Listed?

Last night's foray into late night tv left me watching MuchMoreMusic's "Listed," that oddly addictive countdown show relating to all things musical. Last night's topic happened to be the ten best frontmen and ten best frontwomen. Here's their list for the girls:

#10: Ann Wilson of HEART
#9: Janis Joplin
#8: Joan Jett
#7: Chrissie Hynde of The Prentenders.
#6: Courtney Love
#5: Annie Lennox of Eurythmics
#4: Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac
#3: Tina Turner
#2: Gwen Stefani
#1: Debbie Harry of Blondie

Okay, so maybe I wouldn't classify Courtney Love as such a great role model, but the list is for best frontwomen, and the chick knows how to lead a band. Other than that, the other girls I definitely agree with. I mean, who knows how to kick ass like Debbie Harry?? Yeah, exactly.

On a sidenote, the men's side left out John Lennon, which was a bit odd, but they did include Freddie Mercury at #2 (#1 was Mick Jagger.) Being a huge Queen fan, this made me pretty happy.

One for the guys

For those of you who might not know, this blog is written as part of a class at the University of Windsor, the class being Advanced Composition in Theory and Practice, taught by Dr. Dale Jacob. Today we gave each other feedback, and Cam mentioned that my first entry says that feminists can be both male or female, so why am I only writing about women? It was a little bit more well spoken than that, but you get the picture. So Cam, this one's for you.

Quentin Tarantino is a little odd. Okay... maybe a lot odd. But he's odd in the best way possible. He's one of the most original and fascinating movie makers we have today. The films he makes are always edgy, creative, violent as all hell, and fun. So what does that have to do with "girl power?" Well, Quentin Tarantino has managed to bring to life some of the most interesting, kick ass girls ever seen on the big screen. And when I say "kick ass," I really do mean that these girls know how to bring the pain. So here's a quick list of the top five coolest girls from the twisted landscape that is the mind of Tarantino.

#5: Jackie Brown:
Pam Grier plays the title character, a middle aged flight attendant who gets into a whole lotta trouble when she's caught by the cops while smuggling in her boss's gun money. Rather than taking the fall for the guy, or squealing like a scared little girl, Jackie plays it like the true cool lady that she is, coming up with a plan to mislead the cops while taking all of the gun money for herself. So kudos to Ms. Jackie Brown for being a smart sister and stickin' it to the man.


#4: Mia Wallace:
Okay, so maybe Uma Thurman's Pulp Fiction character, Mrs. Mia Wallace, doesn't physically kick any ass. But God Dammmn is she one cool chick. She's got the walk, the talk, the look, and carries herself with so much confidence it's just absurd. Not to mention, she's got a husband who'll throw a guy out a window just for giving her a foot massage. Talk about power. To quote Mrs. Wallace: "I do believe Marsellus Wallace, my husband, your boss, told you to take ME out and do WHATEVER I WANTED. Now I wanna dance, I wanna win. I want that trophy, so dance good." Yes Ma'am!

#3: The Road Warriors from Death Proof:
Zoe Bell, Rosario Dawson and Tracie Thoms play the three hot chicks in Death Proof, part of the double flick Grindhouse. The three girls are pulling some pretty ridiculous car tricks, when Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell) tries to have a little fun with them. Unfortunately (for Mike, anyways) his idea of fun is trying to knock Zoe off the hood of the car. Are these three girls gonna back down, call the cops, wuss out? NO WAY! They flip the tables, put Stuntman Mike through one of the coolest car chases ever, and beat the crap outta him. Sad to say, I was almost sympathized with the poor guy. But one thing's for sure: you don't wanna mess with these girls.

#2: The DiVAS:
The DiVAS, aka the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, are bar none the deadliest girl group ever created. Lucy Liu is O-Ren Ishii, who becomes head of the Japanese "council" and has her own posse of bodyguards, The Crazy 88s (which includes GoGo Yubari, the hottest Japanese school girl turned assassin EVER.) Vivica A. Fox is Vernita Green, a mom who packs a killer punch. And Darryl Hanna is Elle Driver, the sexiest one eyed sadistic bitch I've ever seen. Without a doubt, these are the hottest girls who would kill you as soon as look at you.

#1: Beatrix Kiddo:
Okay, some of you may think this is cheating. After all, Beatrix Kiddo, AKA Black Mamba, AKA The Bride, AKA Arlene, AKA Mommy, was technically part of the DiVAS. But come on, the girl is so badass, she deserves her own section. Carrying on the fantastic work they started together in Pulp Fiction, Uma Thurman and Quentin Tarantino came up with the idea for her characther together, and Uma plays her to perfection. While the other girls are awesome in their own rights, Beatrix Kiddo is downright scary. After enduring a brutal beating by the other DiVAS, Beatrix comes out of a four year coma, and from the time she leaves her bed, she starts kicking ass and taking names. No one knows how to leave a trail of blood, guts and severed limbs like Beatrix Kiddo.

So in conclusion: Mr. Tarantino, you make good movies.

P.S: Remember when I said Tarantino was odd? Check out this quote:
"I have an idea for a Godzilla movie that I've always wanted to do. The whole idea of Godzilla's role in Tokyo, where he's always battling these other monsters, saving humanity time and again- wouldn't Godzilla become God? It would be called Living Under the Rule of Godzilla. This is what society is like when a big fucking green lizard rules your world."

When I go to sleep, I never count sheep, I count all the charms about Linda...

Most people know Linda McCartney for one reason: her last name. She married Sir Paul McCartney (even those of you who live under rocks *have* to know who that is) in 1969, but marriage to a millionaire just wasn't enough for this English Lady.

Linda was a photographer when she met Sir McCartney, and she was quite a fantastic one at that, taking pictures of some of the most impressive musical artists of the time, including Jimi Hendrix and Aretha Franklin. She is the author of "Linda McCartney's Sixties," a book full of her photography. The marriage to Paul allowed her to become a recording artist as well, with a part in his new band "Wings," (as well a posthumously-released album titled "Wide Prairie.") She already had one daughter when she married Paul, and together they had three more children. You think having four children and a famous and exceeeeeeedingly rich husband, as well as a place in a band and a hit photography book, would be enough to satisfy Mrs. McCartney? Of course not. And this is what I really like her for. While most women would be content to sit back and enjoy the good life, Linda's love of animals led to the creation of her *VERY* popular vegetarian cookbooks, including "Linda McCartney's New Home Cookbook," which was a best seller. She *also* went on to create her own line of frozen vegetarian dinners, which became an instant success. Linda's work was so important that PETA created an annual award in her honour. How cool is that??

As if all this wasn't enough, her passion has carried on even after death. She died in 1998 after a battle with breast cancer, and left her entire fortune (her vegetarian ventures made her a millionaire too) to Paul, who promised to continue her line of vegetarian frozen foods. He also donated a *ton* of money to cancer research, and in 2000, the Linda McCartney Cancer Centre was opened in her honour. There is also a memorial garden with a bronze statue of Linda, in her memory. Talk about making an impact, eh?

So why is a role model like Linda so important to women everywhere? Well, *I* happen to think that she is a fantastic example of how a woman can hold down a married life, raise children, AND keep her own passion alive and well. All you women out there who think you have to choose between a career and a family, take a look at Linda McCartney-wife, mother, photographer, activist, entrepreneur, recording artist, self-made millionaire, etc etc etc- and think again.

Naomi Wolf, Enemy Combatant

So it's 2:14am, Thursday morning, and I am *awake.* Not groggy, not drowsy, not sleepy, but wide awake bright eyed bushy tailed. And BORED. So I'm flipping through the channels, and come to rest on The Colbert Report, which is always entertaining. And to my delighted surprise, his guest that night was none other than Naomi Wolf, author of such books as "The Beauty Myth" and "Fire With Fire." Wolf happened to be on the show as a promotion for her latest book, "The End of America: A Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot," which draws parallels between the Bush administration and the worst dicatorships of the 20th Century. And she seemed entertained, and nearly proud, when Colbert deemed her an "enemy combatant."

Few people have had a career as both respected and criticized as Naomi Wolf. Her first work, "The Beauty Myth," published in 1991, became an instant hit. The work details the ways in which the "beauty myth" works to control women through the use of their own insecurities. There was much controversy over Wolf's work, but one cannot help but be impressed by her willingness to speak out about the ways in which women are oppressed, ultimately by themselves. She has since written several books, on topics ranging from female sexual liberation and female empowerment, to her mid-life crisis and motherhood in America.

Since this time, Ms. Wolf's career has taken a turn for the political. She has spent time as a political consultant for both Bill Clinton and Al Gore, giving advice on how to reach the female "soccer mom" demographic. Her most recent, and perhaps ambitious work, "The End of America: A Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot," is a break from her previous work, which was rooted in third-wave feminism. In this book, Wolf leaves behind issues of feminisim, and brings to us a work that is honest in its attempts to alert us to the goings-on of the American government and the affect their actions have on the democracy and constitutional rights of American citizens.

Love her, hate her, or question her, Naomi Wolf's impact on the world of feminisim, and now politics, is undeniable. Ms. Wolf is a force to be reckoned with.

She's guaranteed to blow your mind

When most people think of the term "feminist," they think of man-hating, Birkenstocks-wearing ballbusters with uber-short hair and a penchant for being overly sensitive about the place of women in society. While these feminists have their time and place (think: bra -burning in the 1970s) the actual definition of "feminism," according to dictionary.com is as follows:

fem·i·nism /ˈfɛməˌnɪzəm/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[fem-uh-niz-uhm] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation –noun

1.	the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men.

So all a feminist really is, is someone who believes that there should be equal distribution of rights among men and women. What a novel idea!

Let me start of by declaring that I am a feminist- by the above definition, at least. And if you think about it, you probably are too! Anyone, males included (!!), who believes that men and women should have equal rights is, by definition, a feminist! So if you believe that having different "private parts" shouldn't really have an effect on whether or not you can vote, study medicine or run a company, go ahead and pat yourself on the back for being so progressive.

And that's all this blog really is about. Giving a little bit of recognition to some of the most fascinating and inspirational public figures who just happen to be female. Whether they be politicians, activists, authors, real women or fictional characters, there are some really bodacious babes out there, and they deserve to have a blog dedicated to them!


P.S: I'm not sexist, and I don't hate men (I actually really like them!) Please don't interpret these posts as descrimination!