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I’m going to put it right out there – I don’t care about sports. When they (okay, more like their cultural followings) aren’t irritating and enraging me, they are just plain boring me. I didn’t watch a minute of the Olympics (but, like my qualms about the SuperBowl, my qualms about the Olympics are fodder for another post). However, the interwebs inform me that I have been missing out on Johnny Weir, a fantastic, controversial, sh*t stirring figure skater who is threatening the masculinity of male professional athletes, commentators, and spectators everywhere. Also, he reminds people of Lady Gaga (another recent pop figure to make everyone feel uncomfortable about sexuality). Apparently that’s funny.

Of course, Johnny Weir is actually friends with Lady Gaga, so he’s probably not too offended here.  He also has a sweet exhibition routine to Poker Face.  But I wouldn’t expect these late night talk show guys to know much of anything about figure skating outside of the Olympics, Lady Gaga, or what is cool anyway.

From Feministing:

You can understand why Johnny Weir makes commentators, even figure skating commentators, so very uncomfortable. He’s an especially elegant skater who wears formfitting and sparkly costumes (yes, even more formfitting and more sparkly than one usually sees in figure skating) and who really emotes on the ice.

How sad is it that this is undeniably true?  Johnny is clearly comfortable with his sexuality, stating “I don’t feel the need to express my sexual being because it’s not part of my sport and it’s private. I can sleep with whomever I choose and it doesn’t affect what I’m doing on the ice, so speculation is speculation.”  The fact that he is not a typical heterosexual male and that he won’t give nervous and bigoted people the excuse to write him off as gay means that he can’t be neatly compartmentalized, and that means he might be like them – or worse, they might be like him.

From Bitch:

In response to two Quebecois commentators who spoke derogatorily of Weir and said he should take a gender test, Weir responded by issuing an awesome statement that touched on identity, free speech, life in the public eye, and the changing acceptance of gender.

You can find the whole clip of Weir’s statement at the Bitch post.  Some highlights from his response: “I’m not somebody to cry about something or to feel weak about something. I felt very defiant when I saw these comments. I felt that it wasn’t… these two men criticizing my skating, it wasn’t them criticizing my… anything. It was them criticizing me as a person. And that was something that really frankly pissed me off more than anything. So I felt like I had to make a comment and statement that I hope more kids cans grow up the same way that I did. That more kids feel the freedom that I feel to be themselves and to express themselves.”

Also, this:  “I think masculinity is what you believe it to be. To me, masculinity…it’s all my perception. And I think I think masculinity and femininity is something that’s very old fashioned. There’s a whole new generation of people that aren’t defined by their sex or their race or who they like to sleep with. I think as a person you know what your values are and what you believe in and that’s the most important things.”

Right on, dude.  We need more Weirs and Gagas in the world.  Maybe 25 years from now gender roles will be nostalgic and obsolete, and we can see all people for who they are instead of where they fall on the masculinity/femininity spectrum and how well that does or does not align with their physiology and sexuality.  I think Weir and Gaga are just ahead of the times.

As you can probably tell by the increase in quotes and links lately, the life of a graduate student has been catching up to me this week.  Hopefully I’ll become a more productive contributor to the blogosphere again soon, but until then, check out some of these other recent posts on my girl Gaga.  Some are celebratory, some are critical, and that’s just the way I like it – after all, if we can’t be thoughtful about things, what’s the point?

Lady GaGa Condoms, For When Your Junk Just Has To Look Insane [Celebuzz]

The “Bad Romance” singer is promoting a line of prophylactics created by fashion designer Jeremy Scott in an effort to keep your carnal liaisons safe and, just as importantly, fashionable. The condoms, available through the Proper Attire condom company, will be available in electric-orange, green and pink animal prints (because what could be sexier?), and will come in studded, ribbed and sheer varieties.

It’s like Lady Gaga is doing something new and fabulous every time I turn my computer on.  I love it.

“Everyone has that… phone call of, “Oh my gosh, you won’t believe what I did last night. I was so stupid I didn’t use a condom,” and there’s all this laughter on the phone… I’ve gotten those phone calls, and it’s our job as friends to one another to say, “I don’t know why you’re laughing because it’s very serious. I really don’t feel there’s enough women who are educated about AIDS, how quickly it’s spreading, how dangerous it really is, how many people really have it, and we want to do good jobs as women who represent a sexual community and a strong independent group.”

For reals.  Too.  Cool.  I love how she’s using her fame to get important social messages across, and how she’s blowing everyone away in the process.  It’s like people thought pop stars couldn’t use their brains on their own.  Let’s shake it up!

More on their campaign at MAC Cosmetics, and additional coverage from Jezebel.

Lady Gaga fascinates me.  She makes me think.  I often find myself wanting to defend her, to whom I’m not sure.  I think she puts me on edge, makes me wonder why she does what she does, and I always come up with a self-satisfying answer.  Take her fashion statements for example.  They’re often… weird, to say the least.  They are revealing, bizarre, and often unattractive or even kind of hideous.  She does not dress like we typically expect our pop star/sex icons to dress.  And in an avant-garde, art club/theater kid misfit kind of way, that’s cool.  But I think it’s more than an angsty rebellion.  Lady Gaga’s fashion choices often make statements about how our society dictates female beauty.

Lady Gaga is thin, white, blonde, hairless…  She’s got the body of the pop star/sex icons of the last decade (Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, P!NK, Fergie, Mandy Moore, Jessica Simpson, Gwen Stefani… you know the mold), so she’s not scoring major points by presenting us with a new body type.  But what she does with that body is unusual.

Exhibit A: Body Shape

Despite having that “perfect” bod, Lady Gaga frequently distorts the way we see her body, using sharp angles, increasingly large shoulderpads, and poufs or wings to accentuate her hips.  Each of these things in moderation have been considered attractive/fashionable at one point or another, but the extremes to which she takes them have a distracting effect, creating a mismatched, unnatural body shape.

Read the rest of this entry »

Not much of a contribution of my own today, but check out these cool recent posts from other bloggers (props to Laura at Adventures of a Young Feminist for the formatting inspiration):

An analysis of Purity Balls at Jezebel:

Why is the focus solely on getting girls to protect their “purity” and so little on preventing boys from violating it? After all, I think the term “purity balls” would be much more appropriate for Christian males who pledge to remain virgins. But aside from that, there’s a laundry list of reasons why I think purity balls are not only ridiculous, but harmful to the females who are pressured into participating in them.

Part 2 of Jukebox Heroines’ defense of my girl Gaga:

Now, I know there will be some Gaga haters out there, and still others who think her and feminism are like oil and water. They never mix. Nope, sorry, they do. Those who will chid her feminism based on how she looks or the style of music she writes are guilty of the same sexism they propose to be fighting. Judge not by the outfits one wears, but by the content of their character!

A list of the top 10 best films for women in 2009 from Stiletto Revolt:

2009 has provided a lot of opportunities for female filmmakers and has brought some breakout female performances in unlikely places. A variety of films addressed women’s issues with depth, clarity, and honesty this year. After watching marathons of movies, both poignant and compelling, a compilation of the best was born.

What else have you been reading?

I have fallen in love with Lady Gaga over the past month, and this post from Jukebox Heroines on the feminist themes in her music was too awesome not to share.  If you are interested in cross-posting or guest-posting at feministhemes.com, please contact me with your ideas at misswizzle@feministhemes.com.

Lady Gaga – The Fame (2008) on (Streamline/Konlive/Cherrytree/Interscope)

Part 1:

Oh snap. Yes, I just said it. Lady Gaga’s music is feminist. Why do I say such things? Because I can back it up. And because I love her music, videos, and persona. She is the reason I have actually started to listen to pop music again. So, let me tell you about feminist music….

Why do I say that her music is feminist? Whether or not she herself claims to be a feminist, her work criticizes gender, sexuality, the body, pop culture’s representations of women, and the nature of power. This in itself is a feminist act. Now, feminism, I guess we must define in some form, considering most representations of it are: man hater, bra burner, lesbian, ugly, want power over men, bitchy, hate children…..not true. Feminism is the political and social movement for women’s social, political, and economic equality. In that social part lies music, and Lady Gaga knows exactly what she is up against in the music industry. Feminist Music therefore, can be made by anyone, male/female/trans, as long as it fulfills the goals of fighting for equality and justice based on gender.

How does she present feminist ideas? I will give you a few examples. Read the rest of this entry »

This might be reason #11 to love Lady Gaga: that crazy nutbag Fred Phelps thinks she’s evil!

From scribd via Jezebel.

Although I never expected to fall for Gaga, I must say that she has won me over somehow.  I’m not the only one who is somewhat mystified by just how she charms us, but the following quotes are a window into what pushed me over the edge.

1. She’s a strong individual, and she wants you to be, too.

“When I say to you, there is nobody like me, and there never was, that is a statement I want every woman to feel and make about themselves… I know my greatness is individual. And I want every woman to be able to say that.”

2. She knows who she is and is proud of it.

“There is never a moment that you see me that I’m not working towards something creatively. For me, it’s very simple: I’m not going to allow you to portray me in a way that is your idea of what you think I am. I know who I am and — praise the Lord! — I’m a real artist. Why is this a bad thing?”

3. She’s an outspoken ally of the LGBT community (who spoke at a Washington rally) and is open about her own sexuality as well.

“I don’t think being gay or being bisexual or being sexually free is anything that should be hidden. Everybody has a right to their secrecy, of course, but I don’t feel particularly shy about it. It is who I am.”

4. She’s known for her fashion choices, but she really knows how to accessorize.

“I think we must all remember that the ultimate accessory is the condom.”

6 more reasons to go gaga for Gaga after the jump