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two things
+ Listening to coverage on NPR about how people from Connecticut (what do y'all call yourselves?) are split in their support of the Patriots vs. the Giants, I got bitter and pissed off. I shouldn't care. But I do. Because grown-ass adults can talk about "loathing" a team and talk about "redemption" when it comes to sports, and that is totally socially acceptable and nobody questions it. But if I was to go on any media outlet and talk using that same sort of language about ships or character arcs or the depth of my feelings about the stories I invest in, people would think I was weird and either mock or pity me.
I hate the world.
+ Okay, so apparently these ugly-crying gifs of KBell that I've been seeing around have something to do with sloths + Ellen? I really love KBell, so I kind of want to watch whatever this is, but sloths really, really freak me out? Like almost as much as komodo dragons, which are currently number one on my list of animals that freak me out (my list makes much more sense than my sister's, which is comprised of squirrels and fish. I don't know either). Something about the way they move is just scary as anything to me. So can I watch this video without being horrified? Can I close my eyes during the sloth parts and just watch the KBell parts, or is it mostly sloth parts? Ugh. Just writing the word grosses me out.
I use my Andrew icon for this post because he is the only celebrity I would believe can understand the depth of my feelings (about anything. about everything. just feelings in general). Andrew Garfield: Emotional Evangelist is your sponsor for this post.
I hate the world.
+ Okay, so apparently these ugly-crying gifs of KBell that I've been seeing around have something to do with sloths + Ellen? I really love KBell, so I kind of want to watch whatever this is, but sloths really, really freak me out? Like almost as much as komodo dragons, which are currently number one on my list of animals that freak me out (my list makes much more sense than my sister's, which is comprised of squirrels and fish. I don't know either). Something about the way they move is just scary as anything to me. So can I watch this video without being horrified? Can I close my eyes during the sloth parts and just watch the KBell parts, or is it mostly sloth parts? Ugh. Just writing the word grosses me out.
I use my Andrew icon for this post because he is the only celebrity I would believe can understand the depth of my feelings (about anything. about everything. just feelings in general). Andrew Garfield: Emotional Evangelist is your sponsor for this post.
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2. Several commenters have already noted the connection of sports to masculinity but it's the particular kind of masculinity that makes it prestigious and important. After all, fantasy gaming is overwhelmingly male and that's even more outcast than fandom. Sports represents the competitive hierarchical version of masculinity always juggling for tribal dominance with violence and charisma.
There is literally nothing more prestigious in ape societies -- including human societies -- that putting down others for the sake of your own dominance in the hierarchy.
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After all, fantasy gaming is overwhelmingly male and that's even more outcast than fandom. Sports represents the competitive hierarchical version of masculinity always juggling for tribal dominance with violence and charisma.
There is literally nothing more prestigious in ape societies -- including human societies -- that putting down others for the sake of your own dominance in the hierarchy.
This is so true it HURTS me. Ugh.
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I was about to say comic book geeks seem to get more respect than fangirls, then realized gender must be behind that too.
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???
We so do NOT!!!
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There are plenty of reasons to be ashamed to be from Connecticut (some of the greatest disparities in income in the country, for instance) - but that is not one of them!!
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I tell people I'm from New England, since "Connecticut" tends to make people think Stepford Wives...which isn't fair, actually, since it's really only the
wealthy-towns-in-commuting-distance-from-NYC that are like that (the towns the Evil Wall Streeters go home to at night) - most of CT has no Stepford Wives vibe at all!!
The real shame of CT is that it does have those places of extreme wealth - and also three of the poorest cities in the country (Bridgeport, Hartford, and New Haven). The extreme disparities in income are terrible.
Also: I think one reason that people think "Stepford Wives" when they hear "Connecticut" is that so much of CT is indistinguishable from Massachusetts and Rhode Island. I grew up in a town east of New Haven that could easily be in MA or RI. That's why I usually say "southern New England" when people ask where I'm from - it actually gives a more accurate impression of my childhood, I think...
ETA: I think most of CT feels like either an extension of New York or an extension of Massachusetts. That's why the sports team thing is so split - people either identify with Boston or with NYC.
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Yeah, I think of CT as the cultural vacuum between Boston and NYC. I don't know how many times I've heard the Yankees/Red Sox debate. :-P
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The real shame of CT is that it does have those places of extreme wealth - and also three of the poorest cities in the country (Bridgeport, Hartford, and New Haven). The extreme disparities in income are terrible.
Yeah, I can imagine that would be really striking.
I think most of CT feels like either an extension of New York or an extension of Massachusetts. That's why the sports team thing is so split - people either identify with Boston or with NYC.
Fascinating. I feel like I've learned something!