Thursday News: Authenticating autographs, acid-attack comic book heroines, Ali Wong, and brilliant wedding dress innovation

JanetPublishing NewsAli Wong / autographs / California / certificate of authenticity / Comedy / comic book / gender stereotypes / gender-based violence / wedding dresses4 Comments

California Passes Law That Could Make Getting Any Autographed Book or Art in the State Very Difficult – If you’re a reader who likes to collect autographed books, heads up on this new California law that requires a certificate of authenticity for any autographed item over $5. I can see this kind of requirement for a book  — or any item, for that matter — sold at more than, say, $100 bucks, but at less than, say, $50, it’s not like you can expect to be purchasing anything of significant value. Ridiculous.

The bill, in its own language, demands that “all autographed items” in the state sold by a dealer (defined as “a person who is in the business of selling or offering for sale collectibles in or from this state, or a person who by his or her occupation holds himself or herself out as having knowledge or skill peculiar to collectibles”) for more than $5 (that’s five) come with a signed, dated, in at least 10-point boldfaced type “certificate of authenticity to the consumer at the time of sale.” . . .

Brian Hibbs of the store Comix Experience in San Francisco noted in an open letter to Assemblyman David Chu that “I assume that the intention of the bill was to help combat fraudulent ‘autograph mills’ for collectibles, but because it is written so broadly, the actual real world consequences of this bill will likely be devastating for thousands of legitimate California-based Book and Comic Book stores.” -Reason

Comic Book Features Rape, Acid Attack Survivors As Heroines – Based on the experiences of real women comic book creator Ram Devineni interviewed around the world, Priya’s Mirror features heroines who have survived gender-based violence and who have to go back into a world that judges and stigmatizes them.

The comic book, which is downloadable and debuts at the end of the month at the New York Film Festival, aims to accurately reflect the struggles acid attack survivors face even long after their physical wounds begin to heal. They’re victims of gender-based violence, but they’re often re-victimized by society after the crimes are committed.  . . .

The comic book, “Priya’s Mirror,” is the second chapter of a stunning series [Ram] Devineni helped launch last year called “Priya Shakti.” The central character, Priya, is a survivor of gang rape who challenges patriarchal views and urges victims to seek out help.

In “Priya’s Mirror,” which is being funded by the World Bank, Priya meets women who have been attacked by a demon king who spews out acid and traps them in his castle. Once Priya shows the women their strength through her mirror, they’re able to escape, Devineni said. – Huffington Post

ALI WONG’S RADICAL RAUNCH – I am so excited that Ali Wong is getting so much mainstream love, because OMFG this woman is not only freaking hilarious, but she is busting gender and racial stereotypes, sexual taboos, and invisible cultural barriers all over the place. If you haven’t seen her Netflix special, “Baby Cobra,” WATCH IT RIGHT NOW.

Wong, who is thirty-four, filmed her recent Netflix special, “Baby Cobra,” when she was seven and a half months pregnant. “It’s very rare and unusual to see a female comic perform pregnant,” Wong announced from the stage. “Because female comics . . . don’t get pregnant.” (As with many rules, Joan Rivers presents an exception: in the late sixties, she performed on “The Ed Sullivan Show” while pregnant—though she didn’t mention it in her set.) “Once they do get pregnant, they disappear.” . . .

What is radical about Wong is that her discussion of quotidian domesticity is interwoven with commentary on what may be the last taboo of female sexuality: women are animals. It’s old news that women can be as raunchy and libidinous as men. Wong addresses something else, which has remained virtually unexplored, not just in comedy but in pop culture at large: the terrifically hard-core female experience of reproduction—the part that comes after the sex that so many women have already publicly declared they want. Wong describes nursing, for instance, as a “savage ritual that reminds you that you ain’t nothing but a mammal.” – The New Yorker

This Model Said “I Do” in a Pink Wedding Gown, Then Made 1 Simple Style Switch For the Reception – Why are all wedding dresses not made this way?! – POPSUGAR

Janet

isn't sure if she's an average Romance reader, or even an average reader, but a reader she is, enjoying everything from literary fiction to philosophy to history to poetry. Historical Romance was her first love within the genre, but she's fickle and easily seduced by the promise of a good read. She approaches every book with the same hope: that she will be filled from the inside out with something awesome that she didnʼt know, didnʼt think about, or didnʼt feel until that moment. And she's always looking for the next mind-blowing read, so feel free to share any suggestions!

→ Janet