2007 August « femtique

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femtique 8:33 pm on August 27, 2007 | 4 | # |

Episode after episode Kino is a heroine. At no point in this anime is she written to endure sexism. Many men whom she meets in her journey believe that they can assert their dominance on her and quickly find out they cannot. The women that Kino met during her journey were strong and independent women. One of characters invents an airplane in the world Kino lives in. This female engineer does not allow her fiance or any other male with political authority to stop her goal … to fly. The women in Kino’s Journey were, for the most part, not designated to gender roles established by the patriarchy. Quite the contrary, the writer Keiichi Sigsawa, wrote a avant-garde seinen anime. The writer provided a television show that challenged gender roles and oppression in society.

The glorification of violence in this anime is a long time established patriarchal value, but because the focus was on a heroine, the reason behind the violence is questionable:

The use of violence and whether or not it can be justified is a recurring theme in Kino’s Journey, from whether animals should be killed in order to sustain the life of others to whether an entire population should be destroyed in order to save two other civilizations. [link]

One might be able to categorize this anime as josei.
femtique 10:00 am on August 15, 2007 | 17 | # |

Welcome to the August 15, 2007 edition of carnival of feminists. These entries are extraordinary and diverse. Sit back, relax, and enjoy reading these submissions with a good cup of java or tea.

Tracee Sioux presents Give Me An “A” posted at So Sioux Me, saying, “Can I still be a femimommy if I let my daughter take cheerleading camp?”

Dewey presents The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood posted at Dewey.

Marcella Chester presents Support Law To Create Consensual Sex Registry posted at abyss2hope: A rape survivor’s zigzag journey into the open, saying, “Here is my tongue-in-cheek suggestion for how to make the bill in Ohio requiring either written permission from men or rape reports into a workable system.”

Deborah Siegel presents Rebecca Walker and Katie Roiphe Revisited posted at Girl with Pen.

blue milk presents Playboy kids, more Bratz hatred, and how to stop this thing! posted at blue milk.

Red Jenny presents Women & Children are 14 Times More Likely to Die During a Disaster, yet Gender Perspective Missing in Climate Change Discussions posted at Red Jenny.

marguerite manteau-rao presents Converse ad posted at La Marguerite, saying, “Fashion power and green politics, from a green girl wannabe perspective”

aeonsomnia presents Feminism Friday: Pedagogy of the Oppressed.

Penny Richards presents Friday Bookshelf: Triangulating Women in Math posted at Thus Spake Zuska.

J.E. Remy presents Let’s talk about objectification… posted at Die Wachen, saying, “In “Let’s talk about objectification…” I discuss objectification through personified representations. Gender stereotypes are also highlighted using recently released comic book statues as a basis for the discussion.”

cest.la.vie presents Part Three: Enabling Misogyny posted at writing evolution, saying, “This article discusses the trend of lumping all men into one category, as well as the dangers inherent with such generalizations. In particular, it emphasizes the need for feminists to focus on equality for all.”

Ann Bartow presents Proposed Ohio Law Would Require Man’s Permission For Abortion posted at Feminist Law Professors.

TherapyDoc presents THIS is love? posted at Everyone Needs Therapy, saying, “An avatar can be the ‘other woman’ in your relationship.”

artThailand presents artThailand: We Put The World Of Contemporary Art From Thailand Within Reach posted at artThailand.

Leisha presents Gender-segregated spaces and the power they have posted at Inside the Box.

Greta Christina presents Professionalism = Selling Your Soul: A Feminist Rant on “The Devil Wears Prada” posted at Greta Christina’s Blog, saying, “A feminist rant about “The Devil Wears Prada,” which has recently been airing on HBO. The gist of it is that all the things the heroine does to supposedly “sell her soul” for her career are actually completely reasonable and understandable examples of professionalism, and would have been accepted without blinking in a male protagonist. And it points out that the movie’s message seems to be that — for women — professionalism, ambition, and even temporarily prioritizing your career over your personal life means “selling your soul.”"

Jaymi presents Progressive Morons Unite. posted at The Feminist Pulse, saying, “a funny conversation sparked by a news blip that demeans girls’ toys”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of feminists using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.
femtique 12:25 am on August 12, 2007 | 4 | # |

When Genevieve played by Noémie Lenoir took off her wig, Detective James Carter played by Chris Tucker straight up called her a “man”. It was as if the whole Brittani Spears bald head scandal some how crept it’s way into this movie. The gender stereotype exposed in this film, was that in order for a woman to be a real woman, she cannot be bald. After all, if a woman is bald, there is something seriously wrong with her. Everyone knows that if a woman is bald her entire gender is questionable (insert satire).

Noémie Lenoirrole’s role in Rush Hour 3 was that of a martyr. From the time she was born until she became an adult her purpose in life was to serve a male dominated secret society. She was brainwashed into believing that her life is less valuable than exposing the names of certain high status men. Like in the movie 300, as in many other movies with fictional historical reenactments, there will typically be a woman (or women) who’s sole purpose is to be sacrificed in order to preserve a patriarchal power structure.

Before Genevieve briefly became a man there were a few powerful moments for several female characters. She appeared to be a damsel in distress, but Soo Yung (Jingchu Zhang) quickly proved that she could kick some serious butt (at the end of the movie she went back to a damsel in distress). The female arch nemesis otherwise known as the “Dragon Lady” played by Youki Kudoh was rarely exposed in any disempowering situation. Writers Jeff Nathanson and Ross LaManna portrayed her as a strong independent female character. This did not spare her from being physically objectified. In fact, with the exception of Soo Yung, all of the women in Rush Hour 3 were physically and sexually objectified. It is possible that it would have been too socially unacceptable (taboo) for the writers to have portrayed Soo Yung to as sexually available. Carter and Lee (Jackie Chan) mentioned in the movie that the last time they had seen her was when she was a child. Carter even makes a remark about Soo Yung noting how she had grown up into a full figured woman. The expression on Carter’s face read “awkward” since he knew he could not view Yung the same way he viewed other women. The relationship between Soo Yung and Carter was paternalistic.

How could this film be feminist friendly and still maintain it’s pop appeal?

1. Do not make camera shots that focus more on a woman’s body (i.e., physical objectification) than on the words she speaks in the movie. Writers should write more memorable quotes for female actors.

2. Stop writing so many action / comedy movies like Rush Hour 3 into “Damsel in Distress” movies. The whole “Damsel in Distress” thing gets old real fast, and shows women in a powerless position.

3. Write more independent and powerful characters like the “Dragon Lady” who do not cater to a patriarchal agenda.
femtique 3:39 am on August 6, 2007 | 6 | # |

There are several female characters in the hit series “Death Note”. The most prevalent character was Misa Amane “Misa Misa”. Misa’s character was shy, physically weak, submissive, and written to be emotionally and physically dominated by the main character, Yagami Light. There was not a single episode in which Misa was not “willingly” at the mercy of Light. Misa was frequently animated in sexually submissive poses that were intended to be readily enjoyed as eye-candy for every male character of Death Note that was sexually interested in her. At no point in the series did Misa refuse any male that sexually harassed her. In fact, she was portrayed to not only be sexually submissive, but was also substantially less intelligent than her male counterparts.

The second most prevalent female character was the Shinigami Rem. Rem’s whole purpose in the show was to protect Misa. The relationship between Rem and Misa was that of solidarity. Their solidarity lasted until the middle of the storyline. Like Misa’s role, Rem was more than willing to be a martyr. Rem died to protect Misa because she was tricked by Light. Rem’s good intentions to protect Misa were ill founded, because Misa committed suicide after the death of Light.

The rest of the significant female characters had limited roles in which they either died or almost died at the hands of Yagami Light or another death note owner.

Feminist Fix

How could this anime be feminist friendly and still maintain it’s pop appeal?

1. The writers could have written Misa’s role as woman who was not constantly being physically objectified, intellectually incompetent, and emotionally submissive. Instead of writing her as the “weaker” character, Misa could have been a heroine.

2. Instead of the show being a showdown of two male intellectuals, it could have been a showdown of two minds: one male and one female.

3. Both Rem and Misa were easily tricked by Light. The writers could have written the two main female roles in such as way as to have equally tricked the protagonist Light.

4. More female roles!! Most of the significant roles were reserved for males.

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femtique 8:33 pm on August 27, 2007 | 4 | # |

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