On Boing Boing today (thanks Dr. Jacobs) there's a link to the top ten badass Bible Verses. Along with being extremely funny (and possibly offensive to those of you who are religious, though I doubt it,) it got me thinking about women and religion. I'm not a religious person, so I don't know too much about the bible ladies, but I do know a little bit about Joan of Arc (Check out this link for a full history of the woman.)


Joan of Arc was a French woman in the 15th century. She lived during the time of the 100 Years War, and when she was younger, her village survived several raids. Sources conflict about when she actually first started hearing the voices of Saints, but most agree that it was about the age of 12. She claimed that they told her to "drive out the English and bring the Dauphin to Reims for his coronation." When she was 16-17, she began her quest to accomplish this task. After much hard work, the Dauphin Charles granted her permission to be placed at the head of the army, an act of sheer desperation.

No one really knows how involved she was in the following battles. Traditional scholars seem to think she was mostly useful as a boost of morale. However, modern scholars have concluded that she a "skilled tactician and a successful strategist." However, most historians agree that her aggressive direction lead her to a brief yet successful career with the army. During her battle against the main English stronghold she was hit in the neck with an arrow, but still returned to the field to lead the final charge. Badass? Uh, YUH! She was also hit on her helmet by a stone cannon and a crossbow wound on her leg, and still kept going. (Three separate events, btw.)

After her capture at Burgundy, she attempted escape several times, including jumping out of her 70 FOOT TOWER. She was put on trial by the English, where she demonstrated remarkable intellect, especially for being so uneducated. From Wikipedia: "Asked if she knew she was in God's grace, she answered: 'If I am not, may God put me there; and if I am, may God so keep me.'"^[40] The question is a scholarly trap. Church doctrine held that no one could be certain of being in God's grace. If she had answered yes, then she would have convicted herself of heresy. If she had answered no, then she would have confessed her own guilt."

Joan of Arc was sentenced to death at the age of 19. She asked that a cross be held in front of her while she was burned at the stake.
(See the Joan of Arc article at Wikipedia for more details on her sentencing.)

So like I said, I don't really know much about biblical ladies, but Joan of Arc is a historical hero. At the age of 17, she enjoyed enormous military success, and survived a crossbow wound, an arrow through the neck, and a blow from a stone cannon, only to be burned at the stake by the forces she was fighting against. In the five centuries since her heresy charges and death, the charges of heresy have been overturned, and she has been named a saint.

Also, she was a pretty damn cool cartoon character.

"We're not anti-boy, we're pro-girl." -Molly Neuman

So way back when, -back when being in like... September...- I had to meet with my prof, Dr. Dale Jacobs, (who is not affiliated with Team Dale Jacobs, btw) and discuss the "overall project" of my blog. After a discussion of the types of powerful women I wanted to talk about, he suggested offhand writing about Riot Grrls.
Which is a fantastic example of a movement for the empowerment of women, and a post I've been thinking about writing since I started the blog.

I've been putting off writing this post for a while, because it is so very complex.

Basically, Riot Grrl is a movement that came about in the early 90s, founded by a bunch of girls who were fed up with being affiliated with the punk rock scene, but not having any real voice within it. According to Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill, this is partly because many felt that punk rock was created by and for boys. According to Wikipedia, the term Riot Grrl can be traced back to the Mount Pleasant Race Riots of 1991, where Jen Smith of Bratmobile is quoted as saying "This summer's going to be a girl riot," and "We need to start a girl riot." This lead to the creation of a zine called Riot Grrl, which covered topics such as rape, body image, eating disorders, self defense, politics, etc.

From here on out, it gets a little crazy. Basically, a whole bunch of rad girls united to form a scene where girls were considered important contributers. This includes bands such as Bikini Kill and Bratmobile (who deny being exclusively responsible for the Riot Grrl movement, though it seems pretty obvious that they had a big hand in it, and are still considered influential in feminist movements) Joan Jett, Yoko Ono, Nico, The Slits, Lunachicks, etc.
However, as with most social movements, the action was not confined to one outlet. Artists such as Carolee Schneeman and Barbara Kruger were considered important or influential in inciting the movement, as were writers like Gertrude Stein and Angela Davis. It was a multifaceted movement for female empowerment and love. It gave a voice to girls everywhere, and promoted an environment of free speech and belonging.
The movement was considered to be very DIY (Do-It-Yourself) and the girls were often involved in self publishing and zine writing, and recording their own music.

Sadly, the movement (in its original form) didn't last very long, due to media misrepresentation and the common assumption that "riot grrl" meant "anti-men." (See post title.) However, as with any social movement, the effects of the Riot Grrl movement are still being felt, in current day girl-centric music festivals and bands/artists.

To close, a quote from Bikini Kill's myspace page sums up Riot Grrl attitude quite well:

"I'm so sure that lots of girls are also in revolution and we want to find them. Sure our revolution has a lot to do with making ourselves important enough to start a revolution, but we also don't care about this... Because what makes us feel good without hurting others IS good. This society isn't my society cuz this society hates women and I don't. This society doesn't want us girls to feel happy or powerful in any way....MY GIRLFRIENDS WANT REVOLUTION GIRL STYLE NOW. "

P.S.: Wikipedia is my best friend for all the info! (Due to the fact that I was about four when the Riot Grrls first started out, I didn't know much about the chronology, etc...)

Chicks with guns... tattoo guns, that is...

July 12th, 2006, marked a very special day for me. It was the first time I ever felt the buzz of a tattoo gun, pushing permanent ink into my skin. Before my appointment, when I was talking to my parents about getting the tattoo, they did not tell me that I shouldn't get it, just that I shouldn't get it in the highly visible area I had originally planned. My parents aren't exactly conservative. My mother and stepmother both work in the car factories here in Windsor, and have the mouths of sailors, and my father rides a Harley and has his own fair share of tattoos. The problem they had with me getting a tattoo on my arm was that "It looks trashy on girls." (Not in general, just on girls.) "It's not lady like." This is where I wondered "What does "ladylike" mean, anyways? In this day and age, when women enjoy the same rights and privileges of men, and do the same jobs, shouldn't the gendered rules of etiquette be revised?

Since these statements, the idea of tattooed/pierced women in power has become very interesting to me. And who better to showcase this concept than the girls of LA INK?

Tattooing is an industry that, historically, has been heavily associated with males. At least in Western society, it has. (In some Eastern societies, it has always been women who do the tattoos!) This is something that the owner of High Voltage Tattoos and portrait-expert Kat Von D has spoken of in the past. It seems to be a common misconception that tattoo artists are always men. Kat Von D's shop seems to have broken the mold, employing three female tattoo artists (Kat Von D, Hannah Aitchison, and Kim Saigh) as well as a female shop manager (Amber "Pixie" Acia.) The only male employee is black-and-grey legend Corey Miller.

I think LA Ink is an important show because it helps to dispel the gender myths regarding tattooing. Not only are there female artists, but there are many female clients. And guess what, mom and dad? All four girls are heavily tattooed, including their arms! How unladylike! Tattooing has become an attractive career choice for creative women. There's even a female tattoo convention! Check out this link for some details.

Tattoos are becoming more and more popular, and more acceptable in society. Here's hoping that along with this popularity and acceptability comes a greater acceptance of tattooed women. And if not, so what? It's your body, use it like a canvas and feel beautiful, regardless of what others might think!