Daniel Craig in Drag for International Women's Day

I'm a bit late on this, but here's Daniel Craig and Dame Judi Dench (v.o.) in their International Women's Day PSA.

"We're equal, aren't we Mr. Bond?"



(h/t Female Impersonator)

21st Century Girl

This is a little random, but I can't help but find myself charmed by Willow Smith's music videos, especially her most recent, "21st Century Girl," which features a bevy of girls rocking out, skateboarding, BMX biking and, you know, not dressing in miniskirts or playing with dolls and tea sets:



I like her first video, too, but the constant refrain of "I whip my hair back and forth" makes my ears bleed a little:

A Feminist Countdown to 2011 ~ Day Nine

See the full calendar here.

It may be impossible not to love Ellen Page

I've loved Ellen Page since Juno (and, then, even more after Whip It), and she just keeps getting awesomer and awesomer. An excerpt from her recent interview in The Guardian:

How did you feel about the controversy aroused by your role in Juno?

I was like, you know what? You all need to calm down. People are so black and white about this. Because she kept the baby everybody said the film was against abortion. But if she'd had an abortion everybody would have been like, "Oh my God". I am a feminist and I am totally pro-choice, but what's funny is when you say that people assume that you are pro-abortion. I don't love abortion but I want women to be able to choose and I don't want white dudes in an office being able to make laws on things like this. I mean what are we going to do – go back to clothes hangers?

What do you think of the way women are treated in the movie business?

I think it's a total drag. I've been lucky to get interesting parts but there are still not that many out there for women. And everybody is so critical of women. If there's a movie starring a man that tanks, then I don't see an article about the fact that the movie starred a man and that must be why it bombed. Then a film comes out where a woman is in the lead, or a movie comes out where a bunch of girls are roller derbying, and it doesn't make much money and you see articles about how women can't carry a film.

Love. Her.

H/T AfterEllen and Feministing

Yoo Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg

While I may not have quite the clout (yet?) to call myself a television expert, I do fancy myself a bit of an amateur connoisseur of all things televisual, not to mention that I have a long-standing vested interest in the relationship between feminism and television production and the role of women in television history. So you can imagine my surprise, a distinctly pleasant surprise, when I learned about the pioneering foremother of all television personalities, star of the first real TV family sitcom, by way of Aviva Kempner's compelling, well-executed documentary, Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg, which opens tomorrow in New York City.



Chronicling the life and times of the eminent screenwriter/actress/producer Gertrude Berg (born Tillie Edelstein in 1898), Kempner's documentary skillfully weaves together archival footage from the 1930s, 40s, and 50s with contemporary interviews with Berg's co-stars, family, and fans, including Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and NPR correspondent Susan Stamberg. And, the best part? Kempner includes excerpts of audio from Berg's well-loved radio show, The Goldbergs, which launched her writing and acting career when it aired in 1929, as well as rare footage from the CBS television show which followed in 1949. The television version of The Goldbergs, a situation comedy about a middle class Jewish family, earned Berg the first Best Actress Emmy in history and a tremendous fan following.

But Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg isn't only an enjoyable, edifying journey, showcasing the charming personality and extraordinary work of a television legend. Masquerading beneath the pleasingly nostalgic facade of a well-paced and fun documentary, the film also performs a great public service. A rich historical tapestry is interwoven into the narrative of Berg's life, the effects of the World Wars and, most significantly, the Red Scare and House on Un-American Activities' blacklist rendered starkly against the backdrop of Berg's ostensibly-carefree family comedy. Moreover, Gertrude Berg is, or at least should be, a feminist icon to be lauded and remembered, not locked away in the vault of television gone by.

It's a terrible shame that I, a great lover of television, had never heard of Berg until now, but it's not surprising. The laws of popular culture unfortunately dictate that the new not only supersedes but often tramples on the old. Feminism, too, wave after wave, is occasionally guilty of reinventing a perfectly good wheel. Sometimes its important to be reminded of those that came before, and Gertrude Berg is nothing if not an example of an exceptional feminist, a pioneer of radio and television, a woman ahead of her time, a woman who fashioned an incredible career and whose worked touched millions. The least we can do is remember her, and Kempner's lovely documentary doesn't let us forget.


Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg opens Friday, July 10th (tomorrow!) in New York City at Lincoln Plaza Cinema (1888 Broadway) and The Quad (34 West 13th Street), followed by screenings throughout New York State. LA-area screenings begin July 24th, with a nationwide roll-out throughout the late summer and fall. For a full (and continually-updated) list of screenings, check out the official website.

Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg Trailer from Aviva Kempner on Vimeo.

Two videos to brighten your Monday

This is from a few months ago, but I just discovered it: Carrie Fisher roasts George Lucas at the AFI Life Achievement Awards. As I recently re-watched Star Wars and have always adored Princess Leia (and, quite separately, Fisher herself), who is quite a feminist character (at least in the first two movies), this seemed appropriate:



And, for your further Monday cheering, check out the March 11 episode of Amy Poehler's Smart Girls at the Party (H/T Choices Feminist Campus):

R.I.P. Bea Arthur

Bea Arthur, 1922-2009

You're freakin' awesome and will be greatly missed:



From some other memorial posts for Bea Arthur, check out, in no particular order:

Bitch Ph.D.
Alas, A Blog
Women's Media Center
Bitch Magazine
Salon Broadsheet
Shakesville
Women and Hollywood
Hoyden About Town

If you know of any other good memorial posts for the eminent Ms. Arthur or you've written one yourself or you found some great video clips on the interwebs you'd like to share, feel free to post links below!

Behind every great man is a whiny woman

I don't usually consider The Defamer a news-source extraordinaire, but when my fellow blogger, Few, sent me this article about Susan Sarandon's recent interview in the gay news magazine The Advocate, I had to check it out.

While, of course, Sarandon is entitled to her opinion, I can't help but be seriously piqued by her use of the words "blamer" and "whiner" to describe Hillary Clinton, as well as her claim that Senator Clinton wouldn't have had any political cache if she hadn't been a) a woman and b) Bill Clinton's wife. Huh.

Here's an except from The Advocate interview, which you can check out yourself in its entirety:

You’ve played quite a few real-life people now. Would you like to play Hillary Clinton in the movie of her life?
No. I’ve been around her and don’t find her… At this point, to say after what’s happened to her campaign and how they squandered all that money and all the different reasons her campaign fell apart, to blame it on sexism, I find so destructive to every young girl who dreams about making a difference through government. Instead of saying, "Look how far I’ve gotten and you can do it too," and all the positive things she could have done, she’s turned into such a blamer and whiner, as if that was the reason, when clearly she wouldn’t have been in the position she was in if she hadn’t been a woman. If she hadn’t been married to that man and hadn’t had the Democratic machine behind her. To now turn around and say it was sexism I find so dishonorable and really destructive to women all over, young women all over. So I don’t really respect her enough to want to play her, and I find it sad and disappointing.