The Femagazinist Initiative

Wowza. What a fab idea! All text below copied straight from the Facebook group, get involved suggest your fave feminist mags!

Fed up with seeing the same old women's magazines in doctors and dentist surgeries?

Thats where the Femagazinist initiative comes in.

We're encouraging women to buy and subscribe to feminist magazines and zines such as Subtext, Bitch, Bust and Ms.

Then when you've read your magazine we want you to leave it in a public place for others to read it.

This will have the double effect of supporting feminst publications and getting the word out.

Want to do even more? How about stickering women's magazines in doctors surgeries with slogans such as:

'Warning this magazine damages your self esteme/ confidence/ body image.'

Or in men's magazines.

'Warning the attitudes expressed in this magazine could negatively impact your relationships with women.'

Know any feminist magazines or zines that haven't been mentioned? Why not post a link and a recommendation on our wall.

So lets spread the word. Invite your friends to join the Femagazinist initiative.

Join Join Join

Also, I've blogged about this for The F Word
Charlotte

Teens Dropping the FBomb

But praise be, these are not the foul mouthed youths of legend but the estute Julie Zeilinger from new teen feminist blog The FBomb.

I couldn't be more excited to see the younger women on the scale getting more involved in building their feminist language, and I couldn't urge you to go have a look and encourage your youthful sisters, nieces, whatevers to get involved and submit some of their thoughts (as well as The F-Word and Subtext of course!)

I think a lot of young women develop their ideas alone, I know I did, reacting to my surroundings, my emotions and deciding thing's were not OK and I wouldn't stand for it. So in my opinion this site could help lots of young women find a platform to mix on an international level, broadening their thought process and their feel for feminism as a movement that should benefit all women no matter the class, colour or religion.

What do you think?

Charlotte

Call for Submissions!! Subtext Issue 8

As Issue 7 moves into the final stages before printing this month we're putting out the call out for submissions for Issue 8!

You don't have to be a professional journalist, an academic, or a long time blogger to submit your writing, you just have to be engaging with feminism and big wide world of women's issues.

We want to publish a broad range of articles encompassing cultural attitudes and myths, social trends, political analysis and opinion, current affairs as well as movies, TV, magazines, books and advertising. Profiles of, and interviews with, feminist culture-makers and business owners are welcome. We're also looking for reviews and reviews to contribute to our reviews blog, excerpts of which will appear in the print magazine.

We take big meaty articles running to around 2,500 words, slimmer pieces at max 1,500 and short commentaries coming in under 1,000.

Don't be afraid to pitch any idea's we're fairly open to accommodating contributors, especially those with something to say. Find out a little more here.

Written Submissions should be emailed to Gill - subtext@subtextmagazine.co.uk

We also take illustration and design submissions, email a link to some of your work to Charlotte - charlottcooper@gmail.com

Charlotte

Ever Wondered About the UK Feminist Community?

I have.

For example: What issues concern today’s feminists? What do they think about the feminist movement today? How old are they? Who inspires them, what actions do they take part in, and how did they end up calling themselves feminists in the first place? What about their level of education, views on religion, or location in the UK?

Wouldn’t it be fascinating to find out?

Well, that’s what myself and Dr Kristin Aune are trying to do, with our survey of UK feminists - including you, dear readers of The F Word.

We’ve been promoting our survey round some of the conferences and events this year and last year, as well as approaching various groups and organisations directly. So, you may have come across us already. If you have, and taken the time to complete the survey, THANK YOU so much.

For those who haven’t come across it yet, the research is being conducted by myself, Catherine Redfern (hi!) and Dr. Kristin Aune, a lecturer in sociology at the University of Derby. We plan to report the results in a book we are co-writing (to be published by the wonderful Zed Books in 2010) as well as other popular and academic formats.

Through this research, we want to learn more about feminists today: who they are, what they think, what issues are important to them and what activities they’re involved in. We believe this is the first major survey of contemporary UK feminists and are keen for as many people to contribute as possible.

It will take a while for the results to be finished, but we hope that this will be of interest to the feminist community and we hope to be able to share the results with you as much as we can.

We have many hundreds of responses so far and I can’t thank you all strongly enough. Having seen some of the results so far, it’s absolutely fascinating reading.

So, if you’re interested in taking part, please click here to go to the survey.

Thank you!

A Repost for Catherine Redfern

Domestic Violence on the Small Screen

The release of Women's Aid's new Domestic Violence short, "Cut", starring Keira Knightley has put many questions out there. About the relevance or useful nature of using celebrities in DV campaigning, was the video to graphic, will it have an effect?

The video was good, that's clear, beautifully shot, that quick spot to the camera, the sweeping zoom out.. but is the message lost on high production, on the big names, would an anonymous woman have wrenched more heart strings, made people pick up the phone..?

And on questioning these things I came across a post on feministing.com about a domestic violence video around verbal abuse. I found it effective, I've never seen anything like it before and so it clung to that little curious bit of my brain.

Verbal abuse seems like something we accept on a societal level. It's a strain of domestic violence that is really approached, and that could lead to women thinking the mental abuse caused by verbal tirades isn't a serious problem.

Personally as long as the issue is in the main arena, being questioned; as long as we're taking damaging behaviour and the abuse of women to task that's positive. But you can only spend so much time preaching to the choir, which minds won't change because of either of these videos....

Let us know what you think.



Charlotte

Reader's Writes: Who Do You Think You Are?

I got this invitation to join the paternal family facebook group.

I didn’t think much of it, other than, wasn’t it a bit strange looking up other family members you’d never met when you were in your fifties? If they were significant to you, wouldn’t you know them already?

In no time at all, there was a family tree and there I was in all my glory with my original paternal family name that I changed over thirty years ago to my own name, linked neatly to the husband I’d ditched soon after.

A note appears from the founder of the family facebook group.

Apparently, we’re all coming out of our cocoons.

I thought I’d been living my own life all these years.

I didn’t realize I was just waiting for the call of patriarchy.

Shani


Reader's Writes is a new section of the blog where you can get involved. Got something to say immediately? Feminist stress to get off your chest? Maybe we can help, drop Charlotte an email charlcooper@hotmail.com

First WI at a university

A student at Goldsmith's university, London UK, has set up the first WI at a university. News article here or you can listen to an interview on radio4 woman's hour feature.


Laura

Images of Black Women Film Festival

The Images of Black Women Film Festival has returned for the fifth year running and is bringing another swathe of amazing films, including a fantastic looking documentary about afro styling at the Black Beauty Hair Awards, Afro Saxon, a wake up call about child soldiers, Johnny Mad Dog and something of a blockbuster, The Secret Life of Bees.

The festival, celebrating African decent women in cinema, takes place from 27th - 29th March at the Tricycle Theatre, Kilburn.

Check out some trailers and buy tickets at the festival website, and if anyone goes and wants to send in a review of the festival now might be the time to get your writing into Issue 8, published later this year.



Charlotte

Women's Howler

Dear Subtext readers, are you big fans of radio 4's Women's Hour? I sure am, I listen to it on the BBC iPlayer all the time because I think it gives an interesting round up of what's generally bubbling around the newspapers.

This week though they tackled something which had my left eye twitching away as I audibly huffed and puffed alone in the living room - women paying for sex. This is a subject that I'd already seen raise its head on the BBC news website and though I haven't caught any further talk about it yet, I'm sure I will. It's something that I can only see as another ploy in the attempt to normalise the selling of sex and the objectification of women, and now men, in society - and I ain't happy about it. I don't support exploitation because someone the same sex as me thinks it's ok - alright, "Jane".

Anyway, I want to look at the way Andrew, the male prostitute and author was treated on Women's hour, particularly in the Women's Hour Newsletter (Oh, Come On. Someone else must be signed up to it?!) Jenni Murry took the reigns on the radio, talking to a woman who'd bought the services of a man for her sexual wants and to the male prostitute. In her post summary Jenni writes,

No prizes for guessing what you really want to know from me this week. What did the male escort I spoke to on Wednesday actually look like? Tallish, mouseyish and absolutely not a Pierce Brosnan or Daniel Craig - consequently, as my mother would have put it, 'hardly worth bothering dragging your old bones to the bottom of our street for' and certainly not one of whom she might have enthused, 'well I wouldn't mind finding his boots under my bed.'

It didn't cross my mind during the interview, to me it really was about an issue not whether or not I would want to fuck a prostitute or escort that I'd cold called if he was "ugly". The radio show irritated me (not least because some woman tried to insinuate that anyone who didn't support the commodification of sexuality and prostitution was blind to a woman's right to say Yes) but the dismissive tone which eradicated any prostitutes option to be a real person or anything other than a sex object irked me more.

Listen again here - you have until Wednesday

Charlotte

Birds Eye View Film Festival

The always fabulous Birds Eye View film festival opens tonight heralding 7 days of film based fun and frolics as well as lots of learning, networking and partying.

Catch the latest and hottest short films from emerging women filmmakers here and abroad, and don't miss once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to hear direct from Afghan women filmmakers, director of stunning Indian doc Goddesses, and one of the pioneering producers of Nigerian Nollywood.

This year our retrospective focus is Screen Seductrices: Vamps, Vixons and Femme Fatales - where cinema's earliest sex symbols, including Louise Brooks and Greta Garbo, vamp it up to specially commissioned live musical accompaniment from the likes of Bishi and Natalie Clein.

Special events include a Sex on Screen Debate, a director's masterclass with Mary Harron (American Psycho), a Last Laugh Comedy Event celebrating our recent comedy feature film initiative with Warp X, and of course the Closing Night Awards Party - with an amazing line up of live acts & DJs.

Once again we give you a glimpse of things to come at our innovation strand, featuring music videos, fashion films and incredible new dance-meets-motion-capture project from film/game designer Katie Ellwood.

As ever, we are also doing our bit to equip the next generation of Campions, Coppolas and Chadhas as we bring together an unbeatable line-up of the nation's top film training organisations (including BAFTA, Shooting People, and Script Factory), to host a series of brain-bending .

Let us know what you think if you attend any events and we'll include the best of your commentary in a special women and film section in Subtext Issue 8.

Bloody Books

Maturely side stepping numerous puns and word play from the lexicon of menstruation I shall delve delicately into a little buzz about My Little Red Book, a delightful anthology of first periods collected from women of all ages and from all over the world by Rachel Kauder Nalebuff.

I say delightful, but what would I know all I've read is a review, what I mean is to make polite applause. We at Subtext have had our flirtations with period politics, and there's a tonne of lovely zine action going on around the subject but a lovely, well formed, paperback really hammers home the message that it's not so beastly to bleed.

Check out the website, buy a book and peruse the fantastic non profit organisations the book will be helping out at your leisure.

Charlotte

Armchair Action: Put Your Foot Down Before International Women's Day

While we all love a rally, a march, a conference, mixing with the other feminists in real life for chatting and debating and joining together into a huge giant feminist who can save the world, there is still much to be said for feminist finger clicks.

Action Aid is a rather wonderful charity who do lots of rather wonderful things (including their riotous Bollocks to Poverty parties) Before International Women's Day (you know it's March 8th, right?) Action Aid need to collect 2876 virtual shoes to represent each of the 2876 women who contract HIV every day an epidemic borne of various forms of violence against women, so get online, make your pledge and ask your friends and families to do the same.

Once the petition comes to an end YCN and artist Riitta Ikonen will be creating some lovely art, so remember to keep your eyes peeled or follow Riita's blog.

The campaign is currently running on 2252 signatures, not many to go so sign the petition and put your foot down now!

Charlotte

International Women's Day, a Website, the World

International Women’s Day is the highlight in many a feminists calender with a splurge of educational, interesting and exciting events - we’ve already blogged about some plans organised by the Million Women Rise March in London - now you can see what’s happening across the globe.

The International Women’s Day website will act as a single source for women’s celebrations all over the world, with the opportunity for users to upload their events or search their country for anything happening in the name of IWD. Get online and get involved, and don’t forget to check out the International Women’s Day timeline and find out when and how the event got started.

You can also follow @Reuters_Women on Twitter for updates

Charlotte

Cross Posted @ The Femilist

Invasion of The Chubsters - Queer Fat Punks Invade the BFI

Bless all the Chubsters, saying no to fatphobes the only way a true gang knows how with fists. They're invading the BFI, this is a straight up repost from their facebook page.

The Chubsters have been working on a secret project to invade the British Film Institute during the 2009 London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. We're going to present a special event at the festival, involving bad behaviour, archive film clips and a programme of cutting edge short films by and about fat queers. There will be opportunities for people to get jumped-in as Chubsters too, with badges and membership cards for those who take the plunge.

This event is likely to sell out, so book early.

Event details
LLGFF ticket information


Invasion of The Chubsters
Sunday 29 March 2009
18:20
NFT3
BFI South Bank
Waterloo
London SE1 8XT

PS Don't forget to check out the Allyson Mitchell retrospective at the film fest too, and Beth Ditto is introducing an event about The Raincoats – yay!

Check out the Chubsters website for info on gang rules, chub life and watch their gang video.

Charlotte

Playboy Open To Strategic Change of Direction

I'm no fan of the exploitation and commodification of women, even less when purveyors of such tosh have a sideline in the targeting of the tweens so when Playboy suffered a net loss of $156.1 million at the end of 2008 I became vaguely giddy.

Playboy now say they're up to suggestions for strategic changes of direction, my first would be to get out now while they still have their profits, invest into charities and organisations that support women who suffer from the end game of the endless sexualisation of women (I know, I'm out of control)

Realistically though, once they've cut some jobs, closed the NY office, once they've brought the 'cost structure in line with current market realities' there is that ripe audience of young girls, unaware of the implications of that cute bunny rabbit on their bedding, their pencil cases, their inappropriate apparrell with a seemingly endless resource of pocket money.

This year may be the year you keep a closer look at their output beyond the magazine, there's always time to Bin the Bunny

Charlotte