skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Flustered and late, we are greeted with breakfast at Maria Buszek's house on a street lined with autumn leaves. Maria, a third waver, has been a feminist since age 9, when a new papal law banned her from being an altar girl in late-seventies Detroit. "Does the pope think we're not as good as boys?" she asked the adults around her, and realized that "this gender thing was a big deal." Raised in a Catholic family, her dad's "denigrating comments about feminism indicated that it was a powerful, righteous thing."
She is a professor of art history at the Kansas City Art Institute and is the author of Pin-Up Grrrls, which explores the history of the pin-up and its long-standing connection to feminism. She is now working on a book, inspired by some of her crafty students, that is "bridging the art/craft divide" and acknowledging the cohort of artists who are experimenting with craft media. She says that "domestic media," like the subject of her first book, is a concept that "some faculty just doesn't get." It pisses her off when academia hastily judges whether a topic or a piece of art is feminist or not, and Emma fervently agrees. Emma, in her senior thesis, had examined the
1999 exhibit "Another Girl, Another Planet," a group show of young women photographers whose glossy, fashion-y images were harshly criticized for perceived misogyny and superficiality. Maria rolls her eyes. "The minute artists use titillation to attract journalists, they get attacked for it. The press says, 'These are the only images I will pay attention to, how dare you create these images?'"
I bring up the "Girls Gone Wild" phenomenon then. Does she think sexual empowerment has gone too far? "Some women do see this as liberating, but it seems to be an uninformed feeling of power," Maria says. "What we have to find out is what leads these women to believe in the power of showing their boobs at Mardi Gras if they can't even ask for a raise at work." But she thinks it's disrespectful to young women for older feminists to "take the scolding route…assume that these women don't know what they're doing." She has a lot of faith in our generation, but "simply reclaiming one's sexuality is never enough...sort of the narcissistic, Courtney Love, 'feminism for one.' Young women should be aware that their sexuality is a public matter."
--Nona
Monica (above): 25, was raised in Texas and Kansas, born to “free spirit” Mexican-Indian father and an immigrant German mother, former air force worker (kicked out and arrested for smoking pot), aspiring art teacher.
“I’m raunchy. I’m insulting. I’m sexually harassing. I exploit women. I want to grow up and make my house all pretty and plant flowers, just sit and drink and not have to bust my ass. Most of all, I’m not a feminist because I don’t view issues as a woman. I don’t separate things in terms of gender. Sometimes I feel androgynous…I really feel that I can live my life equally.”
Discussion Questions:
Question 1
Question 2
We are staying with Craig, an artist who I met in NYC many years ago. He hooked us up with all of the great ladies we interviewed in KC, including his girlfriend Angela. After all this we get curious on his thoughts on feminism. He speaks with spastic eloquence, letting insights roll out as if he has been thinking of them for years, but just found the words for the first time…
“I feel insecure about claiming feminism, it is not my movement to own. I more see myself as a male operating between two extremes, two gender lines. I don’t think the movement ended. It never went away. From an objective point of view, I see feminism as ongoing industry, created and needing to be maintained. There is nothing wrong per se with the feminism industry (magazines, books, classes, products), but it can objectify the issue, turn it back on itself, create extremism and separatism that in turn reinforces stereotypes to the world (and creates the other side of extremism). It seems that the feminist industry can create a dangerous political correctness. I am worried that it is not ok to be free anymore. I think to a lot of people feminism is simply associated with sexual harassment, which of course is not right. Movements are supposed to be about change, but this can’t be when it’s stuck in an industry that replicates itself.
But ok, I don’t know shit about shit. I know I am not a woman, but my thoughts are based on a thoughtful process of observing every kind of woman and culture around me. I really respect strong independent woman, and ultimately, I embrace femininity for it’s difference from me.”
--Emma
Angela and her friend, Joey, meet us at Monica’s house for a cup of coffee. Angela, 26, is originally from Kansas City, and although she plans to open a boutique and gallery with her boyfriend, she has a degree in biology and is now working at a lab. Joey, 23, grew up in Denver, wants to be a costume designer, and now sews and crafts freelance wherever she is needed at a show. They both tentatively consider themselves feminists, but they both shy away from the term because of the negative stereotypes. We got to talking about how each of their
professions are directly associated with one gender, and they had some interesting things to say:
Joey (right) on the female-dominated field of costume design:
“I’m surrounded by gay guys and women. Little boys don’t sit around thinking about being a costume designer…or maybe they’re not allowed to. I’m sure a lot of men liked it in college but would never major in it because they wouldn’t want a negative label. I think women have passed men in the ability to blend gender roles.”
Angela (left) added,
“Yeah, because men feel like they would lose more, while we only have things to gain. Science teachers would say to the women students, ‘Prove them wrong that men are better at science.’ But in the workplace the doctors are overwhelmingly male, and the nurses are mostly women. I think it’s because nurses get shit on all the time, and also because they’re seen as more maternal. Its funny, though—women nurses are always encouraging other women to go into the profession.”
--Nona
Szoke (right): 23, waitress, actress, went to Temple University, New York transplant. Wavers on the feminist question because she believes in the ideals but "isn't doing anything about it."
On the service industry:
“Sometimes I can’t believe I have a job that allows people to treat me certain ways. But I like interacting with people. Waitressing is good money and usually easy. Male waiters are more respected, though. There are always going to be those people who get off on the idea that a woman is serving them.”
--Nona
Discussion Questions:
Question 1
We interview Mei-Mei over tea the next morning on her sunny balcony overlooking a prehistoric southwest landscape (pictures lost). Mei-Mei is sixty, and has a regal and wise air about her. She is draped in an angular cream tunic, and her calm pointedness resembles the Agnes Martin paintings that hang in her bedroom. She was born in Beijing, from a long line of strong women, her grandmother being the first woman to have a formal education in China. “These dandelions are like a yellow blanket,” she uttered at age five, beginning her long career as a poet. She was the first Chinese-American woman on record to publish a volume of poetry, and as a result of her field, she very much considers herself a feminist, publishing through Kelsey St. Press, an experimental women’s poetry venue. Mei-Mei remained completely focused on her career until she had her daughter at 42, who is “the most significant person” in her life now. She sees an over-stressed, over-competitive streak in our generation, and believes we don’t have enough time to figure out who we are, which will inevitably effect modern feminism. She doesn’t feel much allegiance to “European principles of heroic individuality,” intuiting that a new feminism should “change the worldview to be more about unity and connectedness. Gender now has only elements of convention rather than an absolute.”
Siman (left): born in Somalia, practicing Muslim, went to Howard University, works for the public health department, a single mom raising her daughter, Safiya. Does not identify as a feminist.
“I came into fundamentalist Islam in order to get back to basics.” I told my Marxist parents, 'You’re for the proletariat? Well, the proletariat believes in God'...[Eventually] Islam bumped up against my core beliefs….when you get down to the barebones of Islam, women are just NOT equal. I actually started thinking [as a woman], ‘Am I less? This can’t be.’ But it’s hard to give up my religion and culture. It’s a pull of allegiances.”
Discussion Questions:
Question 1
Question 2
While Emma takes care of some business in Tucson, I go to Phoenix to meet Lindsey, a native New Yorker, for breakfast. She had moved to Arizona right before high school, later attended U of A in Tucson, and is the education director of the Boys and Girls Club in downtown Phoenix.
Lindsey is hesitant to call herself a feminist, because she doesn’t feel she does much to promote women’s equality, but some issues such as self-esteem are important to her. She describes her experience when she first moved to Scottsdale as a teenager: “Every girl was completely different physically than I was. I had streaks in my hair and had my New York unique style going on. But all these girls were blond, getting their nails done, and wearing makeup. Within a year and a half, I was blond and shopping at Abercrombie.” Scottsdale, which she calls a “knockoff of LA,” and the state school she attended projected a specific expectation of a woman prototype.
“Most of my friends were in sororities, but I thought of it as an uberpreppy, pretentious thing,” she tells me. My thoughts veer back in the direction of Colleen, who described her sorority as the most feminist thing she’s ever done, and I ask Lindsey if she thinks sororities have feminist potential. She is skeptical. “Sometimes they help with self-esteem issues, because you have a sense of belonging, but it also breeds insecurity with money and needing to be a certain way.” Eventually, she says, “I stopped caring. I realized I looked terrible as a blond and just wasn’t comfortable with that look anymore.”
--Nona
Luke, who we are staying with, is one of Emma’s best friends from college and Liz’s younger brother. It is late, and we curl up on his bed in our pajamas, equally craving sleep and munchies. Through a cloud of smoke, Luke tells us his thoughts on male feminism.
“I hate when boys call themselves feminists. It’s not a term one should throw around. Lots of boys say that without thinking about what it means. It should be thought, not said. It seems misogynistic or patriarchal to claim that term. There is a lot of radical power in being separate, energy I feel from feminists. Equality doesn’t mean anything, anyway. We shouldn’t be giving power, we should be sharing it.”
--Nona
Madeline and Liz are roommates, from Omaha and Dayton, Ohio respectively. Both are feminists and activists. They both work for Food Not Bombs, Liz assists an environmental lawyer and has volunteered helping domestic abuse and rape victims, and Madeline works at an LGBT youth center and is an organizer of upcoming Tucson Trans Awareness week.
Liz (left) is from a progressive family, and was raised Unitarian. “I saw gay couples at church, so was aware from a young age of alternative lifestyles.” She first experienced sexism in the activist groups and hardcore punk circles of Ohio. “I knew there was something wrong with all these boys ruling the mosh pit and the political arguments. I knew this “something” needed a name, and that was feminism.” She continues “it must be invisible to people, but woman still have a lot to struggle with…we think we have choice, there is a lot people don’t want to admit.” Madeline 
(below) learned about feminism and became connected to the vocabulary early in high school, around the time she came out as a lesbian. Reading a lot of the history and theory gave her confidence in her opinions, which helped especially when she attended conservative University of Arkansas.
Madeline thinks people are afraid of organizing around a definable cause, but Liz notes “The way you live your life is just as important as being an activist.” She does think there are “hints” on the horizon of a new movement, and gives a big smile. “It’d be fucking rad if there was one.”
--Emma
Joanna Frueh : late fifties, art historian, erotic performance artist, feminist.
On youth and sexuality:
“When I see women who look like you, I identify with you. I identify with the girliness, sexuality, the shapes and shapeliness, natural-ness, your individuality and femininity...Many older women just stop talking about sex, mainly because they stop having it altogether. So many women resign to being unsexual as they get older. That seems like giving up to me."
Discussion Questions:
Question 1
Bailey Doogan, a painter and feminist, was the first woman to teach in the art department at the University of Arizona. Bailey came to feminism because of the difficulty she found being a woman in the art world. Bailey’s work has never received the recognition it deserves, and she has been attacked for portraying the reality of aging women’s bodies, “scary” to some critics, but for her the work has always been about “beauty” and getting past “shame about the body.” One person went so far as to call her simply “an angry aging bitch,” a phrase she later reclaimed and incorporated into self-portraits.
A recent set of life-size self portraits hangs in her studio (right and above), and is called “Self-Examination.” Bailey has battled with various illnesses over the last year, challenging her sense of identity and stability. As we leave Bailey’s, both Nona and I wonder what issues become important to feminists as they grow older, and have to deal with a corrupt healthcare system and a society that idolizes youth. We just are glad there are artists like Bailey to keep women visible, at all ages.
--Emma
For Halloween we decided to dress up as famous "scarrry" feminists, to educate the throngs of Las Vegas party goers wondering "who are you guys supposed to be?"
Nona as Bella AbZOMBIE
Marianna as Gloria DIEnem
Emma as Emma GHOULman
Becky: 20, originally from Chicago and La Verne, CA, student at San Diego State, in the midst of applying to law school.
“If you’re not a feminist, you’re a masochist. Your eyes are not open. Women who prescribe to the ideals but have trouble with the label—that shows a lack of maturity. People shouldn’t be afraid of what other people think.”
Discussion Questions:
Question 1
Question 2
Melissa: Medical student, surfer, future psychiatrist. Doesn’t consider herself a feminist: “Even though I believe in women’s rights, there’s still a tinge of those negatives stereotypes that bother me.”
On women doctors:
“Many women in the medical field kind of joke that they’re going to be the breadwinner in their families. I would be okay with that. I want to be with someone who is intelligent and motivated, but if I’m making more money to support our family, that’s fine.”
The subject of men infiltrates most of our interviews, but we often gloss over the idea of men actually being feminists. When we met with three San Diego ladies, all feminists, we discussed the possibility of a women’s movement that includes men—after all, it does have a considerable effect on their lives.
Kristen, 25 (left), is originally from Modesto and San Jose, CA, and working on a PhD in public health. She thinks that feminism has been too limited and should definitely include men, that
“if feminism is ever going to work, everyone has to be involved.”
Marilisa, 27 (center), from Philly and getting her masters at San Diego State, agrees but adds that “women should be the center of attention.” Emma asks at this point about the expansion of gender labels—that it’s a slippery slope when choosing who gets to be at the forefront of a movement. Marilisa thinks for a second, then says, “Then I guess we need to redefine what it means to be a woman and a man.”
Kristen tells us “there’s always that fear that men will end up dominating the conversation” if they’re included in women’s activism. But Shannon, 25 (right), from Cali and Wisconsin, also in the sociology masters program at San Diego State, points out, “It’s not like the guys that would be involved in feminism would be misogynists.”
--Nona
Discussion Questions:
Question 1
Lili: 21 (on her Bel Air terrace, right), Jewish-Persian, graduated from UCLA, raised in a very conservative, traditional household.
“[In my culture], you don’t date someone unless you intend to marry them. And my parents want me to get married as soon as possible. They always encouraged me to have a career, but marriage was always the priority. Sometimes I think they want me to have a good job so that I’m more marketable to men.”
Discussion Question:
Question 1
If you never go to Los Angeles, you may hold onto the stereotype that LA is in its own sunny, flaky, movie bubble. If you do pay a visit, it’ll occur to you that this sprawling metropolis largely dictates the fate of mainstream culture—and in turn, the fate of young women, their representation, and their self-esteem.
In the first couple days in LA, we met with three young women: a documentary film-maker, an actress, and a screenwriter, all very aware of how their gender affects their career and desires in the movie city.
Julia B.: 24 (on Venice Beach, left), documentary film-maker, lives in Venice, the daughter of film producer Laura Ziskin.
"The job of director is a position of control that women are almost
afraid to want. In the film industry, men challenge and question women’s authority at every turn."
Anna: 22 (in West Hollywood, right), actress originally from the suburbs of Chicago.
"The less talent you have, the more pressure you have to look good. For women actresses, confidence is the #1 obstacle.”
Julia G.: 24 (left and below), screenwriter, feminist, Orthodox Jew.
“Mean Girls, brought up a lot of important issues, but it basically said, ‘Whether you’re Janice or Regina, you’re a bitch.’ My friends are just as entertaining and engaging as 
guys we see on film. We curse a lot, we tell dirty jokes too, but that’s never represented on film. My friend and I are writing a screenplay with women who are neither threatening nor boring.”
Discussion Questions:
Question 1
Question 2
Harryette Mullen, professor of poetry and African American literature, poet, feminist.
“There are so many women writers nowadays. Girls and women are still expected to be quieter, kinder, more willing to step aside and let others take the spotlight…I try to encourage young women to feel comfortable taking power that the culture usually gives to men.”
Marjorie Perloff: poetry critic, former professor at Stanford, neighbor to Whoopi Goldberg and Steven Spielberg.
“I am a feminist practically speaking, but I have no interest in feminist art or literature. Identity politics are hurtful. They posit that women all feel the same way. Feminist art shows and novels are no threat to men at all—it makes it easier for them to relegate women to the side.”
Flustered and late, we are greeted with breakfast at Maria Buszek's house on a street lined with autumn leaves. Maria, a third waver, has been a feminist since age 9, when a new papal law banned her from being an altar girl in late-seventies Detroit. "Does the pope think we're not as good as boys?" she asked the adults around her, and realized that "this gender thing was a big deal." Raised in a Catholic family, her dad's "denigrating comments about feminism indicated that it was a powerful, righteous thing."
1999 exhibit "Another Girl, Another Planet," a group show of young women photographers whose glossy, fashion-y images were harshly criticized for perceived misogyny and superficiality. Maria rolls her eyes. "The minute artists use titillation to attract journalists, they get attacked for it. The press says, 'These are the only images I will pay attention to, how dare you create these images?'"
