Favorite Picks, part 2

Hi Everyone. This moth I have two exams coming up, so unfortunately I wont be able to publish any post until June. Sorry for that, but luckily, I can say I have a lot of ideas for blog post. So come summer, it’ll be raining post at this blog!

Before I leave for a moth, here’s some articles you guys and gals should check out!:

At The Daily Kos, contributer theothermaven wrote a splendid critic on DC comics New 52- series.

At Guardian, Emer O’Toole defending body hair and bravely argued why women should stop shaving. You go, sister!

The great writer Maurice Sendak just passed away this week. May the man rest in peace. As a memorial, here’s a clip of Stephen Colbert interviewing Mr. Sendak.

Jezebel had two interesting essays this week. One was about Hillary Clinton boldly going before cameras without any make up. And sorry for reputation, but I have to say it: You go, sister!

The other was a reflective piece on whether men are attracted to what they think other men approve on or not.

Lastly, if you haven’t heard of the fantastic film critic Mark Kermode, let me introduce you to him by the following three (short) videos with three of his most funny and insightful reviews:

Mr. Kermode’s famous “Sex and the City 2″ (2010) rant (love this review!):

His review of the mockumentary “Pimp” (2010):

And finally, his negatively loving review of “Mamma Mia!” (2008):

Peace and love/ Maaretta

Favorite Picks: Another Collection Of Good Articles

A lot of interesting things are happening right now. Some positive things, others not so much. A lot of interesting essays have been written over the past month. Here’s some that you might have missed, but I recommend strongly! A fair warning: this list is very long, but worth checking out to the end!

“Balancing Jane” (a feminist blog I recently discovered) wrote a series on the portrayal of love triangles in music, focusing on the disturbing trend of having women viciously attack one another. Here’s the intro.

And part 1, “Direct competition”.

Part 2: “Offensive threat”.

And the final part: “Defensive attacks”.

“Balancing Jane” also wrote about a problematic Facebook meme.

At “Feministe” there was a post explaining why fat is a feminist issue.

And since sizeism and pressure is not only aimed at plus-sized people, Gina S at the blog “The F bomb” wrote an essay on people’s negative attitude towards her naturally skinny body.

At “Racilicious”, Lois Payne did a guest post on the character Jodie Lanson from the animeted televion show “Daria”. A awesome post about a awesome character from a awesome television show!

Jen Wang from the same blog wrote about Vagina bleaching. Industries always find something new to shame women with, don’t they?

Maya Dusenbery wrote an article at “Feministing” titled: “What Katie Roiphe gets wrong about ´Fifty shades of Grey´ and fantasies on sexual submission.

Zerlina Maxwell asked the question of how does “stand your ground” laws apply to victims of domestic violence?

Caperton at “Feministe” explained why comments like “I prefer small breast” and etc. from men don’t really help women.

The blog “Feminist Fatale” highlighted the lack of women in TV.

Lena Chen, a former sexblogger, wrote a “Dealbreaker”- article at “GOOD” titled: “He’s got an Asian fetish”. This “Dealbreaker”-series is not very good. However Ms. Chen’s essay was very well argued and written.

Blogger Carrie Nelson did a hit-and-miss series at “Bitch media”, “Visi(bi)lety”. Here’s the four articles a really enjoyed and found though-provoking:

A essay on the character Jack Harness from “Torchwood”.

Ms. Nelson’s insights on the “Bromance”-movie “Humpday”.

And her insights on the TV-show “Glee’s” prejudice against bisexual men.

Ms. Nelson isn’t a huge Katy Perry-fan. Here’s her article on her star making hit song, “I Kissed a girl”.

Speaking of Katy Perry, at the f-bomb Katie E. wrote a sharp critic on Ms. Perry’s song “ET” and it’s depiction of possible violence.

And finally, below is featured one of the latest videos from “Feminist Frequency”. The subject being the depiction of the heroine Katniss Everdeen from the young adult novel “The Hunger Games”. A great video with brilliant points!:

Take care!/ Maaretta

(Update!) Something Old, Somethin New And Something Fun: A Mix Of Articles And Music Videos

First, some two to three weeks old, but still worth a read, essays and articles:

At Feministing, Chloe Angyal pondered if Facebook is enabling eating disorders.

At the same blog, you can read about Guatemala launching a femicide unit.

The blog Racialicious had a good article on racist fans of “The Hunger Games” series.

Also at Racialicious, Andrea Plaid made a tribute to Nichelle Nichols, who’s most famous for portraying Uhura in the original “Star Trek”- series.

Feminist Blogger Kelsey Wallace wrote a short, but spot-on and brilliant, critique of George Clooney’s film “The Ides Of March”. Like Ms. Wallace, I was also highly disturb by the films nearly anti-abortion message, as well as the way the female main lead was written as well.

Alya Dawn Johnson at The Angry Black Woman talked about the Bechdel Test and race.

At Bitch Media, Caroline Narby wrote an article on girls and Asperger’s.

At Colorlines, Hatty Lee posted some statistics which show that thousands of young black men die in gun crimes every year.

Since March is ending, which means the end of “Women’s History Month” is near, the team at Gender Across Borders recommends us to remember Marie Curie.

Second, the new:

Glenn Greenwald wrote about three congressional challengers worth supporting.

Blogger Arturo R. Garcia, who’s works focus often on race and popular culture, explored how Felicia Day and Chris Hardwick reinforced Geekdom’s whiteness.

Rest In Peace, Adrienne Rich.

Update: As Maya Dusenbery (feminist blogger and activist) noted perfectly, a win for abortion rights has been made in Argentina! (Article written by Edurne Cárdenas)

And lastly, something fun!

The Lonely Island’s songs haven’t often thrilled me much. However, “Like A Boss” is a hilarious song. Watch the video below!

The Welsh artists “Marina And The Diamonds” song “Oh No!” is witty and colorful social commentary, with a great melody. View the video below!

Internet Music Critic “Todd In The Shadows” Gives Birth To Tumblr Blog “Trolling Chris Brown”

Todd In The Shadows is the pen name for the otherwise anonymous internet reviewer of pop music at the comedy site “That Guy With The Glasses”. His gimmicks run on hilarious snarks at hit singles, combining legitimate complaints with humorous observations.

I’ve been following Todd In The Shadows recently, since I find his work pretty entertaining. I was delighted to see that two days ago he started a Tumblr blog called “Trolling Chris Brown”, featuring tweets of funny come backs at the musician Chris Brown, who is not only a former domestic abuser, but also has never really shown any sings of truly regretting his despicable crime. Todd In The Shadows stated that he started this blog not only because of Browns terrible behavior, but also (and mostly) as a protest against fans who defend Brown by saying the woman, Rihanna, he beat up “provoked him”, i.e. “was asking for it”.

Go here for the blog. And for the video where Todd In The Shadows illustrates why he started the blog, go here.

Bless you, Todd In The Shadows! Your critique against people defending violence is refreshing and awesome to see. It’s important to protest when people start giving excuses for domestic abuse while simultaneously blaming the victim.

Now if only there was a similar tumblr blog dedicated to hating Charlie Sheen’s tweets. For those who don’t know, he’s also a former domestic abuser who has never regretted his violence against women, plus many seem to absurdly ignore the abuse he’s inflicted upon women.

Or a tumblr in protest of Roman Polanski defenders?

I can’t high light enough why it’s important to not be too forgiving towards men when they assault women. Violence against women is a huge problem world wide. When people idolize abusive men, they send out the message that men can be violent towards women as much as they like if they are “great enough”. But if we are to move towards a world free of violence, we must stop forgiving those who commit crimes of violence with little or no remorse. And we can’t give them excuses for what they did or do either.

Ladies In The History Book: A After-International Women’s Day Post

Yesterday was International Women’s Day. Last year I did a post on extraordinary living women, so this year I’ll make links to articles on important historic women. This post is written after a long work day, so it there might be some spelling mistakes. If so, I apologize.

At Bitch Media, a feminist blog, they have a series called “Adeventures in Feministory”. Below you’ll find the links to the articles!

Here’s the most recent post in the series on Ada Lovelace, the first computer programmer.

An article on Jeannette Rankin, the first woman elected to U.S congress.

Here’s a article on Annie Oakley.

Ella Baker, a underrated civil rights activist.

For those interested in cultural history:

An essay on the writer Gloria Anzaldúa.

For fans of blues, here’s an article on Gladys Bentley.

For people interested in the Dancing arts, Rachel Tobach did a great essay on Isadora Duncan.

Essay on Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

And finally an article on Phoolan Devi, “The Bandit Queen Of India”.

Happy (late) international women’s day, sisters!

Write Up: Some Interesting Articles Worth Reading

Jill at “Feministe” wrote an article on sexual violence in prisons. An important subject that is too often over looked in America; more should be done to stop rapes and other sexual violence from happening to prisoners. As Jill puts: “There are many reasons to be horrified by prison assault — and sexual assault generally — but the degree to which it’s enmeshed in the American consciousness as just part of our system of ´justice´ is particularly disturbing”.

Seems like Texas is willing to throw 130, 000 poor women under the buss to stick it to “Planned Parenthood”.

Here’s a link to a video of a Eritrean refugee talking about tortured in Sinai. Five-minute long awful story.

Marianne Mollman at “RH reality check” writes about the deeply rooted parallels between female genital mutilation and breast implants. Thought- provoking essay!

Syria is voting on new constitution as violence continues.

In the US, Maryland became the 8th state to pass marriage equality. Yay for that!

Eva Longoria, one of the main stars of “Desperate Housewives”, writes an essay at “Huffington Post” about hope for a brighter future for Latinas.

Apple faces it’s “Nike moment” over working conditions in Chinese factories. My heart goes out to the exploited workers!

Take care/ Maaretta

Setting The Record Straight: Bill Maher Explains Why Atheism Isn’t A Religion

“Saying Atheism is a religion is like claiming that being bald is a hair color” – Anonymous

Bill Maher (b. 1956) is an American comedian, who has become mostly known for his commentary on religion. Mr. Maher started his career in comedy with Stand-Up routines and acting. He then moved on to become the host of the late-night political talk show “Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher” (1993-1997). Currently, He’s the host of the show “Real Time with Bill Maher”, which has been running since 2003. The newest season which just recently began in February, presented an episode where Mr. Maher gave a monologue explaining, once and for all, why Atheism isn’t a religion.

I applaud you, sir! Words can’t express how frustrating it has been for me, as well as to many other atheists, constantly to hear non-atheist make the claim that non-believers are in fact “believers”. As soon as this brilliant speech was over, all I could think was: “Finally!”.

In Honor Of The Sami Peoples National Day

Today it is the National Sami Day in Finland! So it’s time to spread some information about the Sami culture and History, as well as mention a few of the interesting cultural people of Sami origin.

First, on this site you’ll find a brief, but well detailed essay about the history of the Sami people with a concise introduction to their culture and environs. Gives a good synopsis of the politics of persecutions they lived through to the qlliveations of some gained rights.

For a history specifically on the Sami’s in Finland, go here. (In Finnish! Use Google translation to read in another language!)

Look at this interesting article from The Guardian in 2010 about what Sami People can teach us about adapting to climate change.

A fact sheet on Sami’s in Sweden.

Naturally they have even a contemporary cultural production and the information on the Sami filmmaker Paul Anders Simma, who grew up with a nomad Sami famil, gives a good account of this.

The famous musician Mari Boine, known for adding jazz and rock to the yoiks of her native people.

An article on Sámi Literature.

And lastly, below is featured a song by the Norwegian-born Sami singer Maddji. This song is called “Iđitguovssu”.

(Still picture accompanying the music on the video, sorry!):

 

Fun Quote Of The Day! Plus Links To Interesting Articles

Steven Muffat: (before the airing of the most recent episode of “Sherlock”) “Remember it’s just a TV show. Only the emotional damage is real”
- Via Mr. Muffat’s Twitter

Paddy Considine, who in 2011 made his directional debut with the acclaimed “Tyrannosaur”, talks about being diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome.

Rick Santorum thinks rape victims “should make the best out of a bad situation”. For a sharp attack on Santorum’s cruel suggestions, read what the feminist blogger Jill had to say about that.

In South Africa, there has been a recent discovery of the oldest dinosaur nest yet found.

A great article about “Fish Tank” at the blog “Feminist Music Geek”.

A review of “Made in Dagenham” (2010) at “Bitch Media”. After reading this article I’ve become totally hyped on seeing this film!

I’ll be writing a post on the new “Sherlock Holmes” films by Guy Ritchie as well as the BBC’s television show at the end of this week. I’ll compare the two very different adaptions to each other and to Sir Conan Doyle’s stories. Stay tuned!

The Male Experience: Two Stand Up Comedians Discuss Social Norms Regarding Men

Comedy can be a very powerful social tool. Through humor people can critique politics, point out hypocrisies in our cultures and people, or give us a means to observe the sociology of our beings. Satire is the most commonly known term for this form of comedy and many of the most famous “stand up” comedians tend to use this type of satirical humor. For example George Carlin, Bill Maher, Lewis Black, and Margaret Cho.

In the two videos, below, we can see the work of a couple brilliant comedians working with this satirical technique to confront important political and social issues in their comedic routines, and I will attempt to give a brief thought on what occurs within each of these satirical monologues.

Dave Chappelle is one of the most recognized African-American comedians in the US. He’s mostly known for the comedy sketch program “Chappelle’s Show”, which featured risqué humour as well as social commentary dressed in a mocking tone. He was also quite phenomenal while doing stand up. In this routine, he discusses how society views men who are victims of sexual violence.

Mr. Chappelle, definitively, hits the nail on the head in this routine. Men are expected to “man-up” after experiencing traumatic events, and are bizarrely anticipated to always be able to defend themselves. Men are constantly propelled to feeling shame if they don’t live up to these expectations. However, I don’t exactly agree with Mr. Chappelle that society is just super nice to female victims of sexual violence; there’s a lot of victim blaming there as well.

On an not-so-off note: regarding the topic of preventing sexual violence, check out these superb ads on the subject.

Maz Jobrani is a Iranian-born American comedian who is a part of the excellent comedy group “Axis of Evil”. In his unique satirical style, he critiques and explores subjects such as racism, Islamophobia, and on his own identity of being Iranian/American. Many of his routines excavate and evaluate Iranian, as well as American, politics. In the clip featured below, he talks about his of upbringing in the crux of “manhood”.

The monologue directly confronts the suppression of “weak” emotions that the male is “suppose” to suppress and ignore. Social norms operate often to curtail men in regard to entirely express emotions. Needless to say this suppression is not the greatest of ideas. It’s good that Mr. Jobrani satireizes such upbringing, but he does make an unfortunate implication in the very end. Pity, but still funny insight on the subject if one ignores the very last bit.

Hope these two clips gave you some good laughs, and raised some thoughts!