Pussy Riot, Human Rights, and Rebel Girls

When I started college, I went through what can only be called a very intense punk period. I started listening to Leftover Crack, Black Flag, Bikini Kill, and Against Me!. I dyed my hair bright purple and sewed patches onto the only suit jacket I have ever owned (my favorite was a large one that said “ANTI-TAMPON, ASK ME WHY”). I would tell anyone who would listen about anarcha-feminism and how patriarchy was just a giant continuation of pointless, fascist government control of the people. I even spent one evening smashing old televisions with an axe, screaming “SMASH THE STATE.”

Obviously, I have calmed down since then.

But when news started pouring in about Pussy Riot’s conviction this morning, it reminded me why I felt so justified in my anger at totalitarian governments. Why I felt such an urgent need to take down the state in any way I could.

For anyone that doesn’t pay attention to Russian news (so, a lot of people), Pussy Riot is a Russian feminist performance art/punk collective. They are known for their flashmob-style performances in high profile, public places. One such performance is what landed them in trouble. In February 2012, Pussy Riot gave an impromptu performance at Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior. They performed a “punk prayer,” that included lines imploring “Virgin Mary drive Putin away,” “Virgin Mary become a feminist” and the appropriately thrown-in, “holy shit.”

The performance was given in protest of the Russian Orthodox Church’s support of Putin’s presidential campaign. Putin has long been criticized by liberal Russians for his human rights violations, treatment of journalists, and in general, his silencing (aka killing) of anyone who opposes him in the public arena.

Moving Away from Women’s Misrepresentation

(I originally gave this post a super long boring title, so to save ya’ll from that, here’s a subhead: A Review of Miss Representation and the Panel Discussion the Followed).

On Thursday evening, blogger BlondeRedhead hosted a screening of the film Miss Representation, followed by a panel discussion that included myself, Aliasmitch, Carrie Robinson from SisterSpeak, and Drs. Mary Thompson and Melissa Aleman. The documentary itself challenges media constructions of femininity and the idea that women’s only value lie in our physical appearance. That for a woman, the only way to have any worth is to be beautiful all the time. The documentary was very interesting, and well put together, although I think it does have a few flaws, which I would like to address. But what I also want to talk about in this post is the amazing discussion afterward, where about 30 audience members stayed 70 minutes after the film ended to have a productive, in-depth discussion about women, how to talk about these issues, media literacy, rape culture, and how to move away from women’s misrepresentation.

Makeup Madness: What’s the Deal?

This week, my topic literally stared me right me in the face. Makeup. I recently had several conversations with girl friends (and guy friends too) to discuss the issue with cosmetics, or the lack thereof.

Quick Hit: A ShoutOut! to All of the Bag Ladies.

As cheesy as it sounds, despite our most well-intentioned cynicism about Valentine’s Day, some of us just may need some good old self affirmation today. Ladies and Gentlemen, without further ado, I present to you some classic Erykah Badu, here to encourage us to leave our baggage behind and that “all you must hold on to– is you, is you, is you.”

Pack light, readers!

PS: We all may need some self affirmation after hearing about Virginia’s passing of some very terrible laws further restricting women’s reproductive rights, don’t miss out on Katie O’s Quick Hit on that below.

Quick Hit: Some Awesome Feminist Music

Hey there! So just a quick hit: I wanted to link you all to a feminist playlist I collaborated on with the lovely JMUFeminist. Just in case you’re looking for new music this summer, or you’re sick of Taylor Swift and you want some actually feminist music in your life, or you’re bored and you need something to read, or you just missed some JMU feminists blogging about stuff, you can head over there and check out the playlist and her blog.

It’s FRIDAY!

Oh, but haven’t you heard? Yesterday was Thursday and tomorrow is Saturday… and after that is Sunday! Thank you, 13-year-old Rebecca Black, for keeping us in the loop…

I first saw this video Tuesday night at the prompting of my roommate. At first, I laughed off how mundane the lyrics are (“Kickin’ in the front seat / Sittin’ in the back seat / Gotta make my mind up / Which seat can I take?”). Then I tried to ignore Rebecca’s robotic-looking facial expressions and voice (reminiscent of a bad anti-drug commercial, no?) And then I tried to forget how creepy and voyeuristic I felt watching young teenagers “party”. Despite all these aesthetic deterrents, something brought me back to watch this trainwreck again and again.

Even now, three days later, something about it still gives me the creeps. First, there’s the unnamed Usher look-a-like rapping in his car. I realize that many of today’s pop videos feature young female singers with older male guest-rappers. Still…who is this guy and why isn’t he claiming any sort of fame on a video that’s garnered 2.2 million views? My best guess is that it’s Clarence Jey (below right), co-founder of L.A.’s Ark Music Factory, the producer of this video.

No, really, mom, they said I'll be Miley 2.0!

What really makes my skin crawl is the fact that parents are willing to pay up to $20,000 to allow their daughters to make a short-lived music video, the essential purpose of which seems to be to inflame their vanity. Something tells me Rebecca Black would’ve been the first one on Toddlers & Tiaras if only it had existed a decade ago.

Says BlackBook,

Their [the founders of Ark Music Factory] business model is simple: give them money and they will produce a formulaic pop song for your 13- to 17-year-old daughter, complete with video, and then your daughter will become a famous music star like she (you) has always dreamed.

Although not something that set off red flags, I also found it unsettling to watch a video featuring “actors” we can safely assume are between the ages of 13-16. But of course, THEN I found it unsettling that I was unsettled by watching actual young teens play young teens! Think about it — all the roles in tween/teen movies are given to much older actors and actresses…

For example, the cast of the CW’s Gossip Girl:

When the show debuted (in September 2007), the majority of characters were set as high school juniors. In reality? Blake Lively, the protagonist, was 20. Chace Crawford, another star, 22.
I realize the legal issues behind having teenagers (under-18s) act. But some of it HAS to be pressure from the Public Relations teams behind the CW and other networks. Otherwise, they couldn’t run promos like this:

Or this…

Or this!…

What?! Who said that sex sells?

Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture

Ciao my friends!  Hope all was well while ShoutOut JMU! was on hiatus.  I am writing to you from Washington DC.  I will be up here this semester so I am hoping I will relay to you some things happening here.

And one thing going on, I went to this amazing, amazing art gallery: National Portrait Gallery.  Maybe you’ve been?  I believe that was my first time.  I stumbled upon some quite amazing work, including work portraying women and those of the LGBT community.  This traveling exhibit called  Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture has been by far one of the most moving, erotic, enigmatic at times, exhibit I’ve ever been to.   And I’m in love.

The exhibit’s prologue describes it as, ”Hide/Seek considers such themes as the role of sexual difference in depicting Modern America; how artists explored the fluidity of sexuality and gender; how major themes in modern art-especially abstraction-were influenced by social marginalization; and how art reflected society’s evolving and changing attitudes towards sexuality, desire, and romantic attachment.”

Arresting and inviting.

Burn Them Books

     A little internet searching by a friend of mine revealed this little gem; PABBIS or People Against Bad Books In School.  The oganizations goal is to encourage parents to take action against schools teaching dangerous books such as Beloved or The Handmaid’s Tale. Attached to the list are links to reasons why the books have been targeted including anything from  bad language to rape or men depicted negatively. It’s worth mentioning however that the offending quotes are taken out of context and there is no effort to discern between glorified violence/rape/bad language and that which simply seeks to be true to life experiences. 

 My friend also pointed out that the vast majority of books on the list are written by women or minority authors, whether this is specifically a backlash against these groups or a reflection of the types of stories/life experiences which minorites speak to, is left to be debated. Try searching for Hemingway, Poe, Twain, or other contributors to the classic literary canon. Though they have many themes that overlap with books on the no-no list they are conspicuously absent.  

“Rebel Girl, You Are the Queen of My World”

The Daily Swarm has announced that on December 11th The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn will be hosting “Rah! Rah! Replica,” a benefit/show/project/EXTRAVANAGZA to honor Riot Grrrl goddess Kathleen Hanna. ‘Bout time, am I right? Or am I right?

In Search of Mama Dick: Where Are The Mothers In Literature?

A human who made humans and cared for them for free? Preposterous!

In my “Major Authors: Women Writers from 1900 to 1950″ class last Tuesday morning the professor raised an important question: Where, in any major works of fiction (particularly American fiction) were mothers? After much deliberation, awkward silence and head scratching; the class concluded that mothers were notoriously absent from major works of literature. Amazingly, the one common denominator of human existence is as rare as a unicorn in representations of human existence. Why, then, are mothers just as elusive as giant white whales in literature? Could it be that they are greatly undervalued and found to be just as interesting as say, a rock? With a handy rubric, let us see if we can find the mythical creature known as Mama Dick.