making books cool again

this is awesome and hilarious- a Watch the Throne parody video about books by La Shea Delaney & Annabelle Quezada. Read so hard!

I chose to post this video because it was made by a woman it is performed by women and it's about being a nerdy book lover.  What could be more beautiful or impressive than women who appreciate reading and are incredibly literate and humorous? On another level, these ladies are making books cool again, giving off the attitude that stimulation of the mind is far more important than boys or dating.

Women's History Month

Did you know that March is an annual declared month worldwide that pays tribute to women and their contributions in history and contemporary society?  Women's History Month was passed in congress in 1987 also corresponding with International Women's Day on March 8th. This year's theme is Women's Education- empowerment through education, resource guides on historical female figures and other exhibits and collections are available from the library of congress on the link above.

Although the month is coming to an end, I am taking some time to appreciate the women in my life as well as think about those who have played a role in helping women and other groups gain access to advanced learning. Honorees include Emma Hart Willard, a higher education pioneer; Charlotte Forten Grimké, an educator and advocate for the education of African Americans; Annie Sullivan, a disability education architect known for her work with Helen Keller; Gracia Molina de Pick, a feminist educational reformer; and Brenda Flyswithhawks, an American Indian educator.

RIOT GRRRLS.

There is no possible way I could maintain a blog about female inspiration without talking about the Riot Grrrl movement. Nearly two-decades ago in Olympia, Washington a group of lady musicians decided to start a revolution through the power of girlhood and a re-imagining of feminism for the modern generation.  This feminist punk underground movement was given a name- Riot Grrrl- the components of being a riot grrrl incorporated altruism and holding high standards of artistic and political purity. It included sexual freedom and a discourse opening up for issues such as rape, racism, capitalism and patriarchy. It included not only a new genre of girl punk music but the dawning of a sub-culture of zines, art, DIY ethic and political activism.

Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, and Sleater-Kinney were a few of many of the riot grrrl bands that emerged from the Northwest.

 lyrics to Rebel Girl by Bikini Kill:

When she talks I hear the revolutionIn her hips there's revolutionWhere she walks the revolution's comingIn her kiss I taste the revolution

Rebel girl Rebel girlRebel girl you are the queen of my worldRebel girl Rebel girlI know I wanna take you homeI wanna try your clothes on, yeah

That girl thinks she's the queen of the neighborhoodI got news for you she isThey say she's a dyke but I knowShe is my best friend yeah

Although the movement has dissolved since the mid-90's, the message of riot grrrl thrives in the punk/DIY movement in many bay area communities as well as the foundation for the third-wave feminist movement. You can find an undertone of Riot Grrrl in local bands such as Blasfemme, and T.I.T.S, as well as local spaces where women work together to start workshops, make art, create zines, etc like the Rock Paper Scissors Collective in Oakland. Riot Grrrls made a significant impact on female empowerment through music and activism which has inspired many to follow in their path.

One of my favorite stories is about how many of the Riot Grrrl bands experienced sexism by audience members yelling derogatory slurs at them. How they dealt with this? They removed the weight of these words by performing with them written on their skin. Did this type of response inspire actions today such as "Slut Walk"? Slut Walk works to communicate sexual violence against women and victim blaming through protest and sexual expression (wearing clothes that are considered to be "slutty" in an attempt to re articulate it's meaning). There seems to be some parallels here; the cultural impact and spirit of the Riot Grrrl movement is found in many political, musical and artistic scenes twenty years later.

This movement paved a path for the late 90's "girl power" of the Spice Girls and other big pop stars, in fact "girl power" was even a term taken from a Riot Grrrl zine. Although an overall positive change for women in popular culture, in my opinion the Spice Girls were a marketable, profitable and repackaged form of feminism and girl power that fell victim to the capitalist patriarchy that the Riot Grrrl movement was trying to transform. 

As a child I was a fanatic of the Spice Girls and other pop stars like Britney Spears, and as I approached my mid-late teens I became infatuated with punk bands like Bikini Kill. Spice Girls put an emphasis on the importance of friendships and fun but were puppets of the corporate market(put on MTV, made into barbie dolls, etc).Riot Grrrls put an emphasis on political activism and artistic creativity but were not well known because of their anti-corporate ideals. Both types of girl power influenced me and gave me a strong sense of independence and ambition but I choose to discuss Riot Grrrl's relevance to female empowerment because of their continued obscurity. I am forever grateful for their underground cultural presence and influence on me and my fellow lady friends and on the communities I have lived in.

Anais Nin-creating a language for female sexuality

 Anais Nin was one of the first women to fully explore the realm of erotic writing, and definitely one of the most prominent women in the modern west to write erotica. She was at first based in France, and than later in the U.S and became good friends ( and lover) to a blossoming literary circle in the 1930's/40's including Henry Miller, Edmund Wilson and  James Agee to name a few.

I recently delved into two of her famous erotic works Delta of Venus and Little Birds, not only did I immediately recognize her poetic imagery of animal lust and emotional bonding, but also her undeniable female perspective on the sexuality of her characters.  As a writer, feminist, and sex-positive human I couldn't help but be in awe of the way Nin's stories incorporate the reversal and ambiguity of genders. Stereotypes of the sexual desires of men and women are often flipped upside down. An example of this would be that many of her female characters exemplified masculine aspects of sexual initiators, aggressors, and separators of love and sex.

her writing technique was a way that she could assert her feminine identity in sexual matters.

“I had a feeling that Pandora's box contained the mysteries of woman's sensuality, so different from a man's and for which man's language was so inadequate. The language of sex had yet to be invented. The language of the senses was yet to be explored.”

― Anaïs Nin, Delta of Venus

she found resistance in trying to publish her writing which I suppose is not surprising. A woman openly writing about sexuality and sexual adventures was probably considered horrific and socially inappropriate back in the 30's/40's. Because of this lack of publication, she was free to creatively write in any way she pleased with no limitations, and isn't this the beauty of being an artist? I am inspired by her controversy and her projection of womanhood in a time in history when her work was belittled and criticized simply because she was an unconventional bohemian artist and woman. I see her writing as a unique guide to anyone who has questioned their sexual desires or who wants insight into love, confusion and sexual pleasure for both men and women.

Here is more on Anais Nin and a list of some of the erotica and other diary works I would recommend

- Delta of Venus

- Little Birds

- Under a Glass Bell

- A Spy in the House of Love

- The Diary of Anais Nin

- Henry and June

awesome women and their art installations

one woman, 6 weeks and 270,000 white lego bricks-

her name is Lene Wille based out of Denmark- she spent six-weeks in 2011 constructing this incredible circular structure called "Metaphorical Horizons" in the central hall of the World Trader Center in Amsterdam. It has many functions ( bench, wall, desk,) but what I love most about her work is how she plays with structure and space using horizontal lines. Her tedious work and intricate design is just one example of how we as humans can effectively "use" space.

BLOOM- 28,000 potted and blossoming flowers placed in a Massachusetts Mental Health Center.

In 2003, Anna Schuleit, a visual artist was commissioned to create a memorial to this mental health institution before its closure. Open for 9 decades this center was the epitome of hope and sadness, love and loss. Anna felt that her visits to psychiatric settings lacked flowers, the symbol of healing and life, and much of her inspiration for this transition came from wanting to address their absence.

After the installation the doors were opened to the public and passing visitors for four days. I am baffled by the immense scale of this installation and the amount of time it must have taken to complete her vision. The transformation of the abandon building into a sea of color and life is very inspiring and made me ask the question; how can we (humans) turn a simple concept into a healing and trans formative experience for ourselves and our community? and why isn't this happening more often?

Infinity Burial Project

While searching through the TED website several months ago I stumbled upon one video in particular that I felt deeply inspired to write about. Jae Rhim Lee is a visual artist, a designer and a researcher whose work proposes unorthodox relationships between the mind/body/self and the built and natural environment. In July 2011 Jae Rhim Lee spoke at TED about her most current research; proposing alternatives to what happens to our bodies after death and understanding the physical implications of the choices we make in regards to that.

Her current work is called the Infinity Burial Project, where she is working to develop a new strain of mushroom (fungus if you will) that will feed on and decompose our dead bodies and re mediate the industrial toxins we store in our bodies and efficiently transform them into nutrients.This is also done with a body suit embroidered with mushroom spores and a two-part fluid that activates the spores to develop.

converting corpses into compost comes with some heavy psychological/philosophical baggage. What I love about this woman is she is not only a revolutionary in regards to her perma culture design but she is also bringing the issue of death acceptance into the forefront of scientific research. How do we make ourselves more aware and accepting of death? This requires a certain amount of environmental consciousness and a re-imagining of our connection to the earth and the stark reality that we have over-populated and over-exploited it.

this project has really resonated with me on many ethical and moral levels. As a human living in an urban area of western society, I have searched for ways to live sustainably, and as far as the bigger picture goes, I would be incredibly honored to be a decomposing subject for Jae's project.

 

Men and Feminism-response post

While reading through the BitchMedia blog I came across an article called Schools Out: What *does* a feminist look like? Teaching boys about Feminism by Sharday Mosurinjohn

there were several things that caught my eye and altered my perspective on my topic, here is what I would like to discuss further:

- the role men play in gender politics and the feminist movement and how/why they should play a role-

 This is a predicament I am often in when thinking about men and feminism. I agreed with the author about this idea of a double edged sword as in can men truly remove power and privilege in relation to women? and where does this leave men who DO care about gender politics, what role do they play? 
Before I break this down I want to start off by defining feminism and what it means to me. Feminism is the belief and support of gender equality and expression that incorporates the intersection of culture, gender, race, sexual orientation etc.. I find the term Feminism to be  intriguing as it comes loaded with so many preconceived notions, one being it is all about penis-hating female domination. Another being that if you are a feminist you have hairy armpits and never wear lipstick, or that only lesbians are feminists. My personal encounters with men on the subject of feminism have for the most part been disturbing and negative, but I know that this is because as a society we are spoon fed certain stereotypes that cover up the true simplicity of what it means to be a feminist. In my life-time I have only met three men who have proudly claimed to be a feminist, why is this? and how and why should men be included in identifying as feminist?


From Ms.Magazines article Does Feminism need a James Bond? by Emily Church-  
"The feminist community often voices a mix of adulation and uneasiness when a man speaks up for women. Although many feminists would love to have more male allies, some worry feminist men drown out women’s voices or take up limited feminist resources. Others are concerned that feminism suffers from a phenomenon–common to female-dominated professions–in which men are whisked up the “glass escalator,” getting leadership and speaking roles ahead of women."

so it is clear that there is reluctance in the feminist community to give men leadership roles in the movement. But I think it is important to also mention that when defining feminism as "only women can do this" or only "men can do this" we are also putting transgendered and queer individuals in uncomfortable positions. So can men be leaders in this movement or take on multiple participatory roles?

 From the June 2010 New York Times article Feminism of the Future relies on Men by Katrin Benhold he discusses the importance of bringing men back into the model of modern feminism in order to effectively move forward. As women outnumber men in college and in the workplace there is a shift in gender roles emerging, but the author argues that "Basically, guys are the most effective feminists because other guy's are most likely to listen to them" and I agree with this in that male feminists play an important role in normalizing feminist ideas among other men. In discussions with men who are not my good friends about feminism, they have tended to get defensive or reinforce stereotypes of what they believe are true rather then try to understand it from a perspective of a woman telling them so. Perhaps the positive message of feminism and equality would resonate more coming from their fellow bros.

I also enjoyed this paragraph from the School's Out article on men's role in feminism-

"For a boy or man to identify as feminist does not mean that he claims women’s experiences as a whole or that he claims, for example, queer women’s experiences, or Indigenous women’s experiences. Ideally, I think it means that he is making a commitment to pursue gender justice, which will always also mean pursuing other anti-oppressive goals in relation to the many identities and practices that interlock to shape the character of different gendered experiences."

I believe that before leadership in this movement takes place men have a lot of work to do in terms of removing privilege and power from their psyche.The first step would be making other men aware and more fem conscious, and this doesn't mean they need to protest in the streets and listen to Bikini Kill. They should concentrate on how patriarchy negatively effects them and how they can challenge it by reconstructing and redefining masculinity. They should teach other men about rape-culture and how our society glorifies violence as a form of control. They should stop buying magazines such as Maxim and GQ that consistently objectify women. They should tell other each other to brush up on Women's History and encourage one another to tell the drunk misogynist at the bar to piss off. As stated in Feminism of the future relies on men- the last frontier of women's liberation may well be men's liberation.