Feminist Friday Fun: Kids Pose as Iconic Figures in Women’s History

Enrique Jones has expanded his “Because of Them, We Can…” series to Women’s History Month, and the results are wonderful.

A few highlights:

Story of my life, my friends.

Happy Friday.

Happy 100th Birthday, Julia Child!

Julia Child would have turned 100 years old today, and my social media feeds were abuzz all day with delicious recipes (like this one. and this one. and this one…), funny YouTube videos (like this one), and clips from Julie & Julia (like this one).

But there was also quite a bit of discussion about whether or not Julia advanced feminism or set us back. This boggles my mind. The thought process, it seemed was that since Julia was a woman cooking on TV, and making cooking and being in the kitchen her primary business, she turned the clocks back a few years.

I understand the thought process – really, I do. But I don’t agree with it – not one little bit. Here’s why.

1. Julia wasn’t exactly your average stereotype of a meek Holly Homemaker. At 6 feet tall, Child was  a formidable life force. She was vivacious, with an appetite for life – it just so happened that her greatest passion was great food.

2. Julia didn’t play into gender stereotypes. Sure she loved to cook, but she also never had children; finding fufillment in her career, friends, and marriage to her completely adorable husband (seriously, if you haven’t yet, read My Life in France – THEY ARE THE CUTEST EVER)

3. Julia built an empire. Talk about a savvy businesswoman! Child wrote a number of books and was the star of a syndicated TV empire from the 1970’s until her passing.

4. Julia was FEARLESS. She walked into a culinary world in a foreign country that was entirely male-dominated and made it her own. She de-boned ducks, cooked live lobsters, and sliced up fish with the best of them – heck, some days I’m still grossed out by stuffing a roast chicken! Julia revolutionized the world of food in American culture. Speaking of which…

5. Julia not only made it OK to spend time in the kitchen again, she made it an art. Just watching one of Julia’s TV shows makes you marvel at her culinary prowess and ease in the kitchen. She was a strong, independent woman in the kitchen and in life, and her enjoying cooking had no bearing on her capabilities outside the kitchen. This is also the issue I take with the idea that if you’re a strong independent woman, you can’t be a good chef also. I love to cook and love to be in the kitchen, but part of why I love being there is because society places less of a pressure on me to fit into that conventional role of homemaker than it did on my grandmother or mother. Julia helped create that divide – that food and cooking should be enjoyable, a treat, not a chore.

So happy 100th, Julia! You were an incredible woman and one of my biggest role models. You taught me to love food, enjoy preparing it, and above all to enjoy life. I hope you were pleased with my celebration of your life – cooking your roast chicken recipe, watching an episode of your old cooking shows, and drinking a tres large glass of wine with my meal.

Riley on Marketing

In case you haven’t seen this video yet, it is adorable and amazing. Riley is my 3 year old spirit animal. Also, apparently I’m really into cute, feminist little girls this month. Love it!

If you haven’t seen her interview on CNN, watch it here. I promise you won’t regret it!

I love this.

This adorable little girl is my new favorite internet star. The scene where she’s eating a Smart Ones, drinking wine and watching Sex & The City at the end of a long day? ACCURATE.

The Delicate Politics of Internet Parodies

I’m the first to admit it: I waste far too much time on the internet. But how can I resist, when there is so much fun stuff? Funny memes, articles galore, podcasts, Netflix, Hulu, Tumblr, and – of course – truly hilarious YouTube videos.

Which is why I was pumped when the Twitter Account Shit Girls Say started a webseries:

But then a ton of people on the Feminist interwebs seemed to get worked up about it. So I tried to reexamine the video over and over again, but all I could find were more things to giggle about. And then I realized why: it’s true. I didn’t mind it because it wasn’t saying anything unflattering about girls or women, just noting our speech patterns. If you ask me, the “girl” in the video comes off as respectful, fun, enthusiastic, and independent. She’s not catty or vindictive, she expresses displeasure at the sensation of shopping, and she crams chips in her mouth like the best of them.

Then I decided to take another look at my other favorite girl-parody youtube video, “Boys will be Girls”:

Which is partially one of my favorites because of the response, “Girls will be Boys”:

I love these because they’re also so true. I have done that food math before, had extreme emotional conversations with my friends at the drop of a hat; while my male friends just ignore any emotion or feeling and instead grunt at each other.

Of course, these are blanket generalizations about both genders. Just because I am a girl doesn’t mean that I count EVERY single calorie that goes into my body so obsessively, or that I scream EVERY time I see a friend. And just because you’re a guy doesn’t mean that you express ZERO emotion whatsoever. But I think we could all lighten up a bit and stop making things meant to be endearing mini-love letters to the ladies in the world out to be some huge political agenda.

Thoughts? Am I wrong? Right? So wrong that wrong is too weak of a word to describe it? So right you’re considering erecting a statue in the blogosphere of me standing victoriously?

Sesame Street, You Get Me.

This video is adorable and has such a positive message for little girls everywhere! For those of you in need of some rainy-day pick-me-up/inspiration:

My “Love Letter to Lisa Simpson” is up on Grrrl Beat!

What’s that? You want to read it? I don’t blame you. Click away.

Hey Girl. Ever wanted to dream of dates with Ryan Gosling and Feminist Theory at the same time?

Then I think Feminist Ryan Gosling might be your new favorite meme:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ll just leave you two alone now. 🙂

ATTN: Powerpuff Girls Swag up for grabs.

Want it? Enter the Couch Potatoes with a Cause Powerpuff Girls Equal Writes contest! click it!