from the archives: sucke(red)?

straight from the archives: originally published in february 2007 in Arthur Newspaper. text by kate taylor and julia caron. design and layout by julia caron.

Activism is about doing something to solve a problem. Buying something isn't a creative or empowered solution to that problem, regardless of what Bono or P!nk will tell you. Activism, by its very definition, is active, so get off your ass, chop up that credit card, and check out your local activist organizations.

this week, my friend salima and i are giving a workshop about women and gender in the media, and we've been digging up old academic papers and clippings to prepare. hence, you guys finally get something from the archives! i've been meaning to do this since the fall. it's been years since i've given a workshop, and it will be my first time giving one in french... i'm kind of nervous, but really excited. here are some things we are going to talk about:

• examples of positive representations of women in the media they have seen
• ways of speaking back to the media, and of making your own media
• graffiti
• internet (blogs, videos, etc)
• the bubble project
• zines

we really want to get the participants thinking about how women in the media are portrayed versus how the women they know in real life are. where is the disconnect? why is there a disconnect? how can we respond critically to sexism, racism, and other forms of oppression in the media in a productive and positive way? i'm going to make a resource list of specific books, websites and videos that speak critically about women in the media, so if you have any suggestions send them my way!

so! all of this to say, thinking about these ideas reminded me of this article i wrote three years ago. i imagine a lot of you remember the GAP (red) campaign and if you do, then you might enjoy reading this piece!

if you'd like to read the article,
you can download it here.

i'm hoping to transcribe it and republish it here but in the meantime, i pieced together a pdf for your enjoyment.