Visit from Chloe Trayner (Underwire Film Festival)

Last Thursday, the lovely Chloe Trayner (producer of the ‘Underwire Film Festival’) came to talk to us at RHUL about the London based film festival; she brought along a fantastic showcase of last years films to give us a taste of what to expect, as well as answering our questions.

‘Underwire’ is a festival celebrating and discussing short films made by up and coming female film makers; as well as various screenings, the week long event (19th-23rd) included panel discussions on women's representation in film. 

The festival is run almost entirely by women, after being founded in 2010 by Gabriella Apicella and Gemma Mitchell, it focuses on the fact that women still make up a small minority of film creatives and aims to help create a ‘more balanced industry’. Short films are nominated for female director, screenwriter, cinematographer and editor awards and entries compete to win career based prizes - membership to organisations like ‘Directors UK’ or editorial suite time and training. 

Chloe’s showcase of films demonstrated the huge variety of films they screen, everything from music videos to a dramatic experimental piece called ‘Stormhouse’ in which the actors never spoke. It was really refreshing that the festival is so inclusive, it seemed to give women a huge amount of creative space and the chance to experiment with their ideas and create any type of film they desire. This resulted in some striking pieces, a lot of which focused on feminist or feminine issues or points; pregnancy, women’s career choices, prejudice both against genders and nationalities. The topics stayed with us after hearing Chloe talk, a good demonstration of how the festival is achieving its aims by giving women creative space at the same time as spreading ideas and prompting discussion on significant topics. 

On top of the captivating nature of the films, it was massively inspirational to  talk to a woman like Chloe who has done so much with her career by such a young age. Her success is extremely encouraging especially to students studying film and media but also generally to women with strong career aspirations, reminding us all that if we push ourselves hard enough we can achieve a huge amount. 

Overall, it’s fantastic to see events and organisations in creative industries to begin to tackle the issue of gender bias in media representation of women and supporting people with by giving them a good starting point in their career. Hopefully this mentality and motivation will emerge in other industries.



- Natasha (Communications Officer)


Image at top of page: a poster in grey and pink, advertising the event described in this blog post, with a picture of Kathryn Bigelow behind a camera. 

Choice: The Patriarchy Matrix

Image: Two shiny pills, one red, one blue

Trigger warning: discussion of genital surgery, offensive sex worker tropes and stereotypical beauty

Since I was elected as the SU's Women's and Marginalised Genders' Officer, is has become almost impossible for me to go a day without discussing feminist or otherwise political issues. I talk extensively to both people who are roughly on the same page as myself and those who have very different opinions. I try to explain my point of view rationally and calmly and put in my best effort to empathise and understand other's views. It's not always easy, but I think that's what we owe each other.

The recurrent theme over the last ten days or so has been the importance of 'choice' or 'free will'. An interesting example of this is that because women choose to have cosmetic surgery it's none of Feminism's business and those of us who think it's often harmful should go back to burning our bras, thanks very much. On the flip-side, all of feminism is based on enabling choice, accepting all voices and not dictating good and bad. Occasionally, this means I get stuck between a rock and a hard place, and no simple answer in sight.

Why? I'll try not to get too existential on you, but this is the question I often come up against: Do we, or do we not, we have free will? Are our choices completely our own? Spoiler alert! Probably not. The argument goes that we are essentially a sophisticated machine - our 'wiring' (genetics, childhood,...) is meant to pre-determine how we respond to any given situation. We have awareness, but all our thought processes and actions are a result of our previous life and genetic material. 

Imagine your brain is spread out over a pool table in the form of pool balls. The order, number, colour of the balls is due to your genetics and previous experiences. For some reason (chance, god,...) a red pool ball drops into the middle of the table, hitting some other balls, and setting of a chain of collisions and movement. Some balls ricochet off the sides and crash into others, some drop into the pockets, some are completely unmoved. If you record all this and play it back slowly, you can see that everything that happened was due to the position of the balls at the start. The black ball was already teetering at the edge of a pocket, the green ball was missed by the red ball by a few centimeters. If the red ball had been slightly further left, it would have hit the green and possibly not affected the black. Etc. This view is called determinism.

Determinism is difficult to deal with in our society, because he hold people accountable for their actions. We obviously couldn't do that if we accepted we had no free will. So let's 'zoom in' a bit and just say that it doesn't matter whether we have a free will or not - in the sense that the we can move our pool balls around ourselves without outside interference: Choice.

I know, I know. Bear with me.

So, what remains? The fact that we all have a certain set-up before something in the world happens to nudge (or make us choose to nudge) our marbles pool balls. If we grew up being told that there are no black swans, we'll choose to assume that any black swan we see isn't a swan. If we're taught it's not alright to steal, we'll choose not to take anything without paying for it. And if we're taught we should be a good person and that a good person helps others in need, we'll choose to give money to charity or support a friend going through a rough patch.

Now imagine we were taught that there are only two genders and they depend on what genitals you were born with. Imagine we were taught that people who have sex for money are bad lowlifes, full of disease, and to be avoided at all cost. And imagine if we were taught pretty women have a BMI of 20, symmetrical faces, small noses, white skin, medium to large tits, long hair and hairless legs... Us women would feel bad if we had small breasts, or a big nose, or dark skin, or love handles and we would perhaps choose to pay someone to 'fix us'. Because we've been taught being pretty is important and good.

As Nimco Ali from Daughters of Eve said at the recent ULU Sexpression event: "No woman just randomly wakes up in the morning and goes 'I think I'd like to cut off my labia today'. And yet thousands have labiaplasty every year." Without porn, without recurring, harmful portrayal of women and other marginalised groups in the mainstream media, making the choice of taking a scalpel to perfectly healthy parts of ourselves would seem ludicrous. That kind of behaviour only appears to make sense if we are trying to achieve an ideal. Unfortunately, that ideal is a fictional construction propped up by a desire part us from our money.

So. A fight for feminism or a triumph of freely-made decisions? You tell me. The one thing discussions over the past two weeks have made clear to me is how much getting active in Feminism is like Neo taking the red pill in the movie The Matrix. Once you've seen the Matrix, you can't unsee it, and you notice it everywhere. The difference between The Matrix and the real world is that once we see the Kyriarchy Matrix, we can all be Neo.

Alexandra Sophia, 2013-2014 Secretary

'Defined Lines' and Online Activism

'Yeah, I had a bitch, but she ain't bad as you, I'll give you something big enough to tear your ass in two.' Let's take a moment to analyse this quote, Shakespeare, it is not. Taken at face value (I can glean no other poetic meaning from it), it's crude, unpleasant and leaves nothing to the imagination. Imagine someone speaking these words in everyday life. To every parent reading this, would you be happy if someone approached your daughter in the street and said these words to them? If they did the same to your sister? Your mother? I'm going to assume the answer is no.

This quote is taken from one of this summer's most popular songs, 'Blurred Lines', a charming melody by Robin Thicke, featuring Pharrell. The video depicts Thicke and Pharrell surrounded at all times by topless women, all of whom seem to have no other purpose than to prance from side to side and rub themselves up against the two gentleman. Apart from one lucky young lady, who gets to hold a lamb.

The song has spawned many parody videos, and this alone is nothing newsworthy. A quick Youtube search shows that there are hundreds, if not thousands of parody music videos on the internet that include a fairly enjoyable, tongue in cheek (as opposed to out of mouth) take on Miley Cyrus' 'We Can't Stop.' The difference in the video I am focusing your attention on is not that it is amusing, though it is. It is not even that it has so far received nearly three million views. It is that this video has a message that is urgently relevant in today's society, a message that many think is outdated and no longer necessary in today's 'progressive' world.
The parody I refer to is called 'Defined Lines', a video that directly challenges the depiction of women and the ideas that are perpetrated in  the lyrics and video of 'Blurred Lines'. The main issue of contention many commentators found this summer is not the video's overt use of female nudity  (prevalent enough in today's popular music culture, and nothing so tame as a pair of naked breasts are likely to shock those intimate with MTV) but the message its lyrics contain.

 Though I said earlier there is no deep meaning to glean from the songs wording, I meant from a purely poetic angle. What the lyrics do contain and promote is the idea that sexual consent is a 'burred line', that if women would just realise they really do just want it, it would be a lot easier for men to get on with having sex with them and not have to deal with anything as annoying as rape accusations. The lyrics  have already been analysed and criticised by many, and not just bloggers. The song has been accused by Rape Crisis, a charity that raises awareness and understanding of sexual violence, of "reinforcing rape myths". Rape Crisis spokeswoman Katie Russell said: "Both the lyrics and the video seem to objectify and degrade women, using misogynistic language and imagery that many people would find not only distasteful or offensive but also really quite old fashioned. More disturbingly, certain lyrics are explicitly sexually violent and appear to reinforce victim-blaming rape myths, for example about women giving 'mixed signals' through their dress or behaviour, saying 'no' when they really mean 'yes' and so on."

 Thicke has  called the criticism “ridiculous.” In an interview with GQ magazine he claimed the video did not denigrate women “because all three [artists in the video] are happily married with children”. "People say, ‘Hey, do you think this is degrading to women?’ I’m like, ‘Of course it is. What a pleasure it is to degrade a woman. I’ve never gotten to do that before.” he said. Charming.

'Defined Lines' is the parody video created by three young women from New Zealand as their own creative response to Thicke's offering. The video switches the gender roles, and the lyrics point out what the reality of the harassment means to women - "Just don't harass me, You can't just grab me, That's a sex crime."
 I was able to speak to Adelaide, one of the three who created 'Defined Lines.' We discussed how she feels about how much publicity the video has had, and her thoughts on modern day feminism. I started by asking if she and the other girls ever expected their video would receive such a reaction. "We had no idea the video would make such waves - it was made to be screened in a theatre as part of a skit show and we just put it on YouTube to share around to some people who couldn't make it. If I knew that millions around the world would be watching it I might not have included that castration joke, ha-ha!"

The castration joke she is referring to is 'We’re feelin’ the frustration, From all the exploitation, Prepare for your castration' - though as later lyrics in the parody point out, 'I apologise if you think my lines are crass, Tell me how it feels, to get verbally harassed?'

For this reason, Adelaide says she understands some of the negative comments that the video has received. "I remember during filming realising that what we were creating wasn't strictly feminist in that it showed females dominating males - but that gender flipping was where the humour and the parody value lay, so we continued. I haven't taken much time to read the YouTube comments but from the kind of horrific ones I have seen I understand that the world still has quite a way to go in terms of gender equality. I think that a lot of YouTube commenters feel safe hiding behind the veils of anonymity, so people feel free to write offensive and discriminatory comments. I think those responses also convey how much we need feminism still. On the other hand, the positive responses have been quite inspiring - people have shared their personal stories with us and given us so much support that I have been inspired to fight harder for equality. We're thinking about what steps we can take from here - we've set up a Twitter account (@LawRevueGirls) as a starting point but I'd be keen to get involved in some feminist blogging. This whole thing is still new to us though."

The 'new thing' that she and the other girls are experiencing is being held up as an example of 21st century feminism, the latest wave of the womens' movement that takes advantage of the platform social media offers us all in today's world. Keen not to pigeon hole the group, I asked if she and the other girls actually define themselves as feminists, and if so, why they embrace the term.  "All three of us call ourselves feminists but this video is our first (albeit accidental) foray into publicly addressing women's rights issues. New Zealand is quite a liberal and progressive society, particularly in terms of gender equality - we were the first country to give women the vote. In that sense, when we made this video we didn't think what we were saying was too radical (for our originally intended local audience) - it's interesting that when people overseas view it, they call us heroes and role models, thinking we were making an incredibly brave statement. That's a really positive outcome though - if we can give women a voice through our video and lyrics, albeit unintentionally."

 I asked if there had been personal moments in her life that had inspired her to address sexism. "I spent my final two years [of school] in a predominantly male private school (it was historically an all-boys school which has recently started to allow girls to attend). When I was there I experienced enough casual misogyny from both male students and teachers to know that there are some real problems with ingrained sexism in society. I think it was then that I discovered what feminism was and decided to call myself a feminist. Since then I've become increasingly interested in the movement - I recently had quite an emotional reaction to a famous feminist art installation, 'The Dinner Party' by Judy Chicago when I was visiting the Brooklyn Museum. Personal moments like that have inspired me to speak out about women's rights and I hope that I can continue!"

 Hearing from Adelaide echoed many of my own feelings on the subject. As president of my university's Feminism Society, I sometimes feel backed into a corner and that I need to defend my choice to define as a feminist. She summed up her own thoughts on the definition and reaction it often receives from people. "We are not man-haters, sexually confused, bra-burners as some people might think. I think it's a pity that feminism has gained these negative connotations so that both males and females sometimes cringe when they hear the term. We're happy with the effect the video has had in promoting feminism and sending out the message that you can be a feminist in your own individual way - if this means wearing red lipstick and high heels and rapping about equality then so be it. Feminism should be for everyone."

It is because of the accessibility of YouTube and other social media that their video has been shared so widely and received such a response. This is 21st century feminism's most powerful tool, and needs to be recognised and embraced as such. One can hardly sneer at online activism when it produces such staggering results. Laura Bates set up the Everyday Sexism Project last year, and its Twitter account collates and publishes hundreds of tweets about women's experiences of sexism every week. Elizabeth Plank took notice of the International Boxing Federation's (AIBA) decision to force female boxers to wear skirts at the Olympics, and "did what any committed and dedicated activist of the 21st century does: I Tweeted it." Her tweet led to the creation of an online petition, which led to a community of almost 50,000 supporters, and to the head of the AIBA overturning his decision. An online petition on UltraViolet collected 50,000 signatures in only two hours, persuading Reebok to drop Rick Ross when his new single included rape-promoting lyrics.

Perhaps understandably, many women and men feel that bringing up sexual harassment, or any other feminist issue whilst at the pub is a little too out there. Spending 30 seconds tweeting though, seems more casual. Some may say more lazy, but I would whole-heartedly refute that. As nasty as online spaces can be (we all know that trolls no longer lurk underneath bridges, but in corners of forums and comment threads) the opportunity to engage with like-minded people you may never meet in real life is extraordinary. Feminist outrage has been around for a long time. Perhaps the general population has forgotten that it has continued to simmer, no longer chained to parliament and hurled under horses. But with the surge in this utilisation of social media, this passionate and intense online activism, the anger can no longer be ignored. Women, younger women especially, are finding a new sense of self-empowerment. Society would be foolish to ignore the influence that they command.

You can check out 'Defined Lines' here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC1XtnLRLPM

Rose Walker, 2013-2014 President

MissRepresentation: Women in Cosplay and Anime

By Hayley Johnson

One of the most enjoyable things about being an anime fan is cosplay. Cosplay, short for “costume play”, is essentially dressing up as your favourite characters from your favourite anime series. When I was asked to talk about women in anime, cosplay was one of the first things that came to mind, tightly bound as it is with the anime community. With that in mind, I realised something. I don't really cosplay girls that much. This was something that I'd only really considered briefly before now and I hadn't really touched on why this was. After some thought though, I figured something out: I would be uncomfortable cosplaying a fair amount of the female characters from series that I follow, or have followed in the past.

Take, for instance, one of the more famous anime series out there, Ghost in the Shell. Out of three films and two series, I watched all but one of the movies. It's deep, thoughtful, political and all packaged in the cyberpunk trappings that I have a fondness for. To top it all off, the main protagonist is the female and utterly awesome Major Motoko Kusanagi. There are few series or characters that I have gotten as much enjoyment and discussion out of. But I couldn't ever cosplay her. Why? Because I could not wear her default outfit with any kind of comfort.

Now I have no problem with female characters wearing skimpy outfits, so long as it makes sense in the context of the scene or series. In this case, I have no clue why a member of a counter-terrorist armed response unit would think, “Yeah, a leotard and thigh high boots are perfect for my day at work.” She does wear more sensible clothing elsewhere in the series, but I can't but compare her to her in-show male colleagues, who never reach the same level of undress. 

Unfortunate outfit aside, she is resourceful, intelligent and can hold her own in situations where she is ridiculously outnumbered and outgunned; it honestly kills me to realise that I am sitting here and critiquing one of my favourite female anime characters ever, but I can't not mention this. At the very least, I suppose I can take comfort in the fact that she's nowhere near as bad as the female characters in hentai. (I would comment further on that genre, but I won't, because I'm not qualified to criticise what I haven't watched and because I think the very existence of tentacle rape speaks for itself.)

Speaking of famous series, and characters that I would never cosplay from them, I suppose that I would be remiss were I to neglect Naruto, a series that has been running in comic form since 1999 and has currently clocked in at over 500 episodes in anime form. Quite impressive for a series about ninjas in inappropriately bright clothing. The first major female character that you meet is a girl by the name of Sakura Haruno; she's been assigned to the same squad as the title character and another boy named Sasuke. You would think that since she's training to be a ninja, she would be a pretty cool example of how female portrayal should go. Nope. She quickly gets relegated to the sidelines as cheerleader while the boys have these epic, multi-episode battles. This continues pretty much throughout the series until the two year time skip in the middle of the series. After the series reconvenes, we're introduced to an older, wiser Sakura. At first she seemed to have gone through a positive shift, showing that she could recreate an earthquake with her fist.

Maybe this was a sign that she would finally be pulled out of the decorative cheerleader role, become so much more valuable as a team member. Unfortunately that was a short-lived hope, as Naruto seemed to have improved to levels of godhood while the fans weren't looking, so she sort of adopted the medic role instead. Don't get me wrong: having played enough roleplaying games for one lifetime, a medic is always appreciated. There was just such potential for her to be awesome and self-reliant, someone who I would be happy to cosplay. As it is, she's a disappointment in almost every sense.

I feel like I'm doing anime a disservice right now. I've managed to be completely negative about a series I love and a series that I used to follow religiously (before things got weird). And that's not what anime is about. I'm going to talk about two anime, a film and a series, whose main female characters encapsulate the best that a character can embody, regardless of gender.

The first is the Studio Ghibli film Laputa: Castle in the Sky, a film in which the main character, a young girl Sheeta, is relentlessly pursued by kidnappers and pirates because of a magic amulet related to the title's castle in the sky.

 The second is a science-fiction anime series called Noein: To Your Other Self, where the main character, another young girl (this time by the name Haruka), is fought over by two warring alternate futures who believe that she is the key to either save or destroy reality as we know it, as well as all other possible realities. In both these anime, these characters are pit against overwhelming odds that they are ill-equipped to handle by themselves. In spite of these odds, they soldier on and manage to succeed through determination and faith in their friends. Despite enemies with far superior numbers and equipment. Despite having to navigate the confusing experience that is growing up at the same time. Much as I currently love or will love other series, these two anime will probably always be amongst my favourites, with Sheeta and Haruka being just two of many many reasons.

So to those who I perhaps scared off with my criticisms earlier, I would say don't dismiss anime as a medium. It is, like any other form of media, filled with good and bad points. If you're willing to try the medium and dedicate yourself to finding the good things within it, then anime can be a treasure trove. There's always the plus side that most of the really bad stuff dies quite a quick death. I would perhaps suggest avoiding any anime with either of the following words in the description: tentacles or harem. You have been warned.