Feminism, Media, and Technology in the News
I have fallen out of my bi-weekly routine due to conference travel, a disruption that will resume for another week after my much-anticipated trip to Boston for Console-ing Passions.
Disclaimer: This list is obviously not all-encompassing. It likely reflects an unconscious bias toward what I find intriguing (in the interest of self-reflexivity). If you come across something YOU find interesting that you’d like me to include in the next post, please shoot the link my way. Second disclaimer: Fembot does not necessarily support the perspectives represented in all articles/blogs. Some may be included to inspire outrage, deep thoughts, and/or brilliant criticism.
‘Once Upon a Time’ team: We show women who aren’t afraid of power
In their office just down the road from Walt Disney Studios, “Once Upon a Time” writers Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis paper their walls with their own past (“Tron: Legacy” and “Lost” posters) as well as their influences (“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” and a large, light-up poster of George Lucas’ Death Star). “Star Wars,” Horowitz says, is “one of the most iconic pieces of storytelling ever. It was inventing a fairy tale that also felt like it had always been around…”
Tech is getting more gay-friendly
[O]n Saturday or Sunday — Facebook won’t say specifically when — the 900-million-person social network updated its marriage icons to include one for men who marry men and women who marry women. The changes took place automatically for many people. Lazar updated his status because of the news…
Why ‘Illegal Immigrant’ is a Slur
Last month’s Supreme Court decision in the landmark Arizona immigration case was groundbreaking for what it omitted: the words “illegal immigrants” and “illegal aliens,” except when quoting other sources. The court’s nonjudgmental language established a humanistic approach to our current restructuring of immigration policy.
Battle of the sexes: Who’s winning the social media war?
Women are from Pinterest; men are from Reddit. This social media gender breakdown may not be all that surprising, considering that Pinterestdescribes itself as a place to “organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the Web,” and that “people use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes,” while Reddit explains, “users like you provide all of the content and decide, through voting, what’s good and what’s junk.”
Sexual Objectification (Part 1): What is It? / Sexual Objectification (Part 2): The Harm
This is the first part in a series about how girls and women can navigate a culture that treats them like sex objects. Cross-posted at Ms. and Caroline Heldman’s Blog.
A Conversation With… Isis King and Janet Mock
America’s Next Top Model’s first transgender contestant, Isis King, sits down with People.com staff editor and transgender advocate, Janet Mock, for a conversation about representations of transgender people in media.
No Humor in Racism or Black Machismo
It seems the disturbing “Booty Pop” video, featuring a 6-year-old boy rapping about his sexual prowess while bikini’d women thrust their asses in his face is actually the “comedy” of The Reel Idiots. Idiots, indeed. Real rap video or hipster racism — it doesn’t matter. The creators of “Booty Pop” either endorse the twisted way black boys and men are encouraged to perform masculinity or they think it’s funny.
Dad’s a Mom; That’s the Killer
“Hit & Miss,” a six-episode mini-series starring Chloë Sevigny as a hit woman in Manchester, England, who learns that she fathered a son when she was a man.
New York Judge Overrules Twitter: Tweets Broadcast to the Public ‘Belong to the Public’
The Constitution gives you the right to post, but as numerous people have learned, there are still consequences for your public posts. What you give to the public belongs to the public. What you keep to yourself belongs only to you.
Closed Captioning Not Provided: Why the new era of streaming TV is making life hard on deaf viewers.
As TV viewers are increasingly liberated from the broadcast schedule—thanks not only to DVR-driven time-shifting but also to devices that stream thousands of movies and shows from Netflix and Hulu Plus direct to our sets whenever the mood strikes—the technology for closed captions hasn’t kept up. This is a minor annoyance for people like me who want a little extra help understanding accents. It’s a more serious problem for those who are hard of hearing. And that makes it a legal problem as well.
Are Modern Men Manly Enough?
Are men spending too much time at the spa and the gym in lieu of grittier, manlier pursuits? And if so, is this making them less masculine?
Girls Ask Teen Vogue to Ditch Photoshop, Get Berated by Editor-in-Chief
After 14-year-old Julia Bluhm delivered 25,000 signatures on a petition to ban Photoshop from Seventeen magazine, the editors promised not to alter girls’ faces or bodies, but didn’t outright agree to stop Photoshopping its models and celebrity subjects — and they did not commit to publishing any unretouched photo spreads.
Even at a Comics Event, You Can’t Defy Gravitas
Topics for panels at this year’s conference at the San Diego Convention Center include comics and the plight of indigenous peoples, feminist writers and censorship, progressive politics in comics and of course the many financial and copyright issues created by the explosion in Hollywood’s interest.
Sexual harassment as ethical imperative: how Capcom’s fighting game reality show turned ugly
Video game communities can have wildly different standards of conduct, but a recent Capcom-sponsored event has proven just how ugly the fighting game community can become. During a week long reality show about fighting games, contestants took part in sexual harassment and in fact argued that sexual harassment is an important part of the fighting game community that needs to continue. This happened on camera, across multiple days.
How Stereotypes Can Drive Women To Quit Science
Walk into any tech company or university math department, and you’ll likely see a gender disparity: Fewer women than men seem to go into fields involving science, engineering, technology and mathematics.
New Ladydrawers! Why Are Women and Transgender Comic Creators Getting Less of the Pie?
You might be familiar with Ladydrawers from past issues of Bitch, or from regular postings at Truthout. A series that takes on industry statistics in comics form, Ladydrawers explains how “gendered differences in pay, labor conditions, and the education of media creators go far to explain the sexist tropes that show up on the pages of funnybooks.” And it only takes one look at the movies coming out this summer to realize how big of a cultural impact those funnybooks can go on to have.
