O I posted on facebook I post things.
My most recent one was about confusion and BUHHHH?!?
at this
The cover of Ms. Magazine.
UHH WHAT?
One of my great facebook nuisances is that every now and then someone who knows me and reads my profile and interest and goes
" BA will LOVE this group"
and tries to egt me to join this is what a feminist looks like.
I hate it. I hate that meme so much.
It's this constant wink wink nudge to this stereotype of ugly feminists
And please don't tell me that not it's about how " diverse" Big F feminism is.
That's why peopel stilltake time out of articles to tell us how pretty X woman is.
The shift has been more about the fact that kind of kind of twee aren't I so cute in my both aesthetic egoism and deep desire for attention stopped being so marketable ( and if I had anything to do with that I will take that as a joy)
but that's only part of it.
I really am disturbed the need of an Obama superman who has to UNCOVER his feminist ?
Asif that is his " superhero " identity
Maybe it's just me but I think that feminism is not nor should be "marketed" but most importantly shouldn't be marketed as a thing where it shows how much " better"you are than everyone else.
I also feel this way about socialism , black power,and "consciousness" of all forms. I Don't get a cookie for doing things that I knwo to be right and more so are GOOD FOR ME
If we recognize that these are endemic and systemic problems that intrinsically affect us all , why is it turning into the moral superiority game?
Not to mention if it needs to be uncovered why aren't we talking about WHY we feel it needs to be uncovered.
And frankly on the basic level I am really really put off by the imagining of President Obama as a superhero that we need to help be super( I even read the contents and articles I am good girl)
coming to the rescue of women?
BUHBUH BUH??!?>!
I voted for Obama , shit I voted for and supported probably long before many people involved with Ms. did ( i am STILL not okay with Gloria Steinhem) but , here's something
he's not my savior, and considering his platform I find images of him as a savior one of the most disconcerting things ever. Because as he talks more and more about responsibility , and seeming people CLAIM to get him and his emphasis on historical accuracy and pragmatism.
What continually gets asked of him , seems to be the utmost desire to annoint him as a servant of fantasy.
And its irksome because these same people are the first to tell any "minority" interest group that hey this is teh "real world" . That such lofty goals like hey proper representation or such "negativity" as pointing out the system's inherent flaws are unWise and wrong and bad
but making a superhero out of a president A-OK
and
yeha maybe it's just me being picky
but the idea of a man on a feminist magazine as a "savior"
I don't like it.
I am bothered and straight up scared at the idea that rather than accountability we endeavor to make a superperson wearing a tired slogan.
I am worried that THIS president who was ELECTED with a whole LOT of women, behind the scenes, fundraising , who has exposed rifts , has a WIFE and a SENIOR ADVISOR not to mention a multimedia icon
ALL women
that the special thing we can think off is him coming to save the day?
Posts
3 comments:
It's this constant wink wink nudge to this stereotype of ugly feminists
At first I read this and was like, "huh what? no it's about the fact that feminists come in all looks!" but then I thought, well, and what sort of looks would be unexpected for a feminist that this would need to be a thing? And I realized this was totally right and now I feel sort of dumb for never picking up on that before because this is a big problem for me, this insistence on the potential sexiness of feminism when for me feminism has always been in part about the fact that you don't have to be sexy and fighting the feminists-can-too-be-hot battle just seems to me like giving in to their terms and not fighting the battle that matters more in this situation. so I don't know why I never realized this, about this meme, but now that I've thought about it I have to agree (though, I think it's sort of different if used by guys - not in this case because, well, I agree with your analysis of the cover overall, but in general - because I think the "guys can care about women's rights" battle IS one worth fighting for; but I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on whether it's really different or if I'm misreading the situation again).
what sort of looks would be unexpected for a feminist that this would need to be a thing
* jumps up and down*
I will admit some of it is attached to the fact that many of the women in that thing I can't stand but
You nailed it.
It's not a statement about what feminism means it's a marketing strategy.
THIS IS COOL ENOUGH PEOPLE pretty people do it.
1) SHADDUP
2) Who says you're pretty
3) how is this different from other ads and
4) Shaddup
And the irateness for me isn't about giving in ( though I never did I think about that)
It's about this valuiidation for your looks trhough your politics
I am CUTE ENOUGH to have these politics
and frankly it's not sexy it has little to do and no matter how many peopel yell about orgasms and the like it has nothing to do iwth sexual(ities) power or variety
aka the entry in my play about how different being found sexy for me that is for someone who rocks one of these as a power statement
especially since it's essentially advertising an acceptable middle class femininity for all it's feminism
and for me right now guys withi t are more like
uh thats nice but teh fact you bought a tshirt already tells me you are telling this to a very specific group of people
and again why teh need to advertise ?
what are we asking for
You make a number of great points. Those shirts can really only be worn (or, are only supposed to be worn) by certain kinds of people, those considered conventionally cool. So a movement that's supposed to be inclusionary is advertised by a maneuver that's exclusionary. Nice. While I think it's important to communicate to young women that stereotypes of the movement aren't accurate, I agree this isn't the way to do it.
I also agree with you that picturing Obama as superman, fixing feminist's problems, is upsetting. Isabel's right that "guys can care about women's rights" is an important message, but "guys are here to solve women's problems" isn't. Obama's positions may be more pro-feminist than those of other candidates and past Presidents, but that doesn't make him superman. His role should be supporting and implementing the measures women (the true supers in our movement) are fighting for. The fact that Ms. could not conceive of such a role for a man, President or not, shows the limits of their imagination and intellect.
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