Read on Twitter
Having a think about sex and class, as one does, and what constitutes acceptable sexual performance. If you are posh (and your mum deported a bunch of citizens to their deaths) you can tweet, "Working naked, I'm mad me!" and everyone chuckles and here, please write a GQ article.
By contrast, if a working class person were to tweet this it would be construed as proof of an inherent inability to be work appropriate, probably due to an in-built inability to function generally and certainly a disordered relationship with sex.
There's always a blitheness that the posh get to have surrounding sex, but also the way they "work". It's always just a bit of fun. They can draw attention to these things and never face consequences. In contrast, the working class is surveilled for these things and punished.
What constitutes a personality for the rich is construed as a flaw for the poor, especially when it comes to sex and women.
Anyway this woman has the weirdest relationship to sex and it doesn't even look like she is enjoying it or herself. Pathetic.
Anyway this woman has the weirdest relationship to sex and it doesn't even look like she is enjoying it or herself. Pathetic.
But she is also underlining this classed understanding of sex herself, expressly. "...not a birthday tracksuit! I am not live those povvos. When I am naked it is better than how they actually dress!"
This, of course, is what passes for wit at this level of society. No one is enjoying sex, themselves, or anything other than punching down. The only thing they can feel is sadism. Sexy. So fun. Wow.
Anyway I am reading Kim M. Phillips's excellent "Medieval Maidens" right now and am struck by the similarities between this and expectations for medieval women. Upper class women are instructed to control themselves around men and exhibit self-control to avoid premarital sex.
In contrast, peasant girls are presented as completely unable to control themselves and being duped into premarital sex because of their hopeless naivete.
"The foolish maidens ... are not presented as having fully formed subjectivities, and are carried away by their inherent weaknesses and sexual propensities."
It is not in their natures to be able to be discerning about sex. They are compelled to it "naturally" like animals.
It is not in their natures to be able to be discerning about sex. They are compelled to it "naturally" like animals.
The same thing is going on here. Flora is fun and free and making a "choice" to be sexy(???? citation needed) in public. If a working class woman (or god forbid a queer POC) did the same thing it would be construed as a base and unacceptable impulse.
Anyway it is too hot for this. I'm off for an ice lolly. Where's my GQ byline?
