Last weekend’s Prehistoric Beatz + Beatz Dance Party was soo much fun! Please check out the guest blog posted on the Ticket Files for the Register Guard by James Stegall. In addition to the post review, he also posted photos and this video. Thanks James!
In addition to James. We also have some more photos from Amanda and Lynnea! Awesome! Thanks.
When I think of art after sex, I think of self-portraits of women with soft curves and stretch marks. Angry, healing works inspired by unwanted cesaerean sections. Mixed media collages of ticket stubs and condom wrappers from post-divorce one-night stands.
So, when I arrived at M.E.C.C.A. ten minutes late for their dual fundraiser with Doulas Supporting Teens, it was with a feeling of excitement and anticipation. I looked forward to the creativity and variety the women of Eugene would create.
I was the only person to show up.
M.E.C.C.A director Mija Andrade and Doulas Supporting Teens director
Iris Bicksler remained unphased. “I wouldn’t be a very good non-
profit director if every failed fundraiser got to me,” Andrade said.“The women who participate in Grrrlz Rock events,” Bicksler told me,
“fall into three categories: younger women, moms who want to take
their kids to the family-friendly stuff, and middle-aged or older
women with grown children.”
Bicksler and Andrade had marketed “Art after Sex” to their mailing
lists and relied on Grrrlz Rock for the rest, hoping that a few
members of each of three demographic groups would attend.Standing in the wide-open creative space, photos of smiling teen moms
and birthing books scattered about, Bicksler and Andrade brainstormed.
How could this type of event be more successful?Focus it more, they decided. Andrade mentioned women with children her
age or older who had belly casts in their closets, unpainted and
collecting dust. A belly cast class, the two women agreed, has the
possibility of better turnout.Lowering the cost might help, too. The general consensus among women I
spoke with about the event was $25 is too much to ask for a three-
hour art class. Bicksler and Andrade discussed the cost issue, as
well.
In times when everyone cuts their budget, do non-profits go for the
high-rollers and get a few donors, or do they lower prices and hope
for more participants? For now, at least, the answer seems to be have
more low-cost events and hope for high turnout.
For those wishing to contribute to Doulas Supporting Teens, an all-
volunteer organization providing pregnancy, labor, breastfeeding, and
parenting support to women under 18, visit
www.DoulasSupportingTeens.org or call 344-1091.
Membership to M.E.C.C.A., which starts at $20, can be made by calling 302-1810, visiting their location at 449 Willamette, or going to their
website: www.materials-exchange.org.
Working PR for Grrrlz Rock! 2009 has been such a privilege. Cindy has been so great to work with. She epitomizes the empowerment that Grrrlz Rock! stands for by encouraging volunteers to contribute work that is in alignment with our interests and career goals. The process of writing has been both challenging and fun. It gave me the chance to develop a skill that will be valuable for my future. It was I feel so fortunate to be involved in an event that has so much to offer. The message behind the entire rocking festival is one that I can stand behind wholeheartedly: Equality, Empowerment, and Rock!
Be sure to tune into you favorite local stations (KWVA, KRVM and KLCC) to catch a series of Grrrlz Rock live performances and interviews!Thursday Nov. 19th, 5pm: KWVA Rabbit Hole radio w/DJ Kellsj: Crooked River
Honestly, what’s sexier than a hot rocker grrrl? Lips wrapped around a mic, legs pressed against a bass, thrusting with the beat, intense look in their eyes as they speak directly to each and every one in the crowd. I’m shivering just thinking about it.
Best of all, there’s something empowering in the confidence that exudes from grrrl rockers. Even if they’re shy wall flowers on the floor, on stage they’re gregarious go-getters. When I see a grrrl rocking out on stage I think she could conquer the world, right now, in this very moment, and I would follow her happily.
Now, I know all you feminists out there are protesting my objectification of these women, but I say we embrace making grrrl rockers objects to adore and admire. I see them as emblems of beauty, and through them I see snippets of a world as it should be, a world where women are bold, brazen and have the confidence to stand up and be heard. Yes, I objectify them, because what a better object of empowerment than a grrrl singing her heart out on stage?
In an society where women are objectified every day, why not make the objects you seek to emulate be ones that rock, figuratively and literally? I’d personally much rather look at Joan Jett all day than a runway model. In my mind, Joan Jett, in her thick black boots, could withstand a wild tempest, whereas the waif model in her four-inch heels would fall over in a gust of wind.
It is precisely because of this ability to withstand the insults, criticism and sexism that grrrrl rockers deal with every time they get on stage, that makes me love them oh so much. They rock my world, and I can’t wait for Grrrrrls Rock to begin.
~Queerie Bradshaw
curvemag.com/Blogs/Queerie-Bradshaw
If you asked the people around you everyday what they thought of feminism, do you think you would be suprised by thier answers? Do you consider yourself a feminist? Why or why not? Here’s a funny video filmed in new york that explores this question.
For the record:
Not all feminist are lesbians, in fact many feminists are men.. even gay men.
Feminists do not hate men, or children. That’s just wrong.
I just had to get that out!
This was from HERE, we just reposted it for you. Enjoy!
Writing about FOSS sexism
Anyway, I’m not very good at lying to myself. Since very few other writers about FOSS care to approach the topic, I expect that I’ll be writing and acting on my convictions from time to time in the future, no matter what reactions I get.
Oct 09, 2009 11:42pm GMT
Bruce Byfield
A month ago, I wrote an article about sexism in the free and open source software (FOSS) community. The result has been educational, to say the least. It’s one thing to know about issues intellectually, and quite another to plunge headlong into a firestorm of reactions.
So what have I learned exactly? To start with, while members of the FOSS community like to think of themselves as rational beings, when subjects like gender issues are raised, emotion swamps logic to an alarming degree.
This tendency shows up occasionally among feminists in over-reactions, such as the call by srlinuxx on Tuxmachines.org to boycott Ubuntu because its founder Mark Shuttleworth made some sexist remarks in his LinuxCon keynote. However, such reactions are understandable, given that the issue is just now being discussed openly after years of people gritting their teeth in silence.
They are also a minority of reactions. More balanced responses to incidences of sexism are expressed regularly on such sites as Geek Feminism, where the regular bloggers show a consistent sense of the appropriate level of response, and seem dedicated to constructive activism.
But the real flood of emotion comes from the anti-feminists and the average men who would like to deny the importance of feminist issues in FOSS. Raise the subject of sexism, and you are met with illogic that I can only compare to that of the tobacco companies trying to deny the link between their products and cancer.
Because I took a feminist stance in public, I have been abused in every way possible — being called irrelevant, a saboteur, coward, homosexual, and even a betrayer of the community. I know that many women in the community have been attacked much more savagely than I have, so I’m not complaining. Nor am I a stranger to readers who disagree with me, but the depth of reaction has taken me back more than once. I think the reaction is an expression of denial more than anything else.
That brings up another point I’ve learned: people who are not consciously sexist themselves tend to be unable to see institutionalized sexism around them. They are not aware of any prejudice against women in themselves, so how could there be any sexism involved? They seem unaware that institutions and customs can be sexist simply by what they value or how they operate, that even something like a discourse developed by men talking to men can institutionalize sexism. Nor do they understand that, by simply accepting such institutions or ways of acting, they become supporters of sexism.
For instance, I am currently part of an email conversation with a prominent FOSS community member who has been pilloried who is hurt and baffled that I (or anyone else) could apply the word “sexism” to them. Their reasoning? They did not intend to be sexist, so therefore they can’t possibly be. Therefore, labelling their behavior as unacceptable is unfair, they argue. The fact that, in context, their actions and remarks could not possibly be described in any other way honestly does not seem to have occurred to them. No matter what I say, they remain hurt and baffled — and, like so many, deeply in denial.
But probably the largest lesson for me has been how understanding of gender issues cuts across other connections. Having spent much of my life in academia before becoming a freelance writer, I always assumed that, if you knew one or two opinions that a person held, you had a strong chance of knowing what their opinions were on other subjects. For instance, if someone worked for left wing political candidates and promoted recycling, they were probably concerned about recycling and racism as well.
Similarly, I assumed that, in the FOSS community, if you were a free software supporter, you were concerned about social justice and would therefore be against sexism as well.
No doubt I was naive, but that turns out not to be the case. Developers are just as likely to be feminist as testers, technical writers, and artists. More importantly, people in the open source camp are just as likely to be feminist as free software supporters.
In fact, to my chagrin, if anything free software supporters are often more likely to be hostile to feminism than open source supporters. While all sorts of people claim that no problem exists, in the last month, I’ve found that free software supporters are the most likely to accuse me of betrayal for raising the issue, or to argue that legitimate responses to sexist behavior is part of a deliberate effort at character assassination. Not all free software supporters act this way, let me emphasize, but a large and vocal minority certainly do.
I’m not sure, but I think that the logic here is that if you are already part of an idealistic movement, your actions must be above criticism in every other sense. From that assumption, perhaps it follows that anyone questioning any part of your actions must have the most Machiavellian of motives. The fact that some people who raise issues do seem to enjoy fault-finding because of past grievances only makes this assumption all the easier to hold.
With such painful lessons coming my way, this last month has been shocking, disappointing, and — above all else — exhausting. I’ve lost respect for some people I thought I knew, and gained respect for others. At times, I’ve been happy to escape into writing a purely technical article to take a brief holiday from the endless angst.
But am I sorry I raised the issue, or got involved in the discussions when other people did? Not in the least. I was convinced a month ago by the facts that FOSS has a problem with sexism, and the reactions I’ve seen have proved the accuracy of that conviction a hundred times over. It’s not a comforting conviction, but it’s a true one.
Besides, I keep telling myself, if what I see is offensive to me, at least it does not directly oppress me. Compare to female feminists, I have it easy. So what right do I have to complain?
The “look” for this year’s Grrrlz Rock is in honor of this bad-ass movie poster, from a bad-ass (albeit, campy as hell) movie from 1966. Here’s the link to the wiki page.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Million_Years_B.C.
Here’s an example of a woman who is courageously breaking out of restricting gender roles. If she wants to fight MMA, she can fight MMA. So what if she’s a 49 year old grandmother, and she’s never fought before! She’s in great shape, and she’s an incredible inspiration! DeEtta, YOU ROCK!
WALLA WALLA–She’s not your typical cage fighter, but that’s not stopping a Walla Walla grandmother from trying.
DeEtta Petersen is 49 year old.
She is a mother and grandmother, but age isn’t stopping her, it’s pushing her.
Being in an MMA fight is part of a “bucket list” before she turns 50.
“It’s just one of those things I want to do. I want to get one fight and get my black belt,” DeEtta Petersen said.
DeEtta has been training in mixed martial arts at Calhoon’s for about 4 years.
“Originally I brought my son and he was going up through the youth ranks,” DeEtta said.
DeEtta wanted in and after watching her first fight she was hooked.
“It’s just one of those things that just intrigues you and draws you in and so I think by the 4th fight I was like I want to try that,” DeEtta said.
Her big fight night was last week, but her competitor was hurt and it was canceled.
She’s not giving up. DeEtta plans to fight in the next MMA show in Walla Walla in a few months to see how she stacks up against the competition.
She’ll go head to head with 20 year olds, but DeEtta says she’s been practicing.
“A lot of guys that come in that are brand new are real scared and don’t want to hit a girl or grapple with a girl until she starts working them over and then they want to step up their game,” Travis Maiuri, at trainer at Calhoon’s Mixed Martial Arts.
She has a lot of support and her training team believes she could really do a good job.
She hopes other women will follow in her footsteps, never letting age limit accomplishments.