Feminism | Posted by Julie Z on 01/31/2011
Femen: How Ukraine Does Feminist Protesting
The relationship between feminists and our bodies is a complicated one. Where as our general goal is to have ownership of and the ability to make choices about our bodies, we’re stuck in a society that wants to take that control away. We’re bombarded with images of exploited bodies every day. We’re told what our bodies should look like (the anatomically ridiculous stick with giant balloons attached to our chests) and what we should do with them (be sexually available but, for the love of God, not slutty. But not prudish either).
The feminist body conundrum is perfectly exemplified by the Ukranian organization “Femen.” Essentially, Femen is a feminist group of about 300 women who believe the best way to spread their aversion to things like sex tourism …
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Pop-Culture | Posted by A. on 01/30/2011
Support Women Artists Sunday: Nellie McKay
“Feminists don’t have a sense of humor
Feminists just want to be alone
Feminists spread vicious lies and rumors
They have a tumor on their funny bone…”
These brilliantly satirical lyrics come from the song “Mother of Pearl” by Nellie McKay. As it says on the artist’s website:
“You should know that Nellie McKay is hard to categorize. She’s done Brecht on Broadway, opened for Lou Reed at Carnegie Hall, sung Woody Allen movie songs at the Hollywood Bowl, performed on A Prairie Home Companion, duetted with Eartha Kitt and Triumph The Insult Comic Dog, played Hilary Swank’s sister on the big screen, paid tribute to Doris Day, and released three wildly acclaimed albums of original music.
Her music is as tuneful and clever as the best of …
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Julie Z on 01/29/2011
Saturday Vids: “Boys Will Be Girls”
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Jenae S on 01/28/2011
Girls and Geekdom: The Team Unicorn Conundrum
The girls of Team Unicorn just can’t seem to win. They are hot girls and nerds, yet they find themselves rejected by both women and nerds. Team Unicorn’s video Geek and Gamer Girls made its way through the interwebs a few months back and their second video about Zombies was posted just before the holidays.
Despite showing nothing to doubt their nerd cred, the internet has done exactly that. Commenters have accused them of not being “real nerds” because they are attractive, and of using their looks to “trick nerds.” These girls challenge the stereotypical image of a “geek.” They are all conventionally attractive and not afraid to flaunt their sexuality, yet they show their knowledge of geek culture through their writing and videos. Many of them have been involved …
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Feminism | Posted by Aleka Raju on 01/27/2011
Effects of Feminism Not Reachable to All Indian Women?
Recently Indian newspapers have been flooded with reports about the Dar-ul-Uloom?s (an Islamic school propagating Sunni Islam in India) fatwa stating that it is un-Islamic for women to work with men. Yet again we appear to be at the crossroads: having to choose between antiquated traditions and moving forward into a society where men and women are accorded with the same level of respect and treated as equals.
As Indian society is relaxing its earlier rigid views about women and their position in society and allowing them to go out and work in cities, the Muslim clerics are adamant about regressing back in time and making sure that the benefits of feminism and society?’s more liberal attitude towards women aren?t passed on to Indian Muslim women.
As usual, a huge fury …
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Talia on 01/25/2011
Boycott “Monster”
When I first read this article on Experimentations of a Teenage Feminist, the first thing I said to myself was “good God.” It wasn’t a good “good God.” It was a BAD “good God.” A REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, HORRIFICALLY BAD “good God.”
Apparently, parts of Kanye West’s upcoming music video for the single “Monster” were leaked online. (I would like to point out that the album’s title is My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.) In the video, half-naked women are drugged or dead, hanging from chains, as West, Jay-Z, Rick Ross, and Bon Iver make sexual advances towards them. Nicki Minaj also makes an appearance in the video.
The lyrics of the song are pretty bad, too. Bon Iver asks, “Are you willing to sacrifice your life?” Rick Ross then …
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Feminism | Posted by Marie L on 01/24/2011
In Honor of the Anniversary of Roe v. Wade
My awareness of Roe v. Wade goes back to high school (a few years ago) when in a 12th grade English class we were given a list of important events that occurred from 1960 through present day. We were told to investigate and report on one event as “unbiased news journalists.” The supreme court decision of Roe v. Wade was on the list, and I picked it as my research topic. At the time, I had a very scant inkling of what Roe v. Wade was. From what I can remember, I only knew that it meant women were free to choose child-free lives, and at the time, with four siblings, I was all about never having kids – -so Roe v. Wade it was!
I didn’t know squat about the …
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Julie Z on 01/23/2011
Support Women Artists Sunday: Kellee Maize
Kellee’s mother always said, she “was dancing and singing before she could walk and talk”. She started singing and writing poetry and songs at a young age to entertain herself and escape reality. Despite incredibly loving parents, Kellee always had a bit of an “alien” mentality as she was one of two people she knew until age 18 that was adopted. To this day she knows almost nothing of her biological family.
Kellee moved to Pittsburgh in her late teens with the dream of changing the world. She learned more about the negative sides of our society through study at the University of Pittsburgh and Hip Hop was solidified as her passion and outlet for activism. She also experienced watching her mother go through a near death bout with cancer …
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