Ami, 23, Illadelph.
This is my place.
This is my place.
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—Julia Serano, Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity (“Barrette Manifesto,” pg 316)
—Julia Serano | Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity (2007)
if your feminism does not actively advocate for and with women of color, your feminism is shit
if your feminism does not actively advocate for and with trans* women, your feminism is shit
if your feminism does not actively advocate for and with disabled women, your feminism is shit
if your feminism does not actively advocate for and with financially disadvantaged women, your feminism is shit
no exceptions
no questions asked
there will be no revolution for women if you willingly ignore and scorn your sisters in favor of a “feminism” that is more palatable to your privilege
—
Hillary Clinton, on the recent Republican “insane bout of mass misogyny”.
(x)
—Jessica Valenti
The 2012 Oscars and The Bechdel Test
It’s been a few years since I’ve checked in with The Bechdel Test for Women in Movies so I thought it would be a good time to look in on Hollywood and see if there’s been any substantial improvement in women’s representations on the big screen. In this updated video, I go through the 2011 films nominated for Best Picture at the 84th annual Academy Awards and see how they measure up to the Bechdel Test. Keep watching because I also propose a small addendum to help clarify the spirit of the test and provide a solution on how Hollywood can fix the glaring problem that the Bechdel Test exposes. I’ll also address the question, “What about the reverse test?” and I’ll show an alternative test that has been adapted by critics to identify the presence of people of colour in films. Sprinkled throughout this video I offer a few movie recommendations.
Anti-femme culture (and feminists aren’t immune to this) thinks the effort put into femme presentation is a waste of time and energy – or, at the very least, time and energy that could have been spent doing something more important. Anti-femme culture thinks “pretty” probably means “dumb” even when struggling against a culture obsessed with an impossibly narrow beauty standard. Anti-femme culture thinks you can’t do math AND do your nails.
We are humans! We contain multitudes! I do not think it is a problem that teenaged girls are interested in experimenting with presentation via fashion; I think it’s ridiculous and misogynist that they are ONLY encouraged to do that – and that boys don’t have the same freedom of expression.
—
The Rotund by Marianne Kirby (via ellielamothe)
THIS THIS THIS THIS THIS.
Femininity is not bad. Masculinity is not bad. Not understanding the cultural influences that uphold traditional gender roles might be a little bit bad, but as long as you’re cognizant of your privilege and work to be a good ally to those who don’t fit quite so neatly in the gender binary, there is nothing wrong with being a feminine woman (and if anyone tells you that you’re not a good feminist for ‘experimenting with presentation via fashion,’ you should feel free to subject them to an hour-long lecture and/or punch them in the face).
We should be celebrating femininity (inhabited by people of any gender), just as we celebrate masculinity. To do otherwise is to imply that femininity is somehow less than, and that’s just misogyny personified.
So: ROCK THOSE PRETTY NAILS.
(Oh, and everyone, regardless of whether or not they do their nails, should try to do math.
Math is important. )
