Tag Archives: cartoons

Is “Feminism” a Self-Defeating Label?

Posted on April 22, 2015 by | 7 comments

I’m a pretty slow learner when it comes to social media. I feel like I just mastered Facebook when it started going out of style. Unfortunately for me, social media sites are important tools when it comes to blogging. I’ve been making an effort to expand my horizons, starting with Twitter. So far, my favourite thing about Twitter is the hashtags.

Even before I started posting on Twitter, I would check to see what was trending and to follow conversations about race and gender that unfolded around hashtags like #WhyIStayed, #BringBackOurGirls, #GamerGate, #IfTheyGunnedMeDown, etc. Recently, when I went to tag a comment with “#feminist”, I noticed that the first two tags to show up were “#FeminismIsAwful” and “#FeministsAreUgly”. When I decided to make a comment about it, it wasn’t long before I got a response.

I’d like to consider what Jacob is saying. First, let’s set aside the long history of smearing feminism by calling feminists ugly for a second here.

Continue reading →

7 Comments

Posted in feminism, history, internet

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Surprise Witness: Crass Cartoons and Reprehensible Rappers

Posted on July 23, 2014 by | Leave a comment

GORDON: Friends, Romans, Countrypersons! Lend us your ears! We come to try out a new twist on our weekly discussions!

EVAN: Given Kat’s absence that I mentioned prior, I took a page from what’s been going on over at Marvel to really shake things up hereabouts [while still keeping the spirit of the blog you all love so much].

So Gordon and I got to brainstorming a feature to replace Culture War Correspondence for now [?], and what we settled on was a riff on a little something called “Defending Your Sh*tty Taste”, a podcast on Cracked.com.

GORDON: As the name would suggest, “Defending Your Sh*tty Taste” simply entails each of us bring up one or more cultural elements- shows, music, trends, etc.- which are generally despised, devaluated, or looked down upon by the general public, and proceeding to talk about what value we see in ’em and why we personally enjoy ’em.

EVAN: Before we get started in earnest, I think it would be good to lay down some ground rules, and sort of explain the general format.

Like you said we’ll each be bringing up our own topics [which we’re well aware have their problems] and extolling their virtues. It will be up to the other person to point out the flaws. What I’m going to insist on is that we solely target the cultural element itself, not bringing up or comparing anything else [ex: “But as a communist doesn’t this conflict with your belief that _____?”]

GORDON: I’d also point out that this isn’t really a debate. We’re not here to bash each other’s pleasures, no matter how sick and indecent they might be… Evan.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in cartoons, Comedy, language, morality, music, Surprise Witness, television

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Fame Day: #SafeSearchWrapUp

Posted on March 27, 2014 by | 1 comment

Alright, so this week’s Fame Day is going to be short, sweet, and, as you’ve probably noticed, late. I unintentionally got behind work last night, and then this morning I had a pseudo-interview. Anyway, the point is that cartoon porn should be kept under wraps.

Really rough segues aside, Bronies Against BullShit is responsible for today’s subject. To be perfectly fair, they’re worthy of a good amount of praise in general, if only because the tumblr exists as “a platform for the brony fandom to call out, critique, support, and analyze itself in a constructive and mature manner.” Places like that need to exist all over the internet, because introspection is a sorely needed quantity around here.

The page, which I’m going to shorten to BAB, and those behind it are the ones who came up with #SafeSearchWrapUp.

famesafesearchwrapup

 
Continue reading →

1 Comment

Posted in art, cartoons, Fame Day, internet, pornography, sex

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Culture War Correspondence: Disney Movies and Gender Roles

Posted on February 26, 2014 by | 3 comments

Source.

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 →

3 Comments

Posted in cartoons, Culture War Correspondence, feminism, film, relationships

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

“My Little Pony Hates Men!”: A Short Look at Gender, Representation, and Cartoons

Posted on January 17, 2014 by | 16 comments

I’ve never seen an episode of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. I hear good things, though, and understand if people do like it [and they do] because Lauren Faust is the mind behind the show, and she was largely responsible for The Powerpuff Girls which I still think is one of the best things Cartoon Network has ever done. But again, I’ve never seen any MLP.

Anyway, bronies, right? My favourite go-to source for words you won’t find in Webster’s, Urban Dictionary defines the term as:

“A name typically given to the male viewers/fans (whether they are straight, gay, bisexual, etc.) of the My Little Pony show or franchise. They typically do not give in to the hype that males aren’t allowed to enjoy things that may be intended for females.”

Which, given that very broad description, sounds fine. A person viewing something that is ostensibly for male viewers only, something like . . . I don’t know . . . Lego Ninjago, is not something I think anyone would have a problem with. Anyway. just keep this reasonably sizable fanbase in mind as we move forward-

My Little Pony: Misandry is Magic

That’s the title of a post on tumblr a friend of mine linked me to two days ago. Two short bits of context, misandry is the flipside of misogyny, being the hatred of men instead, and this was originally posted by someone who went by nomisandryplease. I say “went by” because heading over to his site reveals what is seen below and absolutely nothing more:

nomisandryplease
To get to what exactly this guy was bullied for, and I actually don’t doubt that he was, to some extent, the main point to his post was that MLP is a show that, while enjoyable, ultimately treats males very poorly.  Continue reading →

16 Comments

Posted in bizarreness, cartoons, feminism, internet, media, television, Youth

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

What is the Meaning of “Life of Brian”?

Posted on November 25, 2013 by | 6 comments

In spite of swearing off Family Guy roughly three years ago due to feeling like the show’s creators had zero respect for their audience I watched an episode today for a single reason which Gordon brought to my attention. It branches off pretty naturally from last week’s Culture War Correspondence and post from early 2012 about cartoon death, though that was primarily concerning younger audiences. That reason is, of course [obviously a SPOILER after the jump]: Continue reading →

6 Comments

Posted in bizarreness, cartoons, Comedy, television, writing

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,