Fun article about the original fly girls

Here is the link. (Also, this is my first post! Yeah! Conquering html!)

The Rush Effect

So in the past month there have been two reputable university newspapers (Princeton and American University) that have published articles by rape apologists.  The focus of both articles are that when women go out and get drunk, flirt, kiss, perhaps go to a guy's bedroom that they are sending signals that they want sex and if they didn't want to have sex with a random guy they should not have gone and done any of these things.  The author's make claims such as, we take precautions with our property and avoid things that would cause them to be lost/stolen/broken , why don't women do that with their bodies?  There is also the perspective that not all women in this situation would feel violated...that they subscribe to "rules" of anonymous sex in which they would not feel violated having drunken sex with a stranger...so why do the ones who don't feel this way get to call this rape and how can men tell these women apart?  I think these articles don't need the time and energy to warrant a lengthy response...as one of the authors says in his own article,

Feminism envisions a bedroom scene in which two amorphous, gender-neutral blobs ask each other “Is this OK with you?” before daring to move their lips any lower on the other’s body. 

GenderFork

I found this awesome website of beautiful photography and quotes called GenderFork.com.
The theme of the website is gender ambiguity and expressing gender along a spectrum.  It's amazing looking through the pictures and having notions feminine and masculine challenged.  At the jump is one of my favorites...

Male Brain vs. Female Brain or How to take scientific studies and manipulate them into social discourse

In an article posted on CNN today "Love, Sex, and the Male Brain" Dr. Louanne Brizendine discusses her new book The Male Brain.  She claims that the physical make-up of the male brain differs from the female brain (ok....I'm with you on that one) and this difference causes men to to oggle big breasted women (sort of losing me here) want sex ALL the time (hmmmm....ok), but eventually leads him to want a mate for life and become an adoring father (wait...what...contradiction much?).  This book is a follow-up to New York Times Bestselling The Female Brain in which Dr. Brizendine discusses the make-up of the female brain and how that causes us to gab so much (the cover is even a telephone cord shaped to look like a brain).   So when I first read the article, I had no trouble getting on board with the fact that the male and female brains are in general different from one and other.  What I have trouble with is the connection between the differing size of certain nerve centers being the cause of certain social behaviors. Apparently I am not alone: http://158.130.17.5/~myl/languagelog/archives/003419.html ; http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003894.html ; http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/10/books/review/Henig.t.html

Dot at the end of a sentence.

I actually think this is an interesting marketing campaign.  Although I wish the quote of "40% of people are uncomfortable with tampons" were more prominent.  I do get tired of the commercials stressing the secrecy and grossness of periods.

ok...I totally get why this exists

Why Does this Exist? : A new segment

 So I am oftentimes cruising the web and come across services or products that seem either wrong, offensive, useless, or just overall bat shit crazy.  Hence the birth of a new tag called "Why Does this Exist?".  The first subject of this series is the dating website, Classy Asian Ladies,  "where quality single men connect with upscale Asian women living in the US".  The website is very proud to tell you that all women on the site are legal residents in the U.S., some even born here, yet still maintain the values of "the East" (upchuck here...and wipe).  While much is said on the site about the women, there is nothing said about the men leading me to believe this is only a service for men and not for"Classy Asian Ladies" to find love.  The most disturbing part is the tab that explains "Why Asian Women?". Here's a little snippet to explain this question of all ages: 

My Milk Toof

This is one of my favorite blogs....It's adorable and puts me in a better mood, which I need today :)  http://mymilktoof.blogspot.com/

Fat Acceptance and my schizophrenic response to it

So if you've talked to me the past few days I've probably brought up Donna Simpson, a 42-year-old mother from New Jersey who has already set the record for being the heaviest/fattest mother and is now on a mission to be the world's heaviest woman.  She currently weighs around 600lbs and her goal is 1000lbs.  She is able to afford her $900 a week food bill from her website where men pay to watch her eat large amounts of junk food.  Hearing this story reminded me of the copious amount of articles I've been reading about the Fat Acceptance (FA) movement lately and how my response to them is super mixed.

Mural on 42nd street: controvesry on race and sex

I read about artist Sofia Maldonado's mural on 42nd street in New York (Times Square) at Jezebel.com today  and was at a loss for words.  Now I grew up in Colorado, live in New Orleans, and have been to New York only a handful of times...so my expertise on the city is non-existent and I will not attempt to understand or try to relate to a New Yorker's point of view (at risk of using Sex and the City as a reference for how women in New York are).  However, as an outsider I have trouble seeing what all the fuss is about.  If I were to go to the article written for Jungle Gym Magazine  about the mural, I never would have seen the controversy.  Now this could be a good or a bad thing I guess.  Those opposed to the mural would say that I am racist and feeding into stereotypical images of Black and Latina women.  Those in support of the mural would say that I am rational and don't automatically see depictions of urban Black and Latina women and equate them to prostitutes or poverty, and even if they are prostitutes or are poor automatically assume they aren't strong women.  I'm pretty sure impoverished women are probably some of the strongest women in the world, but I also don't know what in this mural would indicate that these women are poor in the first place.  I just think they look cool (nerd alert)! If you can't tell I'm on the side of those who support the mural.  One of the funniest quotes about the mural comes from Fox news (so take with a grain of salt, I'm pretty sure this is not what most New Yorkers think of the mural) Tony Herbet says, "Women should be depicted with cell phones and briefcases, that's to show the professionalism of how women have broken the glass ceiling to accomplish what they've accomplished, not to come back to this."  WHAT....THE....F$#&?!?!  I can't speak for all women, but having a cell phone does not represent the women's lib movement to me.  Also, I don't carry a brief case, so obviously I'm not "accomplished".  I don't even understand what the "come back to this" comment even means...these are very contemporary images.  Where were these women in the past? Interestingly enough, the driving force of opposition behind the mural is social networking group The Black Professionals Meetup Group and Fox News.  An interesting pairing to say the least. 

I'm proposing one of these as our next books!

See more at : http://www.coverbrowser.com/covers/i-can-read-movies

I am in the mood for some SyFy...suggestions?

So Melissa sent me this article today http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/mar/17/lord-of-the-rings-feminism
(which I saw 6 hours later on Jezebel, so way to go Melissa for being in the know) arguing the case that Lord of the Rings is a woman friendly book that should be embraced and not discarded as misogynistic.  Personally I have a difficult time with Tolkien's writing stylistically, too much description for me (which is horrible to say since I know his meticulous detail in the series is what sets him apart from many other authors).  But it reminded me that I have been looking for some science fiction or fantasy to include to my reading list, especially if it has a female heroine or a feminist slant.  The only think I've read in the past few years is Kindred by Octavia Butler, which I LOVE.  Let me know if you have any suggestions...

Just a little funny for your day

FBC Member in the news!!!!

Hey All,
Just thought I'd give props to Brittany Barrient who has been working tirelessly for the Tulane law clinic on a case against the NOPD. Here's a link to an article about it:
http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2010/03/videotaping_of_police_activity.html

She's actually quoted in the article, which is more fame and notoriaty than I EVER had.  Here's the quote "In the New Orleans Police Department, it is a widely accepted and established custom for police officers to arrest and threaten people who film them," said Brittany Barrient, one of the students. You tell them Brittany!

Already she's been told she's an aggressive objector in the court room...you go grrrrrl...show those good ol' boys how it's done!
I hope we get to hear all about it in the coming weeks.  Let's wish her luck in fighting for civil rights...yay Brittany!

Her Name Was Steve, Pt 2

This is my review of the CNN documentary following Susan Stanton, the former City Manager of Largo, FL who was fired after announcing she was going to transition from male to female.

There are several different areas I wish to comment on about this documentary.  First of all, I thought it was a really good news piece rather than a “documentary”.  It definitely felt more like an extended 20/20 episode than an artfully directed film.  The saving grace about this piece was there was no journalist following around the subject, Susan, asking her questions.  I think that saves it from the sensationalism of “LOOK it was a man, now it’s a woman, what a crazy world…let’s INVESTIGATE”.  The news-room style of the film actually works with the main subject, Susan, who agreed to be filmed periodically for two years from immediately before starting her transition.  There’s no looking back at pictures and old videos of Steve; we actually get to hear Steve talk about why he wants to become Susan and then get witness the transition.

Softly Spoken Word

This weekend marked the opening of the 7th annual Patois Film Fest in New Orleans. I was lucky enough to attend last night's closing event, an evening of spoken word. The headlining poet, Suheir Hammad, fulfilled the expectations of her longtime fans and rocked the core of first-time listeners, like myself.

She read from two collections, soliciting numbers from the audience and turning to those pages. Her collection Break, in which all poems' titles start with the word "break," featured pieces in which a Palestinian woman born in Jordan and raised in New York attempts to find herself, her body, her place and her identify in a fractured world.

The last piece she read, an unpublished and unfinished poem she dedicated simply to "women," left me staggering, wheeling, breathless, tearful, angry and thrilled. Before she read, she asked the cameraman to stop filming. She pulled white sheets of copy paper from a folder and let each page fall to the floor as she read its final lines. The audience didn't move once during the reading of the last poem... The host, Asia Rainey (a fierce New Orleans poet), visibly struggled to decide whether to leave the pages or pick them up.... I wish she'd left them there, as Suheir had invited the audience to come, speak, interact with the mic.

The Best Show on Earth!!

Hey All,

So last night I went to "Love in the Time of Swine Flu" at La Nuit Theater and I discovered the funniest live show I've seen in New Orleans.  This was my first time going to La Nuit, and hopefully I will start to go more regularly.  The group that works out of there are awesome and hilarious.  Please, please, please go see a show there...you won't regret it.   Also, for any of you who have an inclination towards performing they do improv classes.  The owner trained at Chicago's Second City and judging by the performers last night, she is really able to draw out hilarity in her students.  Every Thursday there is an improv show and the people who come with the biggest group get a bucket of beer...I think FBC can accomplish this!



UPDATE: the group I saw here, Stupid Time Machine, has gone rogue and left La Nuit.  Keep up with them at http://stupidtimemachine.wordpress.com/

Her Name was Steven

Hey All,

I was going to watch this and then report on it, but then I thought I should tell you all about it so you can watch it too! It's a documentary on a the former City Manager of Largo, FL who publicly transitioned from a man to a woman. It looks really interesting...check out more here: http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/03/10/her.name.was.steven/index.html?hpt=C2

It'll be on CNN this Saturday from 7-9pm. I'm dvr-ing so just let me know if you want to catch it another time.


Happy Friday!!!!!!

Orgasm, how to...(content may not be safe for work)

 hey Ladies,

read no further if you are squeamish, my language and sense of appropriateness can be ...lacking.  However if you're up for a blunt and up front "how-to" on the big O, click after the link...

Bringing home Baby

So Clare and I were preparing to babysit Rixie-Jo (our youngest FBC member) this weekend and trying to decide what can we possibly do to entertain a 3 month old while also entertaining ourselves.  I think that after reading this post Melissa will be quite glad that plans fell through: 

clerrrr: oh so did we get final word on babysitting?

me: yeah I told you didn't I

  Sunday afternoon

  she's dropping her off at my place

  I'll set up a time with her tomorrow

clerrrr: what should we do with her? 

me: make anne geddes photos (reference here http://www.annegeddes.com/Modules/Anne/Galleries/index.aspx)

clerrrr: omg YES

  i'll bring the flowerpot

clerrrr:  can we put makeup on a baby?

me: ummm...yeah

is that even a real question?

  once you leave the womb beauty and being attractive to men is the number one priority

  duh clare

clerrrr: maybe even some false eyelashes?

 me: and dentures

  since she doesn't have teeth yet

clerrrr: aren't they called flippers?

me: why yes of course...flippers!

 clerrrr: perfect

me: this is what I'm thinking

 

Zeitoun

We are diverging from the norm and all reading the same book this month...Zeitoun by Dave Eggers.  This book was chosen because many members love Dave Eggers and it takes place in New Orleans during Katrina.  Time and place for the next meeting are to be decided.

Inaugural Post

Hello World!!! FBC is a group of strong minded women and men (or man as of now) living, working, studying in New Orleans, Louisiana.  We started this group out of a desire to read and analyze feminist discourse as well as take our feminist critique and apply it to mainstream fiction and non-fiction.  We meet on a monthly basis and do not read the same books.  Instead of all going out and buying 10 of the same books, we all read what we want, and exchange what we like.  We pick a topic of focus for each group.  Here's a sampling of some recent topics: orgasms, Disney Princesses, home births, queer theory, pick-up artists.  The aim of this blog is to record what happens in our subsequent meetings, keep track of what we are all reading, and post articles of what's going on in the world in between meetings.  All FBC members are qualified to post and can add content on any subject at anytime.  I think this blog will add an entirely new element to our book club.  We've been working on our reading, now lets work on our writing.  We have some amazingly talented writers in our group, and I'm really looking forward to them showcasing their talent.  This blog will also allow former members who have moved away to actively participate once again..we'll be able to exchange thoughts, news, recipes, book reviews daily now and not just once a month.  I hope all you FBC members are excited as I am and I hope any other readers get a kick out of us. Thanks for welcoming us to the blogging world!