Happy Weekend

This made my day and I had to share. I envy this kid's confidence. Haters gonna hate.

Seen any amazing Youtube videos lately? What are you up to this weekend?

Random Things I Like: Disney's Alice in Wonderland

Sometimes you forget about little bits and pieces of your childhood until something pops in and reminds you. This remix popped in the other day.

And then I went on an Alice in Wonderland-watching bender. Join me?

What movies did you love when you were little?

The Meat Dress

 mtv.com

Lady Gaga wore a meat dress at the VMAs. I'm not sure I even need to say this. Most of you either saw it as it was happening or later on in the event coverage. What I do need to say, just briefly, is why we should all be recognizing a little something wrong and hypocritical here. A lot of this has probably been said, but I believe that people need to say their piece about stuff like this as often as possible. The fact is, we are the voices of the consumer-- of pop music and of meat-- and we have a chance to change the way people play the game if we lobby hard enough.

First, I applaud Gaga for her work with gay rights groups and for the statement she made by making victims of Don't Ask, Don't Tell her dates for the night. I think that's a really wonderful thing and despite the fact I'm not a general fan of hers, I can respect that kind of move. It's something I wish we saw being done more often by celebrities. However, the irony here is that on a night she rallied so hard in her own way for human rights, she managed to do something very ignorant of animal rights.

I was speaking to Worcester Polytechnic Institute's Professor John Sanbonmatsu the other day for a piece I'm doing with Pulse Magazine. It's about his work to get people to think about animal consumption in a new way. I'm going to paraphrase here since I don't know if quoting him violates some sort of policy, but he said that people often get offended by the idea of animal rights when it comes to food because confronting the realities of how food is produced involves actually placing some blame on yourself. People don't want to believe that eating a steak makes them complicit in a very cruel, destructive system (both to life and to the environment). He went on to say that it's also offensive because people are then required to ask themselves who really gave them the right-- according to him, no one-- to cause suffering to other animals on such a mass scale. While I am a vegetarian now, I do believe that eating meat is natural. I don't believe it's natural or humane the way we're obtaining it, and I believe that it undermines our idea of what it is to be human. If being human is somehow "better" than being another kind of animal, how do we justify mass cruelty to other sentient beings?

I'm getting a little away from the point, which is that Gaga, who seems to pride herself on being "the most judgement-free human being on the Earth" and doing so much work to try and this atmosphere of peace and freeness and equality, is taking a step backward. Though she claims this outfit wasn't meant to offend anyone vegan or vegetarian and was just a message about fighting for our rights we'll become as valueless as the meat on our bones. Whether she meant to or not, the combination of that statement and wearing real dead animals is truly telling of underlying disregard for life. If the "meat on our bones" have no rights and she's wearing animal meat to make the statement (she could have worn faux human limbs or something), it would follow those animals don't have rights.

The outfit's designer confirmed that this outfit is genuine meat. 50 pounds of it. The newest statistics I could locate (provided by the USDA in 2006) projected the 2006 per capita beef consumption in America at 66 pounds. That statistic may be different by now, but think of it. If that's true, Gaga was wearing close to one person's year supply of beef on her body. The designer said that the dress is meant to be worn once, then saved to dry up and eventually be displayed. 50 pounds of food. Obtained from a butcher. Meaning its original purpose was to feed someone, not clothe a billionaire. I know that people wear leather (personally, I do not), but leather is not food. Leather was not created to feed someone. And this world is full of people who are literally starving. Making a statement would be going to the VMAs in your underwear and explaining that you were going to wear a meat dress, but instead you sent 50 pounds of beef to an impoverished community so that children didn't go hungry for a few days. What I'm saying is this wasn't a little bit of beef. This was food that could have fed a lot of people. It's very First-Wold-centric to go around wearing food and then tossing it in a closet for a later date.

Not to mention, of course, as far as shocking statements go, the meat dress has been done to death. Even by Gaga herself. She just appeared on a magazine cover swathed in meat, after all. For a performer who prides herself on being new and interesting every time we see her, this was a major misstep. You can find plenty of meat clothes just by Google searching. Artist Jana Sterbak famously did a show on meat clothing. On top of the waste and the anti-animal rights message it flaunts, it's kind've cliche, and isn't Gaga supposed to be the exact opposite of that? (I would argue she really isn't, but then again I'm not a fan in general).

What I'm asking here is not for you to agree with me. And I'm certainly not attacking those of you who do eat meat. We can all choose what we want to eat and put into our bodies and what systems we want to buy into. What I ask, however, is that we take moments like these and really think about what they mean and ask ourselves hard questions. When I was much younger, I loved animals and my heart broke at the idea of eating them-- but I did it anyway because it was "too hard" to be vegetarian. As I got older I realized that we have to be honest with ourselves. I wanted to be the kind of person in practice as I was in theory. Being mature is sometimes admitting when we're wrong. We don't all have to go about things the same way, but we should really be actively thinking about how we live our lives.

Right isn't always easy. When I see Lady Gaga wearing 50 pounds of food that will never even fill the stomachs it was intended for in a world of starving people, I feel disgusted. And I feel like it's her way of taking the easy way out. Wearing meat was shocking, but not for the right reasons.

What are your thoughts on the meat dress? 

Miley Cyrus Can't Be Tamed

There's much Internetz buzz about Miley Cyrus's (relatively) new video for her song "Can't Be Tamed." A lot of the response (read: criticism) seems to revolve around what seems to be a sudden change to a more grown-up style of video accompanied by rebellious lyrics and how that means Miley has finally packed her bags for Slutsville, never to return.

I beg to differ.

Remember when you were 17? If it was anything like when I was, you sure as heck didn't want to be seen as a sugary innocent child anymore. You may have done questionable things on the Internet. You probably cursed when your parents couldn't hear (or in front of them-- I wouldn't have lived to 21 if I chose to). You probably tried to dress in a more adult way-- you didn't want to be "cute" anymore, but sexy instead. Maybe you drank, experimented with drugs, had a sexual relationship and/or explored your sexuality. You probably weren't watching shows akin to Hannah Montana and playing board games as your primary pastimes.

I'm not saying everyone was the definition of a "wild child," but even as someone who had some pretty darn tame teenage years, I can say I did a number of those things at Miley's age.

What's unfortunate for Miley, of course, is that she has to be watched being a teenager by a very wide audience. I'm not saying that the sometimes questionable things teenagers do are safe or right, but most of us did them in some combination-- so why should Miley be expected to be any different? It's ludicrous to expect a young woman in the pop music industry to keep wearing a blond wig and bubblegum-pink skirts while singing about ponies or something forever. That's not how our music industry works, and it's surely not what most people want, including her fans. Many of her fans have left the tween years, too, we have to remember.

I think the most upsetting part of watching young people try to navigate the entertainment industry is the obvious toll it takes on their ability to be normal. That sounds pretty obvious, but what I mean more specifically is that the manufactured growing-up process is absolutely bull. You're damned if you do and damned if you don't-- and it's especially the case for stars that start off portraying themselves as super-innocent. If Miley doesn't grow up, she denies her own desire to be a woman as she sees fit, loses part of her original audience, and is probably ridiculed for being a prude. If she does grow up, she's a ho who isn't a real artist and makes the parents of every little girl who worshipped Hannah Montana as a Wonderful Role Model go on a mission to destroy and denounce her at every turn.

Of course, it's okay for Miley to be sexy if it doesn't seem so overt-- like she knows what "sexy" is. Honestly, I find that to be the creepier side of how we treat youth in pop culture. It was okay for Miley to wear teensy tiny shorts (as is her custom) in the Party in the U.S.A. video. That was hot, because there she is, being all casual, hangin' out, just looking attractive and young, the kind of young where you don't really know your own strength when it comes to your sex appeal. But if she's clearly using it? No, that's wrong. If she clearly wants men to look at her, to desire her, it's gross and skanky and terrible.

We want to be voyeurs, to be the peeping Toms looking in her window, watching her blossom yet keep her innocence because it makes it that much more magical: the idea that you can have your cake and eat it, too, in a sense. Yes, a girl who's pure but smokin'. That's what we all want. But she can't know it or use it to her advantage.

This is what we call "slut-shaming," if I'm not mistaken.

Miley Cyrus recently made the following statements about her sexy performances and double standards to Access Hollywood:

“Girls are immediately going to say, ‘Oh, she’s trying to sell sex,’” she told Billy of her current maturation. “Well, I love Zac Efron, but what’s he selling? He’s gorgeous, he’s hot, I don’t go see his movie because I’m like, ‘He’s such a fantastic actor.’ He’s a great actor, but he’s hot.”

Miley explained that her male colleagues also have it easier in the clothing department.

“He’s just not in a leotard with his legs out. He has his shirt off. So what’s the difference?” she continued. “In ‘High School Musical’… he’s in basketball shorts and his cutoff tank top and all the girls are dying.

“It just isn’t as obvious when guys do it,” she added. “I was on tour with the Jonas Brothers my first year and boy bands get away with a lot. For girls, it’s always going to be harder."

 
Here is an example of what someone says when they understand the system-- because, honestly, I've never heard that much criticism of young male stars becoming too sexy. Take Daniel Radcliffe aka Harry Potter, for instance: when he decided to star in Equus, there was buzz about the fact he'd be nude, but no shock and horror and falling-out. I found this article, in fact, where the author casually says "I guess it's his way of saying he's all grown up now" and provides NSFW photographs of the young actor nude. I can't imagine such a nonchalant, oh it's artistic, response if this had been Daniel's costar Emma Watson.

But back to Miley:

What this is is my round-a-bout way of saying LEAVE MILEY ALONE! JUST LEAVE HER ALONE!

*Ahem* But really: I find it a bit awful that all of us media consumers out there expect a 17-year-old girl who grew up in the same sexified society as we did to not feel the urge to be sexy in public. Let's let go and allow kids to grow up and be a little rebellious and ridiculous. I know the instinct is to cling to youth and innocence, but guess what? Kids that age aren't completely innocent.

And I'm willing to bet our refusal to acknowledge that does more harm than good.

So what if Miley can't be tamed? Maybe she's just a normal kid. Maybe she doesn't have to be.

I Want to Dress Like....

...Beyoncé in the "Why Don't You Love Me?" video. I want retro, colorful clothes paired with thigh-highs, dramatic eye makeup, and piles upon piles of jewelry.

Who do you want to dress like?

 Photos are screenshots from the video, linked to above.

A Case of the Worries

I have a worry problem. When I start worrying, I don't stop. I'm one of those people that, when I get a concern into my head, I can't make it leave until it's resolved-- and even when it's resolved, I might still worry about it. Sometimes I get so worried that I just have to cry. Sometimes I worry that I cry too often. I worry because I don't know what I should worry about. I worry that I worry too much.

I wish I could turn this into a great article about how to stop worrying, but I don't know the answer to that yet. I believe that what's meant to be will be, and that we're all placed on an invisible track like human Disney rides. I like the idea of fate, but it's often not enough to relax my frazzled nerves. I'm not the right person to ask for tips on how to just relax.

This song is the only answer I can think of lately.

What do you do when you come down with The Worries? Or are you just super chilled-out all the time? In which case, tell me your secret!

All You Need This Holiday Season

thanks to sarah von for tweeting this

I got all choked up and everything.

Guilty Pleasure Radio

We all have a few songs on our computers and/or mp3 players that we love rocking out to in our underwear-- when we're alone. If someone else is around? We resist the urge to sing and dance and happily bop our heads to the beat in favor of pressing "next," blushing, and mumbling something about having no idea how such trash got on there. We all have a few guilty little pleasures in our musical arsenal that we'd prefer no one know about.

A few of mine? You have to virtually pinkie swear you'll still think I'm cool, k? Because you already think I'm cool. That's just a given.


Bad Balance: Voina

No, I don't speak Russian. I hardly listen to rap in English. I couldn't find a translation, but if you happen to speak Russian, I'd love to actually know what (likely horrible) lyrics I've been listening to these past few years.



Cobra Starship: Bring It (Snakes on a Plane)

And the best rap break in a song about snakes goes to...




Ernie from Seseme Street: I Don't Want to Live on the Moon

I can only get all verklempt while listening to this when I'm alone. No, I'm not still in kindergarten, thank you very much.




Journey: Open Arms

I such a cheesily awesome song.




Sean Kingston: Me Love

For all those fans of Beautiful Girls (answer: yes, that one's on my mp3 player, too).





Britney Spears: Circus

I didn't want to like this song.





Pokemon Johto Theme Song

I can't justify this.




What guilty pleasures do you listen to? Be honest!

Musical Interlude

It's true.

I Have Decided...

by orangeacid

by laurennicole81



by rosiehardy

...that the degree to which I want to see Joshua Radin in concert is reaching critical mass. I spent the early hours of the morning in the glow of a desk light, listening to my collection of Joshua Radin music, occasionally turning around to take in how gorgeous my boyfriend looks sleeping. See, I get all sappy when I listen to these songs. I remember how lucky I am. I ponder how beautiful and tragic this world can be, simultaneously. I get all philosophical.

On a far less philosophical note, if I get to go to one of this man's concerts (US tour starting in September oh please come to Boston and end my fangirlish sufferring oh please oh please) and I get to meet him, that photograph will be my Facebook default. Forever. Indefinitely. Luke would probably be terribly jealous, but I am willing to endure that kind of resentment.

(On a far less related note, I misspelled "probably" as "probaby" and Blogger is insisting that it's a word. I'm pretty sure it's not. I'm all for babies, but you shouln't just go around making stuff up to promote them).