Below are some quotes that relate to feminism and I find them inspiring, so I thought I would share them. I found these quotes here: http://www.wisdomquotes.com/cat_feminism.html.
Abigail Adams:
If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.
Anna Quindlen:
It’s important to remember that feminism is no longer a group of organizations or leaders. It’s the expectations that parents have for their daughters, and their sons, too. It’s the way we talk about and treat one another. It’s who makes the money and who makes the compromises and who makes the dinner. It’s a state of mind. It’s the way we live now.
Barbara Strickland:
What I am proud of, what seems so simply clear, is that feminism is a way to fight for justice, always in short supply.
Betty Friedan:
It is easier to live through someone else than to become complete yourself.
The Feminine Mystique, 1963
Betty Friedan:
If divorce has increased by one thousand percent, don’t blame the women’s movement. Blame the obsolete sex roles on which our marriages were based.
speech, New York City, January 20, 1974
Elaine Heffner:
Women do not have to sacrifice personhood if they are mothers. They do not have to sacrifice motherhood in order to be persons. Liberation was meant to expand women’s opportunities, not to limit them. The self-esteem that has been found in new pursuits can also be found in mothering.
Erma Bombeck:
We’ve got a generation now who were born with semiequality. They don’t know how it was before, so they think, this isn’t too bad. We’re working. We have our attache’ cases and our three piece suits. I get very disgusted with the younger generation of women. We had a torch to pass, and they are just sitting there. They don’t realize it can be taken away. Things are going to have to get worse before they join in fighting the battle.
Faith Whittlesey:
Remember, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but she did it backwards and in high heels.
Gloria Steinem:
This is no simple reform. It really is a revolution. Sex and race because they are easy and visible differences have been the primary ways of organizing human beings into superior and inferior groups and into the cheap labour in which this system still depends. We are talking about a society in which there will be no roles other than those chosen or those earned. We are really talking about humanism.
Lya Sorano:
When we talk about equal pay for equal work, women in the workplace are beginning to catch up. If we keep going at this current rate, we will achieve full equality in about 475 years. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait that long.
Margaret Atwood:
Does feminist mean large unpleasant person who’ll shout at you or someone who believes women are human beings. To me it’s the latter, so I sign up.
Mary Wollstonecraft:
Women are systematically degraded by receiving the trivial attentions which men think it manly to pay to the sex, when, in fact, men are insultingly supporting their own superiority.
Maureen Reagan:
I will feel equality has arrived when we can elect to office women who are as incompetent as some of the men who are already there.
Michele Le Doeuff:
A feminist is a woman who does not allow anyone to think in her place.
Nancy Astor:
No one sex can govern alone. I believe that one of the reasons why civilization has failed so lamentably is that is had one-sided government.
Pearl S. Buck:
The basic discovery about any people is the discovery of the relationship between its men and its women.
Rebecca West:
I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat, or a prostitute.
1913
Rita Mae Brown:
Any woman whose I.Q. hovers above her body temperature must be a feminist.
Susan B. Anthony:
Men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less.
Susan B. Anthony:
It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Grrrl Power Is
The article below isn't about the Spice Girls version of "girl power". We're talking about "grrrl power" as in riot grrrl. I got this from an OLD riot grrrl website I used to visit called "++riot grrrls please stand up++", which is no longer around. However, the website can still be viewed here: http://web.archive.org/web/20021021055134/www.geocities.com/Wellesley/6788/index2.html on the archive.org website. Thanks to archive.org for letting me be able to still visit my favorite old riot grrrl websites from back in the day. The article was written by: Jessica Giusti in 1999, when the website was still online.
Grrrl Power is...
feeling okay about being a girl: Be proud! We ROCK!
promoting girl love and friendship: A kind of sisterhood. Don't talk to me about cliques or sororities; in this clique there are no rules, no certain way to be, and we don't leave anyone out!
encouraging one another: Telling each other it's cool to be who they are and let them express themselves!
teaching: girls, boys, men, women, old or young about grrrl issues things that effect each one of us (equality, individualization, the right to speak your mind and let your thoughts run free).
respecting each other: to realize the individuality of every girl on this planet, not to divide people into groups like race, religion, ethics, etc., to look down upon derogatory names and phrases against girls and anyone else.
respecting yourself: respect yourself for who you are. Not realizing you have flaw, but character, things that make you who you are. Realize and respect your strengths, interests, opinions, and beauty. Realize your self-empowerment.
being able to: say what you want to say and not be afraid, voice your mind and opinion, to express yourself in any shape or form, to wear what you want to wear and look the way you want to without being degraded for it. It's about not letting anyone judge you, because it's not about limitations!!!
Grrrl Power is...
feeling okay about being a girl: Be proud! We ROCK!
promoting girl love and friendship: A kind of sisterhood. Don't talk to me about cliques or sororities; in this clique there are no rules, no certain way to be, and we don't leave anyone out!
encouraging one another: Telling each other it's cool to be who they are and let them express themselves!
teaching: girls, boys, men, women, old or young about grrrl issues things that effect each one of us (equality, individualization, the right to speak your mind and let your thoughts run free).
respecting each other: to realize the individuality of every girl on this planet, not to divide people into groups like race, religion, ethics, etc., to look down upon derogatory names and phrases against girls and anyone else.
respecting yourself: respect yourself for who you are. Not realizing you have flaw, but character, things that make you who you are. Realize and respect your strengths, interests, opinions, and beauty. Realize your self-empowerment.
being able to: say what you want to say and not be afraid, voice your mind and opinion, to express yourself in any shape or form, to wear what you want to wear and look the way you want to without being degraded for it. It's about not letting anyone judge you, because it's not about limitations!!!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
No Girls Allowed
The article below was written by Amanda S. that lives in the United States and this same post can also be found here: Something Of Substance. Thanks for the article, Amanda! :)
No Girls Allowed
This misogyny thing that people still perpetuate is so tired. Girl-on-girl bashing is so passé. Hearing women proclaim (always with a sense of entitled pride) that they “can’t stand other females” is so boring. Snore.
We all know at least three people like who I’m talking about: girls who call every girl they meet and don’t take an immediate love to “sluts” and “whores” and “bitches”, girls who make a point out of loudly announcing how much they can’t stand “drama!” (always with an exclamation point) and girls who just plain diss and dismiss every other girl they meet.
Having spent a majority of my undergraduate years at an all-women’s institution (it’s not a “girl’s school”, folks), I would have been hard-pressed to make friends if I discounted an entire class of people based on sex. And, I do mean sex: gender seems to make the difference in this equation. Men who are transitioning or identifying as female don’t fall under the umbrella of disdain. Neither do women who are identifying as male.
Blind hatred is nothing new. Anyone remember the Holocaust? Yup, they hated people simply for being Jewish. Or homosexual. Or Bulgarian. Study the Spanish Inquisition? People were tortured and killed for the “crime” of not being Catholic. Or, hey! How about the World Trade Center bombings on 9/11? I recall that some Islamic extremist-fundamentalists flew planes into American buildings because they hated us for being American. Gee, isn’t your hatred so revolutionary and fetching?
Aside from not being the most becoming mentality to have, one of hatred- especially that of female-perpetuated misogyny- is dangerous. I don’t necessarily mean “dangerous” in that I believe girls will go out and start car bombing each other or poisoning the other one over drinks. Well, not every girl will resort to this. But, hatred itself is a slippery slope, especially when we can no longer recall the reasons for our extreme disdain.
For one thing, when girls proudly air their hatred of other girls based on genetic requirements, it does nothing to curb the growing misogynistic tendencies of boys these days. I can’t begin to enumerate the times when, as a Resident Advisor in a co-ed college, I attempted to re-direct boys who were shouting horrible adjectives at girls only to have to turn around and stop the girls from doing it to each other.
Where is all this hatred stemming from? I know I hear a lot about “drama”: how people don’t want it, don’t like it, don’t create it, etc. Here’s an obvious fact: if you’re talking about it, you’re creating it. If you’re gossiping about it, you’re perpetuating it. If you’re taking part in it, you like it. I would tell everyone to just stop already, but I think that solution is entirely too simple. All of this misogyny isn’t coming from simple gossiping.
I’m certain that envy is at the root of the female-on-female misogyny. Men are misogynistic for myriad reasons that I can’t even begin to go into in this post. Suffice it to say, statements such as “you’re a good writer, for a girl”, “girls don’t make very good IT people” and, my personal favorite, “women should never be in positions of power because they have emotions” are so common-place among men that most women shrug them off, titter and say: “well, you know, he has a point!” Congratulations, you just devalued yourself! Now that your self-worth isn’t stemming from intellect or character or healthy respect for your body, what should you base it on? I know!! How about your tan? Or, how little cellulite you have? Even how good-looking your boyfriend is?
And that girl over there? She is tinier and tanner than you and she’s checking out your good-looking boyfriend. Bitch! Get her! All girls are whores like she is? Right?
Right?!
Nope. Try again. When you base the crux of your existence on whatever you can display on the outside, then all you will ever be is envious of everything on the outside of everyone else. This isn’t to say that looks don’t matter, I think I firmly covered in a previous blog that they do. However, looks don’t last. But, your hatred will. It will outlast everyone in your life. It will be the only thing around to keep you warm at night. Unless, of course, your hatred attracts more hatred and, in that case, you better hope you stay alive long enough to watch your looks fade.
If you want men to start respecting you and drop their misogyny, then you, ladies, need to do the same. I don’t know very many men who refuse to hang out with men under the assumption that they are hanging around to take their girlfriend or might have a better looking shirt on. I don’t know many men who tirade against everyone else of their sex for simply walking the earth. I don’t know many men who don’t constantly encourage, validate, support, and even go out on a limb for other guys. And, you know what? They don’t have the same problems with “drama” or generalized hatred or low self-esteem that women, overall, have.
Females are the majority sex in the world. Instead of constantly tearing each other apart, allowing men to tear us apart and generally basing the whole of our existence on the packaging we came in, why not make an effort to find what there is to like about each other? Why not bond together and encourage, validate, support, and even go out on a limb for another female? Those men aren’t going to do that for you. And you don’t seem to be doing such a good job of it for yourself. In fact, it wouldn’t be far off-base to say that those qualities you so disdain in other women are ones you can’t stand in yourself. So, fix them! Build a personality! Embolden your character! Think a fucking original thought! And then, with your newfound sense of pride, tell the boys to knock it off. It won’t hurt you- I promise.
Is everyone ever going to love everyone else to the point of skipping off, hand-in-hand, into a beautiful sunset? Absolutely not. But, judging an entire class of people on one characteristic and using that as a reason to loathe never seemed to get us anywhere either.
*- misogyny means, quite frankly, “hatred of women”.
No Girls Allowed
This misogyny thing that people still perpetuate is so tired. Girl-on-girl bashing is so passé. Hearing women proclaim (always with a sense of entitled pride) that they “can’t stand other females” is so boring. Snore.
We all know at least three people like who I’m talking about: girls who call every girl they meet and don’t take an immediate love to “sluts” and “whores” and “bitches”, girls who make a point out of loudly announcing how much they can’t stand “drama!” (always with an exclamation point) and girls who just plain diss and dismiss every other girl they meet.
Having spent a majority of my undergraduate years at an all-women’s institution (it’s not a “girl’s school”, folks), I would have been hard-pressed to make friends if I discounted an entire class of people based on sex. And, I do mean sex: gender seems to make the difference in this equation. Men who are transitioning or identifying as female don’t fall under the umbrella of disdain. Neither do women who are identifying as male.
Blind hatred is nothing new. Anyone remember the Holocaust? Yup, they hated people simply for being Jewish. Or homosexual. Or Bulgarian. Study the Spanish Inquisition? People were tortured and killed for the “crime” of not being Catholic. Or, hey! How about the World Trade Center bombings on 9/11? I recall that some Islamic extremist-fundamentalists flew planes into American buildings because they hated us for being American. Gee, isn’t your hatred so revolutionary and fetching?
Aside from not being the most becoming mentality to have, one of hatred- especially that of female-perpetuated misogyny- is dangerous. I don’t necessarily mean “dangerous” in that I believe girls will go out and start car bombing each other or poisoning the other one over drinks. Well, not every girl will resort to this. But, hatred itself is a slippery slope, especially when we can no longer recall the reasons for our extreme disdain.
For one thing, when girls proudly air their hatred of other girls based on genetic requirements, it does nothing to curb the growing misogynistic tendencies of boys these days. I can’t begin to enumerate the times when, as a Resident Advisor in a co-ed college, I attempted to re-direct boys who were shouting horrible adjectives at girls only to have to turn around and stop the girls from doing it to each other.
Where is all this hatred stemming from? I know I hear a lot about “drama”: how people don’t want it, don’t like it, don’t create it, etc. Here’s an obvious fact: if you’re talking about it, you’re creating it. If you’re gossiping about it, you’re perpetuating it. If you’re taking part in it, you like it. I would tell everyone to just stop already, but I think that solution is entirely too simple. All of this misogyny isn’t coming from simple gossiping.
I’m certain that envy is at the root of the female-on-female misogyny. Men are misogynistic for myriad reasons that I can’t even begin to go into in this post. Suffice it to say, statements such as “you’re a good writer, for a girl”, “girls don’t make very good IT people” and, my personal favorite, “women should never be in positions of power because they have emotions” are so common-place among men that most women shrug them off, titter and say: “well, you know, he has a point!” Congratulations, you just devalued yourself! Now that your self-worth isn’t stemming from intellect or character or healthy respect for your body, what should you base it on? I know!! How about your tan? Or, how little cellulite you have? Even how good-looking your boyfriend is?
And that girl over there? She is tinier and tanner than you and she’s checking out your good-looking boyfriend. Bitch! Get her! All girls are whores like she is? Right?
Right?!
Nope. Try again. When you base the crux of your existence on whatever you can display on the outside, then all you will ever be is envious of everything on the outside of everyone else. This isn’t to say that looks don’t matter, I think I firmly covered in a previous blog that they do. However, looks don’t last. But, your hatred will. It will outlast everyone in your life. It will be the only thing around to keep you warm at night. Unless, of course, your hatred attracts more hatred and, in that case, you better hope you stay alive long enough to watch your looks fade.
If you want men to start respecting you and drop their misogyny, then you, ladies, need to do the same. I don’t know very many men who refuse to hang out with men under the assumption that they are hanging around to take their girlfriend or might have a better looking shirt on. I don’t know many men who tirade against everyone else of their sex for simply walking the earth. I don’t know many men who don’t constantly encourage, validate, support, and even go out on a limb for other guys. And, you know what? They don’t have the same problems with “drama” or generalized hatred or low self-esteem that women, overall, have.
Females are the majority sex in the world. Instead of constantly tearing each other apart, allowing men to tear us apart and generally basing the whole of our existence on the packaging we came in, why not make an effort to find what there is to like about each other? Why not bond together and encourage, validate, support, and even go out on a limb for another female? Those men aren’t going to do that for you. And you don’t seem to be doing such a good job of it for yourself. In fact, it wouldn’t be far off-base to say that those qualities you so disdain in other women are ones you can’t stand in yourself. So, fix them! Build a personality! Embolden your character! Think a fucking original thought! And then, with your newfound sense of pride, tell the boys to knock it off. It won’t hurt you- I promise.
Is everyone ever going to love everyone else to the point of skipping off, hand-in-hand, into a beautiful sunset? Absolutely not. But, judging an entire class of people on one characteristic and using that as a reason to loathe never seemed to get us anywhere either.
*- misogyny means, quite frankly, “hatred of women”.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Something That Inspires Me
This was a myspace comment I received a couple of days ago. Nadia lives in the United States, like me. People like Nadia inspire me to keep updating and adding to my Riot Grrrl Online website. I had to share this because it has inspired me to keep being interested in riot grrrl and to keep on going with the riot grrrl website.
Apr 16, 2009 5:29 PM
Hi, Greta! Thanks for the add. I must say it is awesome having all these Grrrl-related links in one place. When I first got interested in Riot Grrrl culture about a year ago, I could barely find anything!
Hope I can find time to write something for the blog soon.
Thanks!
--Nadia
As for Nadia's quote: "When I first got interested in Riot Grrrl culture about a year ago, I could barely find anything!", I know how she feels. That's how I felt a couple of years ago, when I first created Riot Grrrl Online. Back then, It seemed that alot of my favorite riot grrrl websites from the late 1990's to early 2000's had died out. That's why I created the Riot Grrrl Online website. I was interested in riot grrrl and wanted to show my support and love of the movement, so Riot Grrrl Online was born.
GET INVOLVED! I encourage others that are interested in riot grrrl, feminism, or whatever your interest might be, to get involved with it. YOU can get involved by making a zine, make a website, create a group/community on a social network about your interest, join other groups/communities on social networks, etc. I'm sure you can probably think of more ideas than the ones I just mentioned.
Apr 16, 2009 5:29 PM
Hi, Greta! Thanks for the add. I must say it is awesome having all these Grrrl-related links in one place. When I first got interested in Riot Grrrl culture about a year ago, I could barely find anything!
Hope I can find time to write something for the blog soon.
Thanks!
--Nadia
As for Nadia's quote: "When I first got interested in Riot Grrrl culture about a year ago, I could barely find anything!", I know how she feels. That's how I felt a couple of years ago, when I first created Riot Grrrl Online. Back then, It seemed that alot of my favorite riot grrrl websites from the late 1990's to early 2000's had died out. That's why I created the Riot Grrrl Online website. I was interested in riot grrrl and wanted to show my support and love of the movement, so Riot Grrrl Online was born.
GET INVOLVED! I encourage others that are interested in riot grrrl, feminism, or whatever your interest might be, to get involved with it. YOU can get involved by making a zine, make a website, create a group/community on a social network about your interest, join other groups/communities on social networks, etc. I'm sure you can probably think of more ideas than the ones I just mentioned.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Jigsaw Youth
Jigsaw Youth
We live in a world that tells us we must choose an identity, a career, a relationship, and commit... to these situations... as if we don't live in a world of constant flux... which we do. Don't freak out just cuz the jigsaw is laying on the floor and it's not all the way phone and has been laying there for 4 whole hours now, resist the freak out. You will get to it... it's all part of the process.
To force some forever identity on other people is stupid. Point out inconsistincies in their behavior, explain how they are not 'truly what they say' because you saw them 'do this' one time... why? Because it is easier to deal with cardboard cut outs than real people, cuz a lot of us pretend like we're the center of the universe sometimes and everyone is just background extras in the movie we imagine we star in. WELL WHILE WE ARE ALL ARGUING ABOUT WHOSE GONNA GET TO OPEN FOR THE MELVINS, WHOSE GONNA WEAR WHAT TO THE PARTY, WHO IS LAME/TAME BECAUSE THEY PERPETUATE THIS THING WE HATE, WHO IS NOT REALLY A PUNK ROCKER CUZ "I remember when he/she used to listen to Duran Duran", THE REVOLUTION IS GOING DOWN...no it's not happening without us, it is just plain not happening at all... it is going down under the gurgling sounds of our own voices, reproducing the voices of our parents in a slightly altered way, the TV people... trying to dictate to each other what is and what isn't cool or evolutionary or true resistence, what is or isn't true in other peoples lives we sit around making all these boxes and labels, nothing to put in them, we are wasting valuable time. FUCK THAT SHIT, LET'S START TALKING FOR REAL.
To be a stripper who is also a feminist, to be an abused child holding a microphone screaming all those things that were promised, in one way or another, "I won't tell." these are contradictions I have lived. They exist, these contradictions cuz I exist. Every fucking 'feminist' is not the same, ever fucking girl is not the same, okay??? Because I live in a world that hates women and I am one... who is struggling desparately not to hate myself and my best girlfriends, my whole life is constantly felt by me as a contradiction. In order for me to exist I must belive that two contradictory things can exist in the same space. This is not a choice I make, it just is.
JIGSAW, a puzzle made up of all different weird shaped pieces. It seems like it will never come together, it makes no sense, but it can and it does and it will. Jigsaw, pieces like where you grew up and in what kind of fucked up culture and do you have a penis or not and did your parents have money and did you get teased for wearing the same coat four winters in a row and are you Thai-american or Black or Mulatto? And what do all these things mean when you are trying to resist, do something, have a good time??? I see the Jigsaw, fuzzy in my head as everything else, sometimes clear. The fact that he grew up in a working class family has everything to do with he is gonna express sexism, what kind of music he is gonna like, how I am gonna treat him. Jigsaw girl, she got fucked by her father, 8 years, people say she's flakey and inconsistent, lays in her bed eating donuts, resisting going outside where the silence will engulf her, rather sit there wating than always being eaten up... her experience has everything to do with how the pieces are fitting together (or not) for her, judge her from your place without wondering what's going on in that there Jigsaw mind of hers, and you have pushed her further away from clicking, her hand wants so bad to feel, one edge against another, together, one piece next to another, locking into place... you have to be able to see the puzzle before you start putting it together.
Resistance is everywhere, it always has been and always will be. Just because someone is not resisting in the same way you are (being a vegan, an 'out' lesbian, a political organizer) does not mean they are not resisting. Being told you are a worthless piece of shit and not believing it is a form of resistence. One girl calling another girl to warn her about a guy who date raped her is another. And while she may look like a big haired makeup girl who goes out with jocks, she is a soldier along with every other girl, and even though she may not be fighting in the same loud way that some of us can (and do) it is the fact that she is resisting that connects us, puts a piece together.
Jigsaw Youth, I don't know what this means anymore than anyone... only what it means to me. Standing proud and saying "I don't know who I am, I wanna know more, I am not afraid to say things matter to me."
Assuming that people are either "part of the problem or part of the solution" disincludes a lot of people, who, at this moment, do not feel (and therefore ARE NOT) safe enough emotionally, physically, and/or financially to resist in the same ways you might be. By judging people according to your standards of resistence or whatever... it makes it harder for people to recognize what they're doing as being important and political, etc.... it makes it harder for them to get into safe enough situations where they can reisit in more outward, community oriented ways if they want to.
Jigsaw Youth, the island of lost and broken toys, feminists who wear lipstick, people who envision 'the land of do as you please', whose lives are not simple and they are sick of trying to make themselves cohesive enough to fit into a box. Jigsaw Youth, listening, strategizing, tolerating, screaming, confronting, fearless, girl soldiers, boy lovers, boofy haired teen girls scraping out the eyes on a photo of Rick Astley, Jigsaw Youth, the misunderstood seeking to understand other people's reality. Making mistakes... making mistakes... making mistakes... making mistakes... feeling something. Knowing you will never see the puzzle put all together but trying anyways cuz each fucking piece really matters and being with friends matters. Jigsaw Youth... inventing and reinventing what these words
mean.
Written by Kathleen Hanna from Jigsaw Fanzine #4 Spring 1991 Olympia, Washington.
We live in a world that tells us we must choose an identity, a career, a relationship, and commit... to these situations... as if we don't live in a world of constant flux... which we do. Don't freak out just cuz the jigsaw is laying on the floor and it's not all the way phone and has been laying there for 4 whole hours now, resist the freak out. You will get to it... it's all part of the process.
To force some forever identity on other people is stupid. Point out inconsistincies in their behavior, explain how they are not 'truly what they say' because you saw them 'do this' one time... why? Because it is easier to deal with cardboard cut outs than real people, cuz a lot of us pretend like we're the center of the universe sometimes and everyone is just background extras in the movie we imagine we star in. WELL WHILE WE ARE ALL ARGUING ABOUT WHOSE GONNA GET TO OPEN FOR THE MELVINS, WHOSE GONNA WEAR WHAT TO THE PARTY, WHO IS LAME/TAME BECAUSE THEY PERPETUATE THIS THING WE HATE, WHO IS NOT REALLY A PUNK ROCKER CUZ "I remember when he/she used to listen to Duran Duran", THE REVOLUTION IS GOING DOWN...no it's not happening without us, it is just plain not happening at all... it is going down under the gurgling sounds of our own voices, reproducing the voices of our parents in a slightly altered way, the TV people... trying to dictate to each other what is and what isn't cool or evolutionary or true resistence, what is or isn't true in other peoples lives we sit around making all these boxes and labels, nothing to put in them, we are wasting valuable time. FUCK THAT SHIT, LET'S START TALKING FOR REAL.
To be a stripper who is also a feminist, to be an abused child holding a microphone screaming all those things that were promised, in one way or another, "I won't tell." these are contradictions I have lived. They exist, these contradictions cuz I exist. Every fucking 'feminist' is not the same, ever fucking girl is not the same, okay??? Because I live in a world that hates women and I am one... who is struggling desparately not to hate myself and my best girlfriends, my whole life is constantly felt by me as a contradiction. In order for me to exist I must belive that two contradictory things can exist in the same space. This is not a choice I make, it just is.
JIGSAW, a puzzle made up of all different weird shaped pieces. It seems like it will never come together, it makes no sense, but it can and it does and it will. Jigsaw, pieces like where you grew up and in what kind of fucked up culture and do you have a penis or not and did your parents have money and did you get teased for wearing the same coat four winters in a row and are you Thai-american or Black or Mulatto? And what do all these things mean when you are trying to resist, do something, have a good time??? I see the Jigsaw, fuzzy in my head as everything else, sometimes clear. The fact that he grew up in a working class family has everything to do with he is gonna express sexism, what kind of music he is gonna like, how I am gonna treat him. Jigsaw girl, she got fucked by her father, 8 years, people say she's flakey and inconsistent, lays in her bed eating donuts, resisting going outside where the silence will engulf her, rather sit there wating than always being eaten up... her experience has everything to do with how the pieces are fitting together (or not) for her, judge her from your place without wondering what's going on in that there Jigsaw mind of hers, and you have pushed her further away from clicking, her hand wants so bad to feel, one edge against another, together, one piece next to another, locking into place... you have to be able to see the puzzle before you start putting it together.
Resistance is everywhere, it always has been and always will be. Just because someone is not resisting in the same way you are (being a vegan, an 'out' lesbian, a political organizer) does not mean they are not resisting. Being told you are a worthless piece of shit and not believing it is a form of resistence. One girl calling another girl to warn her about a guy who date raped her is another. And while she may look like a big haired makeup girl who goes out with jocks, she is a soldier along with every other girl, and even though she may not be fighting in the same loud way that some of us can (and do) it is the fact that she is resisting that connects us, puts a piece together.
Jigsaw Youth, I don't know what this means anymore than anyone... only what it means to me. Standing proud and saying "I don't know who I am, I wanna know more, I am not afraid to say things matter to me."
Assuming that people are either "part of the problem or part of the solution" disincludes a lot of people, who, at this moment, do not feel (and therefore ARE NOT) safe enough emotionally, physically, and/or financially to resist in the same ways you might be. By judging people according to your standards of resistence or whatever... it makes it harder for people to recognize what they're doing as being important and political, etc.... it makes it harder for them to get into safe enough situations where they can reisit in more outward, community oriented ways if they want to.
Jigsaw Youth, the island of lost and broken toys, feminists who wear lipstick, people who envision 'the land of do as you please', whose lives are not simple and they are sick of trying to make themselves cohesive enough to fit into a box. Jigsaw Youth, listening, strategizing, tolerating, screaming, confronting, fearless, girl soldiers, boy lovers, boofy haired teen girls scraping out the eyes on a photo of Rick Astley, Jigsaw Youth, the misunderstood seeking to understand other people's reality. Making mistakes... making mistakes... making mistakes... making mistakes... feeling something. Knowing you will never see the puzzle put all together but trying anyways cuz each fucking piece really matters and being with friends matters. Jigsaw Youth... inventing and reinventing what these words
mean.
Written by Kathleen Hanna from Jigsaw Fanzine #4 Spring 1991 Olympia, Washington.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Don't Rape
A lot has been said about how to prevent rape: Women should learn self-defense, lock themselves in their houses after dark, they shouldn't have long hair and wear short skirts, they shouldn't leave drinks unattended. Fuck, they shouldn't dare to get drunk at all.
Instead of that bullshit, how about:
if a woman is drunk, don't rape her.
if a woman is walking alone at night, don't rape her.
if a women is drugged and unconscious, don't rape her.
if a woman is wearing a short skirt, don't rape her.
if a woman is jogging in a park at 5 am, don't rape her.
if a woman looks like your ex-girlfriend you're still hung up on, don't rape her.
if a woman is asleep in her bed, don't rape her.
if a woman is asleep in your bed, don't rape her.
if a woman is doing her laundry, don't rape her.
if a woman is in a coma, don't rape her.
if a woman changes her mind in the middle of or about a particular activity, don't rape her.
if a woman has repeatedly refused a certain activity, don't rape her.
if a woman is not yet a woman, but a child, don't rape her.
if your girlfriend or wife is not in the mood, don't rape her.
if your step-daughter is watching tv, don't rape her.
if you break into a house and find a woman there, don't rape her.
if your friend thinks it's okay to rape someone, tell him it's not, and that he's not your friend.
if your "friend" tells you he raped someone, report him to the police.
if your frat-brother or another guy at the party tells you there's an unconscious woman upstairs and it's your turn, don't rape her, call the police and tell the guy he's a rapist.
tell your sons, god-sons, nephews, grandsons, sons of friends it's not okay to rape someone.
don't tell your women friends how to be safe and avoid rape.
don't imply that she could have avoided it if she'd only done/not done x.
don't imply that it's in any way her fault.
don't let silence imply agreement when someone tells you he "got some" with the drunk girl.
don't perpetuate a culture that tells you that you have no control over or responsibility for your actions. You can, too, help yourself.
If you agree, repost it. It's that important.
Instead of that bullshit, how about:
if a woman is drunk, don't rape her.
if a woman is walking alone at night, don't rape her.
if a women is drugged and unconscious, don't rape her.
if a woman is wearing a short skirt, don't rape her.
if a woman is jogging in a park at 5 am, don't rape her.
if a woman looks like your ex-girlfriend you're still hung up on, don't rape her.
if a woman is asleep in her bed, don't rape her.
if a woman is asleep in your bed, don't rape her.
if a woman is doing her laundry, don't rape her.
if a woman is in a coma, don't rape her.
if a woman changes her mind in the middle of or about a particular activity, don't rape her.
if a woman has repeatedly refused a certain activity, don't rape her.
if a woman is not yet a woman, but a child, don't rape her.
if your girlfriend or wife is not in the mood, don't rape her.
if your step-daughter is watching tv, don't rape her.
if you break into a house and find a woman there, don't rape her.
if your friend thinks it's okay to rape someone, tell him it's not, and that he's not your friend.
if your "friend" tells you he raped someone, report him to the police.
if your frat-brother or another guy at the party tells you there's an unconscious woman upstairs and it's your turn, don't rape her, call the police and tell the guy he's a rapist.
tell your sons, god-sons, nephews, grandsons, sons of friends it's not okay to rape someone.
don't tell your women friends how to be safe and avoid rape.
don't imply that she could have avoided it if she'd only done/not done x.
don't imply that it's in any way her fault.
don't let silence imply agreement when someone tells you he "got some" with the drunk girl.
don't perpetuate a culture that tells you that you have no control over or responsibility for your actions. You can, too, help yourself.
If you agree, repost it. It's that important.
Friday, April 24, 2009
10 Simple Ideas To Empower Women
The following has been posted all over the internet, from websites to blogs, this has been all over the web.
10 Simple Ideas To Empower Women
As a woman, here are some simple tips and how men can help.
Value yourself, and relationships where you are an equal.
In any relationship, there is going to be give-and-take as situations and circumstances change, but you should also feel that, overall, your value in the partnership is equal to that of your partner's.
Learn how to own your voice and assert your opinions.
Pay attention to how women have been socialized to defer to men in conversations. For all you men, avoid interrupting, talking over, discrediting or dismissing a woman's opinion. Studies show that women are more frequently interrupted than men. Over the course of many conversations, they get the message that what they have to say is not necessarily as compelling or valued as what men have to say.
Identify words and language that communicate gender bias.
Make an effort to consciously change the language so it draws attention to areas where bias is apparent. Two places to look for gender bias include position titles that infer gender and school/employer policies that infer gender.
Speak up about sexist jokes or sexist images.
Promote sexual harassment policies in your workplace.
Focus on the person instead appearance.
To foster a healthier self-image, compliment yourself or other woman for achievements, thoughts, and actions.
Call attention to media deception.
Expose and understand unrealistic media images for what they are: retouched, computer-manipulated photos of models-a group that makes up only a tiny subset of the population.
Learn how to ask and negotiate for wages and raises.
Know the worth of your job. Education is your best defense. Research everything you can think of to find the competitive salary for your job in your region -- employment surveys, libraries, professional organizations, peers. For a raise, you need evidence to show your boss that you deserve it. One way to document your contribution to your company is to keep a job diary. Every week, or even every day, write down what you did and how it helped meet the company's objectives. Keep lists or spreadsheets, because managers like to count things. Remember that attributes such as positive attitude, willingness to put in overtime, and quality of work, are essential. Include a few good stories about your work in the diary to illustrate what you added.
Think about, plan and prepare for career advancement.
Mentors are a great asset. If your company doesn't offer clear career ladders, research or find a seminar to help you understand your industry and opportunities.
Encourage risk taking.
People develop self-reliance when they're given the space to solve problems and make mistakes in the process.
Know and be able to manage your finances.
Start saving for retirement immediately in a career - it will grow to much more than the same amount if you wait 10 years to start saving. And keep saving - Social Security doesn't provide the equivalent of a "living wage" for retirement years. Women statistically live about six years longer than men, and run a higher risk of living in poverty as they get older.
10 Simple Ideas To Empower Women
As a woman, here are some simple tips and how men can help.
Value yourself, and relationships where you are an equal.
In any relationship, there is going to be give-and-take as situations and circumstances change, but you should also feel that, overall, your value in the partnership is equal to that of your partner's.
Learn how to own your voice and assert your opinions.
Pay attention to how women have been socialized to defer to men in conversations. For all you men, avoid interrupting, talking over, discrediting or dismissing a woman's opinion. Studies show that women are more frequently interrupted than men. Over the course of many conversations, they get the message that what they have to say is not necessarily as compelling or valued as what men have to say.
Identify words and language that communicate gender bias.
Make an effort to consciously change the language so it draws attention to areas where bias is apparent. Two places to look for gender bias include position titles that infer gender and school/employer policies that infer gender.
Speak up about sexist jokes or sexist images.
Promote sexual harassment policies in your workplace.
Focus on the person instead appearance.
To foster a healthier self-image, compliment yourself or other woman for achievements, thoughts, and actions.
Call attention to media deception.
Expose and understand unrealistic media images for what they are: retouched, computer-manipulated photos of models-a group that makes up only a tiny subset of the population.
Learn how to ask and negotiate for wages and raises.
Know the worth of your job. Education is your best defense. Research everything you can think of to find the competitive salary for your job in your region -- employment surveys, libraries, professional organizations, peers. For a raise, you need evidence to show your boss that you deserve it. One way to document your contribution to your company is to keep a job diary. Every week, or even every day, write down what you did and how it helped meet the company's objectives. Keep lists or spreadsheets, because managers like to count things. Remember that attributes such as positive attitude, willingness to put in overtime, and quality of work, are essential. Include a few good stories about your work in the diary to illustrate what you added.
Think about, plan and prepare for career advancement.
Mentors are a great asset. If your company doesn't offer clear career ladders, research or find a seminar to help you understand your industry and opportunities.
Encourage risk taking.
People develop self-reliance when they're given the space to solve problems and make mistakes in the process.
Know and be able to manage your finances.
Start saving for retirement immediately in a career - it will grow to much more than the same amount if you wait 10 years to start saving. And keep saving - Social Security doesn't provide the equivalent of a "living wage" for retirement years. Women statistically live about six years longer than men, and run a higher risk of living in poverty as they get older.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
31 Ways To Get Involved In Pro-Choice
This was taken from: http://www.prochoice.org/get_involved/31_ways.html
31 WAYS TO GET INVOLVED
Celebrate more than three decades of the right to choose with our Activist Checklist. There is something for everyone - get involved in your community, school, or place of worship to make an important difference in the lives of women.
In Everyday Life
-Ask your ob-gyn and family practice physician if they are pro-choice and/or provide abortion as a part of the continuum of reproductive health care
-Make sure your insurance carrier covers abortion
-Write a letter of support to an official who supports policies that improve access to abortion care
-Tell your story
-Join the Patient Partnership
-Speak positively and with confidence about being pro-choice
-Donate to the NAF Patient Assistance Fund
-Put a pro-choice bumper sticker on your car
-Write to a woman's magazine about why you are pro-choice
At Your School
-Tell your friends and student health services about the NAF Hotline 1-800-772-9100
-Write an article for the student paper
-Join or start your own chapter of Students for Choice
-Make sure student health services provides Emergency Contraception
In Your Community
-Write an op-ed for your local newspaper
-Contact your elected representatives (state and federal)
-Submit a positive resolution regarding Roe v. Wade to your city council
-Join your school board and support comprehensive sex education
-Contact your Yellow Pages about accurately advertising Crisis Pregnancy Centers, i.e. they should not be listed under abortion
In Your Faith
-Join a pro-choice religious group
-Find out if your religion has an official position on choice
-Learn more about the morality of choice
-Bring pro-choice materials to your religious community
-Write something for your religious newsletter
-Support comprehensive sex education
Support the Providers and Clinics
-Raise money for low-income women to obtain abortions
-Send a thank you note to a local clinic
-Escort women at a local clinic
-Volunteer at the clinic
-Sponsor an advertisement
-Organize a party for the staff
-Send a letter to the editor supporting the clinic
31 WAYS TO GET INVOLVED
Celebrate more than three decades of the right to choose with our Activist Checklist. There is something for everyone - get involved in your community, school, or place of worship to make an important difference in the lives of women.
In Everyday Life
-Ask your ob-gyn and family practice physician if they are pro-choice and/or provide abortion as a part of the continuum of reproductive health care
-Make sure your insurance carrier covers abortion
-Write a letter of support to an official who supports policies that improve access to abortion care
-Tell your story
-Join the Patient Partnership
-Speak positively and with confidence about being pro-choice
-Donate to the NAF Patient Assistance Fund
-Put a pro-choice bumper sticker on your car
-Write to a woman's magazine about why you are pro-choice
At Your School
-Tell your friends and student health services about the NAF Hotline 1-800-772-9100
-Write an article for the student paper
-Join or start your own chapter of Students for Choice
-Make sure student health services provides Emergency Contraception
In Your Community
-Write an op-ed for your local newspaper
-Contact your elected representatives (state and federal)
-Submit a positive resolution regarding Roe v. Wade to your city council
-Join your school board and support comprehensive sex education
-Contact your Yellow Pages about accurately advertising Crisis Pregnancy Centers, i.e. they should not be listed under abortion
In Your Faith
-Join a pro-choice religious group
-Find out if your religion has an official position on choice
-Learn more about the morality of choice
-Bring pro-choice materials to your religious community
-Write something for your religious newsletter
-Support comprehensive sex education
Support the Providers and Clinics
-Raise money for low-income women to obtain abortions
-Send a thank you note to a local clinic
-Escort women at a local clinic
-Volunteer at the clinic
-Sponsor an advertisement
-Organize a party for the staff
-Send a letter to the editor supporting the clinic
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Happy Earth Day
Earth Day-April 22, 2009
Go here for more information on Earth Day.
Today is Earth Day and Earth Day is April 22nd of every year. Happy Earth Day everyone! Here are some ways that you can celebrate Earth Day. These can be found here: http://www.wikihow.com/Celebrate-Earth-Day
1.) Plant trees. As the date also roughly coincides with US Arbor Day, over time Earth Day has taken on the role of tree-planting. Planting trees helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, clean pollution, secure soil in place to prevent erosion, and provide homes for a lot of biodiversity.
2.) Make nature crafts at school or home. Get together with your family and build a birdhouse or make a bird feeder to encourage the local bird population, which plays an important role in every ecosystem. Use objects that would’ve otherwise been thrown away to create beautiful works of art…Here, the possibilities are endless:
*Turn used guitar strings into a centerpiece,
*make a basket from an old orange juice carton,
*convert an old floppy disk into a Starship Enterprise,
*or wear a skirt made out of old umbrellas
3.) Learn more about the environment. Earth Day is a good time to make a commitment to learning more about the environment and how you can help to protect it. Borrow some library books and read up on an issue such as pollution, endangered species, water shortages, recycling, and climate change. Or, learn about a region you’ve never considered before, like the Arctic, the deserts, or the rainforests. Think about the issues that concern you the most and if you haven’t done so already, join a local group that undertakes activities to help protect the environment in your area.
4.) Reduce, reuse and recycle all day long. Buy as little as possible and avoid items that come in lots of packaging. Support local growers and producers of food and products - these don’t have to travel as far and so reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Take your drink container with you, and don’t use any disposable plates or cutlery. Recycle all the things you do use for the day or find other uses for things that you no longer use. Carry a cloth bag for carrying things in and recycle your plastic bags.
5.) Get children to recycle their old toys and games. By giving their old toys and games to younger children who could make use of them, older children learn two lessons: One is about giving to others and the second is about reusing and recycling instead of throwing things away. Adults can also do this with clothes, electrical items, books and more. Learn about product exchange communities like Freecycle and other alternatives.
6.) Rid Litter. Rid litter from our roadways. Many groups use the weekend of Earth Day to clear roadways, highways and neighborhood streets of litter that has accumulated since the last clean-up day. Many companies donate gloves and bags for clean-up groups and villages organize bag pick ups. Once the group has collected the trash and placed the recycled bags along the road, get the village public works department to pick the bags up. It’s a wonderful community project. Great for scout troops, rotary clubs and the like.
7.) Sing or listen to “Earth” songs. There are many Earth Day song lyrics available on the Internet. Many follow well-known tunes. These make a fantastic classroom activity and help younger children to become interested in environmental topics. For listening, even iTunes has songs about the Earth for downloading: try searching for words such as “planet”, “Earth”, “endangered”, “pollution” etc.
8.) Hold an Earth Day fair. Maybe your school, your street, your local neighborhood is interested in getting together to have an environmental fair. Things to have at the fair include demonstrations of environmentally-friendly products, children’s artwork, healthy/locally grown foods to eat, animal care demonstrations (including wildlife rescue), games for the children made of recycled products, musicians and actors performing environmental music and skits, stalls which are recycling unwanted treasures and books, local environmental organisations presenting their issues and wares. Money raised can go towards a local environmental restoration project or to an environmental group agreed upon by all the participants running the fair.
9.) Teach others about the environment. Teachers, professionals, students, in fact anyone who cares about the environment and is willing to teach others, can all provide environmental lessons for others. Most schools already celebrate Earth Day in the classrooms with activities but there are many other ways you can teach about the environment. For example, give a speech at your local library on how to compost with worms; take a group of children down to the recycling center to show them how things are recycled; recite nature poems in the park; offer to teach your office colleagues how to make environmentally-friendly choices at work during one lunch hour. Everyone has environmental knowledge they can share with others.
10.) Wear green and/or brown. Dress in environmental colors for the day; think “tree”! Wear badges if you have them that carry pithy summaries of your environmental views.
11.) Engage others in conversations about your environmental concerns. Don’t be bossy or pushy, just tell people some facts and then explain your feelings about them. Encourage them to respond and if they have no opinions or they seem to not know much, help them learn some more by imparting your environmental knowledge in a friendly and helpful manner.
12.) Cook a special Earth Day meal. Plan a menu that uses locally produced foods, is healthy and has minimal impact on the environment. Favour vegetable and bean products, as these use less resources to grow than mass-farmed meat. If you still would like meat, look for locally produced, organic meat. Try and have organic food completely. Decorate the table with recycled decorations made by you and your friends.
13.) Consider buying a carbon offset to make up for the greenhouse gas emissions you create on the other 364 days of the year. Carbon offsets fund reductions in greenhouse gas emissions through projects such as wind farms, that displaces energy from fossil fuels.
14.) Ride your bike. Use your bicycle or other forms of human powered transportation to commute to work or school and to run errands.
15.) Remember: Every day is Earth Day. Anything to help our environment is a perfect thing to do on Earth Day and every day. Don’t restrict yourself to just one day a year; learn about how you can make a difference to environmental protection all the time. And put it into practice - every day!
Go here for more information on Earth Day.
Today is Earth Day and Earth Day is April 22nd of every year. Happy Earth Day everyone! Here are some ways that you can celebrate Earth Day. These can be found here: http://www.wikihow.com/Celebrate-Earth-Day
1.) Plant trees. As the date also roughly coincides with US Arbor Day, over time Earth Day has taken on the role of tree-planting. Planting trees helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, clean pollution, secure soil in place to prevent erosion, and provide homes for a lot of biodiversity.
2.) Make nature crafts at school or home. Get together with your family and build a birdhouse or make a bird feeder to encourage the local bird population, which plays an important role in every ecosystem. Use objects that would’ve otherwise been thrown away to create beautiful works of art…Here, the possibilities are endless:
*Turn used guitar strings into a centerpiece,
*make a basket from an old orange juice carton,
*convert an old floppy disk into a Starship Enterprise,
*or wear a skirt made out of old umbrellas
3.) Learn more about the environment. Earth Day is a good time to make a commitment to learning more about the environment and how you can help to protect it. Borrow some library books and read up on an issue such as pollution, endangered species, water shortages, recycling, and climate change. Or, learn about a region you’ve never considered before, like the Arctic, the deserts, or the rainforests. Think about the issues that concern you the most and if you haven’t done so already, join a local group that undertakes activities to help protect the environment in your area.
4.) Reduce, reuse and recycle all day long. Buy as little as possible and avoid items that come in lots of packaging. Support local growers and producers of food and products - these don’t have to travel as far and so reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Take your drink container with you, and don’t use any disposable plates or cutlery. Recycle all the things you do use for the day or find other uses for things that you no longer use. Carry a cloth bag for carrying things in and recycle your plastic bags.
5.) Get children to recycle their old toys and games. By giving their old toys and games to younger children who could make use of them, older children learn two lessons: One is about giving to others and the second is about reusing and recycling instead of throwing things away. Adults can also do this with clothes, electrical items, books and more. Learn about product exchange communities like Freecycle and other alternatives.
6.) Rid Litter. Rid litter from our roadways. Many groups use the weekend of Earth Day to clear roadways, highways and neighborhood streets of litter that has accumulated since the last clean-up day. Many companies donate gloves and bags for clean-up groups and villages organize bag pick ups. Once the group has collected the trash and placed the recycled bags along the road, get the village public works department to pick the bags up. It’s a wonderful community project. Great for scout troops, rotary clubs and the like.
7.) Sing or listen to “Earth” songs. There are many Earth Day song lyrics available on the Internet. Many follow well-known tunes. These make a fantastic classroom activity and help younger children to become interested in environmental topics. For listening, even iTunes has songs about the Earth for downloading: try searching for words such as “planet”, “Earth”, “endangered”, “pollution” etc.
8.) Hold an Earth Day fair. Maybe your school, your street, your local neighborhood is interested in getting together to have an environmental fair. Things to have at the fair include demonstrations of environmentally-friendly products, children’s artwork, healthy/locally grown foods to eat, animal care demonstrations (including wildlife rescue), games for the children made of recycled products, musicians and actors performing environmental music and skits, stalls which are recycling unwanted treasures and books, local environmental organisations presenting their issues and wares. Money raised can go towards a local environmental restoration project or to an environmental group agreed upon by all the participants running the fair.
9.) Teach others about the environment. Teachers, professionals, students, in fact anyone who cares about the environment and is willing to teach others, can all provide environmental lessons for others. Most schools already celebrate Earth Day in the classrooms with activities but there are many other ways you can teach about the environment. For example, give a speech at your local library on how to compost with worms; take a group of children down to the recycling center to show them how things are recycled; recite nature poems in the park; offer to teach your office colleagues how to make environmentally-friendly choices at work during one lunch hour. Everyone has environmental knowledge they can share with others.
10.) Wear green and/or brown. Dress in environmental colors for the day; think “tree”! Wear badges if you have them that carry pithy summaries of your environmental views.
11.) Engage others in conversations about your environmental concerns. Don’t be bossy or pushy, just tell people some facts and then explain your feelings about them. Encourage them to respond and if they have no opinions or they seem to not know much, help them learn some more by imparting your environmental knowledge in a friendly and helpful manner.
12.) Cook a special Earth Day meal. Plan a menu that uses locally produced foods, is healthy and has minimal impact on the environment. Favour vegetable and bean products, as these use less resources to grow than mass-farmed meat. If you still would like meat, look for locally produced, organic meat. Try and have organic food completely. Decorate the table with recycled decorations made by you and your friends.
13.) Consider buying a carbon offset to make up for the greenhouse gas emissions you create on the other 364 days of the year. Carbon offsets fund reductions in greenhouse gas emissions through projects such as wind farms, that displaces energy from fossil fuels.
14.) Ride your bike. Use your bicycle or other forms of human powered transportation to commute to work or school and to run errands.
15.) Remember: Every day is Earth Day. Anything to help our environment is a perfect thing to do on Earth Day and every day. Don’t restrict yourself to just one day a year; learn about how you can make a difference to environmental protection all the time. And put it into practice - every day!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Burn Down The Walls That Say You Can't
The article below was written by Kathleen Hanna for one of her riot grrrl zines in the early 1990’s.
Burn Down The Walls That Say You Can't
Be a dork, tell your friends you love them
Resist the temptation to view those around you as objects & use them.
Recognize empathy and vulnerability as positive forms of strength.
Resist the internalization of capitalism, the reducing of people & oneself to commodities, meant to be consumed.
Resist psychic death.
Don't allow the world to make you into a bitter abusive asshole
Cry in public.
Don't judge other people. Learn to be yourself
Acknowledge emotional violence as real.
Figure out how the idea of competition fits into your intimate relationships
Decide that you'd rather learn stuff than prove you're right all the time.
Believe people when they tell you they are hurting or are in pain.
Recognize you are not the center of the universe.
Recognize your connection to other people and species.
Make additions to this list and/or think about why you don't agree w/some of what i've written.
Don't assume people invent pain in order to mainpulate you or make you feel bad.
Close your mind to the propaganda of the status quo by examining its effects on you, cell by artificial cell.
Trust
Burn Down The Walls That Say You Can't
Be a dork, tell your friends you love them
Resist the temptation to view those around you as objects & use them.
Recognize empathy and vulnerability as positive forms of strength.
Resist the internalization of capitalism, the reducing of people & oneself to commodities, meant to be consumed.
Resist psychic death.
Don't allow the world to make you into a bitter abusive asshole
Cry in public.
Don't judge other people. Learn to be yourself
Acknowledge emotional violence as real.
Figure out how the idea of competition fits into your intimate relationships
Decide that you'd rather learn stuff than prove you're right all the time.
Believe people when they tell you they are hurting or are in pain.
Recognize you are not the center of the universe.
Recognize your connection to other people and species.
Make additions to this list and/or think about why you don't agree w/some of what i've written.
Don't assume people invent pain in order to mainpulate you or make you feel bad.
Close your mind to the propaganda of the status quo by examining its effects on you, cell by artificial cell.
Trust
Monday, April 20, 2009
Feminism In Many Languages
Below are some translations of the word “feminism” in other languages. If you have a translation to add, feel free to this post with the language and the translation. The translations below were taken from here. I found this interesting and thought I would share it. If the translations are incorrect, reply to this post with the language and the correct translation.
Arabic: فمينيزم, النسوية
Chinese (Simplified): 女性主义
Chinese (Traditional): 女性主義
Czech: feminismus
Danish: feminisme
Dutch: feminisme
English: feminism
Estonian: feminism
Finnish: feminismi
French: féminisme
German: der Feminismus
Greek: φεμινισμός
Hungarian: feminizmus
Icelandic: femínismi; kvenfrelsisstefna
Indonesian: feminisme
Italian: femminismo
Japanese: 男女同権主義
Korean: 남녀 동권주의
Latvian: feminisms
Lithuanian: feminizmas
Norwegian: kvinne(saks)bevegelse, feminisme
Polish: feminizm
Portuguese (Brazil): feminismo
Portuguese (Portugal): feminismo
Romanian: feminism
Russian: феминизм
Slovak: feminizmus
Slovenian: feminizem
Spanish: feminismo
Swedish: feminism
Turkish: feminizm, kadın hakları savunuculuğu
Arabic: فمينيزم, النسوية
Chinese (Simplified): 女性主义
Chinese (Traditional): 女性主義
Czech: feminismus
Danish: feminisme
Dutch: feminisme
English: feminism
Estonian: feminism
Finnish: feminismi
French: féminisme
German: der Feminismus
Greek: φεμινισμός
Hungarian: feminizmus
Icelandic: femínismi; kvenfrelsisstefna
Indonesian: feminisme
Italian: femminismo
Japanese: 男女同権主義
Korean: 남녀 동권주의
Latvian: feminisms
Lithuanian: feminizmas
Norwegian: kvinne(saks)bevegelse, feminisme
Polish: feminizm
Portuguese (Brazil): feminismo
Portuguese (Portugal): feminismo
Romanian: feminism
Russian: феминизм
Slovak: feminizmus
Slovenian: feminizem
Spanish: feminismo
Swedish: feminism
Turkish: feminizm, kadın hakları savunuculuğu
Sunday, April 19, 2009
I Fight Like A Girl Poem
The author of this is anonymous. This poem is also posted on a t-shirt.
I Fight Like A Girl
I fight like a girl who refuses to be a victim.
I fight like a girl who is tired of being
IGNORED and HUMORED and BEATEN and RAPED.
I fight like a girl who's sick
of not being taken seriously.
I fight like a girl who's been pushed too far.
I fight like a girl who OFFERS and
DEMANDS RESPECT.
I fight like a girl who has a lifetime of
ANGER and STRENGTH and PRIDE
pent up in her girly body.
I fight like a girl who doesn't believe in
FEAR and SUBMISSION.
I fight like a girl who knows that
THIS BODY and THIS MIND are mine.
I fight like a girl who knows that
YOU ONLY HAVE AS MUCH POWER
AS I GRANT YOU.
I fight like a girl who will never allow you
to take more than I offer.
I fight like a girl who FIGHTS BACK.
So next time you think you can distract
yourself
from your insecurities by victimizing a girl,
THINK AGAIN.
She may be ME and
I FIGHT LIKE A GIRL.
I Fight Like A Girl
I fight like a girl who refuses to be a victim.
I fight like a girl who is tired of being
IGNORED and HUMORED and BEATEN and RAPED.
I fight like a girl who's sick
of not being taken seriously.
I fight like a girl who's been pushed too far.
I fight like a girl who OFFERS and
DEMANDS RESPECT.
I fight like a girl who has a lifetime of
ANGER and STRENGTH and PRIDE
pent up in her girly body.
I fight like a girl who doesn't believe in
FEAR and SUBMISSION.
I fight like a girl who knows that
THIS BODY and THIS MIND are mine.
I fight like a girl who knows that
YOU ONLY HAVE AS MUCH POWER
AS I GRANT YOU.
I fight like a girl who will never allow you
to take more than I offer.
I fight like a girl who FIGHTS BACK.
So next time you think you can distract
yourself
from your insecurities by victimizing a girl,
THINK AGAIN.
She may be ME and
I FIGHT LIKE A GIRL.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Riot Grrrl Manifesto
Riot Grrrl Manifesto Written By: Kathleen Hanna
BECAUSE us girls crave records and books and fanzines that speak to US that WE feel included in and can understand in our own ways.
BECAUSE we wanna make it easier for girls to see/hear each other's work so that we can share strategies and criticize-applaud each other.
BECAUSE we must take over the means of production in order to create our own moanings.
BECAUSE viewing our work as being connected to our girlfriends-politics-real lives is essential if we are gonna figure out how we are doing impacts,
reflects, perpetuates, or DISRUPTS the status quo.
BECAUSE we recognize fantasies of Instant Macho Gun Revolution as impractical lies meant to keep us simply dreaming instead of becoming our dreams AND THUS seek to create revolution in our own lives every single day by envisioning and creating alternatives to the bullshit christian capitalist way of doing things.
BECAUSE we want and need to encourage and be encouraged in the face of all our own insecurities, in the face of beergutboyrock that tells us we can't play our instruments, in the face of "authorities" who say our bands/zines/etc are the worst in the US and....
BECAUSE we don't wanna assimilate to someone else's (boy) standards of what is or isn't
BECAUSE we are unwilling to falter under claims that we are reactionary "reverse sexists" AND NOT THE TRUEPUNKROCKSOULCRUSADERS THAT WE KNOW we really are
BECAUSE we know that life is much more than physical survival and are patently aware that the punk rock "you can do anything" idea is crucial to the coming angry grrrl rock revolution which seeks to save the psychic and cultural lives of girls and women everywhere, according to their own terms, not ours.
BECAUSE we are interested in creating non-heirarchical ways of being AND making music, friends, and scenes based on communication + understanding, instead of competition + good/bad categorizations
BECAUSE doing/reading/seeing/hearing cool things that validate and challenge us can help us gain the strength and sense of community that we need in order to figure out how bullshit like racism, able-bodieism, ageism, speciesism, classism, thinism, sexism, anti-semitism and heterosexism figures in our own lives.
BECAUSE we see fostering and supporting girl scenes and girl artists of all kinds as integral to this process.
BECAUSE we hate capitalism in all its forms and see our main goal as sharing
information and staying alive, instead of making profits of being cool according to traditional standards.
BECAUSE we are angry at a society that tells us Girl=Dumb, Girl=Bad, Girl=Weak
BECAUSE we are unwilling to let our real and valid anger be diffused and/or
turned against us via the internalization of sexism as witnessed in girl/girl jealousism and self defeating girltype behaviors
BECAUSE I believe with my wholeheartmindbody that girls constitute a revolutionary soul force that can, and will change the world for real.
BECAUSE us girls crave records and books and fanzines that speak to US that WE feel included in and can understand in our own ways.
BECAUSE we wanna make it easier for girls to see/hear each other's work so that we can share strategies and criticize-applaud each other.
BECAUSE we must take over the means of production in order to create our own moanings.
BECAUSE viewing our work as being connected to our girlfriends-politics-real lives is essential if we are gonna figure out how we are doing impacts,
reflects, perpetuates, or DISRUPTS the status quo.
BECAUSE we recognize fantasies of Instant Macho Gun Revolution as impractical lies meant to keep us simply dreaming instead of becoming our dreams AND THUS seek to create revolution in our own lives every single day by envisioning and creating alternatives to the bullshit christian capitalist way of doing things.
BECAUSE we want and need to encourage and be encouraged in the face of all our own insecurities, in the face of beergutboyrock that tells us we can't play our instruments, in the face of "authorities" who say our bands/zines/etc are the worst in the US and....
BECAUSE we don't wanna assimilate to someone else's (boy) standards of what is or isn't
BECAUSE we are unwilling to falter under claims that we are reactionary "reverse sexists" AND NOT THE TRUEPUNKROCKSOULCRUSADERS THAT WE KNOW we really are
BECAUSE we know that life is much more than physical survival and are patently aware that the punk rock "you can do anything" idea is crucial to the coming angry grrrl rock revolution which seeks to save the psychic and cultural lives of girls and women everywhere, according to their own terms, not ours.
BECAUSE we are interested in creating non-heirarchical ways of being AND making music, friends, and scenes based on communication + understanding, instead of competition + good/bad categorizations
BECAUSE doing/reading/seeing/hearing cool things that validate and challenge us can help us gain the strength and sense of community that we need in order to figure out how bullshit like racism, able-bodieism, ageism, speciesism, classism, thinism, sexism, anti-semitism and heterosexism figures in our own lives.
BECAUSE we see fostering and supporting girl scenes and girl artists of all kinds as integral to this process.
BECAUSE we hate capitalism in all its forms and see our main goal as sharing
information and staying alive, instead of making profits of being cool according to traditional standards.
BECAUSE we are angry at a society that tells us Girl=Dumb, Girl=Bad, Girl=Weak
BECAUSE we are unwilling to let our real and valid anger be diffused and/or
turned against us via the internalization of sexism as witnessed in girl/girl jealousism and self defeating girltype behaviors
BECAUSE I believe with my wholeheartmindbody that girls constitute a revolutionary soul force that can, and will change the world for real.
Friday, April 17, 2009
My Herstory
This is my "herstory" of how I got into feminism and riot grrrl. This herstory also tells my story behind the Riot Grrrl Online website. Here goes my herstory:
The Story Behind The Riot Grrrl Online Website And How I Got Into Riot Grrrl (My Herstory)
How I Got Into Feminism and Riot Grrrl I became interested in riot grrrl and feminism in 1997. (12 years ago as of 2009) My interest started when I found out, through the internet, about feminism and riot grrrl. I had also heard a little bit on MTV back in 1997 about the riot grrrl movement. (I used to watch MTV, but not anymore.) I also heard about it by doing some internet searches on the band “Hole”. I found all kinds of Hole websites. I had already started listening to hole and nirvana, since 1994, through MTV. I done some research on Nirvana as well. After surfing hole and nirvana websites, I started hearing about Bikini Kill and Kathleen Hanna. I also started hearing about Tobi Vail and her past relationship with Kurt Cobain. I began listening to bikini kill and I liked their sound. The first bikini kill song I heard was “Rebel Girl”. I began going to some Bikini Kill websites. Most of the bikini kill websites were riot grrrl websites. After finding this out, I started going to a bunch of riot grrrl and feminist sites. I wanted to find more riot grrrl bands to listen to. That’s when I found out about Bratmobile and other Kill Rock Stars records musical artists. Most of those riot grrrl/feminist websites are no longer around, but some of them can still be found on Archive.org. After visiting the riot grrrl websites, I realized that riot grrrl was an underground, punk, and feminist movement. That sparked my interest in feminism, so I started discovering feminist websites.
In 2000, I realized a shortage of riot grrrl sites and most of the sites I enjoyed were gone. I guess alot of people figured that when the riot grrrl bands broke up, that riot grrrl was gone. I guess some people thought that the riot grrrl movement died. I read and researched more about riot grrrl through Yahoo! Yahoo had a lot of “grrrl” websites in their directory and I researched riot grrrl through Yahoo as well. I don’t believe in labels, but I really believed in the riot grrrl movement. After the riot grrrl websites had died, I realized that I still believed in the philosophy of riot grrrl and feminism.
In 2001, I decided I should make a riot grrrl website. I wanted to make a riot grrrl resource and information site, with some information about feminism. I wanted a website where I could add lots of pages and have an active website. I didn’t care if anyone liked my website or not, but it was something I wanted to do for myself and for fun. In a way, I wanted to connect other riot grrrls (and riot boys, feminists, and male feminists) to each other by making the website and that’s when I decided to start ‘Riot Grrrl Online’. I hoped that there were still people out there that felt the same way I did about riot grrrl.
The website was made in 2001, at angelfire. While the website was on angelfire, My online friend Shawnee (aka Deshawn) from Pennsylvania, United States made the purple Tobi Vail layout and helped me out with the website. (I still keep in touch with him.) He knew how to make layouts, but I didn't know how to make them. When the website was on angelfire, I had other pages as part of Riot Grrrl Online, but I deleted a few of those pages, once Riot Grrrl Online got hosted. I had a “female icons” page, and a few other pages that are no longer on the current RGO website. I made the website as a start to revive riot grrrl. The website can still be viewed on angelfire because I never deleted it from angelfire. Just do a search for "angelfire riot grrrl online" or "riot grrrl revolution girl style now" and you'll probably find the website.
In 2004, I got hosted on girlsvomitcandy.com, by Jilly that lives in the United Kingdom. A year later, the girlsvomitcandy.com site died. (which I knew it was going to) Jilly told me she was getting rid of the domain, but that she’d email me when my site left from there. (which she never did) The website is on archive.org now. The website started on angelfire, then moved to girlsvomitcandy.com, and is currently on hot-topic.org. After finding out that girlsvomitcandy.com was no more, I was offered the riotgrrl.co.uk domain, by Rhiannon that lives in the UK. It was her domain and is now a dead link. (Note: No, I am not talking about the current riotgrrrl.co.uk email domain that Nam also owns.) Shortly after, I was offered some space on hot-topic.org and I made plans to be hosted on hot-topic.org, but I thanked Rhiannon for offerering riotgrrl.co.uk to me. I was always a fan of her riotgrrl.co.uk domain.
In 2005, I got hosted on hot-topic.org by Nam. He lives in the United Kingdom. I met him through his now defunct Le Tigre forum on hot-topic.org. He noticed that I was in a dilemma from girlsvomitcandy.com and decided to host me. He also wanted to do something for me since I was active on his Le Tigre forum and helped spread the word about his Le Tigre forum. That’s how I wound up on hot-topic.org, not to be mistaken for the clothing company, "Hot Topic". hot-topic.org was named after the Le Tigre song “Hot Topic”. Nam helps me out with my website if it acts up, goes offline, has errors, or if I have an idea for the website. He answers my questions and gives me ideas. Nam is always there for me and for that I really appreciate him. I have him to thank for my website and for hosting me. He’s a great host and he's helped me add on to the website since it was on angelfire. Nam is a great person and he is very much appreciated. I admire his kindness and helpfulness. He knows alot about websites and computers. At first, the website was in its original purple layout here on hot-topic.org. Then, A couple of months later, Nam started using siteman (a CMS) for my website. He owns the hot-topic.org domain. The siteman version of my website was hacked twice in 2007 and was an annoyance. That’s why I decided not to use siteman anymore. In December 2007, I started using Drupal instead of siteman. Drupal has lots more features than siteman.
In 2007, I found out that alot of people were viewing my Riot Grrrl Online website and that they liked it. Nam told me that RGO was #2 on google searches for "riot grrrl". I realized that I had fans and people that liked the website. People started linking to the website and emailing me about how much they enjoy Riot Grrrl Online. I was shocked that people liked my website and that people actually viewed the website. I got lots of members on the siteman version, but now I am still getting more members with the Drupal version. In 2005, I wanted to do more riot grrrl reviving. I wanted to meet more riot grrrls and people that felt the same way I did. So, I decided to make the Riot Grrrl Online Message Board in November 2005 on proboards as part of the ‘Riot Grrrl Online’ site. In 2007, I decided I wanted more features on the proboards message board. So, I made a new Riot Grrrl Online forum on freeforums.org. In April 2008, The freeforums Riot Grrrl Online forum was hacked, but it went back to running properly and hasn't been bothered since. The freeforums forum isn’t as active as it was because the website is now using Drupal.
In February 2008, I decided to create a Riot Grrrl Online social network on ning. The RGO website was down at the time, so I decided to create a social network for people that still wanted to participate in the Riot Grrrl Online website and forums. In March 2008, I decided to create a Riot Grrrl Online blog on wordpress. The website was still down at the time and I decided to create a blog specifically about feminism and riot grrrl. The blog didn’t have updates about the website posted on it, but it does have articles, news, and other stuff on the blog. A couple months later, I decided to end the blog. It is no longer around and here I am writing a new blog called "Forwrrrd", which is what your reading right now. For the past couple of years, I have done a few riot grrrl/feminist online interviews for class projects and zines.
In December 2008, I realized that RGO was down too much. It seemed to be x10hosting's fault. Nam decided to change hosts and the website hasn't been down since. Also, In December 2008, I found out that my name and the website were mentioned in a UK riot grrrl book called "Revolution Girl Style Now". The book was published by Black Dog Publishing in 2007. I was interviewed for the book by one of the writers in 2007, Red Chidgey. Bryan (a user on the Riot Grrrl Online website) that lives in the US, told me on my riot grrrl ning website about RGO being mentioned and my name being mentioned. I didn't actually think my name or website would be mentioned in the book. I was sure that she probably interviewed alot more people besides me. RGO and myself are mentioned on page 134 in the book. The very last paragraph on that page mentions me and RGO. Bryan highlighted the part of the page that I'm listed on. He done that by making a bold rectangle around the text. Here is the page from that book:
The Story Behind The Riot Grrrl Online Website And How I Got Into Riot Grrrl (My Herstory)
How I Got Into Feminism and Riot Grrrl I became interested in riot grrrl and feminism in 1997. (12 years ago as of 2009) My interest started when I found out, through the internet, about feminism and riot grrrl. I had also heard a little bit on MTV back in 1997 about the riot grrrl movement. (I used to watch MTV, but not anymore.) I also heard about it by doing some internet searches on the band “Hole”. I found all kinds of Hole websites. I had already started listening to hole and nirvana, since 1994, through MTV. I done some research on Nirvana as well. After surfing hole and nirvana websites, I started hearing about Bikini Kill and Kathleen Hanna. I also started hearing about Tobi Vail and her past relationship with Kurt Cobain. I began listening to bikini kill and I liked their sound. The first bikini kill song I heard was “Rebel Girl”. I began going to some Bikini Kill websites. Most of the bikini kill websites were riot grrrl websites. After finding this out, I started going to a bunch of riot grrrl and feminist sites. I wanted to find more riot grrrl bands to listen to. That’s when I found out about Bratmobile and other Kill Rock Stars records musical artists. Most of those riot grrrl/feminist websites are no longer around, but some of them can still be found on Archive.org. After visiting the riot grrrl websites, I realized that riot grrrl was an underground, punk, and feminist movement. That sparked my interest in feminism, so I started discovering feminist websites.
In 2000, I realized a shortage of riot grrrl sites and most of the sites I enjoyed were gone. I guess alot of people figured that when the riot grrrl bands broke up, that riot grrrl was gone. I guess some people thought that the riot grrrl movement died. I read and researched more about riot grrrl through Yahoo! Yahoo had a lot of “grrrl” websites in their directory and I researched riot grrrl through Yahoo as well. I don’t believe in labels, but I really believed in the riot grrrl movement. After the riot grrrl websites had died, I realized that I still believed in the philosophy of riot grrrl and feminism.
In 2001, I decided I should make a riot grrrl website. I wanted to make a riot grrrl resource and information site, with some information about feminism. I wanted a website where I could add lots of pages and have an active website. I didn’t care if anyone liked my website or not, but it was something I wanted to do for myself and for fun. In a way, I wanted to connect other riot grrrls (and riot boys, feminists, and male feminists) to each other by making the website and that’s when I decided to start ‘Riot Grrrl Online’. I hoped that there were still people out there that felt the same way I did about riot grrrl.
The website was made in 2001, at angelfire. While the website was on angelfire, My online friend Shawnee (aka Deshawn) from Pennsylvania, United States made the purple Tobi Vail layout and helped me out with the website. (I still keep in touch with him.) He knew how to make layouts, but I didn't know how to make them. When the website was on angelfire, I had other pages as part of Riot Grrrl Online, but I deleted a few of those pages, once Riot Grrrl Online got hosted. I had a “female icons” page, and a few other pages that are no longer on the current RGO website. I made the website as a start to revive riot grrrl. The website can still be viewed on angelfire because I never deleted it from angelfire. Just do a search for "angelfire riot grrrl online" or "riot grrrl revolution girl style now" and you'll probably find the website.
In 2004, I got hosted on girlsvomitcandy.com, by Jilly that lives in the United Kingdom. A year later, the girlsvomitcandy.com site died. (which I knew it was going to) Jilly told me she was getting rid of the domain, but that she’d email me when my site left from there. (which she never did) The website is on archive.org now. The website started on angelfire, then moved to girlsvomitcandy.com, and is currently on hot-topic.org. After finding out that girlsvomitcandy.com was no more, I was offered the riotgrrl.co.uk domain, by Rhiannon that lives in the UK. It was her domain and is now a dead link. (Note: No, I am not talking about the current riotgrrrl.co.uk email domain that Nam also owns.) Shortly after, I was offered some space on hot-topic.org and I made plans to be hosted on hot-topic.org, but I thanked Rhiannon for offerering riotgrrl.co.uk to me. I was always a fan of her riotgrrl.co.uk domain.
In 2005, I got hosted on hot-topic.org by Nam. He lives in the United Kingdom. I met him through his now defunct Le Tigre forum on hot-topic.org. He noticed that I was in a dilemma from girlsvomitcandy.com and decided to host me. He also wanted to do something for me since I was active on his Le Tigre forum and helped spread the word about his Le Tigre forum. That’s how I wound up on hot-topic.org, not to be mistaken for the clothing company, "Hot Topic". hot-topic.org was named after the Le Tigre song “Hot Topic”. Nam helps me out with my website if it acts up, goes offline, has errors, or if I have an idea for the website. He answers my questions and gives me ideas. Nam is always there for me and for that I really appreciate him. I have him to thank for my website and for hosting me. He’s a great host and he's helped me add on to the website since it was on angelfire. Nam is a great person and he is very much appreciated. I admire his kindness and helpfulness. He knows alot about websites and computers. At first, the website was in its original purple layout here on hot-topic.org. Then, A couple of months later, Nam started using siteman (a CMS) for my website. He owns the hot-topic.org domain. The siteman version of my website was hacked twice in 2007 and was an annoyance. That’s why I decided not to use siteman anymore. In December 2007, I started using Drupal instead of siteman. Drupal has lots more features than siteman.
In 2007, I found out that alot of people were viewing my Riot Grrrl Online website and that they liked it. Nam told me that RGO was #2 on google searches for "riot grrrl". I realized that I had fans and people that liked the website. People started linking to the website and emailing me about how much they enjoy Riot Grrrl Online. I was shocked that people liked my website and that people actually viewed the website. I got lots of members on the siteman version, but now I am still getting more members with the Drupal version. In 2005, I wanted to do more riot grrrl reviving. I wanted to meet more riot grrrls and people that felt the same way I did. So, I decided to make the Riot Grrrl Online Message Board in November 2005 on proboards as part of the ‘Riot Grrrl Online’ site. In 2007, I decided I wanted more features on the proboards message board. So, I made a new Riot Grrrl Online forum on freeforums.org. In April 2008, The freeforums Riot Grrrl Online forum was hacked, but it went back to running properly and hasn't been bothered since. The freeforums forum isn’t as active as it was because the website is now using Drupal.
In February 2008, I decided to create a Riot Grrrl Online social network on ning. The RGO website was down at the time, so I decided to create a social network for people that still wanted to participate in the Riot Grrrl Online website and forums. In March 2008, I decided to create a Riot Grrrl Online blog on wordpress. The website was still down at the time and I decided to create a blog specifically about feminism and riot grrrl. The blog didn’t have updates about the website posted on it, but it does have articles, news, and other stuff on the blog. A couple months later, I decided to end the blog. It is no longer around and here I am writing a new blog called "Forwrrrd", which is what your reading right now. For the past couple of years, I have done a few riot grrrl/feminist online interviews for class projects and zines.
In December 2008, I realized that RGO was down too much. It seemed to be x10hosting's fault. Nam decided to change hosts and the website hasn't been down since. Also, In December 2008, I found out that my name and the website were mentioned in a UK riot grrrl book called "Revolution Girl Style Now". The book was published by Black Dog Publishing in 2007. I was interviewed for the book by one of the writers in 2007, Red Chidgey. Bryan (a user on the Riot Grrrl Online website) that lives in the US, told me on my riot grrrl ning website about RGO being mentioned and my name being mentioned. I didn't actually think my name or website would be mentioned in the book. I was sure that she probably interviewed alot more people besides me. RGO and myself are mentioned on page 134 in the book. The very last paragraph on that page mentions me and RGO. Bryan highlighted the part of the page that I'm listed on. He done that by making a bold rectangle around the text. Here is the page from that book:
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Contributions
If you are interested in contributing something to this blog, email me: grrrlsvomitcandy@NOSPAMhotmail.com with the subject "blog" or "contribute". Just remove the words NOSPAM and you've got my email address. My contact information is also on the "Contact Me" page.
Contributions for this blog must be activism, DIY, equal rights, feminism, human rights, riot grrrl, and/or women's rights focused. Anything relating to those subjects are welcome. Your personal stories, essays, articles, opinions, etc. related is welcome to be contributed. I'm also interested in knowing about the riot grrrl scene in your country or about feminism in your country. Any and all contributions will be appreciated for this blog. I will give you credit for your contributions, when I post up your contribution.
Contributions for this blog must be activism, DIY, equal rights, feminism, human rights, riot grrrl, and/or women's rights focused. Anything relating to those subjects are welcome. Your personal stories, essays, articles, opinions, etc. related is welcome to be contributed. I'm also interested in knowing about the riot grrrl scene in your country or about feminism in your country. Any and all contributions will be appreciated for this blog. I will give you credit for your contributions, when I post up your contribution.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Contact Me
Contact The Author:
My email is listed on my Blogger Profile, which is again, on the right hand sidebar of this blog, under "About Me".
If your too lazy to look on my profile, here is my email address: grrrlsvomitcandy@NOSPAMhotmail.com is my email address. Just remove the words "NOSPAM" and you've got the email address.
When emailing me, DO NOT use subject lines like "Hi", "Hello", "Read this", "No Subject", or "Something for you"...they're too commonly used by spammers, increasing the likelihood that your message will wind up in my spam folder. Also, no blank subject lines. If you are emailing me about this blog or submitting/contributing something for this blog, please use subject lines like "Forwrrrd", "Your Blog", "Forwrrrd Blog", or something like that.
If you are emailing me regarding feminism, riot grrrl, or the Riot Grrrl Online website, please use subject lines like "Riot Grrrl Online", "RGO", "RGO User", "Riot Grrrl", "Feminism", "Feminist", "hot-topic website", "hot-topic", "hot-topic.org", or something of that sort.
You can also find me on the Riot Grrrl Online Forum located here.
My email is listed on my Blogger Profile, which is again, on the right hand sidebar of this blog, under "About Me".
If your too lazy to look on my profile, here is my email address: grrrlsvomitcandy@NOSPAMhotmail.com is my email address. Just remove the words "NOSPAM" and you've got the email address.
When emailing me, DO NOT use subject lines like "Hi", "Hello", "Read this", "No Subject", or "Something for you"...they're too commonly used by spammers, increasing the likelihood that your message will wind up in my spam folder. Also, no blank subject lines. If you are emailing me about this blog or submitting/contributing something for this blog, please use subject lines like "Forwrrrd", "Your Blog", "Forwrrrd Blog", or something like that.
If you are emailing me regarding feminism, riot grrrl, or the Riot Grrrl Online website, please use subject lines like "Riot Grrrl Online", "RGO", "RGO User", "Riot Grrrl", "Feminism", "Feminist", "hot-topic website", "hot-topic", "hot-topic.org", or something of that sort.
You can also find me on the Riot Grrrl Online Forum located here.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
About Forwrrrd
About The Blog:
The Forwrrrd Blog was created on April 14th, 2009. Forwrrrd is a blog about: activism, diy, equal rights, feminism, human rights, riot grrrl, women's rights, and other similar topics.
Forwrrrd also includes some of my online collections on the above subjects such as: online interviews I've done, emails, myspace messages, writings by me and other people, old website collections, and other online things I've received, regarding the above topics. Some stuff in this blog will be pertaining to my Riot Grrrl Online website. However, this blog is not part of the RGO website, but it does have the same concepts as RGO. Contributions to this blog are always welcome from anyone.
Purpose Of The Blog:
Forwrrrd exists to...
-teach others about activism, diy, equal rights, feminism, human rights, riot grrrl, women's rights, and similar topics.
-pull in people who don't identify themselves as "activists", "feminists", or "riot grrrls", but are interested in the topics discussed in this blog.
-be an online community where others can participate by commenting on entries and/or contributing articles/essays/etc.
-encourage others to be interested in some of the topics or all of the topics this blog is about.
About The Author:
My name is Greta and I run the "Forwrrrd" blog. I am also the creator of the Riot Grrrl Online website. I also administrate the Turpentine Forums. I also moderate a forum: Grunge Forum and I only moderate 2 boards on the Free Kurtney Nation: Sassy And Punk Forum. I created the Portal:Feminism on Wikipedia and the Feminism Task Force on Wikipedia. If you want to find out more about me, please visit my Blogger Profile, which is on the right hand sidebar of this blog under "About Me".
The Forwrrrd Blog was created on April 14th, 2009. Forwrrrd is a blog about: activism, diy, equal rights, feminism, human rights, riot grrrl, women's rights, and other similar topics.
Forwrrrd also includes some of my online collections on the above subjects such as: online interviews I've done, emails, myspace messages, writings by me and other people, old website collections, and other online things I've received, regarding the above topics. Some stuff in this blog will be pertaining to my Riot Grrrl Online website. However, this blog is not part of the RGO website, but it does have the same concepts as RGO. Contributions to this blog are always welcome from anyone.
Purpose Of The Blog:
Forwrrrd exists to...
-teach others about activism, diy, equal rights, feminism, human rights, riot grrrl, women's rights, and similar topics.
-pull in people who don't identify themselves as "activists", "feminists", or "riot grrrls", but are interested in the topics discussed in this blog.
-be an online community where others can participate by commenting on entries and/or contributing articles/essays/etc.
-encourage others to be interested in some of the topics or all of the topics this blog is about.
About The Author:
My name is Greta and I run the "Forwrrrd" blog. I am also the creator of the Riot Grrrl Online website. I also administrate the Turpentine Forums. I also moderate a forum: Grunge Forum and I only moderate 2 boards on the Free Kurtney Nation: Sassy And Punk Forum. I created the Portal:Feminism on Wikipedia and the Feminism Task Force on Wikipedia. If you want to find out more about me, please visit my Blogger Profile, which is on the right hand sidebar of this blog under "About Me".
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