Bitch Media

A HE-cession? I'm not buying it.

DigiBitch post by Kelsey Wallace on May 6, 2009 - 12:58pm; tagged ABC News, Charlie Gibson, economics, employment, feminism, gender roles, HE-cession, household chores, parenting, recession.

The folks at ABC World News released the second segment last night in a series they're calling "The New Gender Rules." Apparently, men are being hit harder by the recession than women (though many sources say otherwise) because male-dominated fields like engineering and finance are where the majority of jobs are being lost. This, according to "The New Gender Rules," is causing a wacky shift in traditional gender roles. Guess what? Gender inequality is gone because of the recession! Goodbye sexism! Helllooo postfeminism!

Check out the first segment in the series:

The second segment, and the reasons why this series might not indicate a complete erasure of gender roles (insert sarcastic eye roll here), after the jump!

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Gee's Bend Quiltmaker Collective

Art and Design post by Briar Levit on May 6, 2009 - 10:36am; tagged African-American art, African-American quilts, Alabama, art, Artist collective, Bill Arnett, Gee's Bend, Gee's Bend Collective, outsider art, Pettway family, quilt-making, quilts, Southern art, women and art, women of color.

I first saw a selection of the Gee's Bend quilts at The Museum of African Diaspora in San Francisco. I'd never had anything against quilts before that, they just never struck me all that much. I couldn't deny that socially, they can bring women and family together in making and sharing them, but the generally rigid/symmetrical patterns, and often pastel colors and mixed floral prints, didn't grab me. But when I laid eyes on a Gee's Bend quilt for the first time, I was truly moved by not just the story behind it, but moved on a gutteral level by the beauty of the object itself.

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Time's 100 Most Influential List, by the Numbers

Social Commentary post by Deesha Philyaw on May 6, 2009 - 10:15am; tagged black women, lists, Time magazine, women of color.

Who is this woman? And why is she on Time's list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World? Read on for the answers and for my look at the list, by the numbers.

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Individualism Is Not Enough

Social Commentary post by Mandy Van Deven on May 5, 2009 - 11:39pm; tagged 000 Women Scholarship, 10, fashion, Nigeria, social entrepreneur.

After years of a successful law career left Nigerian Temituokpe Esisi frustrated at her country’s stagnant economy, she decided to switch careers to help empower other women by starting her own tailoring and fashion design business, Tuopsy’s Enterprises, that would not only employ women, but also provide them with an education to help them better their own circumstances.

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I Love (an Idealized, Hypermasculine Version of) College: An Update

Music post by Malori Maloney on May 5, 2009 - 9:53pm; tagged appropriation, Asher Roth, college, hip hop, I Love College, race politics.

A few weeks back, Kelsey blogged about Asher Roth's heteronormative, hypermasculinized, fratboy-centric conception of college. Though Kelsey deemed Roth to be singing in a serious as opposed to satirical tone, I couldn't help but suspect that despite a Wikipedia page corroborating Kelsey's assertion, Roth was cleverly fooling us all and someday he would reveal his true identity as a down-to-earth funny guy who just wanted to make some sort of social commentary on stereotypical white upper middle class college student culture. Had this been the case, I could have continued to enjoy what I thought might be a mockery of said stereotypical white middle class college student culture, but alas, Roth's music is for realz and the popularity of "I Love College" is on the rise.

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Conditions: Five

Books post by Deesha Philyaw on May 5, 2009 - 7:31pm; tagged black feminists, Conditions magazine, feminist magazines, intersectionality, race.

A few years ago, I found a book-length literary magazine, Conditions:Five, amongst the discarded and donated books on the shelves in a local coffeehouse. I skimmed through it that day, just long enough to finish my cup of chai, before placing it back on the shelf. At the time, I had no idea that I'd held such a rich piece of history in my hands.

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Learning To...Say Goodbye

Art and Design post by Brittany Shoot on May 5, 2009 - 3:03pm; tagged art, collaboration, media, websites.

One of the web's longest running participatory art projects came to an end last week. For seven years, Learning To Love You More cataloged art "assignments" ranging from photographing strangers holding hands to acting out someone else's argument.

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