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For Your Reading Pleasure: Sexual Inadequacy

Posted on Wednesday, May 25, 2011 by Garland Grey

In March the basic television musical Glee, site of so much critical dissection, had a show about sex and sex education called “Sexy.” It was a bold move for Fox to give airtime to an untried commodity like sex. The question on everyone’s mind was, of course, would it sell? In one scene the Glee Club director Will Shuester (Matthew Morrison) is talking with Holly Holliday (Gwyneth Paltrow) about teaching the students about sex and its consequences, and he remarks “These kids are already exposed to so much.” I was doing something else while the episode played on my laptop, but I took a moment to suck my teeth at the screen.

— An excerpt from the introductory post for my new guest blog on Bitch, Sexual Inadequacy, which will focus on “the poor representation of queer sexuality in the larger culture and in the media” and  for the first week will probably be subtitled “What I Think About Things I Can Stream On Netflix” until I get a library card or my books arrive from home.

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Which Lady Is Saving Comedy Now?

Posted on Tuesday, May 24, 2011 by Sady

Welcome, reader! As you well know, we have entered the era of Women In Comedy. Oh, sure! You could argue that women were always in comedy! Some scientists have traced evidence of these “comediennes” as far back as 1997. But this summer, what with the Bridesmaidsplosion, it seems eminently clear that ladies are (a) making some hot, hot comedy, and (b) going to save comedy… FROM ITSELF!

Which is nice. Actually, it really is! Given the overwhelming dudeliness of the genre in recent years, I think it is downright pleasant to see ladies pooping all over everything and being terrible at their lives. I said that was what I wanted from Judd Apatow, and damn it, he gave me that very thing! So: No regrets, no hard feelings. HOWEVER, now that the Women are Saving Comedy and all, I think it’s important that we pay close attention to each individual candidate on the field. For, lest we repeat the terrible Munn Wars of ’10, all women are now obliged to support all Women In Comedy uncritically. Yes, that’s right: Every. Single. One.

Which brings us to our latest savior! Her name is Whitney Cummings, and she is very concerned that you don’t think her sitcom is edgy. Because look at the edginess of this sitcom!

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Liberty, equality and fraternity for some; miniature French flags for others!

Posted on Monday, May 23, 2011 by Flavia Dzodan

Most people barely know what exactly the International Monetary Fund does. At least here in Europe, it is seen as an institution that does “stuff”, related to banks? Economy? Corporations? The perception most people have of the IMF is, at best vague if not completely ignorant of its workings. It just doesn’t register much in the lives of ordinary folks.

Me? I cannot remember not knowing about the IMF. Because, you see, for those of us who hail from the South, the IMF is part of our pop culture narratives. It evokes nightmare scenarios involving people who lost the fruits of their lifetime labor, all their savings gone overnight due to new “adjustment packages” demanded by the IMF as a condition to renegotiate international debt. We all know someone who lost it all, including their homes, in one of these rounds of economic re-organizations. We all know (or have been victims ourselves) of the policies imposed by the IMF to approve a new line of credit for our countries, to accept delayed payments, to renegotiate interest rates. The visit of an IMF delegate can be the subject of headlines for weeks, months even. A negative rating or comment by such delegate can bring down governments. So actually, I do not remember ever not knowing the intricacies of how the IMF operates in our region.

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Blame It On the Aspiration Gap: Creating a Youth Underclass

Posted on Monday, May 23, 2011 by s.e. smith

The Office for National Statistics in the United Kingdom released new unemployment figures last week, showing that approximately one million, or one in five, young people are unemployed. This is not a problem restricted to the United Kingdom; it’s a global issue, as evidenced by rising unrest in Spain, Greece, and other regions. Unemployment rates for youth are skyrocketing, even in nations where the overall unemployment rate is staying relatively low. In the UK, where protests against budget cuts in service areas like education and disability have been ongoing for months, these statistics illustrate another phenomenon. It is not just that youth don’t have jobs, it’s that they are beginning to think they won’t ever get jobs.

The Prince’s Trust reports that many of the poorest Britons feel they have no future.

The Princes Trust/RBS Report found that one in four of those from deprived homes (26 per cent) believe that “few” or “none” of their career goals are achievable, because “people like them don’t succeed in life” – compared to just seven per cent of those from affluent families. The research also shows how one in ten young people from the poorest families did not have their own bed when they were growing up. More than a quarter (29 per cent) had few or no books in their home, while one in three were “rarely” or “never” read to by their parents. More than a third (36 per cent) did not have anywhere quiet at home to do their schoolwork, two-fifths did not have a desk and more than a quarter had no access to a computer.

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Rapture tastes so sweet

Posted on Saturday, May 21, 2011 by Emily McAvan

Iio – “Rapture” (lyrics here)

So I’m sure most of you are aware of the whole supposed imminent Rapture thing and have been making jokes about it on Twitter/Tumblr/Facebook/probably-not-myspace-does-that-still-exist?

Anyway, I have the unfortunate habit of taking jokes way too seriously, so I have written something at Global Comment about it!  And you should read it, before you meet your lemony fresh DOOM.

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Tyler, The Creator, Creates 43-Year-Old “Joke”

Posted on Wednesday, May 18, 2011 by Sady

Hey! Do you know who Tyler, the Creator is? No? Good for you. I wish I’d never heard of the little discharge-wad. But for those of unfamiliar: Consider all the [TRIGGER WARNINGS] that I basically don’t use a lot to be in full effect, and then think Eminem. And then do whatever it takes to stop you from thinking about Eminem — I like to punch a pillow! — and then understand that Tyler, the Creator of Odd Future is just the culture’s latest excuse to get all het up about how “provocative” and “edgy” it is to rap about how much you like to rape ladies (because that is a totally unpopular activity, not at all common in society today), and also, say “faggot” a lot (also uncommon, and without consequence), and also, o his genius! O, his technical mastery! O, he will save music from itself! Which might be true. I dunno. I was distracted by all the raping.

But, long story short, many of the critiques you will read of the Odd Future are summed up in this post from Sara Quin of Tegan and Sara:

When will misogynistic and homophobic ranting and raving result in meaningful repercussions in the entertainment industry? When will they be treated with the same seriousness as racist and anti-Semitic offenses? While an artist who can barely get a sentence fragment out without using homophobic slurs is celebrated on the cover of every magazine, blog and newspaper, I’m disheartened that any self-respecting human being could stand in support with a message so vile.

As journalists and colleagues defend, excuse and congratulate ‘Tyler, the Creator,’ I find it impossible not to comment. In any other industry would I be expected to tolerate, overlook and find deeper meaning in this kid’s sickening rhetoric? Why should I care about this music or its “brilliance” when the message is so repulsive and irresponsible?

It is not the best call-out of Tyler that you will ever read; nor is it the most nuanced. (The Oppression Olympics thing going on in the second sentence is like, OOF.) But it is the most prominent, and the one which put the most pressure on Tyler. The one to which he would be EXPECTED to respond, basically.

And respond he did!

“If Tegan And Sara Need Some Hard Dick, Hit Me Up,” Tweeted Tyler, the Creator.

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GREY AREAS: Come, Let Me Play You a Torch Song Of My Wasted Youth Edition

Posted on Wednesday, May 18, 2011 by Garland Grey

Last week I asked for questions for Grey Areas and this was in my inbox before the e-ink was dry on my e-request.

I‘m young, gay, sassy, and just starting to play the dating game. How do I get buttloads of men to swoon over me, or at least get the buttloads of men swooning over me to date/make love to me?

If I knew the answer to this question, do you think I’d have time to blog? Do you think I’d have time to get on the Internet to complain about my feelings? No. I would be too busy working my way down a Slip N’ Slide made of hot dudes and getting myself a reputation. Alas, I am the world’s foremost dating coward. I look at personals for about 15 minutes before I lose all hope for love and lie on the couch — or rather half-on/half-off the couch — in utter despair.

But here are some general rules about sex and dating I had to figure out for myself and am now giving to you, in hopes you will benefit from them.

First Rule: Don’t be anything like me. Be brave. Pursue men you think you won’t get because sometimes you will. Even a broken clock bangs a hottie every now and then. Know what I mean, stud? (Continued)

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Hey, Shorty! An interview with authors Mandy Van Deven, Joanne N. Smith and Meghan Huppuch

Posted on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 by Flavia Dzodan

Last week, as part of the Hey, Shorty! Virtual Book Tour, we reviewed this excellent guide for community organizing, activism and awareness against school and street sexual harassment, created to document the work of Girls for Gender Equity, a grass root organization that seeks to empower teen women of color in New York.

Today, authors Joanne N. Smith, Mandy Van Deven and Meghan Huppuch have graciously answered our questions about the book, the work they do and how to better help teens and young people.

Can you give us a brief introduction of who you are and why you got involved in GGE and eventually in producing this book?

Joanne: I’m the founder and executive director of Girls for Gender Equity, an intergenerational, grassroots, nonprofit organization located in Brooklyn, NY that is committed to the physical, psychological, social, and economic development of girls and women. I started the organization in the fall of 2001 to be a catalyst for community-based change.

Mandy: My being hired by Joanne in the fall of 2003 was a moment of begrudging serendipity that completely changed my life. I came on as a part-time community organizer just a few weeks after moving to New York from Georgia, and although I had no desire at the time to work in schools or with youth, I knew the job would be challenging, that I liked my new boss, and that I supported the organization’s mission. A year and a half later, I was the Director of Community Organizing and started Sisters in Strength, the teen women’s community organizing group that launched GGE’s anti-sexual harassment work. Then three years after that I had just left my position as Associate Director of GGE to move to India when I get a call from Joanne and Meghan asking me to co-write Hey, Shorty! Now I’m helping them with strategic communications, so you can see I just can’t seem to stay away!

Meghan: I came to GGE in January 2008 to complete an internship for my undergraduate work at New York University and became the Director of Community Organizing after I graduated that spring. At that time I helped form the Coalition for Gender Equity in Schools, which is a group of organizations, educators, parents and youth who come together to combat sexual harassment in schools. After our first meeting in October 2008, we were approached by Feminist Press to create a guidebook about the work we were doing, and over the last two years we’ve worked with them to figure out what was relevant about the participatory action research conducted by Sisters in Strength and the community organizing we’ve done. It was a really difficult process because ten years of work is a lot to sift through. In the end we were able to create something that is more than a guide for supporting individuals; it also speaks to doing work in communities and can be adopted by folks anywhere.

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REMINDER: Roseanne Is Motherfucking Hardcore, Still

Posted on Monday, May 16, 2011 by Sady

Hey! Do you remember Roseanne? Oh, okay, let me remind you: Do you remember when your obnoxious uncles got drunk at Thanksgiving in 1990 and everybody was talking about how this one woman was scary and crazy and bitchy and fat and why can’t she just shut up? But they laughed every time they finished a sentence, like it was so funny what they were saying, and you couldn’t see what was funny about it but you were just starting to get this, you were just starting to get that certain women made men really angry and mean, and those women didn’t do anything wrong, they didn’t like hit men or steal from them or do anything bad that you could see, but certain women were just hated, certain women were just not women that men could ever permit to exist. And you were like, “I don’t really get this, because I’m eight, but it is starting to make me sad and uncertain of my future, because what if I become one of those women without meaning to, what if I’m not pretty, what if I can’t make men like me, it seems like I would just be doomed, and also: I think that whole deal pisses me off?” And also your Mom made you watch that lady’s show, every week. There was an episode where one of the ladies on the show had a boyfriend, and he hit her, and it scared you and made you really sad, and then all of the women gathered around and talked about why you should leave your boyfriend if he hit you, because sometimes they did that, and it was wrong. Your Mom hugged you and said this was an important conversation they were having, and it was good they were having it on TV, and you should listen. So you said, “I think Roseanne is good,” sort of quietly. “I like Darlene,” is something you added. And one of your uncles said, “well, when you’re older, you’ll know better.”

Surprise: You are older now! And you know better! You have partaken of the joys of a futuristic invention known as “Netflix Instant,” whereupon you have streamed yourself some Roseanne, and (a) you were right to like Darlene. OH SO VERY RIGHT, but (b) holy crap, Roseanne starts talking about sexism within the first five seconds of the pilot. George Clooney shows up, and is vaguely sexist, and then Roseanne SYMBOLICALLY EATS HIS VERY SOUL. (It is a donut.) No WONDER dudes hated this stuff.

And maybe they will hate this NY Mag piece by Roseanne Barr. But dudes — as Roseanne would tell you — can be total wimps sometimes. Because seriously, this is the most hardcore thing you will read this week about making a TV show. For example: How do we deal with an inappropriate “created by” credit, Roseanne?

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‘But, his reputation will be ruined! And what about France?’

Posted on Monday, May 16, 2011 by s.e. smith

News broke this weekend that Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the current leader of the International Monetary Fund, had been accused of sexual assault. Actually, the media can’t seem to make up its mind about what exactly he’s been accused of, which is par for the course when rape is on the table. I’ve seen ‘rape,’ ‘sex crimes,’ ‘sexual assault,’ and our good old pal ‘forcible rape.’ Naturally, the media is in a tizzy over a high profile case involving a man tapped to be the next President of France, and, as always, it’s what swirls beneath the surface that is most interesting.

Like the narrative about his accuser, whom almost every story I read made a point to mention was an ‘African immigrant’ who had ‘worked satisfactorily’ for her employer for the last three years. Most stories also make a point of emphasizing the luxury of Strauss-Kahn’s hotel suite, which apparently cost $3,000 a night. There’s an underlying class narrative here reinforced by some of the quotes from friends of Strauss-Kahn assuring journalists that this is very out of character and that he would never do something like that—he’s just a nice wealthy man, and his accuser must be out to get something—despite the fact that he’s known in France as ‘the great seducer’ and appears to have a history of misconduct. Several women journalists pointed out that they were hesitant to do interviews alone with Strauss-Kahn because of his behaviour. In fact, the IMF had actually investigated Strauss-Kahn in the past in response to these known issues:

In 2008, early in his IMF term, he was investigated by the IMF’s staff for whether he abused his power by having an affair with a female staffer. Although he was cleared of abuse of power charges, several directors said they warned Mr. Strauss-Kahn that such conduct wouldn’t be allowed in the future and that he had brought the IMF into disrepute. (source)

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