I am a huge Janelle Monae fan. I think she's brilliant.
We snuck away for the weekend - the first in 10 years we haven't done something with my mother. HPF, DH and I are having the best time. They went off and left me to the very large bathtub that is in our room (I've had two baths since we got here last night) and now I'm sitting on the porch writing some amazing guilty drabbles that will never survive any sort of analysis.
I was supposed to go visit my parents this weekend, but I'm exhausted after finals, and my sinuses are killing me, and driving three and a half hours just isn't in the cards.
I loved seeing the video for Janelle's song "Tightrope" because it shows she's an absolutely kickass dancer too.
Plus she totally brings it live.
I think she's the true heir to Prince/James Brown as a band leader and front person.
I loved seeing the video for Janelle's song "Tightrope" because it shows she's an absolutely kickass dancer too.
The choice of shoes for all the major dancers in that video emphasises how mesmerising the footwork is.
I don't even get the Beyonce/Slave thing from that picture. Beyonce was wearing a mostly transparent shift with underwear under it to keep anything from showing that would require a brown paper wrapper. Is that a takeoff of what actual slaves wore? Or is Bell Hooks saying that dressing scantily is promoting enslavement of women? An objectification thing?
Phew! I just did an hour+ of yardwork, and pulled up most of the volunteer maples and mulberry bushes, some of which had been there for years. It does feel good to do physical work you can see the results of right away.
We head over to Chez flea in a little bit to hang out with tommyrot and the family flea! We bought snacky-type food at Trader Joe's to take over, mostly so I had a legitimate reason to buy the white cheddar puffed corn (I cannot buy it for us, because if it is in our house I will eat the whole bag in 2 hours, maybe less).
Or is Bell Hooks saying that dressing scantily is promoting enslavement of women? An objectification thing?
I'm guessing you didn't listen to the talk, but they go into a fair amount detail about the infantilisation and disempowering of that picture, and also assert she has more control over the final picture than I was saying. So she's complicit in undermining the thesis of her power, and offering herself up as a treat, and not a powerful one.
While you might not agree, they discuss it quite a bit, and I don't do it justice.
erika! You're in Oprah magazine!