Thoroughly modern millennial

Tag: Pop Culture

  • Four Sources of Information for Activists

    Four Sources of Information for Activists

    If you’re reading this (and TMM in general) I wanna bet you already pretty politically active and relatively socially aware of what’s going on in the World. Great! So now what? Sit back and join the marches, protests and sign petitions when they land on your doorstep? Well no…

    I hold a strong belief that role of an activist is part practical grunt work (i.e. attending rallies, calling up representatives, voting, advocacy work etc.) and part personal education. In short, getting up and doing your homework on social issues.

    “But Ria, am I not woke already? Can I just go on with the knowledge that I got?”

    Well sure, but issues and society changes everyday. Which means you’ve got to keep topping up your knowledge bank all the time. Sound overwhelming? It can be, but here are three solid sources of factual and critical information to keep you on on top of your activist game.

    Everyday Feminism

    Website // Twitter

    “We want to live in a world where every person (and we mean every single person) is treated with respect, directs their own lives, and reaches their full potential.”

    Established in 2012, Everyday Feminism are an online magazine dedicated to educating the World on feminist issues. Whilst the organisation are US-centric, their articles do aim to be as general as possible, focusing on a huge breadth topics and issues for both novice feminists just dipping thier tow in the water of activism, to well established activists.

    The one thing I really adore about EF is they aim to be as inclusive as possible through their use of language, illustrations and imagery, which often feature a range of sexualities, genders, ethnicities and abilities. Because of their inclusive nature their a fantastic resource for people just getting to grips with new and maybe uncomfortable topics. Their writers are also great at calling out all kinds of privilege whilst providing a space for people to learn and grow in their knowledge.

    Favourite content:

    The Establishment

    Website // Twitter

    “The conversation is much more interesting when everyone has a voice. Media funded and run by women; new content daily.”

    Not your run of the mill website full of essays, The Establishment are a website which champions diverse journalism, creativity in all forms and fact based reporting. Funded by their community, their writers cover topics such as politics, society, relationships, the arts, psychology, and so much more. Anyone can pitch to them (and their writers get paid!), which means there’s a massive range of voices on their platform to pick and choose to read.
    Whilst I especially love their knack for great investigative journalism, in this sour world of awful news their Wit & Whimsy section never fails to put a smile on my face.

    Favourite content:

    Bitch Media

    Website // Twitter

    “Bitch Media is a nonprofit, independent, feminist media organization dedicated to providing and encouraging an engaged, thoughtful feminist response to mainstream media and popular culture.”

    Launched as a magazine back in 1996, today Bitch Media are an organisation dedicated to giving a frank, feminist responses to popular culture. As well as producing their quarterly magazine, Bitch also publish daily articles on their website, produce weekly podcasts, and work with students and educators through writing fellowships and programs.

    Bitch are always the quickest off the mark for me when it comes to well written yet critical responses to everything from movies, tv shows, fashion, politics, podcasts, music, gaming, advertising, and a whole host more. As an organisation that is over 20 years old now, there’s plenty of archival content to delve right into, but I especially would recommend listening to their weekly Popaganda and Back Talk podcasts as a good starting point. They are also entirely community funded – I myself am a member of the B-Hive!

    Favourite content:

    Media Diversified

    Website // Twitter

    “Media Diversified is a young and growing non-profit organisation which seeks to cultivate and promote skilled writers of colour by providing advice and contacts and by promoting content online through its own platform.”

    And finally, one from the UK! Media Diversified is one of my favourite resources on all things representation and issues affecting people of colour. Launched online in 2013, they’ve cultivated an impressive archive of work from all ethnicities with a main focus on UK media. The organisation champions creators of colour through several different outlets including their Experts Directory, the launch of Bare Lit Festival and Jhalak Prize, and by calling out misguided (often racist and problematic) news stories in their annual Trashies awards.

    Favourite content:

    — — —

    These are obviously just a handful of resources, but I’d love to find more. So leave some of your favourite places to get info as an activist!

    Ria Xx

  • ‘We’: An evening with Gillian Anderson & Jennifer Nadel | Highlights

    ‘We’: An evening with Gillian Anderson & Jennifer Nadel | Highlights

    Last Friday I popped along to the SouthBank Center in London to hear actress and activist Gillian Anderson and decorated journalist Jennifer Nadel give a talk in celebration of the release of their book ‘We: A Manifesto For Women Everywhere‘.

    The book was a co-authored by both women and faces the ‘have-it-all’ mentality, challenging women to question what actually makes them happy and fulfilled. ‘We’ also focuses on the importance of fostering a culture of collaboration between women, especially during difficult periods of our lives.

    Moderated by Women of the World Festival Founder, Jude Kelly, the talk though obviously focused on feminism covered a range of topics including mental health, the work/life/family balance and Anderson and Nadel’s own experiences of breakdown within their respective careers.

    I could go on and on about how inspiring it was to be in that room surrounded by women listening to two very accomplished, honest and unapologetic women but here are just some of the highlights.

    Everyone is struggling

    A nice starting point at the beginning of the evening was both Anderson and Nadel speaking very honestly about their respective breaks in their mental health. From raising children, to facing physical scrutiny and pressure to look good, and dealing with an intense mental breakdown, both women were applauded for opening up about their struggles. The point they wanted to make was that despite their numerous achievements listed out by Kelly at the beginning of the talk, they too had the same doubts and fears as many women and that many women we meet in our everyday lives will also be facing those same struggles.

    “We should allow ourselves to be bad at things.”

    My favourite quote from the night, came from Nadel. A self-confessed former workaholic, Nadel’s quote was in response to a woman expressed her concerns of finding time to keep up appearances and juggle everything in her life. She emphasised that, yes, there will be circumstances when you need to be good at things, but perfection is essentially an unobtainable goal.

    “Hateful internal thoughts are normalised in society.”

    This was a recurring theme of the evening and another interesting point made by Nadel on how harmful our ‘Inner Critic’ can be. Whilst the scars of self-doubt and criticism aren’t visible, thoughts like these are a type of self-harm on our mental state and so scarily normalised in society.

    “Only when we are truly alone can we know ourselves”

    Loneliness is often a topic not covered by talks on feminism, but both women spoke frankly about their experiences with isolation throughout their lives. Anderson in particular talked about how she use a hectic schedule to almost mitigate spending any time alone by herself. She remarked at how many of us may feel scared to spend time with ourselves

    The future is female

    Both women also spoke about how inspired they are by the work young people are doing to change the World and one of the most poignant parts of the evening was a question from a 14 year old girl who unfortunately felt as if her efforts and actions for feminism were going nowhere. The advice given was less on how to become a more active – as I’ve seen many times before – but actually that her efforts were enough and that she as a person was enough. In a World that demands us to stand up and speak out all the time, I think we forget that we cannot expect to change the World by ourselves. We can do our best and that’s should be good enough.

    — — —

    As I mentioned these were just some of the highlights from the night. The whole evening was a fantastic forum of open conversations on feminism. I certainly came away feeling wholly inspired by both Anderson and Nadel, and the many women who were so frank when asking their questions.

    Ria Xx

  • Favourite Films Directed by Women

    Favourite Films Directed by Women

    It’s awards show season!

    Once again many of this years’ nominees are looking overwhelmingly white and male. Even with Golden Globe wins this past weekend for films like Moonlight and actors like Viola Davis and Donald Glover, it’s equally important for women to be given chances to shine behind the camera as well.

    It’s high time we shone a light on some seriously talented female individuals who’ve directed movies across a huge cross-section of genres. Here’s my top 10 films

    Virgin Suicides

    Directed by: Sofia Coppola

    Based on the 1993 best selling debut novel of the same name by American author Jeffrey Eugenides, the film tells of the brief lives of five teenage sisters in a middle class suburb near the outskirts of Detroit during the 1970s. After the youngest sister makes an initial attempt at suicide, her sisters are put under close scrutiny by their parents, eventually being confined to the household, which leads to their increasingly depressive and isolated behaviour.

    13th

    Directed by: Ava Duvernay

    A 2016 American documentary by director Ava DuVernay. Centered on race in the United States criminal justice system, the film is titled after the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which outlawed slavery (unless as punishment for a crime). DuVernay’s documentary argues that slavery is being effectively perpetuated through mass incarceration.

    Whip It

    Directed by: Drew Barrymore

    American sports comedy-drama film based on the novel Derby Girl. Tells the story of teenager from the fictional town of Bodeen, Texas, who joins an all-female roller derby team.

    Clueless

    Directed by: Amy Heckerling

    A coming-of-age comedy film loosely based on Jane Austen’s ‘Emma’. Cher, a high school student in Beverly Hills, must survive the ups and downs of adolescent life. Her external demeanor at first seems superficial, but rather it hides her wit, charm, and intelligence which help her to deal with relationships, friends, family, school, and the all-important teenage social life.

    You’ve Got Mail

    Directed by: Nora Ephron

    Two business rivals who despise each other in real life unwittingly fall in love over the Internet.

    Bend It Like Beckham

    Directed by: Gurinder Chadha

    A comedy about bending the rules to reach your goal. Set in Hounslow, West London and Hamburg, the film follows two 18 year olds with their hearts set on a future in professional soccer.

    Bridget Jones Diary

    Director by: Sharon Maguire

    Bridget Jones is an average woman struggling against her age, her weight, her job, her lack of a man, and her many imperfections. As a New Year’s Resolution, Bridget decides to take control of her life, starting by keeping a diary in which she will always tell the complete truth. The fireworks begin when her charming though disreputable boss takes an interest in the quirky Miss Jones. Thrown into the mix are Bridget’s band of slightly eccentric friends and a rather disagreeable acquaintance who Bridget cannot seem to stop running into or help finding quietly attractive.

    Wayne’s World

    Directed by: Penelope Spheeris

    Adapted from a sketch of the same name on NBC’s Saturday Night Live, Wayne’s World is a wacky, irreverent pop-culture comedy about the adventures of two amiably aimless metal-head friends, Wayne and Garth. From Wayne’s basement, the pair broadcast a talk-show called “Wayne’s World” on local public access television. 

    The Matrix

    Directed by: Lana and Lilly Wachowski

    In the near future, a computer hacker named Neo discovers that all life on Earth may be nothing more than an elaborate facade created by a malevolent cyber-intelligence, for the purpose of placating us while our life essence is “farmed” to fuel the Matrix’s campaign of domination in the “real” world. He joins like-minded Rebel warriors Morpheus and Trinity in their struggle to overthrow the Matrix.

    American Psycho

    Directed by: Mary Harron

    A wealthy New York investment banking executive hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he delves deeper into his violent, hedonistic fantasies.

    — — —

    My list is just the smallest slither of talent that’s been festering around Hollywood for decades and as you can tell the range of stories being told is incredible. In my top 10 we have ‘fluffy’ rom-coms, comedy, sci-fi, documentary, satire and thriller; we have women from both the US and UK; trans women and women of colour. You have women directing men and women telling female narratives, both serious topics and feel good tones.

    And this list doesn’t even count the women in foreign cinema particularly in South East Asia or South America, up and coming directors like Mira Nair (Queen of Katwe), So Yong Kim (Lovesong), and Amma Asante (Belle), and the hordes of independent artists online making short films for YouTube or Vimeo.

    There’s more work to be done but there’s already great advocates for women via the Geena Davis Institute and the recently launched Alice Initiative. The future seems bright for women behind the camera, I only hope Hollywood gives them the recognition one day too.

    — — —

    This was my top 10 but I’d love to hear what some of your own favourites are too. So, shout of some badass women in the comments!

    Ria Xx