Why is Mal anti-companion?
POSTED BY: akredhead
UPDATED: Thursday, December 28, 2006 01:27
VIEWED: 17411
PAGE 3 of 9
And we hereby have come full-circle. Throughout the history of feminism, the subjects of sex-work and pornography have been a major point of contention between feminists themselves. To whit, can the sale of sexual enticement and satisfaction to men be a source of feminine empowerment, or is it by nature an evil--a rank objectification of womanhood as nothing more than a source of sexual gratification for men?
I certainly appreciate the point you're making here, but I feel perhaps you have slightly mistaken my interpretation. It largely concerns whether or not sex-work, in and of itself, is degrading to women; perhaps more importantly, it concerns whether Mal truly views it as such.
Is there a difference between a Companion and a common prostitute? Well, certainly there is. As I've made mention, Companions are exquisitely trained and schooled, registered with a guild, and subjects of much respect and even admiration. Furthermore, they have complete choice over their own clientele and a very sex-positive philosophy, which combine to eliminate any real sense of victimization within their prostitution.
Ultimately however, the social legitimacy of "Companionship" is linked, not to a generally sex-positive and free society, but rather to the same pseudo-aristocratic elitism that fuels and undergirds the Alliance. A Companion is considered superior in standing to a common whore, not because she is by definition smarter, more skilled, more gentile, more cultured (although she is very likely all of these things), but because she belongs to an organization that proclaims her superiority and has the social clout to enforce that perception.
Is sex-work degrading? Maybe. I personally think that determination is an internalized one that is made within the mind and heart of any sex-worker individually. It concerns her reasons for the choice of profession, her attitude towards it, and her own sense of herself. This applies equally, whether the woman in question underwent years of intensive schooling or merely found she enjoyed making a living with her sexuality. What certainly does not make the difference between degrading and empowering is an arbitrary set of social orders and rules which mark some sex-workers as esteemed and some as despised, based upon membership in an elite organization (like the Companions Guild, or the Alliance). That's what I see in Mal's opinion of Inara's profession, especially when compared to his opinion of Nandi.
And I in no way mean to imply that Inara is ashamed of what she does. My implication is that Inara's defense against Mal's attacks is often to point out her status as a Registered Companion (tm). This suggests that she feels in some way that a common prostitute would and should be ashamed. She defends her profession through a distinction that Mal sees as completely artificial, based not upon merit but upon an arbitrary societal rule. When I say she distances herself through euphemism, it is only in that she sees herself above whores by virtue of her association. Based upon everything we know of the Alliance and the Unification War, I can see new levels to Mal's disdain.
So, the question becomes, for me, whether Mal would resort to calling Inara a whore as his primary mode of insult if she were a common prostitute and had none of the "respectability" that accompanies her position. I really don't think he would, nor would he casually attack her work at all. Loving her as he does, he would be hurt by it, certainly. But he wouldn't call her a whore, nor insinuate it, not without feeling incredible guilt the moment the words left his lips.
But Inara does have that special exalted status and Mal calls her a whore at every available opportunity, without the slightest twinge of remorse. So, is Mal's problem with prostitutes or with Companions?
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I really, really apologize for the length of this!!
Yes, the prostitution debate is one of those never-ending circles. It's fun for a while but gets tedious quickly because largely it comes down to an emotional response on both sides. Alas.
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Originally posted by TwilightJack:
perhaps more importantly, it concerns whether Mal truly views it as such.
I agree that this is the point.
My personal opinion is: emotionally he views it as degrading, intellectually he doesn't.
But where I think we truly disagree is his ability to appreciate the practical (not just semantic) difference between the services a Companion provides and those of a common prostitute. Which reach far into the regions of counceling and emotional support. Things that a non-accredited prostitude might provide as well but would do so more incidentally, not by definition.
A Companion's work is, as you say, sex-positive, but it is not just sex. That is what I mean by difference of purpose, and I think Mal is aware of that.
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Ultimately however, the social legitimacy of "Companionship" is linked, not to a generally sex-positive and free society, but rather to the same pseudo-aristocratic elitism that fuels and undergirds the Alliance.
For the sake of accuracy, we do not know that for sure. The most high-class example of Inara's work we have seen so far was on Persephone, which is hardly a Core world. Atherton Wing was a dandy not remotely comparable to Simon in terms of bearing and I'm fairly certain the lack of awareness regarding Guild rules that he displayed is also not standard.
Attitudes might indeed be different in the actual Core. A place like Sihnon, even Osiris, we don't know, we haven't seen her work there.
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A Companion is considered superior in standing to a common whore, not because she is by definition smarter, more skilled, more gentile, more cultured (although she is very likely all of these things), but because she belongs to an organization that proclaims her superiority and has the social clout to enforce that perception.
The Guild certainly protects the interests of its members, but could it really enforce a perception in society if not through the work its members do?
The Guilds educates a specific brand of prostitution that is highly sought after. The quality of the service offered defines the esteem in which Companions are held, and certainly this encourages the Guild to emphasise that exclusive distinction to common prostitutes, but it does not create it.
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Is sex-work degrading? Maybe. I personally think that determination is an internalized one that is made within the mind and heart of any sex-worker individually. It concerns her reasons for the choice of profession, her attitude towards it, and her own sense of herself. This applies equally, whether the woman in question underwent years of intensive schooling or merely found she enjoyed making a living with her sexuality.
I agree. And I believe that this is the most important aspect that needs to be considered. Too many people use professed concern over a supposed degradation as a cover for an actual need to simply control. Women aren't stupid. Unless forced through illegal or economic pressures, they won't choose prostitution unless they want to. Save the saving for those who are being forced, I say.
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What certainly does not make the difference between degrading and empowering is an arbitrary set of social orders and rules which mark some sex-workers as esteemed and some as despised, based upon membership in an elite organization (like the Companions Guild, or the Alliance).
Again, I agree. Nandi feels no shame for her work, in fact, she must have obviously chosen it freefly, just like Inara.
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That's what I see in Mal's opinion of Inara's profession, especially when compared to his opinion of Nandi.
You, however, assume that Inara herself looks down on
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Twilightjack and AgentRouka, I think you both made very valuable points and there is not one single reaon for Mal insulting Inara as a "whore".
Looking at the other side, I really liked it, what Joss did in HoG, when Inara finds out, that Mal had sex with Nandi, and she is all calm about it - and in the next scene she's just plain crying. That shows, that having sex is not just "some work" like being a baker or a miller. And that's why she has to be so cold towards Mal. She can do her work only, if she closes off her feelings in a way. She does not dare to fall in love with him, 'cause if she did, having sex with another man would just hurt her too much.
Hmmm .... just thinking, maybe I should start another thread on that topic.
Esther
Love my captain!
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I don't mind the length; I enjoy the debate and proper debate requires enough room to accurately state a notion.
I've always believed that truly honest debate contains, at its core, an idea that, by reasoning together, consensus may be reached. So, in the interests of brevity, allow me to state what I perceive to be the heart of our disagreement. Otherwise, we may find ourselves addressing each point seperately; as further points are raised, this may quickly lead to dissertation ad infinitum rather than debate.
Your points are well taken, and interestingly, I would say I agree with 95% of what you've said in each of them. Truly, I do believe in a tremendous distinction between Companions and prostitutes, both in practice and motivation. However, I stress the "artificial" distinction in order to highlight the fundamentally similar basis of both lines of work, despite the complete disparity in the perception of them.
Ultimately, I think our truest disagreement is in how Mal views that distinction (fittingly, since the original subject of the thread is Mal's anti-Companion leanings). Given his experiences in the war against the Alliance, I see much of his perception of Companions and the respect they receive colored by their association with the Core Worlds. You state more than once that you think Mal is aware of the real distinction between Companions and prostitutes. I tend to think he has a number of prejudices which prevent such a clear-headed assessment. Most of my arguments throughout this assume Mal's point of view in some way. Once I abandon that, many of the points you've made are much more in line with my own thoughts.
As a further concession, I do believe I overstated myself when I said that Inara looked down upon prostitutes. In fact, I had the notion that I was doing so when I typed it, but left it as-is so as to avoid parsing things too fine and extending my post any further. I think it would be more correct to say that my impression of the Guild suggests such a view inherent in them (I'm basing this mostly on their shunning of Nandi, so it's admittedly thin, but hey, we've only got 15 hours of "text" with which to work). Since Inara was raised within the Temple on Sihnon since she was 12, I think some of this prejudice has rubbed off, even if she's not completely aware of it.
Okay, I'm stopping now. :) Brevity, I had mentioned. Even now, I want to go back and address numerous points in greater detail. It's a snowball; it's a snowball and no good will come of it.
In any event, it's been fun. Here's wishing for a resurrection of our show, so we can get more ammunition for further catfighting.
Until then, I'm all for drawing massive conclusions from insufficient evidence. It's like theology!!
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You are right. We both disagree on two points that we simply perceive quite differently about the show and further debating would be pointless, but I very much enjoyed trading opinions with you. :)
There are many subtle reasons for why I hold my opinions, but people view these things differently, there's no helping that, hehe.
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Until then, I'm all for drawing massive conclusions from insufficient evidence. It's like theology!!
Hah! We can certainly agree on that! *g*
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Inara uses her profession as an emotional foil against close personal contact to men whom she might become intimate with. In this case- Mal. I think this is part of the series backstory which was never fleshed out - pun intended. We all know what led Mal to be what he is - what about Inara?
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Originally posted by MalBadLatin:
Inara uses her profession as an emotional foil against close personal contact to men whom she might become intimate with. In this case- Mal. I think this is part of the series backstory which was never fleshed out - pun intended. We all know what led Mal to be what he is - what about Inara?
Could be the opposite, that Inara's feelings for Mal challenge what is a very deep devotion to her profession. ;)
After all, she seems to genuinely enjoy her job, and hearing her talk about Guild traditions with such reverence, it's more than a mere foil to her.
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Again, Forgive me.
But isn't it possible that Mal just doesn't like the idea of a woman he has feelings for getting boned by another dude? Yeah, it's simple and unsophisticated, but emotions often are.
As for the difference between a "companion" and a "whore": "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
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I think there is a big difference between Companion and whore, because of the whole pretense of feelings...
I haven't been able to pitch in, but I'm enjoying the debate. One thing though - consensus is not necessarily the goal of a debate, I think! We can learn from understanding someone else's point of view without agreeing.
Which I think is happening here, and it's nice because it doesn't turn into RWED ugliness!!
-----------------------------------------------
I'm the president. I don't need to listen.
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Originally posted by AgentRouka:Quote:
Originally posted by MalBadLatin:
Inara uses her profession as an emotional foil against close personal contact to men whom she might become intimate with. In this case- Mal. I think this is part of the series backstory which was never fleshed out - pun intended. We all know what led Mal to be what he is - what about Inara?
Could be the opposite, that Inara's feelings for Mal challenge what is a very deep devotion to her profession. ;)
After all, she seems to genuinely enjoy her job, and hearing her talk about Guild traditions with such reverence, it's more than a mere foil to her.
I really like the way you put this, and on this point at least, I couldn't agree more.
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