dorsetgirl

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I am so pleased that the Australian coroner has finally ruled - after thirty years - that a dingo really did take baby Azaria Chamberlain. Her mother, Lindy, was only one in a long line of women jailed for murdering a baby when there was no proof that the baby had even been murdered, never mind that she herself had done it.

My middle son asked why this happens and I could only answer that I simply don't know. Gut feeling says it has a lot to do with male power, and men hating women, but I think it's actually more subtle than that. This is what I think may be behind it:

(1) Barristers, judges, etc, are still of a generation that was sent away to boarding school at a very tender age. Generally it's the father who makes the final decision on this, but the mother goes along with it and so I think these people got it in their minds at the age of seven that their mother didn't want them around, that she must secretly hate them.

(2) Nowadays, to many people who don't have their own children, mothers and babies are so remote from their own daily experience that they are by definition so odd as to be practically alien. I well remember in my twenties failing so completely to understand the mindset that could want to have a baby, that when a secretary brought her baby in to show around the office, I never spoke to her again. I didn't hate her or anything; my reasoning was "I cannot begin to understand anyone wanting a baby. Therefore I cannot begin to understand anyone who is happy to have a baby. Therefore I cannot begin to understand this woman. Therefore I cannot begin to think what I might say to her."

(3) As a teenage girl doing my 'O' Levels and 'A' Levels, the subconscious message was extremely strong: bright girls do their homework, get their exams, go to University; they totally do not get pregnant. The rather judgmental - but still subconscious - corollary therefore being: only stupid people have babies.

Thus it seems to me the stage is set for an educated person, especially a man, who was sent away to school, to have it somewhere in the back of their mind that, "Mothers are aliens who are stupid and hate their babies. Therefore if something happens to the baby, it's obvious the mother did it."

I honestly can't think of any other reason why so many people are so ready to assume - and find proven - that people like Lindy Chamberlain, Angela Weston, Sally Clark etc, murdered their own babies, without a shred of hard forensic evidence that they even were murdered.

These women were presumed guilty and had to fight the system for years to prove their innocence.

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This post started life as a fic rec, so I’ll do that bit first:

Round And Round by janszy is a wonderful story of what happened to Gene after the final scene of Ashes to Ashes (spoilers, obviously). It’s extremely well written and although I hadn’t seen the author’s work before, it was immediately plain that she was an experienced writer. Do go and read it – it’s masterful, truly.

So that brings me on to the next bit – a comm rec. I know a lot of people have moved on from Life on Mars by now, and by no means everyone stuck it out to the end of Ashes, the early stages of series one being what they were, but if you want to write LOM-fic where it is known whether Sam is mad, in a coma or back in time, or Ashes fic where Sam and Annie are mentioned, there is only one comm – as far as I know – that you can post it to. That comm is ashes2life.

Anyone who has spent any time at The Railway Arms, lifein1973 or a2ashes, will know that what might have been seen as the captive audience for A2A – the LOM fans – were by no means unanimous in their verdict on the new show, and that the Gene/Alex fans who bought into series one of Ashes were in some cases quite visceral in their hatred of Sam.

So if you’d like to discuss Sam without some Galexer telling you that the very mention of his name is insulting to Alex, or you want to talk about Ashes without someone who’s only seen two episodes complaining that it’s badly acted (oh please - 2.07? 3.08?) , do it at ashes2life!

Also, if you want to write an Ashes fic where Gene/Alex is not inevitable and OTP – one where Gene actually remembers Sam, for example; or a LOM-fic which alludes to the nature of the universe as defined by Ashes to Ashes; or a fic where Alex and Maya meet (oh, somebody please write that!); you might be wanting a comm to post it in, and that comm is ashes2life.

Set up and maintained by lozenger8, the comm is there for all the good stuff that would get flamed or deleted at the series-specific comms.

(By the way, in my personal and humble opinion, it’s best not to worry too much about the - to me at least - intimidatingly intellectual flavour of the user-info page. You don't have to write brilliant meta to qualify, although it would be great if someone did. While fanfic is the very last thing mentioned in the community profile, it is definitely allowed and welcome!)

To sum up: if you’ve seen both shows and are happy to buy in, occasionally at least, to the idea that LOM and Ashes both take place in the same universe, ashes2life is the place to go.

Right, so I'm getting increasingly nervous now... and I'm definitely not laughing at those who say they'd almost rather not watch and never find out how it ends.

There is an Ashes 3.08 spoiler under the cut; I think it's quite important, but it does not give away the ending, and I believe it's from an interview with Matthew Graham. I deliberately haven't read any of his interviews because he can have a rather strange attitude to fans at such times, and also because - well - spoilers, he haz 'em.

( Cut for 3.08 spoilers )

Ack - totally unrelated to the above, I've just remembered a line from Ashes series one: Gene says to Alex "How do you know I don't have children?" If it turns out that Alex or Sam, or indeed anyone we know, is Gene's child I may throw stuff. Although... Chris. That hug last week took me so much by surprise, and it really could have been "My son! Finally, a man!"

Oh yes, and I bought pink wafers! I was searching for chocolate coins (to send to George Osborne for his birthday, obviously) and there, on a shelf I don't normally notice, were some pink wafers. So, seeing as how they didn't have the wine I wanted, and I'm stuck with a can of lager instead, I decided to treat myself.

Anyway, two hours and counting...

(Please note that the comments may contain spoilers up to 3.07)
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Some brief thoughts on tomorrow night’s Ashes to Ashes. No spoilers, just some thoughts about how it might end. I would ask that if you comment, please don’t mention anything you might know about 3.08, including the trailers.

( Cut for Length )