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http://whatsinsideourbrains.com/?p=150

Worst part is I think he's just looking to steampunk as something to toss blame at.

And really, this can be said of ANY hobby.

This man is the living and breathing bodily incarnation of BUTTHURT.

Well I've been there and done all of that. I still like the salt pork though I prefer soy sauce on it. sweatdrop

Steampunk is like extracting the essence out of all the style and imagination and good of the Victoria era and blending it together with modern idealologies (Like feminism!) and spreading it out to all the classes. In Steampunk, we don't really have a poor, dirty, working class. Perhaps just humble mechanics that still remain sharp and soot-less. In Steampunk, we ELIMINATED that poor-working-condidions-ten-year-old-gets-paid-two-cents-a-week because we simply have better technology to work the factories!

Obviously he doesn't even KNOW what Steampunk is!

That's crazy talk. This guy is clearly not getting the full picture of Steampunk. Most of the Steampunks I know understand that the Victorian era was far from perfect.

I think all women are acutely aware of that. Women in Steampunk--who take it seriously rather than just as an excuse to wear a corset and mini skirt--have to strike a balance between our own modern desire for equality and the actualities of the Victorian age. I think that's why so many steampunks choose to present themselves as explorers, adventurers, theives, and pirates. We choose societal fringe because that's the only place a woman could prove herself--or anyone else for that matter. Choosing a genteel persona is a whole different set of motivations which is not without merit, but not really related to this.

I think what he wanted to say--or what he might argue if he knew what he was talking about-- is that Steampunks are almost inherently escapist. Our hobby is fixated on the past and alternate realities. We don't do a lot of looking to the future, nor do we generally do much to influence the present. Steampunk is, on some level, a culture in which we pick and choose all the good parts of history to create a shiny, optimistic world or at least one in which there is freedom and opportunity balanced nicely by rationale and dignity. Even our criminals are generally justifiable and charismatic.

Even though this guy is wrong, you have to admit . . . We present a kind of Disney-version of the world.

Honestly, that can be said of a lot of things. Some people choose to paint an almost Disney-esque picture of history to suit an agenda. For the longest time the uglier parts of US history were painted to make settlers seems heroic or downright merciful, when in fact the opposite was more commonly true.

Hell, it happens now, one person said we never had a terror attack when Bush was in office.

I really have no comment for this, i mean, everyone has haters...if you don't have a hater or two, then you really aren't popular or important. Wait, I said I had no comment, well....I guess that was my comment. sweatdrop

see, i think a few of you are reading this the wrong way...



he isnt saying they are identical, he is using his own experiences, which although have nothing to do with the victorians, have similar themes and merits to his argument, as an example.

hell, although we say we are un-elitest, i have to say at times i think we steamers are one of the most elitest cultures out there now...

"hot topic releases their own take on steampunk"
that was met by various responses along the lines of "i hate it when it hits the mainstream, they've done it wrong"

one moment everyones all "it doesnt have to be brown and have goggles" the next its "i hate it, therefore its not steampunk, they are liars and wrong"

if anything, i hate how whenever someone says anything bad about it, like this guy has, everyone starts getting defensive and attacking him back... how much more elitest can you be when you cant even accept that an opinion that differs from yours actually has a little merit... and when you just ignore the flaws in your own culture...

-Lasciate Ogni Speranza-, i wasnt having a go at you specifically by the way, i was just using your quote as an example, sorry if it causes any offence, it just suited my needs...

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