The Dialogue

At James Madison University, a gender dialogue course is offered in which 6 females and 6 males are asked to participate to promote dialogue between the two sexes. I was able to attend the final presentations for this class, and I thought the premise of the class, the topics of the presentation, and the banter between the men and women in the course were very interesting. It was evident that this class had become very close. The men and women seemed very comfortable around each other, and it was evident that these presentations were reflective of the eye-opening experience they had together. It made me slightly jealous that they were able to experience this opportunity, and by the end of the 3 hours, I had come up with 2 conclusions.

No Damsel In Distress Here: Anita Sarkeesian and Her Kickstarter Story

I’m a gamer and damn proud.

You won’t catch me toting a DS waiting to update my Animal Crossing town or feed my Nintendogs. I won’t spend hours in front of my tv wasting the brilliance that is the outdoors. And I will never pass up time with friends, to finish that last level of Bioshock Infinite or play one more round of Zombies. However, I will keep up with the industry’s latest and greatest. I do long for that occasional heartwarming nostalgia that comes with replaying an old N64 favorite. And I will always look forward to the occasional follow-up or reimagining of a series like Zelda or Tomb Raider. Gaming has been ingrained within me since as far as I can remember, but it wasn’t until recently that I stumbled upon a daring vlogger who prompted me to reanalyze these pieces of my past with a new feminist perspective.

A month from yesterday will mark the one year anniversary of a bold concept that would later rock the gaming community forever. After being invited to speak to video game development company BUNGiE, vlogger and creator of Feminist Frequency Anita Sarkeesian felt satisfied with her involvement, but realized there was a lot left to be said for the industry as a whole. She decided to launch a Kickstarter campaign to fund a series of videos that would analyze the history of video games from a feminist lens and illuminate the iconic portrayals of women in these games. Little did she know the tidal wave of backlash, harassment, and vandalism that would follow her from arguably the most proverbial of boy’s clubs.

Book Recommendation: The Guy’s Guide to Feminism

Unless you’ve been living in a cave or the Midwest, you’ve noticed spring (weather) is finally here! Yes, the beautiful time of year when the birds are back, flowers are blooming, and the thaw of winter is behind us. With the return of the sun comes the return of outdoor recreational reading. There’s nothing I love more about my outdoor porch than curling up in my favoring chair, and with a glass of lemonade beside me flipping the pages of a wonderful book between my hands. One such book I had the pleasure of reading was The Guy’s Guide to Feminism. It’s a brief but well written read that’s sure to fit into anyone’s schedule and personal feminist level.

The Millennium Trilogy: The Man Who’s Fight Lives On

“I was always interested in social change but never actually did anything about it.” ~ Ben Rattray

I’m returning for one last installment of the Millennium trilogy posts. Again without spoilers, I will explore author Stieg Larsson’s explosive series with The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest. In the final installment, we find Lisbeth Salander detained and falsely accused of several brutal murders. While she shamelessly admits to vigilante crimes she did commit, journalist and friend Mikael Blomkvisk uses his investigative ability to secure solid supporting evidence to her guiltlessness. In trying to prove her innocence, Blomkvist unknowingly unravels Lisbeth’s neglected past of being under the care of the Swedish government for her “mental impairment,” giving way to Larsson’s critique of global legislation protecting women, and activism towards change.

The Millennium Trilogy: Firing Up the Upheaval

Fire is contradicting in almost every sense. While it brings warmth and comfort, it can also be destructive and deadly. Historically, fire was a sign for life and sustenance. Being so difficult to capture in its early discovery, fire was often sacred and used in ceremonies to appease Gods of all religions. Today fire is dangerous, often associated with wrath and pain. Fire is also figuratively seen as power, strength and will. A more befitting word couldn’t have been used to entitle Steig Larsson’s Dragon Tattoo sequel, The Girl Who Played with Fire; a novel that’s deadly to the core, but oh so delightful to behold.

                Like its predecessor, the plot focuses on the two progressing storylines of its heroes, Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist. Without any spoilers, the duo’s unrelated lives are interwoven beautifully, to finally unite in the Everest-proportioned climax and explosive cliffhanger. In this novel we find Lisbeth scornful of Blomkvist’s indiscretion, and hell-bent in shutting him out of her life for good. For Blomkvist, having restored his place in Millennium magazine, he is keenly interested in the mud raking potential a new story brought in by an aspiring journalist Dag Svensson. Dag presents several years of investigation into human trafficking and sexual violence that links many high ranking officials in government and the police force. It’s a scandal of monumental proportions that could not only set Dag on the map, but also bring Millennium up from the brink of bankruptcy.

Lazy Comedy: Why I’m Not Laughing

I love comedy. I love the relief I get from laughter, I love the fact that something funny can make someone’s whole day better, and I love that noticing the oddities of shared human experience can bring a whole room of people together. However, with my growing feminist consciousness has come a growing unease in the pit of my stomach whenever I sit down to be entertained.

Now, I would like to take the time to clarify that I do not enjoy being upset. I’m as annoyed as anyone else when I hear myself inhale sharply through my teeth, or the long sigh that escapes when I hear a joke that touches a nerve. I would love to sit through a movie or a performance without finding something upsetting about the material. Unfortunately, this is becoming more and more rare for me. I know that feminists have a reputation for ruining everything funny. Lately I’ve been opting out of watching comedy in public, because I didn’t want to be that person to ruin something for all of my friends. I took a chance this past week and went to see a performance in public, and found things even in this small local show to be much of the same: each joke was at the expense of some group, or called on the audience’s assumed membership in a privileged group in order to be funny.

The Millennium Legacy: Dragon Tattoos and Social Taboos

The conception of this post was one part luck and seven parts desperation. Last week I experienced for the first time in my life, an extreme case of writer’s block. Having gone through seven drafts of ideas, each of poor enough quality or caliber to warrant dismissal, I was at my wits end. With hours to spare before my scheduled post was about to go live, I was about to write a cop-out “what would YOU, the reader of this blog, like to read” post when I was struck with an idea. While it was suggested early on to write an article reviewing a book, I had dismissed the notion because I limited my focus to outwardly feminist books like Manifesta, of which I have not touched. However, in my sullen desperation I remembered reading about domestic and sexual abuse of women and started to think about books that may be indirectly feminist. Immediately a whirl of storyline came flooding back to me in a memory of a personal favorite series known worldwide as the Millennium trilogy.

The trilogy, consisting of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest, has become legend for challenging Swedish social practices and indirectly inciting a worldwide call for reform.  As I thought about it more and more, the pro-feminist lifestyle author Stieg Larsson lead, along with the message his books echoed made perfect sense to blog about and share. I realized early on though that to truly capture the narrative of these novels and accurately analyze them with a feminist perspective, I had to break it up into a series of three blog posts. Each post will be devoted to one of the Millennium novels and will focus on the events that occurred and how they mirrored Larsson’s own life. I hope to illuminate his social commentary and in the process explore the feminist implications of his final work. Let’s begin by exploring more of Larsson’s personal life before diving into his flagship novel, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Stalking Lessons from Your Friend, The Media

With the Valentine’s Day hoopla now behind us and Springtime approaching, many of us are on the lookout for blossoming romance. It can be indimidating to approach someone you’re interested in, and there are many schools of thought when it comes to flirting. But wait! You say. With all of the messages I get about acceptable ways to flirt, how can I tell if my way is flattering, or just a one-way ticket to Stalkerville? Well, I am delighted that you asked.

First of all, I’d like to say congratulations. The fact that you are concerned about your behavior indicates that you are aware of the prevalence of stalking behavior affecting so many people, and particularly women, today. But I know I’m not a stalker, you think. I don’t follow my crush around in a creepy white van or take photos of them while they’re changing. That is an excellent start! Unfortunately, stalker behavior includes much more than a pair of creepy binoculars. In fact, much of the courtship behavior we consume in the media includes some type of stalker behavior, and you guessed it: this translates to high incidents of real-life stalking. So what’s a lonely heart to do? Read on, and we’ll examine some of these stalking behaviors that are masquerading as romantic gestures.

The Feminist Lens: Movie Reviews

Great Oden’s Raven! This week, I’ve decided to write my Feminist Lens Movie Review about the 2004 comedy, Anchorman.

But why Anchorman, you might ask? The answer is two-fold. First, I have a bunch of choices, many of which fall under the horror/action/thriller genres. Anchorman is very different in that regard. Second, despite presenting a shiny veneer of feminism and equality, the movie still contains a number of problematic elements. So grab your popcorn and bust out that Sex Panther cologne from your private stash—it’s time for another edition of the Feminist Lens.

Links Round-Up

This week at Shout Out!

Hannah Grace found a recent national poll  naming Hilary Clinton the most popular U.S. politician, with 61% of voters saying they would back her in 2016! Although the former Secretary of State claims she is not going back to politics, HannahGrace thinks she would make an exception to run for first woman President of the United States!

shieldkt is a huge fan of Harry Potter and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. So her link round-up this week is from the blog Gender Focus. They have Friday Feminist Funny Film every friday and this week is from the BAMF Girls Club episode 7 and Buffy is trying to matchmake Hermione with Willow. So if you need some good laughs this week I would watch this video clip.