Rachel's Spot

The student writes:

The cover of the magazine plays on the subconscious fears of blackness that are embedded in the fabric of America.

Here's another great Adbust:

The student writes:

When the advertisement says, "comes naturally", they are possibly trying to play on both male and female insecurities surrounding natural orgasms. Absolut Pears is presented as an (Absolut)ion to these anxieties and problems. If anything, the effects vodka will probably make those insecurities worse...

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On January 22nd - the 34th anniversary of Roe v. Wade – NARAL Pro-Choice America is asking pro-choice bloggers to raise the profile of reproductive rights issues in the blogosphere and the media, and to let everyone know that a woman's right to choose is nonnegotiable.

So blog for choice on January 22nd, and this year's topic is a simple one: tell us, and your readers, why you're pro-choice.

You can sign up for Blog for Choice Day here and download a Blog for Choice Day sidebar graphic (to let your readers know that you're participating) here.

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To will oneself free is also to will others free.

- Simone de Beauvoir, The Ethics of Ambiguity

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Buy this poster (and other amazing socially conscious works) at Northland Poster Collective.

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One of my favorite photographers is now making films and multimedia.

Lauren Greenfield.

Her film is called THIN. Watch a trailer HERE. It is also a book and a travelling exhibit. You can order it here.

Synopsis: The HBO Documentary film Thin takes us inside the walls of Renfrew Center, a residential facility for the treatment of women with eating disorders, closely following four young women (ages 15 - 30) who have spent their lives starving themselves, often to the verge of death.

The other DVD I ordered (they are both from HBO films) is MIDDLESEXES

Synopsis: Redefining He and She sensitively explores the controversial subject of the blurring of gender as well as the serious social and family problems - even dangers - often faced by those whose gender may fall somewhere in between male and female.

Posted by Rae at 12:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (90)

VIa Feministing Via UK Daily Mail and The Sun

British superstore Tesco was selling these stripper poles, targeted at kids (see the pink Barbie/Bratz-like packaging). The packaging says: Unleash the sex kitten inside...simply extend the Peekaboo pole inside the tube, slip on the sexy tunes and away you go! The Peekaboo Pole Dancing kit includes an extendable pole, frilly garter, and DVD to demonstrate sexy dance moves.

It also features fake money - dubbed Peekaboo Dance Dollars - to reward budding private dancers.

Just like padded bras for six year olds:

I'm so scared.

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A few years back my students from WoSt 3102 - Feminist Thought and Theory gave my daughter a makeover at Club Libby Lu . They filmed the whole thing, edited a video, and wrote really smart papers about girl culture, heteronormativity, whiteness, girl power movement, the gaze, and all those concepts important to Women's Studies. Theorizing the MofA is a very fruitful exercise!

Here's the video (forgive the hiccup in the middle of the clip. i can't find the student's final edit & i don't have time to pull out clips of just T, but you can get the point from it anyway):

(Click for Quictime file - 14.5 MB file size)

Did you catch the clip of me with a weave-o-rama? Yup. Too much fun!

Well, one of my girl's best friends had a Club Libby Lu b-day party this weekend. Her rock star makeover:

What's really scary is so much of the stuff for sale in the store (as you can see in the video), and if you get the deluxe makeover package you get a great bag (it's a gir thing!) filled with all kinds of heteronormative gender binary enforcing princess power.

See Club Libby Lu's website for yourself.

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"don't need you" is a documentary film that tells the story of the origins of Riot Grrrl in the American independent music scene of the 1990s, and how this feminist movement evolved into a revolutionary underground network of education and self-awareness through music, writing, activism, and women-friendly community. The film gives audiences a chance to meet key figures in the development of Riot Grrrl and see for themselves how these women have changed the history of music and feminism forever. The film features one-on-one interviews interspersed with rare, archival materials, including original Riot Grrrl fanzines, flyers, and photographs, as well as seldom seen footage from pioneering Riot Grrrl bands like Bikini Kill, Heavens to Betsy, and Bratmobile.

View the Trailer:

Buy the DVD!

I've taught third-wave feminism at Macalester twice now, and have struggled to show them Riot Grrrl material. We usually use the EMP timeline stuff and play music. It's so much better to have it on DVD. Yah! I'm excited for this to arrive!

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We Don’t Need Another Wave is a critique of the ways in which feminism is discussed in the mainstream media. Today’s young feminists are wary of being labeled. They are media-savvy, hyper-aware of being categorized and marginalized, and are here to tell the world that feminists are feminists — diverse in age and experience — and that it’s time to drop the labels in favor of proactive agendas and united goals.

Topics that matter to young feminists range from lighter issues, such as DIY culture and craftivism, to heavy-hitting issues that feminists have struggled with for generations, including abuse, rape, shame, and self-hatred. The young writers in this collection band together under the banner of feminism to share the message that the F-word is a good thing, and that feminists are breaking new ground while still valuing the traditions and achievements of their sisters and foremothers.

We Don’t Need Another Wave brings a message of unity and a message to get beyond subcategorizing a movement that needs cohesiveness and strives on strength in numbers.

The book even has it's own myspace page.

Buy the book HERE

+ + +

Everything seems ciclical. We need to be careful about the pitfalls of the "sisterhood is global" phenom. We do need some common agenda goals and collabos that work, but I've got to read before I make an official proclamation about what's up.

-R

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and don't forget to match whatever little hair you decide to keep:

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video on skin tone, hair and dolls. worth the watch!

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watch this:

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I saw this over at feministing:

got to love to airbrushed belly shots:

Read about it here.

yah right, i've shown you all my belly. i belong to this club from Shape of A Mother :

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I'm struggling through the last month+. The weather changes have made me sick - unable to breathe. The body changes have made it hard - unable to breathe or sleep.

Beautiful gifts keep arriving. It's wonderful because we don't have a baby shower scheduled. I don't know all the customs of "woman stuff" but my best girlfriend from childhood explained to me that someone else is supposed to throw you a shower (or even surprise you). I've never been given any surprise party in life.

Honey and I talked about throwing one here ourselves - Yah right. I'm too damn tired to get through the laundry, cooking dinner, planning lectures, and spending awake time with my daughter. Whatever comes via UPS is what comes.

I keep thinking about representation of pregnant bodies.

One of my students posted this image for a class assignment:

She believes that pregnant women's bodies are often beheaded. Hmmm. I'm looking for photos (not home flicks, but "pro" shots / model shots of pregnant ladies).

Another student posted this rather creepy (in my opinion) photo of Tori Amos nursing a calf:

Other thing I keep thinking about is breast feeding. Our culture celebrates breasts in many ways - as objects of visual pleasure, as objects of sexual pleasure, as objects for surgerical enhancements, as medical objects - but never as they were designed - as sustenance for a baby. Girls Gone Wild's creator Joe is on Tyra show right now, I can hear it in the bg - what a celebration: flash em!

MN protects a woman's right to nurse at any time and in any place. I'll invoke that right shortly.

Still, many find it necessary to hand out "Oops you caught me breastfeeding" cards like this:

Watching the news last night made me so sad and disgusted:
Yesterday - beaten for being pregnant and Black

Unfortunately, it's very common.

There's always more work to be done.

Posted by Rae at 9:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (1181)

There are some great jobs through the MN Women's Press

Sex Education Associate
Smitten Kitten is looking for a highly motivated, self-directed individual to work with customers in an education-based retail environment.Opportunity for advancement. Special Requirements: Must be comfortable around dogs. Previous experience as a sex educator preferred. Spanish language skills a plus. Must have strong interpersonal, oral and written communication skills. $12.25/hour, 20 hr. per week.

Call Jessica for more information: 612-721-6088. Send resumes to: Jessica@smittenkittenonline.com.

Office Assistant
Seeking committed, detail-oriented office assistant at state's largest pro-choice grassroots organization. Position based in St. Paul, starts at 28 hrs/week and includes health, dental, and sick leave benefits. Open until filled.Details at www.prochoiceminnesota.org

Posted by Rae at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (453)

Watch the clip of I Was A Teenage Feminist

There are also some other great short clips - interviews on the street.

My favorite: "Feminism Survey: Men on the Street"
Times Square, NY - A woman and her husband.
Interviewer: Would you ever identify as feminist?
Woman: A feminist to me, I guess, would be a woman who believes in women's rights, I guess.
Interviewer: But you wouldn't identy yourself as one?
Woman: No.
Her husband: The bible is very clear that men are the head of a household.

The world is still such a scary place. We have a lot of work to do.

Posted by Rae at 10:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (430)