Superhero films often exhibit assertive, outspoken female characters. Yet they often simultaneously objectify women’s bodies, reduce them to ancillary love interests or perpetuate gender stereotypes. So when I heard that Pepper Potts would have a more active role in Iron Man 3, I was excited yet remained cautiously skeptical.
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Our daughters, the superheros!
What did you want to be when you were a little kid? I wanted to be a ballerina until I saw Lynda Carter spin into Wonder Woman on my black-and-white TV. Sure, I had already seen Christopher Reeves as Superman. He was pretty great and all, but the only quasi-strong woman in that story is [...]
Promoting Female Condoms:12 Short Films Do It
PATH asked filmmakers from around the world to create films on the theme “Female Condoms are (fill in blank)” for a contest. And filmmakers did! A dozen of the finalists are now posted on a branded PATH channel on YouTube. An international nonprofit organization working around the world on transforming global health through innovation, PATH [...]
Big Name Donors Finance England’s Women’s Book Prize
Former winners Zadie Smith and Barbara Kingsolver are among this year’s finalists in the Women’s Prize, formally known as the Orange Prize.
Last year, the prize lost its original sponsorship. But Cherie Blair, entrepreneur Martha Lane Fox and novelist Joanna Trollope were among the many private donors who stepped in to save the U.K.‘s only prize for women. The relevance was clear: women writers do matter. This week also saw the first annual Stella Prize, a new literary award given to Australian female authors. That prize has been mostly funded for the next three years by philanthropist Ellen Koshland, a granddaughter of jeans mogul Levi Strauss.
No, ‘Oz the Great and Powerful,’ We Don’t Need More Male-Centric Fairy Tales
After seeing Oz the Great and Powerful, I was annoyed. And angry. Everything in the film revolves around one dude: James Franco as Oscar Diggs aka Oz. Bleh. It’s a patriarchal dream come true. Women in the film fawn over Oz, swoon over him, make googly eyes at him, get enraged by him and arguably [...]
Is ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ the Most Feminist Action Film Ever?
Warning: Spoilers ahead Can an action film portray exquisitely choreographed fighting scenes, badass fully dimensional ladies, tragic romantic love and make a searing social statement? Yes, yes, yes. One of my favorite films, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is an undoubtedly feminist action film with a potent gender commentary woven throughout. In Ang Lee’s lyrical, Oscar-winning wuxia masterpiece, the lives of 3 [...]
Power and Sex: Presumed Consent is Killing Equality.
IN Swaziland, teenage girls are taught about sexually transmitted diseases, condoms and HIV testing information handed out at will as they learn that sex is dangerous and mostly for men. In India, The Justice Verma Committee’s recommendation on recognizing marital rape as an offence under criminal law was hastily swept aside by the Standing Committee [...]
20-Somethings in the Era of Girls
Lena Dunham is not the voice of my generation. Girls is not all-encompassing. Don’t get me wrong, I adore the show and I’ll watch anything Dunham does in the future. But that doesn’t mean it is an infallible guide to being or understanding a 20-something woman. Here’s what it does get right. Each episode, especially [...]
Contest Raises Awareness for Violence Against Women Through Music: Interview with Pixel Project Founder Regina Yau
Rape, rape culture, domestic violence, and violence against women impact us all. The Pixel Project, a virtual, volunteer-led nonprofit, works to eradicate violence against women globally. They are currently running the Valentine 2013 YouTube Cover Carnival contest to raise awareness through the power and artistry of music. They dedicated the contest to Jyoti Singh Pandey, [...]
Bringing Feminism to Un-Feminist Spaces.
The Visions in Feminism (VIF) Collective is a Washington, DC-based collective working with the common and overlapping goals of social justice and feminism. It is for sure a lofty goal and one we try to achieve in the ‘extra hours’ outside of our day-jobs. Collective members come from all walks of life where careers range [...]