Amber‘s Picks:
White Until Proven Black: Imagining Race in Hunger Games by Anna Holmes for The New Yorker
Hollywood’s Female Trouble: Part 1, The Writers by Xaque Gruber for The Huffington Post
What’s Wrong with this Picture Illustrating Vanity Fair’s Women in Television Article? by Alyssa Rosenberg for ThinkProgress
5 Movie Characters that Changed the Way We View Women by Thelma Adams for AMC’s filmcritic.com
Social media: Is it too feminine? by Chelsea Sheasley for The Christian Science Monitor
5 Ways Modern Men Are Trained to Hate Women by David Wong for Cracked
Stephanie‘s Picks:
“Top 20 Fierce Women, Numbers 15-11” from Down With Film
“Future of Feminism: Girls and Women, Don’t Be Camera-Shy!” by Aviva Dove-Viebahn for Ms. Magazine
“Women on Film: How to Rebel” by Katherine Butler for Ecosalon
“Sexist TV: A Spotter’s Guide” by Clem Bastow for Daily Life
“Geena Davis: If Girls Can See It, They Can Be It” from the Microsoft Blog
Megan‘s Picks:
I See White People: Hunger Games and a Brief History of Cultural Whitewashing by Lindy West for Jezebel
’16 and Pregnant’ Brings Abortion to Primetime by Michelle Kinsey Bruns for Women’s Media Center
Racist Hunger Games Fans Illustrate All that’s Wrong with the World by Maya for Feministing
‘Two and a Half Men’ Co-Creator is Rebuked for Remarks About Women by Dave Itzkoff for NY Times
Hollywood’s Female Trouble: Part 2, The Directors by Xaque Gruber for The Huffington Post
Transgender Women in Puerto Rico Featured in New Documentary by Joseph Pedro for Passport Magazine
Two and a Half Men Creator Says Too Many Women on TV – Numbers Show Otherwise by Amy Tennery for The Jane Dough
Where Are the Women? National Magazine Award Edition by Maya for Feministing
What have you been reading this week?
Great picks as always. I focused my attention on reading through the Huffington Post series on women in Hollywood as writers and directors and while reading both articles found myself to be quite disturbed by some of the comments of the women themselves. In the writers article, Thania St. John made a claim that sexism was a circumstance that women had to overcome, and somehow the “trick” of overcoming it would allow them to succeed. I take extreme issue with this; imagine telling African Americans that it is their responsibility to overcome racism when they are not hired because they are Black. Really? Is this an acceptable position to take? Calling upon women to lead by example, as well, I found quite offensive, as if women now and from previous generations in Hollywood have not been doing just that? I don’t believe ignoring the issue and calling upon those who suffer from such a “circumstance” as sexism is realistic, respectful or actually understanding of the nature of the problem. And I do not think it’s easy to complain and blame sexism either, I think it’s quite humiliating and embarrassing, and calls into question the validity of a woman writer’s work; if she’s not hired or given an opportunity based on her gender, what relevance does her work have in that situation? It received no consideration. Is it really easy to say that one’s creativity, ingenuity and artistry embodied in one’s work was ignored because she was a woman? I don’t think so.
In the directors article, I found Pam Veasey’s comment about Kathryn Bigelow to be quite regressive, talking of how it was a good thing that Bigelow won the Best Director Oscar for directing a “guy” movie. This means, to me as a reader and as someone who aspires to write and direct films, that more recognition of achievement should be given to women who cross genre lines and create work that appeals to the community who is given the vast majority of attention in films already. How is that effective?
Am I along in my critique?