In a show of humorous feminist triumph, a group of South Korean women organized the eleventh annual Anti-Miss Korea Festival to celebrate the seventh anniversary of the death of the beauty pageant in South Korea...
Last month I watched German electronic band Mouse on Mars light the crowd on fire at Soho, a posh nightclub in Kolkata, India. A hundred desi girls and boys bounced awkwardly around the tiny dance floor—beer in one hand, cigarette in the other—as the experimental techno screaming from the speakers deafened everyone temporarily. This is not the India you see in Bollywood movies.
Imagine being teased and harassed by your peers--“You’re gay!” “You’re girlie!” “You’re a fag!”—because you don’t conform to their expectations of you based on your gender.
Imagine that this happens every day at school.
Imagine that you are 11 years old.
What if every week your mother pleaded with the officials at your school to do something to put an end to the taunting--to no avail?
And what if one day you just couldn’t take it anymore?
"The average age of entry into prostitution today in the Untied States is 13 years old." The stories of some of the girls whose lives bear out this disturbing statistic are told in Very Young Girls, one of three documentaries in recent years that examine the lives of black girls and women.
During the '08 campaign season, I cringed at comments made about former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s “hotness” and at the idea of the porno “Nailin’ Sarah Palin”--even though Palin's politics, her demeanor, and pretty much everything about her, made me throw up in my mouth a little. And to be sure, if Palin had become vice president, continued objectification of her and ongoing commentary about her of sexual nature would have bugged me to no end--even as I packed up and headed to Canada. And yet...
When people talk about Madonna as a symbol of female empowerment, I have to ask, "Empowering to whom?" Certainly not to the black and brown people populating her Sex book, her videos, or her film Truth or Dare. It is through this lens of Madonna's messy racial and sexual politics that I viewed her adoption of a child from Malawi three years ago, and her recent, thus-far-unsuccessful effort to adopt a second child there.
Social Commentary
South Korean Feminists Look Good in a Tiara
In a show of humorous feminist triumph, a group of South Korean women organized the eleventh annual Anti-Miss Korea Festival to celebrate the seventh anniversary of the death of the beauty pageant in South Korea...
Introducing... 'On the Map'
Last month I watched German electronic band Mouse on Mars light the crowd on fire at Soho, a posh nightclub in Kolkata, India. A hundred desi girls and boys bounced awkwardly around the tiny dance floor—beer in one hand, cigarette in the other—as the experimental techno screaming from the speakers deafened everyone temporarily. This is not the India you see in Bollywood movies.
A Bitch in Black Round-Up
Mike Tyson's "confession", The Pocketbook Monologues, un-beweavable Oprah, Pulitzer winners, and Farai Chideya's "Kiss.."...
A black Muslim, a priest, and an Episcopalian walk into a bar…
*wait for it*
In Memoriam
Imagine being teased and harassed by your peers--“You’re gay!” “You’re girlie!” “You’re a fag!”—because you don’t conform to their expectations of you based on your gender.
Imagine that this happens every day at school.
Imagine that you are 11 years old.
What if every week your mother pleaded with the officials at your school to do something to put an end to the taunting--to no avail?
And what if one day you just couldn’t take it anymore?
Art + Domestic Violence Redux
This comes on the heels of my previous post about art and domestic violence.
John Waters' pop art portrayal of the relationship between Ike and Tina Turner is all-too-accurate.
The Souls (and Hair) of Black Girls
"The average age of entry into prostitution today in the Untied States is 13 years old." The stories of some of the girls whose lives bear out this disturbing statistic are told in Very Young Girls, one of three documentaries in recent years that examine the lives of black girls and women.
Say It Loud: "Obama is sexy!"
During the '08 campaign season, I cringed at comments made about former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s “hotness” and at the idea of the porno “Nailin’ Sarah Palin”--even though Palin's politics, her demeanor, and pretty much everything about her, made me throw up in my mouth a little. And to be sure, if Palin had become vice president, continued objectification of her and ongoing commentary about her of sexual nature would have bugged me to no end--even as I packed up and headed to Canada. And yet...
I think President Barack Obama is smokin' hot.
"Like a Rejection": Madonna Denied
When people talk about Madonna as a symbol of female empowerment, I have to ask, "Empowering to whom?" Certainly not to the black and brown people populating her Sex book, her videos, or her film Truth or Dare. It is through this lens of Madonna's messy racial and sexual politics that I viewed her adoption of a child from Malawi three years ago, and her recent, thus-far-unsuccessful effort to adopt a second child there.
Update to Problematic Cartoon: NY Post Apologizes...Sort Of
Audio Smut