2008 Retrospective: Bitches Get Stuff Done
So they said it was the year of the womanI believe it was the year of sex- Ani diFranco, 'Sistersong'
I haven't touched this blog in over a year, and even that was to type 'ooops, haven't been updating much, have I?' I got distracted by numerous things - work, day to day life, my burgeoning freelance writing career - but partly the radio silence at GWaS occurred because it was too damn painful to report everything that was going on.
I was pretty strongly invested in Hillary's campaign, and some of the reporting around it sickened me. Like a lot of you, I spent the bulk of last year addicted to the press coverage of the election that would - and not before time - finally kick Dubya out of the office that he never rightfully attained. And even before it was over, by the time HRC bowed out (not entirely gracefully) and the media were all united in their chant of 'Ding dong, the bitch is dead', I'd had enough. Enough of hearing an outspoken woman called a bitch, of watching media outlets (Slate, I'm looking at you) that I'd previously admired show up their sexist bias.
But instead of blogging about it, I stewed not-so-silently at my parents, my coworkers, and nearly choked to death on my own impotent rage. I don't know if the panic attacks or the depression were related to that - if I was channelling frustration at my own situation into obsessively following an election I'm not even eligable to vote in, or if it was just breathing the constant barrage of toxic sexism that was making me sick. Either way, there was little of a productive nature done during those crucial months of the Democratic primaries, and if I have any resolutions for 2009 it's that the next time I get angry, I'm going to do something about it, even if it's just venting my rage here.
So here's a brief round-up of some of the things I should have been blogging about this year but didn't:
(or for a very brief overview, you can catch my Women We Loved piece over at the rather splendiforous Mookychick, or check out The F Word's Top Ten Feminist Moments of 2008 (UK-specific) and Bitch Magazine's Best Feminist Picks of '08)
- It was the year that Grey's Anatomy debuted a lesbian romance between a plus size bisexual woman of colour and a middle-aged, unconventionally attractive, newly out dyke. It was also the year they abruptly dropped it by the order of ABC. In fact, it was the same week. Way to go, ABC!
- The Poppy Project published their report on the UK's sex industry, Big Brothel and in October the government pledged to "clamp down" on the sex industry.
- On 20 October at 8.30am, feminists chained themselves to the Department of Health and obstructed access to the building to add to the public pressure for access to abortion to be extended to Northern Ireland. Around 40 activists came to offer support, to demonstrate and to leaflet the public. Your fearless blogger is the one laughing like a hyena above the 'i' in ''fighting".
- Barack Obama got elected. Liberals were happy until he then arranged for a homophobic self-help guru to be present at his inauguration.
- Prop 8 passed. Liberals were sad, but some of them wrote a musical about it.
- Everyone's favourite Dresden Doll Amanda Palmer was told by her then-record label RoadRunner that they wouldn't promote her latest album. The reason? She wouldn't edit out shots of her stomach in her video for the song 'Leeds United'. Fans of all genders, shapes & sizes start a Rebellyon.
- Twilight was released and many teenage girls squeed about Robert Pattinson's hair. Some people pointed out that the books are a bit sexist and that actually Edward Cullen is a creepy, emotionally manipulative stalker. Then the film's director, Catherine Hardwicke (who also directed the kick-ass Thirteen, discovered that she wouldn't be filming the rest of the franchise. Apparently she was "too difficult". Hmm, where have we heard that one before?
- The 2008 Queen's Speech announced that licensing laws around lap-dancing clubs will be tightened up and that all parents with children aged 16 and under will have the right to request flexible working from April 2009. Sadly, the Queen wasn't played by Helen Mirren.
- 2008 also heralded the rise and rise of Rachel Maddow, MSNBC's newest talking head. Both openly queer and proudly butch, she's also funny as hell and holds a PhD to boot.
This is just a sample of the groundbreaking year that was '08, the year that saw 18 million cracks spread across the glass ceiling, that saw a black man appointed as President Elect and featured the most disturbing birth scene ever to appear in literature. Stephanie Meyer, Mary Shelley has nothing on you.
FEY: Maybe what bothers me the most is that people say that Hillary is a bitch. Let me say something about that: Yeah, she is. And so am I and so is this one. (pointing to Amy Poehler)
POEHLER: Yeah, deal with it.
FEY: Know what? Bitches get stuff done.
Start the new year the way you mean to carry on - be bloody, bold and resolute, be righteous and wise, let 2009 be the year we get stuff done. And if anyone tries to call you a bitch for making a stand, for going after what you want or rejecting what you don't, just tell them that it's what Hillary would do
A few things coming up in London over the next few weeks include:
Feminists in Cafes are meeting @ 7 pm in Foyles Cafe, Charing Cross Road on 6th January.
The London Institute of Contemporary Art is showing a series ofLGBTQ-themed films entitled Destroy Every Closet Door. The mini-festival includes the UK premiere of Milk and a showing of queer classic The Celluloid Closet.
The Fabian Society's New Year conference Fairness Doesn't Just Happen will include speakers from The F Word, and The Fawcett Society as well as GWaS's homegrrl, Harriet Harman.
posted by Kaite @ 2:05 PM
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