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

Month: December 2009

Monday Manohla Dargis Thrills

Say! Do you, like me, get an unexpectedly enormous kick out of Manohla Dargis – New York Times film critic, generally feministy lady, nailer-to-wall of all things inadequate, bringer of great joy and admiration to Sady Doyle on a more or less regular basis – saying “fuck” and “bullshit” a lot? Well, here is something you will enjoy! It is an interview, highly recommended for everyone who loves the work of Manohla Dargis to death, which you should, if you are a person. For example, she said this:

I love romantic movies. I absolutely do. But I literally don’t know what’s happening. I think it’s depressing that Judd Apatow makes the best romantic comedies and they’re about men. All power to Apatow, but he’s taken and repurposed one of the few genres historically made for women. ….We had so few [genres] that were made specifically for the female audience and now the best of them are being made by Judd Apatow. But what are his movies supposed to be about? Nominally about the relationship between a man and a woman, but they’re really buddy flicks.

Indeed! This is a matter of great concern to me, about which I have written approximately 90 kersplillion words! It is also one of the more measured interview responses. Much like her criticism, which is always measured and thoughtful and fair and accurate! But here’s one thing she does not do in her criticism, at least what I have read of it: swear so much. She swears so much in this interview! I had no idea it would make me this happy! It does!

Reclaiming the Lucidity of Our Hearts

Via little light, below is a video of Filipina trans activist Sass Rogando Sasot giving an incredible, impassioned speech on transgender rights before an assembly of the United Nations. The speech was delivered on December 10, and entitled “Reclaiming the Lucidity of Our Hearts.” After watching, I felt immediately compelled to repost:

Sass Rogando Sasot has reproduced the text of her speech over at Rainbow Bloggers Phillipines, with permission to repost. That transcript of her speech can be found below the jump.

Read More…Read More…

Scarleteen Gift Matching Campaign

support scarleteenOne month ago, I wrote about a fundraising campaign going on over at Scarleteen — a site which is, in my opinion, the best sex education source out there, and which runs off of a very, very small budget. And a month later, I’m a little sad to report that they’re only about one-third of the way to their $24,000 goal.

The other day, Scarleteen announced that a couple of donors have stepped up to match donations up to $2,500 for this weekend. As of last night, they’d only raised about $750 of that $2,500. It would break my heart to see them not reach goal, and watch much needed funds get flushed down the drain. But the Feministe community is large, and we have the potential to play a big role in ensuring that doesn’t happen.

So, I’m asking you again to consider giving to a vital, necessary, feminist source of sexual health information for teens and young adults. Most of us have at some point needed information about sex that we didn’t know how to find, been blocked from getting information by those who should have been educating us, and/or been given misinformation that proved harmful. Scarleteen is working to make sure that happens less and less, and if you’re able to open up your wallet, I’d say that’s definitely worth doing so.

Click here to give to Scarleteen now.

Reading this on Monday and wishing that you hadn’t missed the deadline? Give anyway. It’s still going to be a huge help.

The Wrong Way To Sell Something

In it’s purest form, commercial advertising is a call to action, an appeal to get the viewer off the sofa and into a store to buy a product. When Method released a commercial criticizing the use of environmentally harsh chemicals that also used sexual assault imagery, they not only risked being seen as a company that will use misogyny to hawk a product, but also as a company that is comfortable risking the wealthier, liberal, environmentally-conscious female consumer market they hoped to attain. Some action, amirite?

So when some feminist bloggers got ahold of the video, they not only pushed the point that it’s backward and tiresome to rely on the humiliation of women to push a product or idea (see also: PETA) but also that the use of sexual assault imagery was so viscerally upsetting for many women that it made them less likely to buy or support the use of whatever was being sold. Method, who commissioned the creepy, leering bubbles video by a third party, not only took heart to the criticism, but also pulled the advertising fail from “all controllable sources” and issued a public apology acknowledging many of the complaints made by their online critics. It showed that Method is willing to listen to their market * — or is at least unwilling to risk the viral anti-campaign this vocal and active market could wage — and that active members of the public can communicate with corporate entites for a greater good. For a minute it seemed like a win all around.

But the advertising industry has taken offense to our offense, and boy, they’re sure gonna tell us. Advertising Age has released an editorial in print and online that tells all of us annoyed with their misogynist offerings to “take a deep breath,” “have some perspective,” and “quit looking for offense in every single commercial.”

Read More…Read More…

IRS Targets Single Mother Because of Her Low Income

This is absurd. Via Raven’s Eye, Danny Westneat at the Seattle Times has uncovered a case in which the IRS audited a single mother with two kids, who earns $10 an hour at Supercuts and lives with her parents. What was their reason for doing so? Random selection? An incorrectly completed return? No, they just thought that she was too poor to be telling the truth:

“I asked the IRS lady straight upfront — ‘I don’t have anything, why are you auditing me?’ ” Porcaro recalled. “I said, ‘Why me, when I don’t own a home, a business, a car?’ ”

The answer stunned both Porcaro and the private tax specialist her dad had gotten to help her.

“They showed us a spreadsheet of incomes in the Seattle area,” says Dante Driver, an accountant at Seattle’s G.A. Michael and Co. “The auditor said, ‘You made eighteen thousand, and our data show a family of three needs at least thirty-six thousand to get by in Seattle.”

“They thought she must have unreported income. That she was hiding something. Basically they were auditing her for not making enough money.”

Seriously? An estimated 60,000 people in Seattle live below the poverty line — meaning they make $11,000 or less for an individual or $22,000 for a family of four. Does the IRS red-flag them for scrutiny, simply because they’re poor?

The IRS must either think that the United States is just filled to the brim with liars, or that they receive an awful lot of tax returns for people who don’t exist. A whole lot of people in this country, not just in Seattle, live under the poverty line — even though the poverty line is actually placed ridiculously low. And more still live above the official poverty line while still being poor. It’s usually not pretty. It’s sure as hell not just. And often, those people need the help of friends and family to get by. But as they will tell you, it can be done — because, simply, it has to.

Read More…Read More…

Uh, hmm.

Cover of Iman's book, "The Beauty of Color." Includes the image of three models of color, including Iman.

The New York Times offers an “of color” gift guide, for making the holidays special for that non-white person in your life. Now, I’m all for supporting the art and work of traditionally marginalized groups. And I’m all for including gift suggestions that aren’t centered on the experiences of white people. And if I were Latina, I would totally wear that last t-shirt!

But some of the descriptions are… hmm. For example:

We live in a multitextural world, especially when it comes to hair. Anthony Dickey is to women with “problem hair” what Batman is to Gotham City. With his out-of-the box approach, innovative products (including his new travel kits for kinky, wavy and curly hair), Mr. Dickey has been a hair hero to Michelle Obama, Kelis, Alicia Keys and others.

So, I’m white, but I also have wavy hair that tends to be dry and sort of difficult to manage, and I am quite partial to Mixed Chicks deep conditioner. So yay for a diversity of hair products for people whose hair is not straight! But… “problem hair”? Really? We’re still defining certain hair as problematic?

Also, the intro to the piece generally:

Somali fashion, do-it-yourself henna kits, children’s books that draw inspiration from the lives of Barack Obama and Sonia Sotomayor: it’s not hard to find gifts created for and by people of color this holiday season. Here are some possibilities.

Again, totally good with promoting the work of people of color, and for not centering whiteness in everything. But… why not just put this all in the general holiday shopping guide? Sure, “The Mocha Manual to Military Life: A Savvy Guide for Wives, Girlfriends and Female Service Members” isn’t going to appeal to every reader, but neither is the Bjorn Borg Men’s Underwear and Sock Set (which was in the “Chic and Cheerful” guide). Frédéric Fekkai Advanced Brilliant Glossing Products go in the “Cosmetic Enhancements” guide while “Hair Rules,” as I quoted above, is in the Of Color guide. All the other guides are divided up by interest — cosmetics, travel, food, etc. Except the Of Color guide.

Maybe I’m being silly, but would it have killed the Times to integrate the really beautiful designs by Mataano into their Chic and Stylish gift guide? Or put the Obama or Sotomayor children’s books on their Notable lists?

Of course, there is something to be said for highlighting the work of traditionally marginalized groups and for recognizing that they are traditionally excluded; I’m not trying to suggest that we all play the colorblind game. But I do think this could have been better executed.

Hey, It’s Human Rights Day

Happy Human Rights Day!

Did you know such a day even existed? Well it does!

How will you be celebrating?

And, if you work for a human rights organization, feel free to plug in whatever action* you’d like folks to take today. Let’s spread the love, shall we?

*Please don’t just make an appeal for donations or I’ll delete the comment. I know it’s hard, but I’d prefer it if we stuck to plain old activism for the day. And I know donations are crucial, I work in the non-profit sector. But, again, just for today.

Posted in Uncategorized