The Faint and Victim Art – by Michael Lovely
“smaller tits and younger limbs can cause a fit of rivalry”
This is a line from one of my favorite songs created by The Faint. The song contemplates the morality of being and watching strippers. In the end it puts most blame on the viewers of the strippers for why they are there. It is a playful song with a lot of wit, atmosphere and catchy on top of it. It has all this and carries the bands idea that it is men’s succumbing to their derogated desires, which keep victimizing these people who have to strip.
When I started reading Rebecca Roberts “Victim Art: and the art of suffering” This song and its correlating topics came to mind. Roberts anecdote about the stripper at the pop-culture conference was disappointing to say the least. For the most part, I read this paper and wanted to argue. But not argue in the good way. You know, the way in which someone says something that opposes my ideas but is intelligent and fundamentally forces my brain to work at a rebuttal. No. I wanted to argue in the way people who are misinformed about something but go on talking to you as if they are sure they are right. Now I am not saying Roberts is this type of person, or that she is not intelligent her self. I am saying her arguments and anecdotes left lots of holes and questions to be asked.
This frustrations was fueled even more bye the lack of personality I felt it had. I think the moment I checked out was when she referred to the stripper “pushing out her ample rump for us” Ample rump? What is this a Jackie Collins novel? If you have read the paper, or if you deduced it from the papers titled, you will know that this small anecdote that I have been talking about is merely a catalyst for her main discussion on victim art. It is the bulk of the paper. So why have I made this small part such the focus of my paper?
Two reasons. First of all, I have read Arlene Croce’s paper on victim art. I have also read rebuttals to Croce’s points. I suggest anyone who hasn’t read Roberts paper yet, go read Croce’s and perhaps someone’s direct response to her. It is all the same information and points, but with more heart and charm. Charms an odd term for it, since it causes readers in a lot of cases to get angry. But this is the good kind. The kind I spoke of before, that forces you to think about new ideas and really work your mind, to be able to dispute your case. I believe the wit and genuineness of Croce definitely has charm.
The second reason I am stuck on this stripper business is that the whole begging of the paper distracted me so much, I would think about it as I read on threw. Essentially it put me in a bad mood and I dwelled. Not something I think Roberts intended to do.
But I am a nice person. I would like to see Roberts have another try at it, this time focusing on the stripper story. Feeling the out the whole question of stripping as an art. Because you have to resolve that, call it an art, before it can be victim art. Maybe this poor girl was just a victim. In my opinion stripping is an art. But not to the degree in which Roberts gave it. It is a trade art, just the same as making a nice fork. Anyone can try to do it. But it takes time and skill to master this trade/art. The thing missing is the artist predestined message or resoling for their art piece. In the form of tradesmen-ship, the artist is merely perfecting a design or movement in which others want to purchase. To a certain extent. So this striper, who had HIV, wasn’t victim art, she was a workingwoman we felt bad for.
Michael Lovely’s favorite line in the faint song is:
“but it is a job, it pays a lot.
is it disservicing someone?
and is it good to get these men worked up so sexual?”
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