Posts Written by

By genericjanedoe • 13 years ago

Story Telling vs. Exploitation

So last week a friend of mine tweeted the following question: How do you tell the story of a marginalized people without exploitation?

Being a sucker for philosophical discussion, I started to type my answer, and found myself backspacing and typing and backspacing again. I was stumped. (Especially with a 140 character limit…)

Over the past week, the question keeps popping back up in my head. Is it possible? Where’s the line between authentic story telling and exploitation? Must authentic story telling necessarily come from a member of the oppressed/marginalized group?

I would love to hear what others think!
By genericjanedoe • 13 years ago

“Dear America,” I Love You!!!!

Dear America, you were a fantastic book series when I was in Middle School, I still need you at age 20. When I pick you up, with your beautiful square hardback and a colored satin ribbon to match, you fill that void that American Girls hasn’t been able to fill. You tell me in first person the stories of the girls and their times: like Mem and the Mayflower, Lucinda at the Alamo, Clotee trying to learn to read and write, Zippy advancing to the 8th grade and becoming a star of the Yiddish Theatre, Kathleen and her suffragist mother, Julie escaping the Nazis and learning hard truths about her family, Amber at Pearl Harbor, and Molly’s burgeoning feminism. I ...

Dear America, you were a fantastic book series when I was in Middle School, I still need you at age 20. When I pick you up, with your beautiful square hardback and a colored satin ribbon to ...
By genericjanedoe • 13 years ago

Archie, That’s so Gay

Finally after almost 70 years, that corporate comic giant, Archie Comics is finally going to introduce a gay character in the fall. I was already whooping like crazy, “OMG! Maybe they will have a lesbian character! I hope Betty goes out with her!” But just when I get back down to earth, I remember the history of queers in pop culture: not a pretty picture:
Gay men being portrayed as fashion accessories for straight women
Gay men not having a love life outside of interior decor
Lesbians pictured as psychos
Queers with tragic ends
Lesbians pictured as butchy gym teachers that torture their students
Gay men not having a love life outside of straight women chasing them.

Finally after almost 70 years, that corporate comic giant, Archie Comics is finally going to introduce a gay character in the fall. I was already whooping like crazy, “OMG! Maybe they will have a lesbian character! ...
By genericjanedoe • 13 years ago

The Feministing Community’s Woman’s Movement Aftermath Project: Mommy and Me, or why I can’t stand Nutjobs and Nonsense.


Mom and me often have our ups and downs since I was little (it’s not easy to raise a strong-willed daughter with Aspbergers and not easy to live with two parents with stricter standards than most American-born parents). I’m glad to say I’ve inherited some characteristics: stubbornness, inability to put up with bull, brains, goals, and great culinary skills. One day, me and mom were taking a ride in the car when I asked her if she could participate in this next round of interviews, here goes…
Warning: May not be PC and this is my Mother, okay?
ME: What were you doing in the 1970s?
MOM: Working, going to school, and meeting friends. I used to ...


Mom and me often have our ups and downs since I was little (it’s not easy to raise a strong-willed daughter with Aspbergers and not easy to live with two parents with stricter standards ...
By genericjanedoe • 13 years ago

No One Showed…

Warning: I’m going to be very vague, as to not call out any specific organizations. Also, the title of this blog is a huge spoiler alert about the topic, so my apologies for that in advance.

As I have written before, I work at a girl-serving feminist oriented nonprofit organization. This week, another local organization, which focuses on encouraging diversity and ending hate, is hosting its annual educator’s conference. Yesterday’s theme was civil rights issues. Earlier this month, the organization I work for was approached about being doing a workshop on the topic of gender for this conference. A coworker, L, and myself volunteered to conduct this workshop, as we both feel passionately about feminism.

So, L and ...

Warning: I’m going to be very vague, as to not call out any specific organizations. Also, the title of this blog is a huge spoiler alert about the topic, so my apologies for that in advance.

...
By genericjanedoe • 13 years ago

The Feministing Community’s Woman’s Movement Aftermath Project: Summer with a Speech Pathologist.


I knew my friend June since high school, she was the school speech pathologist and I was one of her students. We decided to keep in touch after I was close to graduating high school. She was a California transplant from the South who had grown up in Tupelo, Missippi; she even saw Elvis as a kid!!!!! She can remember when the flower generation went on to dump out their plaid skirts, crewcuts, and their records of Bobby Rydell and went to experiment, grow their hair long, and listen to Janis Joplin. So here it goes: Doris Day fangirl, Netflix customer, and AMAZING teacher, here’s my interview with June.


I knew my friend June since high school, she was the school speech pathologist and I was one of her students. We decided to keep in touch after I was close to graduating high ...
By genericjanedoe • 13 years ago

The Feministing Community’s Woman’s Movement Aftermath Project: Introduction


Did you ever wondered what young women and girls respond to the Second Wave of Feminism? Did you wondered what their lives were like when they were introduced to feminism? Did their lives change? How do they look back on that time? I’m going to be interviewing a few different women who’ve grown up or came of age at that time, like my mom. I’m going to be writing these interviews sporadically and every time possible. So, here goes nothing…


Did you ever wondered what young women and girls respond to the Second Wave of Feminism? Did you wondered what their lives were like when they were introduced to feminism? Did their lives change? ...
By genericjanedoe • 13 years ago

Do I Really Have to Cook Myself Thin?

Hi, like almost everybody here, I have a love-hate relationship with Lifetime. Some of the shows can be very dramatic and there seems to be a narrow view of womanhood in that channel. There’s such a show: “Cook Yourself Thin.” I’m not fond of the title and that the person in question is always a woman and has to drop at least one dress size by the end of the episode. Check it out:

On one hand, I’m crazy about the recipes. Imagine what you can do with buttermilk and veggies in desserts! But I hate that the show reinforces the view that women must keep trim at all costs and that it seems that no woman’s self-loathing has hardly changed. ...

Hi, like almost everybody here, I have a love-hate relationship with Lifetime. Some of the shows can be very dramatic and there seems to be a narrow view of womanhood in that channel. There’s such a show: ...

Load More