By Christine Boswell
Happy New Year fellow Feminists! So much going on in our world and it is only week 2 into the new year!
First, before I get into the other headlines, I know that there are resolutions being fired off like bottle rockets, and I am sure that some of you out there have made the standard, “I want to lose weight” one most of us have made year after year. No matter what happens I am here to tell you there are no failures, especially if all you are dealing with is weight (having to lose weight due to bad health is entirely another issue and will not speak on that topic simply because I am not able to give expert advice). However, simply speaking about losing weight from a vanity standpoint, you did not fail if you did not lose those pounds last year. You are not weak if you did not avoid chocolate cake. You are not a loser, unattractive or automatically unfit just because you are considered “fat.” As a WGSS major, part of my study was body image, and I can tell you, without a doubt, our influences on what is considered “healthy” and “attractive” come from unrealistic images we see every day. Images like waif models who have to starve themselves just to be that thin, or need to be photoshopped into unrealistic curves (or lack thereof). Do not do this. Do not fall into this trap where your body becomes your enemy. Your body is beautiful and perfect. You have a right to be in this life and participate in it to the fullest, taking up as much room as you need to in order to enjoy it (I know I do)! So rock it, strut it, walk it, run it, climb it, attack it, ride it, slide it, spin it, shake it, swing it, move it , groove it and don’t worry about “losing it.” Have fun, laugh out loud, fall down, epically fail…whatever! And when you have come to a stop, stand up, look in the mirror and take a bow, because guess what? You just lived life. Here are some websites and FB pages to check out in order to reaffirm this message:
This Facebook Page is cool and I like the message:
https://www.facebook.com/...
I especially like this video from them and watch it for inspiration:
https://www.youtube.com/...
Check out Renee Engeln’s TED speech on “Beauty Sickness”:
https://video.search.yahoo.com/...
Then there is “Body Image 3D” run by the Tri Delta Organization:
http://bi3d.tridelta.org/...
This is from “Soul Pancake” and the poem at the end was what got to me, the “but” part I particularly could relate to from “compliments” given to me about my body:
https://www.youtube.com/...
One that I thought was a great example of “Hollywood” fat or skinny, versus what non-Hollywood people think of when it comes to fat and skinny:
http://www.starpulse.com/...
AND THEN THERE’S THIS. This is so powerful I will let you play it without any introduction here. It goes beyond the topic of body image (although it is in there) and that is the beauty of it because life is intersectional. It is all the images.
https://video.search.yahoo.com/...
Onward to the Golden Globes.
“Women’s stories matter,” as pointed out by “Mic.com.” Topics included “Patricia Arquette highlighting the unseen struggles of single moms,” to “Downton Abbey’s,” Joanne Froggatt, who “shined a light on the victims of rape.” For more go here:
http://mic.com/...
And while they did not personally experience it in their own lives, their characters represented real life voices of those who do not have a platform to speak, or who simply cannot speak about it, but need to relate. I was particularly proud of Downton Abbey’s win because it went beyond the character’s own shame, but rather how she might have looked to her husband on the show, as if somehow he might see her “dirty” and untouchable, “spoiled for you” as her character puts it. I, as well as others, know this is not true because it is never the fault of the person who was raped, However, I live in the U.S. where I can stand up and say, “Do not blame the victim of the crime.” In other areas of the world, this is still a thought because in many cultures women who are raped are jailed or killed for “shaming their families.” Some are forced to marry their rapists! They cannot convince the patriarchy of the fault being that of the rapists.
However, my favorite moment of the night came from the great Tina Fey when she had this perspective on George Clooney’s award:
"George Clooney married Amal Alamuddin this year. Amal is a human rights lawyer who worked on the Enron case, was an advisor to Kofi Annan regarding Syria and was selected for a three person U.N. commission investigating rules of war violations in the Gaza Strip...so tonight her HUSBAND is getting a Lifetime Achievement Award!"
No more explanation needed.
“Transparent” created by Jill Soloway and starring Jeffrey Tambor and Judith Light, won for “Best TV Series, Musical or Comedy.” The premise of the show surrounds lead character, Mort Pfefferman, who decides, at a late age, to introduce, “Maura,” his true self, to his family.
And while on this topic…
The Kardashians are upset the Inquistr would make a cover where Bruce Jenner is made out be a woman.
http://www.inquisitr.com/...
GLAAD is not at all happy calling the cover “transphobic.” Yes, it it most certainly is, as well as poor taste, ill-mannered and completely idiotic.
The Supreme Court will take a look at gay marriage and whether gay a lesbian people have equal protections for marriage.
According to the article in the Huffington post:
The court said it would specifically address two questions: Does the 14th Amendment require a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex? And does the 14th Amendment require a state to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-state?
Gee, being that they are Americans and seeing as how federal laws give certain privileges towards married people that unmarried people do not have, I do not understand how this is even an argument we need to really engage in at all!
For all you “Frozen” fans, it has been announced that Idina Menzel, (or "Adele Dazeem," in case John Travolta does not know who I am speaking) will be singingthe National Anthem at this year’s Super Bowl.
Finally, and this was handed to me by a feminista in this forum:
Reminding me, once again, of that brilliant goto phrase of, “What the F**k?!”
One last thing, and it was published in this forum yesterday but I liked the article so much I wanted to make sure I reposted the link here.
http://www.dailykos.com/...
It is a story about the Texas anti-abortion advocacy group called, "Heroic Media." Very worthy read.