Design Post #2

In keeping with the theme of finding inspiration while getting dressed in the morning, my next design inspiration came from my mascara wand. What I really liked about the design of the wand's label is the combination of the label colors, the shiny effect, and the typographic effect of in the "A."

The colors fade from green, to navy, to purple, to magenta. There is black in the mix as well; the effect is striking because it is dark, but also a bit feminine.  It makes me consider changing the colors of my blog to something a bit darker, because I tend to like darker colors myself anyway. 


The shine on the packaging is attention-grabbing, and although it would be hard to recreate a metallic shine in a blog, I could work on making my blog more attention-grabbing.

Finally, the "A" in the word "LASH" has a typographical effect; it swoops up beyond the rest of the letters, almost connecting to the brand name above it. This is a unique effect, and it inspires my thoughts of typography on the blog. Using dimensions outside the normal Roman fonts could be quite attractive, or at least set my blog title apart from other texts.

A Feminist Movie Review: Crimson Peak

The official movie poster.

At the risk of stepping on the toes of my classmates who run film review blogs, I would like to take this opportunity to write about a film I saw recently and loved, not just for its aesthetics (which were gorgeous) or its plot (which was spooky) or its gore (which was a little too much for me, but was all artfully done, so I handled it).

I loved Crimson Peak because it was a true tribute to women in film -- all because it didn't make a big deal about being a film about two women.

Just so you're warned, there will be spoilers beyond this point: read at your own risk!

Set in the turn of the 20th century, Crimson Peak is the new movie by director Guillermo del Toro of Pan's Labyrinth fame. Starring Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain, and Tom Hiddleston, it follows the life of Edith Cushing (Wasikowska), an aspiring writer (and young feminist) as she falls in love with a mysterious man (Hiddleston) and becomes engaged in a dark scheme involving his sister Lucille (Chastain). Edith ends up further entrenched than she ever bargained for, and finds a well-suited sparring partner in Lucille.

And that's what I loved about Crimson Peak. Although it is a love story between a woman and a man, and although the love is real, the real struggle is between the Edith and Lucille: they are matched in wit and intelligence, and, by the end of the film, with weapons. Because finally, when Edith has reached the climax of her story and she must fight for her life against dark forces, she is allowed to do it for herself; no man saves her from her own fate. 

(A fate, which, incidentally, is allowed to be as bloody and brutal as any battle a man is allowed to fight. Edith and Lucille do not sacrifice brutality because they are feminine women. The effect is visually striking and politically reverberating). 

A moment from the final battle

It's also worth noting that there is a sex scene in Crimson Peak, and unlike nearly every other sex scene in cinematic history, it is the man who is undressed, all so that the overall message was that the woman in the scene could take control of her own sexuality. A conscious choice made to further the feminist ideas of the characters? I was shocked and loving it. 

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the Bechdel test for movies (Does the movie, 1) have at least two female characters, who 2) have a conversation with each other about 3) anything but a man?) 

Crimson Peak didn't just pass the Bechdel test: it bludgeoned it over the head.

(If you've seen the film, you'll know I just made a joke. Yay!)

Even more thrilling was the research I did after I saw it, when I found out that del Toro took a pay cut on his own salary to convince the studio that funding a female-centric film was a worthy venture.

SO MUCH STABBING

If this was a review blog, I would give this film five stars; even if you're not particularly interested in its feminist tones, it is still an aesthetically beautiful film (as del Toro always delivers) with a good story, twists and turns, plenty of blood, and one particular twist which had me shouting "OH GROSS OH MY GOD" to the person I was seeing the film with. 

Design Post #1

I have this bracelet, handmade in Colombia, which has seven colors in it, all delicately strung together. This bracelet could inspire the design of my blog because of its masterful use of color and balance.
I like the way the colors look together, even though there are seven of them; the bright pink near the center almost overpowers the rest of the colors, but since the central color is still the pastel pink, the eye is not overwhelmed by the brightness. 

The other colors on the bracelet are, from the outside in: brown, beige, green, yellow, and red (followed by the bright pink and then the pastel pink centers). Even though these are bright colors, they fade into the background of the visuals of the bracelet because of the bright pink near the center; however, the presence of the beige connects to the light pastel center, which ties the whole look together. This could be a lesson in complementing colors and bringing them together around a focal point.

The pinks also make this bracelet seem feminine (although a man could certainly wear it too, and it also incorporates traditionally masculine colors like brown and green), and femininity is the subject of my blog, so it suits my blog. The delicate way the strings are arranged is also inspiring to me. Even though the colors are vibrant, the bracelet itself does not overpower the visual field because each color is made up of a very thin string, woven carefully in lines around the whole wrist. The juxtaposition of the bright colors and the delicate construction comes off as a balance of beauty and power.

While this might be too many colors to incorporate in one blog consistently, this shows me that I could use all of these colors in various capacities without clashing. 

Happy (Sexy) Halloween!

October's ending, and you know what that means: Halloween! Spookiness, free candy, and the opportunity to dress up in costume and let your creativity and fun flow for one night. 
It's hard not to get excited walking through the stores and seeing their best set up for the festivities: jack-o-lanterns grinning, spider decorations looming, and sexist Halloween costumes displayed for the buying.

Honestly, nothing gets my blood pumping like a sexy Minion.
Who doesn't love Halloween? 
(Incidentally, I don't, but it has less to do with the sexist Halloween costumes and more to do with wanting to get Halloween over with so the real holiday -- Christmas -- can begin.)

Disclaimer: this post is not about what you should or shouldn't want to be for Halloween. If you happen to love dressing up as a sexy Luigi, good for you. I'm here for your empowerment (and Laci Green does a wonderful video about why self-expression is important on Halloween). This post is about the shameless oversexualization of almost every major Halloween costume in the market.

Don't believe me? Watch how this funny Buzzfeed Guys video nails the hypocrisy of Halloween costumes. (Seriously. Click that link.)

I'm not going to insult your intelligence and explain why the blatant sexism of Halloween marketing is bad; you can piece that one together for yourself. Instead, I'm going to point at the elephant in the room and make you look at comparison photos of men's costumes versus women's costumes.

So without further ado, we now come to the main attraction: 

My Top 10 Favorite Sexist Halloween Costumes of 2015!

10. Sexy Patrick Star

Because nothing screams "sex appeal" like the animated friend of Spongebob Squarepants, right? My favorite part about this particular costume is that, if you take away the cartoon face on the woman's torso, there is absolutely nothing tying that minidress to the chubby, dopey cartoon friend.

9. Sexy SWAT Team 

This one's really authentic; I bet she can do all sorts of functional things SWAT members do in those knee-high boots, and I bet her boobs don't get in the way at all. (And, just wondering, where's her bulletproof vest?)

8. Sexy Monkey

I can't even joke about this; trying to be a sexually attractive monkey is tiptoeing a little too close to beastiality for my comfort level.

7. Sexy Military

Look, women in the military have enough hurdles to jump for equality without having to worry that the civilian world is sexualizing their profession. Bonus points to this one for being a child's costume. I could have done an entire series just on the children's costumes, but honestly, it was making me sick.

6. Sexy Prisoner

Well thank God that if there are going to be horizontal stripes in prison, they'll at least be pink. Are those boots regulation? 

5. Sexy Nerd

Has anyone ever actually seen a nerd dress like this? Honestly? 

4. Sexy Astronaut

Something tells me her dress is not zero-gravity safe. Has anyone contacted NASA? His suit looks pretty legit, but is that what female astronauts wear? 

3. Sexy Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

For when you want to relive your childhood and be desperately uncomfortable all night! Again, why are we sexualizing children's characters? Which are turtles?

2. Sexy Pilgrims

 

Is this what our country was founded on, people?

And last, but not least, just as I promised:

1. Sexy Minions

Perhaps the real problem with Halloween is that it forces us to face the fact that apparently people are sexually attracted to characters from children's cartoons.

The Most Difficult Test to Pass

This test is harder than your AP Physics exam, more difficult than Advanced Chem, more strenuous than any SAT.
The Bechdel Test: a measure of gender disparity in movies.

Bechdel's original comic.

Developed by Alison Bechdel, a lesbian cartoonist whose graphic novel Fun Home has garnered many awards (and even a hit Broadway show), the Bechdel test is comprised of only three simple questions:

1. Does your film have at least two named women in it?
2. Do the women speak to one another?
3. About something other than a man?

You'd be shocked by the number of movies that don't pass. The bar is so low that filmmakers are tripping on it. 

Think of your favorite movie. Apply those question. Does it pass or does it fail?

Mine fails.

My favorite movie is, and always has been The Princess Bride. It's a wonderful film that is funny, clever, and romantic, and although it features many women who speak (including a strong female lead in its Princess Buttercup), none of them every speak to each other. 

I know it is, Vizzini. I know it.

It's . . . inconceivable! 

But Amanda, you might be thinking, The Princess Bride only has one primary female character. That's part of the story. You're being harsh.

To which I say: Maybe. But I'm justified.

Because even films about women, with multiple female characters, fail. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II fails. The Avengers (which features two of the strongest women in Marvel history, Black Widow and Maria Hill), fails. In the entirety of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, there are only three significant female characters, and none of them ever even meet (my heart breaks to type that; damn you, Tolkien). 

And that's just sci-fi. 

It's not like movies with women don't make money; in fact, a 2013 study found that films that pass the Bechdel test actually make more money than films that don't. The chart below further details that money gap.

This is not the end-all, be-all of film criticism, though. The Bechdel test isn't the only measuring stick that should be used to gauge gender disparity in movies; sometimes films scrape by with just a single scene of women chatting about something other than a man, without much real substance, when other films feature empowered women who don't speak to other women at all. But the Bechdel test is a great place to start. 

Next time you watch a movie, notice. Ask yourself, "does this movie pass?" Because really, why shouldn't it?

I mean, if Anchorman can do it, shouldn't everyone be able to?

***

2013 study shows that movies that pass make more money

I Don't Support Susan G. Komen, and I Don't Think You Should Either

Happy October! It's finally fall; the leaves are turning, the stores are stocked with Halloween costumes, and literally everything is pink in honor of breast cancer awareness month.So I feel like it's my duty to remind everybody to think twice before you buy those pink water bottles/bracelets/t-shirts/guns and remember that, at one point, the Susan G. Komen foundation's CEO made $684,000 a year. 

Six-figure salaries don't exactly scream "charitable" to me.

The problem isn't that Susan G. Komen doesn't do good work; they have certainly raised the bar on breast cancer awareness (their name is basically synonymous with the topic). The problem is that their group is flirting with the line between charity and corporation.

More important than funding cancer screenings?

It's a controversial opinion, and one that doesn't make me many friends, but I don't think the Susan G. Komen foundation should own the market on breast cancer awareness, and yet, they have made it their mission to sue any other charity which uses their slogan, "For the Cure." Seems like a good use of donor money, right? Money that could be used to, I don't know, find a cure?

Television personality Stephen Colbert commented on the Komen foundations' practice better than I ever could: 

"Anybody who knows me knows I am a huge supporter of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation, which raises millions of dollars a year in the fight against breast cancer . . . So I'm giving a big Tip of my Hat to the Komen foundation for spending almost a million dollars a year in donor funds to sue these other groups. If they don't own the phrase 'For the Cure,' then people might donate money thinking it's going to an organization dedicated to curing cancer, when instead it's wasted on organizations dedicated to curing cancer." 

Comic courtesy of Quora 

In recent years, Susan G. Komen has endured a drop in contributions. This is largely because they toed over the line from charity to political entity when, in 2012, they pulled funding to Planned Parenthood, a women's health clinic which gives breast cancer screenings. It simply doesn't make sense to stop funding an entity which directly helps your cause - unless your cause is no longer to "find a cure," but to please other donors and get more money. 
Sure, some say the money saved on Planned Parenthood can be used to fund other meaningful endeavors, but isn't screening for cancer a meaningful endeavour? Isn't it the easiest way to detect cancer, so that the cancer can be treated?

A terrible ad campaign

And when Komen is selling out to KFC and Mike's Hard Lemonade, let's not pretend it's prevention they're worried abou: fatty foods and excessive alcohol consumption are linked to increased chances of getting breast cancer.

Dishearted and disillusioned? I was too. Fear not, though: if you still want to support the fight to end breast cancer without succumbing to Komen's pink-ification, there are plenty of places to donate your money, all listed and linked below. You'll get the satisfaction of knowing that your money helps real women and men diagnosed with breast cancer.You just might not get a cool t-shirt that lets everyone know you, like, totally support the ta-tas.

***

Better charities:
American Cancer Society
The Breast Cancer Research Foundation
The National Breast Foundation 

Suffragette: to Boycott or Not to Boycott

Photo courtesy of ScreenRant

Earlier this week, the cast of the upcoming film Suffragette came under fire when the cast was photographed wearing shirts that read "I'd rather be a rebel than a slave."
If you know the context of the quote, you might like these shirts. If you don't know the context of the quote, you might still like these shirts. If you blame slaves for being enslaved, you might also like these shirts.

But let me explain.

For those who don't know: Suffragette, out October 23, is the mostly-true story of the women's suffrage movement in early 20th century England. It stars Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, and Meryl Streep, among others. It also boasts a female writing/directing team (Abi Morgan and Sarah Gavron, respectively). It's been hyped as "the epic feminist movie we need."

The quotation in question was spoken by Emmeline Pankhurst (who Streep plays in the film), a key leader of the women's suffrage movement. Within the context of this film, the quotation is appropriate; after all, it was the early 1900s. Now, though, it's 2015, we're much more racially sensitive (or at least, we should be), and many people are wondering why any photographer, stylist, or publicist thought it would be a good idea to put a group of white women in shirts that seem to suggest that slaves could free themselves by simply being rebellious.

The photos in question.
Courtesy of Irish Times

Time Out London, the publication for which these photographs were taken, have defended their photoshoot and the intentions behind the controversial shirts, saying that "[the quotation] is a rallying cry, and absolutely not intended to criticise those who have no choice but to submit to oppression, or to reference the Confederacy, as some people who saw the quote out of context have surmised."

Now, film reviewers and movie-goers stand in wait. Will the bad publicity affect the box offices, or will offended parties take a chance on the film anyway?

As a feminist, I am torn. Realistically, I know that this photoshoot, and the fact that this film is acted by an all-white cast, is a bad move for intersectional equality; the women's suffrage movement was notorious for pushing the efforts of black women to the background and putting white women front and center, an idea which makes me uneasy. However, I worry that poor sales for this film will hurt the chances of female-helmed films in the future. Women should get the chance to have their voices heard on screen -- but by supporting Suffragette, am I implying that it is only white women who deserve to have their voices heard?

As a feminist and as a cinephile, I've got some thinking to do, and one question to ask myself:
Is it more important to read the shirts, or is it important to understand the film's message?

***

This comic sums up how white women treated black women during the suffrage movement.

(Courtesy of Kate Beaton)