Feminist Flashback #46

A.k.a. Women in Prison, part 3 of 3


Wrapping up my mini-series of Feminist Flashbacks (parts 1 and 2 here and here, respectively), I bring you a documentary you probably haven't heard of, but that's well worth a watch: the 2006 British musical documentary about women in prison, directed by Brian Hill. Yep, you read that right, it's a musical! Aptly entitled Songbirds, this unconventional doc chronicles the lives, trials and tribulations of some of the 250 women incarcerated at Downview Prison in Sutton, England.


Want a little more information? Check out this review.

Feminist Flashback #45

A.k.a. Women in Prison, part 2 of 3


While I haven't read anything yet that confirms my suspicions, I'd be willing to bet that the BBC's hit television drama Bad Girls (1999-2006) was more than marginally based on Germany's Hinter Gittern, which I featured as the previous flashback. Obviously, Bad Girls isn't just limited to German-speakers and at least the first few seasons can be purchased in the USA (and viewed, I think, on BBC America). In any case, I can't recommend Bad Girls highly enough; it's less risque than its German cousin, which is neither here nor there, really, and it's fun, smart, thought-provoking and a little campy (but only in the best of ways).

Feminist Flashback #44

A.K.A. Women in Prison, part 1 of 3

In 1997, the ground-breaking German television drama Hinter Gittern: der Frauenknast [Behind Bars: The Women's Prison] first aired, and I watched it with rapt attention with my grandmother as a teenager, an interesting experience to say the least, considering German prime time is like an only moderately tamed down version of Showtime. The show ran for ten years and, while I haven't seen it since the second or third season, from what I can remember it was pretty hard-hitting, impressively executed and downright fascinating.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure if it'll ever come out in America, but DVDs of the show in German are available. If you're a German speaker, it's well worth a watch.



(If that's not enough of a taste, here's another trailer.)

Feminist Flashback #43

My parents just sent me about four thousand pictures of the Christopher Street gay pride parade in Berlin, so for this week's feminist flashback we have the 1999 German film Aimée & Jaguar, starring the amazing Maria Schrader (Rosenstrasse) and Juliane Köhler (whom you may have also seen in the film Nowhere in Africa, which won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 2003). Aimée & Jaguar based on a true story about a love affair between two women in Nazi-era Berlin. It's an amazing film and an incredible love story--beautiful and sad. And the book, a biography, upon which the film is based, is quite good, too.

Unfortunately, I don't think the English-language trailer really does the film justice, but it's the best I could do on short notice:

Feminist Flashback #42

What is marriage? Grover wants to know...



(H/T The Bilerico Project)

Feminist Flashback #41

Melissa over at Woman and Hollywood wrote a really interesting post the other day in which she weighs the pros and cons of paying to see Sandra Bullock's new film, The Proposal. I totally get where she's coming from as I'm also a huge fan of Sandra Bullock, but I think the previews for the The Proposal make it look mediocre at best and potentially insulting (to women) at worst. That said, Melissa's post--particularly the excerpts she provides from some revealing interviews with Bullock--convinced me that I should give the film a chance. If nothing else, I know that Bullock herself will be good...

...which leads me to my 'catch-up' feminist flashback (a make-up for the one I missed the week of June 7 -- and then I'll do this week's on Wednesday and be all caught up!), the trailer of one of my favorite Sandra Bullock movies, a film decidedly in the genre of 'feminism in surreal places', Miss Congeniality:

Feminist Flashback #40

I know I've been very, very MIA, what with my traveling and all, but I wanted to at least throw a feminist flashback your way (I'm one behind, I know!) for this week. Today's flashback is especially fitting because I've been enjoying DVDs of the first season of the beloved 80s detective series Cagney and Lacey on my laptop while I've been away, and I have vivid and happy memories of watching it when I was a kid. More on C&L soon I hope, but for now your just get to enjoy the opening:

Feminist Flashback #39

So Monday I flew to Germany, with a trip to Paris to come in a week, to visit friends and family, which is my excuse for my lag in posting this week's feminist flashback. That said, since I'm currently in Berlin--my favorite city in the world--I thought I'd post an appropriately germane (no pun intended) flashback this week.


AVIVA Berlin, an online magazine for women, turns 9 years old this month. If you can read German, you should check it out. I don't know much about the magazine, but they've got sections on Culture, Jewish Life, Women and Work, Book Reviews, Interviews, etc.--all woman-centered, of course. Plus, and most importantly, they share my name and should, I think, hire me. Who wants to help me start a campaign to get myself hired as their spokesperson? ;-)

Feminist Flashback #38

This week, a flashback to my childhood--She-Ra: Princess of Power--the awesome-ist Saturday Morning Cartoon ever!



Also, if you want to check out more She-Ra, the first season is available courtesy of YouTube.

Feminist Flashback #37

Some of you have probably heard of Artemisia Gentileschi; her work and life are usually taught in intro art history classes and, sometimes, intro women's studies classes. The Italian daughter of the well-known-in-his-day painter Orazio Gentileschi, Artemisia was born in 1593 (d. 1652/53) and worked as an artist during the Baroque period, when very few women were painters. Her work is especially notable because she painted historical and allegorical subjects, instead of just painting the still-life and portrait work traditionally deemed appropriate for the 'fairer sex.'

She began painting as a teenager (she painted Susanna and the Elders, which I've posted below, when she was 17). Her life-story is pretty rocky: she was raped by her tutor, the painter Agostino Tassi, and subjected to an extensive and very public trial (during which she was tortured while being questioned in order to "verify" her accusations). A compelling (if questionably accurate) film was made about Artemisia's life in 1997; it's called, simply, Artemisia.

For more information, check out Mary D. Garrad's book Artemisia Gentileschi.

I absolutely adore Artemisia Gentileschi's work--always have; her use of chiaroscuro (contrasting light and dark) is nothing short of brilliant and her paintings radiate a confident and beautiful style that's really quite unique.

Some of my favorites below the cut:

Susanna and the Elders, 1610

Judith Slaying Holofernes, c. 1612-13

Judith and Her Maidservant with the Head of Holofernes, c. 1625

Self Portrait as the Allegory of Painting, c. 1630

Feminist Flashback #36

In honor of Mother's Day (Happy Mother's Day to you all!), for this week's feminist flashback I'm showcasing my own mother, Rita Dove, former Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner. To say I'm proud of her and awed by her would be an understatement, and I couldn't wish for more phenomenal parents than Rita and my father. That said, with her permission, I'm posting one of her poems from her 1995 book Mother Love, which loosely revolves around the Persephone and Demeter story from Greek mythology. This is not, by any means, her most recent book of poetry, but considering it's Mother's Day, it seemed vastly appropriate (her newest book, Sonata Mulattica came out last month--more on that in a later post).

In any case, to my beautiful, kind, brilliant mother on Mother's Day, I love you.

To all the other mothers in the world, Happy Mother's Day!

Exit
by Rita Dove

Just when hope withers, a reprieve is granted.
The door opens onto a street like in the movies,
clean of people, of cats; except it is your street
you are leaving. Reprieve has been granted,
"provisionally"--a fretful word.

The windows you have closed behind
you are turning pink, doing what they do
every dawn. Here it's gray; the door
to the taxicab waits. This suitcase,
the saddest object in the world.

Well, the world's open. And now through
the windshield the sky begins to blush,
as you did when you mother told you
what it took to be a woman in this life.

Feminist Flashback #35

Because I'm a little bit in love with Lil' Kim on Dancing with the Stars, this week's flashback is her--seriously Not. Safe. For. Work.--album Notorious K.I.M., which was a serious staple of my college audio library. My father says her music is basically pornography in rap form, but I know he says that with love. In any case, if you haven't heard her music, consider that fair warning:

How Many Licks? - Lil Kim

And, as a bonus, her most recent (awesome) dance on DWTS (which is, of course, safe for work):

Feminist Flashback #34

http://www.crimethinc.com/

(H/T Sally's tumblr)

Feminist Flashback #33

Since my partner just finished teaching this film in one of her courses, today's feminist flashback is the 1991 Ridley Scott film Thelma and Louise.


And, since some asshole on a bike groped her while she was running today--grabbing first her ass and then her breast before shoving her down (she chased after him swearing and swinging her fists, but, of course, he was a complete coward and biked away)--here's the most appropriate clip imaginable. The ultimate revenge for a lifetime of unsolicited physical and emotional trespasses by men:

Feminist Flashback #32

For this week's Feminist Flashback, I present Angry Alien Productions' rendition of the great (feminist) action movie Alien, in 30-seconds and re-enacted by bunnies. The site's creator, Jennifer Shiman, has a lot of amazing 30-second cartoon movie re-enactments; she's been doing this since 2005 after all. You should, of course, check out the whole site.

But first, in honor of Easter, click here to watch the flash version of Alien in 30 seconds, re-enacted by bunnies. Enjoy!

Also, if you haven't happened upon the The Washington Post's Annual Peep Diorama competition, you'll definitely want to have a gander (H/T Feminist Law Professors).

Feminist Flashback #31

In honor of Gaypril, this week's Feminist Flashback brings you the work of Dyke Action Machine (DAM), a two-person team (Carrie Moyer and Sue Schaffner) whose public art projects have graced the city streets since 1991. According to their website, their campaigns "dissected mainstream media by inserting lesbian images into recognizably commercial contexts, revealing how lesbians are and are not depicted in American popular culture. While questioning the basic assumption that one cannot be “present” in a capitalist society unless one exists as a consumer group, DAM! performed the role of the advertiser, promising the lesbian viewer all the things she’d been denied by the mainstream: power, inclusion, and the public recognition of identity."

DAM encourages people to re-print and plaster their own neighborhoods with DAM posters. The artistic duo also just created a 16-page pamphlet explaining how to "convert lesbianism into a viable commodity." It's oh-so-very educational.

Check out a few of their older projects below and definitely head over to their website to see what they're up to these days:

The Gap Campaign, 1991

Family Circle, 1992

Do You Love The Dyke In Your Life?, 1993

Lesbian Americans: Don't Sell Out, 1998

Feminist Flashback #30

First, a quick note about last week's Feminist Flashback. While I though I had scheduled a post to go up during my travels, I accidentally left it saved as a draft instead. Silly mistake. So, the March 22 Feminist Flashback is now up (and backdated).

Secondly, I apologize (again!) for my absence this last week. Traveling has proved more detrimental to my writing than I expected. Suffice it to say, I'll be home soon and back to posting again regularly. I miss the blogging world!

Thirdly, for this week's Flashback and without further ado, I present the photographs of artist Cindy Sherman. Since the late 1970s, Sherman's self-portraits have eloquently confronted the male gaze and explored the relationship between women and narrative. Her "Untitled Film Stills" series, in particular, asks viewers to consider the implications of the story in which each pictured character (all Sherman) finds herself. Some of her later work addresses iconic female characters and the mutability of women's roles (and her own performance of them).

From the Untitled Film Stills series
(Dates, in order: 1978, 1977, 1978, 1978, 1979)











Other work

Untitled #90, 1981

Untitled (Woman in Sun Dress), 2003

Feminist Flashback #29

For this week's Feminist Flashback and, again, in honor of women's history month, I present two of the many poems included in Alice Duer Miller's 1915 book Are Women People?: A Book of Rhymes for Suffrage Times, the full text of which is available over at The Gutenberg Project. Enjoy!

Such Nonsense

"Where on earth did the idea come from that the ballot is a boon, a privilege and an honor? From men."—Mrs. Prestonia Mann Martin.

Who is it thinks the vote some use?
Man. (Man is often such a goose!)
Indeed it makes me laugh to see
How men have struggled to be free.

Poor Washington, who meant so well,
And Nathan Hale and William Tell,
Hampden and Bolivar and Pym,
And L'Ouverture—remember him?

And Garibaldi and Kossuth,
And some who threw away their youth,
All bitten by the stupid notion
That liberty was worth emotion.

They could not get it through their heads
That if they stayed tucked up in beds,
Avoiding politics and strife,
They'd lead a pleasant, peaceful life.

Let us, dear sisters, never make
Such a ridiculous mistake;
But teach our children o'er and o'er
That liberty is just a chore.


The Protected Sex

With apologies to James Whitcomb Riley.

"The result of taking second place to girls at school is that the boy feels a sense of inferiority that he is never afterward able entirely to shake off."—Editorial in London Globe against co-education

There, little girl, don't read,
You're fond of your books, I know,
But Brother might mope
If he had no hope
Of getting ahead of you.
It's dull for a boy who cannot lead.
There, little girl, don't read.

Feminist Flashback #27

Inspired by AfterEllen's retro review, this week's Feminist Flashback is the fabulous 1995 movie Boys on the Side, starring Whoopi Goldberg, Mary Louise-Parker and Drew Barrymore.

I love this movie! Somehow, I'd totally forgotten about it...


Watch Boys on the Side (1995) in B  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Feminist Flashback #26

For this week's Feminist Flashback, the first Barbie commercial, from 1959. Lyrics and transcript below the cut.




Transcript:

[Female voice, singing]
Barbie, you're beautiful.
You make me feel
my Barbie doll is really real.

Barbie's small and so petite.
Her clothes and figure look so neat.

Her dancing outfit rings a bell.
At parties she will cast a spell.

Purses, hats and gloves galore,
and all the gadgets gals adore.

[Male voice, speaking]
Barbie dressed for swim and fun is only three dollars. Her lovely fashions range from one to five dollars. Look for Barbie wherever dolls are sold.

[Female voice, singing]
Someday, I'm gonna be exactly like you
Till then, I know just what I'll do.

Barbie, beautiful Barbie,
I'll make believe that I am you.

(H/T Feminist Law Professors)