Introducing Music Monday's

I would like to introduce Music Monday's. I will gladly admit I am addicted to music Music is my voice. It speaks for me when I can't find the words. I have therefore decided to find some songs that I love because I believe they give an amazing message. Maybe you will relate to the song, maybe you wont. Music is a personal medium so who really knows. You wont unless you listen! :)

For today I picked a song by one of my all time favourite artists, Michael Franti and Spearhead. Hope you all enjoy!

Michael Franti and Spearhead - "Hey, Hey, Hey"

New Lows for TV Commercials

I came across these videos on another feminist blog and became appalled. I thought that while by no means perfect our advertising was improving. I guess I was very mistaken. Apparently we are telling women directly they cannot drink Dr. Pepper because it is much a manly drink, and telling young girls that playing with cars and blocks is wrong, let alone her dressing in green. Oh my goodness, the world is going to end because that young girl is dressing in ‘boy’ colours… NOT!!!

            These advertisements are not even have hidden messages, they are overt and in your face. I truly do not understand why we feel advertising companies feel they have any right to make these commercials. People have the right to be themselves, whether that is pink and frilly or green and camouflage. People have the right to drink what they want or what they do not want to, that is their choice.  

A Life Lesson from the Duggars on Maternal "Sacrifice"

While life is precious I do not believe the human body was designed to reproduce 20 times. The Duggar family announced today they are expecting baby number 20 due in April. So 19 pregnancies and 20 children later, Michelle (Momma Duggar) will have spent approximately 15 years of her life pregnant!!! Attached is a link to a video where they announce they are pregnant. In the video, when asked about her fears regarding the pregnancy (since her last pregnancy was extremely premature and put her life in danger with complications), and she said that sacrifice was the sign of a true mother. That she would sacrifice for all her children include those who have not yet to be conceived. I have to disagree with her. While there is a component of sacrifice with any parental role, I don’t believe that is what solely makes a true or good mother. A mother is so much more. A mother is care, compassion, empathy. They are everything associated with femininity sadly. But yet to be a mother is said to be the most rewarding experience.

            I am not yet a mother, and I don’t plan to be for several years. But yet does that make me a bad feminist for wanting to be a mother; for wanting to be caring and nurturing towards another life. I would have to say it does and it doesn’t. Being a mother helps to enforce the social notion of femininity as caring and nurturing. But at the same time, what is wrong being with caring and nurturing. I would argue that those qualities actually make for a better feminist. It is the ability to be caring and compassionate that allows feminists to see the fundamental differences within society and provide a drive for wanting to create change; for wanting to help the “oppressed” in a positive manner. I believe it helps to add the human aspect back to feminism.

            At the same time that feminism is aided by the qualities of motherhood, I do not think that a mother should have inherently “sacrifice” for her children (living or unborn). By this I mean that women should not be obligated to pregnancy and motherhood. Women should not have to give up their bodies, their careers, their way of life unwillingly. They should have autonomy over their life and their body. One thing I would strongly disagree with Mrs. Duggar about is that women do not have to have 20 children or even a child. It is a personal decision. While I cannot say much that she is pregnant again, I really wish I could tell her that it wouldn’t make her any less of a woman or a mother if she decided not to have number 20 (or even number 21 at the rate they are going).

            I guess Congratulations are in order to baby number 20. All the best to baby, mom and family through this pregnancy.

"I Am Naked... So What?!"

I have been researching music with feminist messages for a project in one of my Women’s Studies Classes and came across this song/video by Stereo Total entitled “I Am Naked” on Happy Bodies Blog. I have to say I fell in love with this song! It is not very often that you seen anything in pop culture embracing the naked body in an unsexualized manner. The women and men in this video are just happy to be naked. They are proud of their bodies, how their mother made them. They are dancing around and celebrating their naked bodies.

            One thing I would have enjoyed seeing in this video is people of different sizes, shapes and ethnicities. Any body is beauty, not just Caucasian “athletic” body. I do feel Stereo total has the right idea and it really makes me want to dance around naked right now. J

English Version

The Orignal Version

What The Nipple?!

Today I was having a conversation with a lady about social media. She told me how she is starting an online campaign against a major social media site to reinstate a page in support of a breast cancer beauty reclamation project. In the project a group of breast cancer survivors painted their nude bodies in the hopes of redefining the female body after breast cancer as beautiful. They put all the pictures on a major social media site to show the world their project. When this social media site got word of these pictures they decided to take them down, deeming the images of pornographic. This same social media site refuses to take down other actual pornographic material which depicts women being assaulted and abused but yet they take down pictures of women trying to reclaim their bodies.

            According to the lady I was talking too, the comments on the pictures expressed disgust because nipples where shown within the images. Nipples. They had no problem with the breast, but it was the nipple that was causing people the most issues. It was the presence of the nipple that made the images pornographic. Under the logic that nipples are pornographic, wouldn’t that mean that everyman that walks around with his shirt off giving a live peep show?

I really don’t understand this, can someone please give me some insight why the “female” breasts and nipples are much more sexualized then men’s. I am well aware the role breasts play in pregnancy and motherhood, but why is it that because our breasts have a function that we are told to hide them, be shameful of them. However men, whose breasts do not have a direct function allowed to publically display them?

The women participating in the body painting have the right idea. Whether they have or have not battled cancer, breasts are beautiful; furthermore women’s bodies are beautiful and should be celebrated as such. As for social media, we need to as a society reconsider what is acceptable and what isn’t. If they allow images of abuse and men wearing shirts, should these painted women be allowed to share their artwork with their friends and family? It only makes sense to me.

Disney Pictures Presents... The Menstrual Cycle?

 I never thought I would see the day when I heard the word vagina in a disney pictures production, but they say it... several times. I was actually fairly suprised when I came across this video. I was expecting to watch ten minutes of menstruation myths, but instead they actually presented just the basic facts. While the social stigma around female cycles is still evident within this film, I found it suprising the radicalness that they were actually presenting menstruation to young women in a scientific manner. While the thought of Disney telling me about the inner workings of my reproductive system kinda creeped me out, I do believe that for the time when this was made they did a good. Disney please say vagina more often!

Halloween Racism...?

I was talking with a friend yesterday as she was browsing her Facebook. As she was searching she found a picture of her friends who dressed up as JayZ and Beyonce (since she was pregnant) for Halloween. However this was a Caucasian couple. They not only dressed in attire like Beyonce and JayZ but they also decided to paint their face black with makeup.

 My friend and I were not sure what to think of this. Is this racist? Or is this just an innocent Halloween costume? I actually don’t think this was racist of this couple, though I do think that it was an inappropriate choice of for a costume.

If racial minority was to dress up as Brittney Spears or Dr. Phil, nobody would take a second look. They would just see an Asian Dr. Phil or a African American Brittney Spears, they would not look far into the issue. However, now that a white couple is dressing up as racial minority that is considered racist? That doesn’t seem right to me.

However, it also raises questions whether different cultures should be acceptable for a costume. I read an article on Jezebel a couple weeks ago; about several Racial Activists are fighting to no longer have their culture as a Halloween costume. They argued that they are a culture not a costume, therefore they felt it was insulting to stereotype all oriental people the dimensions of costume. In order to make a Halloween costume recognizable requires the costume wearer to utilize every stereotype possible about the group of people or individual whom the costume is based upon. The picture below is one of the pictures from the campaign.

I don’t think dressing up as Beyonce and JayZ is any different than dressing up as a Geisha. Whether or it is wrong to dress up as a different race is a completely different question, which I cannot answer.