At the Movies: Bond, Jane Bond

 

Summer action blockbusters are as popular in my world as in yours. The most obvious differences, of course, are that in my world, the vast majority of protagonists in this genre of film are women, from films featuring tough cops to suave international spies, taciturn cowgirls to fast-talking heist planners, almost every single heroine or villain in these movies are female. In such movies, men play very minor roles as objects of sexual interest, or perhaps ones to be put in peril and distress – a family member kidnapped against his will, as an example – and thus providing the motivation for our movie heroines. Only recently have male characters been written to have a larger role in such films, but again only in such 'soft' roles such as conspiring to seduce and sleep with with an enemy character to steal an important secret. Invariably, these male characters will often be put in peril in the course of the movie in order for him to be rescued, or even killed to provide a motivation for vengeance.

All of this is natural in my world. A full-grown man can barely lift a small handgun, much less fire one without being severely injured, and even a man well-trained in martial arts – and some men are permitted to pursue such sport – can barely hold his own against a young girl, even untrained, much less a full-grown woman. Such are the differences in physical strength and coordination between the sexes. A male action hero would be a risible thing here, indeed.

As is also natural in my world, women may and often do take many lovers, and our larger-than-life heroines on the silver screen take much more than most.  Scenes of our protagonists bedding a string of willing (or heretofore unknowing that they are willing) boys in between car chases and explosions are par for the course.

None more so than Bond, Jane Bond, of course. One of the longest running series of spy action films in my world, featuring the suave titular character, who is just as vicious and cold with her male sexual conquests as she is in dispatching her female villainous counterparts and their various henchwomen. Even in most other action films, the heroines do display some heart, perhaps finally falling for one of her many male mates at films' end, a little throwaway to those male romantics in the audience, perhaps. But not our Jane, oh no, just as likely to leave a recent former lover to his untimely fate without a second thought as she is to provide him with a passionate farewell kiss.

A combination, no doubt, that secretly thrills even the most forward-thinking of men in my world, and renders her absolutely irresistible to all men, fictional or otherwise.

At the Movies: Superheroes and Such

Superhero movies are all in vogue in my world. Films featuring our favorite super-powered heroes from our adolescence do brisk trade at the box office, and it's a sure bet that every summer, there will at least be several blockbusters bearing the well-known names from the comic books of our childhood.

Needless to say, the superheroes of my world are quite different from those in yours.  For one thing, from Superwoman to Spider Woman, from the Watchwomen to the X-Women, all the heroic characters in the big-name comic books are female.  The vast majority of male characters are nothing but dudes in distress who also double as temporary sexual conquests that commonly last no longer than a few panels, or an issue at the most.  Any longer-lasting male characters usually play the role of a long-suffering yet intensely devoted lover, or secretary, or domestic servant.  The only distinguishing feature these men possess over those of the long litany of nameless playthings, is that they are privy to the secret identities of our masked crusaders.  If there are any story arcs about them in the glossy prestige titles, it's more than likely to involve being kidnapped and (more often than you think) being violated in some way before being rescued.

At the Movies: The Kiss and Other Romances

Like in your world, people in my world enjoy watching movies as well, whether they be big-budget action films, tense crime and spy thrillers, science fiction extravaganzas, or sweeping historical epics. The most noticeable difference between these genres of movies in my world and in yours, of course, is that the main protagonists here are always women; any male characters in movies of this sort are usually cast as sexual objects, to be used casually and then easily discarded with little afterthought, or sometimes as men-in-distress to be rescued and then subsequently ravished by the dashing heroine. Of course, this merely reflects reality here: male action heroes simply do not make sense in my world—where even the strongest male is so much weaker than any female—while the only significant roles played by men in history deemed worthy of record was that of desired chattel as pretext for war, or of defiled chattel as impetus for vengeance.

Spare the Rod

In my world, there is a common saying: "Spare the rod and spoil the man." This reflects the belief that men need regular discipline at the hands of women if they are to flourish in their roles in life. Even in relatively modern societies here, men are expected to remain submissive and obedient to women — husbands to wives, fathers to daughters, brothers to sisters — and common wisdom is that the proper way to inculcate such behavior is through the crop, the belt, the whip, or even more severe punishments.

Threesome Being a Short Digression on Human Biology

As my dear readers may have noticed, it is very common in my world for women to have multiple sexual partners. In fact, this is not only the case among humans, but among most mammals as well as other classes of animals.

The first reason for this is simple biology. The birth ratio on my world is significantly skewed towards the male in that there are approximately five human males born to every female human. Also, women live significantly longer lives than men. Finally, even in your world, the greater the sexual dimorphism of a species, the likelier it is for the physically dominant gender to be polygamous, and that principle also applies in mine.

The extreme sexual dimorphism in my world means that all human societies are female-dominated, and cultural variations never vary in this regard. In the majority of societies in my world, women may take multiple husbands, and in the ones that are monogamous, women usually keep additional lovers in the house in arrangements similar to concubinage or slavery. Furthermore, women are socialized to be sexually adventurous and promiscuous, and having multiple husbands and lovers is considered a badge of prestige. On the other hand, even in recent times, men are still expected to be chaste and demure in matters of sex and other earthly pleasures, and to defer in these matters to the wishes of women. In this context, it is thus easy to see why it is that what is called a threesome in your world is merely a matter of course in mine.

A Lazy Country Afternoon

Life in a farming or ranching town in my world has some similarities to that in yours. The pace is slower, things are simpler, and there's that faint tang of manure in the air. But you get used to it.

In other regards though, life and the division of labor is quite different.

A lot of light physical labor on farms and ranches are performed by hands, young men who hire themselves out for temporary work for a hot meal, a bunk to doss down in, and a little bit of cash. Much of the heavy and important farm work is done by women, who are usually farm owners or are hired on a more permanent basis, and who usually oversee the hands in their light tasks.

Life for a farm or ranch hand isn't all that easy, the hours are long, and the work unglamorous. Yet there persists a mystique in my world about these boys, healthy from the fresh air, strong — for men — from the physical labor, used to the unadorned life, and to the rough and tumble ways of cowgirls and country women.

In my world, there's also a mystique about country girls too, although not quite analogous to that in yours. I've written before about dalliances between hands and the young woman who stands to inherit the property. For these lucky boys, their days of slop buckets and uncertainty could well see an end, for in these relatively liberal times, even farm boys sometimes get the girl.

The Love Nest

In my world, as I've written about here and here, it's very common for women to carry on affairs with multiple men. Many women maintain love nests, apartments in the city where they keep their boys, dropping in for quick lunchtime trysts or even afternoons off from the office. These men are oftentimes secretaries or assistants of their mistresses, but are usually just men with youth and looks on their side, latching on to any chance at financial stability. After all, a nice apartment and a steady income is difficult to come by for most men in my world.

Among the demimonde, competition is vicious and the eyes of women wander quickly to other men. Men in these relationships will do anything to keep their mistress' interest. Perhaps this is what makes women enjoy these relationships all the more, and what drives the jealousies of husbands who would love nothing more than to see this class of men spurned by polite society. Yet in spite of their best efforts, sometimes events and time conspire against these poor creatures, and they find themselves thrown unexpectedly and piteously to the sidewalk, faces streaked with tears, their futures bleak and uncertain. Hold your venomous thoughts awhile then, for the boy pictured above, for while he may be living high for now, providence may yet have a more unkind fate in store for him before long.

Rough Women and Sex in Advertising

One of the most popular brands of denim and leather clothing for women in my world is Leigh, and their "Rough Women" advertising slogan has been in use for several decades. In fact, the phrase Rough Woman is as iconic in my world as Marlboro Man is in yours. While their older ads emphasized a rugged and individualistic woman against the elements, in their more recent years, their ads have become much more focused on sex. The first ad above is from a billboard, with enough hints of the fun stuff for women, yet safe enough for the averted eyes of sensitive men.

The ad below, meanwhile, has been running in the pages of women's lifestyle magazines.

What She Wants

In my world, when it comes to relations between the sexes, the female is the aggressor. Men send signals of availability, and women make the choice of whether they are interested in them or not. Sometimes, women make unwelcome advances, and it is impossible for men, being so much weaker physically, to resist them. Furthermore, the legal and economic framework in my world doesn't make it easy for men to refuse. Men have few legal rights even in relatively progressive cultures here. To press a case, they require a female representative, usually a family member or a wife, in court to represent them, and cases of rape and harassment are civil, not criminal, matters. Furthermore, the court testimony of a male requires the backing of a female.

In other respects, the economic situation of most unmarried men is also quite unstable, and the prospect of having a regular female lover who may provide some financial support, even if she already has husbands, can be quite hard to turn down. For men in my world, choices are sometimes very easy to make, but very hard to live with.

Incidentally, the usage of language in my world is not exactly the same as in yours. Words that exist in your English may have a completely different significance in mine. One such word, in this context, is mistress. In my world, it can be used to describe the usually already-married woman in an extra-marital relationship with a single male, usually much younger than she is. Many words exist in my world to signify the male in such a relationship, many of them diminutive and condescending, such as boy, toyboy, hobby horse and side dish.

In the future, whenever appropriate, I will write more about how languages differ between my world and yours.

Update: Made some small modifications to the text, but not the image. Feb 8, 2009

Venus Needs Men

Last month, Blog Buddy Matty Boy at Lotsa Splainin' contacted me and Blog Buddy Undersquid with an idea for one of his regular Giant Women posts. He wanted to feature collages inspired by several verses in four of Elvis Costello's songs which allude to either giantesses or shrunken men. The verse I eventually worked with was from his song My Science Fiction Twin.

He's trapped in his own parallel dimension,
That's why I'm so forgiving,
But how can I possibly forget to mention those fifty foot women
Who put the fascination back into my science fiction twin?

You can see the final results of all four collages and verses at this post here. Featured are two collages by Undersquid, another by TheShrinkee, and one by yours truly, which is also posted below.

I'd never made a fifty-foot-woman style image before, nor any other size difference other than what fit within the confines of My Own Parallel Dimension. However, I was also loath to depart from the rest of my collages and do a one-off piece that I couldn't really post here as this blog is, really, only about my world. This led me to come up with the concept of a poster for a science-fiction movie or TV series from my world which features your classic 1950s-style giantesses, but updated for modern times. This is what I ended up with.

The Sexual Politics of Advertising

In my world, the marketing of women's clothing tends to emphasize assertiveness and aggressiveness, dominance and power. On the other hand, men's apparel is usually sold with imagery suggesting submissiveness and temptation, implying that the worth of a man is in the eyes of women. This is most readily apparent in underwear advertising for men, who are almost exclusively portrayed as sexual objects, dressing themselves for the gratification and approval of women. Usually in fashion advertising on my world, both women and men are pictured together in positions symbolizing domination and submission, instead of merely presenting just women or men posing in their respective clothes. Some say that advertising agencies know what works, that on a subliminal level, appealing to the natural tendencies of the respective genders; others say that advertising itself, and mass media at large, are responsible for perpetuating antiquated and chauvinistic stereotypes that represent the forced subjugation of men.

In my world, the latter group are a very small and often-ridiculed minority in popular discourse.

Dusk

In my world, there are just as many fans of neo-gothic vampire fiction just as in yours, possibly even more. This is an example of such a book.

Most vampire books in my world are written from the point of view of the male protagonist. He's usually young, good-looking (no duh!) and has some quality that sets him apart from the rest of the pack, like maybe he's an empath, or likes reading old books about ancient herbal remedies, or maybe he just has oddly colored hair. Fast forward to Chapter 3 and he makes eye contact with some frighteningly beautiful woman who turns out to be an all-powerful vampire who bites him and turns him into one of her immortal lovers and he has to end up proving himself in some task such as seducing a rival vampire in their underworld political struggle and in doing so, risks his undead life, and she realizes that he means more to her than just some pawn in her dark machinations. Well at least that's how this one goes, summarized in a run-on sentence. Boys in my world lap this sort of thing up though.

I'm not really a fan of vampire fiction in your world, but I do recommend this one set of stories by an author known as trilby else. There are no giantesses or shrunken men in these stories, but rather, they involve mind-controlling lesbian vampires. The first one is called Giveaway, the sequel is Freerange and there's a third sequel of sorts called Quarry although the last is kind of short and not really as good. The first two though, to me at least, are perfect reading if you like your Halloweens mind-numbingly hot instead of cold and creepy.

At the Beach

As I mentioned before, in my world, we're not anywhere near as prudish as in yours. Women in my world often go about in a state that people from your world would call "topless" although this is not a term that is used here since it's a normal state of being. As can be expected, swimwear for women in most cultures here consists only of skimpy bikini bottoms.

In other more conservative places, you might see a bikini top, but women only wear that as a courtesy to their easily embarrassed male counterparts, and not out of their own sense of modesty.

It's also pretty common for women and men to engage in what people in your world would probably term "lewd and indecent acts" and this is becoming ever more common with the liberalizing of traditional sexual attitudes among young men. "This is the sort of disgusting thing that goes on in public nowadays!" scream conservative male critics. "There oughta be a law!"

But there isn't, and with the prevailing attitudes of the majority of women, there never will be.

The Dream Factory

Hollywood exists in my world just like in yours, America's dream factory. In the Hollywood in my world, pretty young things from all over move, bright-eyed, to California, dreaming of becoming the next It Boy. They find work as janitors, pool boys, household servants; they bus and wait table at restaurants and bars; others work at clubs as nude waiters and dancers. And all the while, they run to casting calls and script readings, where they are easy prey for the power-players of Tinseltown. For a boy struggling to make it here, it's all about how good-looking you are, and who you sleep with, the casting agent, a producer, the director, or that female lead in the film you're auditioning for who gazes at you with a smirk and a little gleam in her eye. Maybe she'll put in a good word for you. Maybe she won't. But she never will if you don't play the game.

Those who make it can look forward to a few years in the spotlight, as ravished men in distress and objects of desire for women in summer action movies, or as the coveted lead and target of envy among men in romantic comedies.

But the tastes of Hollywood are fickle, and the attention of women shorter still, and there are always younger boys, eager to take your place on the casting couch or as arm-candy for the Hollywood elite. And for each boy that the Dream Factory eats up and spits out, there are thousands waiting to get in.

Executive Assistant

It's very common in my world for an executive to have her assistant travel with her on business. It's also very common for a successful businesswoman to be carrying on an affair with at least one male member of her staff. In fact, it's almost expected. So the next time you see a woman traveling with a man who looks more like her secretary than her husband, you can be sure there'll be more than dictation going on in the hotel suite.

Especially if you see her looking at him like a wolf looking at her prey.

Tea for Two (Or a Short Digression on Ergonomics)

Just like in your world, there are standard heights and sizes for a lot of things in ours, just different. This is because the relative size difference between women and men in our world is a lot larger, so certain things have to be made either smaller or larger depending on their purpose.

The average woman in our world stands 6' tall, with the shortest around 5'2", while the tallest woman stands 7'2". Dwarfism and gigantism don't exist. Since ideal women in our culture are tall and athletic, most of the women you'll see in my pictures are taller than average, standing around 6'3" to 6'8". The average height of men is 3'9", spanning heights from 3'2" to 4'4". Most women in our world prefer smaller men though, so most of the men who are employed as models are shorter and slimmer than average, standing around 3'4" to about 3'8". The girl in this picture is 6'4" while the boy is 3'8".

Most objects in our world are the same size as in yours, with a few exceptions. Even now, it is widely thought that a man's place is in the kitchen, so many kitchen arrangements are a lot smaller in our world. Kitchen counters are 2' tall rather than 3', refrigerators are shorter and less deep so that men are able to use them, cooking implements such as pots and kettles are smaller and lighter, among other differences.

Most other things are the same size and weight in your world though, so heavy doors and gates, large chairs and other things still pose a challenge for many men, while many other things, such as cars, are impossible for men to operate by themselves.

P/S I'm trying out a new image tag, one which allows me add the image title as well. I will probably be doing this only on my recent images and not on my older ones.

The Wild Ones

The image of women as leather-wearing, motorcycle-riding, sexually-charged predators is a vibrant mainstay in popular culture in my world. In books, movies and on television, women on motorcycles are glorified as defiant rebels, going wherever the wind takes them, hard-brawlin', hard-boozin' and hard-lovin'. If there was ever a phrase that brought a worried furrowing to the brows of a boy's parents, it would be "She rides a motorcycle."

Some househusbands, sitting in the passenger seats of their wives' SUVs still feel alittle tremor in their hearts seeing a biker roaring down the street, her boy sitting insolently between her thighs on the leather seat, and think back to when they were younger, the fervent crush they'd had on the bad girl from the other side of town, fantasies about holding on to her for dear life as she gunned her chrome machine down the long empty stretch of open road to the American dreamscape. And, when she got there, how she'd throw them down on a splendid unending field of grass and then slowly, have her way with them.

Discipline

In this world, just like in yours, some of us like to play dress-up games involving whips and chains and leather. The big difference is that in our world, it's exclusively the men that feel the need to be chained up and whipped mercilessly until they are quivering messes crawling at the feet of their lusty mistresses. O yeah.

In the Shower

Update: I'm no longer using the "Continue reading..." links since Blogger allows me to flag the whole blog as adults-only. June 3, 2008

Update: Fixed a glaring error I'd left on the shower wall. February 26, 2008.

Sexual attitudes on this world are of course quite different from those in yours. Women, being the sexual aggressors, are a lot less self-conscious about their bodies, while men, on the other hand, are a lot shyer about theirs. Because the female is so much more dominant physically, women also dominate the world socially, economically and culturally much more so than in the reverse in your world and this domination translates to much more open cultural attitudes towards sex, at least among women; men, until relatively recently, were expected to be more reserved and demure about sex in the public sphere.

With prevailing attitudes towards the male sexual role as providing gratification for the female, oral sex is exclusively performed by men on women; in fact, in the current cultural climate, it's almost expected for a man to provide oral pleasure, and to be reasonably good at it. It's also quite common for boys to be referred to laughingly and chauvinistically by women as "clitsuckers" or "cuntlickers" and nowadays, among male friends, these epithets are sometimes used as a mild insult akin to calling him a "slut."

California Sun

I think if I were to look back on my early collages, this one would have been an early one where I ended up being quite satisfied with the end result. This was also one of the first where the male figure was sourced from another image. I had to play around a lot with the man's color balance to make it match with the rest of the picture. Anyway, I liked this one so much I didn't even change it much from my original before posting it, other than making the woman's shoulders and arms a bit more developed.

There's something about the woman's expression, I think, that does it for me. There's a sharpness in her eyes, and her amused smile betrays a casual cruelty, something which boys aren't supposed to like in a woman, but are subconsciously drawn to anyway.

It's like they always say, boys dig jerks.