I don’t think a memoir can be patriarchal. I believe that the act of telling one’s own story is inherently empowering, A person can be a complete racist, misogynist jerk and lie all throughout a memoir, and the book could be used to promote and support patriarchy. But when written with integrity, a memoir is a gift to oneself and one’s readers, and can be a powerful piece of the journey out of patriarchal living and thinking.
Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat Pray Love is disarming and insightful. Her vulnerability is engaging, and was affirming to me, as a reader. This dynamic is part of servant leadership, and also a traditionally “feminine” trait. How do we encourage all people to begin with vulnerability?
Anyone who is able to share honestly (not just 7th grade humor) about masturbation is dismantling patriarchy. Women, especially, have been taught that masturbation is unhealthy and dirty, and I’m really impressed that Gilbert included a few (very relevant) paragraphs on her own experience. Her down-to-earth approach is a wonderful way to normalize masturbation for women.
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Filed under: books on April 19th,
2008 by Anna Lisa | 1
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A pregnant woman in underpants on all fours in a cage on the sidewalk.
A woman wrapped in cling film to resemble cuts of meat in a supermarket.
Mel B gets her “tits out for trafficking.”
Most of us have come to expect the exploitation of women’s bodies to sell everything from cars to cleaning products - but for charity?
Julie Bindel takes PETA and other charities on in Prostituting for Charity, published on truthout.org.
As a young and idealistic vegan, I was shocked when Pamela Anderson posed naked for PETA. But I was too embarrassed to complain. I figured I would sound prudish, square, or worst - jealous of her “sexy” body and ashamed of my own.
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Filed under: articles on April 15th,
2008 by Anna Lisa | 1
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This past week, author/speaker/researcher Lyn Mikel Brown came to town to speak about the themes in her book, Packaging Girlhood. In the book, Brown asserts that girlhood is being commercialized and shaped in ways that are unhealthy and damaging to our children, primarily through false notions of empowerment, profit-driven manipulation of the transition from childhood to adolescence, and increased sexualization and fetishization of girls.
This post is not about the content of Brown’s talk, though it was quite good. Instead, it’s about at least one reaction to the announcement of the event, and what it might tell us about how much work is yet to be done in finding equity and justice for women in our culture.
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Filed under: books, events on April 12th,
2008 by Chris Hardie | 1
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What we see on TV becomes normalized. This is troubling when TV is full of violence, sex, violent sex, alcohol (most common beverage seen on TV), etc. Men are seen on TV more than women, and sexualized women are seen more than sexualized men.
The Geena Davis Institute on Media held a conference recently that discussed the potrayal of women on TV and in movies. They found all sorts of frustrating things:
- the ratio of men:women on screen is 1:3 (apparently up from 1:5 twenty years ago)
- females are over 5 times more likely than males to be shown in sexually revealing clothing (about 4 times more likely in TV and movies aimed at children)
- in animated material for children, females are far more likely to have unrealistic (and hypersexualized) body shapes - 22.7% vs. 1.2%
Lynn Ziegler has a great article about the conference on truthout.org, On-Screen Sex Ratios Add Up to One Big Minus.
Reuters also offers an overview of statistical findings from the conference.
It’s a good thing Geena Davis is the figure head for this work - doesn’t she look great?!
Filed under: articles, conferences on April 8th,
2008 by Anna Lisa | No Comments »
I don’t understand how one article can leave me feeling such delight and such anger simultaneously! Johann Hari’s “Where Have All the Stong Women Gone?” is a searing and straightforward critique of patriarchy’s destructive and completely unfair expectations of women.
Hari reminisces about Bette Davis’ bad-ass characters on-screen, and her boldness off-screen. I’ve never seen a Bette Davis movie, but I’m going to rent one this weekend. But, Hari wonders, “Who are our female icons now? Nicole Kidman, whose career is epitomized by her role in ‘Moulin Rouge’, where she plays a limp, passive prostitute, waiting to be saved. Julia Roberts, whose only iconic role is as a screwed-up prostitute, waiting to be saved. The women of ‘Desperate Housewives’ - chaotic ditzes, who are either jobless, or have jobs where they merely spread chaos. The women of ‘Sex and the City’, who are obsessed with shoes and - in the end - have to compromise their careers for men. Read more »
Filed under: articles on April 3rd,
2008 by Anna Lisa | No Comments »
Christie Church’s article “Feminism Keeps My Marriage Together” is conversational and honest. I think this is a perfect example of a story being both personal and relevant. She shares particularities that make this her story, but has enough self-awareness to make her own story more widely relevant. I also appreciate that she names the privilege she and her husband have to be legally married.
The article points to some important concepts for anyone attempting to work, act, love or create with another gender. My favorite quote: “Intimacy just isn’t possible under patriarchy.”
This approach to patriarchy is wonderfully simple and inviting - we all want intimacy, and we want it across gender lines, so let’s take patriarchy on!
Filed under: articles on March 31st,
2008 by Anna Lisa | No Comments »
NPR’s Allison Keyes discusses Catwoman’s appeal, contending that she is a symbol of feminine power. She interviews women who portrayed Catwoman, co-stars, and a writer, and describes Catwoman incarnations over the years.
Catwoman’s “feminine power” includes her independence, ruthlessness, but always (and often first and foremost) her sex appeal. The fact that a story can claim to discuss empowerment of women and not raise a single concern about this focus on sex appeal is disconcerting.
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Filed under: comics, radio on March 16th,
2008 by Anna Lisa | 1
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This quiz is from msnbc.com, not a source I particularly value. But I did appreciate the range of women mentioned (all clearly “famous.)” It would have been great to have some of the many famous and incredibly important women of color in the quiz, though!
Famous Feminists Quiz
By Myriam Gabriel-Pollock
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Filed under: quiz on March 15th,
2008 by Anna Lisa | 1
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Now this comic is making a great point, but why does the girlfriend have to be the object of the exchange?
She doesn’t have any say in the matter - she has no agency or independence. Obviously in the reality of the characters, she may have been the mastermind of the whole exchange. But we don’t know, and since women are currently and regularly considered objects of exchange, especially sexually, a new punchline would be fantastic!
More xkcd webcomics.
Filed under: comics on March 13th,
2008 by Anna Lisa | 2 Comments »
I really enjoy xkcd, a webcomic published three times a week. This is one of my favorites. Not only it is funny, it’s deliciously subversive. And I really appreciate that the devious techie is a woman!
Filed under: comics on March 13th,
2008 by Anna Lisa | No Comments »