esmaspäev, jaanuar 28, 2008

beibekultuur

We don't subscribe to the Estonian tabloid SL Õhtuleht, but I am bombarded by the images it places on its front page every day in varying circumstances. Usually the photos consist of either horrendous car crashes or Estonian babes, though last week there was a photo of a dead dog that had starved to death.

This post, however, concerns itself with the babes. As you may have heard, during the 1990s former President Lennart Meri initiated the search for Estonia's own Nokia -- that is a product it could use to define its existence in the international marketplace. Like many an eestlane, he drew his inspiration from the lump of lingonberry ice cream to our north, Finland.

Some extremely lazy jobud (jerks) responded by saying that Estonia's Nokia was already in existence and, uh, ripe for the picking. The lowest hanging fruit, if you will, was its natural resource of bodaciously blond women who are hotter than Raquel Welch's character in One Million Years BC and Jane Fonda's character in Barbarella combined.

Now, I have paged through many a historical photo from the Estonian ärkamisaeg of the 19th century, and I didn't notice any string bikinis, expensive manicures, hoop earrings, or eye liner. The photographic evidence from the 1920s and 30s is similarly devoid of the trappings of modern Estonian babe culture.

Therefore, the idea that beauty is part of Estonian national culture does not convince me. It's a new phenomenon. And perhaps ever since Meri enshrined the Eesti Nokia mythology in popular culture, some Estonian women have been enthusiastically heeding the call of the reactionary jobud who argued that it was their duty to put Estonia on the map by absorbing themselves in the details of babery.

For me, this babe culture is both fascinating and superficial. How am I supposed to react to the posturing of the Estonian Amazon woman? Is my jaw supposed to uncontrollably drop in salivation as I blurt out, "th-th-th-th-there goes Estonia's Nokia!" And if I don't, is there something wrong with me? As a foreigner in Estonia you hear all the time about "the women, the women." And yet, when you are actually here for a long time, is it possible that all this babe focus could get ... kind of annoying?

To make matters worse, I have noticed that I have spent a few seconds too long reading about the skiing exploits of Estonia's Kristina Šmigun in Postimees before I rip it up and load it into the ahi.

It was during one of these fire preparation sessions that I came to the conclusion that I had some sort of 'thing' for the Olympian. Not a bad thing, nor a naughty thing, not even an Eesti Nokia thing. Just a thing. I pay more attention to her than to Andres Veerpalu. Let's leave it at that.

But here's the question. Why is Kiku, who doesn't subscribe to the beibe kultuur, more interesting than whomever is pining for their 15 minutes in SL Õhtuleht? Could it be that having two gold medals is more impressive that merely having two bronze boobies? And if you put the two together, well, you just might have Estonia's Nokia right there.

Estonian women are capable of amazing things. As the old anecdote goes, a Saaremaa woman is supposed to be able to run a farm, raise 10 children, and take care of an alcoholic husband. And yet for the international masses they are too often defined by the babe culture than by their own accomplishments.

Estonia has weathered the feminist tumult of the past half century with some interesting results. It didn't go through the Western feminist revolution because of its inclusion in the eastern bloc. Hence its feminist discourse differs from neighboring Sweden and Finland.

And yet it has preserved a form of gender equality from the 1920s and 30s that rivals other nations. issues that pester other countries, like the number of females with higher education, do not apply here. And here in Estonia, this duality is reflected in the prevalence of the babe culture along with the fact that women play leading roles in politics, science, the arts, athletics -- everything.

What are we to make of this? Have things not gone far enough, as some Finnish politicians might think, or are things just right? And what is 'right' anyway?

This piece has been improved from a previous version.

73 kommentaari:

Estonia in World Media (Rus) ütles ...

You made it complicated. My question of the day is who are Kreisiraadio's background dancers..

Giustino ütles ...

They must be on loan from kaitseliit.

Anonüümne ütles ...

Read about how Ned Baggo-Baggehufvud and friends promoted Esto babes in the 1920s:

http://paber.ekspress.ee/print/DEF7CE52A469D461C22572BA002E5A33

Anonüümne ütles ...
Autor on selle kommentaari eemaldanud.
Giustino ütles ...

Read about how Ned Baggo-Baggehufvud and friends promoted Esto babes in the 1920s:

She looks a bit more realistic.

Kristopher ütles ...

Doesn't anyone want to discuss Sirp?

Anonüümne ütles ...

You mean Sirp ja Vasar or Strip at Vassar?

Ah, those Vassar girls...

Unknown ütles ...

My question of the day is who are Kreisiraadio's background dancers..

My best guess is Tartu Rock's cheerleaders but I'm not certain.

Colm ütles ...

"...I had some sort of 'thing' for the Olympian. Not a bad thing, nor a naughty thing, not even an Eesti Nokia thing. Just a thing 'thing'. Let's leave it at that."

Does your wife read this blog!? :D

Anonüümne ütles ...

Sorry to be so chronically tangential, Blogmaster, but Kristopher got me thinking about Stripping at Vassar, and I'm faced with a lexicological conundrum.
Everyone knows that Vassar went coed in 1969, after rejecting an offer to merge with Yale.
However, not everyone knows that immediately following World War II, Vassar accepted a very small number of male students on the G.I. Bill. Because Vassar's charter prohibited male matriculants, the graduates were given diplomas via the University of the State of New York. These were reissued under the Vassar title after the school formally became co-ed.
Question is: was it at this point that that trannies were invented and 'don't ask, don't tell' first entered popular usage?

Giustino ütles ...

Does your wife read this blog!? :D

I am sure my wife isn't threatened by my fleeting interest in women's cross country skiing.

But my point was that Estonian women who accomplish things are more interesting than your generic "eesti beib."

I am just trying to get a handle on what the whole babe culture is about. Is it about living up to a national standard (eesti nokia), fulfilling traditional idea of womanhood (traditionalism), competing against other estonian babes (an estonian's favorite food is another estonian), or just out of sheer boredom (just another boring nordic country)?

Bäckman ütles ...

You mean the page 1 girl of the online version of slohtuleht -- blogmaster better watch his step, I'd say.

Kristopher ütles ...

Not to interrupt your reverie, Max, but Sirp is a racy intellectual publication. A place where men can be men. Tallinn is still talking about the risque acrostic poem hidden in the leader a few years ago.

But I want to know what comment #4 in this thread was.

klx ütles ...

brace for an influx of british stag parties.... now!

Giustino ütles ...

You mean the page 1 girl of the online version of slohtuleht -- blogmaster better watch his step, I'd say.

The page 1 girl knows way better than I how much money Estonian women spend on make-up per year.

She also has bodacious ... books. So there!

Anonüümne ütles ...

Kristopher said…

Not to interrupt your reverie, Max, but Sirp is a racy intellectual publication. A place where men can be men. Tallinn is still talking about the risque acrostic poem hidden in the leader a few years ago.


Well, I juustu read leetle bit, but not find 'Strip' - zhust riting and very small b&w picture. Why I read publication named by dyslexic?
'Where men can be men?' No beibs? Only acrostic dressers wearing stripes and lines that make Max eyes crazy?
Why acrostic hide in leader, if he man's man? Which leader? Arnold?
Too many hard question.

Oh, re deleted comment - seriously: I was going to scare Giustino by hyperlinking to a pic of Marie Loosberg, Esto lady wrestler ca 1913, but all I could find was this tiny b&w thumbnail franked by FILMIARHIIV in block letters. So I'll work on finding a pic of Savikas in drag instead.

Anonüümne ütles ...

My bad. That should have read LOORBERG...

"Maria Loorberg Maria was born on April 10, 1881, in Tallinn (Estonia), and passed away on March 30, 1922. Maria had a solid build – weighed 80 kg having the height of 168 cm. In 1903 she became a student of Adolph Andruschkevich, a Russian coach of powerlifting and two years later, in 1905, Maria already appeared in carnivals and circuses of Estonia and other provinces of Russia. Maria was capable to lift two men, weighing 66 kilograms each, with one hand and to move a man suspended with a strap which she held with the teeth. On August 13, 1913 she carried a board in which 13 men were seated just by her teeth. In her epoch she enjoyed an enormous popularity, and went known as a woman Kalev (Kalev is a national hero of Estonia). And she is still honored in Estonia as a strongwoman and a great wrestler. http://www.einst.ee/literary/reviews/book_ehin_02.htm Along with her friend, another Estonian female wrestler Annette Busch, Maria had the glorious competition tours began in 1907; they competed all over Tsarist Russia, reaching to Siberia and even to Japan and China. Maria Loorberg was named the best woman athlete of the Russian Empire."

Now, there's a BEIB to reckon with, back in a time when men wuz men, and wimmin wuz double-breasted!

LPR ütles ...

You don't know the good things you've got until they're gone.

Cherish what you see, man. You know better than most of the bros lucky to live in the nordic babe-belt countries.

Once you come back here to America, you'll have to be content at looking at these large things called "women" who'll snarl at you if you dare to look at them.

So, enjoy it buddy while it lasts for you. :-)

Jens-Olaf ütles ...

Sports has been always a big part of our family since the 1920s. One aspect of sports is often some hedonism too.
Here two of our in swimming suits 1931

Wv Sky ütles ...

You dont subscribe, and Epp is featured in it?

Epp Petrone (pildil) on üks Eesti tuntumaid blogijaid, kes alustas blogimist aastaid tagasi, kui ta veel Ameerikas elas. Nüüdseks on ta oma perega Eestisse kolinud ja elab koos estofiilist mehe Justini ja kahe imearmsa tütre Marta ja Annaga Tartus.

Tartus avas ta mullu oma kirjastuse Petrone Print, olles kirjastanud lühikese ajaga palju huvitavaid raamatuid. Lood tema enda elust on kokku kogutud kahte teosesse "Minu Ameerika" ja "Minu Ameerika 2". "Roheliseks kasvamine" on värvikas raamat sellest, kuidas me peaksime elama, et rohkem säästa ning ühtlasi ka lugu sellest, kuidas Epust roheline sai.

Veel on ta üllitanud raamatu "Meestest, lihtsalt" koos Dagmar Lambiga. Lisaks on ilmunud salablogis Dagmariga kahasse kirjutatud "Õun ära süüa?", mis omakorda on ilmunud ka SL Õhtulehes järjejutuna.

Giustino ütles ...

Cherish what you see, man. You know better than most of the bros lucky to live in the nordic babe-belt countries.

That's true.

You don't subscribe, and Epp is featured in it?

You can read all you want about eesti beibid and dead dogs and car crashes online.

I think the only thing we subscribe to is Eesti Ekspress. But maybe we should sign up for Õhtuleht -- I am running out of newspaper for our ahjud.

stockholm slender ütles ...

Well, from a Nordic perspective it simply seems that Estonians on average are much more traditional on gender and sexual identity issues than their counterparts in other Protestant-secular countries in Northern and Western Europe. This can be seen as a plus or a minus. I myself see it as a very definitive minus - being very liberal in social issues - and surely this conservatism has been largely caused by the Soviet occupation, otherwise Estonia is not really different culturally from Sweden or Finland. So, the less Russian and Eastern European the Estonians want to appear the more liberal they should be on these issues. (Now there should be an effective button to push...)

Kristopher ütles ...

In Slohtuleht's defence, I have relied on it a couple times for cause of death of Estonian celebrities.

This goes back to last thread, but it is a real pet peeve of mine. If my inquiring mind doesn't find out what a person died of, I just put it down mentally to Ebola or something.

Giustino ütles ...

So, the less Russian and Eastern European the Estonians want to appear the more liberal they should be on these issues.

I am not so sure. The Nordics talk about equality, but Denmark certainly has a "babe culture", so does Iceland, so does probably Finland.

Wouldn't you say that Tanja Saarela is part of the Finnish babe culture. And look, she has her own website. How Estonian of her :)

Bäckman ütles ...

Voi helvetti! I have to say the previous version of this post really got my goat. I mean my reindeer.

"Lump of ice cream" indeed for the country that gave you Estonians something to aspire to and wrote the book on enlightened feminist babes.

"Lump of lingonberry ice cream" though -- much better! Now we're talking!

Keep up the good work.

Sisulisesti sinun,

Pekka

Alex ütles ...
Autor on selle kommentaari eemaldanud.
stockholm slender ütles ...

No, surely there is a thriving "babe culture" in every Western country. On balance, nevertheless, I would argue that Estonia (and I guess all former Eastern bloc countries) are on average significantly more traditional as regards gender roles and sexual identities than is otherwise common in northern and western Europe.

Anonüümne ütles ...

This goes back to last thread, but it is a real pet peeve of mine. If my inquiring mind doesn't find out what a person died of, I just put it down mentally to Ebola or something.

For me, the unknown cause is always seborrhea or the "the heartbreak of psoriasis," as an ancient but longrunning TV commercial for shampoo put it.

Anonüümne ütles ...

stockholm slender is right. Estos do seem more preoccupied and make a bigger fuss about 'Ain't we got purty gals?' than anywhere else I've been. Seriously, I've even been asked by older Estos, male and female, whom I've met abroad, about the babes and the beer, almost as if these were national totems. Maybe the Chamber of Commerce hands out questionnaires to every tenth traveler, or smthg?

Kristopher ütles ...

On national totems:

"You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer."
Frank Zappa

No mention of wimmin, and (like blogmaster,) a guy with fine taste in em.

Anonüümne ütles ...

Now let's enumerate ownership of these sundry totems of nationhood where Estonia is concerned... Nukes are an N/A, and the football issue we'll hold in abeyance...
;-)

Anonüümne ütles ...

Here's to swimmin'
With bow-legged wimmin...
-Quint (Robert Shaw) in "Jaws"


This isn't à propos of anything: just a fine line...

John Menzies ütles ...

FYI, Kris:

Viiding - Ebola
Lilje - Ebola
Sink - alcoholism
Sumera - heartbreak of psoriasis
Leesik - alcoholism
Lepikson- NOT REALLY DEAD!!
Meri - Ebola (siberiensii)
Unt - heartbreak of psoriasis
Peegel - Ebola

Anonüümne ütles ...

Addenda to Anders' list:

Savisarvik - Dead but doesn't know it

Elvis Presley - Not Really Dead, but peanut butter & jelly sandwiches are movin' him that way.

Anonüümne ütles ...

"The nearer society approaches to divine order, the less separation will there be in the characters, duties, and pursuits of men and women. Women will not become less gentle and graceful, but men will become more so. Women will not neglect the care and education of their children, but men will find themselves ennobled and refined by sharing those duties with them; and will receive, in return, co-operation and sympathy in the discharge of various other duties, now deemed inappropriate to women. The more women become rational companions, partners in business and in thought, as well as in affection and amusement, the more highly will men appreciate home."

-Lydia M. Child (1802-1880) in a letter, Jan. 1843 (published in Letters from New York, vol. 1, letter 34, 1843).

Anonüümne ütles ...

The myth about the strong, Nordic Estonian woman...

http://www.estonica.org/eng/lugu.html?menyy_id=626&kateg=38&alam=78

LPR ütles ...

BEERGOGGLES!!!

Helping women look beautiful since 1678.

Get your's today!



(Now widely available in newly liberated Estonia)

John Menzies ütles ...

Haw haw!

Anonüümne ütles ...

"Woman is the dominant sex. Men have to do all sorts of stuff to prove that
they are worthy of woman's attention."

-Camille Paglia

Anonüümne ütles ...

"Being a sex symbol has to do with an attitude, not looks. Most men think
it's looks, most women know otherwise."

-Kathleen Turner, US actress, quoted in the Observer (London, 27 April 1986).

Kristopher ütles ...


That’s right de woman is uh smarter
That’s right de woman is uh smarter
That’s right de woman is uh smarter, that’s right, that’s right


Harry Belafonte

Anonüümne ütles ...

Women and Men

A lady is smarter than a gentleman, maybe,
She can sew a fine seam, she can have a baby,
She can use her intuition instead of her brain,
But she can't fold a paper in a crowded train.

-Phyllis McGinley, 'Trial and Error'

Anonüümne ütles ...

"A man's women folk, whatever their outward show of respect for his merit and authority, always regard him secretly as an ass, and with something akin to pity. His most gaudy sayings and doings seldom deceive them; they see the actual man within, and know him for a shallow and pathetic fellow. In this fact, perhaps, lies one of the best proofs of feminine intelligence, or, as the common phrase makes it, feminine intuition."

-H. L. Mencken, In Defense of Women, "The Feminine Mind" (1918)

Giustino ütles ...

No, surely there is a thriving "babe culture" in every Western country. On balance, nevertheless, I would argue that Estonia (and I guess all former Eastern bloc countries) are on average significantly more traditional as regards gender roles and sexual identities than is otherwise common in northern and western Europe.

That's true. I am not sure how it works, but there are certain actors in the pop culture that push 'babe culture' on most young women.

It's like once they get the Vanilla Ninja album, they've just go to look like Vanilla Ninja too.

Puhvis Kukk ütles ...

It is true that we had gender equality as women often held the jobs men did during the Soviet time but you still have the wage gap, less female executives, etc - same problems West has. In my opinion, the "babe" label was applied by many foreigners visiting - skinny, blond, tall, educated, etc women were worth noting. However, it quickly turned into a negative phenomenon, witness the ads in Germany: Estonia - cheap beer and great women or was it the other way around.
To me the word has a negative connotation and certainly does not describe Estonian woman as a whole. The SLeht chicks are comparable to your FHM, Maxim pr streets of Miami or LA bleached, tanned, boob-jobbed girls that you find in any other country.
After the independence, men were finally able to fulfill their capitalistic dreams - in the 90s, which Estonian man did not have business of some sort going on. Women, however, on top of being excellent homemakers, went to school, travelled, etc. And there you had a gap between men and women - men were more into having the "Nokia".
To Max: The strong Estonian woman is hardly a myth. All my girlfriends in Estonia have master's or higher degree, are great mothers and wives, look phenomenal and can discuss Middle Eastern history as well as how to make pate sablee. Estonian women are on of the most well-rounded women I have met. Cheers.

Anonüümne ütles ...

Amen and brava, h. Couldn't have said it better myself.

To Max: The strong Estonian woman is hardly a myth.

Max did not say it was a myth. He was merely citing the title of one of several excellent entries to be found at the URL he cited, which deals with historical and literary paradigms of Esto womanhood which are examined and in fact confirmed vis-à-vis present-day models.

Max has met, worked with, and taught many Esto women of the sort you describe.

Check out all the tabs and subentries at...

http://www.estonica.org/eng/lugu.html?menyy_id=626&kateg=38&alam=78

Miserere ütles ...

Let's get one thing straight. And that is; most Estonian girls are not blonde! They may have peroxided their hair, but beneath the skin there is something that barely resembles the spunk that's the makeup of a lot of local Russian girls. Estonian women have education, but often they lack the feminine touch that has swept through the global cosmopolitan woman's inner being (in the end, Estonian woman knows her inherent destiny is to look like tädi Maali-Estonia's other first lady!). Also, the deception that Estonian women are worth craving for is the failure of multiculturalism in lifting the sexiness of women's image. A lot of this has to do with the Islamic element, which brings all sorts of libido deficit syndromes into the male psyche. In relatively homogenous Estonia, one fails to pick up on these vibes. That may be to Estonia's advantage.

Puhvis Kukk ütles ...

and apparently max also speaks of himself in the third person. i always wanted to do that...

LPR ütles ...

Where do all the ugly people come from? How do they procreate? Won't the ugliness be an evolutionary trait that leads to its own demise and eventually the beautiful would inherit the Earth? Just look around. OK, maybe it IS just America. Beautiful homes filled with ugly people. While in Estonia it's the other way around. I don't know.

This place here has been hit by the big ugly bomb, that's for sure. Or is it contaminated ground water and corn syrup in their soft drinks? Anyway, here in Washington, walking the streets, you look around, it's like pretty much 9 out of 10 people are totally and absolutely unfuckable. How do these mortally obese and obcene people make it? I don't know.

Compared to what I have to lay my eyes on here every damn day, life in Estonia seems like some Abercrombie and Fitch photo shoot.

Thinking about that, I'd take shallow babe culture over the shallow fat culture in a heartbeat (if they'd pay me as well there as they do here).

Unknown ütles ...

I have seen the pictures of some of our bloggers here in forum. Let us not become too judgemental in terms of what is ugly and what is not.

Anonüümne ütles ...

Check out this story:
"In Estonia, the best man for the job is a woman" at
http://www.citypaper.ee/articles/881/

Anonüümne ütles ...

h ütles...
and apparently max also speaks of himself in the third person. i always wanted to do that...
So why don't you, er... they? Third person plural is even better.
MPD sufferers compound their pleasure and make awesome bloggers...

Giustino ütles ...

What's funny is there are only guys posting here, and a common critique of Estonian 'feminism' is that Estonian women hate to talk about being women.

Hmmmmm.

Unknown ütles ...

I had no idea what I was getting into.

You know, I had no idea. We thought
it was going to be some country
club-type thing, but it didn't turn out that way.

FLAK INCOMING!

It was a continuous battle with the flak.

And if you got hit up there very bad,

the temperature was minus 50--

You're not gonna live if you got hurt bad.
We had no medics.

We dragged the guy back to the radio
compartment, cover him up,

and give him a couple of morphine cerates,
and that was about it.
We couldn't do a thing for him.

You might be just on the way up there.
And then you had another six hours
to come back.

Anonüümne ütles ...

Giustino ütles...
What's funny is there are only guys posting here...

"We think that we live in a heterosexual society because most men are fixated on women as sexual objects; but, in fact, we live in a homosexual society because all credible transactions of power, authority, and authenticity take place among men; all transactions based on equity and individuality take place among men. Men are real; therefore, all real relationship is between men; all real communication is between men; all real reciprocity is between men; all real mutuality is between men.

-Andrea Dworkin, "The Root Cause," speech, 26 Sept. 1975, MIT, Cambridge, Mass.

midknight ütles ...

There's something clearly wrong when a straight man starts complaining about the excessive number of buxomy blonde babes where he lives.

You get some leeway because you're married, so babelicious women are just a pestering nuisance, a constant temptation to stray from the path of marital righteousness and not a source of unending delight.

But as a previous poster said, you'll be down on your knees thanking the superficial babe culture of Eestimaa after a tour of any suburban mall in the U.S., where jiggling thighs and protruding stomachs rule the day.

mutukas ütles ...

I think in Estonia (as well as other places, but especially there) it does come down to archaic gender roles relfecting into the modern era. Men will go apeshit if they don't have a shiny car that is better than their best friends', women will go anorexic if their best friend looks better in a bikini and has a man with a shinier car. So really, it's a self-feeding mania where gyms and carwashes are the real winners.

On the other hand, what is wrong with being healthy and looking good? If that is what's in in Estonia, well, all the better for the Estonians. It could be a lot worse. However, I have noticed that while the women are getting babe'er, the men are letting things spread - I guess there's a show of wealth thing attached to that phenomenon.

Giustino ütles ...

There's something clearly wrong when a straight man starts complaining about the excessive number of buxomy blonde babes where he lives.

Being blond and buxom is a genetic (and very good)thing, but tricking out your buxom blond booty to display it to all who care is one's own personal choice.

Let's put it this way, I am a straight man, but I also have two daughters. I also have two nieces and through my wife many female cousins.

I'd sort of prefer that their role models be women who achieve things rather than this national stereotype.

That being said, I am not necessarily anti-babe culture, like "darn those hot Estonian wimmin, what's their problem"?

I am merely pointing it out and saying that a) it exists and b) it brings up all these issues about Estonia and feminism.

The rest is for you to decide. Hence the blog post and comments section.

Anonüümne ütles ...

Right on...

BTW, Max was jest funnin' when he laid down Dworkin's sapphic shrapnel on the heels of your remark about the discussion turning into a bullpen situation. I really don't think Dworkin and Stoltenberg ever did get things sorted out, and I wouldn't cite either as authorities on gender roles in any context close to home.
;-)

Unknown ütles ...

I think some persons spend too much time on blogs commenting on things.

midknight ütles ...

Middle-class (and up) French women from the cities of France take enormous pride in making themselves attractive to the opposite sex. They fret over putting on an extra kilo, dress to accentuate their womanly curves, and engage in all sorts of treatments to make sure they can catch the eyes of appreciating men well into their 40s.

GOD BLESS THEM.

Women SHOULD look, move, and behave like women, and not like man-hating lesbian wilderbeasts like Andrea Dworkin.

stockholm slender ütles ...

Well, being such a dangerous radical as I am, I would hope that every individual would look, move and behave as he or she sees fit (as long as those choices don't limit others' freedom to do likewise). We cannot set stereotypical predetermined limits to what men or women should be like. If a role or identity would be "natural" and self-evident, there would be no need to force it on anyone. And should such a need for enforcement arise, it would be a clear sign that such forcefully imposed role or identity is excatly not natural and not self-evident. This is not to say that women and men would not be different but just to argue that every person should have the freedom to assume any non-aggressive identity and role that they happen to choose.

Anonüümne ütles ...

heanaaber said…

Women SHOULD look, move, and behave like women, and not like man-hating lesbian wilderbeasts like Andrea Dworkin.


Not a wildebeest, but a gnu. I thought you knew; such gnu are few.
:)

Hear the song at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afdsL23fa5s&feature=related

Anonüümne ütles ...

Jaanus ütles...
I think some persons spend too much time on blogs commenting on things.

What a fitting non sequitur from the ancient Roman two-faced god of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings, and endings...!

Well, hush ma mouf!! Sic transit Max! :-))

Anonüümne ütles ...

Max get a girlfriend. Now.

Anonüümne ütles ...

Kahjuks peab Max taolisi ettepanekuid hülgama koduse keelu tõttu, ning takkapanekuid Maks väldib juba loomu sunnil. ;-)
Kokkuvõttes: Max is an uxorious fellow...

Rainer ütles ...

Max, at first your posts were a treat, but I'm afraid you have slipped into a state of verbaalne kõhulahtisus.

Rainer ütles ...

In other words: give it a rest

Anonüümne ütles ...

Rainer,
Sul on jumala õigus! Badinage, banter, repartee, wisecracking on võõramoelised mõisted ning täiesti sündsusetud taoliste surmtõsiste teemade puhul. Max hakkab innukalt nii verbaalset kui ka intellektuaalset kõhukinnisust harrastama. Kahjuks selles blogis on pisut liiga elav. Saad ehk lahkelt juhtida mõnele heale veebsaidile kus neid voorusi külluses? SAAD? Juba ette tänades... :)

Anonüümne ütles ...

Heanaaber,
Su viide prantslannadele peab paika, meenutab prantsuse kirjaniku ja filmirezhisööri Marguérite Duras' sõnu:

"It's only women who are not really quite women at all, frivolous women who have no idea, who neglect repairs."

Lee ütles ...

THe phenomena is the feminine side of "albikäraantslus" as this is the most common way of being for average estonian. We, estonians have a nice folk-tale "Albikära Ants" about a man, who goes to the market to sell his horse, and has his son with him. On a way, they do exactly as anybody who meets them, tells them to (alas, this will always be the contrary of what previous had said...)

Nice tale, but it has something very "estonian" in it. Most of us wont tolerate anybody being better than themselves. And as for babes, no one could be prettier as is this individual, whose "self" is all appearance, she got and nothing else.

From the other side - origin of this behaviour traces back to the Soviet influence (same as is in Russia, btw). The intelligence was considered the most dangerous formation in society, so it had to be destroyed or at least kept on short leash.

In Russia, most of noble women (who btw were well educated) were destroyed or emigrated. Since 1917 intelligence was not well payed in SU - teachers and university scolars income was far less, than for example income of miner, farmer, industry workers. So the money and desire to waist it on something nice, was obtained by common people, who did not value education. These individuals like to spend on alcohol and what comes around - of couse attractive women. This part oc society never wanted to obtain intelligence, they earned well on the position they were, besides it is too hard to do brainwork, if not started from the childhood.

So women were considered pretty by appearance and valued by ability to housekeep. Well. Now you see the final product of several following generations - eestibeibs.

As for Estonians, luckily enough we had more educated women in society, than it was possible to send to Siberia or repress any other ways (cultural repression only urged to maintain cultural and educational values) but the finances were divided similarly - workers and miners, also commercial workers (starting from simple shopgirl) earned 2-3 times more in Soviet times, than for example teachers, scolars, culture workers.

They also obtained "tutvused" as useful commercial connections to accsess different goods called "defitsiit" ... like fashion clothes, perfumes, cosmetic et cetera (usually produced abroad)... which helped women look prettier.

Simple men want simple women, but if possible prettier, than their best friend's :P

This is of course only the top of the iceberg of social backgroud, but it also helps to understand, why there are plenty of wannabes, who do not see over their "killing looks". The simply know nothing more to want. :)

Krai ütles ...

Talk all you want about estonian women... the real crisis is with estonian men. anyone familiar with this statistic: for every 6 females that graduate from Tartu university, only 1 male graduates. While the women can babe themselves out all they want, their male counterparts start dying out at 35. Can you call that a male paradise? You can't even call that a matriarch. That's a nation that can start boasting suicide as part of it national identity.

Karla ütles ...

"If you know somebody is going to be awfully annoyed by something you write, that's obviously very satisfying, and if they howl with rage or cry, that's honey"
-A. N. Wilson, quoted in 'Independent on Sunday' (London, 13 Sept. 1992).