Elena Rossini is a film director, cinematographer and editor from Italy. She’s also a really awesome woman who is working on multiple feminist projects, including a documentary about the manipulation of women’s bodies in our culture (The Illusionists) and an awesome blog (No Country for Young Women) that works to connect women across generations (that I happen to have been featured on). One of my favorite works of Elena’s, however, is her short film “Ideal Women” which was commissioned by ARTE/the Louvre Museum’s project “4 Semaines” and which I was lucky enough to see at the Endangered Species Summit. Enjoy!
Endangered Species Summit: Our Generation and Body Image
The Endangered Species Summit – an international movement focused on improving the way women around the world view and treat their bodies, in the media and beyond – took place last month. There were branches in London, Buenos Aires, Melbourne, Sao Paul and New York. I was lucky enough to be involved with the New York branch thanks to the incomparable Courtney Martin, who is a goddess (and who flawlessly planned the NYC summit). I had the daunting task of representing our generation on the Intergenerational Panel, which also included such amazing women as Jean Kilbourne, Erica Watson and Rachel Simmons. So, you know. No pressure or anything.
Needless to say, it was an incredible experience, but more than talking about my impressions, I figured I’d share …
I recently saw the movie Hop (free advanced preview tickets!), which was fun, considering the last time I was at the movies was to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. (I know, it’s pathetic.) Before I say anything else, I want to say that Hop was adorable, full of fuzzy bunnies and fluffy cotton tails, and I genuinely enjoyed it.
(SPOILER ALERT) The movie is about E.B. (Russell Brand), a teenaged rabbit that wants to be a drummer but has to become the next Easter Bunny. He runs from Easter Island to Hollywood, where he meets Fred O’Hare (James Marsden) and moves in with him as he pursues a career. On Easter Island, Carlos (Hank Azaria), the Easter Bunny’s second-in-command, wants to take E.B.’s place as the next Easter …
Now, the typical response to this is, “Yes, you are!” Even if the people in question have never even met in person. Because maybe this person seems pretty, in the sound of her voice or the style of her writing. Maybe this consoler is one of those people who truly believes that everyone is beautiful. That is a lovely, wonderful ideology that I too subscribe too. Every person is beautiful. But not every person is pretty.
I certainly am not.
Pretty can be hard to define; or, at least harder to define than those words considered its synonyms. And its only companion that carries nearly as much weight is “thin.” I have many friends who do not believe that they are pretty, as well as many …
In case no one has told you recently, you are a loaded gun. Some see you as a helpless victim, pulling your woman card and begging for your right to abortion, always complaining about your time spent in front of a hot stove. Others see you as a butch, bullying your way into careers rightfully belonging to men. Seems like you’re always burning bras, abusing your right to free speech, and holding offensive picket signs. Many consider you a flaming lesbian, or at least Hilary Clinton’s part time lover. You whine, you refuse to let him open your door, and you can pay for your own damn dinner. In fact, you’re a full blown man eater.
I have heard these rumors. I see the news; I hear the …
Feminism | Posted by Brenna McCaffrey on 04/25/2011
Violence in Baltimore Evidence of Transphobic Culture
(Warning: The following video link shows real and brutal violence.)
This video, which surfaced on the internet yesterday morning, shows a transgender woman being beaten by two female customers at a McDonald’s restaurant in Baltimore, Maryland. The two young women appear to have attacked the woman after realizing she was transgender, brutally and violently kicking and hitting her as she curls into a ball on the ground. The physical violence, which eventually caused the woman to suffer a seizure on the floor of the same McDonald’s, is only a piece of the injustice. Out of the employees and fellow customers in the store, only two feebly attempt to help the woman. The others stand by, cheering on the two attackers and filming the whole order on their camera phones, …
Active Suspension is a quietly brilliant little French label with a fondness for maverick electronica music. Though probably the most gentle record AS have released, it’s also the deepest, most inspired. The Konki Duet appear to be a French/Japanese hybrid and the title is a play on the cover version within – Visage’s “Fade To Grey.” It’s an intriguing quilt of smallbeat electronica, real strings, drums and exquisite vocal harmonies that puts me in mind of an eerier Mùm. ‘A Sigmund Freud Odissey’ features the broken souled vocal of one Orval Carlus Silelios – his name, a recommendation in itself to check this record out. My other favourite, ‘Cindy,’ is a surprising foot-to-the-floor, mangled-Bangles.
For all the gamers out there who are looking to combine your human rights sensibility with their passions for online games, this one’s for you:
America 2049 is Breakthrough’s new groundbreaking alternate reality game on Facebook that presents a near-future America at a dangerous crossroads. Human rights are in peril; democracy is on the brink of destruction.
You, the player, are an agent of the Council on American Heritage. Tasked with the capture of a presumed terrorist, you are sent into high-risk situations that challenge you to ask: What if? How close have we already come to America 2049? How can we work together—in real life—to build a better future?
America 2049 is the first Facebook game to integrate the social networking platform with many other resources, online and off: multimedia and interactive features, historical artifacts, clues planted across the Internet and real-life events at leading cultural institutions nationwide.
America 2049 was conceived and produced by Breakthrough (breakthrough.tv), a global human rights organization that uses the power of pop culture to advance equality, dignity, and justice.
