Am I a bad feminist?

My best friend and fellow feminist hates folk music. I’ve always said to her, “If you don’t like Ani DiFranco, you’re a bad feminist!” We joke about it, but as a feminist I sometimes find myself wondering if some of the things I do, think and like make me a bad feminist.

It seems like there are rules to being a feminist; you must be pro-choice, you shouldn’t wear too much makeup and you better not read glossy magazines. But these aren’t rules, they’re stereotypes. And the first thing you should know about feminism is that it’s an extremely diverse movement full of different people and conflicting ideas. For example, some feminists are vehemently against porn, while others strongly support it. Feminists, and the issues we’re passionate about, are extremely complex and diverse. You seriously can’t expect us to all be the same.

None the less, I regularly question whether certain thoughts that pop into my head or things that I enjoy are anti-feminist. I laugh at sexist jokes, judge women who dress slutty and do the majority of household chores even though I live with a perfectly capable man. Yikes… maybe I am a bad feminist!
So I did a quick search on Twitter to see if other women are worried about being bad feminists too. Turns out, it’s pretty damn common. Here are just a few examples of what I found.

It seems that questioning the legitimacy of our feminism is a common experience. But is this just an extension of the guilt that us women are so prone to feeling about everything? We feel bad about eating fast food, not exercising, not spending enough time with our kids and pretty much everything else.

I’ve decided that we need to stop worrying about being bad feminists. We’ve got enough shit to feel guilty about – let’s not let feminism make us feel that way too. As long as you’re openly calling yourself a feminist, you believe in equality and you support the empowerment of women, you’re fightin’ the good fight and you’re part of the team. If you laugh at a sexist joke, so what? Feminists have a sense of humour, and we’re smart enough to know the difference between a joke and something malicious.

As long as you’re not spewing shit like, “It would be a much better country if women did not vote. That is simply a fact” as Ann Coulture famously said, then you’re probably OK. Pat yourself on the back for being part of Team Feminism and quit feeling so damn guilty!

Is cleaning the office kitchen a woman's job?

Ever since I joined the workforce I’ve been cleaning kitchens.

No, I’m not a cleaning lady or a nanny. I work in a professional job, and I just happen to be one of the only people at every office I've worked at who cleans out the fridge. In fact, I have never seen a male co-worker clean out a communal fridge since I joined the workforce in 2007.

Where I currently work there are approximately equal numbers of men and women who share the kitchen and fridge. In the past year, only myself and one other woman (let’s call her Nancy) have cleaned the fridge out. I know because there’s a signup sheet on the fridge that says, “Cleaning the fridge is a team effort! Please do your part and sign up.” The “team effort” for the past year has looked like this: Jennie. Nancy. Jennie. Nancy. Jennie. Nancy.

The dishwasher is another point of contention. A few more people contribute to turning the dishwasher on and unloading clean dishes, but by and large it’s done by women. That too has been a trend in every office I've worked at.

This got me wondering, just how widespread is it for women to do all or most of the kitchen cleaning in the office? I’m willing to bet that it’s pretty damn common, and I’m getting a little pissed off about it. Women already do the double shift (work 8 hours in the office then come home to chores, cooking and childcare) – we don't need to make it a triple shift.

Well, it only took us women decades of feminism to get men helping out in the home kitchen... do we have to wait another few decades before they’ll do their part in the work kitchen?

Just some good ol' fashioned ad-busting

I used to do a lot of ad-busting when I was in university. I even taught ad-busting workshops to teens and university students. I haven't done any in a while and I kinda miss it, so I thought I'd post a few of my favourite busted ads and maybe it'll help inspire me to do more!

Feminist film "Miss Representation" to screen in Calgary

This film looks awesome. Miss Representation exposes how mainstream media contributes to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America. Please come down to The Globe Cinema on Wednesday, January 18 from 6 - 9 p.m. to check it out and meet other feminists in Calgary!

All the details are on the Facebook event - invite your friends.

I love advertisements with strong, sassy, smart ladies

I just saw this ad for World of Warcraft on TV the other day and I absolutely loved it. First let me say that I do not play World of Warcraft (or any computer/video games, for that matter) but I have definitely noticed their catchy and creative advertisements (have you seen the one with Mr. T?).

Anyway, back to the reason why I like this commercial so much. First, Aubrey Plaza, who's awesomely hilarious in the TV show Parks and Recreation, is equally snarky and funny in this commercial. I love her sassy personality in this ad. She comes accross as a strong, smart woman who don't take no shit from nobody, and I love it.

There's nothing worse than whiny, weak women like Bella from the Twilight series. Kudos to the marketing team at World of Warcraft for portraying smart, powerful women in their advertising, and not trying to "cutesy" up the game or the commercials in order to appeal to women. 

Lessons in nudity from the Swedish

I recently had the pleasure of visiting my friend Linn in Sweden. While staying with her we attended a couple of fitness classes at her gym. After my first Yoga class in Swedish, we headed to the locker room to grab our runners and hoodies. When I looked up from tying my shoe lace, I realized I was sitting amongst a sea of naked bottoms. All the ladies had stripped down and stood around chatting in the buff while doing their hair.

Two days later we went to another class, and the same thing happened. After class, there was noticeably more nakedness than in a typical Canadian locker room. Friends disrobed in front of one another, chatted about plans for the weekend and generally carried on as if their most intimate parts weren’t on display. And maybe that’s simply because for the Swedes, and many folks outside of North America, the naked body is no big deal.

As we walked home that night, Linn and I compared “locker room etiquette” in Canada and Sweden. At her high school, everyone hit the showers after gym class. As a result, she’s seen all her peers naked over the course of many years.

My high school gym experience was completely different. We never showered after class – there wasn’t time, it wasn’t encouraged and nobody did it. Sure, there were showers in the locker room, but they were used exclusively by the volleyball and basketball teams. Since I never played on any sports teams, I never showered with my peers. In fact, to this day I have never seen any of my friends in the nude.

In Calgary, nudity in the locker room is pretty mixed. Whether you strut your stuff or hide in a change room typically depends on your age, cultural background, and your level of I-don’t-give-a-shit-ness. Generally though, younger women shy away from all-out nudity and prefer to change in locker rooms or shimmy their knickers on with one hand while holding a towel around them with the other. It seems that the older you get, the less you care, and so with age comes nudity.

I’ve decided that I like the European style of locker room etiquette. I believe that the more naked bodies we see, (and I mean REAL naked bodies, not Photoshop plastic bodies) the more comfortable we become with our own body. We get to see the amazing variety in the human body, and we realize that it’s all normal: scars, hair in weird places, saggy boobs, varicose veins, stretch marks, cellulite-dimpled bottoms, the incredible variety of nipple size and colour, and so much more.

I think it’s important that we see naked bodies of all ages in non-sexual contexts. We’ll have more realistic expectations for our own bodies when we see what other people look like. It’s harder to hate your own body when you see your “flaws” in everyone else too. Hiding our bodies from each other breeds insecurity and feelings of abnormality. I hope us Canadians can eventually move to a more European level of comfort with nudity. It doesn’t have to be sexual… it’s just natural and normal.

Tonight's Show: Feminism & Art

Tonight we're discussing feminism and art - two wonderful things that go together so well. We'll be interviewing local artist and feminist, Teresa Posyniak, whose art often features the female body. Her art also reflects her interest in women's issues such as domestic violence.

We'll also be discussing the upcoming feminist art show BODY / IMAGE. The show features art by local folks who explore issues of womanhood, the female body, body image, etc. in their work. The opening night of BODY / IMAGE is Thursday February 3 (7 - 9:30 p.m.) at the Marquee Room, and will feature performances by burlesque dancers, a drag king troupe, and spoken word artists. Admission is only $4 and all proceeds go to Take Back the Night - a grassroots feminist organization that raises awareness about violence against women.

Vintage Japanese Political Poster

PinkTentacle posted a neat-o collection of vintage Japanese political posters - and this is my favourite. It's supposedly an anti-pollution poster, but it could also have a host of other meanings and interpretations. Interesting stuff.

London gallery displays tribute to Mexico's missing and murdered women

Since 1993, hundreds of women in the in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez have been declared murdered or missing. No one knows exactly how many women have been affected. Local rights groups estimate that 300 women have been killed this year alone; official figures are significantly lower. And no one is able to give an accurate estimate for the number of women missing.



Most of the murdered young women were poor local factory workers and students, and many of the killings were truly horrific, involving sexual violence and rape.



When the murders first began they captured the world's attention for a while; dozens of journalists investigated, and numerous books and songs were written. But to date, most cases remained unresolved, and it is still a mystery why women are being targeted in this way.



Two hundred artists from around the world are involved in the 400 Women exhibition, which is is showing at Shoreditch Town Hall in London, England until November 28.



Here are three examples of the portraits:

Rosa Maria Rivers was raped and strangled in July 1999. She was 36 years old.

Artist: Anita Klein

Elizabeth Rodriguez Perez has been missing since November 1999.

Artist: Jane Archer

Melissa Gonzalez Luna was 16 when she disappeared more than three years ago.

Artist: Andres Basurto

To read more about this exhibit and see more portraits, click here.

Some common sense thoughts on the Bible, same-sex marriage and abortion

I found this opinion article by Michael Coogan really interesting. He nicely summarizes what I've always felt about the Bible: Take from it the valuable lessons about treating others well and being a good citizen, and leave from it the sexist, racist, out-dated and old fashioned ideas (after all, it was written thousands of years ago! Times have changed!)

Unless you've been living in a cave for the last few years, you'll know that tension is rising in America between Christians and non-Christians, and some of the big issues that cause that tension are abortion and gay marriage. Below are a few paragraphs from Coogan's article that address these issues in the way I wish all Americans could address them: with common sense. It seems to me that common sense is not all that common anymore! Anyway, enough of my ramble, here's what Coogan has to say:

When talking about so-called family values, pastors, popes, and politicians routinely quote the Bible as if it were an unassailable divine authority -- after all, they assume, God wrote the Bible, and therefore it is absolutely and literally true.

But that is a misconception. As the Bible itself makes clear, its authors were human beings, many of whom are named: David, Isaiah, Luke, and Paul. These human writers wrote over the course of more than a thousand years, and their writings reflect their own views and the values they shared with their contemporaries. So it's not surprising that inconsistencies are frequent in the Bible, both trivial and profound.

Although Jews and Christians, individually and collectively, have for the last 2,000 years accepted the Bible as authoritative in principle, in practice many of its values have been rejected. On issues such as slavery, no one today would maintain that slavery is acceptable, even though, according to the Bible, it was a divinely sanctioned institution. In the debates about slavery in the 19th century those opposed to its abolition cited the Bible in support of their position, but despite such biblical warrant, their views were renounced.

According to biblical law, a father could sell his daughter as a slave, and the last of the Ten Commandments lists as off-limits a neighbor's possessions -- his house, wife, slaves, and livestock. But the majority of modern Jews and Christians no longer accept the biblical view of women as men's property and hence subordinate to them, as they have also abandoned the biblical practice of polygamy.

In current debates about family values, most of which have to do with sex, opponents of abortion and advocates of a woman's right to choose both cite the Bible in support of their conflicting views, even though the Bible in fact says nothing specifically about the issue. And with regard to same-sex marriage, although the few biblical writers who mention same-sex relationships, especially between men, were unequivocally opposed to them, many contemporary believers would argue that, as with slavery and the status of women, it is time to recognize that the values of the biblical writers are no longer necessarily our own.

Opponents of same-sex marriage cite Leviticus, which says that when a man sleeps with a man as with a woman it is an abomination. They're right: It does say that. But it later calls for the death penalty for such activity, which only the most rabid opponents would insist on. The Bible also calls eating pork and a woman wearing a man's clothes abominations, yet many would no longer enforce such prohibitions.

So, I suggest, the essence of the Bible -- its ultimate authority -- is not in its individual pronouncements, but in its underlying message: equal, even loving, treatment of all persons, regardless of their age, gender, socio-economic status, ethnicity, or sexual orientation.

To read the full article, click here.

GQ's November issue turns Glee into porn

Is this Glee photo shoot too sexually explicit for the audience it courts? I think so. Glee is a hugely successful television program that's popular with tweens and teens. It's also wildly popular amongst adults too, but the producers of Glee have to remember that if youth are a big part of their audience, the actors shouln't be posing like porn stars.

The racy photo shoot features Dianna Agron (Quinn), Lea Michele (Rachel) and Cory Monteith (Finn). The Los Angeles Times has a really good article about this, and these two paragragraphs were stand-outs for me:

Monteith is, of course, fully clothed. Not so his female costars, who bare their midriffs and décolletage, bras and panties, in thighs-spread, derriere-hoisted poses made more than slightly unsettling by their school-girl ensembles. Michele, in particular, seems to be auditioning for a live-action version of Japanese anime porn.

The result is not so much saucy and in-your-face as it is predictable and depressing -- oh look, more young women being asked to assume the position, this time complete with pom poms and lollipop. No doubt Agron and Michele did it to be sexy and playful, and were not at all manipulated by forces that have put generations of young women in precisely the same poses for precisely the same reasons -- to feed the fantasy, promote the show and sell magazines. And that just makes it worse, doesn't it?

First, it upsets me that young girls look up to these actresses and here they are posing like porn stars... great. Second, I'm so fucking sick of the same old "sexy" poses: girl licking lollipop seductively, guy with two girls, girls sticking their butts and breasts out, etc. I mean really. Get some god damn originality. Third and finally, I know that all the people in this photo shoot are adults, but they play teenagers on a television show. GQ is a magazine for men, and considering that these photos are set in a school, the photographer has essentially served up over-sexualized images of school girls to grown men.

Any other Glee fans out there? What do you think of these pictures? Today, I am sad to report that I've lots a little bit of respect for Glee.

The Threesome. Super creative and original!

The crotch shot. Another classic.

Oh, the lollipop in the mouth! Another CLASSIC!
And by classic I mean completely unoriginal.

French women protest Burqa Ban in niqābs and booty shorts!

On October 8th, France’s Constitutional Council approved the “Burqa Ban” – a law that bans burqas, niqābs, full body and face coverings in public spaces. However, the law will not apply to places of worship. The new law will impose a fine of approximately $190 and/or a citizenship course for a woman wearing a niqāb or a burqa. Additionally, any person forcing a woman to wear a full-face veil will face a year in prison or a $19,000 fine.

I think this new law is pretty ridiculous, and xenophobic to say the least. We don’t need laws that control women’s bodies and women’s choices. I realise some may claim that not all women choose to wear a veil and that it’s forced upon them. This is probably true in some circumstances, but I bet there’s a lot more women that wear it by choice – to honour their culture, religion or traditions. Either way, I don’t think the government belongs in any discussions about what we wear.

In response to the new law, two anonymous French students recently geared up in niqābs and booty shorts and strutted through the streets of Paris. They stopped at several government ministry buildings to protest the Burqa Ban.

The women, one of whom is Muslim, call themselves Niqabitches. “We were not looking to attack or degrade the image of Muslim fundamentalists – each to their own – but rather to question politicians who voted for this law that we consider clearly unconstitutional," they said. "We want to de-dramatise the situation."

Is it sexist to ogle male athletes?

With the Fifa World Cup on right now, women all over the globe are being treated to some seriously soccerific eye candy. Yeah, that's right, I called the athletes "eye candy." Let's be honest, those soccer playes are HAWT, and I have definitely enjoyed watching the games on two levels: for the sport and for the hotties. But this begs the question, is it sexist to ogle the soccer players?



One of my favourite blogs, Jezebel, has been posting "Abs of the Day" and "Thighlights" featuring the hottest abs and thighs from the day's matches. Naturally, I quite enjoy these blog posts and their accompanying photos, but I've noticed a trend among the comments. Many people are saying things like, "When articles or blog posts are written about female athletes looking good with their hot butts or nice tits, you get up in arms! So why are you doing that to the male athletes?" Others have accused the bloggers of shameless objectification and degrading the male athletes.



This got me thinking about the difference between sexually objectifying athletes and just enjoying their beauty. I personally feel that it is NOT sexist to ogle the male soccer players, and here are my reasons:



1. I don’t watch the game for the hotties

I enjoy watching soccer - I don't just watch it just to ogle men. Not only do I enjoy watching it, but I played it for 10 years. I understand the game and would watch it whether it was played by men or women no matter what their appearance.

Now take certain women’s sports that are aired on TV, such as beach volleyball. The women’s outfits (which are skimpy bikinis) are strictly regulated by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball, and are kept skimpy in order to attract more male viewers to the sport.



2. I don't value the player’s looks over their athletic ability.

Although it may sound like I'm gaga over these soccer players, the fact is that I'm not watching Fifa World Cup for the "eye candy." It's just a nice bonus. I wouldn't watch any old crap on TV just cos it featured hot men. You can put all the hot men in the world in Speedos and make them play cricket and I wouldn't watch that, cos cricket is pretty much the most boring game in the world.



3. Their hot bodies are HEALTHY hot bodies

There is a difference between enjoying an athlete's body who has worked hard and is at the top of their game, and gawking at female models who are likely to have been photoshopped, have an eating disorder, altered their body through plastic surgery or other non-natural procedures, etc. Also, the soccer players are out there having fun doing what they love. They’re not being posed in unnatural positions, made to squeeze their breasts together, cup their breasts, stick their booties in the camera, make a ‘sex face’, tousle their hair around, make out with another person of the same-sex, or do any of that crap that we constantly see female models being subjected to.



4. Guess what? Women like to gawk too.

Why does nobody even question the fact that (straight) men love to stare at tits, ass, legs… all parts of women’s bodies. But when women stare at men, people don’t accept that so easily. Enough of the double standards! Let me enjoy these skilled athletes in all their glory…



Jezebel also has a similar post on this topic… check it out.

This Week's Show: National Aboriginal Day

Monday June 21st (that's today!)is National Aboriginal Day and in honor of this, we are devoting tonight's episode of Yeah, What She Said to the many talented and influential indigenous women and women's groups of Canada and beyond. We will be spotlighting such individuals as Cheryl L'Hirondelle, Daphne Odjig, and many more. We'll be sharing music by some amazing artists as well (i.e. Tagaq, CocoRosie). Tune in! And remember, it's a full hour now, so you have time to settle in and get comfy with us!

Here are just a few links to some of the groups and individuals we will be chatting about.

Painter, Daphne Odjig

Multimedia/Visual Artist, Cheryl L'Hirondelle

Filmmaker, Cara Mumford

The Native Women's Association of Canada

Join us live at 8:00pm (MST) on CJSW 90.9 FM in Calgary, AB Canada and www.cjsw.com worldwide.

And be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode!

Evian Takes our Obsession with Youth to the Next Level

Have you seen this commercial for Evian featuring the 'roller babies'?







Not only do I find the manipulated images of babies insanely creepy, this commercial also exemplifies our society's obsession with youth. Evian's new tag line is "Live Young," and the commercial claims that Evian "supports your body's youth." There's a bullshit marketing line if I ever heard one!



Anyhow, I suppose this post isn't particularly feminist... but I just felt the need to rant. This commercial seems fairly innocent and fun if you don't scrape past the surface, but I think Evian has really taken our obsession with youth to a new level here. Yes, I know it's just supposed to be silly and funny... but the message behind this is that drinking bottled water (which is an environmental atrocity) keeps us young. And in a society like ours that worships youth, a lot of people will believe anything advertisers say in their efforts to keep looking young.

Tonight's Show: Polygamy

Tonight on the show, Jennie and Geea discuss polygamy in Canada, America, and other parts of the world. In particular we'll focus on the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints (FLDS). The FLDS's are branch of Mormonism that is not accepted by the 'regular' Mormon church because they practice Polygamy - the type of marriage that involves one husband and multiple wives. Groups of FLDS's live mostly in Texas, Utah and Arizona, but there is also a small group in Bountiful, BC.



Some of the questions we pose tonight...

• Is polygamy inherently anti-feminist?
• What are the social, economic or cultural reasons for polygamy?
• How are women treated in in the Church of FLDS?
• Are there any societies that practice polyandry (one wife, multiple husbands)?

Here are some links to articles we will reference throughout the show.



Mormon polygamy in Canada among the FLDS - ReligiousTolerance.org

Lost boys are the forgotten polygamy victims - The Vancouver Sun

Bountiful - CBC, The Fifth Estate





Tune in tonight from 8:00 to 8:30 pm on CJSW 90.9 fm, or at cjsw.com.

If you miss our live show, be sure to check out our podcast!

Tonight: Black Histroy Month on YWSS -The Past, Present and Future of Black Hair

It's Black History Month and we are celebrating it with a special presentation on tonight's episode. Yeah, What She Said teamed up with Ellipsis Tree Theatre Collective member and fellow CJSW personality/co-host of Breaking Techniques, Monice Peter, to bring you a fascinating look into the past present and future of Black Hair

We review Chris Rock's Good Hair while exploring black "hair culture" and how black women identify with one another through their experiences with their hair.

Here it tonight at 8:30pm (MST) on CJSW 90.9 FM or stream it live from cjsw.com. Remember you can now subscribe to the Yeah, What She Said Podcast via iTunes!

Where are the fat females in cartoons?

The other night I was watching TV when I saw an ad for a new adult cartoon show called The Cleveland Show. Normally I wouldn’t pay much attention to this type of thing, but something caught my attention and I couldn’t stop thinking about it: The male characters in this show are really fat, and the female characters are slim to average. It got me thinking about other adult cartoon shows like The Simpsons, King of the Hill and Family Guy, and I realized that in all these shows there are some seriously fat male characters, and little-to-no fat female characters.

To prove my point, I came up with this nifty little list.

The Simpsons
Fat male characters: Homer, Bart, Chief Wiggum, Dr. Hibbert, Nelson, Comic Shop Guy and Barney.
Fat female characters: Patty and Selma


Family Guy
Fat male characters: Peter Griffin and Chris Griffin
Fat female characters: none

King of the Hill
Fat male characters: Hank Hill, Bobby Hill and Bill Dautrieve
Fat female characters: none

The Cleveland Show
Fat male characters: Cleveland and Cleveland Jr.
Fat female characters: none

So, a quick tally shows that on these four shows there are 14 fat male characters and two fat female characters. Why the discrepancy?

We all know there are serious double standards in our society when it comes to fat.
We fear female fat and forgive male fat. Fat men can easily get married, find a good job, and generally be successful in life, but the same isn’t true for fat women.

It seems that the cartoon world is simply portraying how we think about fatness in the real world: essentially, that it doesn’t really matter if a man is fat, and fat women are… well… invisible. And when they do exist, as in the case with Patty and Selma, they are single, lonely, childless and unsuccessful.

Highlights (and Lowlights) 2009! Your Thoughts!

What were the most notable feminist events/headlines of 2009? Next week's show is a look back at the year's highlights (and lowlights). Your input is crucial! Tell us about which matters stood out for you or women in general... locally, nationally and globally.

We want you to a.) leave a comment below, b.) post your thoughts on the Yeah, What She Said Facebook Page or c.) send an e-mail to yeahwhatshesaid@gmail.com.

Be sure to tune in this coming Monday, 8:30pm MST on CJSW 90.9 FM in Calgary or www.cjsw.com elsewhere for the Yeah, What She Said Retrospective Edition: 2009!

Shouts-out to contributors will be in full effect:)

Monday's Show - Baby Fever

Join us on Monday night for our show on Baby Fever, which is an overwhelming feeling or desire to have children that many women experience. If your womb has ever ached upon holding a baby or playing with young children, then you know all about Baby Fever. Most women get it at some point in their lives - usually the feelings grow stronger as a women ages from her early twenties to mid thirties. However, women can experience Baby Fever at any time: some women know from a very young age that they want to be mothers, and others don't realize it until they're in their 40's - or later. Of course, it is also completely natural for some women to never experience this feeling or have a desire to procreate.

We'll be discussing some of the reasons why most women experience Baby Fever, the big decision that many women struggle with (to have children or not?), and one of the most challenging questions for feminists: can women really have it all (a partner, a fabulous career and children)?

Tune in on Monday December 14 from 8:30 to 9:00 pm (MST) on CJSW 90.9 fm. You can also listen to our program online at www.cjsw.com.