Snapshot: Dying for a Diamond

(originally posted 04/09 at wordpress)


by mae stephenson



This is sort of cheating. I actually snapped this picture (but still with my cell phone!) months ago because I just couldn't believe the sexism before my eyes and wanted to show it to everyone I knew. You could call it my original Snapshot. Nonetheless, this was snapped downtown, near PSU, on 4th Ave. It's an ad that actually extends into the window of a Trimet bus-- something I'd never seen before-- depicting a woman desperately reaching for a giant diamond ring; it almost appears as though the woman is reaching from a seat inside of the bus.

The first university I ever went to was a private Christian school in Seattle, where a common phrase to hear around the dorm, in which everyone under 21 was mandated to live, was "Ring by Spring!" This was what I remembered when I saw this ad.

This ad not only perpetuates negative stereotypes about women desiring eternal attachment to men and a materialistic obsession with a diamond ring, but in turn, perpetuates the stereotype that men have no interest in commitment and that it's a woman's job to tame them into civilized, religiously sanctioned marriages. These things are not only sexist, but grossly heterocentric.

Snapshot: 4GrrlzEyezOnlies (Or, Wow- That's Really Sexist Branding on that Candy Bar!)

(originally posted 03/09 at wordpress)


by mae stephenson

Excuse the sarcastic title this week, folks; the item in this week's image deserves a title no more mature than the item itself.



I saw this for the first time in my life last weekend. It's a UK-based chocolate bar from our pals at Nestle (just google 'Nestle Boycott' for more reasons women shouldn't adore them). Yes, that is an extra-feminine woman symbol with the circle-slash "no" in place of an 'O' and reads "it's not for girls!" on the side. And yes, it's really just chocolate (I checked the ingredients just in case it was one of those specially formulated vitamin bars posing as candy). This bar can be found at your local SE 33rd and Belmont Zupan's where I snapped this picture. Not with the girly chocolate at the front of the store; in a more discrete location-- across from the baking supplies.

*New Column* Snapshot: The Elephant in the Bathroom

(originally posted 02/09 at wordpress)

This is a new column from the editor of the SheSheet, mae stephenson. Snapshot addresses the here-and-now of white supremacist capitalist patriarchy in Portland, OR where the author lives, walks, and braves public transportation. She'll share her on-the-go experiences and observations via low quality cellphone snapshots and short synopsis. Yeah, she realizes there's nothing new about critiquing advertisements and culture from a feminist perspective, but aims to remind you that the work is certainly not finished-- No, not even in Portland, Oregon.


by mae stephenson

Why did this baby-changing table have anthropomorphically gendered hetero elephant parents? Because only hetero parents in sets of two have babies, of course!

A couple days ago I found this gem attached to a baby-changing table in a single-stall bathroom at a bakery/cafe in NW Portland. It's part of the brand sticker-- the item's logo. It's been there a while: I could tell by how the sticker was shredded and picked-at to the point where I could tell the brand name was to the left of the image, but I couldn't actually read it. What I could read, however, were those elephants' genders.

Well Rounded Womanhood

(originally posted 02/09 at wordpress)


By Olivia Jarratt

"You know, a lot of girls are as big as you but at least they hide it." My brother poked my belly as he told me this after picking me up from ballet when I was in the 8th grade. I felt ashamed when he said this, because I knew it was true. I was not hiding my flaws well enough.

Growing up, I was always taught to be my true self. I accepted my quirky behavior and had as much fun as I could, even though my actions were often 'weird'. My mother allowed us to dress ourselves, as soon as we were able, how ever we wanted. My outfits were loud and creative and I embraced it. It wasn't until I hit 6th grade that I began thinking about my belly or my double chin or my bulging arm fat. I was never very big, just chubby, but as my classmates began caring about their appearance and clothing, I found myself tagging behind. I cared about making sure I had a ring on each finger and prided myself on the 6 handmade necklaces I would make and wear everyday. Peace, harmony and love love love is all I cared about.

Women Our Age: Not Dying or “Dye-ing”

(originally posted 08/08 at wordpress)


by Emily Calkins

Mainstream culture has never been particularly kind to women, but once we hit that magic “middle age” number it gets even worse. We lose our value as an advertising commodity and that, in this society, is a real bummer (or do we still say that?).

I swore off the henna a little over a year ago. Being an organically oriented sort of person I never used chemical hair color, but I was looking for a new job at the time and figured my graying locks would reduce my odds. Falling for this is something I am not especially proud of, thinking about it in retrospect. Who was I kidding? I grew up in the 60s and 70s; “Hair” was often on my turntable; Gloria Steinem and Betty Freidan were in their heydays. I read “Our Bodies, Ourselves” in high school. There is no way I am going to hide that anymore.

Women do not have to conform to the prescribed role of middle-aged frump, any more than we should conform to any other kind of obedience. It’s almost like another type of rebellion, in a way. Our society revolves around fast everything, processed food, overwork, and materialism. All these things age us faster than just about anything else I can imagine. I take good care of myself because I want to be around when my grandchildren come along. Getting older is not about surrender; it is about staying vital, strong, healthy, and beautiful in whatever way fits us. It is about reading, writing, dancing, yoga, lifting weights, marching downtown for peace, and forgiving. Most of all, it is creating ourselves in this new “format,” whatever that happens to be.

On Rape Culture

(originally posted 05/08 at wordpress)

 

 

by Katie Johncock

 

 

 

“Rape culture” is a scary phrase. At least I think so. The first time I heard it I was taking the basic advocacy training at Portland Women’s Crisis Hotline and I remember thinking: “Whoa, that sounds really intense…does our culture really support rape?” What I found out was that rape culture is so normalized that it’s easy to miss it. What exactly is rape culture?