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Disrupting Dinner Parties

~ Feminism is for everyone!

Disrupting Dinner Parties

Category Archives: Uncategorized

YA Heroines of Color Every Girl Should Read About

28 Wednesday Jan 2015

Posted by Luz Delfondo in Empowerment, Media, Race and Racism, Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

heroines of color, women of color, ya fiction

One day I was chatting with my women friends about the heroines from fantasy and science fiction books that inspired us when we were kids. We talked about Alanna from the Song of the Lioness series, Sabriel from the Abhorsen series, Cimorene from the Enchanted Forest series, and many more. We agreed that these heroines set us on the path toward feminism and self-empowerment.

But one of my friends in this conversation said, “I read all of those books when I was a kid, but then one day I looked in the mirror and realized that none of those heroines looked like me.” What my friend saw in the mirror was a black woman.

My heart broke when I heard that. The fantasy heroines of my childhood were so important to me. When I saw girls treated unfairly, or was treated unfairly myself, it was these fictional girls who gave me the courage to resist, and support other girls as they fought to resist. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to have no heroines from my books who I could identify with.

So, in the interest of fighting back, I present to you a list of my favorite heroines of color from YA fantasy and science fiction. Read them to inspire yourself, or more importantly, buy them and recommend them for girls of color who you know. You could make a huge difference in their lives.

1. Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games

If your mental image of Katniss Everdeen is represented by Jennifer Lawrence, you may be wondering what I’m talking about. The truth is, the casting of Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games movies is a gross case of whitewashing, turning a character of color into a white character in an adaptation. This is how Katniss describes her friend Gale and her own family in The Hunger Games.

He could be my brother.  Straight black hair, olive skin, we even have the same grey eyes.  But we’re not related, at least not closely.  Most of the families who work the mines resemble each other this way.
That is why my mother and Prim, with their light hair and blue eyes, always look out of place.  They are.  My mother’s parents were part of the small merchant class that caters to officials, Peacemakers, and the occasional Seam customer… She must have really loved him to leave her home for the Seam.

This is clearly a system where paler people in District 12 have an economic advantage on the basis of their skin color over the Seam, Katniss’ people, who are poor and hungry. Later on, Katniss describes Seeder, a woman from District 11, which is clearly coded as an analog to the American South under slavery, as looking just like a Seam woman except for her eye color. Katniss reads to me as multiracial, or perhaps Native American. (For more thoughts on this, read here.)

Fanart of POC Katniss

What Katniss actually looks like. Art by Zombie-Sasquatch on deviantArt.

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Everyone one loves rainbows, right?

26 Monday Jan 2015

Posted by Stevia in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Some days feminist bloggers have exams! Today is one of those days. In lieu of a post, here is a picture of a hornless unicorn farting a rainbow! You’re welcome.

This masterpiece was found at dearlemonlima.wordpress.com

Subverting Sexism through “Chandelier”

23 Friday Jan 2015

Posted by Robin Marie in Empowerment, Media, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

chandelier, music, sia

Early on New Year’s Day, after a moderate but enjoyable night of celebrating, I settled down in front of my computer to catch up on a couple of songs I had been meaning to download. One of them was Sia’s “Chandelier” – a song which I had heard snippets of here and there for a while but did not take real notice of until a short car ride a few weeks before. A week or so later, a video my sister shared with me made me realize that the really cool video I had briefly seen parts of during a sleepless night of jet lag overseas coupled with the song I had enjoyed in the car. So I decided I should go ahead and download this song.

The first thing I did, though, was look up the lyrics. And what I discovered sent me down such a delightful spiral of surprise. The song that I had admired for all of its classic pop-empowerment-ballad characteristics was, actually, incredibly sad.

In its most simple form, “Chandelier” is about alcoholism, and is, apparently, partially autobiographical. The lyrics tell the story of a typical night lost to acute intoxication (“one two three, one two three – drink, one two three, one two three – drink” make for a gripping chanting rhythm before Sia launches into the chorus), filled with both desperate grabs for glory and the harrowing fear of failing; or, in this case, the lyrics invoke the imagery of falling.

Yet the depth of “Chandlier,” I would argue, goes far beyond an exploration of a particular substance abuse problem. Indeed, it seems like the very trick the song pulls – the trick I fell for – is manipulating the celebratory sound of an explosive composition to actually reflect on the sadness most of us, in some point in our lives, try to run away from. Moreover, in writing a song about the possible consequences of non-stop partying, Sia’s song implicitly critiques the limitations of the kind of models most young women are offered for both feeling successful in their social life (the opening verse of the song has Sia talking about how everyone calls her to come out and party; “I feel the love, I feel the love,” she sings) and expressing themselves in the same sphere. As Sia explained, “I wrote the song because there’s so many party-girl anthems in pop. And I thought it’d be interesting to do a different take on that.”

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See you in 2015!

27 Saturday Dec 2014

Posted by Disrupting Dinner Parties in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

DDP will be back after New Year’s Day!

Until then, Janelle Monae will keep you company…

Gif of Janelle Monae saying "I will love who I am"

And suggest a resolution

Sleepy Hollow Delivers Where Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder Fail

09 Tuesday Dec 2014

Posted by Dominique in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

i’m sold

5 Ways to Amplify the Voices of Trans women, Cis women, Non-binary folks, and Trans men in the #BlackLivesMatter Movement

05 Friday Dec 2014

Posted by Dominique in Uncategorized

≈ 6 Comments

womendcferguson3
I’ll be honest, the last week (month? year? decade?) or so has not been fun. The U.S. “justice” system is intent on communicating its lack of regard for black life. But, the silver lining has been witnessing the growth of a persistent and powerful nationwide movement to declare that #blacklivesmatter.

What we don’t need in this moment of pain and opportunity is a movement that ignores trans women, cis women, gender nonconforming/non-binary folks, and trans men who are impacted by state enacted and state sanctioned violence. We also don’t need a movement that silences the voices of all the bad ass people from those communities who are fighting against it. If you are part of this movement- on social media, in the streets, in your cubicle, or anywhere else- here are some steps you can take to make sure these voices are amplified:

1. If people talk about how black “(cis) men and children” are dying from state sanctioned violence, correct them. If the names of women or trans people or gender nonconforming folks are missing from a list of victims, add them.

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Speaking Up

21 Friday Nov 2014

Posted by Hex in Empowerment, Harassment, Misogyny, Rape Culture, Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

feminism

cw: harassment, rape mention

I’ll never forget the first time I decided to stand up against street harrassment.

It started on the metro platform. She looked about my age, late teens or early twenties. She was alone. I saw him sidle up to her, heard him shout a comment about the shape of her ass. She scooted away and gripped her bag more closely. When the train came, he followed her on. I was sitting in the first row of seats; they were standing at the front of the car. He asked her if she had a boyfriend. She turned away, tried to pretend he wasn’t there despite him standing right against her back. He told her he wanted to take her home, started listing the things he’d do. She looked pleadingly at the other passengers. They avoided her eyes.

streetharassment3

Imagine this but in a dim, crowded train full of people pretending it’s not happening.

 

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Pop Culture’s Portrayal of Love Is Killing Us

17 Monday Nov 2014

Posted by erikanturner in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Because it’s the holiday season, I’ve been thinking about one of my favorite movies of recent years, Best Man Holiday, the sequel to the 1999 film Best Man, which highlights the many complexities of love and trust among friends.

Halfway through the movie, the boyfriend of Jordan Armstrong, a successful black career woman, confides in her, saying, “Believe me, your whole strong, independent, Olivia Pope thing is very sexy, but sometimes you act like you don’t need me.”

Without skipping a beat, Jordan responds, somewhat incredulously: “I don’t.”

Jordan & Brian from Best Man Holiday

Jordan & her boyfriend Brian from Best Man Holiday

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Hashtag Alert: #FeministPrincessBride

13 Thursday Nov 2014

Posted by MissX in Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

If the world is getting you down, pop over to Twitter and check out #FeministPrincessBride.

It all started off when Time put the word “feminist” in their “Which Word Should Be Banned in 2015?” list.

We're telling Time to take it up with Queen B

We’re telling Time to take it up with Queen B

One woman, Anne Thériault, took Time to task for it:

Having @time include feminist on their words to ban list makes me want to say it even more, like a petulant child. Feminist, FEMINIST.

— Anne Thériault (@anne_theriault) November 12, 2014

Like in the Princess Bride when Miracle Max's wife chases him around yelling, "Humperdink, Humperdink, Humperdiiiiiiiink."

— Anne Thériault (@anne_theriault) November 12, 2014

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Pillow Princess: Navigating Queer Spaces and Unpacking Assumptions

07 Friday Nov 2014

Posted by ddpguestposter in Misogyny, Queer-LGBTQIA, Sexuality, Uncategorized

≈ Comments Off on Pillow Princess: Navigating Queer Spaces and Unpacking Assumptions

Tags

pillow princess

This is a guest post by Ms. Boss Femme.

photo of pillows

Every so often, maybe at a happy hour or a house party, someone will pick up my hand, examine my fingers, and exclaim “Oh wow, you have straight girl nails! How does that work?” I usually laugh awkwardly and change the subject. I also occasionally find myself part of a group conversation about, say, how to avoid lockjaw and  tongue tiredness during a long session of cunnilingus. In these situations I try to be inconspicuously quiet, sometimes nodding in agreement to pieces of advice that sound right.

The truth is, in my current relationship, which happens to be with a masculine-of-center woman, there’s no reason for my nails to be super short because I don’t stick my fingers anywhere particularly delicate. And I can’t contribute any lessons learned from going down on her because… I don’t. I am the one who gets the finger action. I am the one who tires tongues. I am the receptive partner, and according to some definitions, I am a “Pillow Princess”.

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