Posts Tagged ‘Relationships’

Internet Networks & Love Life

Wednesday, January 21st, 2009

Eva Illouz, author of “Consuming the Romantic Utopia: Love and Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism” and “Cold Intimacies: The Making of Emotional Capitalism” will be speaking at Bruno Kreisky Forum on 26 February.

Here a few sentences from an interview about how internet networks influence our love life:

“Internet networks develop a culture of freedom, which is a culture of “choice”. Everyone can look out for everyone, everybody gets endless possibilities to search for a partner. This technology of choice has a very negative influence on emotions. It leads to high rationality in love life and leaves no space for intuition.

The problem with the idea of consumerist “choice” is that one assumes that consumers know what they want. But that is absolutely not the case. Human beings do not know what they want – there are studies which prove this. Even more so: the more choice they have, the more confused they are about their wishes. They know even less what they want. And when this consumerist behaviour infects love life, it doesn’t make life any easier.

The level of disappointment, especially in the world of internet dating,  is very, very high. Even when in relationships, people are on the look-out to test their market value. Because maybe, they could find a more “valuable” partner. They zap like TV channels.  Additional to that, the repetition turns them emotionally blunt. Goethe’s Werner wouldn’t commit suicide today, he would just go to the PC and zap himself to the next affair.”

To read the whole (very interesting) interview (in German), go to Robert Misk’s site: www.misik.at

Ana’s Ode to Manhood

Thursday, January 15th, 2009

Yesterday, I attended a lecture by Erich Lehner, an Austrian gender scientist. The promising topic of the lecture was “Man: the neglected sex”. The first shock was that Mr. Lehner, although very sympathetic, managed to turn this exciting topic into a sleeping pill. The second shock was his main message: save the poor men, help them, they are in crisis. We expect them to be manly but also have soft skills, be strong but also understaning, go on maternity leave, look like George Clooney, be rich like Bill Gates, etc., etc. WE don’t! It is the media that makes you feel we do. We want men to be men, to respect us and to be reliable (plus: we want chemistry, of course). This was so heartbreaking that I immediately wanted to hug all men in the audience and tell them how fantastic they are. Is manhood really suffering a crisis? I didn’t notice that. I mean, yes, all that shaving of breast hair and tons of cosmetics and the quest for a six pack are….well…..not really necessary…… But hey, today’s men are fantastic! They care of their looks (didn’t I write about those muscles few weeks ago?), they are hard working, they are great lovers, they are more open to women and their complex nature (and needs), they can cook and change diapers. And come on, they are still the bosses (in Austria only 6% of top management positions are occupied by women)! So where the hell should a crisis come from?

This got me a bit sad. First, we have women in crisis. Then we have “Frauenpolitik” (women’s policies). Now we should have men in crisis… Männerpolitik? Isn’t our society just totally absurd? I mean, this should be the simplest thing in the world. It is just that we managed to make it so complicated.

And finally, Mr.Lehner mentioned a very interesting statistics: 3x more women attempt suicide. 3x more men are successful in it.

Guys, get your act together. You’re fantastic!

My Maria

Thursday, December 18th, 2008

I just bought my first Christmas crèche ever. It is a mini (and a minimalist) crib, cut out of one flat piece of wood. As I was trying to arrange the figurines on my desk, Maria miraculously kept jumping out. I was trying to push the stubborn figurine back to her husband under the star-clad- roof but she kept sticking out. Somehow, I felt for her….

Maybe I should try to exchange this thing tomorrow. And get one with a Maria glued in.

Little F…ed Riding Hood

Monday, December 8th, 2008

OK for the start – today, an old granny would live in a nursing home or would have a nurse visiting her regularly. And please, today, a mama would never ever send her daughter to walk alone through a dark wood to visit her old grandmother. Because today’s mom fucked with the wolf too many times. Today’s mom KNOWS the wolf. Maybe he is even still her lover.

This is why today’s mom would put the Little Red Riding Hood into her SUV and drive her to the grandmother. Yes, I know it can happen that Little Red Riding Hood’s dad is on a business trip and her brother is ill and the teenage babysitter doesn’t have time to baby-sit because she has an appointment for her pregnancy check up. Well, if it really didn’t work in any other way, then mom would make sure to prepare Little Red Riding Hood for her trip through the woods.

Of course, she would never allow Little Red Riding Hood to wear that red sexy hood! No, off goes the short red number, on goes a long grey coat. And that little skirt and little white socks? No! “Where’s your jeans, Hoody-Baby?” Little Red Riding Hood would whine and tell her mom that it is not fair that Little Green Riding Hood can wear her cool hood and she has to wear that grey sack. Mom would of course hate the idea that her daughter feels inferior so she would allow the red hood. But jeans would have to stay. Next, mom would tell LRRH about her own rape experience. “You know, when I was your age I was hitchhiking to the sea side. And two nice young boys offered me a ride to the next city. But they didn’t take me to a city. They took me into the woods. And tried to rape me. I was lucky that a jogger was passing by, saw what happened and rescued me. You can never, ever trust no one! Not even young nice boys. And especially not wolves!” And finally, she would prepare the basket with wine and cake for the granny, but make sure to put a pepper spray, a mobile phone with 911 on speed dial, and a condom on top. Just for the case that instead of a wolf, Little Red Riding Hood meets a cute hiker and really cannot resist.

So off goes our Little Red Riding Hood into the deep dark woods. And hey, the wolf appears. A modern LRRH would never waste time to talk to an old, hairy wolf. She knows she is too cute for him. She is aware of the fact that she looks a bit like Britney. So today, the wolf would have to put some effort into his appearance if he wants to talk to little girls. He would take a loan to buy a shiny Porsche, put on a fake Rolex (or if he is a finer wolf, a Panerai). He would have his hairs removed by a laser treatment. He would maybe even die the rest of his hair blond and get a funky cut. He would put on a sleek suite and always have a Blackberry in his hand to look very busy. And he would never, ever be so stupidly bold like the wolf in the story and simply ask the Little Red Riding Hood of her grandma’s address. No, he would be all charming and tell LRRH that he actually got lost and needs her help. He would tell her about this urgent business meeting he is going to with investors from Quatar and that unfortunately, he is off to St Moritz tomorrow early in the morning but he would be really happy to thank her for helping him with a nice dinner in Fabios or whatever fancy restaurant there is in that wood. He would entangle her into a nice conversation so that she wouldn’t even realising she is giving him her grandma’s address.

Of course, today’s granny is just like today’s mom – she met the wolf many times before and wouldn’t simply let him in. But maybe the last time she met the wolf was very, very long ago (she only became granny when she was 80) and already forgot how bad the wolf was. She would like the wolf’s charm, and after all, the new wolf looks like a fine young man, so she would let him in. And actually, today’s granny wouldn’t even be endangered, because the oldest woman today’s wolf would eat would be 26. 27 is too close to 30 and that is too close to a biological clock. But for the sake of the story we have to assume our wolf either didn’t eat a woman for so long that he is starved to death and would eat just anything. Or that he is so hungry for Little Red Riding Hood’s young flesh that he will make himself devour granny with his eyes shut, visualising the pinkness that’s already on her way to him.

Now, Little Red Riding Hood arrives to granny’s house and sees that big, hairy wolf in her granny’s bed. Come on! What the hell happened to our Little Red Riding Hood in the original story? Was she blind? Or did she eat some weird mushrooms in the woods and was too high to react? How could she not recognise the wolf in her granny’s nightie? Whatever was going on with the original Little Red Riding Hood, today’s Little Red Riding Hood would immediately react. She would try to run and find her phone to call 911. She would kick wolf’s arse with her Taek Won Do moves. But, although she is the junior champion in Taek Won Do, the wolf is bigger and stronger and would manage to catch her and eat her.

And now comes the hunter. In contrary to the hunter from the tale, today’s hunter who passes by a house and hears an old woman snoring loudly wouldn’t react. He would either think that the old woman has an old lover or he simply wouldn’t give a shit about the old woman. But we have a very nice hunter here who kills the animals but helps old people so he would go in to check on the old lady. He would find the wolf asleep in the bed, and would immediately shoot him. Our nice hunter does not shoot the wolf but cuts open his belly and frees Little Red Riding Hood and granny. In the story, the hunter skins the wolf and everybody lives happily ever after.

BUT! In our story, the hunter doesn’t care about wolf’s skin! He wants a reward for having freed the ladies. So while granny is collecting her savings to pay the hunter, the wolf starts chatting up the LRRH and explaining to her what has actually happened: He was driving by on his way to a business meeting and remembered that her poor ill granny is alone and wanted to check up on her. The crazy old witch opened the door and so badly wanted to be eaten by him that she simply jumped into his mouth. And the moment he saw LRRH, he was so overwhelmed with love that he lost his brains and just wanted to be as close to her as possible. Oh, he swallowed her out of pure love! Hearing this story from this charming, loving, strong, cool wolf, Little Red Riding Hood would become totally disgusted with her old crazy grandmother. Yes, she knows her mom warned her – but this wolf is different! This wolf is nice and successful and soooo strong! And he loves her!

She would make sure the old witch was locked into a nursing home. And then she would move into granny’s house with wolf, her cool new boyfriend. Every day, while wolf would go to his imaginary business meetings (actually he would just drive through the woods searching for young flesh), she would work hard at her new job as a secretary – this way they at least had one secure income. After all, the Porsche needs regular service. And she likes her wolf in his Prosche. The wedding will of course be postponed for better times.

So basically today, not the wolf would get fucked. The poor old granny would get fucked. And then the Little Red Riding Hood would get fucked. Because after she gave birth to wolf’s two kids and his business has finally kicked off, he would find a Little Pink Riding Hood (she is of course 15 years younger than LRRH) and marry her. Women never learn their lessons.

And the wolf would live happily ever after.

Facebook Horror

Monday, December 8th, 2008

Few years ago there was all that hype about Second Life. Second Life was a virtual reality. It was not a game – you did not play there but you would go in and create your avatar the way you like it, build your house, meet new people, go to rock concerts, etc. It was what the name said – a second, or a parallel, life. Many companies invested money to be represented in Second Life. Adidas created special SL shoes, Coca-Cola was in, IBM, Ford . Many people spent hours there, many spent dollars there, and some even earned a little fortune there. Thank God, the Second Life craze eased (or is it just that I don’t follow the news on interactive topics since I left Ogilvy?) but we immediately found a substitute. Within few months, Facebook turned into Second Life, just a bit creepier – because in SL you invented your avatar. In Facebook you are yourself – but (trying to be) funnier, sexier, cooler. And you constantly feed the world with the newest update about how you are feeling, what you are doing, whom you are meeting, how you are looking. I notice that we are slowly becoming seriously addicted to this possibility of a virtual projection of our lives to the world. Yes, Facebook has good sides – like me finding my first boyfriend who is now in Thailand and whom I would have otherwise never found. On the other hand, I am wondering if Facebook will soon turn into some weird second reality which will slowly take up a life of its own. Imagine one day the Facebook “us” started rebelling and decided to mess up our real lives. With all that information and trust, easily done….

Are we becoming prude?

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008

I just read an article by a Croatian writer saying that paparazzi pictures showing Kate Moss’ underpants as she is exiting a car prove how our society is becoming more and more prude. She claims that we watch paparazzi pictures of drunk, half naked or messed up celebrities because we are shocked about their behaviour. I see it opposite. We look at paparazzi pics not because they shock us but because they calm us. The world of celebrities went so far to become a parallel, virtual universe. Through plastic surgery, private fitness trainers and Photoshop, the celebrities look too perfect, even plastic. Never in the history have actors and celebrities earned such amounts of money. And lately, they also manage to have perfect families. The pictures of Kate Moss’ underwear and drunk Britney help us remember (or realise) that they too are only human. So first one part of media earns by making them seem über-human, then the other part of media earns by showing that they are human after all. That makes double profit. And we are the idiots who gladly pay for all of that. And then we also pay for plastic surgery and designer clothes, hoping that we too can look the part…

And as for the prude, just look at a few videos on MTV or a few ads in magazines. You can also go to galleries and see what sells as art. No, we are far from becoming prude.

Bambi or Wolf?

Monday, October 27th, 2008

God, I survived a walk in the woods with a heterosexual man!

I normally go for my weekly wood magic with my gay neighbour (and friend) Patrick. And it is always plain beautiful: In spring, we are excited about the little pink and white buds coming out of the wet and dark earth, later in the year we pluck Bärlauch (ramson or bear’s garlic) and discuss the best Bärlauch recipes. In summer, we lie on a little chequered blanket and bask in the sun. And in the fall, we search for mushrooms in all colours and sizes. Like we did last weekend in the Little Red Riding Hood wood – it really was like a scene from a Disney cartoon.

Well, today was the first time in a long, long time that I went into a wood with a hetero man. And no, it wasn’t all about the big bad wolf eating poor Little Red Riding Hood behind a bush. First, we got lost – my walker was absolutely sure he knew his way around as he is mountain biking through this wood every week. Then, we ended up climbing a VERY high hill. And then we were even more lost, soon sliding down a very steep slope covered in slippery red leafs. Please note: I was wearing little golden adidas shoes. So once we managed to get off the slope (finally), I ended up sinking in mud – not only did my little golden shoes disappear in black mud but so did my cool jeans, all the way up to my knees. Thank god the hetero man on my side was big and strong and immediately fished me out. I really love woods, but I swear to God, I just wanted to get out of that one.

What is it about gay men?  How can they make any wood into a Bambi paradise? Why are butterflies and rabbits and flowers dancing in the sun whenever a gay man enters a wood? I mean, when you go into a wood with a gay man, you could as well put on your thinnest stilettos and you would be ok…. I don’t know. It’s…magic. Gay magic. Or am I simply a fag hag?

 
I don’t get it.

But since writing about woods (again), here my favourite wood joke:

“Aha! Little Red Riding Hood!” says Big Bad Wolf, upon finding the girl in the woods. “Now I’m going to take off your little read cape, lift up your little red skirt, pull down your little red panties and fuck your brains out!”

“Oh no, you’re not, Mr. Wolf,” Red Riding Hood retorts, pulling a pistol out of her basket and drawing a bead on the wolf. “You’re going to eat me just like the book says!”

 

Maybe that is it! In the woods, girls either want to meet Bambi or Wolf! Not sink in mud.

“New Man” or Are we all becoming “Everything”?

Wednesday, August 20th, 2008

I am on a desert island, it is hot and beautiful and the only internet access is over a telephone line. Plus I am very busy swimming, sleeping, eating and reading. All together – the brain melted and is currently working on “the island mode”, so writing a regular blog is kind of a serious challenge. Please, bare with me through those “tough” times which will last till the end of September.Reading Croatian newspapers is a crucial part of the island life but not really inspiring. Still few days ago, I came across an article about the “New Man”. Yes, just another article about how poor men are today because they are expected to be sensible and tough in the same time. Well, if you ask me, they are in the exactly same position like new women who are expected to be educated, have a career, look beautiful, stay eternally young, work hard, be independent and in the same time be dedicated wives and mothers. I thought about this strange situation in which men are expected to be like women and women are expected to be like men and then the part of my brain that didn’t yet drown in the Adriatic Sea started thinking beyond the gender topic – actually, aren’t we are all expected to become EVERYTHING? Not only are women becoming men and men women, we are becoming citizens of a few countries simultaneously, we are multilingual, we are either switching careers or have parallel careers. But look at this: we also becoming both eternal children and eternal seniors. We are prolonging our childhood and the state of singlehood to our late thirties. Even when we become parents (and partners), we still allow ourselves toys, flexibility and adventures. (Interesting book on this topic: Pascal Bruckner “The Temptation of Innosence”). In the same time, the brutality of turbo capitalism is pushing us into (professional) responsibility, reliability and hard work typical for experienced adults from the very beginning of our work life – forcing us to become (professional) “old people” already in our early twenties. (Here, I am touching the topic of Richard Senett’s “The Corrosion of Character: The Personal Consequences of Work in the New Capitalism”, another highly recommendable book about how capitalism is influencing our character, turning us into endlessly flexible beings (the German translation of the title is “Der Flexible Mensch”). So little by little, starting with the “New Man” I landed on the aliens as we know them from SF: highly developed beings for which the difference between old/ young, male/female, Austrian/Croatian no more exists. But ugh, I have to admit that I really do prefer the “Old Man” to E.T…..

Bordeaux Wisdom

Monday, June 16th, 2008

Someting I learned yesterday from an old wine-maker from Bordeaux:

A great son-in-law is not necessarily a great husband.

A great husband is not necessarily a great lover.

A great lover is almost never a great husband.

La Famiglia

Wednesday, June 4th, 2008

I was just translating my interviews when I realised one interesting fact. Although I am 33 (yes, still) – I am often asked about my parents’ reaction to my book, my new career, etc. I have a feeling that this concern with parents is a very “southern” appearance. Something you would also face in Italy or South of France or Spain…“So what does La Famiglia say to this??!!!”

I somehow cannot imagine this question being asked in Austria. Nobody here gives a shit about what the family says. Who is family? What practical use it there from it?  I’ll never forget how my boss once told me “You anyway only have kids for 18 years.” Yeah, right – and if even that’s too long, you just lock them in your basement or what?