09 PM | 29 Sep

Ambivalently Yours #Feminist rants ❤❤ #pink #drawings [#geekgirl]

ambivalently-yours-tumblr

“Part of being a feminist is about advocating for a woman’s right to choose. This right, however, does not imply there is only one choice. For example, my commitment to feminism could only occur once I gave myself permission to also embrace my love of fashion and the colour pink, two things often associated with the patriarchal domination of women. To quote queer theorist Jack Halberstam: “I explore a feminist politics that issues not from a doing but from an undoing, not from a being or becoming women but from a refusal to be or become a woman as she has been defined and imagined within Western Philosophy.” My refusal to has allowed for another space to exist: not a space of indecision but rather a space of undeciding. I call this space: Ambivalently Yours..” Ambivalently Yours

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06 PM | 22 Oct

Girls on Film Festival – #Melbourne – Movies. Parties. Feminism. #GOFF2015 [#geekgirl]

GOFF2015

23rd  to 25th OCTOBER, 2015.

NOW in its second year, the Girls On Film Festival (GOFF) returns to Melbourne, bringing its signature flavour of films, fun and feminism. Held over three bodacious days in October, the festival’s 2015 line-up is sure to impress.

The impetus behind the creation of GOFF was a celebration of movies that steered away from films made by and about men. What we get instead are films chosen by feminists, made by feminists and you get to watch them – you guessed it – with a swathe of other feminists.

An ultimate party that is “more slumber party than competition, more mixtape than jury selection, more laid back than prestigious,” the Girls on Film Festival is more than just kick-ass films. On offer is live music, poetry, activism, zines, badges and (what we are promised) much more!

– See more at: http://www.girlsonfilmfestival.com/

Source: SWITCH

06 PM | 30 Aug

Laurie Penny: #Feminism needs to talk more about male struggles [#geekgirl]

laurie-penny

“Sexism and misogyny and gendered violence are economic issues at their heart.”

“Laurie Penny is no stranger to controversy, nor to the toxic trolling that has become a familiar byproduct of being a woman speaking out in dissent against the forces of both patriarchy and capitalism. But this 28-year-old feminist, journalist, author of five books and social justice warrior wants to talk about something that is usually left to conservative hand-wringers. She wants to talk about men.

Penny is no hand-wringer, though. She acknowledges men are struggling to adapt to economic and social upheaval, and that they need help – but a return to the old social and gender norms is out of the question. So do feminists need to do more to bring men along with us?”

Source: Daily Life interview by Jenny Noyes

Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney 05-06 SEPT, 2015.

02 PM | 25 Jul

#Feminist reactions to the #Amy Winehouse #documentary [#geekgirl]

The new Amy Winehouse doco is getting a lot of good reviews; some more substantive than others. One particular perspective stood out to me, and it’s gripping title; Patriarchy, male entitlement, & capitalist greed killed Amy Winehouse, not boozing by Meghan Murphy definitely caught my eye..

Meghan states>> (sic) “As I watched her very public and publicized downfall, as she was abandoned to her addictions, depression, now-apparent eating disorder, and struggles with the pressures of fame, I noticed the different treatment she received in the media.

Male substance abusers are often afforded a certain level of respect no matter how much they drink or use drugs — women, less so. Framed as “trainwrecks,” unfeminine and embarrassing, both pitied and mocked — women are meant to maintain composure and class in a way men aren’t expected to. Generally, drunkenness in men is viewed as normal and acceptable whereas women who party are portrayed as messy, trashy, slutty, and deserving of any “punishment” they receive (see: the victim blaming of rape victims who were under the influence when assaulted) for their unladylike behaviour.

As pointed out by Molly Beauchemin in Pitchfork, “Men who grapple with issues that coincide with art and fame are canonized in death.” Indeed, male addicts are romanticized as troubled artists while women who struggle with addiction or mental illness or both, as the two often go hand in hand, are seen as disasters. Kurt Cobain is one example Beauchemin offers who has most certainly been painted as tragic and as having suffered, but also as a universally-respected genius. (Conveniently, many have blamed Courtney Love for his heroin addiction and his death.) Amy, in comparison, hasn’t been treated with anywhere near the respect Cobain was and her death was seen by many as expected and deserved.

I watched Amy on Sunday night, prepared to feel sadness and loss, but less prepared for the level of anger I felt as I left the theatre. She didn’t die, as the media told us, because she was a lost cause who cared only for boozing and nothing else. Amy died because the men in her life were selfish, careless, capitalists who faked compassion for cameras when it was convenient, but only in order to boost their own “careers,” fill their bank accounts, and satisfy their own needs. More broadly, she died because of a culture built on greed, misogyny, and individualism”.

Full article: > Feminist Current