For All Feminists Looking Forward to “On The Road”
Undoubtedly, many of you will want to see Walter Salles’ forthcoming cinematic re-telling of On The Road. It’s also inevitable that your younger sisters will also want to see it since Kristen Stewart co-stars. This may leave you with the task of having to explain On The Road, and if so, here’s some advice.
Ever since I started teaching and writing about Jack Kerouac I have constantly been asked how I, as a feminist, could I possibly stand Jack Kerouac’s depictions of women in his novels. How could I possibly get past all the sexist language he used and scenes he wrote? To which I gave my now very practiced response: I can’t, I don’t, and what’s more, I wouldn’t even think to try.
Let’s Talk About Sex: Emergency Contraception (EC) Edition
Today, my lovely FBomb friends, is a wonderful day. Why is that? You may perplexedly ponder. I don’t recall hearing talk of it being International Free Cupcake Day and I’m pretty sure Ryan Gosling isn’t going to spontaneously show up on my doorstop “Hey Girl” -ing me…is he? IS HE?!?!
NO! HE’S NOT! BUT THIS IS EVEN BETTER! IT’S BACK UP YOUR BIRTH CONTROL NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION!
Yay!
So here’s the thing about birth control: there’s no excuse not to use it and everybody should. Especially teens. Especially, especially feminist teens. I don’t think most kids in our generation even comprehend how much fighting the awesome women who came before us did to secure us the right to even have birth control, and beyond that, the social …
I had always thought that feminism was a gradual progression for me. In eighth grade, my entire grade had to research a topic of our choice and then deliver a speech to the entire middle school about it. I chose to research female feticide after reading an article about the practice (ironically) …
When I tell people this, they kind of just stare at me. They automatically become suspicious because, to look at me, there’s nothing obviously “wrong” with me. And apparently there would have to be if I’m still a virgin. I might as well go buy a couple dozen cats and move into a log cabin on the edge of modern society, though, because if I haven’t lost it yet then I’m destined to be forever alone, in their opinion.
Let me be clear. I’ve been dating since I was about fifteen. I am a healthy, social person who has had opportunities to have sex. And I chose not to. It’s not because I proudly wear a purity ring or …
Warpaint is an American experimental art rock group from Los Angeles, formed in 2004. The band consists of Emily Kokal (vocals, guitar), Theresa Wayman (guitar, vocals), Jenny Lee Lindberg (bass, vocals), and Stella Mozgawa (drums, keyboards). The band’s membership has also included actress Shannyn Sossamon and Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante. Warpaint released their debut EP, Exquisite Corpse, in 2009, followed by their full length album, The Fool, released on 25 October 2010.
On 6 December 2010, the BBC announced that Warpaint had been nominated for the BBC’s Sound of 2011 poll and they were the cover stars of Beat magazine’s Winter 2010 launch issue.
Warpaint formed in Los Angeles on Valentine’s Day, 2004. The original line-up consisted of childhood friends, Theresa Wayman and Emily Kokal, alongside sisters, …
Saturday Vids: I Am This Land Video Contest Winner
I’m a little late on this, but a while back I was one of the judges for the I Am This Land video contest on diversity. The winner was recently announced, and I’m happy to report that the video “Role Call” was the winner. A little bit about the winning video:
“Role Call” is a fun and thought-provoking video made by a team of students and alumni at Flushing International High School (FIHS) in Queens, New York. The MTV-style video – of a student in class daydreaming about gender, cultural expression, and racial stereotypes – won the judges over.
“The video was created in response to several incidents of violence in our school, and our desire to use media to promote respect and tolerance in our school and beyond,” said teacher Dillon Paul. “Our students come from approximately 40 different countries and speak 20 different languages. Like most high schools, however, cultural differences, sexual and gender identity can be sources of discomfort and fear, leading to bigotry, bullying and violence.” From Jean Franco Vergaray Franco (a student, and Lead Director and Editor on the film), “That we could portray one person being all these different personalities, all these different identities, was just a way to say, diversity is okay. People shouldn’t be labeled.”
Body Image in the Media: Glee Gets It Right, But Are We Ready?
Every once in a while, usually when 30 Rock is a re-run, I’ll flip over to the CW. And I kind of get the draw of the utterly escapist fantasies that shows like 90210 and Gossip Girl offer. Serena Van Der Woodsen / Blake Lively is like 14 feet tall with blonde hair that cascades over her shoulders as she effortlessly hails a cab on her way to a club – that just so happens to blithely serve the underage – in order to sabatoge another rich, white, tall, thin, personality-less girl in a plan that always seems to involve drugs or faked pregnancies or a trip to Geneva or something that probably could’ve been solved had she invited her nemesis to have a nice talk over Chai tea. But …
One of the reasons many girls today don’t identify as feminists is because there are quite a few of us who are convinced that men and women are totally equal. The 1970′s took care of all of our political and social battles, teens reason, looking to mothers who work to the same degree and prestige as their fathers and male classmates who they largely equal or surpass in intelligence. What exactly are feminists fighting for, they might wonder, and write us off as never-satisfied perpetual complainers.
Well. Even if we completely disregard the fact that this standpoint can really only occur to girls of first-world countries, and within those countries to girls of middle-upper classes, there are still a lot of political and economic disparities that effect all of us. …
