Zines! Zines! What a wonderful thing!

I have to say that watching something evolve from an idea to a full fledged zine was really awesome. In the words of Jaime "These zines are like my children" and they really are. I am so proud of them and everyone should be. They are simply fantastic. So fantastic that I caused quite a stir in my Stat 151 class on Friday (That's right ladies and gentlemen, I, a fifth year student, am taking a 100 level class). I was reading the four zines whilst my prof was lecturing on the importance of AVONA calculations. The group of chatty ladies behind me saw what I was reading and they started giggling, "What is that chick reading?", so I turned around and told them it was a zine that my WST 320 class had created, I then offered my personal copy of Paper for their viewing pleasure. This caused an outburst of laughter to which the prof stopped the class and asked the girls to be quite. So did this zine interrupt public space? Yes, I think it did. The girls read the zine, reacted to it and were told by the ruling bloc (the prof) to shut up.
Does any of this sound familiar? Women creating something beautiful, original, radical and unusual and when it is reacted to, we get told to shut up.
The zine was quickly returned to me, like the girls did not want to be caught with it. Is this a typical response? If something is radical, does that mean it is wrong and we should not be involved with it? These girls sure thought so, not me. I would have admitted to it.

God, I love a good election!!!

My best pal (Holly) is doing her masters in poli sci, specifically poltical philosophy, so naturally cannot help but discuss the recent events that occured in the good ol' USA. The election that occured on Nov 7 may be one of the most significant in American history, she says. The democrats won the house and the senate and the GOP (which stands for grand old party, as I just found out) suffered a huge blow. Rumsfeld is out and Nancy Pelosi (D-California) is in as the first ever female speaker of the house. This now makes her, in some opinion, to be the most powerful woman in the USA. Now I do not know much about her as I have not read many of her statements of policy, even with what little I know about Ms. Pelosi, I really think that she can do good in this world. Perhaps her victory will lead to women achieving more in the world and making a difference. What does this have to do with WST? I guess we may have to wait for a few month, years etc to see if Ms. Pelosi lives up to her hype, if she can become a model to which young women can look up to, Holly thinks she will. I have faith for my sisters to the south. Can't wait for the 2008 elections, should be interseting. Clinton vs Rice? Could happen...

When bathrooms get political...

I just read Jaime's post for the week and, believe it or not, I was thinking about the same issue. (Jaime, we are totally like, twins!!) It seems like every time I use a bathroom there is a new piece of info written in black Sharpie informing me of certain issues. Klearcut, don't waste paper towel, Turn the lights off, genderless bathrooms and the ever-popular graffiti on the ads. These crazy ads in the bathrooms. Sure, I go in there, read the ads, read the graffiti and laugh at how clever people can be. It has never really affected me much until I started taking this class and becoming more empowered as a feminist. I love to see action taken against big business, even if it is just writing on an ad in a bathroom. Taking up public space, Kipnis would be so proud. Is it as effective as writing RAPE under stop signs, probably not. The issue of birth control is far different than the issue of rape, yet the way that these people are choosing to fight the issue is the same. Refunction a sign, hail a different group. Ah yes the hail, Althusser would argue that the hail is purposeful, and can be very powerful.
Did the hail work for me? It sure did. I sat up, and paid attention. That is the purpose after all, isn't it?
Randi, if you felt strongly about the pro-life sign, I say do it. Take up some public space. We as WST 320 and feminists would be so proud of you.
Aside- I was discussing these signs with my best friends mom, she said when she went to U of A 30 years ago, groups of feminist (herself included) would go and "liberate" men's bathrooms. So ladies, the war in the bathroom goes back a long way on this campus.

The zine scene

Ah, I could not resist the rhyme. Sorry this is late, I worked 15 hours today.. So we begin our zines on thursday. I have to admit, I am really excited. I like to think of myself as a creative person so I hope that I will have some good ideas. From my limited knowledge of zines, I understand them to be underground, homemade, political material. I suppose any faction can produce a zine, but we will be dealing solely with the feminist kind. In our very first reading by Rhodes we learned that the modern day feminist uses the internet as a way to produce and distribute feminist ideas and politics. The internet zine allows for increased readership, as everyone with access to a computer is a possible reader. This is a good thing. Increased viewship of feminist material makes more people aware of the cause, the ideals and maybe even breaks down stereotypes of the typical feminist. Ok, I am tired, its bedtime. Enjoy the extra hour of sleep folks!!!

Your space is my space

Hi ho, hi ho, a feministeppin we did go. It was fun, I had my doubts, but it was fun. I suppose this was my first real experience in taking up public space. I am not normally the type of person that would make myself noticable in crowd, but on Thursday, walking through HUB with my underwear over my clothes put me square in the public eye. The whole feministeppin' expereince has made we think differently about taking over public space. In the Kipnis article, she talks about women spraypainting on stop signs. This, to me, is taking over public space to the max. It is a shocking, slap you in the face type of truth that no one who sees these signs can deny. So are we WST 320 students, on our way to spraypainting signs? Maybe some of us are, or maybe not. As for me, well, I am going to try to use my voice for more, stand taller and more firm. Really fight the battles. Yeah, how empowering it can be. I sure felt it, did you?

Alright, now I have a question to pose about the midterm, can anyone explain left popular culture? I am really quite lost on this concept.

Whats a BA in history with no history to tell...

Jean Baudrillard's article on postmodernism really got me thinking. As a undergrad who will receive a BA history major in less then three months, the thought that history no longer exists is troubling to me. I have dedicated four plus years to study something that is not even happening anymore. I guess I understand where Baudrillard is coming from. History is never history, is is always subjective. The writer or whomever that is telling it is always biased, whether they know it or not. We like to think of history as simply the facts, but we are so wrong. This got me thinking about a film I recently watched, entitled Ararat. It talks about the genocide of the Armenian people in Turkey in 1914(?). A real event that actually took place. I have studied middle eastern history and was not aware of this, because the people who were telling me the story choose not to include this part. Subjective.
So when Baudrillard tells me that history is vanishing because there is no such thing as reality, I buy it.
The war in Afghanistan, a historical event, right. But who tells the story. CNN, edited. GW Bush, glorified. My best friend Steve who is stationed in Kandahar, terrified. A member of the Taliban, angry. The same reality, viewed through different eyes means a different story... Who's story is right? I and we will never get the whole story, never get the reality. Reality does not exist, it is always seen and told through some one's subjective eyes. Baudrillard says "right at the heart of the news, history threatens to disappear". In twenty years will a BA in history not exist? Will text books be replaced by CNN podcasts? Will I know be replaced by I think I know? Will nothing be authentic, Benjamin does not think so...
I think I need a drink, my head hurts...
ERIN

They call me MC Funky E....

Firstly, what I am totally loving about this class is that it is making me think of things in different ways, not just stuffing facts, figures and dates down my throat, so shout out to Dr. Tapley. Ok, so it is Rap music that I am now thinking differently of. Rap music as empowering nihilism...interesting, no? (Kate, Luke... google empowering nihilism) I always had an appreciation for Rap music, but now I am thinking of it in a new light. These rappers are genius! Taking the typical stereotype of the black man and using it not only to empower and validate them, but to belittle the white men. To rap about bling, drugs, fast cars and women is almost like showing off, saying yeah I am this stereotype and I am richer/more popular/better then you could ever be. Drive past any jr/sr. high school at lunch and you will hear the thump, thump thump of rap music pounding out of vehicles driven by young white boys. I wonder if all the little white boy rappers know that 50 Cent, Nelly, Ludacris is making fun of them, and making a mint.

PS. Right now on Ellen, Ludacris is telling me to shake my money maker, and maybe I will.

I Heart Pop Culture...

Wow, that was an intense class. We covered a lot of material on Thursday and two subjects that peaked my interest were the Culture Industry and true vs. false needs. I do not think that many people really understand how deep the culture industry fingers go. The culture industry affects things that we rarely think about like clothing, music, what we buy, where we buy it and when we buy it. Sometimes my head hurts just thinking about the complexity and scope of it all. This brings me to the next interesting point, true vs. false needs. So I pose this question, does the Culture Industry blur the lines between false and true needs? In my opinion, absolutely yes.
Let us use the pop culture gadget of the moment, the i pod. Do we need it to survive, no, but I sure love mine and worked hard to buy it. Why is this line being blurred? Why are we so consumer driven? Why? Why? WHY? I don't know so stop asking me! I am sure this trend will continue and eventually we won't be able to differenciate between wants and needs.
I am exhausted, I need to go out and buy something...
Ciao
ERIN

A Vision Statement... really it is!

Ok folks, here it goes, a vision statement for my blog. Must be something intelligent, of course, humour always helps, has to pertain to the subject matter... here goes nothing!

This blog will be a place that I can express my views, good and bad, on feminist thought, and where other women/men can view and respond. Deep, I know.

The Rhodes article that we just read talked about women creating blogs, e-zines or webpages that were purely feminist in nature. I hope that we, as a class, can create a place like this.

As for the format of this blog, I am sure that it will change as often as my mood does.

Ciao
ERIN