"Princess Leia in her Bikini": Is slavery just a fun joke?
My cousin, the author and former member of the Clinton administration Sidney Ciccilini, sent me a link to a site featuring women dressed in Princess Leia's "slave outfit" from Star Wars as a joke. It was funny for a few seconds, until I realized what was being discussed at the site and the subtext. My laughter soon stopped: slavery is not a joke.
Turning to the encyclopedia, we see that millions were enslaved and thousands died through the centuries when there was slavery. And, many millions of their descendents are more or less slaves even today. Is that funny? If so, then why aren't they laughing at this "joke"?
And, why would women parade their own subjugation? References are made throughout the site to "boyfriends" and how much they appreciate these bikinis. I'm sure they do: most men aren't that much evolved from the days when women were simply property. But, why would these women celebrate this? Do they think it's sexy to support them being controlled by men?
I understand that these "Cons" and this dressing-up is a good outlet for people who appear to be, to be frank, nerds. I am vaguely reminded of another sub-culture: furdom. But, at least in that no subjugation or slavery is the common theme: all animals are on the same equal footing.
The violent subtext of the photos of Julie are particularly disturbing. Is that supposed to be some kind of a "turn-on"? If so, why am I not "turned-on"?
Posted by John Ciccilini to John Ciccilini at December 5, 2005 03:07 PM
