OPINIONS. Need to vent? Contact the editor at opinions @theotherpress.ca The controversy behind lordes feminism—and why shes right Natalie Serafini Assistant Editor assistant@theotherpress.ca Aone’ been taking verbal swings at several popular artists: Lorde, a brutally honest feminist, has of such artists as Selena Del Rey—and Gomez ain’t happy about what Lorde’s been spouting. said “I’m a feminist, and the theme of her song is, ‘When you're ready come and get it being portrayed this way.” not feminism. [Lorde is] not supporting other women. That’s my honest opinion, been criticized for her criticism Gomez, Taylor Swift, and Lana With regards to Gomez's song “Come & Get It,” Lorde from me.’ I’m sick of women Gomez responded, “That's Lorde, don't have mercy that’s what I would say to her if I saw her.” Gomez handled the situation very well, in the sense that most people will likely agree with her. The version of feminism that has been popularized for years— most notably in the age of the Spice Girls—is that of love and support for your fellow woman, girl power, sisters standing together, and the like. While it may be the popular and seemingly ideal form of feminism, it’s not my version of feminism, and I'd like to go ahead and assume that it’s not Lorde’s version of feminism Photo illustration by Joel McCarthy either. Feminism isn’t about blind, blanket support. Being a feminist doesn’t mean agreeing with everything that women do; it means supporting women in their ability to say and do as they wish, and backing their messages if you actually do agree with them. Gomez can sing, act, and speak however she wants, but I don’t have to agree with her statements and actions, and neither does Lorde. Gomez is no more deserving of blind support than any other woman, feminist, or human being is. It’s that simple. On the topic of Gomez's song, alot of people seem to have misunderstood why Lorde was criticizing it. On the YouTube channel Pop Trigger, the consensus was that Gomez was exploring her sexuality with the object of her affections, and that Lorde, when she’s older, will be more willing and able to explore her sexuality. She'll understand, where she’s too young to comprehend sexuality as a youngin’ of 17 years. I can’t speak for Lorde, obviously, but the issue I’ve had with Gomez’s song is that it sets her up as a passive object, waiting around to be acted upon. In the lyric, “when you're ready, come and get it,” she literally refers to herself as an it—unless “it” refers to sex, which is a distinct possibility. Even then, though, the notion that sex with her is an “open invitation” takes away the option for her to change her mind, or not be in the mood, or decide that she’s tired of waiting around. Call me crazy, but I think it’s important to be able to change your mind if you decide that you do or you don’t want to have sex. This is different from the generic brand of sexual objectification in which women are sexual scenery, or their value is tethered to their sexual abilities: in this case, Gomez's role as a thing is blatantly stated. She tells you she'll be waiting around until you're ready to sex her up (“All day, all night, I’ll be waiting, standing by” )—and will assumedly go back to waiting until you're ready to come and get it again. Ihave no problem with the exploration of sexuality. I have a problem with the notion that Gomez is singing about not living her life, or deciding that she’s no better than some dismissible object. That's neither a positive message, nor one that I’m going to get behind. I wholeheartedly feel that Gomez has every right to sing what she wants to sing, and believe what she wants to believe. I don’t support her song’s message, though, because her brand of feminism and empowerment reads a little too much like objectification to me. If Lorde’s criticism is based in some other logic, she still has every right to criticize Gomez's message without it detracting from her status as a feminist. A eulogy for Blockbuster Ihe remembrance of entertainment retailers Elliot Chan Opinions Editor opinions@ theotherpress.ca fb ntertainment. What does the word even mean to us now? It seems like we have endless amounts of it everywhere we look. The idea of rental is now so preposterous and ancient that many consider it laughable. But it was only about two years ago that the iconic entertainment rental store, Blockbuster, vacated Canada. Although many transitioned to digital methods of enjoying movies, TV shows, and video games at the initial phase of the revolution, a fair number of customers relied not only on the movies but the complete Blockbuster experience for nightly entertainment. Now it’s official: the store will become a relic of North America. Blockbuster announced earlier this month that it would be shutting down the remaining 300 stores in the US. Cut to 16 credits. The Blockbuster story has its ending. It was inevitable, but it’s a tragedy for movie lovers. Okay, so I'm being a bit dramatic, but think about the alternative; consider how we approach our entertainment today. Although my life is quite unique, I’m sure my process of selecting something to watch is not so different from yours. I come home from an exhausting day at work or school, sit down on my computer chair, couch, or bed, and log onto the Internet. If | have a movie or TV show in mind, great, I’ll seek it out as fast as | can via an online streaming website or a peer-to- peer media sharing site, such as BitTorrent. But if I’m feeling symptoms of indecisiveness, which occurs more frequently than I want, I end up sitting at my computer scrolling through a list of movies, trapped in some sort of horrible movie poster vortex. I consult ratings and critic reviews, but that’s never enjoyable. I end up flustered and far from entertained. I'll usually just surrender and end up on YouTube, or watching the news and sports highlights, or simply selecting something random, watching halfway through, getting bored, and then going to be bed early. Rarely do I feel invested in the movies I choose. I can just stop watvvching whenever I want to and not feel any regret because it didn’t cost me anything. Sure, that might not be a bad thing, because believe it or not there are a lot of shitty movies and TV shows out there. But committing to something helps viewers establish a relationship with the entertainment, like wearing a shirt that you bought for a special occasion. You'll remember going to the store, picking it out, trying it on, and paying for it. That little magical spark is lost in the digital age. Downloading and streaming movies and TV shows is so instantaneous and ephemeral that we shrug our shoulders and just don’t care. In the end, technology will always win. That's just the way the world works. But I believe we've lost a bit of our culture with the extinction of Blockbuster and other physical entertainment outlets. Although I was never a loyal customer, I feel we still need a centralized location for home entertainment outside of our living rooms. We need a place to browse, select, and talk about movies. Then we return home with the thrill of having a completed journey. I’m going to miss video stores. It’s a shame the next generation will not be able to appreciate the pleasures of walking down the many aisles, reminiscing about old films with others, and slipping the DVDs through the little slot at night hoping they don’t charge you an overdue fee. Yes, I’m going to miss video stores. Cue soft music and slowly fade to black.