GENDER BENDER



Looking from the outside in - people, place and practice

Friday, November 30, 2012

Walking in a woman's shoes

“You can’t really understand another person’s experience until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes.”

I love this amazing initiative by Toronto's Walk A Mile in Her Shoes parade which was held in September of this year. It is a parade against violence towards women and girls. Watch the above video for more info and a bit of a laugh.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Cameron Diaz likes being objectified

Cam recently received a lot of criticism for saying the following: “I think every woman does want to be objectified. There’s a little part of you at all times that hopes to be somewhat objectified, and I think it’s healthy,” she said, adding that she finds revealing photo shoots to be "empowering."

She said that she's comfortable being objectifying and objectifying herself, as long as she's in control of the situation in which she's being objectified.

"I'm a woman, I know how to handle myself. I know what I feel comfortable doing and I know my sexuality."

But what about those women who cannot be in control of this objectification? If we say 'yes' we as women are okay with being objectified then we need to ask: Who are these 'women'? Are these women able to control their objectification or not; are they able to choose?

Many women like Cameron Diaz can easily choose to take her clothes off for a magazine, she is in control of how much she shows and how much she covers up. But what about women who are forced into stripping and prostitution? Their objectification is not one of choice, but of exploitation.

I think it is very difficult to make the statement that Cameron made. We cannot say 'every woman' likes to be objectified, all women are different. Some women are able to negotiate the terms of objectification and others are not.

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Straight men respond to: "Gay Men Will Marry Your Girlfriends"

So, I recently posted the video "Gay Men Will Marry Your Girlfriends", a fun and quirky video aimed at producing more tolerance for marriage equality in the U.S. Here is the follow-up or reply from the straight community.

  At least - as I was dreading - it didn't make them out as homophobic. Rather just as douchebags.  

Thursday, November 22, 2012

The world's 'only' female male model



We've recently heard a lot about male models like Andrej Pejic modelling for women's wear fashion lines; now meet Casey Legler - the only female model to work exclusively as a male model.

"As far as I know, there are no other women exclusively modeling as male models," Legler tells Time magazine in their above video piece on her.

She is an artist who also models. She is an an androgynous being who says she doesn't only look great in more manly attire, but that she can also rock a dress and some heels.

I love what she says here: "What I wish is that we all get to be exactly who we are."

That is the ultimate goal.

Monday, November 12, 2012

The Marie Antoinette complex



What is the Marie Antoinette complex? It relates to that whole ‘let them eat cake’ attitude that Marie Antoinette apparently displayed towards her starving countrymen. It’s not so much about whether she actually said this; but more about the actual idea of it. The attitude.

Latest research shows that the rich and famous are in fact more prone to care less and to be more greedy. Here are a couple of people we believe might just have that 'let them eat cake' attitude:
Madonna
Last year, a massive fan of hers handed her a bunch of flowers at an event. Madonna was later overheard on microphone muttering to a friend that she absolutely hates hydrangeas - the flowers he had given her. She added: "He obviously doesn't know that." Um, are you that self-centred?
Kim Kardashian
After having the most lavish wedding ever seen on reality TV (or in Hollywood for that matter), Kim K filed for divorce a mere 72 days into her marriage with Kris Humphies. Lots of people criticized her for wasting a boat load of money. Money that could have changed millions of people's lives.
Nonhle Thema
The ex-Dark and Lovely ambassador had a famous Twitter meltdown last year. As she started losing sponsorships her bragging seemed to escalate. She went on and on about how much money she has, how famous she is and that poor people hate her because they are jealous of her. She's famous for telling people to 'sit down', a.k.a to bugger off.
Gina Rinehart
The world's richest woman whose family money comes via iron-ore mining is known for her ridiculous 'advice'. She recently advised the world's "jealous" poor to stop whining and drinking and  "thinks Australia's struggling mining industry should look to Africa for inspiration. There, miners "are willing to work for less than $2 per day," reports Newser online. As Nonhle Thema would say: "Sit down".
  Karl Lagerfeld "Adele is fat." "Pippa Middleton is ugly." "No one wants to see curvy women." Just a few of this fashion designer's gems.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Youtube beauty guru posts video accusing father of rape


Brie Lybrand is a semi-famous Youtube make-up tutor. She recently shared a video in which she accuses her father, Steven Bressler, of raping her throughout her life as a child. This video is of course much different from her usual ones where she is her happy-go-lucky self.

The video has since gone viral. Now, many people are saying that because of Brie's history as an actress, they believe the video to be a mere acting stunt. I don't think this is a stunt. I am truly happy for her that she could take such a public stand against her rapist. This is something not many women get to do.
Watch the video and tell us what you think.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Real-life Ken Doll

From real-life Barbies to getting larger-than-life (we are talking size L) breasts, beauty is most definitely changing rapidly. We've met the beauty game-changers like the real-life Barbie, Valeria Lukyanova (below), who has gone through multiple surgeries to make her look identical to the world's most loved doll, The Barbie.

Now, a man in search of the ultimate Ken doll figure has come to our attention. He has had over 90 surgeries to make him look more and more like Ken himself. Some might call him a silicone masterpiece or a cosmetic surgery addict, but  Justin Jedlica says that he is far from done.

In the above video we get a look into his day-to-day life, and the idea of an alternative sense of beauty which is starting to emerge.