// Category Archive for: Feminism

Shouting Birds Into Existence: Yoko Ono/The Plastic Ono Band

By Matt Keeley

Brooklyn Academy Of Music, Brooklyn NY
February 15, 2010

Every music geek has a list of bands that they’re certain they’ll never see live, but would just about kill to get the chance. For me, that includes Kraftwerk (seen once), DEVO (seen three times), and The Residents (seen twice). And Yoko Ono (now seen). And not one person killed or even maimed.
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Venus In Fur: Femininity, Masculinity, And The Wolfman

By Hanna

When The Wolfman‘s release date was announced, feminist blog Jezebel asked why there aren’t many female werewolves, concluding that because werewolves are disgusting and hairy, people don’t want to equate that with women. They also pointed out that vampires are a lot more popular than werewolves at the moment, and described that position with regards to sex.

Although the answer to the question about women and werewolves lies exactly in those issues, Jezebel drew the wrong conclusions.
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Showdown At The Oscars

By Lisa Anderson

Image from
Awards Daily

As Oscar night grows near, two of the most closely watched nominations are for Best Picture and Best Director. Former spouses James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow are pitted against each other in both categories—Cameron for Avatar and Bigelow for The Hurt Locker. If Cameron wins, it will be a rare triumph for science fiction, one achieved despite controversy about Avatar‘s content. Bigelow stands not only to score an upset victory against a blockbuster, but also to become the first woman to win the Oscar for Best Director.
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Bettina Köster, Queen Of Noise

By Ann Clarke

I love it when you put on an album, and it just kicks ass immediately. I love it even more when it continues to kick ass, and then when it’s over, you feel compelled to listen to it again! That doesn’t always happen, even with some of your personal favorite albums.

Bettina Köster’s Queen of Noise might not be my favorite album, but it certainly falls into the realm of the type of album I just described. It just kicks ass, and continues to kick ass! (I apologize for my lowbrow description, but I guess it sort of brings the cave-girl out of me!) I mean, seriously; when something just rocks your lame ass, you know it instantly.
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Top Five Female Television Characters

By Noreen Sobczyk

1. Diana Rigg as Emma Peel in The Avengers, 1965 – 1968

When I was younger I wanted to be Emma Peel. Who am I kidding? I still want to be Emma Peel. She has a killer ’60s wardrobe, and for my money is the best dressed female character in television history. She’s intelligent, self assured, sharp, and sexy; a woman who can take care of herself, often rescuing her male partner John Steed. Using her wits as well as her martial arts skills, she solves crimes and fights villains, a great feminist character. (Earlier and later seasons of The Avengers held no interest for me as they did not feature Emma Peel.)
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Way Past Almost Golden: Courtney Love In The 2000s

By Emily Carney

It’s late 2009, and the endless enigma of the singer and musician we know as Courtney Love has still not spawned a new album or a record deal. The general populace has now come to view Courtney Love as the rock version of Anna Nicole Smith. She has been regularly photographed by paparazzi looking like an anorexic, drugged out mess. In one recent video from TMZ she ranted on for a few minutes about things that made no sense, and syringes were seen in her handbag (I seriously doubt she has any form of diabetes).
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A Call to Cover Arms: Sexism At Halloween

By Maureen

Sometimes I feel like the only person on Earth who still remembers that it’s kind of chilly in New York in late October. I think Miranda Hobbes said it best in Sex and the City: The Movie when she declared while shopping for a Halloween costume, “There’s only two options for women: witch, and sexy kitten.” I am even tempted to see Miranda’s point and raise her to a bet that the witch costume she saw was not any old witch, but a “sexy” witch.
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Whip It

By Laura L.

For the past few years, I’ve been a member of a roller derby league in St. Louis, MO: the Arch Rival Roller Girls. When I heard Whip It was in the works, I hoped they would do the sport some justice. It had previously been portrayed in the Raquel Welch film Kansas City Bomber and the short-lived A&E reality series Rollergirls, in addition to an episode here and there on a number of other shows. Yet rarely did I come away from any of these with a good feeling in the pit of my stomach. While not perfect in its portrayal of modern-day roller derby, Whip It left me with that good feeling.
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She’s (Not) Just A Woman: Q&A With Clementine, Drummer Extraordinaire

By Jennifer L. Sharpe

Ms. Clementine could be considered one of the music world’s most ardent admirers of Led Zeppelin. While she never experienced the band’s live performances, she recreates drummer John “Bonzo” Bonham’s daunting drum parts every night as a founding member of Zepparella.

Popshifter recently caught up with Clem as she crossed the country on Zepparella’s first US tour.
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The Reproductive Olympics: How Television Guilts Women Into Motherhood

By Emily Carney

I am, at the time of writing this, in my early thirties, and I am enjoying a relatively snag-free life of teaching and writing. I happen to also be married to someone I have known for much of my adult life. However, to some people, these things are completely inconsequential.

Whenever I see people from my past, or even when I meet them for the first time, the topic eventually turns to: When are you having kids? I sheepishly attempt to steer the topic in another direction, but usually to no avail.
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