Posts tagged as Femiladyism
The "Try to Sit Like Impossible Mary Jane" Spiderman Contest
I am totally dying over this thread in which people are mocking the drawing of Spiderman's Mary Jane. (Which, huh, I did not know Mary Jane was supposed to look like... that.) I believe it all started here, four days ago: "Pro tip for comic book artists: No human being alive sits like that as a way of relaxing. This is beyond ridiculous." I'm trying right now!
With the Ladies in the Back at an Odd Future Show
Late on Friday night, I joined a lot of other white people at the Highline Ballroom to see Odd Future. At the door, a girl in a Juicy sweatshirt handed out paper masks of Tyler, The Creator’s face. The image was borrowed from his self-designed Goblin album cover. There were eyeholes punched out, so that you couldn’t see the milky black irises he’d Photoshopped onto his own face, and so that every person there could resemble Tyler while they chanted “swag,” “goblin,” and “Free Earl," who needs no freeing, at the 20-year-old with a microphone and a record deal who claims not to care for his own music. READ MORE
Is 'Hanna' the First Movie All Year to Ace the Bechdel Test?
How many movies passed the Bechdel Test this year so far? Yes, sure, it's a black/white, pass/fail set of criteria, which means that plenty of unconcerned products pass. So this year: From Prada to Nada and Bridesmaids both pass, which... might be sort of besides the point, or might be a related but more capitalist point? Jane Eyre squeaks under the wire. Briefly, Red Riding Hood too, which, uh. On a technicality, Paul. And Sucker Punch—though it's also castigated as the most misogynist film in ages. Also The Last Lions, I think, if you count lady lions talking to other lady lions, I think, but maybe they are just talking about men. Though not sure if the lady lions have names? What else? Kind of maybe Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son! (Later this year: Crazy, Stupid, Love, Bad Teacher and The Help all do.) But first among them is Hanna, which is a vastly terrific film! Here's my own movie test: when the trailer is terrific, I am now highly suspicious about the movie. (See: Battle: Los Angeles. Awesome trailer, garbagey movie.) So the Hanna trailer had me concerned. But no! Exceeds expectations. Would do business again. Oscars all around! If anything, I wanted another 20 minutes of it. Or 200. Would happily take several sequels and a long-lasting franchise and an amusement park ride.
Why The Ads For Christmas Engagement Rings Make Me Uncomfortable
It's not even December, but the "aggravating trends in holiday commercials" list is already filling itself out quite nicely, and right behind the chart-topping scourge of twee that is Pomplamoose has to be the surge in ads for diamond merchants like Jared, Zales, and Kay, all of which have decided that the best way for a man to celebrate the season is to put a sparkly ring on his intended's finger. But all these ads are doing for me, a red-blooded American female, is solidifying my belief that that I never want someone in a relationship with me to feel like they have to "propose." READ MORE
Under the Bridge: The Side Benefits of Troll Culture
The problem with making the Internet safe is that it would necessarily make the Internet the same. That's the reason Facebook creeps people out: it tries to impose a uniform user interface on the existing heterogeneous online experience to make it appear homogenous, and in so doing actually transform the culture into one where everything is the same. In an op-ed in today's Times, Julie Zhuo, a product design manager at Facebook, goes further, proposing that non-Facebook content providers standardize their approach to anonymous commenting to rid the Internet of trolls. (Or hey, maybe they could just use the Facebook commenting system!) But what would the Internet be without trolls? Hell, what would New York City be without trolls? Denying the ability of different online communities to respond to disruptive or contrary commenters in a way that reflects the values of that community ultimately denies the wonderful cornucopia of microcultures that is the fantastic, awful Internet we all know and (mostly) love. READ MORE
Sally Quinn and Deborah Tannen Reveal Plan to Destroy Women's Progress
It was a real meeting of the minds, apparently: yesterday, professional opinion-havers Sally Quinn and Deborah Tannen "met for a morning summit at Georgetown waterfront restaurant Sequoia to discuss the state of women." You simply must read this whole thing. It will make you feel terrible, these 20 notable quotables from their conversation. It is like a guide to the retrograde. They may be in the Taliban. Here, sample just one, from Ms. Quinn! "At the beginning of the feminist movement, it was women taking power back and it was really heady stuff... then it got out of control, as all revolutions do. They got militant... there was a period there where it was embarrassing to get pregnant." Oh and also Ms. Tannen decides that Sarah Palin's "femininity contributes to why many people don't take her seriously." Oh yes, that's it: nail on the head, sister. (This makes me want to take some nails through the head.)
You Can Put Your Top Back On Now: Rediscovering the Women of Fluxus at MoMA
To talk about gender and its impact on art in 2010 is to lower yourself onto a playing field strewn with lots of dead and injured (or just plain exhausted) culture warriors. Franzenfreude! The pastiche of Gaga! And don't forget Paglia on Gaga! It's a total combat zone-which is fair enough, given how long, and how unthinkingly-slash-purposefully the whole culture scene has been dominated by the straight white male outlook. READ MORE
Footnotes of Mad Men: The Promethean Woman, or, Our Dog in the Parthenon
• One myth that arose from some proponents of the women's liberation movement is that a terminated pregnancy doesn't change a person. The idea that it does was reasonably considered fodder for the other side-that this view enhanced the notion that not caring for a child conceived in your body is an abandonment of biological and moral responsibilities. In reaction then, a PR move has often been adopted into an unconvincing pro-choice ideology: a woman can go through a pregnancy without some lasting change to her psyche and system. The enlightened woman, the idea was, could go through terminating a pregnancy or putting a child up for adoption without the burden of sin or shame. This idea discounts that a pregnancy can, and often does, change everything. READ MORE
How Men and Women Pitch Stories: A Disturbing Sampling
In light of CNN talking head-to-be Kathleen Parker taking a brave stand on how Obama does things in "a woman's way" (and she's not saying that as "evidence of deficiency, but rather" that it "suggests an evolutionary achievement"! No, She swears!), I've been looking at our inbox with gender in mind. Right now, we're getting a lot of emails from writers about our "submission policy." (Thanks, Time. Also, I guess our submission policy is: let's talk?) But they all have something in common. The emails from men are pretty direct. The emails from women are often kind of... apologetic! READ MORE
DC Comics Starves Wonder Woman, Then Drags Her To Hot Topic
DC Comics has given Wonder Woman a makeover just in time for her 69th birthday, and a storyline in which Wonder Woman is out to avenge the destruction of Paradise Island. So the overall vibe given off by her is darker, more serious, "designed to be taken seriously as a warrior" — not to mention, more ready to be franchised into a tie-in clothing line for similarly disaffected female fans. (Think American Apparel, not Underoos.) After the jump, a side-by-side comparison of the old Wonder Woman costume and the new one. READ MORE
