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@itscomplicatedproject
I know my generation of feminists is adamant about the radical potential of a bunch of contradictions. And yet, to be completely honest, I’m terribly unsatisfied. Nothing, no one, not a single one of these bitches on the Internet can soothe me with a truism.
Johanna Fateman in an essay on Andrea Dworkin, from the anthology Icon (ed. Amy Scholder)
It's (finally) here! "It's Complicated: Identity Crisis" features 5 excellent essays on the intersection between feminism and other identities, and how that affects the way each writer interacts with a particular artist or work.
Issue #2 is 52 black and white pages, with a full-color cover designed by Marina Micheva. Included are the following essays: Julia Furlan on Samba music Susannah Young on Southern rap Rohin Guha on gay male TV writers Arianna Stern on Woody Allen B. Michael Payne on "No Children" by the Mountain Goats
It's now available for purchase on Etsy (although a special-edition bundle featuring a really great tote bag is still to come), or at Bluestockings in NY.
To a stunning degree, for a period of over half a century, Salinger managed to convince a significant portion of the reading population that his words and actions should be exempt from scrutiny for the simple reason that he wrote those nine stories, and “The Catcher in the Rye.” And because he said so. Now the story well known to me is known to the world, though there are voices raised up still, decrying the violation of Salinger’s legendary privacy. But while this recent burst of disclosure might seem to demystify the man (or call his role as sage into question), a troubling phenomenon has surfaced along with the news. It is the quiet acceptance, apparently alive and well in our culture, of the notion that genius justifies cruel or abusive treatment of those who serve the artist and his art.
Joyce Maynard
It’s Complicated #1- do you have to hate the Afghan Whigs if you’re a feminist? #atomicbooks
If you're in Baltimore (or, you know, on the Internet), you can buy the first issue of "It's Complicated" at one of our favorite bookstores, Atomic Books.
It isn’t that I like it and I don’t like it—that’s too simple. Or, if you will, it isn’t “both yes and no.” It’s “this but also that.” I’d love to settle in on a strong feeling or reaction. But, having seen whatever I see, my mind keeps on going and I see something else. It’s that I quickly see the limitations of whatever I say or whatever judgment I make about anything. There’s a wonderful remark of Henry James: “Nothing is my last word on anything.” There’s always more to be said, more to be felt.
Susan Sontag: Paris Review - The Art of Fiction No. 143 (via markrichardson)
Zine Swaps
We're surprised and excited about how many orders we've gotten for the first issue of "It's Complicated." In case you missed it, it's now available for purchase at Etsy.
Meanwhile, we thought we'd mention that we're also totally open to zine swaps -- just get in touch via Tumblr or email ([email protected]) and tell us about your zine. As long as it's not, like, a Men's Rights Activist zine or something about how you hate Lydia Lunch, we'll probably be down.
Great news: "It's Complicated #1" is now available for purchase on Etsy! Buy it here.
Here's all the info:
"It's Complicated Zine #1: Totally Crushed Out!" is the first issue of a series of zines about feminist writers' relationships to the artists whose misogynist work we love. Edited by Judy Berman and Niina Pollari.
Issue #1 is 52 black and white pages, with a full-color cardstock cover designed by Gina Abelkop of Birds of Lace. Included are the following essays: Nona Willis Aronowitz on Eminem Brooklyn Copeland on Marlon Brando Elisabeth Donnelly on The Afghan Whigs Nina Mashurova on Charles Bukowski Tom Ribitzky on the men of Ayn Rand Judy Berman on Glam Rock
The issue #1 zines are here! That's the cover -- and the zines as they looked when Niina opened the boxes yesterday -- above.
Since the first issue is themed around artists whose work we loved as teenagers, we knew we wanted the issue to look like a school notebook with doodles all over it. Niina did the sketches, and then the amazing Gina of Birds of Lace Press took them and designed this cover.
The zine is 54 pages, and contains essays by Nona Willis Aronowitz, Elisabeth Donnelly, Tom Ribitzky, Brooklyn Copeland, Nina Mashurova, and Judy Berman.
We'll be sending issue #1 to Kickstarter backers ASAP, including those who ordered both issues. Watch this space for more info on how to buy the zine if you don't already have a copy coming via Kickstarter (or if you did but also want to buy dozens more copies to distribute to everyone you know).
In which John Darnielle responds to my question about why he called his own song Going To Georgia “misogynist garbage” at a recent show.
This is a good exchange (and something like something I wrote at length about in some sort of project that’s sure to come out at some point).
That too! And it (Issue #2) will come out in... not that many months, we promise.
In which John Darnielle responds to my question about why he called his own song Going To Georgia “misogynist garbage” at a recent show.
IMPORTANT THINGS MAKING MY HEAD HURT
John Darnielle gets all It's Complicated on himself! <3
Your audience, as it grows, your need for a teaching job, the fact of being taken seriously and reviewed by people—all these things might lead you to over-analyze your words and censor them. As Adrienne Rich put it, “Lying is done with words and also with silence.” You’re too young to remember this—I’m too young to remember this—but in 1976 Vivian Gornick wrote an essay called “Why Do these Men Hate Women?” Underneath this boldfaced headline were the photos of Normal Mailer, John Updike, and Philip Roth. Mailer probably enjoyed that, but I doubt Updike and Roth did. Still, what did Philip Roth do in response to that attack? He went on to publish books like “Sabbath’s Theater,” in order to provoke such critics rather than placate them. And the important thing isn’t whether you like Philip Roth or think he’s a nice person or a misogynist or a pervert or just really funny; the important thing is that no one would dispute that Roth has continued to be the writer he had to be, a writer who has been lionized and vilified. But, let’s face it, mostly lionized.
Jeffrey Eugenides’s Advice to Young Writers : The New Yorker
Adrienne Rich employed to defend Philip Roth.
(via michelledean)
Feminism is flawed. Feminism is flawed because it is a movement powered by people and people are inherently flawed. For whatever reason, we hold feminism to an unreasonable standard where the movement must be everything we want and must always make the best choices. When feminism falls short of...
The whole thing, but especially this part: "I openly embrace the label of bad feminist. I do so because I acknowledge up front that I am flawed and human. I am not terribly well versed in feminist history. I am not as well read in feminism texts as I would like to be. I have certain… interests and personality traits and opinions that may not fall in line with mainstream feminism but I am still a feminist. I cannot tell you how freeing it has been to accept this about myself."
With that said, something runs through all of these movies and the work of Raymond Chandler that is amazing to behold--a really coarse, and unconcealed misogyny. This is where you start to see the problem of reducing misogyny to counting out how many times a rapper says "bitch." What you see in Chandler's work, and in Hitchcock, is not simply that it's OK to call women names, but that's OK to beat on women if they anger you, annoy you or fail to look like Grace Kelly. I feel like there are a couple of James Bond scenes like this too, that I'm missing.
"Hitchcock, Chandler, and Misogyny" by Ta-Nehisi Coates at The Atlantic
Oh no big deal, just a somewhat horrifying sketch of Ayn Rand for Complicated reasons.
Could this be an illustration for It's Complicated #1? Stay tuned to find out...
It's Complicated project update
It's been a while since we last updated everyone on It's Complicated, so here's a quick note on where we are now:
- Niina and I are finalizing the first zine, "Totally Crushed Out!" Things have been a bit delayed and we've had to make a few changes to the original essay lineup, but just about all the pieces are now in final form. These pieces have even exceeded our high expectations, so we can't wait to get them into your hands. We'll be sending them off to Gina Abelkop at Birds of Lace for design very soon, and then it's off to the printer.
- We're also working with Gina on the cover design for "Totally Crushed Out!" We think you'll be pretty entertained by what she has in mind.
- The second zine, "Identity Crisis," is well underway, with most pieces already finalized.
- We've sent out the rewards for our $1, $5, and $10 Kickstarter donors. As soon as we have zines printed, the next levels will go out. We know we're behind schedule on this stuff and apologize for the delay. The good news is that the pieces look great, and we know everyone will be happy with the zines once they're ready.
Thanks for your patience and, as always, your support!
- Judy
Some people probably think of Sam from “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” as a Manic Pixie Dream Girl. I don’t think that’s exactly right. Aside from the tunnel moment above — which is actually pretty badass in the movie — she isn’t particularly “quirky.” In fact, the right archetype is more like Penny Lane from “Almost Famous.” Maybe there is some other name for this, but I’m calling it the Magic Slut.
Sam has hooked up with a lot of guys. This has made her wise and nurturing, and when a troubled young protagonist comes along, she can impart her knowledge on him. She has suffered all these years to reveal to him hard truths about life! His love redeems her! Only through his eyes can she see herself as worthy of love! Never mind that he is in reality at least 15 times more screwed up than she is! She starts out protecting him, but it takes his purity to save her from a life of unsatisfying relationships and self-hatred.
I don’t love this archetype. In many ways the Magic Slut is just like the MPDG — a projection of the male protagonist’s needs and desires, who exists purely to elevate him from a place of dejection or ignorance, who doesn’t seem to have an independent purpose in the world. When we first meet Sam, she and her stepbrother Patrick are lively and magnetic. But when she becomes the object of Charlie’s affection, she fades away into typical-girl low self-esteem. We see her from afar, mostly, as Charlie stares forlornly at her from his wallflower perch or she kisses her unworthy boyfriend in a shadowy corner.
And, of course, she’s the pretty, more traditionally feminine antidote to mean, smart, Mary Elizabeth, with her punk-rock hair and SAT scores so high she’d never need Charlie as a tutor.
This is all coming out like I hated the movie. I didn’t, actually, there were parts I loved. (Patrick forever, Mary Elizabeth forever except when she becomes a pathetic cartoon, “Rocky Horror”/”Punk Rocky” forever, that amazing permanent house party forever.) But it always sticks in my craw when a writer who supposedly “captures the teenage experience” can’t give us female characters as real and multifaceted as the male ones.
