O, there has been much throwing about of brains
January 14, 2014 § Leave a comment
Like when I’m among men and I see a woman take her clothes off in the name of art, im reminded that im primarily a sexual object. and maybe that makes me feel sexy sometimes. but when im with women only, seeing a naked woman just reminds me of the physical realities of my body. that im not pretty, that im aging, that i have a yeast infection i got from a uti that I got from sex.
Maybe I’m thinking so heteronormatively in part because I don’t think any woman could be attracted to my body. because I am a woman and I am my harshest critic. so I assume other women think the same about not only themselves but also me.
If men were at this performance, it would have gone over much better, I’m sure. They’re easy to please. They would have made excuses for me why my nudity was necessary in the context of the piece. They would have stood up for me and agreed it was my right to get naked if I wanted to. I would be happy to have them as allies, still fully understanding their true intentions behind their support, that they’re just happy to get a glimpse any way they can.
There would be of course men who would turn their noses down at me for my nudity but it would be because they’re scared their horniness will outweigh their intellectualism and they don’t want to seem like a caveman or something.
Maybe you feel my presentation of this piece isn’t artful or subtle enough. Maybe you think I should think less about myself and the way I am perceived.
You’ll go home and tell your roommates I sucked and im a terrible artist who makes self indulgent work with no craft or skill. or maybe at least a part of this will resonate with you and you’ll come up to me after and we can talk about how I stayed just above the line of being disgustingly self aware in a way that made you become more self aware about your own prejudices.
Ok I’m going to get dressed now because I want to end this performance. I don’t want to be naked when it ends. read more
SIGN & PHOTOGRAPH: Tim Etchells
I know men are supposed to be visual creatures but it’s the music I can’t stand
December 30, 2013 § Leave a comment
I’ve tried to bite my lip on the No More Page Three campaign…
I find Page 3, with its large picture of boobs taken with the woman’s consent, actually somewhat better than all of the other pages of longlensings and body-shaming and gleeful rubbing over celebrities and their mental health, and so forth. That’s not even including the frequent bouts of overt racism, homophobia, transphobia and ableism that pepper its foul pages. The whole publication is absolutely fucking vile, and participates actively daily in outright harassment of women who have the misfortune of being famous, or poor, or brown, or whatever other excuse they can conjure to invade their privacy and pretend this is somehow in the public interest…
Now, one could say this campaign is a transitional demand in ending the objectification of women. However, that’s ignoring the fact that objectification is itself a symptom; the problem of objectification did not magically spring from nowhere… that’s assuming that No More Page Three is actually about objectification, which many of its supporters argue it is. I’ve read the text of the No More Page Three petition. I read it before deciding–with all of these criticisms already in mind–not to sign it. And it is just about boobs. read more
PHOTOGRAPH: [unattributed]
What is bad is not just that they show their bottoms, but that they do so at the wrong times
April 4, 2013 § Leave a comment
Yellow cover! Kim Kardashian! I don’t know what’s going on with her… lower garment! I think Cosmo’s stylists are getting pretty desperate to make the 35,000-year-old concept of “wearing clothes” seem fresh and new every month! Go ahead and trace a line from the center of Kim’s cleavage to the center of her neck and explain what kind of skeletal structure that implies! Also please note that her arms are different lengths!
(I think what’s going on here is that they’ve Photoshopped away all creases and features on her neck, which makes the side of her neck look like the front. And they posed her with both arms behind her so that her chest would stick out, but then her right arm looked wrong or wasn’t visible, so they pasted on a replacement arm. Which would explain the surreal way her hand is interacting with her thighs.)
“I loved reading ‘Can Sex Make You Skinnier?’ The next time I had an intense carb craving, I marched right into my bedroom and pounced on my sleeping, unsuspecting boyfriend. I’m thankful for my new weapon in battling bulge, and my boyfriend is too! Thanks, Cosmo!” — Sarah A., Nashville, Tenn.
I’m not, like, an expert in forensic writing analysis or anything, but I think Cosmo’s letters page is fake. Just a hunch here.
Also I would prefer to not eroticize “pouncing” on “unsuspecting” people, but if I point out every time Cosmo does that, we’ll be here all day…
Within hookup culture on college campuses, dating is one of the most radical, nonconformist things you can do.
Oh, for fuck’s sake. Yes, young people have casual sex. No, the entire population between ages 16 and 26 is not subsumed into this boogeyman “hookup culture” where they’re all like “what is this Earth thing you call ‘love’?” I would really like the media to get over this particular obsession already and move on to telling us that eating caramel leads to Satanism, or something.
Because our ancestors spoke with their bodies rather than language, we learn more from gestures than words when first meeting someone. If he’s facing you directly, you have his full attention.
I don’t think we needed to invoke grunting cavemen to explain the concept of “people look at things they’re interested in.”
… I would also like to explain to Cosmo that all language is produced by the body.
Make him feel like a piece of meat: “It’s a huge turn-on to hear a woman objectify me,” 30-year-old Christopher says. “It seems simple, but it’s so powerful.” Take his words to heart and don’t be afraid to tell your guy everything you like about his body or what he does that drives you crazy. He’ll be obsessed.
That’s not what objectification means. That’s not making him feel like a piece of meat. That’s just sexual compliments. Yeah, sure, it’s easy to say “I don’t know what those ladies are complaining about, you can objectify me anytime” if you think it means your girlfriend tells you you have sexy abs. read more
ART: Ito Jakuchu
my nerves are bad to-night 
