Feminisms in Motion

Make/shift magazine is a brand new publication that,

Creates and documents contemporary feminist culture and action by publishing journalism, critical analysis, and visual and text art. Made by an editorial collective committed to antiracist, transnational, and queer perspectives, make/shift embraces the multiple and shifting identities of feminist communities.

Hot. I couldn't help subscribing.

The first issue came out Spring/Summer 2007, the second issue is due out on September 18, and they are accepting submissions for the third issue. Any investigative journalism; photojournalism; critical essays; personal essays; profiles of feminists activists, artists, projects, and thinkers; fiction and poetry; art and photography; book, maga/zine, film, art, and event reviews; and hybrid pieces. And make/shift pays. Hurry up though because submissions received before September 1 receive priority.

A Series of Poems About Last Night

The Shakes
It’s hard to write
As my hands still shake
With unusual rage.
Like yours did last night,
Longing for booze.


Her Fault
Maybe it was graphic,
I mean, she was raped.
And you, you had to hear about it.
That must have been difficult,
Men shouldn’t be put through that.

She’s making herself a victim you say,
Of a violent rape.
Not working through it your way,
Her problem, her fault,
She deserved it anyway.


Hillary
One presidential candidate
Does not prove our equality
When I can’t get Plan B
At my local pharmacy.


You Hate Feminists
You told me you hate feminists.
My beer in your hand,
Make yourself at home.

You told me you hate feminists.
Angry complainers,
Getting raped and murdered.

You told me you hate feminists.
How dare they teach classes,
Tell stories, be activists.

You told me you hate feminists.
Drink up, get out,
Go fuck yourself.

Voting While Female: 87 Years and Counting

Happy Women's Equality Day!

superbad=superhomophobic

okay, i'll just admit it. last night i saw superbad. i'm not even going to make any excuses; i love george michael (michael cera of arrested development) and i couldn't wait to see him in his very own movie. so i bought my ticket, put on my bathroom humor hat, and sat back to enjoy the show.

unfortunately, what could have been a sweet and raunchy movie about endearingly self-deprecating losers trying to get laid was completely overshadowed by the gratuitous use of the word faggot. am i only one who finds this disturbing and not in the least funny? apparentally i was the only one in the theatre, because the audience was ROARING everytime the main character called his dorky friend fogell "faggle" in a fit of hetero rage.

seth rogen (co-writer) and judd apatow (producer) are the current golden boys of geek humor. we have given them the green light to go ahead and give us the underdog hero. We're tired of the hot guy who cheats, or doesn't call--bring on the dork who listens and puts the pussy on a pedestal. but instead of the thinking person's american pie, superbad is a testimony to the hegemony of homophobia-it's like air. imagine if a movie came out today in which the main characters used the n word at least once in every scene. right, that wouldn't happen. even though we still tie gay people to the backs of trucks and drag them until they die, it's okay to have a movie for kids that shows the heroes using the word faggot.

in light of the country's (and the world's) attitude towards gay people, i found the insidiousness of the homophobia in this het-fest chilling. it's just too small a leap from hate language to hate violence-what if at the end of the movie fogell had told his best friends that he was a fag? it might've turned into a high school version of boys don't cry.

when isaiah washington said the word faggot to his gay co-worker, he had to go to rehab. when chunky disheveled teenager seth says it to his well-groomed effeminate friend, we laugh. what kind of a fucked up message are we sending?

Mr. Rogen and Mr. Apatow, you seem like intelligent men. Your humor can be edgy, vicious, and hysterically funny. You do not need to rely on faggot jokes, fat jokes, retard jokes and ethnic jokes, like some of the less talented in the industry. these only detract from the quality of your work and perpetuate hate.

to sum it all up, this movie is only worth seeing if you rent it and can fast forward through any part where michael cera isn't speaking, or if you really hate gay people.

Blogging on B

In case you were looking to do some extracurricular birth control reading while slacking off at work, Naral Pro-Choice America is featuring guest bloggers writing about Plan B on their blog every day this week. Contributors include:

Priscilla Huang: Policy & Programs Director with the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF), which connects and empowers Asian American women by providing them a venue to bond and share their experiences with one another

Susan Berke Fogel with the National Health Law Program (NHeLP), which seeks to improve health care for America's working and unemployed poor, minorities, the elderly, and people with disabilities

Miriam Perez: Advocacy Associate with the National Latina Institute, which ensures the fundamental human right to reproductive health for Latinas, their families, and their communities through public education, policy advocacy, and community mobilization.

These amazing women are sure to offer some interesting perspectives so be sure to check them out!

Full Moon

And Alvin Lau goes straight to the top of the Decent Guys List.

Shout out to (f)Emily of MadFemmePride for the link.

avenue q

we went to see avenue q this weekend and it was fabulous. as nick put it: it was like sesame street for adults.

it had music, puppets and "real" people and conveyed a few messages amidst comedy and catchy songs.

i assumed, like many others, that it was going to be mostly about being queer. that avenue q stands for queer. actually, i think its just a fictional place (like sesame street) based off of alphabet city in new york.

it's not mostly about being queer. the lead puppets are straight and it has a very minor sub plot about coming out. it's mostly about life and finding your purpose.

i asked numerous friends (not for lack of company, we went with a huge group) to come and see the show with us that declined and i felt that it stemmed from their homophobia or just their general disinterest in something that doesn't encompass their perspective.

it's so frustrating! most of them were straight white men, but also straight women and straight men of color. their automatic assumption was that it would have nothing to do with them and therefore why engage/support/attend a performance that does not encompass their perspective.

why not? why is it so hard to do something every once in awhile that is outside of yourself.

god, why do i even care!? i feel like i'm always looking for a new and challenging experience and it shocks me that so many people around me don't share that...

or maybe its just that i really loved avenue q and i feel so sad that its perception as a gay theater piece causes people who would love it not to go at all.

i guess it's just their loss, but it still makes me sad.

Ani Anyone?

Maybe it's because I'm in such a major transition time (Boston in two weeks), but I'm in Ani obsession mode right now and I was hoping you might join me. You can watch some videos featuring Ani on the right hand side of this blog, check out her website, or repeatedly google the names of her partner and child until you finally find their photos. I'm assuming that I will snap out of it once my new life gets rolling, but all I can do now is cut my hair, get tatted up, and listen to Ani in anticipation.

I haven't quite gotten to this point myself, but here is a video that reflects how I'm feeling. I imagine that most of you can relate.

to the birthday bitch

hey women,

just wanted to document this momentous occasion...23 years ago today, kristin jane conover entered the world. a shining star even from infancy, she glows ever brighter with each passing year. as she created this space for us to share ourselves with ourselves, i thought it was only appropriate that i pay tribute here.

kristin, happy birthday! you are a wonderful woman and i'm so glad we have you.
i wish you an absolutely fabulous day, and many many many happy returns.
much love from the other half of the show

*WE DO WHAT WE WANT*

Back in my day, girls played ball too!

In a feeble attempt to make time move faster, while sweating away on the gym treadmill, I tend to subject myself to television programs I wouldn’t wish on a Nazi or a pedophile. Yesterday, with my eyes glued to ESPN, I had the great fortune to catch a piece on “chatter” in little league baseball. The segment focused on how nowadays baseball chatter, such as “Hey batter batter batter, swiiiing, batter batter batter”, and dugout chants had gotten out of hand. Coaches and fans were interviewed to attest to their horror at the terrible sportsmanship these chants brought to the game. They stumbled over popular grandfather-ish sentiments, “It wasn’t like this back in my day,” and Christian pseudo-morality, “It just isn’t right.”

Now maybe this doesn’t raise your blood pressure, but even recalling these righteous sports fans, mine goes through the roof. Giving them the benefit of the doubt, however, I considered that maybe the chants had become more offensive since I was on the diamond. Of course this thought quickly faded as the cameras turned on the young chanting boys and I was hit with my own recognition of their cheers. Not only were they no more offensive than my mid-nineties softball chants, they were the exact same ones!

My anger was short-lived however when I was struck by my own familiarity with the game. I played softball for ten years, where were the girls’ teams on this program? Our games were overrun with chatter and chanting, how could they have completely forgotten about young female players? As I continued to watch, I became increasingly frustrated. If the footage had been only girls instead of boys, there is no way it would have gone by without comment. On the other hand, this segment became just another example of how males are not only the prototypical ball players, but also the prototypical human beings. Baseball aside, females make up the majority of the world’s population, but still we are deemed a deviation from the male norm. Maybe most folks assume that ESPN isn’t the most equality-minded station on the planet, but it’s still sad that their audience is being subjected to this kind of implicit sexism.

how things end

ten people got shot
while we shared a blunt on the roof
burned in a hot sleep
woke on opposite sides of the bed

...and my heart lays like a crushed soda can

2 in the morning
we sat solemn like mourners
smoking cigarettes in the dark and
pillaging what the dead had left

...new plates to replace the ones he broke; no stand-ins for broken people

rats run the kitchen
the walls stink and sweat and
i cross my fingers for just a piece of him
at the top of the stairs

...yet i have no concept of your loss

a fossil of what was
what will never be again
we evolved too fast between these sheets
between these streets

...and even garbage looks fresh in the morning

pull/pull away
today we can't pretend anymore
i said goodbye and i meant it
walked away wondering who those bullets were meant for

Homogeneous Republican Candidates on Your Rights

I can't imagine that any of you pro-choicers were planning on going GOP next year, but just in case here's a friendly reminder of what these men think of your rights.

This video was sent out this morning in the NARAL Pro-Choice e-newsletter. Thanks Meg for the heads up!