Monday, September 29, 2008

WTF?


ok, so i know that schools can get a little ridiculous when it comes to stereotyping and gender conformity and dress codes and the like... I just stumbled across this article about an 8th grader, Matt Alsup, who was told to wash the make up off his face when he decided to wear make up to school (black eyeliner and lipstick)... When the school called his mother she offered that she could buy him some pick lipstick (if that would be less "distracting") and was told that because he was a male, and that it is socially un-acceptable for males to wear make up, he would not be allowed to wear any make-up to school.
even more shocking (at least to me) was that when I voted in the online poll about whether boys should be allowed to wear make up to school (why the hell should they not be) I was in the 25% minority with 75% of those who answered the poll saying that the too believe a male wearing make up to school was inappropriate--- http://www.myfoxdfw.com/myfox/pages/pollP44Question
When i searched his name to find out more information I also found a number of problematic and downright asshole responses:
http://www.kctalk.com/forums/showthread.php?p=126406
this forum seems to blame Matt and his mother calling her absent and saying that because he doesn't "pull it off" he should not be allowed to wear make up like that to school..

Here is a link to a full article with a video:

http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=43ee2634-3f3c-402d-a3ec-26a42d0a97f8

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Treatment for Impacting Girls, Influencing Life

IMPACTING GIRLS, INFLUENCING LIVES; THE PORTRAYAL OF WOMEN IN THE MEDIA

Theme:
Everyday young girls and adolescents are bombarded, and targeted by almost every form of mainstream media. The media tells them how to look, act, and dress. These images have instilled American cultural norms that are impossible to reach and led girls to go to extraordinary ends to meet these impossible standards. As a society a new image of girls, teens, women and gender must be created.

Synopsis:
Impacting Girls, Influencing Lives is a 20 minute expository/reflective documentary about the way women are portrayed in the media and the effect that this portrayal has on young girls growing up. The story will be told in 3 parts, the first is a section to establish the way that women are portrayed in the media focusing on how the media creates the images of: taller, whiter, skinnier, and blonder. The evidence in this section will be provided mostly through media clips as well as the pictures that each of the interview subjects have drawn about women in the media. The second is a section, about the impact that this has on young girls, this will consist mostly of interviews supplemented by b-roll. These interviews will depict personal experiences reflecting on the influence of media in the lives of children. The third and final part will attempt to deconstruct the media images and empower people to move beyond media imagery.

Style and Structure:
The main story telling of the piece will be through interviews conducted with people of varying ages, genders, races and sexualities. The interviews will be conducted in an interactive format that will reflect elements shown throughout the piece, in the form of repetitive activities, such as images drawn during every interview.

Length and Shooting Format:
I am aiming for a length between 20 and 30 minutes and I will be shooting in digital video. This format will give me great flexibility to incorporate various forms of media, imagery and multiple layers of video in post-production. In addition, the length of the piece will allow me to go into depth with my subject without boring my audience.

Voice and Point of View:
The piece will be a mostly reflective video, but it will capture many elements of an expository piece, as I explore the way that these images effected me growing up as a girl, my presence as the video maker will be present throughout the piece however, I will not use direct voice over. My biggest goal is to utilize different forms of media throughout the process of the creation of this film, and to have these different mediums shine through in the final product. For instance, the final piece will show the drawings I have collected from every interview. These different elements will come together in the end to form a empowering and thought provoking piece.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

LGBT… No Q

When we talk about the movement of same sex sexuality I think it is important to distinguish between what I see as two movements. To many the vocabulary may be used interchangeably but in my mind the idea of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) is monumentally different from queer.
The LGBT movement is a movement that embraces the idea of immutability; the concept that out characteristics are either genetically ingrained or environmentally ingrained from such a young age that they are unchangeable. If our characteristics (mostly specifically sex and sexuality) are biologically inevitable then we should not be punished by discrimination. This theory sits well in a world of definite, a world of homosexuality, heterosexuality, bisexuality and transgender. These dichotomies provide comfort, either you are or you aren’t, it is easy to comprehend in one word answers to simple questions. And while these terms may not always fall on conservative ears with comfort they fall easier than others because they still abide by many familiar societal constructs. The LGBT movement to me is one of assimilation, of proving that we are no different, just as capable as parents, teachers, and look, we even reflect your heteronormative standards in our butch femme relationships.
Queer to me is a radical term, not just in the sense of reclamation, but also in the way that queer defies immutability and reaches beyond societal constructs of how we should be. Queer reflects fluidity and a world without rules to abide by. The term queer is not connected to specific acts the way that gay and lesbian tend to be, in fact many straight people I know seem to have queered sexualities. Queer is about deviance from the sexual norms, and experimentation. I am queer, my sex, my sexuality, my body, my life, and for now I get to stay that way.
I guess life is all about picking your battles and in the more conservative world it is more important for me to pick a battle for LGBT rights, no Q, because at least those battles will be seen and legitimized. But is it worth it to give up my queer culture? Why should I betray myself to make you more comfortable sitting in a room with me? Does my queerness only exist because I live in a community where I can embrace it? Will I reverse when I go back to the world of LGBT?

Monday, September 15, 2008

Update

OK Kids,
So if you don't remember one of the things that I am doing with this blog is updating yall on the movie that I am creating this semester while I'm at school. SO I am back at school and getting into the swing of things with Joe, my mentor for the mentored independent study that this video is a part of. With his insights I have created a treatment, script, shot list and timeline for my project.

I will post these things bit by bit as I refine and recreate them for all yall out there.

Hannah