Quick Hit: Lingerie Football League Introducing Uniforms?

Could there be hope after all?

 

Not really, apparently they are just lingerie-like uniforms.

 

Here’s what the LFL has to say about all this:

 

“This is the next step in the maturation of our now global sport. While the Lingerie Football League name has drawn great media attention allowing us to showcase the sport to millions, we have now reached a crossroad of gaining credibility as a sport or continuing to be viewed as a gimmick. … In order to reach the next milestone, we feel the focus has to be the sport and our amazing athletes”, said Mitchell S. Mortaza, Founder & Chairman, Lingerie Football League, LLC.

 

Thoughts?

 

Check out the article here.

Totally Awesome Women and I: Lessons I’ve Learned While Writing for ShoutOut!

Well, bloggers, it’s that time for me: my last post on ShoutOut! for the semester, the year, and as a regular writer.  ShoutOut! has meant a lot to me over the past two years.  I first started writing for ShoutOut! the Fall semester after I came back to school from my leave of absence.  I was even newer to feminism and…it showed.  My posts were all over the place and I couldn’t find my niche.  My second semester I decided to write this series.  At times, I might have been “stating the obvious” about certain women and their feminism.  At other times, I might have been fighting an uphill battle trying to link a particular woman and feminism (insert your examples here).  Either way, this series has been really spectacular for my development as a feminist and I hope it might have given you at least one new perspective, too.

I know I certainly have learned a lot in this process…much of this knowledge has been acquired during multiple hour sessions of reading every website available on the week’s TAW while snacking on Cheetos in the wee hours of the morning (alright, bad imagery, I know).  I always loved it when the TAW in question was an actor because then I’d get to look at their IMDB page, which led to me looking at other IMDB pages, and then a whole day was gone!  In all seriousness, here are some things I’ve learned (and maybe you have, too):

1.  The most important thing I have learned is not to judge a feminist by her sparkly pointy (and on fire) bra top.  Otherwise, you might miss some great activism…and great entertainment.

 

Very Madonna (if Madonna became a terminator and shot flamethrowers out of her boobs…not entirely impossible)

 

2. Another thing I learned with ShoutOut! is that contradictions in feminism are (basically) inevitable.  No one can be a “perfect feminist,” whatever that is, and nor should they try.  All I have to do is burn my finger taking a Hot Pocket out of the microwave and I’ve already said something Un-Feminist for the day (What? They’re really hot!).  But, I now know that it’s ok to use questionable language and still promote feminist ideas.

 

 

3.  A crucial lesson I’ve learned is that some great pieces of feminism are there in history, you just have to uncover them.

 

 

4.  Feminism, no matter how big or how small, no matter where it comes from, is still an important message.

 

 

5. I’ve learned that we have to trust that politics, as slow as it can be, will get there-

 

 

6.–But, that we shouldn’t be afraid to stand up for ourselves and take action.

 

Lastly, to be cliche, I’ve learned that it is your choice to be whatever kind of feminist you want to be (or not).  I know that I don’t have to adopt every convention written by every feminist predecessor.  I can make my own rules when it comes to feminism.  And that is definitely something that I’m good at.

 

 

 

(Sort of) Totally Awesome Women: Trust Me, This is Worth Reading

As any policy debater would be doing the wee hours of the morning before a tournament (insert lame, self-deprecating joke here), I recently found myself watching YouTube videos of Slavoj Zizek’s musings.  Zizkek’s comments from this Q & A segment, particularly on polyamory and psychopaths, were entertaining as hell, but I found myself getting distracted by the mushrooming debate taking place between Egyptian-American activist and blogger Mona Eltahawy and Australian journalist Greg Sheridan over the Arab Spring.  Given that previous debate topics had already sparked my interest in the so-called “Middle East”, particularly the Arab Spring, I was hooked.  Who is this Mona Eltahawy and what else does she have to say about the Arab Spring and feminism?

Totally Awesome Women! (Thanksgiving Edition)

Thanksgiving is upon us again and (obviously) it’s a time where reflection is due…particularly reflection of thanks (duh).

 

But, an area where I think it’s easy to throw thanks out the window (particularly when we’re stuffing our faces and watching football during a holiday that glorifies the special “relationship” we had with Native Americans before we stole their land and forced them across the country…yum!) is feminism.

 

 

Maybe fem is the first thing on your mind as you heap yet another serving of mashies (and gravy and butter and salt) onto your plate, but for me…not so much.  I’m more thinking, “I wonder how many potatoes I can consume in one day?” Challenge accepted.

 

But, I am going to depart (slightly, only slightly) from my traditional Thanksgiving routine (which will still happen) and take a few moments to reflect one of the many reasons I am thankful for feminism.

 

As you may or may not know, I sort of want to know everything about Angela Davis.  This semester, I am studying about the blueswomen of the 1920s, particularly, Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey.  Some of you may be wondering how Angela Davis fits in with all of this.  Well….

Quick Hit: My (Probably Irrelevant) Thoughts on the Bond Film (NO SPOILERS)

So, initially, I posted this as a (lengthy) comment to JGrand’s excellent post about the Bond series.

However, to (I hope) facilitate a discussion, I am reposting them as a quick hit (because I want to talk about this movie…a lot).

 

I like that nerd.

 

As a follow up (and I know JGrand will be happy/having an I Told You So!  moment about this—

the new Bond was….really good. (That felt horrible…even typing it).

 

Some things I liked:

1. It toned down the sexism.
a. The nude wavy (?) silhouettes were (almost) all gone.
b. The sex scenes weren’t (as) prevalent
2. It made fun of its earlier self (Don’t worry, I won’t have a spoiler).
3. Javier Bardem.
4. Javier Bardem.
5. It was stylistically much better than any of the recent adaptations (plot, direction, etc.). As I said with you, it’s like a weird take on The Dark Knight (which, I am sure, many of us can appreciate).

Some things I didn’t like:

1. It was still sexist. (toning it down doesn’t mean eliminating)
a. those weird wavy silhouettes were still there…and still unnecessary.
b. the main new “Bond girl” is, unsurprisingly, as underdeveloped, helpless, and irrelevant as usual. I say irrelevant not because I think her story line is irrelevant or unnecessary, but their treatment casts it in an irrelevant light.
c. M! Come on! She could have done better than that….I know this is vague, but to prevent spoilers, I just have to say: she should be more skilled than they make her out to be.
2. The character’s names…oh, the character’s names. I guess the names featured in this film avoid outright genitalia references but still….
3. The treatment of that female operative. “I think maybe a desk is best.” Take your desk is best and cram it with walnuts! (I don’t fully know what that means, but it’s powerful!) Side note: That should probably go under #1, but I am too lazy to format it differently.
4. I had bad a bad seat…which probably isn’t all their fault….

 

Thoughts?

Totally Awesome Women

This TAW is best known for her fashion policing during award show season.  However, she has also touched millions of women during her struggles with breast cancer and in vitro fertilization.

Can you name this TAW?

Totally Awesome Women

This TAW has been in tons of TV sitcoms (many named after her).  She is also an Honorary Forest Ranger.  She said she always wanted to be one but couldn’t because girls weren’t allowed.  Can you name this TAW?

Totally Awesome Women

This TAW is most known for her no nonsense personality.   I know I’ve spent many a sick day watching her brutal honesty and swift judgment on CBS.  Can you name this TAW?

Go Dukes!

Happy Monday, everyone!

Just a quick note to tell you all about some great feminism coming from JMU this weekend.

James Madison’s Debate Team  has been winning it up for quite some time.  This weekend, the team traveled to the United States Military Academy (West Point) where they proceeded to make it to finals in Novice and JV divisions.  In Varsity, our team made it to late elimination rounds.  The team also racked up numerous speaker awards.

Among the many arguments “run” at West Point’s 300 rounds, many of those arguments centered on feminism.  To most people, feminism isn’t the first word they think of when they hear “energy policy.”  But, many of the debaters, including those from JMU, felt that energy policy is a great space to talk about gender and identity politics.

So, congrats to the JMU Debate team and congrats to JMU for having such great scholars.

Go Dukes!

Link Roundup!

Happy Weekend, everyone!

Here are this week’s link roundups!

eszenyme wants us to read this really great article on how the “world’s ugliest woman” not only deals with judgment from her condition, but how she’s used that judgment to become a motivational speaker and writer about body image.

She also likes this article that discusses feminism in action.  It specifically focuses on male favoritism in the New York Times and whether we can expect a change soon with their new editor.

JGrand says, “In news that shouldn’t surprise any reasonable person, scientists have concluded that HPV vaccinations do not, in fact, cause increased promiscuity in girls.”

He also finds this a great breakdown of Mitt Romney’s repeated sidestepping when it comes to women’s issues. The article sheds light on the truth of his claims.

HannahGrace was not able to attend the Toni Morrison celebration at Virginia Tech this weekend, but many of her friends did and had an amazing experience! Toni Morrison has been writing about women, gender, and race issues since the early ’70′s, and she is still writing today. If you have never read one of her AMAZING novels, start today – our President didn’t honor her for nothing.

Speaking of the President, HannahGrace really can’t wait to have Mitt Romney out of her life. The “binders full of women“ was her last straw in a long, long, long string of comments that turned a good day into a bad one. If you have forgotten the candidates words of wisdom, please visit the tumblr eszenyme found for us earlier in the semester.

Femistorian is thrilled to hear that an 8-year old girl has found an amazing way to share her love of women’s history. Conversely, she’s less than thrilled to hear about the treatment of Hillary Clinton received following a speech regarding the attack on the Libyan embassy. People need to lay off Hils, she has proved her capabilities as a politician and leader time and time again.

visionsofourfuture says, “If you’re like me, when watching this week’s presidential debate, you were more than a little peeved when Gov. Romney said that the solution to our culture of violence was more marriages. There are a lot of reasons why him saying this has me frustrated, and here’s a great article laying it all out!”

She also says, “Last weekend at the New York Comic Con, one female cosplayer who went as Black Cat was sexually harassed during a spontaneous interview by a Stan Lee fan club. This article discusses the incident as well as the overall acceptance of objectifying women who cosplay and how con’s should go about fixing it.”

 

classifiedsarcastic recommends this article about celebrity weight loss for movie roles, but specifically for women. It’s short but does a good job addressing the harm that women in such public setting can have as role models and the danger it causes for women battling eating disorders.

If you need a little pick me up after that, classifiedsarcastic has also found you a hilarious but eerily true article from cracked.com highlighting stereotypes in moves and society. It hits on stereotypes surrounding, women, minorities, and more. check it out