lip magazine: for girls who think feel create speak out live

Michelle and I got to meet Erin - founder www.donotbequiet.com, lip contributor and PrettyUgly contributing editor - last night while she is in Canberra for a conference. I had a great time gabbing away with another loud North American (she’s Canadian). She also brought us some of her awesome feminist and lefty buttons, so you should check out her website and order yourself some buttons. (Then come back to the lip website and get yourself some lip buttons!)

I’m reading a book of midwives’ stories right now and finding it to be a bizarrely intense experience. I keep tearing up, either because the birth stories are so tender and beautiful or because annoying doctors keep getting in the way of a nice, natural experience. It’s really made me want to be present at a birth. I don’t want the pregnancy myself, but I’d love to be one of the supports at a good friend’s birthing experience. I’ve mentioned this to a couple people, one male, one female, who said that they thought it’d be disgusting and wouldn’t want to see a birth. Couple this with the oft-repeated statement that women don’t consider themselves feminist because feminists are hairy, and I’ve got to wonder what is up with a society full of women who can’t stand their own, or each others’ bodies - at least not when they are left natural.

What are you seeing when you watch a pregnancy? A vagina, a baby and (probably lots) of blood and goo. The blood and goo, not to mention the vagina, you’ve seen oozing out of your own body. That’s what your body is - that’s what it creates to nourish a baby. Why is it disgusting? I suppose we are very uncomfortable seeing other women’s vaginas ’cause that’s just not something we see very often, but that’s a shame too. Someone else’s isn’t that different to ours.

I just wish as a culture we were more comfortable with the goo, smells, hair, sexual bits and fats of our bodies. They are so inherently part of us.

Rachel

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I just got off the phone to Susanne Gervay, the childrens/young adult author. Just wanted to publicly pass on some praise to Dave for his music reviews.

Susanne said, “I really liked the music reviews. At the moment I’m writing a young adult novel about youth culture and music, and I was reading all the music reviews and loved it”.

Brianna: “What did you like about them?”

Susanne: “I guess I like them because they’re honest. They’re not corny – I can’t stand that. And they talk about music in a real way I guess. And the ones he selects seems to be rhythm and blues, which is good. I mean I think music is the language of youth. And I think a lot of young people would read that for those reviews”.

- Great work Dave! Not bad getting that kind of praise from an established author.

Read more about Susanne Gervay and her upcoming workshop at the ACT Writers Centre in the features section of the May newsletter, to be released shortly.

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I have a friend who is in a wheelchair. I just came back from going to the movies with him. In order to get into the cinema he has to walk agonisingly slowly down two flights of stairs while I carry the wheelchair down. An empty wheelchair. It used to be me and someone else carried the wheelchair with my friend in it, which was considerably heavier (he’s a lightweight) but easily doable with two people.

As I walk down the stairs with this wheelchair, not panting, not stopping, not showing any great disability, like every man asks me if I need help. “No, no, I’m fine. Thanks, I’m cool.” When we got into the theatre, as the previews were rolling, I let fly. “When guys carry your wheelchair down the stairs do other men offer to help,” I asked, “or just when I do it?” “Just when you do it.” I said that annoyed me, what do they think, just because I’m a girl I can’t carry a wheelchair?

My friend thought I was being too sensitive, that it wasn’t personal, that sometimes men just want to play a male role, it gives them a chance to talk to a girl, be manly, that’s just the way it is… I said that’s the point, I’m not taking it personally. They aren’t relating to me as a person, but just a female. I’m not going to get my panties in a wad about it, but it still relevant that that highly gendered response is still there.

As we were leaving the cinema (up the stairs), a men kept persisting in asking if I needed help. I continued my way up saying I was okay, it was fine, it wasn’t heavy. When I got outside I wished I was one of those feminists who could just let it fly and say just because I’m a girl doesn’t mean I can’t carry a wheelchair. But I don’t say those things because really, these men are just trying to be nice. They aren’t trying to offend me. The funny thing is, though, my friend changed his tune a bit and said he would be annoyed too with the persistence. I said no, why keep asking me?

Would any female reading this have the balls to call a man up on this? Would any of the guys reading this do that–feel culturally inclined to offer a woman carrying something heavy help even if she looked comfortable? I sort of figure even if I did say something short and pithy, all it would do would be offend the man, without making any real point, without getting him to rethink his gendered response. I think a t-shirt that I could put on each time I have to carry my friend’s chair up or down some stairs that read “Even though I’m a girl I can carry a wheelchair” might do the trick, though!

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Hey all,

Just got back from seeing Limony Snickett at the ANU. It was great! I came away thinking, especially after the awesome animation of the closing credits, how much love went into that film. Clearly the director had a vision and was prepared to put in every little detail to make it right. It was great fun and Sunny Baudelaire, the baby, was like the best cast member. She was so cute! Only thing is that I reckon Alan Rickman would have made a much better Count Olaf than Jim Carrey. I didn’t like Carrey - way too over-the-top. He wasn’t actually menacing or evil - just overacting. Rickman can do that quiet menacing thing that can be quite scary. Too bad…

Anyone else love the books or movie?

Rachel

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