Drabble Wednesday: The Silent Bride

Today on Drabble Wednesday, a story in three parts as we walk down a terrifying aisle into a strange world of repression and anarchy...

Obedience

He signed the contract with a shaking hand. Finally to be wed at five and twenty. Most gentlemen his age had several matrimonial years under their belt, plus heirs. And here he must resort to a disreputable matchmaking service.

Quite the ignominy for his noble house.

“Are you certain she’ll be as I requested? Properly compliant?”

“Yes sir. She’ll never talk back to you.”

“Bring her in then.”

The ringing of a small bell ushered in his bride-to-be.

“Smile for your betrothed, girl.”

She did as bid, her mouth opening wide enough to show where they cut out her tongue.

~*~

Wedding Night

“She won’t say a word. Can’t, milord.” The constable cast his eyes downward in apology. “She’s mute. One of those brides from Conformist Matchmaking.”

“So, he went through with it. Now dead on his wedding night.” He strode to the woman sitting quietly in a corner, avoiding the corpse on the bed.

He knelt down, whispering. “You’ll hang for his murder.”

She smiled, her tongueless mouth in a gaping grin. She held up a bloodied left hand and slipped a dagger from beneath her skirt. In one quick motion she stabbed, and the grand Lord joined his son in death.

~*~

Revolution

The boy at the newsstand held up the latest edition, and screamed out the headlines to attract customers, “Conformist Bride Killer linked to Death Cult! Killing of Lord Everett and his son one of several dozen murders! Conformist Matchmaking under investigation!”

Nearby, two women listened, the older one whispering to her companion. “Our soldiers succeeded admirably. We achieved victory.”

“At a cost. Those women will hang.”

“Some will. Others...” She shrugged. “But many more were never detected. All the key men are dead. No one suspects our revolution. By year’s end the kingdom will be ours, and women will rule.”

 © A. F. Stewart 2017 All Rights Reserved 

Pinterest Is A Porno Site (Among Other Things)

Pinterest Is A Porno Site (Among Other Things)

As some of you may already know if you read my previous post, or have been following my Twitter updates, I’ve been having trouble with policy violators (aka porno pinners) over at Pinterest. A gaggle of them (for some unknown and creepy reason) have targeted one of my group book boards on the site. I’m not saying this is an attack or anything, but I’ve been getting at least one of these sleazy, sexist profiles following my book board each day for weeks.

Now I’m not overly prudish, or against nudity, and I’m not talking about art shots, nude paintings, sexy celebrity photos, or even those lingerie boards. What I’ve been dealing with is full frontal, sexist exploitation of women (plus a few men as well) and the very definition of pornography. Many of these images are very graphic, very sexual (and sexist) in nature, and in some cases designed to imitate under age schoolgirls. This is not what I signed on to view, and I believe it SHOULD NOT be displayed on a public forum like Pinterest. And I’m betting NOT ONE of those sexist jerks that post these photos would take copies into a crowded public place like a mall and show them to strangers. Yet, they have NO problem doing the virtual equivalent on Pinterest.

But wait, Pinterest has a policy against these types of pins, doesn’t it? Supposedly it does. Yet by my recent experience it is turning a blind eye, and these profiles, boards and pins are flourishing on the site. And to make my troubles worse is their recent change to their reporting process. Now you have to get up close and personal with the pins to report them (so good job Pinterest—to get rid of graphic sexual photos, you have to interact with them). Plus the system is not working properly, at least for me. I may be biased, but it seems Pinterest is making it harder to report violators and to want to report violators. Making it a hassle to report a violation does not encourage people to use the process. As well, they’ve certainly been giving me the runaround about fixing my problem with their system.

I used to love Pinterest, in part because it wasn’t a place I had to navigate around creeps and sexism. I guess that’s changed. I feel like I want to chuck the whole thing, but I put a lot of time into my profile, so I probably won’t leave (though I may have to delete that book board). I do know I certainly won’t be as frequent a visitor on the site anymore. To sum up, all I have to say is this—Pinterest isn’t a family friendly site, so if that’s what you are looking for, either stay off the site or pay very close attention to who is following you and exactly what they are pinning.

Should Pinterest Clean Up Its Act?

Is Pinterest sexist? In my recent experience, yes.

I used to love Pinterest. It was a great site to browse and spend my time as a writer, and the best part was I didn’t have to worry about being bothered by sexist creeps who couldn’t see past the female label.

In the past few weeks that has changed. One of my group book boards suddenly began to be followed by an influx of men whose profiles showed all the respect and restraint of mouth-breathing neanderthals. Now I take some responsibility here, as I had an invite policy that was fairly open. I obviously did a poor job of screening some invitees before I noticed the disheartening trend (and unfortunately this development, and other problems, has closed down the open invite policy for that board).

Now, I have no problem with nudity. The problem I have is with sexist and exploitative images. And in the past few weeks I have regrettably seen plenty, to my undying disgust and frustration.

The following is just an unpleasant sample of what I’ve come across (so if this type of thing offends, you may wish to skip this part):

• Typical nude, Playboy type bending over or provocative poses, all showing ample T&A
• Topless bed sprawling, with women grabbing their parts
• A guy with his private parts exposed and ready for action
• Bondage, with a suggestion it’s non-consensual
• Semi-nude pictures depicting a woman dressed as an underage schoolgirl (and I really hope the model in those shots was not in fact underage)

What’s more, all of the above images (to my knowledge) go against Pinterest policy.

It got to the point that I started reporting and blocking these profiles, as my book board was (and is), for lack of a better term, being targeted by dozens of these creepy guys. Now comes the twist. In the last few days, my report button (how you let Pinterest know their policies have been violated) has disappeared from my profile. I messaged the site (albeit in a bit of an angry, ranting way), told them of my experience AND that the report button had gone missing. This was the first part of their reply:

We're sorry you came across inappropriate content on Pinterest. To keep Pinterest a place that everyone can enjoy, we don’t allow anything that's hateful, illegal, obscene, violent, or otherwise detrimental to our community.

If you’re trying to report a Pin or Pinner, please use our in-product reporting options.

Their “in-product reporting options” are, essentially, the report button, which I stated was missing. They then went on to reiterate the same basic stuff that’s on their help page.

So, at best the guy didn’t read my message carefully and behaved like an idiot, or at worst they have no interest in removing offending content violations and were trying to get rid of me.

The whole experience has soured me on the Pinterest site.

I used to be an advocate for Pinterest, but my future advice—think twice about using the site.

National Poetry Month Day 17: No Preconceptions #NaPoWriMo

Some introspection today, on this Day 17 of National Poetry Month.

No Preconceptions

My dollies rarely dined at tea

they played castaways lost at sea

While I dreamed

of bulletproof bracelets

and a Dark Knight’s cape

I loved dancing ballerinas

and the wild, wild west,

sci-fi, spies, and mysteries,

but superheroes the best

Girls aren't cookie cutter

women aren't toys

We have hopes and sorrow

ideas and joys

Our power comes

from a single place

the human heart,

maybe edged in lace

© A. F. Stewart 2015 All Rights Reserved 

Drabble Wednesday: Destiny

Today we spend some time with three woman, all embarking on a new journey in their life, and one woman at the end of hers…

 Dancer

She held her breath, as the studio held the quiet, counting the seconds in her head. One, two, three… stretched en pointe, flawless balance… hold it, hold it, keep position… perfect lines… yes, that’s it…

For a brief moment she felt elation. The pain, the sore muscles, hours of practice, all melted away. Embodied in one unblemished movement she saw her dream—Prima Ballerina. Across her ambition and drive lay centre stage, the spotlight, the faces of her audience.

Then the moment broke, and she returned to the practice studio, rehearsing for another role in the chorus. But some day…

 Bride

Sinyae stared in the gilded mirror. She made adjustments to her diadem and headscarf, to her jewellery. Everything must be perfection when she walked into the temple. Her bedroom door opened and her mother appeared.

“It is time.”

During the ceremony, Sinyae stood reverently, head bowed, proud she ceased to be a daughter of her father’s house and embarked on to a new path. She happily spoke her vows, smiling as the rites ended.

The officiating priestess placed a hand on Sinyae’s head. “Welcome child, within the Temple of Isnanya. Blessings be upon you, novice, newest Bride of the Goddess.

Warrior

Jai knelt at the altar, her head bowed. She grasped her sword—a talisman thrust upright before her—both hands resting on the hilt. She ignored the dirt in her hair, her bloodied face, and prayed.

“Give me strength for this last battle. Shore my weak spirit that I may instill hope in my men, and so we can triumph over this evil, and vanquish the enemy.”

Sunlight flickered through a grimy window to glint off the metal of her armour. She smiled. A sign. She rose and walked from the church to rally her men against the zombie hoard.

Out the Window

The old woman adjusted her frilled cap and smoothed the lace on her dress as she settled in the chair by the window. She pulled her shawl tighter about her shoulders and looked out to view the morning.

The lane and the adjacent common garden were empty, but she knew that would change. Mr. Knowles would be along shortly to tend the rosebushes. She chuckled.

Poor Mr. Knowles, such loyalty to your wife. Tending her roses even though you believe she ran off with that sailor. I wonder if you ever suspected? That I buried her under her precious roses.