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 Comment »
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!
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 »
This fairly ridiculous film includes a barrage of violent sexual messages. The movie isn’t scary, but the sexualization of a young girl is horrific. Sexual violence is made light of, to some extent, as she tells her mother “fu*k me” “lick me” (while she stabs herself in the groin with a cross). The male demon inside her claims this young girl as a sex object, telling the priest “stick your co*k up her a*s.”
The mother is strong, fierce and cusses up a storm herself. She also gets hysterical a lot, which is fine for women to do, but traditionally a way to undermine women’s authority.
Filed under: movies on March 9th, 2008 by Anna Lisa | No Comments »
Byron Hurt’s documentary
I read novels, and fall asleep to non-fiction. I’d pick a Christopher Guest mockumentary over a documentary any day. But Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes was engaging and entertaining, exploring masculinity, misogyny, homophobia and objectification in hip hop music and videos.
Filmmaker Byron Hurt’s appreciation and respect for hip hop is evident in this thoughtful critique. It really is an act of love to raise tough questions, and ask people to change. He speaks with a great range of artists, listeners, academics, and even tries to have meaningful conversations with executives.
Women in the film
There aren’t many women in the film, but they do portray a variety of opinions about hip hop. It is important to see that not all women of color agree about hip hop. Moreover, this film is focused on men speaking to each other about hip hop and their values, so it is appropriate that there is so little screen time focused on women. Hurt even opens up a dangerous door of homoeroticism in hip hop, which adds depth to his critique of homophobic hip hop culture. Read more »
Filed under: movies on March 9th, 2008 by Anna Lisa | No Comments »
Everyone talks about the trilogy’s religious implications, what about gender? It sure seems like a fantasy series with a female main character would be a clear triumph for feminism. But Will still dominates - in part because he is older, but he is also a better fighter, and more of a controlling, traditional leader. While Lyra is the center of the story, her role in the metaplot is completely dependent on Will. Mrs. Coulter is an incredibly powerful woman, but her power is completely dependent on her sex appeal. She is an unoriginal archetype, and her “transformation” to caring mother is as predictable as her character.
Gender dynamics in all of the human societies described are similar to my own culture. There are amazing opportunities for envisioning new paradigms in fantasy and science fiction, but The Golden Compass trilogy doesn’t even try. The concept of daemons offer interesting questions. For Read more »
Filed under: books on March 8th, 2008 by Anna Lisa | No Comments »
