The NY Times ran an article today that raises important questions for gender studies in urban centres.  As researchers have begun to process recent census data, an interesting trend has emerged: Young women in New York and several of the nation’s other largest cities who work full time have forged ahead of men in wages, according to an analysis of recent census data.

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You may have seen or heard about Cosimo Cavallero's "My Sweet Lord" this Easter.  His life sized anatomically correct naked chocolate Jesus was to be displayed in a New York hotel for the last two weeks of Lent.  Evidently some Christian groups complained of the confectionary Christ and I found it interesting what the complaint seemed to be about.  On the one hand, they disapproved of the full nudity of the figure.  It seems it's not just the phallus of Christ which was offensive, but rather the chocolate itself seemed to smack of a cultural affront if not a sacrilegious blaspheme that sent these Christians on the defensive. 

The nature of this complaint was interesting to me for a couple of reasons and somewhat apropos for Easter. 

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Just saw Casino Royale. The main focus here will be how it is that Bond has been re-gendered for today's gender politics. Overall I thought it was well done. It was long enough to ensure you felt you'd got your money's worth, but the plot didn't drag too often. The opening, however, I will say was a bit over the top. The cinematography was typical hollywood flash throughout, and did well to cinematically balance realism with flashy shock and awe. Of course they could not resist the body shots of both the new Bond as well as his female compatriots, but here in lies the difference.

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There are two main themes that the new Superman film weaves together. Firstly, Superman Returns heavy handedly follows a Christic narrative which raises the question of what kind of Jesus this is for the nominally Christian American viewers. The second theme calls SuperMan's masculinity into question. In other words, we are asked whether a post-patriarchal world needs a Super Man.

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Just a note to let my blog readers know that an article I had written for metaphilm.com made it in a revised format into the Journal of Men's Studies this month.  This article unpacks the gender issues in the Paul Thomas Anderson film Punch-Drunk Love.  You may need an Athens login or university IP address to access it for free, but here's the link nonetheless.

Punch-Drunk Masculinity." Journal of Men’s Studies  vol. 14, no. 2 (Spring, 2006).

The metaphilm version can be accessed at the following:

"Punch Drunk Love: Popeye the Novelty Toilet Accessory Man." Metaphilm (March, 2004).

Barry Egan (Adam Sandler) desperately sprinting through the rat maze of gender simulacra, deconstructing what it means to be a man in today's increasingly post-patriarchal societies.