"If you're breathing, why aren't you a feminist?": YouTube Feminism
by 
The theme to this post is "YouTube Feminism". What is YouTube Feminism? It's simply people using video playback technology to promote and discuss feminism and why it's important to them -- or why it isn't.
In one post, Pilgrimgirl incorporates a video that shows scenes from the TV movie about the American suffrage movement, Iron Jawed Angels. Images of Hilary Swank as Alice Paul and Frances O'Connor as Lucy Burns are dramatically heightened against a musical backdrop of songs by Meredith Brooks and Sarah Brightman. Visit her blog to read her International Women's Day thoughts in "Is it because of all that armpit hair?"
Pilgrimgirl also points to another video called "Are YOU a feminist?" which is a vox pops segment where women respond to the question.
A few of the answers:
"No. I'm a socialist."
"YES! Absolutely [...] for the life of me I cannot understand why women -- if you're breathing, why aren't you a feminist?"
[shrugs] "You're going to be labelled no matter what, so may as well just pick one that you like."
It's just under two minutes and I highly recommend viewing it. It was produced by TrixieFilms -- details are at the YouTube link.
Feminist Def Poetry
Brand New Feminist links to a video of a poetry performance by Kendra Urdang called "To every man who never called himself a feminist". The clip is from an HBO series called "Def Poetry", and is Urdang's challenge to men to think about their actions.
Brand New Feminist comments on the poem, "Feminism vs rape in a nutshell really."
If you're interested in who Kendra Urdang is, you can read a bit more about her in a post written in 2004 by Baristanet.
Jesus was a radical feminist
Mary Beth at I'm usually bored, so why not? also responds to International Women's Day by linking to three videos in her post, "Feminism is non-negotiable. Word to your mother.":
- A routine about the morning-after pill from stand-up comic Margaret Cho
- An interview with Father Andrew Greeley -- who talks about his book and asserts, "Jesus was a radical feminist"
- And the video mentioned earlier, "Are YOU a Feminist?"
You can read Mary Beth's thoughts at her blog.
Melinda Casino's YouTube selections can be found at her personal blog, Sour Duck.
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Comments
Love the line you used as a post title!
And I'm very much looking forward to perusing these videos. Thanks for assembling the list.
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Flooded Lizard Kingdom
Heroine Content
:D Isn't it a great line?
:D Isn't it a great line? It's not all positives, though, in that video -- it starts off with a few women who do not associate themselves with the feminism or regard themselves as feminist. In a way the video is better for their inclusion, because you gain some insight into why people feel that way.
I also meant to warn people -- if they don't already know -- that YouTube has a comment culture that is... how can I put this diplomatically? Somewhat wanting. But I think people can deal with it.
I originally had some editorial content about how I viewed the YouTube phenomenon, which I cut and meant to publish at my personal blog. Never did; there's another blog post lost! :)
Melinda Casino, Contributing Editor, Feminism & Gender
Personal Blog: Sour Duck