OK, first things first. I love Beyonce. There is no point in me pretending otherwise. I think she is an amazing performer and I totally heart her catchy dance jams. But there is more to Beyonce than a solid hook and a hot ass, and it’s time we all took a moment to recognize.
Though her name may not make it onto a plaque in the Feminist Hall of Fame (OMG, wouldn’t it be fun if there was a Feminist Hall of Fame?), Beyonce injects a healthy dose of female empowerment into just about everything she touches. She is like a feminist King Midas (right down to the gold accessories). Sure, Beyonce's not perfect, but she explores and challenges gender politics in a way that we rarely see from Top 40 pop stars. To help make my point, I give you the Beyonce power pack. A collection of music videos, audio (including a gabfest-style podcast discussion on the topic), and links that will arm you with all of the information you need to answer the burning question, Is Beyonce a feminist icon in the making?
Some days you wake up to the right light coming through the window, that good song with the hand claps and the trombone in your head, and you don’t mind the slush at your feet or the hole (in the crotch) in your pants. Your coffee’s good and things just seem like they’re alright. And then you run into this….
E! wants us to know just how smart the girls of The Girls Next Door are. Their bios at E! Online even include a "Beauty & Brains" section which detail their ambitions and accomplishments (outside of posing nude).
But if we're supposed to give the Girls credit for intelligence, autonomy, or just plain-old professionalism, then what's with the show's producers constantly undermining them? Post-production sound effects and editing portray these women of "beauty and brains" as silly, vapid, and even ridiculous.
Normally, I could give a shit if I'm fat or skinny--I function much along the same lines as Rosie O'Donnell when she said she simply doesn't pay attention to her body enough to know if she is fat or skinny or a spaghetti noodle. I'm the same way.
But being a lover of sports, being a lover of 'movement'--I find myself forced to confront the fact that I am fat almost every single time I step outside my door in my tennis shoes and jogging pants.
I was all prepared to write a blog post about this BBC article titled, "Rom-coms 'spoil your love life,'" but then I realized Amelie Gilette from the A.V. Club had already said just about everything I wanted to say about it in this post. Still, I wanted to post it here, in case anyone missed it. Check it out and give us your thoughts!
The Women Film Critics Circle (WFCC) have announced their list of 2008 award winners. The WFCC awards recognize films by and about women that reflect the lives of women as well as positive images of women on screen. It's a far more diverse list than anything you're likely to see from other critics this year - and it even includes a bonus hall of shame! The full list of awards after the jump...
Climb aboard our little time-traveling contraption and set the dial to the year 1990, friends, because we are going on a little ride to the past. Of course, 1990 isn't all that long ago—one could barely consider it history in most cases—but keep in mind that in hip-hop years, two decades is like two centuries.
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