This is a wonderful outreach that moves beyond “it gets better” to how can we make changes right now for queer and transgender teens to prevent bullying? It encourages a better understanding of gendered norms and promotes asking the “double why.”
Here’s an interesting example of a man working in a very visible (but anonymous until now) way to speak out against rape. Eric Lostutter revealed that he was the member of Anonymous who helped to raise national attention about the rape of a 16-year-old girl in Steubenville, OH by outting some of the members of the football team who had posted videos of and tweeted about the rape.
From the article:
… the man behind the mask is not who you’d (or I guess who I’d) expect him to be. Lostutter, who gave an interview to Mother Jones on Thursday, lives in Kentucky, seems to be part good ol’ boy and part bro. The 26-year-old is a cybersecurity consultant who likes motorcycle riding, Bud-drinking, flag-flying, and turkey hunting. He’s also an amateur rapper who goes by the name Shadow.
This is a case that men are an important ally in the fight against rape, while also raising some important ethical questions regarding privacy and our justice system.
Facebook has allowed pages and posts that celebrate assaulting women. For example, from the article:
“Groups and images with allegedly humorous titles like “Raping a Pregnant B***h and Telling Your Friends You Had a Threesome” have always been only a click away and, under Facebook’s content policy until now, stood a better chance of surviving moderator review than photos of breastfeeding babies did.”
In this interview with activist and artist Jes Baker, she explains what motivated her to write a public letter to the CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch after he had been quoted saying that they did not offer women’s sizes over a size 10 because “We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.” This is an example of how institutions (in this case business) influences gendered norms because while there are XL and XXL men’s sizes at Abercrombie, you won’t find larger women’s sizes.
Baker has prompted a change.org petition and created a Abercrombie ad parody to “challenge the separation of attractive and fat.” Check it out!
As discussed in the audio lecture, after IA college student Zach Wahls testified about being raised by lesbian mothers before the IA judiciary about a proposed new law, the video of his testimony went viral. Here is his response to this event and a discussion of his upbringing.
Click here for Austin Yorski’s blog on the new crowd-funded documentary on portrayals of women in video games.
Click here for the feminist film making program for teens I referenced in the audio lecture.
Click here for an interesting article about activists challenging unhealthy norms of physical appearance for women and men through documentaries and social media. From the article:
Here’s the fantasy: A half-naked woman lies across a couch, lips pouty and cleavage prominent as her sultry gaze implores you to buy this bottle of perfume.
The reality: Women make up 51% of the United States yet only 17% of seats in the House of Representatives. They’re 3% of Fortune 500 CEOs and 7% of directors in the top 250 grossing films.
This is a great example of a girl who takes media back by creating her own short documentary about beauty norms as experienced by women of color.