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Feminist Paper Doll Project
This collection of paper dolls is not complete. There are so many individuals who have done amazing and heroic things to defy oppression and offer hope to everyone throughout history. This is the beginning of a process of thinking about those folks and honoring them.
I would love feedback, comments and suggestions on this particular project. I will add links and new "dolls" as I am able.
Thank you.
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Female sexuality is under attack.Women are limited to a duality of virgin or whore and quite frankly I personally don't subscribe to either of those points of view.The paper doll for March 1 is the Burlesque Riot GRRRL. |
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"We are tired of war. We are tired of running. We are tired of begging for bulgur wheat. We are tired of our children being raped. We are now taking this stand, to secure the future of our children. Because we believe, as custodians of society, tomorrow our children will ask us, "Mama, what was your role during the crisis?"
Leymah Gbowee, leader of Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace on April 23, 2003
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March 11, 2012
In 2009, Iran held presidential elections and there was a large opposition that supported Mir Hossein Mousavi. It seemed that Mousavi, a supporter of women's rights and interested in opening up dialogue with the US, might win. He did not and this defeat lead to wide spread protests, lead and propelled by women. Not everyone in Iran wants the "west" to be killed. I grabbed the image for today's paper doll out of Jezebel.com's coverage of the protests and a print out of the image hangs above my desk at work.
This image always runs through my head when the Republican Presidential candidates vow that they will go in harshly to Iran and teach them a lesson. (To be fair, it runs through my head when even a country is wholesale demonized by either the left or the right. A country is not the leader who clashes with political opponents, but also the people who have no voice and are forced to go along.) I wonder who will have to deal with the aftermath, but only for a moment. The women who protested to change will be left with the heartache, the clean up and the trauma. This is not to say that men do not feel these thing as well. But women do not have equality and yes, the oppressed feel havoc and chaos and war more keenly then those with power.
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Why Alice in Wonderland?
I specifically am not choosing Lewis Carroll or Alice Liddell BUT Alice in the story.
Yes, she is fictional. But how many little girls and boys developed an interest in chess and logics because of her? She embodied curiosity and straying from the path in order to chase after dreams, and she confronted a fascist monarch twice and won.
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March 13, 2012
Annie Oakley
"She was a super bad ass that whipped the boys (via sharp shooting) at a time when women weren't supposed to." (as described by Molly Nelson, my co-worker)
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March 14, 2012
Guerrilla GRRRRRRL
"We're a bunch of anonymous females who take the names of dead women artists as pseudonyms and appear in public wearing gorilla masks. We have produced posters, stickers, books, printed projects, and actions that expose sexism and racism in politics, the art world, film and the culture at large. We use humor to convey information, provoke discussion, and show that feminists can be funny. We wear gorilla masks to focus on the issues rather than our personalities. Dubbing ourselves the conscience of culture, we declare ourselves feminist counterparts to the mostly male tradition of anonymous do-gooders like Robin Hood, Batman, and the Lone Ranger. Our work has been passed around the world by kindred spirits who we are proud to have as supporters. It has also appeared in The New York Times, The Nation, Bitch and Bust; on TV and radio, including NPR,, the BBC and CBC; and in countless art and feminist texts. The mystery surrounding our identities has attracted attention. We could be anyone; we are everywhere."
(taken from the Guerrilla Girls faqs page...you should check it out and support local feminist artists.)
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"In a time where women were still grappling for power, Mae West wrote, produced and directed her own plays which were all highly successful. When finally given her big break in movies, she was known to rewrite her lines and self direct her ...scenes. She was one of the first acts to move to Las Vegas...she never apologized for who she was and never compromised herself. And she was a curvy gal that everyone found immensely sexy."
(as described by Malaina Mobley, my friend)
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"Sometimes it is necessary to make a
confrontation – and I like that."
~Louise Bourgeois
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March 17, 2012
Sheela Na Gig
When Saint Patrick came to Ireland, he brought with him intolerance for the pre-existing beliefs (driving the "snakes" out of Ireland references the expulsion or repression of pre-existing pagan belief structures.) Among this intolerance was to women's knowledge of fertility and the sexual health of the community. This knowledge was driven underground despite attempts to make it taboo and forbidden. Seems like we are currently still dealing with this misogyny and intolerance today.
In the churches sheela na gigs, stone figures of the goddess with her enlarged vulva, were placed in doorways and other points. Touching the enlarged vulva of these figures is believed to ensure fertility and good sexual health as well as prosperity. The links between women's health, education levels and sense of empowerment have been found to be one of the strongest factors in ensuring the ENTIRE community's overall well-being.
Hmmm. Seems if we ensure that women have adequate access to contraception, education, and hope and empowerment, then perhaps we all might do better.
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During WWII, able bodied men were sent off to war. But the manufacture of the war machine(s) still needed to be completed. This left the construction of 4000 aircraft per month up to a female work force. By 1943, 2.1 million workers were placed in the aircraft industry and the overwhelming majority of those were women. Women were throwing around machinery and tools just as well as any man. Gender it evidenced did not dictate capability.
However, after WWII the returning male soldiers needed jobs. The Rosies were booted out of the workforce and into the suburban kitchen. The propaganda machine changed its tune from “We Can Do It” to “Let the big strong man take care of the weaker women.” (See the sit-coms Leave it Beaver and Father Knows Best.)
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"There are cases where the slave does not know his servitude and where it is necessary to bring the seed of his liberation to him from the outside: his submission is not enough to justify the tyranny which is imposed upon him."
~ Simone de Beauvoir
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Sen. Judy Eason McIntyre was the paper doll for March 2 because of her stand on the current punitive laws being pushed through by the conservative right intended on limiting women. Her sign was labeled offensive however the bill that she was protesting (invasive ultrasounds) was much more hideous.
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March 20, 2012
"I'm happy today! Don't you just love it when you have a great day?!"
~my 11 year old daughter
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"Parents who judge their children have completely misunderstood the role of being a parent. It is the parents who must wait to be judged by their children, in order to finally understand the purpose of being a parent."
~ Timothy Eichfeld (my husband)
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“I refuse to allow this. A woman’s body should not be used as a tool for intimidation, and nobody should have their dignity violated.”
~ Samira Ibrahim (Egyptian Activist that reported being sexually assaulted to the police only to be arrested for being an improper woman (read: getting assaulted then speaking up about it).)
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"The only tired I was,
was tired of giving in."
~ Rosa Parks
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"The focus on building autonomous power does not imply separatism. In fact, this model of radical women of color organizing is not simply based on a narrow politics of identity but more on a set of political practices designed to eliminate the interlocking systems of oppression based on heteropatriarchy, white supremacy, capitalism and colonialism—a vision that is liberating for all peoples. Unlike the demobilizing reformism of the mainstream women’s movement, this organizing is about asserting power and taking responsibility for transforming the world."
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Choosing to create a fluidity between masculine and feminine traits of flamenco dancing, "Carmen Amaya created a deeply personal style of dance that was so individual and this along with her manly image and legs ...of steel became her trademark. She revolutionized female flamenco dance and broke many of the rules and traditions of the old style dance, and there were, therefore, those who criticized her non-conformist style."
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"Observing woman's agency, devotion and efficiency in pleading the cause of the slave, gratitude for this high service early moved me to give favorable attention to the subject of what is called "woman's rights" and caused me to be denominated a woman's rights man. I am glad to say I have never been ashamed to be thus designated."
~Fredrick Douglass
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March 27, 2012
I have been having conversation about this project and people to be included over on Facebook. This is one of the conversations I had about Angela Hartnett:
"Well Bridget," says Connor McAlonan, (my cousin and a chef in Ireland) "I think Angela Hartnett is a good example. She is a chef in the UK who earned a Michelin Star. But for me any woman who can achieve at this level in a very male/macho dominated world deserves a nod."
"It seems also, Conor that she is not embracing the bravado of "I am amazing so I can treat my employees like shit" mentality. It seems (and perhaps you know more about her ripples in the foodie community) that she is egalitarian in her approaches. I especially love her comment about having childcare available for ALL employees, not just women. This is what I am looking for when I think about this paper doll project," I say.
"Definitely. From talking to people that have worked in her kitchen, she doesn’t have to say much. One of my Heroes, " says Conor
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| Wall, chilern, whar dar is so much racket dar must be somethin' out o' kilter. I tink dat 'twixt de nigger of de Souf and de womin at de Norf, all talkin' 'bout rights, de white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what's all dis here talkin' 'bout? Dat man ober dar say dat womin needs to be helped into carriages, and lifted ober ditches, and to hab de best place everywhar. Nobody eber halps me into carriages, or ober mudpuddles, or gibs me any best place! And ar'n't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed, and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ar'n't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man -- when I could get it -- and bear de lash as well! And ar'n't' I a woman? I have borne thirteen chilern, and seen 'em mos' all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ar'n't I a woman? Den dey talks 'bout dis ting in de head; what dis dey call it? "Intellect," (whispered someone near). Dat's it, honey. What's dat got to do wid womin's rights or nigger's rights? If my cup won't hold but a pint, and yourn holds a quart, wouldn't ye be mean not to let me have my little half-measure full? Den dat little man in black dar, he say women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wan't a woman! Whar did your Christ come from? Whar did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothin' to do wid Him. If de fust woman God ever made was strong enough to turn de world upside down all alone, dese women togedder ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again! And now dey is asking to do it, de men better let 'em. Bleeged to ye for hearin' on me, and now ole Sojourner han't got nothin' more to say." As Delivered by Sojourner Truth, 1851 at the Women's Convention in Akron, Ohio. |
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"What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places—and there are so many—where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.
And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”
~Howard Zinn
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March 3
Today I have chosen Lucy Stone because she was the first married woman in America (granted pre-abolishion so this is a loaded issue) to not take her husband's name. This was a radical form a protest. In addition she wore pants. For the time period both were outrageous. Also, Lucy Stone's work in the abolition movement through public speaking sparked many of women to join in the suffrage movement.
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“It is necessary that the weakness of the powerless is transformed into a force capable of announcing justice. For this to happen, a total denouncement of fatalism is necessary. We are transformative beings and not beings for accommodation.”
~Paulo Freire
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"Wyatt's major achievement as a union activist was to protect and enhance the rights of women in the workplace. She was the first chair of the National Women's Committee of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU), which honored her by naming an award after her, the Addie L. Wyatt Woman of the Year Award. Wyatt was appointed by Eleanor Roosevelt as a committee member on the Labor Legislation Committee of the Commission on the Status of Women, which reported in 1963. She was appointed by President Carter to the National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year. Wyatt was named one of Time's Women of the Year in 1975 and by the Ladies' Home Journal in 1977. Ebony judged her one of the 100 most influential black Americans between 1980 and 1984. On August 26, 2005, her footprints were added to the Civil Rights Walk of Fame in Atlanta, Georgia, in acknowledgment of her work as an activist, campaigner, and leader."
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"I have no idea of submitting tamely to injustice inflicted either on me or on the slave. I will oppose it with all the moral powers with which I am endowed.
I am no advocate of passivity."
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"Nobody comes to our help in these parts. The officials and the police are corrupt and anti-poor. So sometimes we have to take the law in our hands. At other times, we prefer to shame the wrongdoers," says Sampat Pal Devi, between teaching a "gang" member on how to use a lathi (traditional Indian stick) in self defense.
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"If society will not admit of woman's free development, then society must be remodeled. "
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Eleanor as dictated by Katharine:
Henry II: Give me a little peace.
Eleanor: A little? Why so modest? How about eternal peace? Now there's a thought.
"I never realized until lately that women were supposed to be the inferior sex."
Katharine Hepburn
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"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be."
Kurt Vonnegut
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March 7, 2012
Irena Sendler
During WWII she worked as a plumber in Warsaw Ghettos in order to transport children to safety. She trained her dog to bark at the approach of Nazi soldiers so that the noises from the children were masked. She saved the names of the children and the parents in a jar under a tree in her backyard so that she could reunite them after the Nazis fell.
She was caught and tortured by the Nazi at least once during her resistance activities. Broken bones did not deter her campaign.
90% of the parents of the children who she spirited to safety were killed in the Holocaust.
Irena died on May 12, 2008. She was recently nominated for a Nobel Peace prize but did not win the honor.
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“In societies where men are truly confident of their own worth, women are not merely tolerated but valued.”
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"Prizes do not mean anything to me...it is more important to make a child aware of the existence of a weird creature like a water spider that breathes through its backside."
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