Poetry time: For the Men Who Still Don't Get It

Sunday Afternoon on White Crest Beach (1984) by Carol Diehl

"What if all women were bigger and stronger than you?

And thought they were smarter?

What if women were the ones who started wars?

What if too many of your friends had been raped by women wielding giant dildos and no K-Y Jelly?

What if the state trooper who pulled you over on the New Jersey Turnpike was a woman and carried a gun?

What if the ability to menstruate was the prerequisite for most high-paying jobs?

What if your attractiveness to women depended on the size of your penis?

What if every time women saw you they'd hoot and make jerking motions with their hands?

What if women were always making jokes about how ugly penises are and how bad sperm tastes?

What if you had to explain what's wrong with your car to big sweaty women with greasy hands who stared at your crotch in a garage where you are surrounded by posters of naked men with hard-ons?

What if men's magazines featured cover photos of 14-year-old boys with socks tucked into the front of their jeans and articles like: "How to tell if your wife is unfaithful" or "What your doctor won't tell you about your prostate" or "The truth about impotence"?

What if the doctor who examined your prostate was a woman and called you "Honey"?

What if You had to inhale your boss's stale cigar breath as she insisted that sleeping with her was part of the job?

What if You couldn't get away because the company dress code required you wear shoes designed to keep you from running?

And what if after all that women still wanted you to love them?"

For the Men Who Still Don't Get It by Carol Diehl (1, 2)

Friday is the (Inspirational) Movie Night: Kinsey (2004)

A shout-out to our dedication to comprehensive sexuality education, here we go with a feature film about Alfred Kinsey (1894-1956), the entomologist turned sexologist that opened eyes in USA regarding what people do with their sexualities and the great diversity that exists in human sexual behavior (yes, even in places where sex is claimed to be sinful and desire - always heterosexual!).

Kinsey (2004, Bill Condon) establishes a link between personal struggles and what becomes a vocation to a man who changed his scientific interest from gall wasps to human sexual behavior in the USA of 1940's and 1950's. 

A reminder that the work of an activist / expert / researcher might not be all that rosy, especially if it's something new, even revolutionary that she is doing.
And that - despite oppositions and people afraid to stand with you - it is worth to follow what you (and the Scientific Method) find to be the right thing to do!

Right to Education: Bibliophilia!

#girlwithabook

Following up with the Malala initiative, here we have girls reading in Spain and in Slovakia.

And some of this seems to be a clear dedication to Naomi Wolf's Promiscuities: The Secret Struggle for Womanhood (or a Secret History of Female Desire) (1998).

Keep reading!

Inspirational (short) movie: Gordita (2009)

Gordita from RaqC Cordova on Vimeo.

"GORDITA is an HD short film about a young, plus size Latina who reconnects with her lost confidence through the help of a cassette tape she recorded as a sassy, booty-shakin’ teen in 1994.

We all have moments of self doubt and depression, but sometimes remembering who we were before the pressures of adulthood consumed us helps us get out of our funk and realize our full potential."

Here we are back to talking about bodies and how to inhabit them. This time, a short and very moving gem that brings together the intersectionalities of body expectations and race, culture, class. 

More info here.

Right to Eduaction: Malala

#girlwithabook

We have been talking about education and books before but this is different.

Suddenly EVERYBODY is concerned about the fact that so many girls in the world are out of school. Aha, much more girls than boys. And you know, if both Madonna and the UN Secretary General are talking about the same issue at the same time, it's important.

And the reason is a girl. Malala Yousufzai (and bunch of Talibans but they are the really-really bad guys in the story) is the reason. And so is her resilience.

We are celebrating her and all the activists fighting for access to education. And we are doing this by joining the #girlwithabook initiative.

Intimate bibliophile portraits of you and some books can be a part of the movement for Universal Access to Education.
Get your camera and your favorite book... 3, 2, 1, say "Malala"! 

Source: @Half

Friday is the (Inspirational) Movie Night: Dirty Dancing (1987)

Yes, you are allowed to be surprised. Dirty Dancing (1987, Emile Ardolino) might seem to be the close-to-last movie when it comes to empowerment if you haven't really stopped to think about it. Yes, it is about the very sexist dancing industry that teaches you how to bend your wrists in a feminine way. And, yes, it is the all over good-girl-falling-for-the-bad-guy story. Sort of.

But then again, it is a story of a young woman breaking away from the taught perfection of being the ideal daughter and decides to grow up. By doing things. By daring. By challenging her parents and other authority figures. By dancing. By learning to live with her body. By having sex with a man she wants to and doing it on her own terms. That is a whole lot of things.

Also, there are subplots of class conflicts, on the importance of intergenerational communication, on the importance of the access to safe and legal abortion, on how complex (and counterproductive) is to - contrary to what Baby does - to try to use sex and virginities as means to maintain somebody's attention/affection...

+ The soundtrack is really cute. Go, download it from the internets!

And if it's not enough for you, read a whole essay on the topic by Melissa McEwan in the Guardian: Dirty Dancing, Feminist Masterpiece.

Now, think again while we dance away.

 

WSYA Power 2 Women: React & Change / Renato

As you should know by now, I ♥ Being a Girl received one of the 2012 World Summit Youth Awards. The award showcases the best ICT solutions made by young people that moves us closer to achieving the MDGs. Ours is - obviously - in the category Power to Women.
As we are far from being the only ones doing things around gender via the internets and such, here you have some more:   

Name: Renato Dornelas, @renato0dornelas
React and Change, @React_n_Change

I enjoy traveling, photographing, and talking.

I am the Head of International Affairs of React & Change. Basically, it is an online-driven, youth-led, non-profit organization committed to activating youth to combat gender inequality and its derivates, such as bullying, unemployment, violence against women, racism and poverty by educating and empowering youth through social entrepreneurship, leadership skills and advocacy.

We hold a diverse of events across the country, gathering young leaders, social entrepreneurs and community activists from all 26 states of Brazil for high-level trainings, free of any costs, in order to share best practices, educate about and learn how to end and approach gender inequality effectively.

I began to work with React & Change because of a desire to take action against domestic violence statutes in Brazil that had forced a member of my family to remain in an abusive relationship for five years because domestic violence is considered a "private" rather than state matter, and thus not grounds for divorce. This personal tragedy empowered me and helped me to discover how I can make an impact on the world.

Our website and social media work as main tools to spread the information from the forums for people who could not attend the event, as well as it works as an interactive platform for young people to share ideas and discuss gender-based issues.

The world would be a better place if everybody would:
- see Oklahoma! (1955, 1999), it's lovely,
- listen Change the Sheets by Kathleen Edwards,
- read Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry,
- practice Taekwondo!

I only have short-term plans, but before 80 I'd like to speak at least 6 different languages and have visited all my friends around the world!

WSYA Power 2 Women: Moraba / Mxolisi

As you should know by now, I ♥ Being a Girl received one of the 2012 World Summit Youth Awards. The award showcases the best ICT solutions made by young people that moves us closer to achieving the MDGs. Ours is - obviously - in the category Power to Women.
As we are far from being the only ones doing things around gender via the internets and such, here you have some more:   
 

Name: Mxolisi Xaba, Moraba, @afroesgames

I enjoy football, contemplative and introspective conversations, and being in the field taking social messages to youth challenging them to interrogate the choices they make for themselves.

Moraba came around because there was a need to begin to address young boys who were inheriting and receiving false messages and definitions around how to relate to their female counterparts. We were conscious that, although we wanted to address young boys with our intervention, we also did not want to make it exclusive to them because the most important attribute of our application is the fact that girls have a space in what is incorrectly considered a a male domain (gaming) to challenge these misconceptions through game play around issues of equality, forms of abuse, expectations in relationships, consequences of abuse, rights and responsibilities of persons. What we subsequently found after users engaged Moraba was that Moraba provided a platform for youth to engage each other on issues and questions they had regarding their gender roles. 

Moraba Gender Game from Phil G on Vimeo.
You can download the game here!

The idea and the implementation has proved itself to be so compelling that Al Jazeera has given them coverage!

Listening to the music of Basement Jaxx vs Metropole Orkest, Buena Vista Social Club and Ladysmith Black Mamabazo would make the world a better place.
So would reading the Bible, selected speeches of Marcus Garvey and a Biography of Yourself.
And watching the movie I don't ... a movement (1, 2) by Thuli Thabethe and Nonkuleko Ndlovu.
Trying to say nothing (keeping quiet, you know) for a week would do, too.

Before I'm 80 I would like to forgive those who have hurt me and be forgiven by those I have hurt.

Body image, again... (the topic that never gets old in Patriarchy)

Since very young age...

Surrounding us everywhere...

Affecting all of us, all the time... unless we rebel against it!

Although these are Dove ads and a submission for the Dove Fund, the conversation on bodies and how we inhabit them is relevant. Refuse to chip into the "I hate myself so much" bla-bla!

Think about the relationship you have with your body.
Read about it*! Get inspired!  

Organize a Tea Party and talk about it. 

Eat cake and love every bite of it! 

* Some reading matter on bodies (there's a gazillion out there, happy reading!):

• “Mom, I’m Fat:” One Mother’s Inspired Response to Her 7 Year Old
• Fat Grrrl Activism
• EMILY ASKS LESLEY: How Do I Stop Hating My Body? Backsliding Edition
• It Gets Fatter 
• “Dating While Fat And Feminist,” And The Nasty Things You Learn About People After You Lose Weight
• Me, My Boobs, and I
• Lazy Femme
• Beauty Privilege: Can We Talk?

The double shift: Are women made of cast-iron?

"As they passed the rows of houses they saw through the open doors that men were sweeping and dusting and washing dishes, while the women sat around in groups, gossiping and laughing.

'What has happened?' the Scarecrow asked a sad-looking man with a bushy beard, who wore an apron and was wheeling a baby carriage along the sidewalk.

'Why, we've had a revolution, your Majesty -- as you ought to know very well,' replied the man; 'and since you went away the women have been running things to suit themselves. I'm glad you have decided to come back and restore order, for doing housework and minding the children is wearing out the strength of every man in the Emerald City.'

'Hm!' said the Scarecrow, thoughtfully. 'If it is such hard work as you say, how did the women manage it so easily?'

I really do not know,' replied the man, with a deep sigh. 'Perhaps the women are made of cast-iron." 

The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904) by L. Frank Baum