ditto love

There is a lot of talk about lovely Beth Ditto, from the downright vile to the highest praise but all I care about is that she has an effin amazing voice, enigmatic presence and is a beautiful woman.

I would rather have her as a role model for young women than someone like this

anything to sell a sweater

This [via the F word] actually made my jaw drop.

Benetton cant seriously think they are highlighting the plight of abused women by 'using' them to advertise their overpriced and frankly ugly clothing can they?

If this was a serious campaign, with money heading in the direction of shelters and organisations for victims of domestic violence, then I may be able to forgive the unsavoury fashion house. However as this seems to not be the case and they are still peddling their expensive , [probably sweat shop produced] clothing to the world, I would urge all to steer well clear of them.

They have just been double added to my list of hideous capitalist greed vs ethical consumerism in the NAY column.

go on steal it I dare you...

Arf.

Not my bike but a sculpture in Vancouver. With my current security fixation, my Mabel may soon look the same.

link via boing boing

tears on a friday [good ones]

this made me cry laughing

and this one

I heart 'my cat hates you'

Their bodies are a battleground...

While browsing through the F – Word, I happened upon this video http://www.irinnews.org/audiofiles/071220067.wmv about Female Gential Mutilation or FGM. It is distressing and fairly gruesome to watch but it certainly highlights the plight of some 8-10 million*** girls that suffer this ritualistic mutilation.

It occurs to me [particularly when some smart ass points it out] that although us white middle class women, that fight the good fight for feminism, may well have ‘come a long way baby’ practices such as FGM remind me that we have not even scratched the surface. So long as there are women and girls in the world who are forbidden/incapable of speaking out for themselves, we need to spread the word and put pressure on those governments & religious leaders to stop this most hideous and brutal of practices. Amnesty International already cover this and do some work toward eradicating FGM but there are other orginisations that you can read about or join here

While reading the facts on this site I came across this statement, a justification for the mutilation:

In various cultures there are many "justifications" for these practices. A girl who is not circumcised is considered "unclean" by local villagers and therefore unmarriageable. A girl who does not have her clitoris removed is considered a great danger and ultimately fatal to a man if her clitoris touches his penis.

Here in the western world, many have jested about the ever ‘elusive’ clitoris but to my knowledge no man has EVER died due to contact with the little love button. It infuriates me to think that those people hiding behind their religion and culture in order to condone and continue this brutality, are for the most part men.

Quelle Suprise?

*** taken from http://www.fgmnetwork.org/intro/fgmintro.php

Opting out?

I found this video via feministing and think it has real relevance to an event I am helping to co-ordinate at the ICA in London called 'Can Women Have It All?' which is a series of interviews with high profile women who appear to have achieved the work/life balance perfectly.

Feminaissance?

According to the Guardian Unlimited feminist art is on the up again. I happen to think that it has always been there, ever present, but like most things it really just depends on the exposure it gets. Women [and some men] artists the world over continue to make art that challenges the contructs of gender identity, that challenges the traditionally patriarchal art history and that gets to the heart of gender politics wherever they occur in the world.

As a feminist and artist myself, I always feel like there are going to be moments when it is considered trendy again to have my 'cunt art' on display, however to make art on the basis of pursuing trends would be a futile and soul destroying exsistence.

I do think it is great that feminist or indeed women artists get more exposure, I'm sure the Guerilla Girls [ one of my favourite exhibitions at the Tate Modern ] would say it's been a long time coming and we aint there yet but we need to celebrate when it does happen and push, push push for more events, more exposure and a more equal representation of female artists in our museums and art galleries around the world.

America does seem to be at the forefront of campaigning and pushing for more feminist/women art with events and exhibitions like the WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution, at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles as well as Global Feminisms, an exhibition that launches a permanent new wing of New York's Brooklyn Museum, the Elizabeth A Sackler Centre for Feminist Art. I guess we here in the UK need to do more to be better represented.

I remember the first time I saw slides of Judy Chicago's 'The Dinner Party', I was completely gobsmacked at the visual impact of so many vaginas as dinner plates, dedicated to the most inspiring women through history that it instantly inspired me to commit my final year art school degree work to the joy and wonder of the cunt/vulva/vagina. As the badge on the right hand side of my website states, I still love my cunt and although I may not be making as much art as I used to, that statement will always ring true and I hope to inspire other women to do so too.

poor little idiot

As reported on the BBC news website, Miss Hilton is soon to be a jailbird. Not a moment too soon I say, as I consider her a complete menace to society.

One can only hope she reads a book or two while incarcerated [and no Paris, Vogue is not a book]