Recovering from Lady Party 911

We've finally recovered enough to sort through the photos. Check out a slideshow and a recap from Lady Party 911.

We're already planning the next Lady Party so let us know what you liked about this one and what you want to see next time.

Pictures from Lady Party 911

Jessi Klein and Jessica Chaffin host a debate with Nina Hartley, Jen Sincero, and Tracy McMillan on "Punishing the Princesses: The Media’s Obsession With Condemning Paris, Lindsay and Britney."


San Francisco dance-punk queens Von Iva perform.



Yo Majesty gets ready to raise the roof.


Object founders Lindsey and Jill.

I Heart U.S. Americans

Okay, I'm obsessed with Miss Teen USA. At first I couldn't stop laughing. But now, I'm pissed.

If you're reading this, you have a computer, which means you have surely, by now, seen - or at least heard about - the clip of Caitlin Upton, Miss South Carolina or wherever, answering the question posed to her during the "interview" portion of the Miss Teen USA pageant.

Miss Upton is asked why one-fifth of all Americans can't locate the U.S. on a world map. Her answer, in what is possibly the purest instances of schadenfraude I have ever seen, is incomprehensible. Watch it again, just for fun.



I laughed at the watercooler with all the rest of the U.S. Americans I work with, until I saw clip of Miss Upton on the Today Show the following day, pleading that she just "made a mistake". At the end, when Ann Curry gives Miss Upton a high-five for "having the courage" to show up on the Today Show to regurgitate some more coached answers (I personally believe... I'm an idiot.), I got angry!

Why?

Because Miss Upton placed third in the Miss Teen USA pageant. Third! Like she's an example of bright young womanhood. As if.

Because our cultural response to her (and what is the Today Show and its ilk, but a cultural barometer?), is a laugh and a high-five.

Because I don't believe her answer is a mistake. (U.S. Americans? The Iraq? These are not evidence of a mistake, or even a misheard question. They are evidence of a deep, deep misunderstanding.)

Because she was obviously coached, and even though she may have been nervous (which is forgiveable), she didn't forget her coaching (which is a little less forgiveable)... which is why she "personally believes" gobbledygook. I would rather her BE REAL and just say, "Um, Mario, I didn't hear the question..."

But what makes me maddest?

Is that I know there were undoubtedly some really rad girls in that contest who maybe didn't have Miss Upton's perfect Nancy O'Dell demeanor, her killer bathing suit body, her blonde helmet hair or perfect white teeth who probably could have answered the question with intelligence and grace... qualities that would reflect the young womanhood I'd want my own daughter to go for.

I think my 10-year-old son said it best. "She only cares about being hot."

And so did the judges.

THE CONVERSATION for Tuesday, September 11th...

At our event on September 11^th, we’re going to get some great women talking LIVE AND IN PERSON about the current divide between feminism and femininity, by questioning how we’re supposed to feel about the media’s obsession with Paris, Lindsey and Britney. Below are some of the questions I’m giving to the speakers and hosts to get them thinking. If you have any other thoughts, add them in to the comments section. Can’t wait to see everyone there….

Twenty years ago, People and Us were filled with tributes to women triumphing over adversity—good girls with stories that enhanced their glow—Marie Osmond, Olivia Newton John, Cheryl Ladd. Now, the tabloids tell stories of bad girls getting their punishment. What has changed in our culture that makes this the story that now sells magazines?

If feminism supports the connection between all women and sex workers, why don’t we support Paris, Britney and Lindsey? Are they not simply the world’s highest paid sex workers?

In her new book, The Female Thing, Laura Kipnis writes of the chasm between feminism and feminity. She posits that women can’t really take hold of their power until they recognize the conflicted female psyche and it’s propensity toward the rape fantasy, which she calls a a sub-textual acknowledgement of women's propensity to masochism. In other words, if privately, women don’t really (or always) want to “be on top,” does this ultimately put us at odds with trying to build a strong power base as activists?

Is Paris Hilton a child of porn?

What part of women’s fulfillment of their sexual wholeness involves enjoying being looked at? Being seen? Being an object? What is the difference between those three?

Is pornography by definition filmed? Is it possible for two people to have sex that is neither filmed nor distributed that is still pornographic?

Do women have much more influence over men than they realize? Do most women have more or less power over their men than they want?

Is it possible that the problem with porn is that, as a performance distributed to many different people, its end use is uncertain, in both sexual and spiritual ways? Could this be said of any media, including a horror movie or High School Musical? Does the involvement of sex behoove its producers to consider the relationship between sex and love? Should sex be sacred? Is it painful for people to engage in sex that’s not sacred?

Is Paris being punished ultimately for her sex tape or her life?