Liz N. Clift

Liz N. Clift is a writer and blogger living in the American west. Her writing has appeared or is forthcoming in anderbo.com, Tulane Review, RATTLE, The MacGuffin, WomenArts Quarterly Journal, and others. She is also a contributor to The Nervous Breakdown. Follow her on Twitter: @NWBorealiz, or find her online at flexitarianwriter.blogspot.com

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By Liz N. Clift • 11 years ago

Miley Cyrus, “Wrecking Ball,” and Intimate Partner Violence

After Miley Cyrus’ VMA performance, people were all about slut-shaming her (not much was said about Robin Thicke’s participation). The mainstream media appeared scandalized by her performance – a young woman exhibiting sexuality? *Gasp!*

Richard Cohen, of the Washington Post, seemed particularly appalled – at least once he looked up the word twerk. He thought Cyrus should probably read a New Yorker article about the Stubenville rape (“so-called rape,” by Cohen’s definition). The immediate implication was that a woman dancing like Cyrus danced in the VMAs was asking for rape (or, presumably, other forms of violence).

Now, Cyrus has released a video, “Wrecking Ball” that features her licking demolition tools (absolutely no phallic overtones there, nope, none) and, eventually, shedding her clothes to swing naked on a wrecking ball. The message, according to a blogger at The Guardian is that women need to be sexually available. Fox News took issue with the music video director (and posted several sexy stills of Cyrus) and his “checkered past.” And, Time took the opportunity to provide a short history (and metaphor) of the wrecking ball.

Cyrus is destroying and destroyed, according to the lyrics of the song, and the metaphor of the wrecking ball.

But what I find most disturbing about this song is that this song can be a metaphor for an abusive relationship — intimate partner violence, or IPV, is the current broad umbrella term for this. Take the lyrics:

“I came in like a ...

By Liz N. Clift • 11 years ago

Richard Cohen’s Problematic Take on the Stubenville Rape and Cyrus’ VMA Performance

When you start a discussion about a rape case that ended in conviction, with “so-called rape” and then specify that “it was not a rape involving intercourse,” you set yourself up as someone who doesn’t understand, in the least, the concept of rape or the right a person has to the sanctity of their bodies. Thanks, Richard Cohen, for being that person.

On Tuesday, September 3, Cohen wrote a Washington Post op-ed about his feelings about Stubenville – and book-ended these feelings with a discussion of Miley Cyrus’ VMA performance, because he saw Cyrus’ performance as an opportunity to discuss an article by Ariel Levy that appeared in The New Yorker. After he finished reading it, Cohen felt “unhappily immersed in ...

By Liz N. Clift • 12 years ago

The Friend Zone (or, why I’m more than a piece of ass)

Carlo Alcos, of Confronting Love, wrote an article in 2011 titled “The Friend Zone (or, How “Jerks” are Made),” which was recently republished by The Good Men Project. I’ll save you the trouble of reading it, in case you’ve missed it or if you just don’t want to read yet another faux-feminist essay articulating why it’s okay for men to be friends with women. Alcos basically says, “hey, you might think of women as sex objects but maybe you could be friends with them, and if you do, maybe they’ll have sex with you, but maybe they won’t and if they don’t, hey, cool, I guess because they’re like their own people too, maybe.”

Erm, I mean he says men should ...

By Liz N. Clift • 12 years ago

Kids are Eating Fewer Calories — and developing eating disorders?

On February 21, 2013 the New York Times published an article about how American children are eating fewer calories than a decade ago. America has an obesity epidemic, so this is a good thing, right? Sure, maybe. First, though, before we get into any discussion, I’d like to point out that the New York Times failed to list their source – the Centers for Disease Control – or the age range in the study. The age range is important, because according to the American Heart Association boys and girls under age 1 need about 900 calories a day, while teenage girls need 1,800 – 2,000 (2,200 for teen boys) calories a day.

Now, it’s been a while since I ...

By Liz N. Clift • 12 years ago

Hey Girl: Against Ryan Gosling memes

Let’s talk about Ryan Gosling. Or, rather, let’s talk about the people who create “Hey Girl” Ryan Gosling memes that seem to appear all over Facebook, Twitter, and other corners of the internet. The first of these, Fuck Yeah! Ryan Gosling was started in December 2008 by writer Douglas Reinhardt, as a “joke with friends.” It spawned spinoffs, ranging from Real Food Ryan Gosling and Silicone Valley Ryan Gosling and Feminist Ryan Gosling (a Tumblr dedicated to Ryan Gosling “commenting” on feminist theory).

When I see these, I maybe try to place which movie the photo of Gosling comes from. But, admittedly, I haven’t seen that many Ryan Gosling movies. Mostly, I roll my eyes and move on ...

By Liz N. Clift • 12 years ago

My rapist offered to buy me dinner

*Trigger warning*

On April 8, 2012, I was raped by a man I didn’t know well, but had invited into my home–for the second time. He held a job that caused him to travel a lot.

I’d met him in October 2011. We talked for a while. We made out. Because it was a chilly evening and he was planning to sleep in his truck–the temperature would drop below freezing overnight–I invited him to stay at my place. He worked for the government, in a position that would have required extensive background checks. He seemed safe enough. He left in the morning, when I went to work, to visit his brother-in-law in a town further north. A week later, he came back ...

*Trigger warning*

On April 8, 2012, I was raped by a man I didn’t know well, but had invited into my home–for the second time. He held a job that caused him to travel a lot.

I’d met him ...