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Sunday Hustle 12/02/12

By: admin
11-02-2012
sunday hustle

Happy palindrome day! Sunday Hustle is back after an unintentional hiatus. Here’s what was happening on the rest of the web this week.

As of February 14th, I’m off to Bali for a very much needed holiday! I haven’t been on holiday since April (if we count moving to Perth and doing sweet bugger all for a few months as a ‘break’), so I’m VERY excited! I’m travelling by myself, which is going to be so awesome. I may or may not take a computer with me as I suspect I’ll be too busy getting pampered and taking photos, so until February 21, adieu!

What has the internet done for women? Apart from giving them a voice in the public sphere, CEO of Blog Her Lisa Stone talks about networking, managing communities and how to get a book deal. (Social Media Examiner)

My new favourite website XOJane gets in on the Super Bowl commentary. For those who aren’t familiar with the Super Bowl, it’s an annual American sporting event which is watched by over 100,000,000, making commercial air time super expensive and sought after. A few of the ads sparked the hashtag #notbuyingit on twitter, many of them deemed to cross over from sexy to just plain sexist. (XOJane)

 

This 10-year-old girl is going down in science history. What were you doing when you were 10? (Shakesville)

Judge Reinhart on why Proposition 8 is a crock of shit. (Scribd)

“[A]ll parties agree that Proposition 8 had one effect only. It stripped same sex couples of the ability they previously possessed to obtain from the State, or any other authorized party, an important right—the right to obtain and use the designation of ‘marriage’ to describe their relationships. Nothing more, nothing less… . Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples. The Constitution simply does not allow for laws of this sort.”

 

Reading stuff like this makes me want to change my degree for the third time and do a Gender Studies program. Hands up who want to study pop culture and feminism? (Huffpo)

I have a girlcrush on Kate Zambreno. She’s a feminist fiction writer and I’ve officially maxed my credit card so I can’t get get her books any time soon but I’m up for early birthday presents! Read this interview where she talks about gender performance, writing as an outlaw and New Narratives. If you’re any kind of writer, you’ll definitely get a kick out of it. (The Rejectionist)

This blogger asked her Twitter followers to send her photos of their thighs. This is what happened. (Rockalily)

In my experience, most female thighs are soft, sometimes squishy and wobbly, and yet many of us are taught quite early that it is somehow ‘disgusting’ that they squash down when we sit, or if there is no gap between them when we stand. When did it become normal for the thighs we see that are deemed beautiful not to meet in the middle?

 

 

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Sunday Hustle 2/10/11

By: admin
02-10-2011
sunday hustle

For your reading pleasure, whilst I tackle mount academia. Since my energies are going into my studies for the next 2 weeks, here’s some awesomesauce material from the rest of the web.

Pretty people have better lives, more money. Case in point? Female tennis players. Apparently, there are better looking women on the court these days than there was a decade ago. When I first found this article, I kind of rolled my eyes and put on this New York accent and whined “oh puh-leeeaaassse!”  (do they do that? I think they do that. Clarification please, internet!). Slightly wary when it comes to debates about beauty privilege, Leith then hits me with this chestnut:

What possible advantage would a beautiful woman have over a not-so-beautiful one on the court? Well, maybe she would catch the eye of coaches and sponsors early on in her career. And maybe, having caught the eye, she would get a better deal overall. Maybe she would be pushed to the front. It was, I thought, possible.

Then I found out about how one gets to play on the centre court during Wimbledon. It is all to do with ratings. Several reporters had pointed out that, during the tournament’s early rounds, some of the more attractive players, such as Gisela Dulko, Sorana Cirstea and Maria Kirilenko, were picked to play on centre court, even though they were not top seeds. Some of the higher-ranked but less attractive players were relegated to the outer courts.

Definitely something to think about. Perhaps my views are biased because I’m drawn to other attributes, such as whether a person has a sense of humour, or a razor sharp whit, super intelligence or a social conscience, but I don’t believe that people are so easily swayed by looks alone. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps… (The Age)

Publicist, author, awesome. Kelly Cutrone - no super model, but she's known for bringing them down a notch. Proof that brains and perseverance triumph over looks?

Megan Fox is not a bitch. Speaking of good looks, this interview with Megan Fox shows a different side to the actress normally presented as aloof, a little snotty and a bit too open about her sexuality. Perhaps it’s because the reporter entered the interview with no notes prepared, or perhaps it’s a sign that in the eyes of some, you can be too pretty (see Tavi’s flow chart for elaboration on jealousy and girl hate) (Moviefone)

Scarlett Harris, one of Australia’s most promising up-and-coming writers, features a guest post on Feminism and religion. Controversially juicy, as always! (Early Bird Gets the Worm)

Kristina Keneally, one of NSW’s favourite punching bags, shows us what she’s made of, stands up for gay marriage.

My lack of knowledge about homosexuality meant I had very few presuppositions to confront. I came to the questions of how to respond to homosexual people armed not with Vatican teachings and cultural assumptions, but simply with the Gospel message of ‘love one another as I have loved you’.

What I witnessed were people who suffered greatly because of the judgement of their family and community; friends who were more acquainted with loneliness than with romantic relationships; devout Catholics, some with a true call to vocation, grieving because their own church had no place for them. I realised no one would choose an orientation that brought such misery.

You go  Glen Coco! (The Drum)

Just a post about swooning over matronly babe Helen Mirren. (Feministe)

The Guardian features an article discussing research which proves that caffeine is happy sauce for women everywhere. Interestingly, they also delve a little deeper and examine the social variables that may or may not be involved.

But it would have been interesting if, along with measuring the women’s coffee consumption in relation to depression, this latest research had asked: was the coffee drunk alone? With friends? At a cafe? In other words: socially or medicinally? And was the depression to which over 2,000 of the women succumbed linked in any way to work or the lack of it, to difficulties with partners or children, to loneliness, to poverty? Extreme sadness is rarely just a chemical affair, though of course like everything else in the world, it’s linked to chemistry. (The Guardian)

More and more women are now on the front line. (The Guardian)

Mookychick interviews Lena Chen of Chiktionary about sex workers rights, her life as the college “sexpert” and how she deals with online harrassment. (Mookychick)

The media is to blame for misogyny. According to Gender Across Borders, the media are public enemy number one when it comes to misrepresenting females. Read on for an analysis of both men’s and women’s magazines. Spoiler! They’re all basically the same. (Gender Across Borders)

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Sunday Hustle 07/08/11

By: admin
06-08-2011
sunday hustle

T.S. Eliot says the cruelest month is April, but I believe it’s August. The last biting frost of winter pinches at your cheeks, the sun teases you with fleeting cameos in an otherwise torrential day, and a gentle wind tussles your hair, reminding you to not forget your scarf tomorrow. Winter is drawing to a close and making way for long afternoons jumping through sprinklers and eating mangoes with spoons. Here’s to the last weeks of extra long, hot showers, and a summer worth of Katy Perry sing-a-longs.

Here’s what I was reading this week. Get yourself bundled up, gumnut baby. It’s still cold outside!

Ever seen But I’m a Cheerleader? If you haven’t, it’s a film about a cheerleader who is completely oblivious to the fact that her love of other women (which isn’t entirely sexual) is actually a problem. Friends and family intervene and she’s sent off to straight camp to be reprogrammed, where she’s taught how to perform gender according to society’s standards. Cue a hilarious piss-take on social norms and Clea Duvall! But did you know that these ‘straight camps’ actually exist? Brittany from XOJane.com writes of her experience as an insider spy at an ex-gay conference. Fairly alarming stuff!

In another meeting hall, Focus on the Family’s resident psychologist Bill Maier explained how living a sin-free life is a constant, painful struggling against your own nature. One man nodded violently as he got up and confessed that despite having two children with a woman, he had to fight his urges daily. Finally, Dan stood up, unable to take it. “That guy just admitted he’d rather be gay,” he practically shouted as he dragged me toward the nearest red EXIT sign. “I need some fucking fresh air!”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXHbjPaZJJs]

A school in Perth banned lesbian couples at the school ball. This story has received a lot of recognition in the press, and I’m so glad it’s made international headlines. Super happy to be over in Perth fighting the good fight!

Hayley O-Connor’s illustrations are sure to make you swoon. If you’re a fan of the same whimsical, soft and feminine work from Bec Winnel, Audrey Kawasaki and Courtney Brims, you’ll adore Hayley’s glittering and fantastical illustrations. Think romantic fairytale creatures and elvish and mysterious women. She’s featured in Yen Magazine this month, one of Australia’s best independent women’s publications. How I miss the days as their intern back in Leichhardt.

Source: hayleyo.com

Bitches are my favourite, and XOJane.com loves them too. Check out this tribute to the psychadelic fashion from Meredith Brook’s video clip. For those who might not recall dancing around in their living room celebrating the deliciously chaotic life of being a woman (I was so profound at 8), Meredith Brook’s rock ‘n’ roll number captures perfectly 1990s grrrrl culture and questionable (yet glorious) fashion choices.

The death of Amy Winehouse has seen an outpouring of obituaries from every single media outlet, but this one from the Guardian is one of my favourites. In a similar vain to an article I wrote for Tharunka last year, Laura Barton’s writes of a ferocious woman not afraid to dispel the Katy Perry illusion. Wonderfully messy, deeply depressive and tortured by the wretchedness that an addiction to drugs will bring, Amy Winehouse’s story of a good girl gone bad is the 21st century pop culture synecdoche for women winding down in their own decay.

Pop music had often cast women as sweet, bright creatures, but Winehouse’s lyrics revealed something mulchier, messier. Here was a woman who refused to conform – not in the eccentric mad woman in the attic mould of Kate Bush or Björk, but a woman who chose to live a little wild, follow her heart and sing of the simple stew of being female. Her songs were filled with broad talk, cussing, drink and drugs and dicks, songs that could hinge on one magnificent, unladylike question: “What kind of fuckery is this?”

Photo: via mammamia.com

In the wake of Amy Winehouse’s death, Rachel Hills writes of the difficult woman and the pop culture good girl stereotype.

This post is about VAGINA, and is courtesy of the lovely, smart and red hot Rachel Rabbit White. I was going to type lady-bits, but why euphamise such an amazing part of the human body when saying VAGINA is so pleasing? Consider this a clarion call for labia love. Nay to derogatory adjectives such as “deli meats” or “axe wound”. You possess a delicate flower, always nurture and show it the respect it deserves.

Beyonce on why we need a new word for feminism. Do you think the term feminism is exclusive? Do you refer to yourself as a feminist? Why? Why not? Let me hear your thoughts!

Happy Sunday amazing humans. X

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I am 20-something-year-old who writes things. Sometimes I mention fashion, youth ISSUEZ, gender discussion, media analysis, and popular culture hype. Sometimes I'm NSFW. If you don't like that, that's ok. I still like you!

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All material, including feature articles, rants, slugs and photographs are the intellectual property of CAMILLA PEFFER unless otherwise stated. These may not be reproduced without explicit permission (see the Copyright Act of 1968 for some leisurely reading) . Where material reproduced on this blog is not my own, I do endeavour to give credit where necessary. Occasionally I like to feature the work of others, including a range of media such as videos, images, blog entries and feature articles. This material will be attributed and adored where necessary. If I have featured work of yours on GAMFP and not given you sufficient credit, please let me know!

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