Hello Richard...

Following from my previous post, this video is definitely worth watching:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpy75q2DDow

Get Her Back... (The Hormonal Bitch)

http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2010/kitadol-get-her-back/

This is a link to an advertising campaign called 'Get Her Back' by the pharmaceutical company 'Kitadol' for a paracetamol based pill aimed at targeting menstrual pain.

I think this campaign is easily the single most infuriating thing that I have come across lately, aimed at the poor male spouses for having to deal with their awful partners during their time of the month.

I was not surprised to discover that this campaign was created by men, as I don't know any women who would think this a good idea, but I am completely shocked to find that it won a Silver Press Lion at Cannes International Advertising Festival 2010.

The one thing that I never thought men could (or would want to) take away from us is our periods.

We should be very apologetic that our monthly struggle with our own bodies is of a nuisance to them.





http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2011/kitadol-war-heroes/

This is another campaign made by the same people, for the same product, this time named 'War Heroes'.





The poor things.

Sex Sells...

http://www.genderads.com

The advertising world is rammed with gender connotations. You can barely leave your house without being subjected to over sexualised imagery, using womens bodies or stereotypical womens roles to sell completely unrelated products.
The website genderads.com (ran by a male) is an online catalogue of gender based adverts. The hundreds of adverts are split into categories and it is absolutely astounding to see the sheer volume.

One of the most prevalent themes within these adverts is not only two-dimensionalising a scantily clad woman, but very often merely sections of her as the head or other parts are out of frame. This is quite literally the most dehumanising thing that can be done to a person and really makes you question the motives of the women involved. Potentially their internalised view that, yes, they are an object to be looked at? 

Oh, So You're a Man Hating Lesbian Then?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/nov/23/why-is-feminism-a-dirty-word

This article talks about the use of the term 'feminist.'

I have realised lately that I have become quite weary when discussing my work with other people and often found myself saying "I'm not a feminist, But..." because quite often the response tends to be something along the lines of the hugely stereotypical "Uh, I hate feminists, they all just hate men."

Admittedly (and embarrassingly) before reading further into the subject I think my own views were relatively similar in assuming that feminism is just an old worn out notion, irrelevant in todays society where us women have the vote and are free to work.

In 2013, one in three women believe that 'feminism' is too aggressive and old fashioned.
I think this is largely to do with the fact that we seem to believe that to become a feminist one has to be a man hating, angry, non shaving lesbian.. which is obviously completely absurd.

We still live in a patriarchal, rape culture society where a female can barely walk down the street without being accosted and the victim of unwanted male attention, so surely real feminism is just as necessary as ever.
The fundamental idea that a woman is primarily a good looking commodity that exists to be the object of male desire is so inherent in our culture, rearing its ugly head on the internet, in our advertising and in our minds.
Feminism isn't about hating men, (lots of feminists have healthy heterosexual relationships) but it is about expecting and demanding equal respect and treatment in every walk of life.

So yes, I am a feminist.

That's Just Tradition Isn't It...

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/come-on-beyonce-who-are-you-trying-to-kid-with-this-all-this-homely-mrs-carter-business-8482088.html

"Despite it being 2013 and not 1066, women – just everyday women, not women who play the 02 – still chuck away their own family names and the name they established a career in as it’s “just what you do”.
We change our names because over centuries we’ve been hoodwinked – by the Bible, by parliament, by the banks, by Disney, by our peers, by our in-laws and by sniffy people with forms who want boxes ticked – into thinking that losing your name is no big deal."

This article talks about Beyonces decision to use her married name of Mrs Carter as the name of her upcoming tour.
I've been thinking about the idea of names changing due to marriage and questioning why it is that 86 percent of married women still take their husbands names.
Without even thinking about the fact that it has been your sole identifier for the entireity of your life and why should any woman give that up, I realised that having the same name as your family identifies you as part of that group. If and when I chose to get married I was to take the same name as my husband I would be cutting ties to the family that I am part of now, (even more so if my sister was to do the same thing.)
But having said that, were I to keep my name as it is now, my identity would not be connected with my husband (and potentially children) and I would question if I would feel married at all.
It never occurred to me before that as a woman you have to make a choice between who you are connected to via your name, whereas a man happily shares his with his mother, father, siblings, wife and children.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4x1s60tXJtQ

Of course the woman is at home all day doing the washing...
Also, in the shorter version of this advert they skipped her day entirely.

Don't Be Such a Girl...

I feel like the internet is 90% abusive jokes about females that we are supposed to just quietly accept.

Even typing "why do women" into google comes up with absurd responces:

 

 



Girls Gone Wild.

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Depression from Oppression.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgUU41D4T7g

Born in Flames

"Set ten years after the most peaceful revolution in United States history, a revolution in which a socialist government gains power, this films presents a dystopia in which the issues of many progressive groups - minorities, liberals, gay rights organizations, feminists - are ostensibly dealt with by the government, and yet there are still problems with jobs, with gender issues, with governmental preference and violence. In New York City, in this future time, a group of women decide to organize and mobilize, to take the revolution farther than any man - and many women - ever imagined in their lifetimes." (IMBD)

The Gap.

https://www.facebook.com/MindTheGap1.0?fref=ts

This Facebook page used to have a horrific description explaining what it was about, including things like "politely ask your girl to bend over as though waiting in the queue at the supermarket with food she will cook for you later."
They (eventually) took it down after many, many complaints.

Thank Goodness.

Having a Vagina Does Not Mean You're Going to Have a Fabulous Life, It Might Infact, Be Worse...

Paris is Burning:

"This is a documentary of 'drag nights' among New York's underclass. Queens are interviewed and observed preparing for and competing in many 'balls'. The people, the clothes, and the whole environment are outlandish." (IMBD)

I watched this film in order to question what defines gender, it follows a group of drag queens in the 80's as they struggle through life. 

"I'd like to be a spoilt rich white girl. I don't think that there's anything man-ish about me apart from what's between my legs"- Venus Xtravaganza.

The group is centered around the Ball society of New York. Balls are underground competitions held within the gay community in which there are various categories and the competitors walk up and down and are voted on who is the most convincing. 

I found the film really interesting because it highlights many issues about inequality. Although, throughout the film 'The Queens' refer to themselves and each other using feminist terms, ('she'/'her' etc) towards the end they begin to discuss the issue of actually changing gender. Almost all of the people featured in the film have not and do not want to under go a gender change operation. One particular character talks about how yes it is difficult to be a gay man and even more so to be a gay man who likes to dress up as a woman but it may, in fact, be more difficult to actually be a woman.

"Having a vagina does not mean you're going to have a fabulous life, it might infact, be worse."

What I found most interesting when I started to reflect on the film is that I realised that in order to act like women, most of the characters allowed themselves to be placed in derogative and submissive roles. Many of the drag Queens work as escorts in order to raise money for their ball outfits and such. 

"If you're married, If a regular woman is married to her husband and she wants a washer and dryer set, in order for her to get what she wants from him she will have to go to bed with him; so that he gets what he wants to give her what she wants."

Does this therefore mean that inherent to womanhood is an acceptance that we must play that role?

Everyday Sexism

https://twitter.com/EverydaySexism

This twitter page was set up so that people could share their stories of sexism in everyday life.
The feedback has been both terrifying and enlightening with many people posting photographs of highly offensive advertising that we somehow seem to have become completely desensitised to.

These are a few examples of genuine advertising campaigns, often used by massive corporations:

There has also been a lot of upset cause because of the censorship used by large social media websites like Facebook.
They have images of women breastfeeding but have allowed images and comments such as the following to remain:

Can You Tell The Difference Between a Lads Mag and a Rapist?

http://jezebel.com/5866602/can-you-tell-the-difference-between-a-mens-magazine-and-a-

I found this article absolutely phenomenal. It explains that the majority of people cannot tell the difference between quotes from British 'Lad's Mags' or quotes from convicted rapists.
They have published a list of some of the quotes used within the survey, have a look and see if you can tell the difference.

I certainly couldn't.

What more effective way to shut her “girl-power” nonsense up...

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/theres-nothing-empowering-about-girls-who-expose-themselves-online-look-what-happened-to-tulisa-8462195.html

I read this article, It infuriated me.
I completely agree that being exposed online is both dangerous to yourself and your reputation but the part that really ticked me off was this;

"Remember when Tulisa from The X Factor named herself “The Female Boss” and began striding around in shoulder pads singing about her female strength in a male-dominated world? What more effective way to shut her “girl-power” nonsense up than some grainy mobile phone footage of her with a penis in her mouth."


Firstly, Tulisa and her team went to great lengths to have the video removed, she did not publish it herself. 
Secondly, why does our society seem to think that a woman has to 'give in' to having sex with a man?


Why is a woman not allowed to be as sexual as a man without being perceived as submissive to him?
The only thing Tulisa is actually guilty of is trusting the wrong people.

From the Other Side...

http://jezebel.com/5858717/fun-chrome-extension-genderswaps-the-internet

I downloaded this app to my Google Chrome that swaps the gender of everything that I read on the internet. He becomes She, Queen becomes King, Husband becomes Wife.
It is interesting because it draws your attention to the things that you don't even realise are gendered.
I found that it was most successful on social networking sites or particular articles.

Let Her Earn The Right to be Hit On...

Upon reflecting on 'The Bigger Splash' exhibition I began to realise that what I was interested in was not the differences between men and women, but rather their relationships with each other.
For example, why is it that our society has formed so that women who do not wear makeup in order to attract are strange and unusual (perhaps even lazy), yet men have no compulsion to do the same?
I decided to play with this question and take a series of photographs of my own face, starting bare with no makeup on going up layer by layer to fully made up. I wanted to question why it is that we feel like we have to better ourselves in order to be good enough.

I titled the work, "Let Her Earn The Right to be Hit On", a quotation from 'The Game'.

A Bigger Splash.

Feeling as though I had some interesting theories to look at within my work I felt lost as to how to put that into a physical piece so, I went to the 'A Bigger Splash- Painting after Performance' exhibition at the Tate. Many of the art works present feature the use of the body or face as a medium.

I really liked this piece; "Just Another Story About Leaving" by Urs Lithi because it is clear and evident what he is showing you, yet very simple in its form, which I felt made it quite poetic and clever.

However, The piece that I was most grateful for seeing during the exhibition was Lynn Hershman Leeson's 'Roberta Breitmore'. This is a photograph that she has labeled with everything that she had done to her face in order to make it more attractive.

When looking at this I felt like Lynn Hershman Leeson and I had the same questions to ask. Is there a recipe  for womanhood?

The Game.

After having read texts written by females I went back to the book shop and found 'The Game'. The Game is a novel written by journalist Neil Strauss. It is a novel that follows his journey of transformation from shy and geeky Neil, to confident 'Mystery' with the ability to woo any woman into bed. It is a glimpse into the secret undercover world of the 'pick up artist'. Totally unaware that anyone would even lay claim to that title, let alone the fact that hundreds of these men meet up to attend seminars and swap tips, I was both fascinated and pretty disgusted whilst reading this.

At the back of the book is a glossary of terms, explaining the 'pick up jargon' to those as ignorant as myself, this includes such definitions as:

"PUA; Pickup Artist"
"ASD- (Anti Slut Defense): The maneuvers some women make to avoid taking responsibility for initiating or agreeing to sex; or in order to avoid appearing slutty to the man she is with, to her friends, to society, or to herself. This can occur before or after sex, or it can prevent sex from occurring."
"BF DESTROYER- (boyfriend destroyer): a pattern, routine, or line a pickup artist uses with the intention of seducing a woman who has a boyfriend."
"BUYING TEMPERATURE- the degree to which a woman is ready to make intimate physical contact with a man. unlike attraction, a high buying temperature generally appears and fades quickly. to maintain a woman's level of physical interest over a long period of time, a pickup artist attempts to pump her buying temperature with fast-paced routines."

 During the book occurs many different tactics and 'routines' that the PUA's share and use against women. The book condones and even celebrates the use of lying to bed women and then leave without fulfilling any ill-made promises.

Whilst reading it I found myself empathising with the female characters and I noted down many quotes that I found interesting or inspiring due to the anger it revoked in me.

Where It All Began...

I began my third year of University by rummaging through an Oxfam bookshop. I first picked up "General Housewifery" by Beatrice Clay, first published in 1932, this book begins with a chapter entitled 'The Kitchen Sink' and continues through 'Dining Room Furniture' all the way too 'A Cake Stand', teaching women how to be the epitome of the perfect housewife.
The second thing that attracted my attention was a book called "The Rules, Time-tested secrets for capturing the heart of Mr Right." This book was first published in 1995 and aims to teach women how to alter themselves in order to make the right man fall completely in love.
After having read both of them and thinking about how both authors were female, it occurred to me that although 60 years had passed, the attitude remained that women are not born naturally good enough for the men in their lives, rather that this is a goal that we must strive to achieve.
And thus began my accidental tumble into the world of Feminism.