Friday is the (Inspirational) Movie Night: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

#inspirationalmovies

OK, so this one has to be explained.

So, do we suggest that Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953, Howard Hawks) can be a feminist inspiration? Yes. Is it that obvious? No.

First of all, the title of this musical and feel-good-fun-piece is totally misleading. It's not about gentlemen and what they prefer. This is a feature of what do girls want and how they get it.

Obviously, exaggerated and containing some not that inspirational puns (thinks of the 1950's gender ethos in general), but still it's them - the amazing and beautiful Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe - who move the script. And the solutions of the difficulties (there had to be, because no difficulties = no plot) come from their resourcefulness and intelligence. And their erotic capital, too, yes.

It is just anthropologically how a message of female supremacy emerges in a totally sexist setting. Not that we agree with any gender-based supremacies, but you have to admit the weirdness of the message. So here you have a wrongly wrapped anthem to blondes and brunettes getting what they want, both honestly and with some cunning. And almost never engaging in mutual slut-shaming while doing it, bravo!

Plus, of course the fact the both of them are curvy and believable-bodied. And below you can find an excerpt of some of the objectification of the male body going on in the movie, for a change.

I ♥ Being a Girl at WD'13: Galia

#WD2013

Galia during European Caucus at WD'13

"I honestly forgot to take more pictures during conference sessions, so basically I only have two and they are hilarious in a way, I think"

Galia from the Ukranian MA of IPPF attended Women Deliver this year and shares some of the impressions and frustrations that such a hectic event causes:
 
"...I am not sure if my story is of any interest because really, most of my impressions of the conference were getting together after the flight, getting used to a new time zone, and then flying back. It was all so quick that I didn't have much time to realize what was happening. Now that I have this kind of experience I know that during such conferences you need to think and react quickly to new environment, but I wasn't prepared for that at the time of the conference.

During the Conference I got to meet several people from absolutely different parts of the world and hearing their stories was quite interesting and new to me. Hearing about situation of women's health and rights in African countries was something absolutely new to me, too. I saw that during the conference not too much attention was paid to situation we have in Eastern Europe, including Ukraine, and that was something I was missing, since I've never wanted to work in African or Asian countries, but wanted to do something good for women in my country which is Ukraine.

I was hoping I could understand what else I could do besides being a volunteer but I haven't received that answer yet. I do know for sure that as a social worker (I am getting my Bachelor's degree in that field in a few weeks) I'll be working and helping women, but haven't figured out how exactly. I did realize that gender discrimination is not that much of a problem in Ukraine - there are problems that are far more serious, like domestic violence or breast cancer. "

Friday is the (Inspirational) Movie Night: Labyrinth (1986)

#inspirationalmovies

Here, with a summery, Dora-the-Explorer vibe, we suggest you (re)watch Labyrinth (1986, Jim Henson). While the morale of the story of the quest of young and angsty Sarah could be interpreted as - just like in The Wizard of Oz (1939) - teaching her a lesson that the home and the already familiar is the best, we suggest another interpretation. The journey she makes (deciding to go and deal with the crisis on her own, speak of agency right there) reminds her what is that she actually values and how much power and intelligence she has to overcome the cunning and annoyances she meets in the world of Goblin King David Bowie. Which is a good thing.
It's a decent young hero's journey. Just that she happens to be a heroine. So here you go!

Additional quirks of the movie is David Bowie, of course, all kinds of weird and troubled creatures, and the striped baby onesie among others...  

I ♥ Being a Girl at WD'13: Fungai Machirori

During our time at Women Deliver, we were happy to meet many active and aspirational young women.One of them, and one of Women Deliver 100 Young Leaders, is Fungai Machirori.

Fungai is the Founder and Managing Editor of Her Zimbabwe, a project she started in order to reach grassroots and marginal communities and women through social media. Fungai named the project HerZimbabwe, "Because it is her vision of Zimbabwe, her experience of this nation in the historical, pphysical, spiritual and futuristic."

She started the platform with zero funding, using her skills as a trainer and editor to other young activists who in tern helped her develop the website and its image.

The website provides a rich palette of personal stories, experiences and views on gender roles, inspirational leaders and development, sexuality, relationships, health and growing up and living as young woman in Zimbabwe. The website takes a honest approach to both the challenges that women face (either in Zimbabwe or globally) and the struggle to transform social-media input into real-life results and actions.

"I can’t put a price on a personal story. In my view, it’s the most precious thing that every one of us has; a narrative that defines us. I would like, through Her Zimbabwe, that these narratives be given freely and by women who have the right support systems to help them face whatever societal or cultural backlash they may experience."

You can also read more about Fungai's views and experiences at her personal blog here!

I ♥ Being a Girl at WD'13: Gehad

In the Youth 2.0: Young People Online session on Tuesday, Maya had the pleasure to share the panel with Gehad El Sayed from Y-PEER who talked about her network's 10 Days of Activism campaign.

We approached Gehad asking for empowerment recipes and tips on how to overcome the difficult moments of activism. She suggested three aspects for successful work:

1. Wishing to do something unusual (unusually beneficial) for the community as the starting point.
2. Having full support from your relatives. And in this case it's not about your blood-related family exclusively, although their support is also very appreciated. You need a social safety net that you can rely on.
3. Trying to find the right approach to the problem, a new way to go forward that hasn't been tried yet.

And for the times when everything seems to be against you, Gehad suggest you keep trying and use the unpleasant, not that successful experience as something to learn from until you find the genuine spirit in which the task becomes bearable. And remember how it could've been so much worse in the first place. 

Friday is the (Inspirational) Movie Night: 17 Filles (2011)

#InspirationalMovie

Well, this is a controversial and complex one. The outline may seem bizarre and basis of an absurd comedy, once you are presented with an introduction that "when Camille accidentally becomes pregnant, 16 of her friends and classmates decide to follow suit, throwing their town and school into chaos...", nevertheless, 17 Filles (2011, Delphine Coulin & Muriel Coulin) brings the conversation on teen pregnancy beyond what you have seen before.

This is not Juno (2007) with it's ups and downs being still framed in complete security and parental support, the pregnancy being a result of boredom. These French girls - and the movie is based on a somewhat true story that happened in Gloucester, Massachusets in 2008 - use sex/pregnancy as one of the ways to gain agency and control over their lives. The fantasy that rises from one unplanned pregnancy leads to a vision of independence and communal life based on shared maternity away from the parental control and not-promising-at-all future of their town.

While, of course, there's a lot of content to challenge - the instrumentalization of sex ignoring the dimension of pleasure, the absence of parents or their male peers sex partners, the reckless driving, smoking and drinking while pregnant, and the outlandish view that a life with a baby would be somehow easier - it comes back to haunt you exactly on how it questions the narrative of teen pregnancy that we are used to.
You watch the girls while they look for things in their lives: to do, to be, to strive towards... in a confusing, rather lonely world where suddenly something so basic and so contrarian to everything they have been warned about as pregnancy (with no sentimental strings attached to the biological fathers) suddenly seems like a good idea that would get them out of the slump of adolescence and make them adults.

Just to keep in mind that teen pregnancies do not come just from not knowing the biological consequences of sex. It is a much more complex conundrum of things that we should be working with... So, enjoy!

BTW, at the moment there is somebody on YouTube that has uploaded the entire movie, so you may take advantage while it lasts...

I ♥ Being a Girl in the social media and young people session, #WD2013

#WD2013

I [heart] Being a Girl presentation at Women Deliver 2013 from jauatkales

Maya just did her presentation of  I ♥ Being a Girl in a session Youth 2.0: Young People Online, talking about where this project came from and what we have been doing since 2010. Together with Gehad from YPEER, Sana from Chanan Development Association and Vanessa from Planned Parenthood Global sharing insights on social media and the nature of the internets.

Off to #WomenDeliver we go!

#WomenDeliver 

Hi,

This year our conference of the year will be Women Deliver. This blog has gone through two International AIDS Conferences (2010 and 2012), so we expect an experience mixing something new and something old.

Here are the sessions that we will be present at (apart from the fact that Maya has been singled out as one of the 100 Young Leaders, yeah!):

• May 28th, 11:30 in room 401 session Youth 2.0: Young People Online will take place, talking about digital natives, peer-to-peer social media and activism online with real life campaign examples.
• May 29th, 14:30 in the Cinema Corner (Exhibit Hall 2, Hospitality Suite 2) we will be giving a brief presentation of I ♥ Being a Girl and screening both of our short films (1, 2).
• May 29th, 19:30 in room 410 the European Caucus with a focus on the diversities in Europe and Central Asia will take place. We will be there talking about challenges and possible solutions!

And we will be reporting on the inspirational things happening and people met here and on YSAFE Twitter!

Friday is the (Inspirational) Movie Night: V for Vendetta (2005)

#InspirationalMovies

Yes, yes, it has been too long since we have suggested a piece of very powerful fiction. V for Vendetta (2005, James McTeigue) comes directly from an eponymous dystopian graphic novel and follows the logic of inspiration-and-empowerment-through-frustration-and suffering.
Hear us, we do not suggest it as a baseline approach to your private life (there's too much suffering already, thank you), but there is no doubt that Evey Hammond is a role model on how to follow what you think is right and how to look for what may bee hidden from the eyes. And how you lose fear by actually doing things.  

Also, in order to continue with your work that may be challenging and solitary at times, it may be a good idea to give some though to legitimate civil disobedience and personal responsibilities we all have towards the place we inhabit, our home, our family, our communities. And the capacities - for somewhat limited that they tend to be - to improve some of that are what you have to be putting in action. Little actions matter. So take this as a manifesto to have a personal revolution first and then ask it from others. And to hold your representatives accountable. Yes, there is no conflict in that, it's complementary.

Friday is the (Inspirational) Movie Night: The Wizard of Oz (1939)

#inspirationalmovies

A cinematographic treasure just for you. And we'll tell you about it's feminist value, too.

You see, while the finale of The Wizard of Oz (1939, Victor Fleming) does suggest notes of you-stay-home-and-stop-dreaming, the beginning Dorothy wishing to see more (and trying to do so) and then her actually doing things is a much better lesson to take from the movie.
First of all it's a emancipatory journey of the hero heroine. She does things, believe it or not. And previously she decides to do them.

Also, curiously enough, the author of the book series that the movie is based on, L. Frank Baum, has given much more agency and power to the female characters. It's Dorothy who receives advice from Glinda, the good witch, kills the Wicked Witch of the East and then confronts the Wicked Witch of the West. She does have companions (that she herself emancipates) and the Wizard that she deals with, but female characters are the protagonists.

And nobody has doubts that her life - even if back in old, black-n-white Kansas - will never be the same again. Because experiences matter.