On Monday, The Supreme Court announced their ruling in the case of Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association (representing the video game industry).  I was ecstatic.  Despite how often I write about the horrid depictions and unnecessary violence against women in video games, I’ve never called for their censorship.

To give a little backstory and context of the Supreme Court case, the law in California was an unprecedented restriction on media.  Films are self-governed by the MPAA, not the law, and it works.  An employee at your local theater who sells a ticket to an R-rated film to an underaged kid, is not criminally liable.  While, the video game industry has an equivalent with the ESRB, the law that Leland Yee proposed would hold cashiers and retailers criminally liable for selling an M-Rated game to a minor.  Especially absurd, considering the FTC report released earlier this year, that rated the ESRB as the most successful self-governing body in the entertainment industry.  X-Play’s Adam Sessler does a great job of explaining the ramifications of this law being upheld in his most recent episodes of Sessler’s Soapbox, available here and here.

There seems to be frequent confusion in the interpretation of my posts – that by expressing frustration with misogyny in the video game industry, that I have a problem with violence in video games, or I think they should be subjected to censorship.  It’s certainly not the case.  I find people like Jack Thompson, and Carol Lieberman abhorrent.  Using video games as a scapegoat, and making up information as you go along has potential to be incredibly harmful.  Leland Yee, is similar to Thompson and Lieberman in his views on video games (he certainly has a history of falsifying statistics), and almost succeeded in setting a federal precedent for restricting the freedom of speech.

I view video games in the same way I view every other form of media – with a critical eye.  Writing about Victorias Secret’s stupid ad campaign doesn’t mean I think they shouldn’t be allowed to market their products, and writing about the incredibly sexist attitudes held by the video game industry doesn’t mean I think their games should be banned from sale.

In my first post on Feminist Fatale, I wrote that despite my disgust with imagery and depictions of women in media, I “believe in…having the right to publish.” It’s an opinion that extends to video games. I hope that by writing about video games, consumers will learn to demand better from the creators.  The writers, designers, and developers shouldn’t be forced to limit their creations by the government.

Originally posted at Pigtail Pals by Melissa Wardy. Cross-posted with permission.

My view of a day spent in a Cape Town township, South Africa.

Today is the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day.  A day to celebrate economic, political, and social gains by women worldwide. Today we honor achievements, and remember the women before us who brought us to this day. Today. A day to celebrate women.

Yesterday, we celebrated Women’s Equality Day and the 90th Anniversary of Women’s Suffrage in West Hollywood with Councilemember Lindsey Horvath, Councilmember Abbe Land, veteran activist Zoe Nicholson, Kamala Lopez of Las Lopezistas and Gloria Allred. We honored Allred’s 30 day fast in recognition of the continued need for the unpassed ERA and officially kicked off ERA 2010 Launch! Fellow blogger and president of the SMC FMLA, Rachel O, vice-president of the SMC FMLA and I represented Santa Monica College’s Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance, a chapter of the Feminist Majority Foundation’s efforts to bring feminist issues across college campuses.

Related articles and photos:

West Hollywood Patch: Celebrating Women’s Right to Vote

Nightline/ABC News: Gloria Allred

Zoe Nicholson: The Equal Rights Amendment Finds New Wings in 2010

Lets utilize the power of social media activism. Make the video viral and tell all Americans we need the ERA.

Be sure to read Zoe Nicholson’s speech given today in West Hollywood in honor of Gloria Allred’s fast.

As a photographer, when some of the raw images of Jennifer Aniston’s 2006 Harper’s Bazaar photo shoot emerged, I was relieved. I ended up in photography by accident when I started shooting local Los Angeles bands for fun two years ago. Since I have no extensive formal photo training and have learned mostly through experience, I feel some insecurity regarding my technical skill. Seeing how Alexi Lubomirski’s outtakes mirrored some of my own was reassurance that I am, in fact, doing everything right. A cursory glance through his portfolio reveals a body of work that is thoughtful, exploratory, and beautiful (Not surprisingly, his conceptual photography is a lot more engaging than his editorial shoots). It appears as though he has worked with Jennifer Aniston before, producing luminously gorgeous if shallow images of the actress. Indeed, sometimes simply creating an indulgently beautiful image is gratifying, a sentiment that often guides my own work.

Whether or not the outtakes are actually doctored seems to be just a petty legal argument designed to protect Hollywood’s middle school egos. When I first encountered the outtakes, they seemed like the logical by-products of any photo shoot – especially a shoot involving unpredictable natural elements such as sunlight and sand, and I could not understand the uproar they generated. I suspect that the sometimes harsh reactions originate from a total misunderstanding of photography in general, so I have attempted to recreate the settings which I imagine contributed to the Harper’s Bazaar outtakes and subsequent published image.

]]> http://www.feministfatale.com/2010/08/jennifer-anistons-inadvertent-lesson-in-photography/feed/ 0 http://www.feministfatale.com/2010/08/ladies-grab-your-wallet-cast-your-ballots/ http://www.feministfatale.com/2010/08/ladies-grab-your-wallet-cast-your-ballots/#comments Fri, 13 Aug 2010 22:56:52 +0000 Lani http://www.feministfatale.com/?p=3002 Reposted with permission from www.aidstillrequired.org

Today, when we go to the market or Target or even the convenience store we are asked 9 times out of 10 if we would like to add a donation to our purchase to save the whales or feed the children or save little Timmy’s music education program. That’s pretty new. (There have been donation boxes for as long as I can remember, but this is still pretty new). It is an easy, near effortless way to make a contribution to an organization that is working to make someone, somewhere’s life a little better while buying our (toxic) laundry detergent or tonight’s (genetically modified) dinner. NGOs have learned how to make it easy on us. Add on a dollar, send a text, etc.

This simple action makes us feel good. But, I’m really not concerned about whether or not you feel good about yourself when you’re buying your (paraben infused) shampoo; I’m concerned about what’s in our shopping carts at the time of said purchases…..

American women hold 60% of the personal wealth in the United States, influence 85% of the purchasing decisions, and are the number 3 market in the world! Bigger than Japan! And even in 2010, American women do more than 90% of the shopping for our families. There are countless studies and market research companies that are trying to understand how to get and keep the “voting” dollars of American women. We all know that fashion magazines are mostly advertisements….you have to flip through 30 ads in a Vogue before you get to the table of contents!

That being said, with the simplest of our daily purchases we are casting a ballot. We are by default acknowledging and approving of the business strategies and practices of the companies that we are buying from. Wal-Mart? Archer Daniels Midland? Monsanto? McDonald’s? Chevron? Or, god-forbid, BP?!

It may not seem very “feminist” to tell women that they have the collective buying power of an entire nation. Is that really a way that we want to have “power?” But, really that is a huge, huge power to wield! We have the power to make or break entire product lines and corporations by utilizing a collective sense of ethical consumerism! I know, I know – it sounds like a lot of work & responsibility. But, to help you out on your own research journey – here are a few websites: Ethical Consumer (U.K. based, but as so many corporations are now global they have some really great information), Treehugger, Knowmore.org, and BrandKarma (a new site with great potential).

I hope that the next time you go shopping you will consider the global impact that your seemingly tiny, insignificant decisions are making on other people, in other places, that are probably far less fortunate that we are.

According to Fridkis, the word “feminist” conjures up a lot of negative images. That I don’t disagree with. (A good way to test this theory is by telling your male boss that you’re a feminist). What I do disagree with is just about everything Ms. Fridkis asserts thereafter. I am a feminist who is offended by a lot of bad behavior – none of them include the shaving or not shaving of armpits, the wearing or not wearing of high heels, or calling god a “he” (as I believe that what we call “god” is both masculine and feminine and both aspects should be appreciated and honored). And, the founder of this here feminist site is an adherent to the regular mani/pedi.

But, the way that Ms. Fridkis dismisses feminism’s validity in this post-modern, “post-feminist” society is offensive.  Yes, feminism has some baggage, and yes, it is a fractured movement. It has history. And, the requirement of the movement and the activists in it are always changing. To use feminism to gain a personal sense of freedom, then throw it out and attempt to negate its power and efficacy as a movement and in the lives of others is offensive. To truly be feminist, Ms. Fridkis should have continued the struggle and fought to change the negative connotations that she freely admits are associated with the word.

For most feminists being a feminist is not “an act of defiance” as it was for Kate; it is a self-identification that defines the ways in which they live their lives and informs the way that they struggle for equality along-side activists from every social justice movement be it gay rights or racial equality. It becomes a part of you that could no more easily be extracted than a healthy part of your body.

Feminism’s work is not done. 21.6 Million American Women have an eating disorder; 1.5 Million American Women will be the victim of domestic violence this year; 0.03% of the CEO’s of Fortune 500 company’s are women (that’s 15 of 500); Female members of the United States Military stop drinking water at 7 p.m. to reduce their chances of being raped. And, those are simply a few of the obvious problems HERE. Globally, the work that is to be done to improve the lives of women is limitless. The very least of their concerns is body hair or what to call god.

So, Ms. Fridkis, I don’t really mind if you don’t want to be a feminist, but please don’t continue to disseminate the fallacious message that feminism is dead and expendable. It invalidates the life-altering experiences of your sisters and the work that remains to be done here at home and globally.

Photo courtesy of Jay Morrison, CC 2.0.

Cycling is inherently feminist.

Susan B Anthony, after whom the 19th Amendment is nicknamed, once said, “I think [the bicycle] has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives a woman a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. The moment she takes her seat she knows she can’t get into harm unless she gets off her bicycle, and away she goes, the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood.”

In a time when women were prohibited from wearing pants, donning “bloomers” to straddle a bicycle saddle was seen as a bold statement of protest, liberation, and freedom. As the bicycle’s popularity soared in the 1890’s, it became a symbol of mobility, and as women began moving out of the cloistered domestic realm, the bicycle became not only a symbol but a tool of activism.

Today, especially in Los Angeles’ Car Kingdom, the bicycle is still a symbol and a tool of activism. It’s a bold statement against oil consumption, traffic, and pollution, and like all other forms of activism, it’s not easy. Cyclists are often denied their rights to the road by motorists and law enforcement. Riding a bicycle can be dangerous and discouraging. It’s not too unlike confronting men with their sexism, suffering the humiliation of gendered condescension, or constantly wondering if people are seeing you or your sex.

Riding a bicycle is a celebration of the body. I first began riding a bike after I graduated from college and found myself stranded in the real world with no money, no job – and following a devastating break up with my college sweetheart – no happiness. I broke an unused bicycle out of my parents’ garage and began riding around. My first bicycle commute was from West Hollywood to Silver Lake and I remember being nervous because it was five miles. In time, however, the rush of endorphins improved my mental health, and not too unlike the women who took hold of the handlebars in the 1890s, I experienced a renewed sense of freedom and empowerment. Not only could I conquer distance, I could conquer it all with the sheer force of my body.

So how could I continue to loathe a body that can move me five or ten or a hundred miles in a day? For years I’d struggled with the symptoms of a national epidemic, the result of a culture infected with exploitative advertisements, a media-manufactured illness of insecurity.. I had starved myself, poisoned myself, exhausted myself, punished myself, and no matter how low the scale dropped, I could not escape the big thighs I inherited from my mother and her mother before her. My whole life I had been at war with them.

The more I rode, finally graduating to a sleek pink road bike, the more I came to love my thighs, the pistons of my bike-body, propelling me forward, sometimes for hours and miles on end. My legs and I climbed hills, rode across the night, raced other cyclists, and ducked between close calls. My hems peaked – I was proud of my big legs, they were cyclist’s legs, they were powerful legs. Dimpled with cellulite and prickly with hair, they were beautiful, and after training for and completing two century rides in the space of a couple of months, no one could tell me that my weight or my shape was unhealthy. Through cycling I learned to revere and respect my body, and at last, came to peace with it.

I hate that feminism must so often revolve around something as shallow as appearances, especially when we have much larger issues to address. Our bodies, however, have become our greatest obstacles to our personal and communal success, and, knowing this, advertising and media continues to challenge our freedom with petty distractions. Like Susan B Anthony, the bicycle became an energetic symbol of “untrammeled womanhood” to me.

That’s how cycling is inherently feminist.

In Los Angeles, where the bike lane is still the final frontier, cycling is inherently activist in spirit and execution. As far as I’m concerned, it’s open war on the asphalt, and as I “suit up” to ride, I often feel like a soldier heading into combat. As a result, the cyclists of LA have formed a roguish community with lofty ideals of acceptance, environmentalism, and beer. This community is split into smaller allegiances, but we’ve all ridden together.

Heady with the new rush of riding, I immersed myself in the community, and I echoed our battle cry for equal rights on the road. Too many times I witnessed vehicular and police intimidation, and too many times I, alone on my 44cm bike, suffered attempted assaults on my life at the hands of reckless and malicious drivers alike. At best, I’ve been yelled at, honked at, and sexually harassed on my bike; at worse, I’ve dodged a lobbed wrench and braked just in time to miss the bumper of a BMW that aggressively swerved around and then braked hard in front of me, the driver screaming obscenities at me throughout. Even though I had four of the car’s seven license plate numbers, the LAPD refused to take my report, instead admonishing me for not wearing my helmet on a two mile trip to the bank…which sounds a lot like the “she shouldn’t have been wearing that dress” excuse.

We cyclists are often relegated to second class citizenship on the road, where drivers feel entitled to intimidate, attack, and disregard us. We’ve been unfairly cuffed and searched, and in one instance, a patrol car attempted to run a group of us off the road, then fled down a freeway onramp. We’ve attended city hall meeting after meeting, and each time the heads nod and the mouths make promises of reform that are rarely ever kept. Judges favor drivers in the hit and run accident cases that usually leave cyclists brutally injured and maligned, or worse, dead. In the year and a half I’ve been riding in Los Angeles, I’ve seen the erection of three ghost bikes – bicycles painted white and placed at the location where a fellow cyclist has been slain. When confronted with our grievances, motorists like to point out the famous stop-sign-running cyclist, but never have the courage to report on the numbers of drivers who merely roll through intersections or speed through red lights. Is it any wonder that we sometimes take to the streets in swarming hives to ride in the safety of numbers? From the outside it may appear as hooliganism, but inside, we’re angry and we’re taking solace in each other’s company.

Activism is inherent to cycling in Los Angeles, and feminism is activism focused on equality.

So imagine my surprise when I joined a bike shop co-op and attempted to create a women’s only night at the shop only to be met with a loud cry of criticism and lack of enthusiasm from the members of one of the most popular LA cycling communities.

I joined the west side based bike shop, Bikerowave, in order to learn bicycle mechanics. At that time, board members at the shop encouraged myself and a group of girls to start a women and trans only night similar to Bicycle Kitchen’s Bitchin’ Kitchen. The idea was to create a space where girls, women, and transpeople would feel comfortable coming in to wrench on their bikes. The shop scene is easily male dominated, which can be intimidating to someone who is not male. As women, we’ve been socialized to leave the tools and the greasy towels to the men, and even if we know better, it can be difficult to remain confident in a room full of men who appear expertly knowledgeable. The point of Bikerowave is that you pay to use the bike stands and tools that you probably don’t have at home, and mechanics are available to assist. Not all the mechanics are bike gurus, and some mechanics have only specialized knowledge, so we’re all supposed to learn together. But too often the tools end up in a man’s hands and women and girls are denied the opportunity to learn as we want them to learn. I can admit that I too am guilty of denying a woman’s learning experience because I thought she simply couldn’t do it.

When we began advertising our night, which, prior to “Bikerobabes” (as we named ourselves), was a closed night for the shop, men in the scene reacted with mockery and outrage. To clarify, most people in the community supported our initial effort, but the voices that spoke against us spoke loudly. “Why don’t girls just learn how to deal with it?” “I don’t support feminism, I support humanism.” “If I wear a dress, does that make me a woman?” “How come there isn’t an all guy’s night?” “We don’t need feminism anymore.” Accompanied by a stream of demeaning images of naked or nearly naked women on bikes. Most heartbreaking, the women and girls within the community exhibited no support, and when asked regarding, denounced feminism or didn’t want to be associated with the night.

The incredible objection to Bikerobabes was discouraging, and after a few weak months of women and trans only Tuesday nights at Bikerowave, the board decided to shutter the doors on Bikerobabes, and now Tuesday nights are like any other at the shop.

Considering the Riot Grrrls who rose out of the alternative – but still sexist – punk scene, this is merely history repeated. A scene which loudly proclaims an alternative, inclusive, non -conformist community is still mired in the patriarchy that places one sex’s importance over the other…just as Los Angeles places the importance of drivers over cyclists on the streets. A backlash legacy of ignorance surrounding feminism’s history and true intentions prevents female cyclists from embracing a movement of empowerment that mirrors, supports, and would strengthen the bike riding movement. Inheriting a culture that places the value of a woman solely on her looks, many of the scarce females in the bike scene merely continue to conform to the ideals and expectations that the scene supposedly decries. A tremendous aura of machismo surrounds the scene and a lot of the more visible women are proudly “one of the guys.” On smaller rides where I was often the only woman, I was commented on when all I really wanted to do was ride fast. On big group rides, little effort is made to accommodate women’s restroom needs, which, as we know, involves a lot more than just “whipping it out.” When this has been mentioned, the general attitude is to keep up or keep out, further discouraging women and girls from riding and asserting themselves in a scene which could only benefit from an inner community of women.

Unfortunately, we all suffer from social and historical amnesia, the side effect of the achievements in equality those before us wrought, those we have forgotten in our comfort. I too suffered from this amnesia until recently wakened from my social coma. I am also responsible for the lack of feminism in the bike community because I have since spaced myself from it, keeping ties only through Bikerowave, where I have abandoned Bikerobabes as a lesser priority. It is my fault too and I acknowledge that.

Before riding a bike, I’d been stubbornly ignorant. “Why would anyone ride when they can just drive?” I would say to my friends on two wheels, “I’ll get sweaty. It’s too much work. It’s dumb. It’s dangerous.” Around my college campus, where many people cycled to and from, I would become angry stuck behind a bike. I’d honk and pass aggressively. I would drive less than a mile from my apartment to the parking garage almost every day. Faced with financial restrictions, I was forced on a bicycle just to get around, and it changed my life. Likewise, I was once a woman who internalized misogyny in my pursuit of attaining the constructed masculine attributes that patriarchy has made precious. I hated anything feminine, including the color pink, and most of all, I hated myself. Cycling taught me how to embrace and love my body, and feminism gave me the tools to continue dissecting the media and advertising that would rather I starve myself than ride my bike.

I am not ready to turn my back entirely on the cycling community, and every time a driver gets too close because he simply “did not see me,” I feel that activism stirring within me. I continue to ride even though some days are downright defeating. I love riding my bike and I think it’s important to ride a bike. I truly believe it is the solution to pollution, this nation’s rising obesity problem, depression, and crippled self-esteem. It is a manifestation of activism and of feminism.

Which is why I believe that Los Angeles cycling can and must embrace feminism – the two are intimately connected – and it’s how I know that I cannot lose hope. I know that it is just as much my responsibility to promote feminism on two wheels as it is everyone else’s. The defeat of Bikerobabes was a pretty large blow to my determination, but I’ve had time to recuperate, and I’ve taken that time to equip myself with the knowledge, history, and tools of feminism. I’ve been strategizing and I am just about ready to strike.

I’m not one to box myself in with labels….wait, vegetarian, feminist, environmentalist, activist, communist……ok, maybe I am. So, since I’m already all boxed in, I definitely feel that the ecofeminist movement is most near and dear to my heart. There are critics of all tenets of feminism and we all seem to fall into one or another (but, maybe many) little sub-sects of the greater whole; I happen to fall here.

In 1970, the environmental movement was really just starting to blossom as a social movement. With the help of this article published in the New York Times Senator Nelson created an event that I think every Earth Day since should envy:

“Rising concern about the “environmental crisis” is sweeping the nation’s campuses with an intensity that may be on its way to eclipsing student discontent over the war in Vietnam…a national day of observance of environmental problems, analogous to the mass demonstrations on Vietnam is being planned for next April…..

Students, activists, environmentalists and ideologues sprang to action. And, just a few months later, an estimated 20 million Americans participated in Earth Day events on April 22, 1970. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeway and expressway revolts, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlifesuddenly realized they shared common values.

With all that invigorating history, a movement that today – of all times in history – is more active and energized, and my self-identification as an ecofeminist – you would think I’d be a lot more excited about Earth Day than I am.

The celebration of Earth Day 2010 seems to be something else altogether. With global climate change on every  other front  page publication (despite doubters) and cheap t-shirts that say, “Recyle“ and “Eco Warrier” it seems that these issues have been appropriately brought to center stage….and appropriately transformed into something “consumable.” So, the people who truly care seem & believe in environmental responsibility have become….cheap t-shirt wearing, reusable bag carrying (sometimes), Prius driving zombies. And, the corporations who only want to seem like they care have done their jobs convincing consumers that they do. A la Walmart and Chevron’s greenwashing campaigns. Or, how about SunChips attempt to completely revamp their image? Your (genetically modified corn) chips even come in a compostable bag now! But…wait…aren’t they a Frito Lay company? And, Frito Lay is a PepsiCo company. And, PepsiCo is one of the worst environmental offenders. “Green?” Seriously? *Yawn*

So, here’s my Earth Day wish - do something real. Plant an organic garden (feminism and food are inextricably linked; and, it’s much easier than you think) or a tree. Volunteer for an environmental organization (even if just for a day). Try to reduce the number of times you flush your toilet (that’s 1.6 gallons of water EVERY time, California folks). Start to compost (also, much easier than you think). What I don’t want you to do…buy a ridiculous t-shirt that advertises your position on environmental issues and simply makes you feel like you’ve done something good for the Earth. We can’t all be No Impact Man, but actually making real, tangible changes in our daily lives is what creates the most change and sets an example for those who want to make change, but aren’t sure how.

Now go laugh a little before you get to work……