Admirable Women

Since I have no other ideas, I'll just give you some women I happen to look up to, particularly actresses. I'll be focusing on Jennifer Lawrence and Anne Hathaway, but some other names will be dropped! I was going to do a post on abortion but... no. It's a tired debate. Besides, I'm pretty sure we're all pro-choice anyway. You're all too smart to be antis.

So! Jennifer Lawrence. Why do I love Jen? Why should you love Jen? Well, not only is she an incredibly talented actress, she promotes good body image! Notice how she is very much a full-bodied woman, at least compared to a lot of Hollywood actresses. She's among the normal-looking women and completely rejects diets.

Not only do I respect her love of food (I myself have a hungry inner fat kid), but she also discourages dieting altogether. She refused to diet for her role in The Hunger Games out of fear that young girls may try to do the same, even though Katniss Everdeen is supposed to be thin and malnourished. I can only imagine how hard it is to choose between staying true to a role or wanting to stay a positive role model, and either choice is equally respectable!

Tell em

However, it is very disrespectful to ask what someone's weight is. It is completely irrelevant to how well someone can act, and, like Jen said, it just doesn't matter. She's admirable in the way she calls people out for this. Why does Hollywood have to obsess over weight all the time? Not even just Hollywood, but interviewers as well? Why can't they just focus on the freakin' movie!? The fact that people feel the need to make a big deal about  women's weight (notice how men never get asked stupid questions like this) says a lot about our society, doesn't it?

So that's Jennifer Lawrence. Not only is she a good role model in terms of body image, she's super funny. She's talented and a good person. Sure, she's made some mistakes, everybody does, but that doesn't change much!

And now for Anne Hathaway. I have a little more to say about her, as she discusses issues beyond body image alone. To get that out of the way, she did diet for her role in Les Mis. However, she absolutely refused to let anyone know what he diet plan for that was, as she wants to avoid having copycat dieters. She managed to stay true to her role and discourage dieting at the same time, and that alone is demanding of respect. I'm not sure why someone would want to look emaciated and half dead, though...

Anne calling out sexist silliness

In addition to promoting good body image, she's a firm believer in equality in general. She's an LBGTQ supporter and an avid feminist. She is humble about it instead of demanding of cookies. She knows that what she's doing is just being a decent person, yet everyone's making a big deal about it and saying she's "brave" for standing up for the rights of others. If it's considered  "brave" rather than expected to advocate equality for all, something needs to be changed!

And then there's this

I like Anne Hathaway because she tackles a lot of heavy stuff, and she's a pretty big public voice, if you know what I mean. It's important that famous people start spreading messages like this. After all, if you're not famous, who will listen to you? It sucks, but that's how it works!

Scarlett Johanssen is another woman I particularly admire. Even she's getting sick of all the body policing going on in the media. Although I'm pretty sure we all are. She also didn't respond well when she won an award along the lines of "best butt". I wish I could find where this happened, and her reaction to it, but I can't find it anywhere! You'll just have to trust me that it happened! She basically called it out for being sexist and ridiculous that the media would rather focus on her ass than her personality and ideas. You have to admit that she has a point, whether you think this is legit or not.

The best possible picture to end with

The media's policing of women's body is getting out of hand and it pisses me off to no end. Sure, lots of interviewers ask stupid questions, but how come more guys don't get any of this crap? Women are more likely to be asked a question about their fitness routine or whatever, whereas men are more likely to be asked something that actually has to do with their work. Yet another astonishing, surprising, downright MIND BLOWING double standard!!!

So that's the last post. So sad, I know. I will not be continuing this blog because I've pretty much discussed everything that's relevant and/or interesting already. Thank you all for your comments, and to everyone who stopped by! Your feedback was appreciated! Cheers!

- Carli_V

Women of Colour and the LGBTQ Community

A heavier topic. It's about time I moved onto this. I kept procrastinating it because I'm in neither of those demographics, so it's hard to speak for them accurately, but I'll do my best. If I screw something up, please let me know right away so I can fix it.

For most of the feminist movement, the only glimpse we've been getting into it is through the experiences of middle class white women. Women of colour and women in the LGBTQ community have been largely ignored throughout the years. For some reason, white feminists don't seem to view them as women, or important, and definitely not important women.

The stories and struggles and experiences of queer women have especially been swept under the rug. Every day these women have to deal with getting beaten, abused, and even raped. I've heard some horrifying stories about queer women not going into the "right" bathroom and getting beaten to a bloody pulp for it. I've heard even more about the abuse of women of colour. It's very real, and it does happen, but it often goes unnoticed because we only seem to care about white women!

I'm not saying being a white woman is bad (I'd be a hypocrite), but it is really bad that two huge groups of women who have to tolerate more abuse than average get totally ignored! Or white women end up seeing problems where there aren't any and focus all their attention on that.

For example, Muslim women who choose to wear a head piece. I just say head piece because there are many different ones and I haven't yet gotten the hang of what all the names are. Anyway, white women look at this and automatically think "oppression" even though, 9 times of 10, Muslim women are doing just fine. The vast majority choose to wear symbols of their culture, and that's not a bad thing at all! And even if they were being oppressed, they can handle themselves! Enough of the "white saviour" crap already!

I think it's common knowledge that western society is still *kind* of racist, too. It makes sense that white people wouldn't care much about racial minorities. Western society is also still super homophobic and even more transphobic. Being gay is "bad" enough, but trans* or queer? You can see where I'm going.

By denying people their personhood on the grounds of race and sexuality/gender, the feminist movement is taking a huge hit and nobody is getting the help they need. White feminists fail to acknowledge that there is a huge thing we have in common: we are women, regardless of genitals or skin colour we were born with. If someone identifies as a woman, they are a woman, and their experiences are valid, end of story. The struggles of women who aren't white or cisgender and straight need more attention than they're getting.

How are we supposed to kick patriarchy's ass if we're all divided? We don't. In fact, I think this is why feminism hasn't come as far as it could have by now. It's hard to take a gender equality movement seriously when there's in-fighting within the gender. If we were more united and inclusive, we could move mountains! (Of misogyny.)

Women of colour have made just as many contributions to women's rights as white women, yet white women always end up on top, while everyone else struggles just to get noticed. In the interest of time and typing, here's an article with information on seven notable feminists of colour and their contributions. The article lists the written works of these women if you're interested in some extra reading.

I wish I could find more on LGBTQ women, but alas, I procrastinated too long. If you happen to know of any stories (or have any of your own by any chance), feel free to share! And correct me (nicely, not social justice blogger style) if I'm wrong on something, please!

- Carli_V

Everybody Looks Nice In Pink!

Hello all! Today I'll be discussing... more clothing!

So on the weekend I was just casually strolling down King Street. Like I always do. I need a new walking route, I know. Anyway, while I was walking, I came across an interesting sight. I saw a little boy, about 5 or 6, dressed from head to toe in pink. He was wearing a pink coat, pink pants, and pink rubber boots with white hearts on them.

I was surprised at first, to be honest. It's not exactly an everyday sight. But you know what? That kid was adorable. I'm actually amazed that his mom let him dress that way. Not because I think it's bad, but because most parents wouldn't approve of their kid not wearing something that belongs to their gender (whatever that means).

I'm sure you've read one or two stories about boys dressing in "girl clothes" and girls dressing in "boy clothes". Their own parents don't care, but it still causes an uproar, more so with boys wearing feminine clothing. We've all seen this. We've all seen guys getting bullied for wearing pink or pastel "girly" clothes. It's sad, but it happens, silly as it is.

If anyone's having trouble reading this, let me know!

Why do we assign gender to clothing? And how come girls can wear guy clothes, but it can't be the other way around? Why is it more acceptable for women to dress like men than it is for men to dress like women? What's going on here?

My theory is that feminine clothing is seen as feminine, and femininity is generally seen as a weakness. If you dress "like a woman", you must have the qualities of a woman, which is a really bad thing to be in this misogynistic society. I think we're also all familiar with the stereotypical "butch" type feminist that condemns anything feminine, which is actually kind of super bad because it's severely detrimental to the feminist movement because goes against what feminism is actually about (and makes the rest of us look bad).

Tell em

This theory makes the most sense to me. It would also explain why feminine clothing tends to be more impractical. I love dresses, but most of them are too delicate to handle my regular daily life, so they're saved for special occasions. And what the hell are "jeggings"? And why are women's t-shirts always so slim and uncomfortable and impossible for the average person to squeeze into?

Women aren't "meant" to do anything but sit there and look nice, which explains high heels. At least feminine women have this problem. So you understand now why boys wearing pink is a big deal to some people. What other people wear is a big priority in people's lives, I find.

This can also be an issue with some parents. In fact, more parents seem to care about children's attire than the kids themselves do! Since femininity is seen as weak and shameful, they project their beliefs onto their children whether their children like it or not. If a boy wants to wear pink zebra striped flats, more often than not, he won't be allowed to. It doesn't help that we also call guys who wear "girl" clothes horrible names. Do I really have to list any of them?

I freakin love the Batman one okay

Girl clothes are awesome. A common mistake among feminists is dismissing femininity as weak. It's ironic because the whole "femininity = women = weak" is a patriarchal idea, which only gets reinforced when feminists look down upon women who like to dress in feminine clothes. Feminine does not mean weak, by any means at all, and it's a silly assumption to make.

So... yeah! Everybody looks nice in pink! Boys, girls, people who don't fit into the gender binary! Why is pink even a "girl colour" anyway? It's a colour...? Whatever! Like I keep saying, clothes aren't offensive, it's the ideas we have around them that are. Clothes are as offensive as we choose to make them.

- Carli_V

Sexuality: How Young Is Too Young?

I was asked by someone (who will not be identified) an interesting and difficult question. It's something tricky that I never even thought seriously about until it was mentioned, although I was expecting someone to ask eventually.

The question is this: when is it appropriate for young girls to dress to be sexy?

This issue is incredibly easy to trip over your own feet with. It's completely a matter of taste. It depends on the girl's parents and how comfortable they are with it, along with how much control they want to have over their child. I know some parents that wouldn't even let their kid wear short shorts until she's at least 17, and some that will let their 9-year-old wear a crop top.

It was pointed out that girls dressing in revealing clothing probably aren't aware that they're dressing in a provocative manner. Note that at the age I'm thinking about, 5-10, most kids don't know a whole lot about sex. The only reason we see it as dressing "sexy" is because we associate the clothes they're wearing with sexuality, whether kids have any concept of sexuality or not.

Girls could also feel the need to dress that way because they're influenced by what they see in the media. I've noticed a lot of parents are making this out to be some sort of epidemic. I mean you don't have to look far to see partial nudity. Turn on Much Music for ten minutes and you will see tummies and arms and cleavage and legs all over the place.

I can see how girls might end up looking up to these people and seeing them as role models. I agree that this is problematic, for sure, but I believe the parents are mostly responsible for this. If you don't want your kid exposed to sexuality at an early age, just turn the TV off and monitor their friends. You know, be a parent!

Those TVs suck kids right in

Some parents don't really care, though. And then you have moms like in Toddlers And Tiaras. Oh, yay! Time for a rant!

Toddlers and Tiaras is just gross. I think we can all agree with this. Pageants alone are bad enough (any beauty contest just makes me want to throw up), but dressing 4-year-olds up in sexy outfits and pretty much making them look like hookers? And for what? So the mom can win a trophy and some money? And at what cost!? Any number of things can happen to these kids because of the treatment they get. Most turn into spoiled brats and it's worrying that they may grow up to see themselves as a sexual object.

Me too

There's a difference between dressing sexy because you feel comfortable doing it and dressing sexy because you legitimately feel worthless if you don't. Shows like Toddlers and Tiaras can very easily cause this to happen to those little girls 10 years from now. I mean just look at how the mothers treat them when they don't do everything perfectly. They yell at their children (which borders on verbal abuse) and start getting the gym teacher mentality. Do I need to explain what this does to a person's self-esteem?

Barbies and Tiaras

What's even more unfortunate is that most of the girls on the show are too young to understand why what their parents are making them do will be harmful to them in the long run. Actually, most kids, pageants or no pageants, have any idea what the ramifications of their actions are. 90% of the time, they have no idea what they're doing.

This entry is getting long, so I'll try to wrap it up. I think if it's okay with the parents that a girl is dressing provocatively, and that it's obvious that the child legitimately wants to dress that way because they want to, then that's up to them. However, if it's broadcast on television (as in exploitation), then we have a problem. We can't really control what people do in their private lives anyway. The shift in how we see people who wear revealing clothes also needs to happen in order for it to be a little more acceptable for younger girls to dress how they want.

Like I said, this is a tricky subject. Besides, the majority of younger girls I see don't really wear sexy clothes. I see it most in the summer, which is perfectly understandable. It's better to have everything out than to slowly bake in your clothes just because of other people.

I say it's appropriate to dress sexy whenever the parents deem it to be, and/or whenever the child is ready. I don't think we really have a say in how this happens anyway. I think as long as they're happy and still get to be kids, it's all right with me!

- Carli_V

Sexism in Video Games and Comic Books

We all know that there is sexism in video games and comic books. Anyone who thinks they can deny this is either blind, delusional, or really dumb. (Or a man.)

The obvious reason behind the sexism is that video games and comic books were originally meant to appeal to men. It makes sense that guy things that guys like would be in video games and comic books. It also makes sense that women are poorly represented physically. The portrayal of women in vids and comics has always catered to male sexual fantasies because, well, it's "for men"!

However, video games and comic books have spread across all genders. Sexism is still a thing because the people who design these video games and comic books just don't see how what they're doing is sexist. They blatantly deny it, even. It doesn't help that the majority of comic book artist are plain stubborn and refuse to alter their "style".

Let me just say this about "style". I'm an artist. I draw things. I have a style. But my drawings are still anatomically correct. You can't completely ignore anatomy for the sake of style. Also, when someone criticizes your work, you're supposed to listen to their suggestions, especially when people think your drawings are completely inaccurate in an offensive way. 11-year-olds on DeviantArt are better at accepting criticism than comic book artists!

I don't even

And that's what I think about style. Since I've already started on drawing style, I'll just move on to comic books in general, and the female heroins involved. Not only are many of the poses women are drawn in unrealistic and utterly agonizing just to look at, some of the characters designs are just. Yes, it's so bad that I can't finish my sentence.

Okay. Here's a makeshift female comic book character design drinking game:

• Cleavage window: take a shot
• Midriff exposed: take a shot
• Sides exposed: take a shot
• No cover on legs whatsoever: take two shots
• Long hair: take a shot
• Absurdly large boobs: take a shot
• Absurdly large butt: take a shot
• Body type that doesn't match chest and butt size: take two shots

You'd be in the hospital after flipping through one comic book, particularly one with female superheroes. Don't actually do this, you might die. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that female comic book characters tend to hyper-sexualized for the sake of it and they're designs come out impractical.

Really.

A movement against this appeared on the internet a while ago. It's called the Hawkeye Initiative. I highly suggest you click that link. You will find some funny stuff! But if you don't really feel like it, the Hawkeye Initiative takes ridiculous poses and draws Hawkeye doing the same thing. If you haven't seen The Avengers, Hawkeye is a male superhero. So it's basically drawing a male superhero the same way a female superhero/villain in a comic book would be drawn. This is to point out how ridiculous it is.

That's Hawkeye on the far left there

And here's an article with more examples of ridiculous female superhero poses. Whether you read comic books or not, the sexism is still pretty gross. There are comic books out there that actually represent women in a realistic and practical way, but they don't happen to get much mainstream success, which is very unfortunate.

And now for video games. Pretty much the same thing: designs that hyper-sexualize female characters just for the sake of it. They will sexualize anything that happens to be female. Even a damn circle!

Yes, they did that. That actually happened. And it doesn't stop there. People will also try to decide what video games are appropriate for what gender. "Girl" games are typically anything that involves pink, princesses, simulations, fashion games, you know, flaky girly nonsense. "Boy" games are typically anything that involves adventure, war, shooting, horror/sci-fi/fantasy themes, you know, cool and interesting stuff. The games that are actually fun and worth playing (IMO)!

Why is it assumed that girls don't like anything that isn't "girly"? Now, girls liking girly things isn't the problem. It's forcing femininity on girls, saying that they can only be interested in feminine things, that's the problem. I've seen parents that just won't let their children get a certain game because it's not a "girl" game or a "boy" game. Because you can assign genders to video games apparently.

Do I need to go into great depth about how some female characters in video games have totally unrealistic designs? As in absurdly voluptuous with impractical clothing? There are some video games I've seen where the female protagonist was obviously designed and made for men. Tomb Raider and Haunting Grounds, for instance. I've noticed a steady decline in this, though, so I won't dwell on it.

I think this post is ready for a closing. Eh, I've made my point. Have fun looking around for pictures of real people trying to do comic book poses!

- Carli_V

Makeup

So there's another weird thing going on. More people thinking they have the authority to dictate other people's lives. Of course. Because body and sex policing wasn't enough, we have freakin' makeup policing now!

This post won't just be about the demonizing of women who wear makeup. This includes boob jobs, wearing certain clothes, colouring your hair etc. So basically, everything we girls do to make ourselves presentable. The word "presentable" means different things to different people, but, naturally, lots of people still think their personal definition is the only "right" one.

Snooki lady don't give a shit

I'm seen a lot of girls hating on other girls for wearing makeup and getting fake tans and all that crap. By hating, I mean taking the piss out of. Endless ridicule and general nastiness because people look a certain way that others happen to dislike. People who do the whole makeup and fake tan thing are often labelled as fake, sluts, or fake sluts.

I used to be in the same boat. Notice how I used to do a lot of the things I'm now totally against. That's some great character development there. Now I realize that other people making themselves look a certain way isn't bad or wrong. It's all up to them and whatever makes them feel comfortable.

Yet we still assume that the only reason a girl would wear makeup is either due to insecurity or because she's trying to impress someone. I know that plenty of girls do this, and it's not really a bad thing. I'd probably do the same thing. The only reason I don't wear makeup is because it's expensive and I don't have the motivation or time. But do you see me judging other people for wearing it?

If someone wants to take the time, effort, and money to make themselves look a certain way, I say let them. It has no effect on my life whatsoever, so I won't get my panties all up in a bunch. That's just dumb. I'm pretty sure most women put effort into their makeup because they feel like it or really want to. Besides, nobody wants to have their breakouts and baggy eyes hanging out for all the world to see.

It's the same principle for every other alteration women make to their bodies. If they want to shave, let them. If not, cool. If they want to get implants, sure, go ahead. If not, still cool. Spray tan? Well, why not! See, it may not be "real", but that's the version of themselves that they want to present. If that's what it takes to make them feel comfortable and confident, great for them.

Notice how you never hear these people complaining about it. They don't complain about doing their hair and makeup for an hour. I actually love doing my hair and makeup. It's like drawing a picture or painting. It's creating a style for yourself that you like. It's making an image of yourself that's aesthetically pleasing and also a form of expression.

So if these women (or men) are happy doing what they're doing, why act like a miserable dick? Also, if they're as insecure as we tend to think they are, won't shaming them just make them feel worse? Do people really not see how shaming anyone for doing harmless things is insanely counter-productive (and just silly)?

These are the thoughts that keep me awake at night. And also wondering what happened to those fish from Finding Nemo. Yeah. I have to go for a walk now. Bye.

- Carli_V

Sex Workers

Hello all. I am too tired for exclamation points. Today I'll be talking to you about women working in the sex industry. The sex industry includes jobs such as exotic/pole dancing, prostitution, porn, stripping, etc. You get the idea.

You already know my opinion on sluts and, by extension, my opinion on women's sex lives in general. It should left alone. To recap, women should be allowed to freely express themselves in whatever way they want as long they're comfortable and not harming anyone else. That's the whole point of feminism, so of course I wouldn't be putting sex workers in a negative light.

The only time sex work is a problem is when women are forced to do it because of poverty and are not protected by legislation in any way. That is the case for most women who do sex work; they need the extra cash to sustain themselves (and their families). Sure, some women do it just because they genuinely enjoy it. I'd take up pole dancing myself if I didn't look like a sloth.

How

Society tends to look down on sex workers. Notice how in the news, the news anchor is more likely to say "a man killed two prostitutes" rather than "two women" and they won't spend more than 30 seconds on the story. This is because prostitutes aren't even seen as people. Sex workers in general are seen as less than human because they're "selling themselves" for money.

Why? These women have lives. They have feelings, thoughts, emotions, dreams, and in a lot of instances, children and families. Yet we never really think about that. We never consider why sex workers do sex work in the first place. We dismiss them instead of really thinking about and understanding what sort of circumstances force women to do this.

There's also that annoying myth of personal responsibility. If you have to "sell your body" (again with the degrading language) to put food on the table, you dun goofed up. You were too lazy and slutty and stupid to be able to have a "good" or "real" job. You don't need experience or training to be a stripper or pole dancer or porn star or whatever, right?

Wrong. Strippers and pole dancers alone need years of experience with ballet and gymnastics. Most pole dancers have dancing experience of some sort. They need to work out every day and stay healthy and fit in order to pull the stunts they do. Do you know how hard it is to physically strain yourself for an entire night and still look damn good while doing it? I look like I got hit by a train after just 20 minutes of light exercise (yeah I'm out of shape but that's not the point).

What is gravity

Also, if you're a porn star, you have to look perfect. That's thousands of dollars of plastic surgery we're talking about. Even your private parts might have to be altered (yes they can do that) if they don't look good enough for those closeups.

Prostitution's a bit different. Many of the women that are forced to be prostitutes are either poor or have been tricked into being integrated into the sex trade. Many of these women are then abused physically, emotionally, and sexually. But, of course, since prostitutes are dehumanized, there's little to no help available for them. Nobody feels the need to help them because they're regarded as parasites.

^A video that promotes a campaign called Stop the Traffik^

Prostitution is still illegal in most places, too, so if a prostitute is raped or assaulted, she can't go to the police because she was breaking the law, which is plain old unfair and unjust. Also, rape culture is a thing. Because the woman is a prostitute, it isn't seen as rape because she has sex all the time anyway. There's also that video up there, which reveals how many women really do end up in the sex trade/industry (there's a difference).

My point is that these women we call "prostitutes/whores/hookers/strippers" are people just like you and me. They're people with their own lives, some including families, poverty, or abuse and exploitation. We all have to make a living somehow, and we shouldn't be shaming other people for not doing it in a way that we personally approve of. I'm not expecting anyone to commend or look up to sex workers, but respect and equal treatment really isn't asking a lot.

- Carli_V