In defense of the sanctimonious women's studies set || First feminist blog on the internet

How not to make a feminist music video

Childish Gambino (known to his parents as Donald Glover) broke the Internet May 5 with the release of his music video, “This Is America.” It’s a nuanced and incredibly layered commentary about the experiences black people face in the U.S., from gun violence to police brutalization to commercialization of culture. YouTube… person Nicole Arbour jumped on that video and created the “Women’s Edit” that no one has been asking for.

Black Panther Open Thread

Shot from "Black Panther" of three women in African dress against a rocky background -- Florence Kasumba as Ayo, Lupita Nyong'o as Nakia, and Danai Gurira as Okoye
Ayo (Florence Kasumba), Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), and Okoye (Danai Gurira)

HOLY SHIT, Y’ALL.

So I saw Black Panther last night. My reactions, in no particular order:

– It was visually stunning. Literally. I was stunned at the visuals.
– The story held up the whole way through. I can count one specific occasion that made me go “eh,” and it in no way interfered with its effectiveness as a conceptually striking movie.
– The action sequences were so, so cool. If you’ve seen it, you know the one with the car? That one? Damn.
– Never has there been a greater concentration of staggeringly beautiful people in a two-hour period. It’s enough to give a girl a complex.
– Never has there been a greater concentration of unapologetically strong women — by the women themselves, the movie as a whole, or Wakandan culture — demonstrating all different manifestations of strength. It’s enough to inspire a girl to… absolutely anything.

Other, more pertinent, more articulate reactions:

Sesali Bowen, Refinery 29, Black Panther Has A Message For Black Men: Trust Black Women:

In no way does Black Panther downplay the role that Black men play in Black communities. T’Challa is faced with impossible decisions that test his own morality in addition to his fealty to Wakanda and Black people everywhere. It is male warriors from an isolated Wakandan tribe that act as reinforcements at a vital moment in the story. But the film actively rejects the notion that the participation/existence of Black men in the “good fight” negates the vital necessity of Black women. Similarly, the route towards realizing our maximum potential and freedom in the real world does not require a toll of reverting back towards romanticized ideas about Black male supremacy. In this fight, Black women are the equals of Black men and should be treated as such.

Damon Young, The Root, Yet Another Reason Why Shuri From Black Panther Is The Greatest Disney Princess Ever: This one is spoiler-laden, so I’m not going to post a quote here.

Taryn Finley, Huffington Post, Danai Gurira: The Dora Milaje Reflect Real Black Women, Except They’re Respected”: Also quite spoilery.

Tre Johnson, Rolling Stone, Black Superheroes Matter: Why a ‘Black Panther’ Movie Is Revolutionary:

Coogler has set out to do something with the modern black superhero that all previous iterations have fallen short of doing: making it respectable, imaginative and powerful. The Afro-punk and Afrofuturism aesthetics, the unapologetic black swagger, the miniscule appearances from non-black characters — it’s an important resetting of a standard of what’s possible around creating a mythology for a black superhero. The trailers point to a new direction for depicting not only black superheroes, but also how we imagine our heroes. He’s not being played for laughs. He’s not a sidekick or born out of dire circumstances. His story, one of an ingrained birthright, legacy and royalty is a stark difference for how we tend to treat most black superheroes — and black superhero movies.

Luvvie Ajayi, Awesomely Luvvie, On Wakanda: My Black Panther Review: Also with the spoilers, but also with the commentary of the clothes, the men, the women, the depiction of Wakanda, the conflict, the… everything.

A lot of other reactions on Twitter with the hashtag #WhatBlackPantherMeanstoMe (and an interview with the woman who started it).

Your reactions? Seen it? Haven’t seen it? (If you’re posting spoilers, please set them off with spoiler tags — (spoiler) and (/spoiler), except with square brackets instead of parentheses. XOXO, Mgmt.)

More than 150 young women sent Larry Nassar to prison for life

[Trigger warning for child sexual abuse, in this post and at all links]

Larry Nassar, a former doctor for USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University, has been sentenced to up to 175 years in prison for sexually abusing seven girls under the age of 15, with more charges to be addressed in coming weeks. But before sentencing, the judge heard victim impact statements from every accuser who chose to speak out. Originally, 88 women were expected to speak over four days. At final count, 156 women — empowered by what gymnast Aly Raisman called an “army of survivors” — gave statements over seven days, condemning Nassar and the systems at Michigan State, USA Gymnastics, and the U.S. Olympic Committee that failed to protect them.

Aziz Ansari is an asshole, and Caitlin Flanagan is also an asshole

The world (or, at least, the part of it that I live in) has been talking about the recent expose by a woman, pseudonymously known as Grace, who went out on a date with comedian Aziz Ansari and ended up getting persistently and aggressively pursued, and aggressively kissed, fingered, and dry humped, plus a weird thing where he kept sticking his fingers down her throat, over her objections. In a statement Ansari released in response, he doesn’t dispute her account of the events of the night — he that he’d thought she was into it. There have been a lot of analyses and responses, many of which I’ll get to later on this blog. But then Caitlin Flanagan decided to jump in — because of course she did — being, as is her way, the fucking worst. So here’s some stuff about “The Humiliation of Aziz Ansari.”

Oprah won the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and her acceptance speech was everything

Last night, Oprah Winfrey became the first black woman to receive the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2018 Golden Globes. She started her shattering speech by recounting a moment from her own childhood, watching Sidney Poitier become the first black man to receive a Best Actor Oscar in 1964. And her speech only became more moving and heart-wrenching and inspiring from there.

Mika Brzezinski wants to know if it’s cool to attack accusers we don’t like.

Yesterday, Minnesota Sen. Al Franken announced his pending resignation after a seventh woman has come forward to accuse him of sexual harassment and dozens of Senate Democrats have called on him to step down. This morning, on Morning Joe, Mika Brzezinski stood up for Franken by identifying his first accuser, Leeann Tweeden, as a Playboy model and a Republican, and asking if maybe “I believe women” doesn’t have to apply to all women. Y’know, like women who are accusing a man you like.