Showing posts with label feminism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label feminism. Show all posts

Friday, June 25, 2010

Not a Pretty Picture Zine



well here is mine and Sarah's first zine! It has some submissions from a zine that I started but never finished over 2 years ago and some newer things as well.
all of the artwork and writings are original and not copied from the internet or any other sources.
If anyone wants to submit anything for not a pretty picture issue #2 they can email us at notaprettypicture@live.com
and we are also setting up an etsy which i will be making a post about in the near future!

Thursday, June 17, 2010

neutralism is fun!

I like wearing dresses, but I don't like wearing heels.
I like my hair to be dyed, but I don't like my hair to be shaved.
I like putting on makeup, but I don't like putting on my bra.
I like to cook, but I don't like to clean.
I like being a girl, but I don't like all of the stereotypes.


(image brought to you by Genderpoo...
watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViZvtA0j4K0 )


Friday, April 9, 2010

oh you



My body is a privilege not an expectation.
Those hands they won’t go up my skirt without an invitation.
You know appreciation?
Well I guess you’ll have to learn.
Because respect is not a given boy, it’s something that you earn.

Monday, March 22, 2010

tarot cards



Sometimes when I am too overwhelmed with my days, which can unfortunately happen quite often, I like to read my tarot and see which direction it tells me to go.
I know what you’re thinking it sounds pretty foolish, like shaking a magic 8 ball to see if your crush feels the same way (*cough*) but a majority of the time the cards I choose are relevant to my situation and sometimes even helpful.
Some of my more ‘spiritual’ friends tell me that I ‘shouldn’t let other people touch my cards’ or that I ‘should bless them when I first buy a new deck’ but unfortunately I am an atheist thus, these rules need not apply.
I bought my deck at a used bookstore and I knew it was love at first sight right then and there inside Mum’s Book Bin, cartoon hearts bursting all over the damn place.
My deck is called “The Motherpeace Tarot Deck” and unlike most tarot cards they are shaped round opposed to the mighty rectangle and the majority of them have images of woman or feminity, (such as on the lovers card has an image of two woman making love and also an image of a man and a woman making love) this is because it is also known as a feminist deck.
A few of my male friends are skeptical that the hoodoo tarot magic will not work on them because it is a feminist deck and they aren’t woman, therefore resulting in a faulty reading.
Usually afterwards will they realize that the gender of the cards is irrelevant and that they have been mistaken.
Tarot cards can be very amusing if you don’t take them too seriously, I know I enjoy mine.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Unrealistic beauty standards in the media



I stare at mirror in front of me
This is who I want to be
I'm not like those girls I see
Not like those girls on TV
It's what the boys get off to
It's what their standards are
Don't tell me that their flawless
Or else you won't get far
Their just a figment of your imagination
Physically enhanced at a computer station
It seems you've lost touch with reality
Ain't like those girls on TV

Monday, March 8, 2010

unshaven maiden



I do not believe in spending my money on the unnecessary.
I do not believe that a woman’s body is only acceptable if altered.
Therefore, I do not believe in shaving.

When I was about 11 years old I have a rather vivid memory of playing on a playground with my best friend (at that moment).
I remember lifting my arms to go down the fire pole and my friend screaming “Eww!” pointing towards my underarms and then laughing “You have armpit hair!” I remember feeling extremely confused and embarrassed, I quickly lowered my arms in shame and told her that she had obviously been mistaken (I am a terrible liar and not very good with comebacks).
Later that day I went home and talked to my mother about my misadventures and she ran out, bought me my first razor and taught me how to shave.
Note: If I had no soul and was in need of making a pretty penny I could sell this childhood memory to an after school special about puberty (this episode brought to you by Gillette).
My mummy is a big supporter of the hair removal industry, she didn’t just teach me to shave my underarms (oh no) she also told me to shave my legs, feet, and the 3 or 4 microscopic hairs sprouting out of my toes.
She even went as far as to 'treat me' to frequent eyebrow waxes whenever they were ‘out of shape’.

Let’s now fast forward 7 bald and beautiful years to when I was 18.
I was at this point in my life accustomed to the good-for-nothing tradition of hair removal.
I lived 13 hours and 1 boat ride away from any of my friends and family in a small cold shack in a small cold town.
I had little money and was forced to abandon allot of items that were inevitable back home (shaving being the easiest to let go, cheese and cigarettes being the hardest).
When I finally decided to move back home I accepted cheese back into my life but left cigarettes and razors behind.
My parents were obviously unimpressed, buying into the notion that female body hair is either masculine or unclean.
The funny thing is I have now been an unshaven maiden for over 2 years and I have succumbed to neither of these stereotypes; I am an extremely hygienic person and I love with all of my heart what it means to be a girl.
I believe that if you are denying yourself of body hair than you are also refusing to acknowledge your femininity.
Growing hair is in the same category as growing breasts, it’s a symbol of becoming an adult.
What I don’t understand is why woman would flaunt and accentuate one form of puberty and in the same breath reject and criticize another.

What it all boils down to is money.
Big companies feeding off female insecurities, romanticizing the idea of looking youthful and prepubescent, and also pointing fingers at what is masculine and what is feminine.

The average woman spends $15 a month on shaving, it’s a miniscule amount of money but I would much rather spend it on a book or 2 and educate myself instead of sustaining gender stereotypes and sitting around itching my ingrown hairs.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

An advertisement targeted strictly towards bad woman


“I’m going to pawn all of my ex-boyfriends jewelry because his penis is small and...SHOES!”

This commercial causes me to let out the most deep and disappointing sigh ever known to humanity, with a gust of wind so powerful that you may feel uncomfortably refreshed if your skirt is short enough (guaranteed refreshment if you take fashion advice from Money Mart actresses).

Friday, January 29, 2010

Burn your Burka



I am not from France, nor do I speak their foreign tongue, but one cannot ignore their governments attempt to ban the wearing of a burka in public.
I personally would never partake in covering my entire body in cloth and hiding my eyes with a mesh veil, but I also do not make decisions based on an organized religions beliefs.
I'm not convinced that this ban is beneficial for a woman's right whatsoever, if it’s not her husband and family forcing her to cover up then it’s the government forcing her to take it off.
What ever happened to freedom of choice?
Woman can choose to wear a bra.
Woman can choose between wearing pants or a skirt.
So why can’t ignorant woman choose to be deprived of an identity?
I am again (like so many other controversies) playing the pro-choice card.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

A cup pride

" Most woman that have had breast implants loose sensation in their breasts.
So their breasts become an object of someone elses pleasure rather than pleasureable in themselves.
The woman literally moves from being a subject to an object. "

-Jean Kilbourne in Killing Us Softly 3