I'm enjoying this time in my life. It's really nice.' Pamela revealed that she admires Biolage for its sustainable practices. Speaking about their partnership, Pamela explained: 'We're aligned philosophically. 'Cruelty-free and vegan have been parts of my existence for so, so long. Now more than ever, it's in fashion to have compassion. It's an exciting time. Sometimes I have to pinch myself. This is all really happening.' Pamela's fame peaked in the 90s, but she now feels much more confident in her own skin. Pamela has become well-known for her makeup-free approach in recent years. But the movie star remains determined to have 'healthy' hair and skin. The actress - who shot to international stardom as CJ Parker in Baywatch - said: 'For me, hair is an expressive tool. 'I'm not wearing a lot of makeup these days, but my hair, I like a strong haircut. It's kind of evolved over the last few projects; it's exciting. But I think the number one thing for me is just for it to look healthy — with my hair and with my skin.' View this post on Instagram A post shared by Biolage Professional Hair Spa (@biolage) Pamela said: 'I can't believe I still have a hair on my head with everything it's gone through, with all the hot rollers, and the heat, and the sun, and everything. But I think, genetically, I'm lucky. 'My hair is very thick and strong, and it's seen a lot.' Seen in 2012 Earlier this month Pam said she wanted to be a 'feminine warrior' at the Met Gala. The Last Showgirl actress caused a stir at the annual fashion extravaganza earlier this month when she revealed she'd chopped her hair into a blunt bob with fringe and she's now explained she was searching for a look that was 'strong, brave and committed'. She told Who What Wear of her new haircut: 'It actually started a few projects ago. I originally cut it for a film - just to the shoulders - as a quiet nod to my favorite Bergman actresses. 'For the Met, I wanted something strong, brave, and committed—aligned with the night's theme of tailoring from head to toe. 'I believe the world needs more of a feminine warrior presence, and this was my small contribution.' The 57-year-old star felt 'blessed' to wear her silver Tory Burch gown to the event, and was keen for herself not to overshadow the garment. She said: 'It wasn't about looking 'good.' 'That's subjective anyway. [Tory Burch's] dress was the star. I was just blessed to wear it.' Meanwhile, Sonsie, the beauty company of which Pamela is a co-founder, is releasing two updated formulas, with Basic Balm now containing a 1% hydrating peptide complex, while the Multi Moisture Mask has been rebranded as Multi Moisture Cream and can be used on the entire body. She said of the changes: 'They're the same formulas we all love—with a little more. 'Rethinking the mask as a true multiuse cream opens up more possibilities. 'It's something we've all been using on our faces but also our hands, elbows, feet—wherever we need it. It's multifunctional in the truest sense.' Pamela is a huge fan of her own brand. She admitted: 'Sonsie is my entire routine.' When it comes to her overall wellbeing, the former 'Baywatch' star thinks taking the time to connect with nature is vital. She said: 'I walk outside every day, no matter where I am. It's how I start my mornings. I write until the sun comes up, then I'm out the door. [I am] very much a garden girl.'
Boston Globe
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Mara Corday, Hollywood starlet of the 1950s, dies at 95
Advertisement She began acting and modeling, landing a contract with Universal-International and appearing in Playboy as one of the magazine's Playmates of the Month in October 1958. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up As an actress, both with Universal and later as a freelancer, Ms. Corday was known for her roles in sci-fi films that captured - in however outlandish and low-budget fashion - Cold War-era anxiety about societal destruction. Some of her films, perhaps in spite of themselves, became cult classics. In 'Tarantula' (1955), opposite John Agar, Ms. Corday ran from a gargantuan hirsute spider that had escaped from a desert laboratory. 'The Giant Claw' (1957) put her up against a monster bird flying at supersonic speed. (Ms. Corday was newly pregnant while filming the movie and did not reveal her condition to on-set colleagues for fear that she would not be permitted to keep the part.) Advertisement Also in 1957, she acted in 'The Black Scorpion,' another of her credits whose titles largely speak for themselves. Ms. Corday 'was regularly menaced by these bugs-from-hell,' a journalist for the Toronto Star wrote in 1994, recapping her career in a 'whatever happened to' column. 'And somehow, as she screamed, she always managed to put her head back and throw into profile a figure we assume was enhanced by those bras much beloved of '50s moviemakers.' Ms. Corday confessed that she outsourced to a stand-in some of the more stomach-turning moments of her horror films - she declined to touch mice and rats, for example - and conceded that many of her movies did not strive for film-festival sophistication. 'You're at the mercy of the 'fright,' the 'horror,' or whatever,' she remarked in an interview published in the book 'It Came From Horrorwood' by Tom Weaver. 'You're at the mercy of the special effects people, 'cause if they don't do a good job, then the whole picture goes in the toilet. For instance, 'The Giant Claw'!' Although she attracted more notice for her thriller fare, Ms. Corday also appeared prolifically in westerns, among them 'Drums Across the River' (1954) with Audie Murphy, 'The Man From Bitter Ridge' (1955) starring Lex Barker, with whom she said she had an offscreen romance, and 'Man Without a Star' (1955) featuring Kirk Douglas. Her favorite part, she said, was as an alluring young Frenchwoman in 'So This Is Paris' (1954), starring Tony Curtis, Gloria DeHaven, and Gene Nelson, about romance-minded sailors on leave in the City of Love. Ms. Corday curtailed her acting career after her marriage in 1957 to fellow actor Richard Long and the birth of their three children, making her last on-screen appearance in that phase of her career in 1961. Advertisement She told interviewers that her husband severely restricted her professional opportunities, turning down roles without her knowledge or consent and attempting to 'sabotage' her. 'I divorced him ten times the first year of our marriage, getting a lawyer and everything, and thirteen times the second year. He'd plead - literally on his hands and knees, 'Please forgive me, I don't know why I did it, give me another chance,'' she said in an interview published in the book 'Westerns Women' by Boyd Magers and Michael G. Fitzgerald. Ms. Corday added that she loved her husband and remained in love with him decades after his death in 1974. She credited Eastwood, who had been a fellow contract actor at Universal early in their professional lives, with reviving her career after she was widowed. 'When my insurance ran out, he put me in 'The Gauntlet,'' she recalled, referring to the 1977 action thriller. She continued: 'When it ran out again, he put me in 'Sudden Impact,'' released in 1983. She also appeared with Eastwood in 'Pink Cadillac' (1989) and 'The Rookie' (1990), her two final credits. Marilyn Joan Watts, the younger of two children, was born in Santa Monica, Calif., on Jan. 3, 1930. According to an online biography, her family moved frequently during the Depression until her father settled into work as a certified public accountant. A profile published in The Washington Post in 1955 reported that he ran a laundromat and that Corday's mother was a stenographer. Ms. Corday once said her mother had been a bootlegger. Advertisement Ms. Corday recalled whiling away entire days at the cinema, falling in love with movies. She was 17 when she was accepted as a showgirl at the Earl Carroll Theatre in Los Angeles and said that her mother forged a birth certificate to help her pass as 18 - and therefore eligible to perform. 'You go over there and see what you can do, or you're going back to school and study stenography and learn typing, and stop this wishful thinking,' she recalled her mother saying. Ms. Corday excelled in her performances and moved on to dancing engagements in Las Vegas and theatrical productions. Modeling opportunities helped raise her profile. She had her first credited movie role in the seafaring adventure 'Sea Tiger' (1952) and appeared the following year in 'Money From Home' with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. She had three children, Carey, Valerie, and Greg, but a complete list of survivors could not be confirmed. Efforts to reach her family were not immediately successful. Ms. Corday's friendship with Eastwood, whom she likened to a brother, dated to their appearance together in 'Tarantula,' in which she had second billing and he had a small uncredited part. Decades later, their respective levels of prominence reversed, Ms. Corday contributed to one of the most memorable scenes of Eastwood's career. In 'Sudden Impact,' she played the hostage whose life is on the line during the scene in which Eastwood utters his immortal words: 'Go ahead. Make my day.'
Cosmopolitan
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Cosmopolitan
Which 'Sneaky Links' Couples Are Still Together? All the Clues You Might Have Missed...
WARNING: Spoilers about Netflix's Sneaky Links: Dating After Dark ahead! PSA: your new fave reality TV obsession just dropped, in the form of Sneaky Links: Dating After Dark. The addictive new show sees six singles check into a motel in the hopes of finding love, except instead of being intro'd to new people, they actually are forced to come face-to-face with their sneaky links—and made to undergo a series of challenges testing their compatibility with said sneaky link. The reason? To see if they will check out alone, or as a couple. (Whoever came up with this concept needs a raise). The drama is also cranked up a notch with the addition of a number of "late check-ins" including a Playboy model and professional basketball player. We quickly binged our way through the first season (fingers crossed for another!) and have one question on our couples are still together? Speaking to Swoon, the show's host Chloe Veitch has teased a major twist about the show's verdict, saying: "I can say that you're genuinely not going to see this curveball coming" Cue: some serious IG sleuthing. To discover what we found out, keep scrolling. Bad news for anyone secretly pining for their own sneaky link, none of the OG sneaky link pairings (which would consist of: Manny and Samira, Angelique and Travis, Avery and Colt, Nicole S. and Brandon, Zoe and Kyle, and Nicole V. and Travis) checked out as a couple. At the final episode there were four couples formed from various individuals in the motel, but did they check out together and do they still seem to be an item? One couple we were rooting for? Avery, a 26-year-old recruiter whose sneaky link was Colt, and Manny, a 26-year-old travel nurse whose sneaky link was Samira. In the finale, the duo agreed to leave the motel as a couple and Manny said: "'I've walked in with a sneaky link mindset. I've always had trouble committing, and now I think the relationship I've established with Avery has allowed me to grow. I'm like, 'No, don't be scared of it. Just take a risk,'" he said. "I feel good and I'm finally feeling excited about something. For me and Avery, I think the world is our oyster.' Since leaving the show, the duo are still following one another on IG (a good sign) and have tagged each other in promotional material they've posted for the show. We'd guess that these two are still together... This may not come as a surprise to anyone, but Jacie, a 26-year-old bartender and late check-in to the show, and Brandon, a 27-year-old nightclub owner whose sneaky link was Nicole S., did not check out together. Jacie decided to leave on her own and Brandon, who had flirted with multiple girls throughout the season, was forced to check out solo. They do, however, appear to be on good terms: they are mutuals on IG, after all. Two absolute cuties Zoé, a 29-year-old fashion brand owner whose sneaky link was Kyle, and Travis, a 31-year-old account executive who sneaky link was Angelique, had an undeniable connection throughout the show, even as they got to know other contestants. We were rooting for these two, so it was a relief to see them leave the motel together. "I think it's nice to experience each other outside of everyone else and all the other couples and all the other tests and challenges," said Zoé in the finale. "Of course, there will be other tests and challenges, but it'll be nice to have a focus point right now." Again, these two are mutuals on IG, so we suspect they're still an item. Colt, a 32-year-old sales consultant, initially paired up with his sneaky link, the 30-year-old law student Angelique. However, his "head was turned" (to quote Love Island) thanks to a certain late check-in named Kelsey. Kelsey is a 24-year-old fashion website manager and model who caught Colt's eye, leading to a love triangle. Ultimately, at the series finale, Colt told Kelsey he loved her and they left as a couple. To date, they're still following one another on IG. We'll keep you updated with any further updates as and when they come in...
