Hiatus

I'm sure it's pretty obvious, but Ninjas is on an entirely temporary break, which will end as soon as Nadia, Rachael and I have regular access to the internet again. But just because the blog is on hold, that does not mean the Ninja attitude should be. Keep raging, keep changing, most importantly keep loving, and we'll be back on track soon.

Kate Bornstein

From Madness Radio:
"Transsexual writer and activist Kate Bornstein on her book "Hello Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks and Other Outlaws." Kate overturns the orthodox either-or labels of male / female and straight/gay/bi with her postmodern sexuality of self-definition and fluid identity. Kate is the author of the highly successful books "My Gender Workbook" and "Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women and The Rest of Us," and her new book takes a transgressive and honest approach to what it takes to stay alive in a crazy world. www.katebornstein.com"

Now I have to admit that I haven't read this book yet, nor am I all that familiar with Kate Bornstein (though I feel like I'm going to be very soon), but I read this excerpt from Hello Cruel World and I wanted to post it here:

• Sex doesn’t have to mean marriage, children, or even I love you.
• Sex can be right this minute or next year some time. You get to decide. And you get to change your mind about that whenever you want to.
• Sex can be a passionless quickie.
• Sex can be any way you imagine it can be. Sex doesn’t have to be any way you don’t want it to be.
• Sex doesn’t have to be with one person all the time or even with one person at a time. Sex doesn’t have to be with anyone but yourself. You get to control the guest list.
• Sex doesn’t have to happen with anyone of the same race, religion, gender, age, class, education level or body type as you.
• And sex doesn’t have to be for free. You can buy, sell, or trade sex for things if you need and want to do that.
• Sex doesn’t mean you’re a slut or a whore, unless of course that’s what you’d like to be.
• Sex doesn’t have to be genital and you don’t have to do it in private.
• Sex doesn’t have to end with an orgasm for everyone.
• During sex, you can be any gender, age, race, class, animal, object or alien life-form that you’d like to be as long as you both or all agree that’s what you’re safely being together.
• Sex doesn’t have to be in the missionary position.
• Sex doesn’t have to happen on the bed in a bedroom in the dark.
• Sex can be really yummy, sick-o, gross, painful, scary, bloody and/or degrading when you all or both agree to do it that way safely and respectfully together.
• Sex can be hilariously funny.
• Sex can be a lovely gift you give someone or someone gives you.
• Sex can be a blessing, a prayer, and a generous act of healing.
• Sex can involve costumes, props and a script.

I can't totally explain why, but this just kind of blew my mind. It's all these things that I already know about sex, and love about sex, that very few people in contemporary media and even Gen Sex academic literature acknowledge. I just wanted to celebrate some balls to the wall sex positivity and encourage everyone to check out the interview at Madness.

"Thin. Hairless. Nipped and Tucked. Plastic Fantastic. Is this all right? Or is it all white?"

Brought to my attention by Beet, and positively fucking wonderful

Meet the Muffia


"Frustrated by a lack of feminist debate, Sinead King and Katie O'Brien have been out on the streets flashing their merkins as the Muffia – the latest in a long line of outspoken female performance artists..."

"Under the guise of the Muffia, they started asking questions of their own. Why don't we resent the way the media portrays women? Does no one care that women are mutilating themselves with cosmetic surgery? Why do so few young women know what feminism is?"

"O'Brien explains that their aim is "to use our bodies on the street to generate ideas and engage with people.""

Check out the whole article, it's a good read and has a nice, quick history of feminist performance art.

Ditto on what Nadia said- we're not on hiatus, just very busy (and today, sick and stuffy).

I wanted to share 2 quotes that I found in a zine that I accidentally stole from the bathroom of a party.

"...and everybody wants to breathe and nobody can breathe and some people say 'We'll be able to breathe later'..."

"People who talk about Revolution and class struggle without referring explicitly to everyday life, without understanding what is subversive about love and what is positive in the refusal of constraints, such people have a corpse in their mouth."
-Raoul Vaneigem The Revolution of Everyday Life

And
THE SEXUALLY FLUID
PERSON'S GUIDE TO A
SEAMLESSLY UNEVENTFUL
COMING OUT.
BY AMY YORK RUBIN

We've had it up to HERE

Haven't posted much in a while. It's been busy at the ninja-house. Nevertheless, I thought I would write a short note assuring everyone that we're definitely not on hiatus; we're just attending to other things at the moment.

Anyway, I heard this song today and although Gwen Stefani is currently busy with other things (i.e. babies' poop), at one point in her life she certainly did her part in spreading our kind of message. So without further ado, here's No Doubt's 1995 answer to patriarchal society, "Just A Girl."

Trya Lambastes Young Girls with Budding Sexualities

And boys will be boys, I guess.

http://jezebel.com/5177594/tyra-tackles-teen-trend-of-sexting

Submitted by: Tassia

I was watching The View yesterday and I saw this interview and what preceded it. Regardless of politics I think the message behind this interivew is important (at least until they start talking about twitter).



Submitted by: Robyn

Captured on film! A fine Feminist Ninja specimen, on her way to the hospital for a busted open foot... Stay strong, sweet chariot. I said, motherfucker stay strong.

p.s. Who else is in love with Boobie Censorship? And censored by her own boob? OH! THE IRONY!

i don't want to be a girlfriend....

because then my opinions will only be as valid as yours
because I would rather be known as me, not your girlfriend
because I don't want you to be my only friend
because I don't want to get stale
because I don't want you getting in the way of what I have to do
because relationships don't mean shit anymore
because I don't want to have to change my FB status
because I'm not going to let you pay for all my dinners
because I like seeing movies with my girlfriends more
because I think I'm prettier than you deserve
because I'm not inclined to holding hands in public
because I don't like sharing my bed
because I don't need you to comfort me when I feel sad
because I don't want to deal with your parents
because I don't want to hear about your exes
because I don't want to cook dinner with you everynight
because I don't want to turn down a party to stay home when you're sick
because I don't want to give up my social life
because I don't need a man to tell me how to behave
because being your girlfriend is like putting down my fists and submitting

I'm fed up with men thinking that relationships have to exist on the 'boyfriend/girlfriend' level. Relationships should be mutual and I would prefer to be a partner in them. The minute we label our significant others based on gender is the minute we undermine them. I guess that brief rant was very personal and a little bit bitter but I think those sentiments apply to all the situations I have been in lately. Anyone?

Submitted by Stephanie Christiano, via Facebook

Responses from Facebook--> Keep it going, keep it going!:

Keri:
It's funny, I've been thinking about the difference between the labels and meeting associated with the "boyfriend/girlfriend" dynamic a lot lately.
Mind if I post this on the blog?

Stephanie:
go for it.

it's all semantics, the idea of a label. if i call someone my 'boyfriend' i'm inclined to be faithful. If not, it's fair game and vice versa for him. But then there's double standards that are imposed upon us, even in the progressive community, that the label girlfriend only perpetuates.

Arjun:
i agree. i hated being a boyfriend. i'd rather just be somebody's friend. just feel, don't label. i like feeling strongly about people, but i want to be me. not yours. or his. or hers. it's amazing how a label changes things, but it's more amazing how a person's feelings change because of the labels applied to them. not necessarily in a good way.

Erika:
Oddly enough, I'm a person who actually likes labels to a certain extent -- it makes things easier to define. My relationship is pretty much a classic, monogamous boyfriend/girlfriend relationship, and I call it that.However, if people don't wish to define their relationships in a certain way I don't think anything should get in their way, societal expectations included :)

Rachael:
I think what rings true the most to me about the boyfriend/girlfriend label dilemma is that it is a double edged, hard sword to swallow. It's one of those things that I KNOW should not care about... I'm not a big fan of defining my relationships with people against the framework of dominant society because its foundation is a hollow pit filled with all the dead, white penises of the past, BUT it's this same bankrupt, vapid society that makes me yearn for some sort of title, award, button, "I Voted" sticker... SOMETHING that proves to the world that despite my mostly self-perpetuated, incredibly deep-rooted insecurities and apparent shortcomings, I AM worth it to someone. I guess my unwanted desire to call someone my "boyfriend" or "girlfriend" probably just stems from an overall paranoia of existing in this society all alone and being eaten by the voracious wolves we call contemporary culture... Oh, and Tyra.

Feminist Ninjas:

I stole this question from the (in)Sanity of Gender workshop and I was interested in what the FN community has to say about it. I'm personally still working on my response to this nice, juicy fat one. So tell me...

10 Things you never (and will never) tell your father.

GO!

Sorry for the lull in posting. It's been a stressful couple of weeks for some of us Ninjas. But in the meantime we've been talking A LOT about what direction we want to take this, so keep reading, keep raging, and we'll keep you posted.

Anyway, sometimes it's really nice to just pause and appreciate some rad, pro woman, smile inducing things when you can. Here are mine (SOME of mine. By all means not all inclusive). Submit yours!

1) Bitch Magazine.
I mean, obviously. The most recent issue had an interview with a female prison abolitionist, an article on the EU studies on the impact of gender normativity in advertising, a shout out to Summer Heights High, and of course a cameo by the Ninjas' First Lady, Tyra Banks.

2) Girls who dance.
Actually, people who dance. But I do feel like there's something pretty excellent and almost radical about hanging out with a bunch of chicks who love to fucking move. And in a similar vein...

3) America's Best Dance Crew.
MTV is like a festering parasite of problematic gender and racial media representations. But I really dug this show. And Beat Freaks were just too fucking cool.

4) My roommates.
It has to be said, there are so many lovely and empowering things about living with these two ladies. Ninjas, of course, being one of them.

5) Baking, cleaning, and knitting.
As well as: smoking, rioting, writing, pretty often not cleaning even when I should, driving fast, kick ball, poker, getting dressed up, beer, sitting around in my underwear for a few days, eating “too much.”
Let's stop gendering this shit and I think we'll be on the right track.

6) This poem, absolutely (Stolen from feministing.com)

"One day I'll give birth to a tiny baby girl
and when she's born she'll scream
and I'll tell her to never stop

I will kiss her before I lay her down at night
and will tell her a story so she knows
how it is and how it must be for her to survive

I'll tell her to set things on fire
and keep them burning
I'll teach her that fire will not consume her
that she must use it"

-Nicole Blackman, "Daughter"

As always, Love and Rage,
Keri

We just received this email, and it's really thought provoking and certainly something that we didn't consider when first forming the Ninjas. Let us know you think about it.

To Whom It May Concern:

I am Erin ____ and am a third generation Asian-American woman. I admire your cause at least in part but I find it appalling and degrading that your organization so casually appropriates the symbols of another culture with not so much as a mentioning of the source of it. The ninja while popular in Japanese culture and prevalent due to internet memes/movies/etc in the West, it is still a part of the culture from which it originated. However, the implications of that term are present.

The term ninja really only invokes negative things, personally: first, the high-kicking, screaming Asian-as-marital-artist-and-nothing else feeling. It's a symbol of exoticization in the West at least, and an alienating one; it's Japanoserie writ large and made apparently netural by ubiquity. 'Man, look at those Asians over there, I bet they're ninjas! Let's ask them if they can teach us martial arts, etc.' To tote the term around without recognizing its implications and cultural baggage hurts me, as a woman, and as an Asian-American. If I were to tell people I was a 'feminist ninja,' the racial implications to the passerby would be quite different if I were white, no?

Furthermore, if you called yourselves the Feminist Apaches, the Feminist Mau Mau, or the Feminist Fighting Irish it'd probably raise eyebrows since it appropriates racial identity at least in part and reinforces the old notion of Asian-As-Foreign (at least implicitly). Furthermore, for those of us who remember the atrocities of World War II committed by the Japanese, they may be loath to so adopt such an uncompromisingly Japanese term for a cold-blooded, sneaky assassin to refer to themselves. If you had called yourself the Feminist Irgun, wouldn't that alienate and offend your Palestinian or otherwise Middle Eastern members while insulting your Israeli ones by appropriating part of their identity and/or history?

Why can't we just be feminists? Again, your efforts are great and strong but I feel that a reconsideration of the implications of your group name is important.

Cheers,

Erin

Baby killin' time, Ninjas.

"Feminism encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians."
(Rev. Pat Robertson, 1992 Republican Convention)

Submitted by: Emily R

My deep gratitude to Matilda and my parents' inability to hide things well

"Having power isn't nearly as important as what you decide to do with it. And Matilda had in mind something heroic."

When I was much, much younger, a relative or family friend or some other good intentioned person bought Matilda for my family. I remember it very clearly for two reasons:
1) It was my favorite movie of all time for ages and
2) My parents, after seeing the movie themselves, decided it was massively inappropriate and hid it from me. I would always find it in the wrong video box, stashed on top of the cabinet in the living room, under their bed.

People always laugh when I tell them that. It's as ridiculous as them not letting me watch Power Rangers (sorry mom and dad!). I think I still suffer some kind of social anxiety because I can't tell you any of the Power Rangers' names. I always thought they were just being irrational. An 8 year old girl can surely handle a PG rated movie! She's the exact audience target for this movie!

I'm watching it tonight as a 20 year old woman, and I think I'm beginning to understand why my parents hid that movie from me.

Matilda is much much more than a spunky 8 year old. She's a role model for the burgeoning feminist or youth activist. She puts Abbie Hoffman to shame. She gets us while we're young. She's an intelligent, articulate, powerful young woman. Those words don't go together in mass media. A young person rightfully opposing and changing an oppressive institution. A young person organizing other young people against the institution. A young woman leading this organization. A young woman who took complete agency and control over her education. A young woman utilizing the anger and oppression directed at her and, literally, turning it into amazing power. A young woman actively dismissing an oppressive and sexist family structure in favor of a single, independent mother in an established prowoman space. Matilda is a radical, radical chick. If that little 8 year old badass was real, and grew up, I have a feeling we'd have a full blown revolution right now.

Those are some intense values to be instilling in any 8 year old. I'm sure my parents wanted to hammer in "Always say Please and Thank You," or "Excuse yourself from the dinner table," before building a foundation for a radical political future. My parents are fantastic in their support of the choices that I make, but let's just say that I don't think they were looking at 8 year old me imagining I'd be an activist.

Every once in awhile the house would be empty, or my aunt would be babysitting, and I'd push a chair up to the cabinet where I knew they hid the Matilda VHS tape. I'd climb up the chair, grab the tape, wipe the dust off, and pop it in. Occasionally my parents would catch me, yell a bit, and hide the tape somewhere else (which I'd later find). But usually I'd get to watch it all the way through. I never really wanted to be Britney Spears, or Mandy Moore, are whatever us kids were into those days. But did I think it would be rad to be Matilda? Fuck yeah.

So here I am in college, just starting to find my way to the kind of activism Matilda embodied at 8 years old. Maybe my parents wish they hid Matilda a little better right now. Somehow I think they might be ok with it though. To be honest, and correct me if I'm wrong mom (I'm told she's started reading Ninjas), a little part of me thinks that maybe they wanted me to keep finding it each time. I just had to go through the trouble of looking. It's either that, or they were just really bad at hiding.

Toward the end of the movie, the Danny Devito voiceover says this:

"As bad as things were before, that's how good they became"

I think this is what I want most for all us feminists, radicals, activists, change-makers, whatever you want to identify yourself as. I think that's what I mean when I say I want social change.

(And did I pause while writing this article to dance around during the scene where Matilda makes breakfast with her powers?
...Yes. Yes I did.)

Choices, Choices, and more Choices

My email box has just been inundated with a couple of awesome pro-choice events, so I figure I'll let the rest of the Fem-tastic world know so that we can maybe go together and get a cup of coffee afterwards, eh? One Voice to Save Choice Panel Discussion

Date and Time: Mar 2 2009 - 7:00pm / 9:00 pm

On Monday, March 2, the NYCLU and One Voice to Save Choice will sponsor a panel discussion on the importance of passing the Reproductive Health Act, legislation that will modernize New York's abortion laws and ensure reproductive rights are protected in the future.

The panel will include Silda Wall Spitzer, former first lady of New York, Galen Sherwin, director of the NYCLU Reproductive Rights Project, and Louise Melling, director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project.

The discussion will begin at 7 p.m. and take place at the Congregation Rodeph Sholom at 7 W. 83rd St. in Manhattan. Please be sure to RSVP by sending and e-mail to voicechoice@crsnyc.org.

-----AND------

Commemorating the 1969 Redstockings Abortion Speakout

Join us in celebrating the 40th anniversary of the 1969 Redstockings Abortion Speakout, where women first spoke publicly about their then-illegal abortions.
Women testified about their dangerous experiences with back-alley abortions, or having to bring a pregnancy to term and give the baby up for adoption. The historic event took place here in the West Village to a crowd of 300 people. Speakouts then spread around the country like wildfire, sparking the Women's Liberation Movement that has won us Roe and so much more.

Panelists will discuss this historic event and how we can use this history in our activism today to win more. Literature and CDs from the Redstockings Archive will be available for sale at a low cost (all proceeds benefit the Archive).

Date: Thursday, March 5th, 2009 from 7 - 8:30pm
Location: Judson Memorial Church
239 Thompson St (at West 3rd St) in the Assembly Hall
Subway: ACE/BDFV to West 4th
More Information: Erin Mahoney at 646-853-7100
www.birthcontrolproject.org
Sponsored by The Women's Liberation Birth Control Project and Social Wage Committee with inspiration and source materials from the Redstockings Women's Liberation Archive

-----ALSO------ Drop the Rock Advocacy Day 2009

Tuesday, March 10, Albany

YOU can help repeal the Rockefeller Drug Laws.

On Tuesday, March 10, New Yorkers will have an historic opportunity to promote the repeal of the Rockefeller Drug Laws. On this day, Drop the Rock’s grassroots coalition will unite hundreds of people from across the state to meet with legislators and pressure policy makers to enact repeal.

Get on the bus! Buses to Albany are leaving from throughout NYC.

• Drop the Rock Advocacy Day Flyer 2009
• Register today: Participant sign-up form Advocacy Day 09
• Organizations interested in participating in Advocacy Day should complete this form by February 24: DTR Organization participation form Advocacy Day 09

If you have any questions please contact Caitlin Dunklee, Drop the Rock Coordinator, at 212-254-5700 x 339 or cdunklee@correctionalassocaition.org.

If you are on parole or probation, and need a letter in order to join us for Advocacy Day, please contact Caitlin Dunklee, Drop the Rock Coordinator, at 212-254-5700 x 339 or cdunklee@correctionalassocaition.org.

Live Loudly,

Rachael

Women's Herstory Month Open Mic!

To all of our wonderfully artistic and poetic ninjas (and to those who love them), there's a slamming event coming up on March 2nd:

Join WHM for Open Mic as we kick-off the month with
a celebration of women as changemakers. The event
will feature Celena Glenn, two-time National Poetry Slam
champion. We invite students to "mouth off"
and perform poetry, music, and dance that reflect the month's theme.
Refreshments will be served.

Shoring Performance Studio, Room 802
Kimmel Center for University Life
60 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10003
March 2nd
7:30 PM

Doors Open @ 7:15

Check it out kids!

The Ninja's final word on Exposure til Disclosure and the TBNYU occupation

Alright everyone, I think we all can agree this has gotten a little silly.
This is the last post the Ninjas will be making about the protests of the last week, unless a member submits something related to it.

It's been hard to process everything since Thursday. I've had my feminism questioned because I chose to be naked in a political and nonsexual way, because we were smiling and dancing while doing so (to quote the fantastic Emma Goldman, "If I can't dance, I don't want to be part of your revolution."), because we were smoking (REALLY?). I've been called awful things, and a few terribly nice things. I've been offered breast implants and violence on a pretty much equal scale.

In sum, I've been spending way too much time on the internet.

I've said my piece in defense of our actions, and I stand behind them fully. As an activist, I believe strongly in the strength of your convictions. I also believe in admitting your mistakes, so I'll do so.

I regret not getting the full consensus of the occupiers before carrying out this protest. Many TBNYU-ers have been overwhelmingly supportive (apparently a similar protest had been discussed by the group earlier), but I would like to officially apologize for any distraction our action might have caused.
The same apology is extended to any Ninja who feels like they were alienated by this particular decision. We still stand entirely for free expression of individuals, and this was Nadia, Emily, and I using that free expression. We encourage anyone who disagreed to submit their concerns to us to continue the productive conversation.
More foresight and preparation for public reaction probably wouldn't have hurt. I spent the weekend inundated in the reactions of others, and coming out of it I'm ready to say that even given that foresight I would have done exactly the same thing. But it still would have been nice.

That said, I'm so extremely grateful for the conversation that has come out of this. Issues of body-hatred, appropriate forms of protest, forced sexualization, freedom of expression, what it means to be a feminist, and many other have been circulating in this blog and in other forums, and I think it's totally 100% rad to have people thinking about these things in complicated ways, even if they vehemently disagree with our actions.

My reasoning for placing myself in solidarity with TBNYU is pretty straightforward. I am investing my future in NYU. I have no confidence that NYU is investing anything in its students. There NEEDS to be some kind of accountability on the part of the administration toward the students, and right now there is absolutely none. If I'm going to walk into the world with the NYU name permanently attached to me, then I INSIST upon greater student involvement in issues concerning how this university is run.

Both the actions of TBNYU and our action of solidarity have elicited such strong reactions on both sides of the debate. On our part, yes, many people are seeing the images as appropriated by the media and saying "Hey! Boobs!" But even if they're saying "Boobs!" and then "Take Back NYU?", that still lands them at Take Back NYU. Our protest was not senseless nudity, and there's no way to separate the images from the intent. As things begin to quiet down, I'm confident that the levelheaded and intelligent on both sides are going to begin to ask "Why?" Why did these students feel compelled to take such strong, loud, and inflammatory actions? Whether or not you agree with the tactics of TBNYU!, everyone is currently talking about their actions and their demands. There is an active conversation on how to better address issues such as budget disclosure, university policy, and how an administration should interact with their students. This was not a reality at our university before. The conversation has transcended a single, contained group and an administration that would not by any means acknowledge us. Now it's on the tongues of both students and administration. That, my Ninja friends, I consider a success.

There's a lot to be said about the blatant woman hatred and misogyny that was aimed at Nadia and I by the oh so complex anonymity of the internet, but that's an issue not exclusive to us and trying to analyze these pretty common attacks probably isn't productive when I really just want to sharpen my theoretical Ninja sword and go to town.

So I'll end on a positive note with a comment at NYUlocal.com by Lauren Levy that just made me all smile-y
"Your action made this old second-wave feminist feel hopeful and proud — and so does your articulate explanation of the issues. When you evoke so much explicit woman hating, you know you’re onto a taboo that needs exposure. So — I’ll be watching your web page to see when you might be doing it again, maybe 60 year old nipples would add a useful dimension to the statement (and I know the woman haters love to see old nipples)."

And one more from Emma Goldman
" Every effort for progress, for enlightenment, for science, for religious, political, and economic liberty, emanates from the minority, and not from the mass."

Love and Rage
Keri

A few words:

I wrote this is my journal a few days ago:

“This week: unbelievable, empowering and debilitating at the same time. I still do not have words for Thursday afternoon. Something took over me, and goddamn, it was wonderful."

It is now early, early Tuesday morning and I still feel this way. All in all, the entire week was a clusterfuck of emotions. I’m amazed by the amount of coverage my actions received, upset at some of that coverage’s take on my actions, nonplussed by the number of hateful, mean-spirited and judgmental comments left here and everywhere the story was printed, appalled by people’s decision to question the feminist ideals of both Keri and I (Keri, in particular, since she is one of the few real feminists I have ever met), but mostly, mostly, I’m ecstatic. Ecstatic because I stood up for something and, in my humblest of opinions, it worked.

Yes, that’s right, I firmly believe that my decision to protest topless worked. If it hadn’t, you might not be reading this; you might not have perused through dozens of websites for information about the occupation.

And if you criticize me for that, well so be it. After all, as humans, we have that right. I did what I did with one and only one intention: to bring attention to TBNYU’s efforts. There were never any other motives. I apologize for those who thought/think/will think otherwise because that was and is still not the case.

Plus, there are 6,706,993,152 people in the world. Meaning there are more than 3,000,000,000 women out there. Women with breasts. It’s really not that big of a deal.

That is all.
Peace, love, empathy
Nads

A conversation between Farah, a TBNYU! organizer and occupier, and Keri Ninja

hi keri,
i agree with banu, i think you should do the interviews - esp to correct the misuse of your protest, because that's important regardless of what we did. but also thanks for keeping the main focus on our action, and of course thanks so much for your solidarity and support (it was cold out there!).

i had a personal question i wanted to ask, though. as a self-styled super militant feminist, i totally love your name, but i definitely had some issues with the form of your protest. watching from the window, as soon as your shirts were off, everyone took their cellphones out and were snapping pictures (including asshole guys in the so-called "activist" crowd). also, within the room, a couple of guys made some really stupid comments (something to the effect of, oh awesome, boobs!) - again, so-called "activist" guys. these things made me feel very angry, as well as alienated and disrespected by the guys i thought were on my side. of course, a lot of blame falls on them for being misogynist assholes who can talk all day long about class privilege but refuse to address their own sexism.

but i have to ask, given that you *know* how people are going to react and interpret your strategic nudity as nothing more than super-hot boobs, don't you think that your choice of protest is playing right into the hands of the patriarchy? to put it another way - i have no problem with nudity in and of itself, but is it really "agency" when you're using the same methods (female nudity) that the patriarchy uses to oppress women?

those were my thoughts, and the reason why i wasn't entirely happy with your actions. i'd love to hear your response, and to have a dialogue with you (and the other feminist ninjas?) about this - and possibly meet up with you all at some point soon, because i would really love to become a feminist ninja (does it require any martial arts skills? because i have none whatsoever).

thanks!
farah
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Farah,
Hey! I just want to say that I'm really glad to be having these conversations, and I'm happy that people are asking me these questions and giving these criticisms. It's been challenging me to really examine my actions and my intent, and I think that's CRUCIAL for any activist. I'll try to address your questions the best I can.
Here goes!
I don't find nudity inherently sexual, which is maybe my mistake. Nor do I believe it has to become a sexual act just because certain people have superscribed their opinions onto our actions. I stand by that choice because even if people are seeing boobs first, there is no way to claim that this particular show of nudity was just two girls running around topless. Ultimately, it was two girls topless in an act of protest. I think there is a difference there. Even the most misogynistic comments are linking back to Feminist Ninjas (which links everyone to TBNYU!) or to other information about the occupation.
Really, I never feel NOT objectified in New York City. Regardless of how much I do or do not cover myself, a sexualization of my body is forced on me by a lot of people. It has taken a long time for me to just embrace the love I have for my body and understand that no matter what I do, because I am a woman who looks a certain way, I am going to be perceived sexually by a lot of people. This does not mean I will not use my body with force. The papers were commenting on the appearances of everyone, including the occupiers. Had we done the protest in another, more covered way, people still would have said "and there was a mass of cute/hot/ugly/hippie/whatever protesters."
We did just do an interview with a woman last night who asked a similar question. Basically, at that point of the rally y'all were in Kimmel, using your bodies to physically occupy that space at great risk to yourselves. We wanted to use our bodies to express our solidarity. Protests with voice, fliers, signs, are all pretty fantastic, but a protest really becomes radical when bodies are involved (occupations, die ins, chaining yourself things, and nudity).
Also, the fact that it was just women was a fluke. The Ninjas have a bunch of male supporters. One of them was actually on the way to the rally, but got there after we stopped. Don't quite know what he would have done, but that would have been up to him.
Feminists reappropriate their own nudity all the time, in art, in film, in protest. Sometimes I think it'd be a hell of a lot easier for me to be a feminist if I didn't have a body (body hatred is definitely something that I deal with in an ongoing way), but I figure that as long as I've got one, I'm going to use it, and I'm going to use it fucking loudly.
I do think a big part of the way our protest was perceived was that people have a really really hard time digesting female nudity when it doesn't exist to get some guy's dick hard. I think it's very confusing to people. We were topless, not asking for sexual attention, not asking for comment on our appearance, not asking for people to find us attractive. We were asking them to pay attention.
Nadia and I both plan on posting personal reflections on the blog by the end of the day. I hope this addressed some of your questions, even if you still don't agree with our actions. And the Ninjas would be ecstatic to have you! No martial arts skills necessary (except martial arts ... of the brain...)
I'm thinking about posting your email and my response to the blog. Would you be ok with that?
Thanks for your email! As always, support and love for TBNYU!

Keri
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
hey keri,
thanks so much for your response! i really enjoy these conversations, because i dont think we have enough of them, and it's so important to keep feminism(s) moving forward. your reasoning makes a lot of sense, and i'm currently digesting it all - there's a lot of murky areas surrounding the use of women's sexuality/bodies in subversive ways, and i have very mixed and confused feelings about it.

i'd love to join! do you have regular meetings or is it more of an informal ninja-ing? either way please let me know next time you're doing anything.

of course, feel free to post our conversation. also, i'm currently talking to three other girls who are moderators on our tbnyu website, and if you'd like, we would love to post yours and nadia's reflections/responses on the website. i think it would be great to put up there.
love & (feminist) rage,
farah

Conversations: "Exposure til Disclosure" and the TBNYU! occupation

I'm wayyyy too tired to make this post right now, but I do want to keep the conversation going strong about the past couple of VERY eventful days on the New York front. We've been following all the coverage of the occupation, from the New York Times to the student reporting to other blogs and just from massive flow of voices out there you could write a book about radicalism, representation, media influence, activism, and on and on. I'm going to come back and edit this post with my own thoughts when I'm less sleep deprived and more coherent, but in the meantime I'd love to get some dialogue going in the the comments about the happenings, responses to any of the coverage, opinions about the actions taken by the student activists, anything and everything.

Also, check takebacknyu.com for update on the occupation and what went down. I don't want to try to summarize their very articulate and amazing posts so I encourage you to go there and read what these rad activists are saying. Action and support is still as necessary as before, if not more so.

So, talk talk talk. I'll be back on all of this, probably tomorrow morning/afternoon.
In the meantime, this ninja needs a cigarette, yo.

“Hunter-Gatherers and Hyper-Capitalism: The Hiding of Great Women Artists”

The question of “Where Are all the Great Women Artists?” is one that has been asked before. Art historian Linda Nochlin received acclaim for her groundbreaking 1971 essay “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” in which she finds “The question has led us to the conclusion, so far, that art is not a free, autonomous activity of a super-endowed individual, "Influenced" by previous artists, and, more vaguely and superficially, by "social forces," but rather, that the total situation of art making… are mediated and determined by specific and definable social institutions, be they art academies, systems of patronage, mythologies of the divine creator, artist as he-man or social outcast.”

In the 38 years that have passed, I find that this statement still rings true. Ways of creating art have changed, as have conditions for women and feminism in general. What I wonder now is whether the “social institutions” that Nochlin mentions have changed. As a white male it is too easy and almost simplistic for me to agree with Nochlin in her belief that conditions for women and female artists in general have improved greatly since the original publication. But I would be lying if I didn’t also see these “institutions” continue to perpetuate patriarchy and the idea of “the other.” We now see more galleries owned by women and more women become influential curators in the commercial art world. At the same time, there is still a lack of prominently featured female artists, with the statistics of major art institutions acting as logistical proof. I feel that the women who are displayed are still seen as oddities and exceptions. In this respect, female-made art works are still treated as “the other,” the “other” being treated as different and therefore inferior. This of course comes into complete conflict with what is marketable to the purchaser of fine art, and therefore what is considered valuable.

In reading over and editing statements written by the artists for this show, I found a reoccurring theme (though not in every case) of women being treated differently than men in the home, the studio, higher education and art communities of all size. Authority figures in these different institutions made their views crystal clear in direct and indirect means whether through policy or verbal communication and exercised their status to keep control. I must say I was by no means surprised. You can not discuss the lack of featured women artists without discussing capitalism and patriarchy and the relation between the two. Patriarchy came before capitalism, as hunter gatherer societies depended on women birthing children to ensure the sustainment of the group with future hunters. With the rise of the Agricultural Revolution and the creation of a surplus in goods that would set the motions in play for the rise of capitalism, capitalism worked to further engrain the lower social status of women in comparison to men.

Heidi Hartmann explained in her 1976 essay “Capitalism, Patriarchy and Job Segregation by Sex” that the division of labor was done by sex and resulted in this secondary status. Today we see a hyper-capitalism occurring with the rise of free global trade and imperialism performed by commercial means instead of direct political institutions. If what Nochlin said about the creation of art being determined by social institutions is true, then I believe we will continue to see a lack of women artists as long as these social institutions are still influenced by capitalism.

Submitted by: Eric N

NYU OCCUPATION

The Ninjas would like to express full solidarity with and support for Take Back NYU! and their occupation of Kimmel Center for Student Life. I encourage all you Ninjas in the Washington Square area to stop by the rally today at noon, or at any point during the occupation. They need all the support they can get!

More information:
NYU is the latest university to join a wave of global student occupations in the name of student empowerment. The Kimmel Center for University life is official a reclaimed space.

What you can do:
Come support the occupation!
Send a letter to the administration in solidarity
Send an e-mail to your professors, peers, listservs, facebook groups you name it! Tell the world.
Have your parent write a letter or e-mail to the university
Print & distribute the following demands from:

http://takebacknyu.com/

Love and Rage

//EDIT//
If anyone picks up any media hits re: Ninjas at the rally, send them our way! The Ninjas are out and about!
And keep it the fuck up TBNYU! You are all doing a FANTASTIC and NECESSARY thing.

//LAST EDIT TODAY I PROMISE//
First and foremost, the actions taken by the Ninjas at the rally this morning SHOULD NOT be dominating the conversation surrounding the occupation, either here or anywhere else. I'll sit down with anyone and argue to the death about our tactics and whether they were feminist or not (even if I think it's silly and ridiculous), but that's not what the day or the action was about. If you are reading this because of something you read or saw related to the occupation, then please turn your attention to TakeBackNYU! because they are still occupying and still need support from the outside.

If you want advice about how to support from here, first check out the TBNYU link above.
Here's a letter to John Sexton (prewritten) that you can sign and email http://takebacknyu.com/2009/02/20/letter-to-nyu-administration/
If you're in the New York area, there is a rally outside Kimmel at Midnight, and the more people the better. Also, there are a lot of people who have been out there for hours who I'm sure would appreciate some blankets, or at least a big bear hug.

There are at least 2 Ninjas on the inside right now (myself included, as of 9 tonight), plus 50 something other rad radical men and ladies. Think happy feminist thoughts for us!

Don't worry, we'll be returning to your regularly scheduled radical feminist blogging ASAP. If you just tuned in today since the rally, scroll through and read and if you have thoughts about our actions or this occupation, etc, we would LOVE to post them here so check the sidebar about how to submit to us. All emails, including dissenting ones, will be posted.

Be Like Others

Yet another event! I can't personally make this one but maybe you can.

Gallatin Film Series: Be Like Others
Monday 2/23
6:30 p.m.
The Jerry H. Labowitz Theatre for the Performing Arts
715 Broadway, Main Floor
In the Islamic Republic of Iran, sex-change operations are legal, but
homosexuality is still punishable by death. Iranian-American filmmaker Tanaz
Eshaghian’s intimate and unflinching film, BE LIKE OTHERS, is a fascinating
look at those on the fringes of Iranian life—those looking for acceptance
through the most radical of means.
Please join the filmmaker along with Lauren Kaminsky, Associate Faculty and
Class Adviser at Gallatin, for a discussion after the screening! Doors open at
6:00 p.m.
Co-sponsored by the Office of Student Affairs and the Graduate Filmmakers
Collective

Are We Global Citizens or Not?
An interactive evening with author, activist and NYU leadership professor Irshad Manji
Friday, February 20th, 5:30 - 7:30 pm
Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service, NYU
295 Lafayette St (at Houston), Rice Conference Room
Come to 2nd floor reception and one of the organizers will be on hand to lead you to the room.
Presented by NOW-NYU

How many times have you been told that “you can’t comment if you don’t represent?” How many times have you said that to fellow activists, believing that we shouldn’t stick our noses in other people’s business? In an interdependent world, is there such a thing as “other” people?

Irshad Manji says no; we’re all in it together. That’s what it means to be global citizens. She makes the case in her internationally best-selling book, The Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim’s Call for Reform in Her Faith. Since then, Irshad has joined NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service, where she serves as Director of the Moral Courage Project — a leadership program that mentors students to speak truth to power, even at the price of personal backlash.

Her motto: Courage is not the absence of fear; courage is the recognition that some things are more important than fear!

In that spirit, Irshad and NOW-NYU invite you to join a vibrant conversation about changing the world. On Friday evening, Feb 20, we’ll screen Irshad’s Emmy-nominated PBS film, “Faith Without Fear,” which chronicles her journey to reconcile Islam with human rights. The film raises questions about freedom, rights, responsibilities and, above all, courage. Irshad will then open up a discussion with all of us.

Bring your voices with you.

The (In)Sanity of Gender
Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009
Gallatin Student Lounge, rm. 522,
7:00 pm- 10:00pm

Presented by Campus Icarus and the National Organization for Women (NYU)

The hysterical woman, the strong and silent man…how do these stereotypes affect our self-destructive behaviors? In this workshop, we will look at how sanity has been defined for genders throughout history; how it’s been marketed to us today; and how we can distinguish the roles we’ve been given.

“My response to racism is anger. I have lived with that anger, ignoring it, feeding upon it, learning to use it before it laid my visions to waste, for most of my life. Once I did it in silence, afraid of the weight. My fear of anger taught me nothing. You fear of that anger will teach you nothing, also.
Women responding to racism means women responding to anger; the anger of exclusion, of unquestioned privilege, of racial destortions, of silence, ill-use, stereotyping, defensiveness, misnaming, betrayal, and co-optation.” -Audre Lorde, The uses of Anger: Women Responding to Racism

This is not the article I intended to write. But it's the article I'm writing.

I am depressed. I have bouts of sadness, deep and absolutely unwavering. They last for days. On those days, I fight my soul to get my body out of bed. My chest feels heavy and I become an inarticulate ball of anti-fun. I can't read more than a few lines of a book, I can't keep my head up at work, I can't form coherent sentences when I talk to my mom. I chain smoke, and try to write, and wait.

Recently, I started reading articles about depression as a feminist issue (and I'm pretty sure my good friend Tyra Banks probably has an episode or two on the phenomenon). Most of what I was reading was pretty two dimensional, unsubstantial, "women can't handle life outside the kitchen," bullshit. As expected. At the same time, I think there's a little sing song voice at the bottom of all of those studies and blog posts and op-eds that does dig a little deeper. The rampant attempts to explain why women are two times more likely to develop clinical depression is simply trying to give foundation to a fact that exists and will not go away.

Maybe it's the hormones in my brain. Maybe my estrogen is sending me through crazy woman cycles of irrationality. Ok. Biology is a good cop out. There's nothing society can do about biology (other than drug it!). There's none of that silly accountability to worry about.

But in this particular Ninja post, I'd like to challenge that. I'm not standing on the pedestal of modern psychiatry, academia, or sociology that would legitimate the next few paragraphs, so as always take it as you will and dissent loudly if you do.

I think I'm depressed because women in my family, women that I love, women that are my best friends, and myself have all been raped or sexually assaulted by men. A part of my soul dies when I am told to my face that I have been hired for a job because I'm a skinny white girl, and it happens all the fucking time. I was sitting with a friend watching "women's television" for a few hours one night, and nearly every commercial and TV show was about weight loss, exercise, being too fat, being "too" thin (but only just, don't you dare gain TOO much weight), and I turned to him and said, half kidding, "I think one day I might just die of a broken heart from all of this." I am VIOLENTLY depressed that my gorgeous, successful, intelligent, roommates and I have each acknowledged that our concerns about weight and appearance have infiltrated our every day. I'm depressed because women from my "liberal," upper middle class suburb of Boston do not have adequate access to sex education and birth control, and no one cares. I worked Riker's Correctional Facility for a few months last semester and I am depressed that the majority, if not all the people on the bus to Riker's on any given Saturday were black or Hispanic women. That my little brother contacts me on a regularly to tell me about the incidences of racism and homophobia he witnesses on a daily basis in high school, because you know "kids will be (intolerant bigots) kids." I am depressed because every time I turn on the TV, walk out of my house, attempt to buy things, or in any way move through this world I am bombarded with representations of women that encourage self-hatred, violence, generalization, objectification, and discrimination.

Y'know. It's motherfucking depressing.

I used to violently reject traditional therapy. Then I changed my mind and saw a therapist. Then I stopped, and later found another one I liked better. These things have not cured me. I never expected them to. Most websites on depression offer tips on how to control your "illness" (deviance, otherness, "why the fuck aren't you happy all the time like you're supposed to be, you must be sick"). These tips usually include: eat healthier, exercise more, develop a regular sleep schedule, avoid alcohol. I can't recommend or not recommend any of these, but I would like to postulate what we'll call a radical feminist approach to mental health.

I'll stop here and say that I understand that depression is different for every woman and man, and has to be understood and handled in your own way. At the same time, I think it's silly and absolutely erroneous to prove that women are statistically more depressed than men in a society that rejects our personhood and represents us as only worth numbers on a scale and sexual accessibility, and then say that depression is nothing more than a chemical imbalance that can be cured with pharmaceuticals and exercise.

The Feminist Ninjas, to me, is very much an expression of how I cope with my own depression. Sadness is a hard fucking emotion to cope with. Nobody ever really tells you that there is power in your sadness. But ohhhh lord. There is. If I did not feel sadness, and really absolute rage about the aforementioned, yes it would probably be a lot easier for me to wake up in the morning and jaunt about with my morning coffee and whistle all the way to work. With my anger, I have began progress on a degree in Gender Oppression, helped organize Feminist Fight Club, met some of the most fantastic and radical individuals who feel similar anger. I've created art. With an identification of my anger, I was able to find words to locate an opposite to that anger. There is a joy in awareness, and anger against this shit can fuel the revolution toward necessary change.

I don't want this to be perceived as an "angry" blog, because the connotations of that are inherently negative, and I think collective action around social wrongs is a totally positive, rad, A plus thing. But there is so much power in the anger we feel everyday, and what I've come to understand about my depression is that it always comes around when I do not exercise the power of the anger that I feel in my life. Not in a violent, lashing out, "irrational" way. This entry is a product of anger. The creation of this blog is a product of anger. Again, over and over, there is power in anger, and there is change. Therapy, medication, and a nice 3 meals a day diet can certainly improve the quality of your day to day life. I do not discourage that, for you or for myself, if that is what's right for us individually (I should really quit smoking). Anger can go beyond that, and collective anger can inspire the kind of change that means the social depression that I, and so many women I know, feel so oppressed and injured by can and will be destroyed.

Love and Rage yo,
Keri

aruba.com can suck it.

Grab those sharpies and deface these bitches, ya hear?

1st ever submissions theme!

The past two submissions that we've gotten for the blog have been somefantastic and gorgeous poems, so let's keep that going!
The inaugural weekly (biweekly? monthly? we'll see) theme is poetry. Spoken word, hip hop, sonnet, anything. Something you've written, something you've read and want to share- Send them in! Keep reading, keep raging, y'all are excellent!

Love and Rage,
Keri

clenched fists holding hands,


Submitted by: Emily

Emily Rozanski
Operations Manager and Outreach Coordinator
Fabrefaction Theatre Company
www.fabrefaction.org

1. We have chosen each other
and the edge of each others battles
the war is the same
if we lose someday
women's blood will congeal
upon a dead planet
if we win
there is no telling
we seek beyond history
for a new and more possible meeting.

2. Time collapses between the lips of strangers
my days collapse into a hollow tube
soon implodes against now
like an iron wall
my eyes are blocked with rubble
a smear of perspectives
blurring each horizon
in the breathless precision of silence
One word is made.

Once the renegade flesh was gone
fall air lay against my face
sharp and blue as a needle
but the rain fell through October
and death lay a condemnation
within my blood.

The smell of your neck in August
a fine gold wire bejeweling war
all the rest lies
illusive as a farmhouse
on the other side of a valley
vanishing in the afternoon.

Day three day four day ten
the seventh step
a veiled door leading to my golden
anniversary
flameproofed free-paper shredded
in the teeth of a pillaging dog
never to dream of spiders
and when they turned the hoses upon me
a burst of light.

- Audre Lorde, 74-year-old black lesbian feminist socialist mother of two.

Submitted by: Steve W

Fly Girls!

A delirious Nadia in the ninjahouse.

Just dropping by to point out this lovely Rick Sawyer article currently on the front page of the Jamsbio Magazine website. It chronicles the upbringing of the hip hop community through the ever so underrated female MC with a look at Soul Jazz Records’ new compilation Fly Girls! Check it out:

"Fly Girls! follows the traditional hip hop narrative, linking rapping to the black spoken word artists of the sixties and seventies. Instead of the Last Poets or Gil Scott Heron, however, Fly Girls! offers Nikki Giovanni, Camille Yarborough, and Sarah Webster Fabio as precursors to early female MCs.

Too much can be made of the similarities between black poetry and hip hop performance. Early rap had more immediate models in Jamaican toasting and disco chants, and, while some of the cadences of spoken word can be heard in the music, it’s hard to tell where those came from. It’s true that Yarborough’s “Take Yo’ Praise,” for example, finds its way into Missy Elliot, but you can’t find it in Sequence, the earliest female rap crew. Nonetheless, the inclusion of Yarborough, Giovanni, and Fabio reinforces the basic argument of the compilers: black culture was not made in a men’s room."

Listen to “Take Yo’ Praise” by Camille Yarborough

Ya Dig?

You can read the full article here.

Female Artists, Talking

Article in the New York Times' UrbanEye:

By JULIE BLOOM

Thursday, February 12, 2009

First Run Pictures

Marina Abramovic’s performance piece “God Punishing.”

Maybe “He’s Just Not That Into You,” wasn’t your idea of a perfect vehicle for talented women. If you’re looking for an alternative, try “Our City Dreams,” “a lyrical documentary about the intersection of location and imagination,” Jeannette Catsoulis writes. The debut from the director and art world scion Chiara Clemente weaves together the narratives of five very different female artists — Kiki Smith, Nancy Spero, Ghada Amer, Marina Abramovic and Swoon — and their relationship to New York. It’s at Film Forum through Feb. 17. Go early tonight to hear Ms. Abramovic and Ms. Clemente discuss the challenges of making Ms. Abramovic’s grueling, gargantuan “Seven Easy Pieces,” in person, not to mention the larger ones facing female artists, when they hold a Q. and A. at 6 p.m.

“5 Artists Inspired and Shaped by a Place,” by Jeannette Catsoulis

Things that bug me:

1. Gay men who speak badly about women, but think they are exempt from being sexist somehow. Ie: men who embrace the fetishized designer/decorator/domestic gay, the gay man who shows women how to dress and act like proper women, or "how to look good naked." I thought we always looked good naked. I think it's important to think critically about how this stereotype operates to reinforce hetergendered norms and to commodify gay men. And I think this is one example of how increased media representation of LGBTQ people is not inherently a good thing if it serves to propogate heternormativity and old-fashioned sexism.

2. Male musicians who write sympathetic songs about female sexual & domestic violence survivors they know only from news stories. It seems exploitative, and sometimes contructs the survivor as a perpetually helpless victim, and sometimes as a victim who needs saving by a man. I think that if an artist wants to utilize someone else's experience for art, proceeds should be donated to organizations that support survivors.

(and no, I'm not jumping to persecute every guy who's ever written a song that could possibly be about his mother, grandmother, sister, aunt or even himself. And I respect free expression, but not at the cost of undermining the very idea of a woman's self-empowerment and efficacy.)


Submitted by: Ashley D (via Feminist Fight Club Facebook)

http://www.atyourcervixmovie.com/

Gynocologists and OBGYNs are trained on unconscious women without their consent. Women who go in for a procedure and are anesthetized, sometimes unrelated to anything pelvic, are used by the teaching gyn and their students to practice exam techniques. These women subjects are not usually notified that anything ever happened.

seriously.


Submitted by: Emily R

"What does it mean to be born a mammal, with an emotional legacy that makes me capable of caring for others, breeding with the ovaries of a primate, possessing the mind of a human being. To be a semi-continuously sexually receptive, hairless biped, filled with conflicting aspirations and struggling to maintain her balance in a rapidly changing world?"

You should check out Sarah Blaffer Hrdy. She's an amazing Darwinian feminist scientist. The above quote is from her book on motherhood, which I'm just getting into now. It is great.

http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/1999/12/09/maternal/

She's part of a group of scientists working nowadays trying to reconcile the extreme fissions that occurred between science and political feminist groups starting in the sixties and seventies due to the creation of fields like "sociobiology" by the likes of E.O. Wilson--fields potentially ripe with positive tools, though unfortunately plagued with violent misinterpretations from both ends. I find the relationship between science and feminism to be extremely interesting, and was wondering what you thought about the matter.


Submitted by: Steve W

Inaugural Feminist Ninja Action

I'm getting massively excited about this project. And of course, even though the primary goal is first and foremost to provide a platform for all discontented voices (SUBMIT SUBMIT SUBMIT! See sidebar for directions), a secondary goal is absolutely collective action.

I'm a big fan of guerrilla tactics. So my first proposed action for the Feminist Ninjas is a reaction to Valentine's day, because who hasn't been shit-soaked with advertisements for blood diamonds, e-harmony, and fancy cars for the past month? And it's more than a little frustrating that christo-normativity dominates our capital to such an extent that our market places a gold standard on the christian consumer's dollar.

So in the spirit of friendly holiday vandalism, if you're on the subway on Saturday and you see a particularly inciting advertisement, take out a big ol sharpie/piece of paper/paint (if you're the sort that carries paint on the subway)/make some banners/etc and write what you think.
"Don't let heteronormative capitalism get you down!"
"Emotions are not a commodity"
And on and on. Believe it or not, when folks see something like that, in direct contradiction to the 34023048 ads they're so used to, they're going to AT LEAST spend some time thinking. And thinking is A fucking plus.

Sign off as a feminist ninja, take pictures, blah blah blah.

(probably required disclaimer: you should probably avoid illegal vandalism, or at least don't get arrested. For now.)

Fusion Film Festival

Nadia, here.

Thus far our wonderful friend Keri has posted two wonderfully raging blogs but this one shall be a bit different. Now that we have criticized, let's exercise our right to ACT. Allow me to elucidate:

Who: Women Filmmakers
What: NYU Fusion Film Festival
When: Feb. 26th - Mar. 1st
Where: Various locations within the NYU campus
Why: Because you love cunts with huge, badass video cameras and therefore love film festivals that inspire, promote, and showcase those wonderful women.

Link: http://www.fusionfilmfestival.com/index2.html

Spread the word, ninjas.



Submitted by: Nadia C

A favorite book of mine, Cunt by Inga Muscio (very much a woman who knows how to rage, loud and fucking proud), has a section about the importance of having a personal manifesto. To each their own, but they do come in handy when you're feeling down on the state of the world and you need a little self soul hug. I'm sticking on two pieces of my own that I keep going back to, that give me a nudge back towards the social-justice-sword-toting Keri.
I promise I won't be posting as often in the near future. Hit me up with your manifestos, credos, those things that you mumble to yourself every morning to get you going. Comment! Let's get interactive.

Silence
I will raise my voice with all the fervor, all the rage,all the clamor of the women who have had their mouths taped shut, who have been told their voices are worthless, who have clamped their teeth shut to keep from screaming. My voice will echo off the borders, will send waves crashing across the ocean. I am a woman who will never, ever be silenced.

Power
We have let men fetishize women with any semblance of physical or mental power for far far too long. We have swords, and we are no longer a sheath. Remove societal phallic connotations as we disembowel your expectations. They are what we'll use to desecrate your slave houses, your corporate rape factories. We have strength and it is not sexy- It is what keeps us alive

(p.s. I committed my first public display of ninja-ism on the F train today, but didn't manage to get a picture. My bad!)

Love and Rage

Keri's first post as a Feminist Ninja!

And it will be.... a critical reading of the January 22, 2009 New York Times Magazine article "What do Women Want?" (Full text available here (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/magazine/25desire-t.html?_r=1) and please, currently nonexistent readership, chime in!)

“A postfeminist generation of researchers is discovering things Dr. Freud could never have imagined"
Here I cringe. The word postfeminism makes me want to vomit, and the presumption that Dr. Freud was taking anytime out of his phallocentric mentalities to delve into female arousal outside of a male dominated framework is ridiculous. This article was a big old quandry. A male author, 3 female sexologists of supposedly varied opinions on so-called "female-desire," and are we really still having this conversation? I scribbled all incoherently over the actual physical article, and these are my notes in a semi organized list.

- Why is western medicine still "proving" that women can orgasm in all sorts of ways? I'm pretty sure women "proved" that a few thousand centuries ago. Why is the word "prove" synonymous with "Because men/the medical profession said so"?
- It appears that even in "postfeminism," women are still frigid, sexless, ice queens.
- I really can't comprehend women taking pharmaceutical drugs to "enhance" our "desire." Why aren't we just finding people who will fuck us until we come and come and come? Why aren't we putting our own hands/toys/showerheads/whatever on our own bodies? Hey y'all, maybe it's not us. It could be you.
- "So there are hints, she told me, that the disparity between the objective and the subjective might exist, for women, in areas other than sex. And this disconnection, according to yet another study she mentioned, is accentuated in women with acutely negative feelings about their own bodies." Someone want to tell me again how this is a "post" feminist world? I missed it at "Women can't orgasm because we are socially conditioned to HATE ourselves."
- Page 4 of 8, second paragraph down on the online text, a priceless segment about figuring out women who experience arousal during sexual assault. Next to the paragraph, I wrote this (whoever picks up this magazine next is going to hate me): It seems so fucking absurd to try to figure out the biological arousal behind the immensely societal act of rape. Sex is posited in such a way in this society that "good" and "normal" sex is narrowly defined as heterosexual with the man in a dominant position (and even the man making the active choice to relinquish a dominant role in a controlled "sub/dom" situation is still considered "kinky" or somewhat abnormal). So no fucking wonder physical arousal during sexual assault is a somewhat natural response. I'm not saying that all heterosexual sex is rape. I am saying that I don't think a lot of it is supremely far off. Two sides of the same coin or something like that.
- Then there was this: "Ancestral women who did not show an automatic vaginal response to sexual cues may have been more likely to experience injuries during unwanted vaginal penetration that resulted in illness, infertility or even death, and thus would be less likely to have passed on this trait to their offspring. Evolution’s legacy, according to this theory, is that women are prone to lubricate, if only protectively, to hints of sex in their surroundings." Well, "according to this theory," "Ancestral women" developed an EVOLUTIONARY TRAIT to deal with unwanted sex. Rape of women is apparently so ingrained, that there is an unconscious, natural response, to respond to any kind of sexual intrusion.
- You can call it "receptive," you can say "If you have this dyad, and one part is pumped full of testosterone, is more interested in risk taking, is probably more aggressive, you’ve got a very strong motivational force. It wouldn’t make sense to have another similar force. You need something complementary. And I’ve often thought that there is something really powerful for women’s sexuality about being desired" (the "dyad" being male/female), whatever, but I'm really sick of being told that my sexuality is always, always, biologically, socially, neurologically, passive.
- It's pretty insulting to men in particular the way the article imposes non-fluidity on men. And re: fluidity. Yay that sexual fluidity is in conversation. Boo that the article frames fluidity only insofar as to assure the reader that though women want "emotional intimacy" with "people rather than gender" they're more likely than not going to come back to men after they get that silly little intimacy fix
- Again, why is a desire to actually like the people we're fucking (via words like "emotions" "intimacy" "connection") a strictly female thing, why is that ok, how is it scientific, and why is it SO constantly and fervently linked back to passivity?
- I did like this quote: "If I don't love cake as much as you, my cake better kick-butt to get me excited to eat it." But... shouldn't our cake always kick butt? I like cake as much as the next manly man, and definitely there have been situations where I'm the one who really really wants the cake, and just because I fucking love cake does not mean that I ever want to settle for mediocre Entenmann's shit.
- So then there's the section about "rape fantasies." And that always trips me up. There's this: "A symbolic scene ran through Meana’s talk of female lust: a woman pinned against an alley wall, being ravished. Here, in Meana’s vision, was an emblem of female heat. The ravisher is so overcome by a craving focused on this particular woman that he cannot contain himself; he transgresses societal codes in order to seize her, and she, feeling herself to be the unique object of his desire, is electrified by her own reactive charge and surrenders. Meana apologized for the regressive, anti-feminist sound of the scene."
This isn't necessarily anti-feminist. It sounds kind of hot. Take the words "reactive" and "surrender" our, replace with an active reciprocation? Not bad. My own experience with that kind of "fantasy" is never, ever a “passive” role. Meana said a few sentences later, "What women want is a real dilemma." I'm missing the dilemma. Desiring equal power in sexual situations isn't a dilemma.
- Check, women are still emotional wusses who can't detach sex from emotion
- Check, straight men are always straight, gay men aren't competition to straight men so they can always be gay, apparently ALL women are "fluid" (fluid here seems to mean that yes guys, lesbians do still like dick, don't let them tell you otherwise) and expressions of female homosexuality are just expression of our irrational emotions and desire for intimacy (those tricky little things that men just don't have)
- Is anyone else reading intimacy as "wanting to have sex with people who don't demean our bodies and souls"? Silly me.
- There are points in the article where female sexual fluidity and the word "narcissism" are used in the same breath. This was a huge problem for me. The connotation of the word narcissism doesn't do anything productive for an analysis of sexuality.
- Also, goddammit, how does fluidity equate, yet again, to passivity. Women are fluid (so says you, medicine!)! We want to fuck everyone! What is passive about that? That's pretty fucking aggressive.

It ends by reminding readers of how pointless that was: "What more could sexologists ever provide than intriguing hints and fragmented insights and contradictory conclusions? Could any conclusion encompass the erotic drives of even one woman? Didn’t the sexual power of intimacy, so stressed by Diamond, commingle with Meana’s forces of narcissism? Didn’t a longing for erotic tenderness coexist with a yearning for alley ravishing? Weren’t these but two examples of the myriad conflicting elements that create women’s lust? Had Freud’s question gone unanswered for nearly a century not because science had taken so long to address it but because it is unanswerable?" (then, next paragraph, asserting that it's somehow helpful to women to find answers to unanswerable questions by grouping all women into one big unit that has a knowable sexuality)

Overall, I still epically fail to understand how this medicalization and categorization of sexuality is in any way "helpful" to individual women. Why are we still striving to determine the norms of the elusive female sexuality? I did appreciate the recognition of fluidity, but the intent behind it so far missed the mark. How about, women are different? People are different? I get turned on by sex in subway stations, rubbing a very particular part of my back, and smokers. 3,000 women will say 3,000 different things. Clearly someone knows the right answer, won't they just fucking come out with it already?

It ended with this, taking me a bit off guard: " “So many cultures have quite strict codes governing female sexuality,” she said. “If that sexuality is relatively passive, then why so many rules to control it? Why is it so frightening?”... There was the intimation that, at its core, women’s sexuality might not be passive at all."
What was that now? POWER in female sexuality? An INTIMATION (duh duh duh) that womens' sexuality may not be passive? An acknowledgment that sexual regulations are a response to male dominated fear of women? Well fuck me sideways.