Christmas Eve is one of the most magical days a year to me. I positively love it; late at night on 12/24, there seems to be this majestic, somewhat dark feeling in the air (think “Carol of the Bells”) that I find really electrifying.

I’ll be spending the next few days at home with family, probably eating Christmas candy and cookies for breakfast and then passing out on the couch from a sugar coma at 11am. Good times.

Have a safe and happy holiday!

xoxo,
Liz

Back in my feminist activist days, my “main issue” (most activists have one or two issues that they focus on the most) was the sexual exploitation of women in the media.  Nothing bothered me more than music videos where female celebrities–women famous and rich enough to exercise some creative control over their work–would get naked and grind while they sang their songs.  When I was in the 11th grade and my freshman year of college, I organized two protests outside the MTV studios in Times Square to take on how the television programming and music videos MTV aired portrayed women as stupid and as worthwhile only for their sexuality; at the second protest I organized, forty people showed up and marched up around outside the MTV studios with signs that said “I Don’t Want My MTV!” and “SEXISM, RACISM, MTV!”  I don’t think I’ve ever been prouder of anything I’ve done than that protest.

In the following years, I chilled out.  I witnessed sexism and misogyny far more extreme in college–especially because of the hook-up culture and the rather macabre sexual rituals in my generation–and MTV didn’t seem as threatening.

But I can’t stop thinking about the music video for “Single Ladies,” Beyonce Knowles’ new single.  Beyonce looks like she is trying really hard to be a piece of ass, gyrating to a point that looks like it’s physically uncomfortable for her!  Maureen Dowd wrote in her book Are Men Necessary? that our society is “so derangingly sexualized, it’s not a sexy society.”  And I think that’s the case with the “Single Ladies” video.  Beyonce looks like she is trying so hard to be raunchy that she looks positively ridiculous.  This bothered me.

But then I saw this SNL skit with Justin Timberlake, and it has me thinking even more about the exploitation of women’s sexuality in the media.

This video is intended to be funny (and it totally is!) because a) Justin Timberlake and two SNL actors (including one of the actors from the eponymous Bro Rape viral video!) are pretending to be presumably-gay backup dancers in heels and tight black leotards, but b) the guys are pretending to be pieces of ass alongside Beyonce! But it looks so bizarre (and frankly, a little gross; I’m totally not turned on by guys in heels) to see these guys putting themselves in the positions of submission that we usually only see women in, i.e. scantily-clad, dancing provocatively for a video camera.

And I can’t stop thinking about it! Lately, “my issue” has been taking on the pressure on young women to be perfect (in my book, naturally), but I’m wondering whether I might return to my high school activist days and see if there are ways that I can challenge the ’sexploitation’ of women in the media again. In the meantime, I’m turning the radio off when “Single Ladies” comes on.

I have a new feature up at Ypulse, about how college students and recent grads who want to work in the media are suriving and thriving in the face of the sad state of the media industry.

Personally, the state of the media and job prospects is something that I’m constantly thinking about, but I really believe that things are going to turn around within the year and in the meantime, I think that there is a really thick silver living in the face of the dismal job prospects and layoffs.  In other words, aspiring media employees: although it seems like right now we’re bringing sand to the beach by joining this industry, don’t fret–there are definitely things you can do in the meantime to up your professional ante!  Check out the piece for more!

I know, I know, I should be completely embarassed, but I JUST LOVE these girl celebrities that the Disney Channel exploits churns out. My like of music geared towards ten year old girls is mostly based in my hatred of misogynistic hip-hop and rap, but Radio Disney music is just so damn perky!

My new favorite is Miranda Cosgrove, who I predict will eclipse Miley Cyrus in fame within the next year.  I am OBSESSED with this song:

This very well may be the highlight of my career thus far! I wrote the cover story for the Times Union’s perspective section today about JuicyCampus.com, a pernicious new gossip web-site for college students. Check it out! I’ve been reading the Times Union daily for years–it’s the newspaper that serves the area where I grew up, Albany, NY. So needless to say, I’m totally pumped to finally be published in their print edition! (I had written a blog for their web-site for years prior).

In terms of my op-ed, JuicyCampus.com really makes my blood boil. I’m relieved to say that the site hasn’t caught on at my college the way it has at the University of Albany or the University of Delaware (another school where JuicyCampus.com has really taken off), but I think it’s really horrible that a corporation is profiting off of college peers being cruel to one another. While censorship isn’t necessarily the key (although I do think many of the posts on JuicyCampus should be removed), I think the most important step to take is for college students to stop reading the site! If no one reads JuicyCampus.com, there would be no point posting to it! So there.

Teen girls are in love with the vampire character Edward in Stephanie Meyer’s bestselling novel and blockbuster adapted-movie Twilight.  And it makes sense: Edward’s young, he’s charming, he’s attractive, and while he may be bloodsucking, he’s not looking for sex.

The sexual norms in Generation Y (today’s 13 to 30 year olds, to broadly define the demographic) are rather different from years past. Young women are no longer sexual gatekeepers; in fact, frequently young women say, “I don’t want to be in a serious relationship, I just want sex” and pursue hook-ups (the broad term used by Gen Y-ers to describe everything from steamy kissing to sexual intercourse) as fiercely as young men do.

This isn’t the case in Twilight, where a teenaged girl named Bella Swan falls in love with Edward Cullen, a boy at her new school who leads a secret double life as a vampire.  The pair start going out and eventually fall in love… but Edward doesn’t pursue have sex with Bella (he’s afraid he might get caught up in the visceral heat of the moment and hurt her).  Although Bella initially wanted to have sex regardless of the risk inherent in having sex with vampires, Edward and Bella eventually end up completely enthralled by one another… and they’re fine without going all the way.

(Although I’m told by a friend of mine who has read the entire Twilight series that Edward eventually becomes “the most passionate lovemaker in the world!” when he and Bella get married.  Which is an entirely different think piece!)

While there is so much that contributes to the appeal of the four books in this series—the precise narration, the intriguing vampire-lifestyle details, and the “forbidden fruit” love story (hence the cover art: a shiny red apple), the reason many young women are attracted to these books is the perfect love story that isn’t at all tainted for the heroine Bella by the complications of sex!

Many young women who pursue hook-ups would actually much rather be in long-term relationships, but they figure that dating takes too long, guys don’t like relationships, and that they themselves may not be “relationship material.”  Although fans of the Samantha Jones character on Sex and the City will assert that it’s 2008 and women can have “sex like men,” the truth is that many young women end up somewhat scathed by hooking up.  Girls pursue casual sex, but then they get disappointed when they realize that the boys, too, just wanted sex; they thought they could have the physical element of the relationship first, and then develop an emotional connection.  Girls aren’t tapping into just how much they crave the emotional intimacy that goes along with relationships.  In pursuing hook-ups, girls sacrifice the emotional closeness that they so crave!

That is, young women frequently go into sex thinking it’s just for fun, but feel intensely rejected if the guy doesn’t want a real relationship or wants to be in a relationship with a different girl. The boys don’t know what’s expected of them during hook-ups, and the girls become upset with the guys… but the guys can’t read girls’ minds.  This miscommunication totally polarizing the genders, and it has girls feeling like, when it comes to sex, guys are dogs.

Thus, there is wisdom in the countless girls joining Twilight-themed and Edward Cullen-themed Facebook groups and lining up in droves at television studios to see the Twilight stars in person.  Because of the rather lax approach to sexuality in this generation, young women have been hurt by guys and sex in the past, so they are totally into the idea of a cute, romantic boy who wants a relationship with all the romance that goes with it, even if there is no sex!  In fact, to fans of the Twilight books, Edward is a gentle, alluring guy who is defanged (if only figuratively) by his lack of sexual advances towards Bella.

What Bella and Edwards have is love—they would never list their Facebook relationship status as “It’s Complicated…” (a certain reverberation of the hook-up culture).  Thus, if love is what today’s young women want, they should cool their jets and pursue real relationships and deeper connections with guys, and eventually tackle the sexual element.   It’s not that abstinence is the goal here: it’s that teen girls should eventually tackle sexual elements when they’re more emotionally connected in their relationships.

And while dating takes time and patience and a completely new approach to relationships, if a teenaged vampire boy can control his visceral urges, mortal teenaged girls should be able to, too.