On Iceland Banning Strip Clubs

The News Itself

All Right All Right All Right! Iceland banned strip clubs for FEMINIST reasons, crazy enough, and they have a totally awesome lesbian Prime Minister. A friend of mine posted the following link to the Atlantic, with two dissenting opinions, which both basically say: if a woman wants to voluntarily take her clothes off for money, who are we to say she can't?

the Atlantic's take on it

I mean, who are we to say SHE CAN?! It seems really fucked up to me that we would prioritize the idea of capitalism over leveling the playing field (even if it's just a tad, and even if it's just in Iceland) for women? Because, at the root of it all, we know that the motivation for ANYBODY to become a stripper is MONEY. You don't hear about little girls raising their hands in first grade class and expounding on the reasons they want to become a stripper. When people tell you to "do what you love and figure out a way to get paid for it," 99.999999% of the time they aren't talking about stripping. And maybe stripping is a safer job than prostitution (which, if you read the articles, Iceland has already outlawed), but that doesn't mean that it's not degrading or objectifying.

When I took Gender and Women's studies there was a lot of discussion about how sex workers should be allowed the right to choose their sex work. Obviously this fell under the Choosy Feminists let you Choose your Choice branch of feminism, one that I ultimately agree with. I'm not here to shame prostitutes or strippers--ultimately, if we lived in a completely non-sexist (and non-racist, non-classist, etc) society, than I think the ability to be a stripper or a prostitute should be anyone's god-given right. However, it seems to me that when someone is a stripper, too many societal forces come in to play: the (wealthier) male has the power of the cliched male gaze, possessing the female body, and ultimately determining her (monetary) worth. The idea of strip clubs really icks me out, and maybe if we lived in a society without them that would be an improvement.

Jezebel's take on it


However, if you are the kind of person who worries about the government controlling everything, than for sure, this does not bode well for the people of Iceland, who better like their socialism! (For real though, I can haz your socialism pleaze?)

/In the interest of full disclosure, I feel like I should include the fact that I actually wrote this post about a week to two weeks ago, whenever the news actually broke that Iceland had banned strip clubs. I wanted to write about it immediately because what an incredible idea! What if we could actually *ohmygod don't say it girl* LEGISLATE EQUALITY?

I'm still not sure it's possible. And for those of you who would argue that limited a woman's right to choose a profession in which she shows her body for money is somehow inherently anti-feminist: well, maybe you're right. I wouldn't go so far as to claim that it goes against FEMINISM but I will agree that it certainly ISN'T pro-choice.

The bottom line, though, is that I would much rather live in a society that attempts to remove the institutional barriers that perpetuate inequality (read: classism, racism, sexism, etc) than to live in one that encourages these barriers (read: parental notification laws for abortion, for starters), so I'm going to continue to argue that YES, Iceland really does rock for doing this. And NO there is no way in hell this is going to happen in the United States anytime soon. It would be interesting if the idea of outlawing strip clubs went to vote, however: would we have a group called the "Pole Grabbers" standing around with signs like "KEEP YOUR COMMUNIST HANDS OUT OF MY STRIP CLUB"?

and the sky was made of amethyst

yet another hole lyric i thought the world should see

urban outfitters reviews of products

One of my favorite pastimes at work is to go on Urban Outfitters and read the reviews that people post of the products. It's stranger than fiction and when I considered parodying it, I decided "Well, fuck. How am I going to make up anything that is funnier than this and isn't just the same thing exactly?" So I've decided to excerpt some samples of UO crazy ass clothing reviews for your perusal:

"I ordered the white, it is sheer but that just adds to the spring time feel. I am 5'6" tall and 115 pounds. 32A. I ordered a small, and it deff runs true to size. It fits me perfectly. I do wish that i would have ordered a medium however, simply for the extra loose look. But it runs true to size in my opinion. If i order another color I will order a medium for the looser fit."

"this top is so versatile and the perfect light button-up for spring and summer! i got it in blue, and with a nude bra, although the top is super sheer, you couldn't see it. i'm petite with a big bust, 5'4'' 120 lbs 30F, and i got a small. i'm on the fence about returning it to get a medium, because it fits, but if i button the second to last button to the top, it's a little tight around my bust. the sizing problem is just preference but other than that it looks great!"

"I have been looking for the perfect oxford shirt for the longest time. In fact, when I bought this blouse, I already had three light blue oxfords that just didn't fit the bill. I think I can call the search off finally! This top has the perfect mix between feminine details like the rounded collar with the best parts of a men's shirt- like the pocket, rolled sleeves, and looser cut. I found that it was the perfect length for tucking in skirts or wearing with jeans. As someone else mentioned, it does have that "stiff" quality to it, but that was always one of the things I liked about men's dress shirts, so I don't mind it. I am 5'8" 132 lbs and I bought the size medium (my typical size). It has a looser fit, but I wouldn't have sized down because it would be too tight across my shoulders, plus, I think that a more masculine fit was the intent of this shirt. Overall, it is very well made and the quality seems so much better than the price tag. I would definitely recommend this oxford, I'm going to scoop up the white while I still can."

"I really like this shirt, I got it in blue xs and I'm about 5'8" + 120 lbs, but it's definitely not a typical tailored women shirt. It being an oxford shirt it has more of a boy shape to it in the body area, also the sleeves are a little lose around the wrist (hence the reason they only show pictures with the sleeves rolled up) but the length is good and I personally like the style. Very dapper and the material is thicker and well constructed (like it's not going to disintegrate after a few washings)"

"This is an amazing shirt. I'm 5'3, 110 and ordered an XS. It fits perfectly and will be a perfect button up for spring and summer."

"I loved this shirt online, but when it arrived in the mail and I tried it on it didn't fit well. I was surprised because it was too small on my chest- I'm 5'5", 115-120 pounds and a 34 A, and the xs was really tight around the bust and really loose everywhere else. It was also really short. I loved it though, it's really pretty, so maybe if you have an even smaller bust and a fuller waist/hip area I'd recommend it."

"I bought this in red yesterday and I want more colors.
I am 4'11, 105 lbs, 32C. The XS fits me perfectly. It isn't too short for me to wear with jeans, and it is really flattering even with no bra.
I wore it out last night and felt great, but it could also easily be dressed up or down.
I highly recommend it."

"I love this top sooo much. I ordered the red floral and although it looks nothing like the picture it is the cutest shirt! I find reasons to go out so I can wear it. Don't get it if you want one exactly like the picture because you most likely won't get one that looks like that but i recommend get it its comfortable and chic. Im 5'8" 120 lbs and i got small/medium, fits perfectly, tad short but not a big deal. GET IT"

"I got this in the mail in the floral print and although it looks nothing like the one in the picture is super cute! I wore it out to dinner the first night I had it! It turned out to but a pink floral shirt. Its a little bigger than i thought it was going to be, in 120 lbs, 5'8" and got a small and its a little baggy but not a big deal its still soooo adorable."

"I LOVE UO silk shirts. I got this shirt in the washed gray. I am 5'2 and about 112 lbs and I got a Medium. I usually like my shirts long and a bit loose. I alsoI fit the small and it fitted perfectly, the only thing is that it is a bit short so that's why I got the medium instead."

Ok so I included a lot of examples. If you made if through all of them I applaud you--that is some seriously drecky stuff (holler at your girl, Andre Leon Talley!) The more I read on Urban, the more I am beginning to think that either they have paid copywriters who go in and post fake reviews or else all of these chicks have SERIOUSLY drunk the UO Kool-aid. In fact, as I'm writing this, I'm wondering what a review of the Men's clothes looks like. BRB.

I'm back. Here's an example of a men's review:

"The Shirt In Question is great, but the fit may be questionable for some. It jumps from sizes. The small is much snugger, and the medium is a lot bigger. I'm skinny so it fits me, but it' is not good for people with broad shoulders in a small."

So I'm gonna go with...not that different. This is seriously scaring me you guys. Every review has several things in common:

1) the fit wasn't EXACTLY right in some way, but for the most part it was TOTALLY PERFECT

2) Here are my measurements! My shapely bust is like 35 inches and I have a 25 inch waist!
3) I totally ordered an extra-small and it was perfect.

Also, I'm offended that the copy writer feels the need to make it seem like the men just say they are skinny while the women give exact numbers. LADIES--you need to KNOW that if you are 120 pounds and 5'0" that you are FAT.

Urban Outfitters: you've been warned.

The girl with the most cake

As you know, I've been on a total Hole kick lately, and one lyric always stood out to me as worthy of remembrance (and therefore illustration). Here it is:



Illustrated in photoshop by me, Copyright by me.

Totally kicking ass in every way: Chick music and grunge

Jezebel recently posted an article about the video vixens of the 90s. I was so inspired by the style and attitude of these songs that I started listening to all of the Hole and Garbage I could get my grubby little hands on. It made me really miss genuine grunge; it made me miss female artists who were 90s-era Courtney Love gritty. Wearing little girl dresses that were stained and ripped. Dolls covered in mud and doc martens and red lipstick. I miss aggressive lyrics about womanhood and raw voices, things I never knew I loved until I realized that I felt like they were lacking in the current music scene.

But, I am not musical maestro. I am unaware of many bands that exist today that might fit the description I gave in the previous paragraph. I apologize for this gaffe, if it is indeed a gaffe. I do have the power, however, to embed music videos and get steeped in a 90s nostalgia that isn't exactly mine. When my ages ranged from 3-13 through the course of the 90s, I can only really lay claim to vintage Britney and N*Sync, sadly. I will just excuse myself by saying that my brother listened to practically all of this during his rebellious 90s youth (I'm going to embarrass him further by pointing out that he TOTALLY used to sport a rat-tail).

Without further ado, my vid pics for 90s vixens and ultimately AWESOME bitches:

Things that totally rock about this song: "They get what they want, and then they never want it again...." Hole. "Violet." 1994

Ah yes, Old Time Liz Phair before she sucked, yada yada yada. Loving the refences to Chicago in this one. Liz Phair. "Stratford on Guy." 1993.

It's funny because Pink has a single called "Stupid Girls" but I think this one accomplishes much more of what Pink was going for with that heinous song and video. Garbage. "Stupid Girl." 1995.

Quite the bitter song about a father not coming home to his child. Loving it. It makes me want to buy a pair of boots (but then again, what DOESN'T make me want to buy a pair of boots?). PJ Harvey. "C'mon Billy." 1995.

To be honest, it was hard to find a song by them I truly loved because Seether was a little too glossy sounding for me. This is pretty kick-ass though. Veruca Salt. "Volcano Girls." 1997.

No official video for this song on youtube, as far as I could tell. Sleater Kinney. "Little Babies." 1997.

Heck yes, Bikini Kill! Fucking STICK IT TO THE MAN. Bikini Kill. "Rebel Girls." 1993.

Doll parts has GOT to be my favorite girl angst 90s anthem. It is so epically bitter. Hole. "Doll Parts." 1994.

I would normally save this for my tumblr...

...but I figured my readers might be interested in one photograph of me as a child. So many kittehs, so much joy.

Am I a misandrist/On attempting to be "out" as a feminist

I am a feminist.

No, I'm not a misandrist.

And no, I don't think claiming the term "feminism" means that I am only a second wave white woman who believes in the rights of rich white woman but can't see past her own white nose.

I try to be all encompassing. I argue with people that I am a humanist.

Feminism has clearly needed a new definition for a while. I have heard and read so many countless weak excuses about claiming the word "feminist." Some people, some WOMEN, seem to think that their journey is over as an advocate for social justice.

For example:

"I'm not a feminist but...[insert remark about how this totally sexist/racist/classist thing REALLY SUCKS.]"

Um, no duh. You are a feminist because you hate the fact that all women are objectified in the media or because you hate the fact that black women are told they are undesirable to marry or because if you are a homeless woman you are more likely to have multiple sexual assaults then a homeless man. You are a feminist, so suck it up and claim the term.

Listen, I get the fact that you probably think that feminism is some historical term that refers to a bunch of bra-burning (that didn't happen btw) hippie women in the 70s who are so out of touch with what women really have going for them today. "That was then, when women were slapped on the ass in the workplace and placed under curfew at college," you think to yourself. "This is now, where I can be whatever I want--a doctor, a scientist, a writer--and no magazine tells me how I perceive my own body and no man tells me what I can or cannot do."

All right then! Go pat yourself on the back! Go have a drink at a bar and flirt with some guy. Have a couple more drinks to celebrate. But if you wake up tomorrow in a strange place and you realize that there is semen on your leg and you don't remember consenting to ANYTHING, you might view the situation differently when the subsequent rape trial blames YOU for being drunk, instead of your rapist for RAPING.

Yes, I brought up the rape card. Because sexual violence and feminism are two discussions that go hand in hand.

As are racism and feminism. As are homophobia and feminism. As are trans-hate and feminism. As are all things that have to deal with gender, i.e. being a human and existing in this society.

Feminism, as a movement, is here to try to end social injustice. That is it. It is not trying to prioritize women over men, or prioritize white women over black women, or poor people over rich people. It recognizes the concept of intersecting identities. If you disavow feminism, you are disavowing the struggle to bring PEACE to human race.

/If any of this sounds familiar to you, maybe it is. I write this tremulously, hoping that I won't piss anyone off, but the fact of the matter is that I worry myself. Sometimes I feel like I need to "come out of the closet" as a feminist because I am quite the chameleon. Sometimes I swallow my tongue and what I'm truly thinking. This blog is here for me to explore these thoughts. And one thought I have is--why do I have to feel like I'm covering up my feminism? You will never hear me say "I'm not a feminist, but" but you will most certainly see me sit silent while some poor girl gets lambasted for having a wrecked body. Maybe it all women's bodies weren't up for consumption at all times, we wouldn't have to be feel so guilty when we are silent in these discussions.

So anyway, reconsider the label for me, please?

Get-rich-quick, aka blogging is the new San Francisco gold rush

Sometimes I question my motives for wanting to write this blog. It gets hard to sort out what it is I'm actually trying to do or say here. I really enjoy writing my posts on the ways in which society sucks at dealing with HALF of its population (womankind) and I also enjoy writing about social constructions and pop culture and pretty dresses--you name it. I think I may have overdone the whole social networking aspect of the internet in the past few months, namely because I'm beginning to be saturated with the idea of the get-rich-quick scheme that blogging offers. We've all seen Julie and Julia, right? A movie whose central theme is, essentially, that if you are dissatisfied with your life and aren't living up to your own expectations, you can write a blog, get famous, have a movie made of your subsequent book, and then totally find yourself in the middle of all of the success you wanted to begin with.

Yeah, I wouldn't mind it if I landed a book deal (although I hardly expect to land a bookdeal with a blog as hodge-podge as mind) but I can't help but feel those twinges of hope and jealousy whenever I encounter the latest tumblr or blog that has made its way into the upper echelons of blogdom: the Published Book. I can name so many off the top of my head: postcards from yo momma, Dealbreakers (NOT related to the Liz Lemon book), Julie's cooking blog, etc etc.

But I'm carving out my internet niche because this blog was started in the throes of my post-graduation depression. I wanted to write about all the things that cycle in on me when I have depressive trains of thought--how the world can seem so meaningless--and I channeled that energy into expressing my outrage at the various and sundry gender injustices there are the in the world. I will still continue doing that, and I will still continue writing this blog, but I wanted to acknowledge the fact that there is also a part of me that hopes to get to 10,000 views and hopes to be written about somewhere else, some part of me that is disingenuous and ambitious and that part sometimes gets in the way of the actual writing and productivity.

News Hits

I have been all over the internet lately but not so much on my blog. QUICK HITS:

• I got a tumblr. It's in the about section of this blog and I don't know if there's really a point to having both a tumblr and a blog but I think I'm gonna post really quick hits there. I.e. videos I like and pictures that are funny and other inanities. Check it out at essandk.tumblr.com
• I got a new computer. My laptop died about 2-3 weeks ago. As a result of getting a new computer+my laptop's death, I have had access to any photo editing software; hence, no photoshop phuns or postcards from yo momma reblogged or new banners. It bothers me a lot not to keep the site looking fresh, but so it goes! Hopefully I'll be hooked up with CS4 soon.
• Um, did I mention I got a new computer? Totally awesome.
• The last bit of news that is sad is that my childhood cat Fireball passed away today. He was 17 years old and had been with my family a long time. Most of you who read this blog will already know this because I have been posting about it everywhere but I really needed to put it here, on my Blog Of Record, for posterity.

Love.

crap email in the customer service industry

As is pretty common with my crap emails, this one is in ticketing:

You guys are FUCKED!!!  When people are checking out you only show the prices for the tickets and nothing about any service charges.  You guys know that no one actually reads the long list of bullshit that's listed in the terms and conditions and you count on that.  At least other ticket sites have the common courtesy to show how much service fees are before you actually check out.   You guys SUCK!!!! GO FUCK YOURSELVES!!!  I'LL NEVER BUY FROM YOU GUYS AGAIN!!!   Now I have to pay overdraft fees to my bank so what was supposed to be $60 for four tickets has become $125!!!  FUCK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And then ten minutes later the guy sends another email:

Sorry, Please disregard my last email.  I just looked at your site again and saw the extra charges at check out.  MY BAD!!!! I guess I just wasn't payin' attention. Sorry for the harsh email I sent previously!!!