Subtext Magazine

Many a blog post over at Subtext Magazine

Feminist Webs National Launch

Feminist Webs is an award winning national movement and network to promote working with girls and young women in youth work settings to break down sexism and and provide safe spaces for young women to learn to be assertive, to fulfil their potential, to break down the cycle of violence against women, and for women to be exposed to hundreds of experiences which will enhance their life and career opportunities.

Their national launch will be taking place Tuesday 2nd March 2010 at The Women's Library, London with the showcase of the body image animation 'More Than a Face' and North West regional body image banner, as well as 'What Young Women Want' book of postcards created by young woman across the country about their needs and wants today.

The official Launch will run 2-4pm with a show case and key note speaker in the first hour and a chance for the young women and professionals there to talk to each other about key issues in the second hour.

Contact them via their web-site if you wish to attend.

The Guardian: The Feminist Year Ahead

Brace yourself girls...

The feminist year ahead - The Guardian

A run-down of the books, films, events, exhbitions and what-not that we'll be feasting our feminist eyes on during 2010.

30 Ideas for a Better Life - Women Take Note

The Observer Magazine last Sunday (03/01/10) ran a piece entitled '30 Ideas for a Better Life', a resolution inspired list of things to do this year. The suggestions ranged from 'Get Philosophical' to 'Take Control of Your Spending Habits' but what caught my eye was the stark juxtaposition of two aimed at women. Firstly is a entry from Sarah Pennells on 'Sound Financial Advice for Women' - Sarah runs Savvywoman, a web-site aimed at giving comprehensive and relevant financial advice to women. As Sarah notes in The Observer article:

I concentrate on the financial concerns and priorities of females in a way that resonates with them. I report and advise on issues such as how state pension changes affect women, how they have lower debts than men but become more anxious over them, and how to make immediate and long-term financial plans when child-rearing. I ask, are you and your partner even financially compatible?

A worthwhile cause and perhaps a justified resolution for this year perhaps then? But what is this then juxtaposed with? Read a little further on in the piece and you will find the idea from clinical psychologist and sex therapist Bettina Arndt of 'revitalising your sex life'. And though it is not suggested in the title itself, this again focuses on women. Because Bettina is suggesting that a focal problem in long-term relationships is 'mismatched desire', that this desire is usually lacked by the female and that these females need to basically get over it (my words not hers):

Arndt advocates a "just do it" approach for couples in a rut. Women should ignore their lack of desire and just get on it with.

So women of Britain, take note. Two ideas for a better life:

1. Get some sound financial advice
2. Lie back and think of England.

Happy New Year!

Call for Papers: Presenting Research on Women Differently

On behalf of Julia Carter and Rosemary Hill - Centre for Women’s Studies, University of York.

Call for Papers: Not PowerPoint Again! Presenting research on women in popular culture differently.

University of York, 23rd April 2010

Are you bored of the traditional conference paper? Tired of watching a presenter stand and read off a script while pointing to an ill thought-out PowerPoint display? Nervous of presenting in a way that feels alien or doesn’t support your research?

Then come along to our Day School where we are experimenting with different and alternative ways of presenting research.

Our aim for the day is to encourage participants from all disciplines to deliver research in inspiring ways. By thinking of different ways to present our research we can spark new perspectives, imagining different angles and approaches that we may never have considered before. We hope to attract presenters from a range of disciplines and thus intend to question the rigid lines of disciplinary thought that we so often become constrained by. The day school will facilitate this interdisciplinary integration by providing an atmosphere of experimentation and questioning.

We want to encompass presentations from as many disciplines as possible; the topics may include, but are not limited to:

* Music
* Sporting women
* Representations of weddings, marriage and divorce
* Women on film and TV
* Magazine culture
* Books
* Gardening
* Representations of religion
* The Internet

We hope to encourage discussions around how presenting differently may lead to thinking differently about research in academia; how presenting differently helps the researcher and the audience to engage with ‘papers’; and whether experimental presentations really can have a place in traditional academic circles.

As the day is geared to presenting in innovative and engaging ways you may wish to present your paper using, for example: performance art, workshops, short films, live experiments, music, dance or other interactive methods. The design is entirely up to you.

To take part in this Day School please submit a summary of your presentation or a Storyboard (both of which must outline your proposed topic, the mode of your presentation, how long it will take, and what equipment you will need) to: notpowerpointagain@yahoo.co.uk by 14th February 2010.

For more information see http://notpowerpointagain.blogspot.com/

Subtext Magazine Issue 8 - Get Your Orders IN!

Looking for a xmas present for friends (or yourself?)

Order the latest issue of Subtext Magazine - full of feminist cheer!

Issue 8 pre-order now, chockbang full of the following:

Lucky Lips
Songs about vaginas, denounced by the Catholic League, banned from YouTube – she must be good. Holly Warren speaks to singer/song-writer and comedian, Jessica Delfino

Frugal Feminism
Lucy Ingham looks at the crossover of the new green movement, the blossoming of the social conscience and the possibilities of a fairer work life balance with the heart of feminism

Shape Shifters
Our love/hate relationship with food is an old old story, well worn and much debated. But to what end? Suzie Grogan explores concerns close to home with her look back on her and her daughter’s battle with weight and health.

A Habit Not Worth Breaking: Interview with Cristy C Road
Laura Manicom picks up Cristy C Road’s Bad Habits, a novel she also illustrated, and finds out a little more about the zine maker and illustrator.

Women in Film Special

Shifting the View
Sarah Barnes tests the waters of women’s networking on the fringes of the Birds Eye View film festival in London and finds out what Rachel Millward, director of Birds Eye View sees for the future of women film makers in the UK.

Films by Women, but Films About Women?
Jess McCabe sees the benefits of films emerging by women, but what’s the wider social context?

The Documentary Maker: June Cross
June Cross has been making documentaries for much of her life, casting light on the aftermath of Katrina, riots in Haiti and welfare reform in the USA, not to mention her Emmy award winning documentary Secret Daughter.

Getting Reel
Elena Rossini, an Italian documentary maker talks about the “aha” moment which led to her feminist revolution behind the camera

Making Moves in Afghanistan
Jess McCabe reviews the documentary films from Afghanistan shown as part of the Birds Eye View Film festival in London, which talk of liberation and reveal the hidden stories of women.

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Cissexuality
Lonergrrl wrestles with the previous and current struggles between cissexuality and transgender women in Feminism

Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs
Jess Smith and Subtext editor Gill Court met with Holly Golightly and Lawyer Dave, her partner in the Brokeoffs, to find out what makes this woman in music tick.

The Digital Ceiling
Hannah Nicklin calls for revolution to short circuit the sexism in tech

Michelle Obama The Non-Traditional First Lady
Barack Obama made waves in the US presidential election, finally becoming the first black president of the United States in 2008. Melanie Pollack looks at Michelle Obama, his wife, who’s breaking the stereotypes for the role of the first lady, for black women across America and for women worldwide.

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Pornification of Society But Couldn’t Ask
Rebecca Whisnant’s condensed lecture takes eager ears through everything the anti-porn activist needs to know and how to get your point across in 90 minutes or less. Charlotte Cooper attempts to recreate the informative talk in 900 words

Ignorance for Bliss The Menstrual Cycle or Women and the Bikes they Love
We like to take a regular break from the burden of constant theoretical think­ing and find something frivolous to busy our minds and bodies with. This issue Amy Louth gives us a 101 on bike buying and know-how, a good checklist for those already on the road or a get going guide for cycling starters.

Plus all our regular features:

Old and News – News and campaign updates
Wonders of the World – Good things we’ve heard about
The Book Stop – Book reviews

Subscribers & pre-orders will be shipped before Christmas (as long as our printer gets the mag too us in time!)

In which I lose faith (which arguably never existed) in the GSA

Jill Berry, president of the Girls' School Association (GSA), has been popping up in the press recently with some quite alarming, and sometimes contradictory, notions.

Commenting on feminism and fashion and the recent story about Cambridge female undergrads' scantily clad photos, Berry commented that:

"Girls can be highly intelligent and interested in being seen to be attractive – the two aren't mutually exclusive"

For starters, not really a problem. Perhaps the idea of 'being seen to be attractive' is problematic (to me this suggest pampering to the rest of society's/men's version of what this means) but I do support the move away from the 'blonde-bimbo' vs 'ugly geek' dichotomy.

And then Berry claims:

"We must resist the impulse to judge women, to judge them harshly and judge them narrowly"

Lovely. Again, an idea I can get my head around.

But then when an article in The Guardian titled Girls should be 'realistic' about careers and motherhood – schools group head appears, the plot thickens...


Teenage girls need to be taught a heavy dose of realism – that it may not be possible to be a perfect mother and a career woman, the president of the Girls' Schools Association (GSA) will say next week.

Berry is now implying that girls need to be realistic about their futures. That there is 'nothing wrong' with mothers not working once they have children. Firstly, what kind of empowering message is that to young women? That they can be all they want to be but will have to re-think all that once they think about starting a family? Why are we telling girls to be 'realistic'? Why are we accepting that as the reality that women are often placed into positions in which they are pushed back into the private sphere once they give birth? Instead of telling the generation of tomorrow to wise-up about the way the world is, how about educating them on how to change that world?

And you know that what lies beneath this is a discourse of 'bad working mothers'. Considering we weren't meant to be judging women for their choices Berry...


Links to the two articles:

Fashion not a betrayal of feminist ideals
Girls should be realistic about motherhood and careers