12 oz veggie “meat” grounds (preferably Quorn Grounds)
1 cup Salsa
15 oz Organic Pinto Beans, fresh or canned
1/2 Medium Yellow Onion, chopped
2 cloves Organic Garlic, minced
1 package Spice Hunter Taco Seasoning
1 cup Nacho or Cheddar flavored Soy Cheese (preferably Follow Your Heart brand)
1 Organic Tomato, very thinly sliced
5 8″ Organic Flour Tortillas
1) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Saute the onions and garlic until the onion is translucent and tender. Add in the veggie “meat” and taco seasoning. Saute until warmed through. Add the beans and salsa.
2) Place the first tortilla in a lightly oiled 9″ round pan. Add 1/2 cup of bean mixture and flatten. Top with a handful of cheese and a few of the tomatoes. Repeat the tortilla, bean mixture, cheese, tomato routine until the tortillas are gone. Top the last tortilla with the remaining mixture and cheese. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the cheese has melted and it is heated through. Serve with diced, fresh avocado and sour cream
1 1/4 cups Organic Edamame, thawed without shells
1/2 cup Organic Walnuts
1/4 cup Fresh Mint, packed
3 sprigs Organic Scallions
1/2 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp Pepper
3 tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
4 oz Organic Arugula
2 Roasted Red Peppers, fresh or jarred
Fresh Panini or similar sandwich bread
1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Warm the panini while preparing the edamame pate.
2) Place the edamame, walnuts, mint, scallions, salt and pepper in a food processor. Blend until mixed well. With the processor on, slowly add the lemon juice and 3 tbsps of water to the mixture. Place 1/3-1/2 cup of mixture along with sliced bell pepper and a handful of arugula on the panini! Enjoy
A few months ago, I was driving down a busy street when I whizzed past a poster featuring a helmet with a pair of shapely legs sticking out the top. I whipped my head around but couldn’t make out the source of the ad. A few weeks later, I saw the same ad and was able to make out the tag line “College football’s never been dirtier.”
Eye roll. Cringing.
I couldn’t shake the image of that girl stuffed into the helmet with her legs popping out from of my mind. I guess the advertisers did their job. They created a reaction, an unforgettable one at that. But, ewww. That poster is the epitome of Jean Kilbourne‘s themes of objectification and dismemberment as prominent themes depicting women. Sadly, this ad proves that things aren’t necessarily getting better and that a feminist analysis of sexist media content is imperative.
Unfortunately, I was never able to find the producer of this ad until…
I’m currently teaching my dream course, Women and Popular Culture, that features a class blog. My repeat student, Rachel, posted on that same poster I had seen but was unable to source. I was so pleased with her post that I am featuring it below (the title of this post is hers.):
I’m typically not one to generalize this badly – but writing a post about sexism on Spike TV is a little bit like being shocked that cooking is featured on the Food Network.
I really shouldn’t expect more from the network that features such greats as “Bikini Poll of the Week” on their website, as well as “The Top 7 Butterbodies” (I wish I was joking), which has since mysteriously been removed from their website (likely following a widespread backlash across various celebrity and feminist blogs). Luckily, a celebrity blog/community I frequently read posted the article in its entirety when it was originally put up on the Spike site. However, I have noticed some bus stop ads for their new original series lately, and I felt inspired to write about it.
“Hmmm….that looks familiar” I thought looking at the poster with the girls legs sticking upside down out of football helmet. It didn’t take long to place the reference, to one of the (if not the) most famous covers of Hustler Magazine:
Blue Mountain State is just the latest in the successful networks testosterone, breast fueled programming. The sexism of the network runs rampant, featuring such shows as “Faster Harder Manswers” and “The Search For the Ultimate Spike Girl.“ (Unrelated – I found their website to be almost unbearable, every page click results in the loud auto-play of a commercial.) While Spike TV, (and even Larry Flynt) are and were perfectly within their rights to publish these images, it’s important to look at the larger sociological context we live in, the pop culture messages, that allows for such images to be made. It’s disappointing to think of this new Blue Mountain State ad in terms of how many hands it had to pass through – at ad agencies, through the network.
I know about Larry Flynt, I’ve even seen the “People Vs.” movie starring Woody Harrelson, Edward Norton, and Courtney Love. I understand both sides of the argument, although it can sometimes be a difficult distinction to make – to be a feminist, and to believe in Larry Flynt having the right to publish the image. Thirty years after the highly controversial (June 1978) cover appeared on newsstands, the network shows that they have no problem portraying women as objects, as “pieces of meat.”
A teaser trailer that was released in anticipation for the shows premiere shows women in various states of undress, (in some cases completely naked), a lot of macho attitude, and some that’s so gay jokes thrown in for good measure. If I had the patience, I would watch an episode to critique, but I found it difficult enough to make it through the 2 minute long trailer.
RedstockingsRadical Butternut Squash Gnocchi with Creamy Walnut Pesto:
Ingredients:
10 oz Potatoes
6 oz Organic Butternut Squash
1 1/2 cups All-purpose Flour, plus more
for dusting and kneading
1/2 tsp Olive Oil
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
Salt & Pepper
Sauce:
10 oz Fresh Organic Spinach
1/2 cup Toasted Walnuts
2 cups low-fat Organic Cottage Cheese
1-3 cloves Organic Garlic
1/4 cup Paremsan, grated
1/4 Organic Fresh Basil, chopped
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Black Pepper
1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Steam the potaoes and squash until tender.
Mash together the potatoes, squash and nutmeg. Salt and pepper to taste.
Gradually, add in the flour. When the mixture is sticky add the olive oil. Knead
well. You will need at least 1/2 cup of extra flour to knead the dough to the
appropriate texture.
2) Knead the mixture into a square and cut it into 6 pieces. Roll each piece between
your palms (using extra flour if needed). Cut into 1-1 1/2″ pieces and roll each piece
into a well shaped dumpling.
3) Heat a large pot of salted water until it boils. Add 1 tbsp of olive oil. In batches of
8-12 drop the dumplings into the boiling water. Cook until the dumplings float to the
top (stir after 2-3 minutes to ensure that they are not sticking).
4) Put the cooked gnocchi on a lightly oiled baking sheet until they are all done. Bake for
10 minutes.
Sauce:
1) Rinse the spinach and transfer to a pot. Simmer on low heat until the spinach wilts. Add all
of the ingredients to a food processor or blender. Puree until smooth
1. talking too much
2. disagreeing with anything you say
3. burning your food
4. not washing up
5. being on her period
6. being on her period and still coming to see you
7. talking bout other guys….even her dad
8. taking off her make up
9. leaving the kitchen
10. leaving the bedroom
11. refusing a threesome
12. telling you to stop pushing their head down… when
they give you head
13. not knowing the offside rule
14. not knowing the offside rule after being told too many
times
15.not allowing you to have sex with their mum/sister
16. killing banter
17. out drinking you
18. making stupid baby noises
19. being on either team Jacob or team Edward
20. refusing anal
21. breathing
22. when your football team looses
23. wanting attention during a cod session
24. asking you to make her a cup of tea
25. thinking their in control of the relationship
26. when ur angry and need something to hit
27. when you wanna try out your new kung fu move
28. wearing clothes indoors
29. asking you to go down on her
30. when they fish for compliments
31. when they make you watch chick flicks
32. expecting to get paid for
33. trying to help make this list (foook u becky)
34. having an opinion
35. crying for no fucking reason
36. weighing more than you do
37. calling you a woman/pussy
38. giving you a stupid nickname
39. forgetting to shave
40. not swallowing
41.having a 4 finger bucket
42. taking more than 20 minutes deciding what to wear
43. being taller than you
44. bitching about people you dont even know
45. looking at you funny
46. complaining that she’s cold…. wear a hoodie bitch
47. being a feminist
48. asking you to finish her off once ur finished..
49. calling the police when you hit her…bitch should learn
50. for being a woman..
51. saying they love you
52. when she is in range
53. When she reads this and wont have sex with you for
laughin
54. When she asks to be and admin
55. bitching about facebook groups…. get back in the
kitchen
56. when you got 99 problems but a bitch ain’t 1
57. Whenever she talks without being questioned
58. when she sends you a friend request…. i don’t want to be your friend, but you can go make me a sandwich
ONLY REASON TO NOT HIT A WOMAN IN THE FACE…
1. when she’s pregnant…..punch her in the stomach
How about #33?! Becky, I would really like to give you some relationship advice!
I’ve actually heard men say things like, “Well, if she hits me first then she wants to be treated like a man.” Or, “She just wouldn’t stop antagonizing me.” We saw a very good example last year when Rihanna became the poster girl for domestic abuse. Unfortunately, her celebrity didn’t lend a hand to constructive and progressive movement on domestic abuse which is the leading cause of physical injury to American women between 15 and 44! Most of the media coverage consisted of talking heads insisting on giving Chris Brown a break and lengthy argument about whether or not she provoked him. Provocation or not domestic abuse is never excusable because he is (a) male (b) provoked (c) inebriated or (d) famous. When we continually normalize and excuse domestic violence it makes people like the guy who created this facebook page (who I’d venture a guess may be a fan of Chris Browns) think that it’s ok and humorous to abuse and degrade their partners.
Additionally, men who do not participate in this kind of behavior have to step up and become role models for the young men who only have the Chris Brown’s and Howard Stern’s to look up to. Jackson Katz stands as a leader in advocating that domestic abuse is not a woman’s issue (for older posts including Katz, click here and here). If 4 million women are abused per year then the chances that it will affect someone you know are very high. The chances that your girlfriend or your sister or your mother has been abused are very high; that isn’t a woman’s problem…..that’s a national crisis.
** I chose to employ Margaret’s name today because I came across this website this evening: Feminists for Life. It upset me maybe more than it should have. But, that’s why we’re here! **
Rinse the spinach and place it in a pot with only the water that remained from rinsing. Place over medium heat until it has wilted. Set aside to cool. Place the onion and garlic in a skillet with 1 tsp olive oil and cook until the onion is translucent. Add the mushrooms and the thyme. Cook for 5-7 minutes until the mushrooms are soft, and have released all of their juices. Whisk together the eggs, egg whites, salt, pepper, dill and feta, if using. Chop the cooled spinach and it and the mushroom mixture to the egg mixture. Stir well. Heat a small, lightly sprayed, non-stick skillet on low-medium heat. Add roughly 1 cup of the mixture to the skillet and flatten with a spatula. Reduce the heat to low and cook through. To flip use a small plate or two spatula’s to ensure that the frittata doesn’t split.
Aren’t these the two options we’ve been given since girlhood?
Be the nice girl (sugar) by being sweet, eager to please, remaining a virgin (although this gets complex, a girl at my Catholic high school was proud of saving her virginity and would only have anal sex. Yeah) and land a husband.
Be a bad girl (spice) by being brazen, out-spoken, independent, sexual (uh-oh, women can be sexy but *sexual*?) and get a booty call.
It’s the classic madonna/whore dichotomy, the 2 predominant archetypes that girls and women may choose from and the 2 we’ve been offered for hundreds of years (does it feel a little dated to anyone else? I mean, really). Despite our current sex saturated media culture, we still learn early on that there’s a fine line between being good and sexy before crossing over to sexual. Sexual equals bad.
It seems limiting, no?
That’s because it is. It’s another out-dated, one-dimensional and sexist expectation for girls and women that keeps getting recycled. And it’s hella confusing when you’re bombarded with image after image telling you to show your boobs and your ass (…uh, when you’re 9 no less) but then punishes you with s word (slut).
But that’s what this season’s The Bachelor, Jake, is left with: sugar and spice in the form of “sweet” Tenley (the teary divorcee that had only ‘been’ with her husband and the one wearing the crucifix in her profile picture)) and “spicy” Vienna (who was brazen enough to visit him in his room uninvited on a two-on-one date with Gia).
Teasers for next week’s final pick pump up the anticipation and drama by asking viewers to guess which way the all-American pilot from Texas will go.
“Will Jake choose sugar or (announcers voice becomes sultry) spice?”
This clip was originally posted at BitchMedia last year. In an interview where Lady Gaga is asked about the sexually explicit lyrics in her songs and her sexually provocative persona, she calls the interviewer out on the ancient sexual double-standard that has existed between men and women for literally thousands of years. It’s so ingrained in our cultural consciousness that Jessica Valenti made it the title of a recent book, He’s a Stud, She’s a Slut and 49 Other Double-Standards.
If she’s singing about f*****, she’s a slut and a bad role model. If he’s singing about f*****, sticking his d*** in her ear or some other female orifice, slapping her on the a** or what have you, he’s a rock star, a rapper, a happenin’ celebrity…or just a regular guy. It’s a tired, restricting and one-dimensional double-standard that does not serve our society in any way. Good for Gaga for calling him out on it.
Ah, but then it continues. Hmmm. If she’s making a critical statement like that, could she… be a (gulp) feminist?
Nope. Gaga loses points when she perpetuates the stereotype of the man-hating, gender separatist feminist who hates men ( and wants to cut their balls off). There are tons of stereotypes that keep people otherwise supportive of feminist values and goals away from the movement. Man-hating happens to be the number one reason.
Sadly, her former statement was trumped by the latter and proves that most people continue to know more about the stereotypes than they do about the history of the movement, the women and men that organized and sacrficed for rights most people take for granted and it’s core principles. Equality. Freedom.
1/3 cup Short Grain Organic Brown Rice
1/2 cup Organic Green Lentils
2-4 Cloves Organic Garlic
2 Bay Leaves
1 tbsp Olive Oil
2 tbsp Organic Low Sodium Tamari
2 cups Vegetable Broth
1 Medium Organic Onion, Chopped
2 Organic Carrots, Sliced Thin
2 Stalks Organic Celery, Sliced
1/2 cup Celery Leaves, Chopped
14 oz Diced Tomatoes with their juices
1/2 cup Tomato Sauce
1 tsp Organic Dried Basil
1 tsp Paprika
1/2 tsp Organic Dried Thyme
1/2 tsp Organic Dried Marjoram
Combine the first seven ingredients and 1 cup of water in a heavy bottomed soup pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 8 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and 2 additional cups of water. Return to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 20-30 minutes or until the rice is tender.
