Shirley Conran has said that Fifty Shades of Grey is "worse than mediocre". The author of 1982 bestseller Lace told Metro that she was not a fan of El James's record-breaking erotic novel. Asked about the success of the book, Conran said: "It's not mediocre, it's much worse. The sex scenes aren't a turn-on; it's badly written; and it should have had a good editor. "But it shows there's a demand for something to improve the illicit life of women in the West; they aren't getting the sexual stimulation they need." Asked what works as women's erotica, she replied: "What turns me on are chorus girls, the high kicks in fishnet tights and high heels. "Black lace underwear; and Billie Piper in Secret Diary Of A Call Girl. All that sex was very pretty." (more)...
- 8/9/2012
- by By Mayer Nissim
- Digital Spy
'She brought intelligence and wit to the daily tasks of being a woman'
I never met Nora Ephron, but she was precisely my age and I read all of her books as bulletins from an extended women's college alumnae magazine, guidelines to inventing la vida feminista in the face of divorce, disillusion, and decay. Ephron was not a canonical feminist icon, a Susan Sontag or a Saint Simone; she was too funny, too commercial, too successful. But she was an icon of feminism-lite, someone who brought intelligence and wit to the daily tasks of being a woman. One of her best pieces was a hilarious essay on "maintenance", the daily labours women must devote to their bodies just to keep one step ahead of time. Ephron's declaration that she had her hair blow-dried twice a week, "cheaper by far than psychoanalysis and far more uplifting", ranks with Shirley Conran's...
I never met Nora Ephron, but she was precisely my age and I read all of her books as bulletins from an extended women's college alumnae magazine, guidelines to inventing la vida feminista in the face of divorce, disillusion, and decay. Ephron was not a canonical feminist icon, a Susan Sontag or a Saint Simone; she was too funny, too commercial, too successful. But she was an icon of feminism-lite, someone who brought intelligence and wit to the daily tasks of being a woman. One of her best pieces was a hilarious essay on "maintenance", the daily labours women must devote to their bodies just to keep one step ahead of time. Ephron's declaration that she had her hair blow-dried twice a week, "cheaper by far than psychoanalysis and far more uplifting", ranks with Shirley Conran's...
- 6/29/2012
- by Elaine Showalter
- The Guardian - Film News
Older females portrayed as sexless while homosexuals and ethnic minorities also suffer, says extensive survey of opinion
Films are perpetuating harmful and out-of-date sexual, racial and gender stereotypes, according to the biggest-ever study of its kind into cinema audiences' opinions.
Of 4,315 adults across the UK who were surveyed, a clear majority believe cinema too often falls back on discredited stereotypes, including sexless older women, drug dealing, oversexualised black people and gay people whose lives are dominated by their sexuality.
Almost two-thirds of those questioned believe older women are "significantly underrepresented" in films. They are rarely portrayed as sexual beings and are, generally, only given marginal roles, according to the findings, published exclusively in the Guardian today.
Respondents said film-makers needed to try harder to create films which authentically reflected their lives.
"The film industry is made up of small companies who work in an isolated fashion. They don't have the...
Films are perpetuating harmful and out-of-date sexual, racial and gender stereotypes, according to the biggest-ever study of its kind into cinema audiences' opinions.
Of 4,315 adults across the UK who were surveyed, a clear majority believe cinema too often falls back on discredited stereotypes, including sexless older women, drug dealing, oversexualised black people and gay people whose lives are dominated by their sexuality.
Almost two-thirds of those questioned believe older women are "significantly underrepresented" in films. They are rarely portrayed as sexual beings and are, generally, only given marginal roles, according to the findings, published exclusively in the Guardian today.
Respondents said film-makers needed to try harder to create films which authentically reflected their lives.
"The film industry is made up of small companies who work in an isolated fashion. They don't have the...
- 3/19/2011
- by Amelia Hill
- The Guardian - Film News
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