Category Archives: feminism

What Do We Want From America [In Terms of Diversity]?

As I was walking around doing errands yesterday I began to muse on one of my favourite topics: diversity in media. While this could’ve been a very pleasant stroll on an afternoon that felt much more like spring than winter, my mind felt the need to challenge itself with a question I’m sure often leaves the lips of those who are sick of “having diversity crammed down their throats”: Why is the US held responsible for all of this? Continue reading

Banning Bossy

I’ve leveled the accusation a few times now that the contemporary feminist movement is latching on to every passing cause célèbre in a desperate bid to maintain relevance. Unwilling to advocate for radical change, an increasingly large number of people are questioning whether or not feminism has run its course, and things like “Ban Bossy” aren’t helping.

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Fame Day: Slightly Better Representation at the Oscars

goodjoboscarsLast year around this time I wrote a scathing article for my school paper about Seth Macfarlane’s attempt at hosting the Oscars in which I primarily focused on how his “We Saw Your Boobs” song basically undermined any hope for women to be taken seriously in Hollywood. In light of that I felt like this year I should balance out my review of the Oscars and acknowledge some of the good things they did this time around.  Continue reading

Culture War Correspondence: Disney Movies and Gender Roles

KAT: Hello there ladies and gentlemen, princesses and princes, woodland creatures and dwarfs and all those who fall somewhere in between. Today, if you haven’t already guessed, Evan and I will be discussing Disney films and gender roles.

EVAN: I’ve been reading blogger extraordinaire the Unshaved Mouse review each installment in the Disney animated canon beginning with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and believe you me there is a lot for us to go through-

KAT: Speaking of Snow White, I also unexpectedly came across the Disney film in my literary theory class. In their essay “The Madwoman in the Attic” Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar use Snow White as an example of the angel/ monster dichotomy imposed on women. Snow White is quite literally the personification of purity, meanwhile the only powerful woman in the film (the Queen) is purely evil.

That being said, I feel like gender roles in Disney films have evolved considerably since then.

What kind of gender issues was the Unshaved Mouse bringing up on his blog post about the character? Continue reading

Frozen: The Power of a Pretty Dress

I’ve been reading a lot about Frozen lately, and not even intentionally. I mean I watched it intentionally, but it was when I was having a slumber party with my niece. Okay, fine. You caught me. My niece is now a teenager and we were watching it in spite of not being the age demographic they were aiming for. Seriously though guys, why are Disney movies so appealing? There are so many things I can hate on in this movie. Like how it features ANOTHER typical white, skinny heroine whose eyes are bigger than her wrists.

Okay fine, I see you Jasmine… and Mulan.. and Pocahontas… and Tiana, but they’re still all skinny!

Or how the head of Frozen‘s animation shared about how difficult it is to animate female characters because you have to keep them pretty all the time.

Man that is tricky. I mean, they’re just all such unique characters.

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Fame Day: Stopping Super Bowl Sexism

I have to admit it. We had a Super Bowl party at our house. By Super Bowl party I mean we had some friends over and John watched the game while the rest of us chatted and ate food and had fun, then when the commercials came on we would all quiet down and turn up the volume.

While there were, of course, a few “ugh” commercials, most were pretty good.
One that really stood out was this year’s GoDaddy commercial. For those of you who haven’t seen it, it featured this woman quitting her job in their commercial, since she knew her boss would be watching the game.

Gwen Dean says “I Quit” to her boss as she publicizes her plans to become a puppet master.

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