Would Leda Say NO To the Swan?
Jan. 14th, 2025 09:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mallorys_cameraNew York Magazine ran a scathing expose of Neil Gaiman’s sexual peccadilloes.
I read it, of course, because rape, brutality, sexual sadism, Scientology? I am so there!
But I must say, the article was over the top, even for B-list celebrity voyeurs like myself.
I am seeing some victim-bashing on the various message boards I inhabit: If Pavlovich's encounters with Gaiman were in fact nonconsensual, it sure doesn't seem like she was doing a great job of making Gaiman aware of that.
Yah. Well. That’s why sexual liaisons across power boundaries are viewed so negatively at present that injunctions against them are all but codified: When the power balance between two people is that unequal, it's very difficult to say NO.
I mean, would Leda say NO to the swan? Doubtful.
###
I don’t get cruelty as a turn-on. And I say this as someone who is not a big fan of humanity.
The whole BDSM sex scene leaves me scratching my head. I mean, yeah, sure, whatever turns you on, but that? ICK.
I did have sex with a self-styled dom maybe a decade ago who, for whatever reason, was hot to number me among his conquests.
“I’m not into what you like,” I told him. “And I won’t play.”
He still wanted to go ahead.
At some point during the subsequent proceedings, he started—yuk, yuk, yuk—prodding me to admire his dick.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” he gushed. “Isn’t it big?”
“Yep, it’s a penis, all right,” I said.
“It’s a big cock, right?” he asked.
Well, not that big, I thought. But did not say.
I could tell his verdict of my sexual prowess was not very high. I was refusing to go along with the sex play that got him off!
But, of course, he was refusing to go along with the sex play that got me off! Namely that the sex I am having is the culmination of a deep emotional connection.
###
Except for the Sandman comics (which I chiefly liked for the artwork), I am not and never have been a big fan of Gaiman’s work. His schtick is mythology, but he doesn’t really get the archetypal significance of mythology. His gods and demi-gods are just another species of Marvel Superheroes.
(Happens I know a lot about mythology. I first read Edith Hamilton’s Mythology when I was eight or so, and the book introduced me to a framework for "reality" that I still use to this very day.)
But couple of years back, I went to a reading Gaiman did of A Christmas Carol, which I liked very much. Gaiman dressed up as Charles Dickens! He was very charming.
And I could feel myself casually fantasizing: Their eyes met across the crowded auditorium…
Interestingly, Charles Dickens was something of a sexual sadist himself. Read up sometime about his relationship with his poor wife, Catherine.
###
Anyway, after the ink dries on the settlements for all those civil suits, and Neil Gaiman—welcomed back into Mother Scientology’s loving embrace—undergoes a suitable interval of OT VIII auditing, I have no doubt he will reappear at Tom Cruise's right-hand side, snag the screenwriting credit for Mission Impossible: Ascent From Hades, & take home an Oscar.
###
Meanwhile, yesterday was not a gym day, so except for running a few errands, I mostly stayed inside and studied for my IRS certification exam, which I’m now convinced I’m gonna fail because there’s so much to know!
I read it, of course, because rape, brutality, sexual sadism, Scientology? I am so there!
But I must say, the article was over the top, even for B-list celebrity voyeurs like myself.
I am seeing some victim-bashing on the various message boards I inhabit: If Pavlovich's encounters with Gaiman were in fact nonconsensual, it sure doesn't seem like she was doing a great job of making Gaiman aware of that.
Yah. Well. That’s why sexual liaisons across power boundaries are viewed so negatively at present that injunctions against them are all but codified: When the power balance between two people is that unequal, it's very difficult to say NO.
I mean, would Leda say NO to the swan? Doubtful.
###
I don’t get cruelty as a turn-on. And I say this as someone who is not a big fan of humanity.
The whole BDSM sex scene leaves me scratching my head. I mean, yeah, sure, whatever turns you on, but that? ICK.
I did have sex with a self-styled dom maybe a decade ago who, for whatever reason, was hot to number me among his conquests.
“I’m not into what you like,” I told him. “And I won’t play.”
He still wanted to go ahead.
At some point during the subsequent proceedings, he started—yuk, yuk, yuk—prodding me to admire his dick.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” he gushed. “Isn’t it big?”
“Yep, it’s a penis, all right,” I said.
“It’s a big cock, right?” he asked.
Well, not that big, I thought. But did not say.
I could tell his verdict of my sexual prowess was not very high. I was refusing to go along with the sex play that got him off!
But, of course, he was refusing to go along with the sex play that got me off! Namely that the sex I am having is the culmination of a deep emotional connection.
###
Except for the Sandman comics (which I chiefly liked for the artwork), I am not and never have been a big fan of Gaiman’s work. His schtick is mythology, but he doesn’t really get the archetypal significance of mythology. His gods and demi-gods are just another species of Marvel Superheroes.
(Happens I know a lot about mythology. I first read Edith Hamilton’s Mythology when I was eight or so, and the book introduced me to a framework for "reality" that I still use to this very day.)
But couple of years back, I went to a reading Gaiman did of A Christmas Carol, which I liked very much. Gaiman dressed up as Charles Dickens! He was very charming.
And I could feel myself casually fantasizing: Their eyes met across the crowded auditorium…
Interestingly, Charles Dickens was something of a sexual sadist himself. Read up sometime about his relationship with his poor wife, Catherine.
###
Anyway, after the ink dries on the settlements for all those civil suits, and Neil Gaiman—welcomed back into Mother Scientology’s loving embrace—undergoes a suitable interval of OT VIII auditing, I have no doubt he will reappear at Tom Cruise's right-hand side, snag the screenwriting credit for Mission Impossible: Ascent From Hades, & take home an Oscar.
###
Meanwhile, yesterday was not a gym day, so except for running a few errands, I mostly stayed inside and studied for my IRS certification exam, which I’m now convinced I’m gonna fail because there’s so much to know!
no subject
Date: 2025-01-14 08:50 pm (UTC)Good luck on the exam! When do you have to take it?
no subject
Date: 2025-01-14 09:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-01-15 10:30 am (UTC)Best of luck with the exam!
no subject
Date: 2025-01-15 11:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-01-15 12:31 pm (UTC)The New York Magazine piece does a good job analyzing how a Scientology upbringing may have influenced Gaiman's behavior.
no subject
Date: 2025-01-15 12:33 pm (UTC)Wow! 😮
I don't see it.
no subject
Date: 2025-01-15 02:12 pm (UTC)With X-wife, do you mean his first wife? The article doesn't mention Amanda Palmer having been involved with Scientology.
no subject
Date: 2025-01-15 02:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-01-16 08:43 am (UTC)