Anyone who has actually listened to actresses and other women in the entertainment industry knows that the sexual harassment that’s currently creating a scandal in Hollywood and (hopefully) ending careers of powerful executives has been going on since the film and music industries began in the early 20th century.
BUT MEN DON’T GET IT.
I was never much for Disney princesses growing up. None of them ever spoke to me. I was more into characters like Simba from Lion King. I suppose, for whatever reason, I was more concerned with the personality and journey of the character than their gender. Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Jasmine, Ariel…none of them did anything for me. I don’t even remember thinking they were particularly pretty. I liked Megara from Hercules a little, but I was more about Pegasus, Hercules, and Hades in that movie. The complex characters with clear goals and inner journeys were always the ones who appealed to me. (And animals. Being an animal makes a big difference to me.)
Continue reading “Role Models for Girls: The Good, the Evil, and the Frozen”
This week’s episode of the Washington Post series Constitutional is titled Gender.* It’s hosted by Lillian Cunningham, with guests Library of Congress historian Julie Miller and Feminist Majority Foundation president Ellie Smeal. This episode traces the fight to have women recognized by the US Constitution, allowed to vote, and then to be recognized as equal to men. It’s an excellent episode, informative and interesting, with some very early history that I had no idea existed. I encourage you all to listen to the podcast or read the transcript.
But the commenters also feel the need to critique the early suffragettes’ looks and fashion choices, which, to be fair, is a standard part of the discussion when the suffragettes come up. But, really? Do we mock Abraham Lincoln’s and Ulysses S. Grant’s looks and weight every time they come up? As female professionals, couldn’t these podcasters have taken a different approach?
Continue reading “Elizabeth Cady Stanton: Why, What Have You Heard?”
On Sunday, while I was traveling and wasting my life explaining my issues with the Frozen adaptation, Kai Cole, Joss Whedon’s ex-wife and partner of almost 20 years, published an open essay explaining the reasons for their divorce. Turns out Whedon cheated on his wife for most of their marriage and lied to his wife about it for the entire time. He had affairs with the actresses he worked with, other co-workers, fans, and friends. Never mind the dubious nature of Whedon sleeping with fans who worshiped him and actresses who worked for him. All the while, he was also presenting himself to the world as a champion of women, as someone who was fighting for women’s rights. A woman’s right to be used by a powerful man was what he meant, apparently.
Since I heard about the extremely controversial casting of Scarlett Johansson in “Ghost in the Shell,” I’ve been about as enraged by it as anyone. At first, I resolved not to see the film in protest. As a woman, I understand how meaningful it can be to see yourself represented in mainstream media. It makes you feel seen and accepted by your society, your people. It makes you feel like an equal and someone who matters. And as a lover of women in general, I don’t want to see any kind of woman shut out of our culture’s media. Every kind of woman, no matter what she looks like or how old she is or where she comes from or who she’s attracted to or what she believes in, deserves recognition and acceptance.
The film is nauseatingly racist. In addition to the blatant racism of casting a white woman in an originally Asian female role, it reportedly attempted to yellow face some of its extras, and possibly even Johansson herself.
I had a friend once who was half Chinese and half Scottish. She was outgoing, excitable, charming, feminine, and beautiful. We took ballroom dance classes together, and that was where I first realized how marginalized Asian women are. The men looked at her like she was a sex toy – old, often married men and this 14 year old girl. They flirted with her and ogled her. She was their favorite dance partner, and it had nothing to do with her dancing ability. Her personality had quite a bit to do with it, but I’m also quite certain that her race made them feel much more confident in treating her like she existed purely for their pleasure.
I often get ads for Asian women from dating sites. I get those more than any other dating site ad. I’ve seen statistics that Asian women are the most fetishized women in America. What comes with that fetishization? Viewing them as non-human.
Which is why it was so deeply offensive for this film’s producers to take an iconic, inspiring female character like Major Motoko Kusanagi and make her the default woman that we always see on our screens, rather than an underrepresented minority who deserve to see themselves as these inspiring people.
But despite feeling so strongly about that, I also couldn’t ignore that it was a female lead, who is meant to carry the film. Now, I don’t mean to say that it is REMOTELY okay that they whitewashed this character. But I kept thinking, how often do we have a female lead in a big-budget, mainstream cyberpunk film? A woman starring in an action film is unusual enough, but what’s even more unusual is a story that focuses on the humanity, or lack thereof, of a female cyborg. The cyborg trope and the question of whether cyborgs and human-like robots should be treated as equal humans has been so deeply explored within the science fiction genre that I’m sick of contemplating those questions. (I’m a sci fi baby.) It’s a very unique way to explore the human condition, and relevant to our modern world.
That’s the hashtag that’s everywhere today, right? No, I didn’t think so. I mean, Patricia Arquette didn’t say anything to offend people by suggesting that women’s rights are as important as other causes, and the wrong movie was originally given the big award, so, as far as I can tell, virtually no one noticed that approximately THREE women gave acceptance speeches last night, and not many more won awards, even as part of a group. It was wonderful to see the diversity in the audience, as far as race and country of origin were concerned. But the women in the audience were either actresses, or plus ones. Very few were nominees for anything other than an acting award, and even fewer won. Among those who won as part of a group, almost none gave the acceptance speech. The speeches were given by the men.
Under the cut, the actual statistics on the gender of the winners and nominees.
Today (Saturday, January 21,2017), I (Metamaiden) joined millions of others around the world in marching for women’s rights. Though it was freezing for Albuquerque, it was a super fun, inspiring day, and I’m glad I got up a little earlier than I prefer (heheh) to be a part of it.
We arrived at exactly 11 AM, just as the march, which was really more like a rally, was starting. As we were crossing the street to the plaza where the march was being held, an announcer was giving guidelines for how to handle aggressors. Then, as we were starting to make our way into the crowd, the speaker said, “There are some people who don’t think there are this many people in the whole state of New Mexico!” 😏😋👏
I saw Moana on its opening night! Very exciting, and for some reason there was practically no one in the theater. Night before Thanksgiving, I suppose?
Overall, I liked it. I found it emotionally moving, and the spiritual tone was enchanting to me. It is beautifully animated, and the music is absolutely beautiful (not surprising to me, as Lin Manuel-Miranda, writer and original star of Hamilton, cowrote the music). I found the messages and themes meaningful. There were a few times when I was almost brought to tears. That said, I do have some major complaints, most of which regard Maui, which I’m trying not to let color my entire interpretation of the movie.
Spoilers below! (And an unintentionally long review.)
Continue reading “Moana Review: Female Bonding With An Unnecessary Male (Spoilers)”
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