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Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Feminism But Were Afraid to Ask

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Feminism But Were Afraid to Ask

It’s a natural, normal part of life. But people hesitate to talk openly about their needs, their desires, and their concerns because they are so fearful of what others might think. But we all have urges, and we all have questions, and the more we can talk about them, the happier and more fulfilled we all will be. It should be a joyful, tender, and esteem-building part of life, not a source of confusion or shame. Yet it’s hard to get a handle on it, because although there’s a lot of information out there, much of it is judgmental, misinformed, or quite simply false.

Weighing Reality

Who's Really the Biggest Loser?
Weighing Reality
Article by Jacob Anderson ..., Illustrated by Ai Tatebayashi, appeared in issue Anniversary; published in 2005; filed under Broadcast; tagged beauty standards, body image, eating disorders, fat phobia, health, obesity, reality tv.

“Obesity,” declares Charlotte Cooper, author of 1998’s Fat and Proud: The Politics of Size, “is just a word used by people to medicalize fat.” Extra weight, once considered a genetic short straw, is increasingly characterized as a crisis threatening the physical, political, and moral health of our nation—even as large bodies are becoming increasingly visible in popular culture.

Sims Like the Real Thing

Sims Like the Real Thing
Article by Tish Parmeley, Illustrated by Aya Kakeda, appeared in issue Fun & Games; published in 2005; filed under Social commentary; tagged games, play, She's Got Game, sims, video games.

The Sims is a game that consists of little more than creating characters and pushing them through the day, making sure they eat, sleep, stay clean, make friends, advance in a career, and buy stuff. The bodily functions are tedious and the rest is everything I hate about life in a capitalist society. So how to explain why I own all seven expansion packs for the first game, as well as Sims2 and its expansion pack, University?

Board of Education

Board of Education
Article by Jackie Regales, Illustrated by Aya Kakeda, appeared in issue Fun & Games; published in 2005; filed under Social commentary; tagged capitalism, competition, games, play, She's Got Game.

Each semester in my American popular culture class, my students and I spend a night playing board games. I start them off with games for small children, like memory cards or Strawberry Shortcake adventure games. They play self-consciously, giggling at the losers who can’t master a game for preschoolers, but loosen up enough to start looking beyond the activity for the deeper meanings.

Beyond the Valley of the Geeks

Notes on Gender and Gaming
Beyond the Valley of the Geeks
Article by Jacqueline Lalley, appeared in issue Fun & Games; published in 2005; filed under Consumer culture; tagged cognitive development, computers, games, gaming, geeks, gender roles, jocks, math, play, science, sims, stereotypes, tech, video games.

“When I started out, gaming was a geek thing,” says Sean (not his real name), a 38-year-old senior director of product development for a major electronic game publisher. “Now, it’s totally mainstream. It’s clear there’s money to be made.”

It’s not like there’s any nostalgia in his voice. With a six-figure salary and a generous bonus, Sean is one of those making the money. Electronic games—which encompass both computer games and console-based games—generated nearly $10 billion in revenue last year, thanks in part to top-selling titles like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Madden NFL 2005, ESPN NFL 2K5, and NBA Live 2005.

Given the fact that electronic games have their roots in geekdom, the sheer jock/thug appeal of the above-listed games is striking. You’d think that geek boys, having been a) persecuted by jocks and bullies and b) heavily involved in the production of electronic games, might take advantage of the latter to redress the former. But somewhere between Pong and Madden, those geeks began spending their days and nights creating universes in which testosterone rules, in the process reinforcing the gender roles that made their young lives hell.

What happened?

Muddy Daughters

Muddy Daughters
Article by Andy Steiner, Illustrated by Aya Kakeda, appeared in issue Fun & Games; published in 2005; filed under Social commentary; tagged children, games, independence, parenting, play, She's Got Game.

The year my oldest daughter turned 4, her little sister was born, and that spring, in desperation, I let her play more or less unsupervised in the neighbors’ yard. When I came up for air from the endless diaper changes and nursing sessions, I’d catch a glimpse of her through the family-room window. Sweaty, dirty, and wild-eyed, she ran behind the neighbors’ pack of crazy, good-natured, and mostly unsupervised boys.

The Nan Show

How Nannies Rewrote the Rules on TV Parenting
The Nan Show
Article by Summer Wood, Illustrated by Erin and Kelly Carty, appeared in issue Fun & Games; published in 2005; filed under Broadcast; tagged childcare, children, class, gender roles, mannies, motherhood, nannies, parenting, race, stereotypes.

In this era of social conservatism, the so-called mommy wars, and renewed cultural clashes about gender, work, and “family values,” it’s hardly surprising that nanny narratives are making a comeback. Faster than you can say “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” nannies have popped up in movies (Uptown Girls) and bestselling novels (The Nanny Diaries, I Don’t Know How She Does It), as characters on tv shows (Friends, Kevin Hill, Desperate Housewives), and even as a subgenre of reality tv (Nanny 911, Supernanny).

Hog Heaven

Ariel Levy on Female Chauvinist Pigs and the Rise of Raunch Culture
Hog Heaven
An interview with Ariel Levy by Andi Zeisler, appeared in issue Fun & Games; published in 2005; filed under Books; tagged Ariel Levy, beauty standards, body image, chauvinism, gender roles, objectification, porn, post feminism, sex, sex industry, sex objects, sexuality, stereotypes.

You’ll recognize the female silhouette that leans against the title on the cover of Ariel Levy’s new book, Female Chauvinist Pigs. She’s the girl who in recent years has made the move from the mud flaps of big rigs right into pop culture, gracing trucker caps, baby tees, and gold necklaces as an emblem of sexy, empowered ­womanhood. Or at least that’s what she’d like you to believe. But Levy doesn’t buy it, and Female Chauvinist Pigs offers her opinions on why this new symbol of postfeminism—the girl gone wild, the party-like-a-porn-star striver, the woman who populates HBO’s “educational” reality shows like Cathouse and Pornucopia—isn’t nearly as groundbreaking as she thinks she is.

Outside Neverland

Female Writers Reinvent Peter Pan
Article by Michelle Humphrey, Illustrated by Woojung Ahn, appeared in issue Fun & Games; published in 2005; filed under Books; tagged childhood, children, fairy tales, fantasy, gender roles, psychology, race, romance, stereotypes.

When the curtain rose at the London premiere of the play Peter Pan in 1904, it unveiled a drama of flying children, fairies, and pirates that would soon become a classic—and inspire countless spin-offs, adaptations, and reinterpretations. On the cinematic side, these began with the 1924 silent-film version of the play, starring Anna May Wong as Tiger Lily. Disney’s animated Peter Pan (1953) has been described as “ageless” (though one wonders if critics took note of the decidedly dated, stereotypical depiction of Native Americans), while Steven Spielberg’s Hook (1991) told the story of a grown-up Peter’s transformation into a mature father.

Cornering the Market

Damali Ayo and the Business of Race
Cornering the Market

When Damali Ayo was 12, her parents sent her to day camp with 20 white kids. The kids were fascinated by the way Ayo’s hair maintained its texture in the pool. Even after she deliberately dunked her head in the water, they were convinced that black hair doesn’t get wet.

This experience stuck with her as she launched her art career in the predominantly white city of Portland, Oregon. Ayo often felt she was the token black person relied upon for opinions and advice precisely because of her skin color.