Feminist Frequency » Event

“Women and Pop Culture” Class Visit at SMC

Anita — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 17:08:49 +0000

Earlier this year, Melanie Klein of Feminist Fatale invited me to speak to her Women and Popular Culture class at Santa Monica College in California. I spent the hour talking about how powerful Political Remix Video and Vidding are for critiquing media messages and fostering a talk back culture. We also discussed the legal ramifications surrounding the use of copyrighted material and what the Fair Use doctrine is.

One of Melanie’s students, Jessica O’Keefe of O’Keefe Films, filmed and edited together this three part video of my talk.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Original videos and resources:

Political Remix Videos:
The Price is Creepy – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDo7WbWBJbQ
Racism in Disney – http://www.politicalremixvideo.com/2008/07/05/racism-in-disney-mashup/
Reel Grrls Remixed – http://www.politicalremixvideo.com/2010/03/21/reel-grrls-remixed-ads/
Human Energy – http://www.politicalremixvideo.com/2008/06/18/the-power-of-human-energy/
A Message From Unilever (Dove/Axe Remix) http://www.politicalremixvideo.com/2010/03/06/a-message-from-unilever/

Vidding:
Too Many Dicks – Video Game http://www.feministfrequency.com/2010/03/remix-too-many-dicks/
Detachable Penis – http://www.politicalremixvideo.com/2009/03/21/detachable-penis/
Womanizer – http://www.politicalremixvideo.com/2009/03/07/kirk-is-a-womanizer/
One girl revolution – http://arefadedaway.livejournal.com/280454.html

Videos I didn’t have time to show:
Buffy vs. Edward – http://www.rebelliouspixels.com/2009/buffy-vs-edward-twilight-remixed
The Terminator – http://www.politicalremixvideo.com/2007/08/10/the-terminator/
300: This is Revisionism – http://www.politicalremixvideo.com/2008/07/17/300-this-is-revisionism/
Tough Guise Intro – http://www.politicalremixvideo.com/2008/03/26/tough-guise-intro/
Masculinity in Disney – http://www.politicalremixvideo.com/2008/03/26/masculinity-in-disney-films/

Resources:
Creative Commons
Center for Social Media
Organization For Transformative Works
Political Remix Video
Smartmeme

The First Canadian Video Game Awards

Anita — Fri, 07 May 2010 05:18:42 +0000

Yesterday may have been the first Canadian Video Game Awards but I doubt they are the first instance of overt sexism in the Canadian video game industry. Last night I attended the first Canadian video game awards and minus the bad dialogue, the sexist jokes and the glorified “booth babes” as stage candy it wasn’t half bad. I rather enjoyed Video Games Live. They are a live orchestra doing renditions of popular video game music set to visuals of the games. The awards would not have been the same without them and the performance made the event worth attending. They performed songs from Space Invaders, Mass Effect 2 and Tron among others. They also featured Martin Leung who definitely stole the show with his incredible piano talents. He is best known for playing the Super Mario Brothers theme blind folded and my jaw nearly dropped listening to the speed of his playing, it was amazing.

But as the show progressed, I couldn’t help but notice the blatantly sexist comments. As the jokes kept coming I wondered if they were written as part of the dialogue or just on the whim of the male hosts. While the first award of the night was being handed out, co-host Tommy Tallarico commented to the winners that they “win the girl in red” referring to the women on stage handing out the awards, clearly there for their appearance. Not only are these women used just to ‘decorate’ the stage but they are being offered up as a prize. Ya, ya it’s just a joke right? How about when Brianna McIvor, Co-Host of Electric Playground, was presenting an award and one of the hosts said to the audience, “Are the whistles for the games or for Brianna.” As if street harassment isn’t a huge problem already.

And just as I thought it couldn’t get any worse they threw in a few racist jokes as well. Assassin’s Creed II was nominated for seven awards and won the most of any game that night. The development team is from Montreal so naturally they have French accents. After the second or third thank you speech, co-host Victor Lucas commented “I love the multicultural vibe” clearly clueless as to what the hell he is saying. Nearly every person in that room was white and the vast majority male. I’m not sure what his definition of multiculturalism is, clearly he is not aware that a French Canadian accent is not exactly what folks mean when they talk about ‘multiculturalism’. At another point he joked about the accent of a woman who lives in Edmonton as if everyone who lives in Edmonton is a native English speaker. Not sure if it was the pressure of hosting a show or being on stage but that isn’t license to say stupid and offensive comments.

I couldn’t help but think how fitting my latest video remix “Too Many Dicks” was to this night’s events.

Tommy Tallarico from Video Games Lives kept talking about how globally influential and culturally significant video games are yet they still can’t manage to not alienate and exploit women. It’s no wonder that there are so few women involved in the industry when not only are most of the games clearly marketed exclusively to men but the gaming community is blatantly sexist (and apparently racist too). Sexist and racist jokes are often used in spaces that the joke teller believes is a safe space, as in their are no women or people of colour around. Clearly, Tallarico and Lucas believed they were in a safe space that night with the freedom to joke around about objectifying women and everyone in the room will laugh along. Hey gentlemen, I’m not laughing. And I think it’s important that we don’t laugh and if we have the opportunity to tell folks when they are being offensive. This helps to create safe spaces for the rest of us, those of us that are the butt of the jokes. The joke teller will have to think twice before telling his next joke.

“Dare to make people uncomfortable, beginning with yourself… It may seem that such actions don’t amount to much until you stop for a moment and feel your resistance to doing them — your worry, for example, about how easily you could make people feel uncomfotable including yourself. If you take that resistance to action as a measure of power, then your potential to make a difference is plain to see. The potential for people to feel uncomfortable is a measure of the power for change inherent in such simple acts of not going along with the status quo.“
- Allan G. Johnson, The Gender Knot

WAM! 2010 Video and Playlist

Anita — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 23:11:40 +0000

I had such a fantastic time presenting at Women, Action and Media (WAM) in Los Angeles on March 25th, 2010. I curated a show of online videos including remixes, vlogs, vids and short documentaries made by women. Staying true with WAM‘s mission, these videos represent women taking action through media to talk about issues important to their lives and talking back to the media that so often misrepresents, stereotypes and victimizes us.

Below is the playlist of the videos I showed:

WAM! Event in Santa Monica, CA

Anita — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:50:04 +0000

March is certainly a busy month for me but I’m thrilled to be participating in a WAM! sponsored event. After Remixing Pop Culture at Cal State Northridge on Thursday March 25th, I’ll be heading straight over to Santa Monica to present a series of online videos made by women. I will celebrate women’s use of video to take action and comment on issues that are most important to them by screening online videos in the form of remix, video blogging and documentary. The videos discuss a range of topics from pop cultural criticism to anti war messages. I will be joined by a Kamala Lopez and a screening of her film “A Single Woman” and Carla Ohrendorff will speak about feminist activism and media.

The events will take place Thursday, March 25, 2010 at Santa Monica College, Bundy Campus (Bundy 123) @ 3171 South Bundy Drive, LA CA 90066

For more information please visit: http://feministfatale.com/2010/03/waming-it-on-the-westside/ and also join the Facebook Event.

Event: Remixing Pop Culture

Anita — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 23:38:00 +0000

I have been busy organizing this great event coming up in March at California State University, Northridge. If you live in or are visiting the Los Angeles area you should come out and watch some of the most intriguing remix videos that subvert traditional gender and sexuality norms. The videos will be curated and presented by Julie Levin Russo, Alexis Lothian and Jonathan McIntosh. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the curators. Special thanks to Laura Shapiro who consulted on the event.

Political Remix Video is a genre of transformative guerilla media production whereby creators challenge dominant media messages through re-cutting and re-framing fragments of mainstream media and popular culture. Fan videos or “vids” set remixed footage from TV shows or movies to music. They are often used to subvert the traditional canon or tell an alternative story. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at anita [at] feministfrequency.com

Speakers:
Julie Levin Russo (Stanford) and Alexis Lothian (USC)
Jonathan McIntosh, creator of Buffy vs Edward
Hosted by Anita Sarkeesian (FeministFrequency.com)

Location and Time info:
Thursday March 25, 2010 at 12:30pm
California State University, Northridge
18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, CA 91330
Armer Theater, Manzanita Hall, Rm 100
View a map of the campus

Also check out the facebook event page. You can also view an enlarged flyer image.

Video Blogging Workshop with Reel Grrls

Anita — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:32:58 +0000

I’m excited to be leading a workshop about video blogging at Reel Grrls on Saturday March 13th, 2010 (the workshop in December was rescheduled). We’ll be learning the process of putting a video blog together from conception to distribution as well as the fun of media literacy!

Reel Grrls is a great organization dedicated to providing media literacy and filmmaking skills to young women in the Seattle area. You can see details and sign up for the workshop here and also take a look at the great videos Reel Grrls have made on their YouTube and Vimeo channels.

Although, Reel Grrls afterschool programs and workshop are usually reserved for young women between the ages of 9 and 19, they have decided to open up the videoblogging workshop to women of all ages!

Video Blogging Workshop with Reel Grrls

Anita — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 04:06:55 +0000

I’m excited to be leading a workshop on video blogging at Reel Grrls this coming Saturday December 12th, 2009. We’ll be learning the process of putting a video blog together from conception to distribution as well as the fun of media literacy! Reel Grrls is a great organization dedicated to providing media literacy and filmmaking skills to young women in the Seattle area. You can see details and sign up for the workshop here and also take a look at the great videos Reel Grrls have made on their Youtube Channel.

You’ll also find me helping out Jonathan Mcintosh (of Rebelliouspixels.com) on Wednesday December 9th, 2009 who is doing a remix workshop with the Reel Grrls Thesis class.