Emma is fine

Alright friends. Here's the deal. I get that Emma Watson is a cishet thin young traditionally beautiful extremely wealthy Ivy educated white woman. I 100000% understand that. But here's the thing. You know how someone who is VERY PRIVILEGED, such as Emma Watson, was threatened with nudes and other ridiculous typical stupidity by the very people she was telling to own the fuck up to their wrongness? Could you even IMAGINE what would have happened if someone like, say, Laverne Cox were to speak on behalf of the UN? If a trans woman of color were to represent feminism and women's rights? NO ONE WOULD LISTEN. Because the people who respect and love and admire Laverne Cox are not the people that He For She is targeting. Or that anyone interested in actually progressing feminism should be targeting. We're already the "in" group. The people who think that homosexuality is a sin and white people are superior and abortion is also a sin and BLAH BLAH SHUT THE FUCK UP BLAH BLAH BLAH, these are the people we need to be targeting. So that's what He For She is, ideally, doing. It would be AMAZING if Laverne Cox were the spokesperson for an organization called Xe For All or something beautiful like that but WE DON'T LIVE IN THAT WORLD YET. We live in a world where Mike Brown disasters happen and we still are fighting the Roe v. Wade fight and the the wage gap is very much a thing and rape is happening all the goddamn time. That is the world we live in. So for right now, having a cishet thin young traditionally beautiful extremely wealthy Ivy educated white woman be the spokesperson for a gender-exclusive organization is an okay step. It's not the best step, but it is a step. So please, everyone, calm the heck down, we will get there, but we can't ignore the harsh realities. The world is not ready for Laverne, because they're barely ready for Emma.

Happy Malala Day!!

Today is the first international Malala Day, celebrating the courage, bravery, persistence, and life of Malala Yousafzai. By now, we should all know the story of this amazing girl. If for some reason you don't, here's a very brief summary: the Taliban tried to deny her and the other girls in her village an education, but Malala fought back. On her way to school on October 9, 2012, Malala was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman. Miraculously, she survived. Malala has become an international figure of peace, an inexorable advocate and fighter for education for women, and an all around awesome inspiration to DO LIFE.

As someone who thinks GURLS ARE THE BEST THING THAT HAVE EVER HAPPENED TO THE WORLD and also thinks that LEARNING IS SOOOOOOOO AWESOME AND IMPORTANT AND IT NEEDS TO HAPPEN WAYYY MORE OFTEN , and as a gurl that wants her gaddamn education without no one tellin' her how to do it, I'm really in love with Malala. I am so proud of her. Thank you for being alive, Malala. Also happy belated birthday!!! Yeeee!!! ~~~Seventeen~~

HAPPY MALALA DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Your Logic is Flawed

There have been times in my life when I've been walking down the street and I've thought, Gee, that person sure is attractive. I look at them for a moment, perhaps we make eye contact, and then we pass each other and continue on with our respective days. Sometimes during fashion week I would go up to people and ask them timidly if I could photograph them for my blog--this was the norm during that biannual event. It never crossed my mind, should I find someone physically appealing or good-looking, to say "You are hot" or "Omg I would kiss you" or "Damn" or "Look at that ass" or "Gimme a smile" or...

Because why would it? It doesn't make any sense. In most cases, people don't really choose to be physically attractive; that's kind of where genetics comes in. Of course, the way one presents oneself is a contributing factor, but that's beside the point. Telling someone that they are attractive, or pointing out that you find part of their body attractive, is not in any way productive. Perhaps, one might kindly approach another person and say, "Excuse me, Waffle [in my world this word replaces all gendered titles, everyone is just Waffle], I was walking by and I realized that I find that you are very beautiful so I wanted to tell you that I think you are very beautiful. That's all, please continue on your day, I didn't mean to disturb you." That might be acceptable. Although, really, still unnecessary, because it doesn't really matter that you think that Waffle is beautiful. Their life and yours could go on without you telling them.

But for some absolutely baffling reason, there are certain people in the world that insist that it is their civic duty to tell every person they see that makes their neurons jump a little faster (note: I don't think that's scientifically accurate) exactly what they are thinking. This is terribly confusing to me. I've tried for a few minutes to think of a comparable example, but I can't think of one, because IT MAKES NO SENSE. The bottom line is that there is simply no need to express your thoughts on every human being you pass. It calls unsolicited attention to the subject, and calls negative attention to yourself as well. Any decent human being strongly dislikes a catcaller. Any time someone gives me that up-and-down look on the street or the subway I make a vomiting noise and put on my most disgusted face possible (involuntarily, mind you) and proceed to mumble to myself about "human garbage" and "fucking idiots." One time I was walking down the street with two friends and some random guy said something to us about the way we looked, and I turned around, flipped him two birds, and yelled "FUCK OFF." I do not tolerate this type of bullshit, nor is it my--or anyone else's--responsibility to. It should not even be a thing that we should even have to think about. And yet, it is a pervasive issue in society, especially for women, and those identifying as women, and those who identify as androgynous, and genderqueer, for transpeople, for those who don't identify at all... It's making our streets unsafe and our citizens uncomfortable and sad and angry. All because some jerk decided to open their mouth, when it could have EASILY stayed shut. The amount of energy it takes to not say something is in most cases drastically less than the amount of energy it takes to say something. So really, there is absolutely no reason at all that anyone should be shouting things at other people unless it's a friendly "Hello!" or "Howdy!" or "Greetings!" or "Watch out for that car!" because anything that does not engage the recipient of your comment in a meaningful way is not worth saying. "Hey baby," "Damn gurl," and "Oh shit" DO NOT COUNT AS FRIENDLY GREETINGS. Use your own fucking common decency to differentiate between what positively engages another human being and what is a thought that should stay inside your head. If everyone said everything we were thinking always, IT WOULD ROYALLY SUCK. And you know what royally sucks, not in the conditional? Catcalling. Street harassment. So you know what else? You should stop doing it. Be honest with yourself. If you've done it before, acknowledge your indecency and forgive yourself for your misguidedness and/or ignorance. But now, there's no excuse. No one can pull the "I didn't know it was insulting" or "I don't understand why it's a big deal." Because I just told you. If you continue to harass people on the street, you are a grade-A jerkbag and a top notch fartface. There's really nothing else to it. So just stop.

A Yawn and a Hose

[A male friend wrote a review about a book; he asked me to read the review and let him know what I thought. In his review he cited these quotations from the book, which was written by a woman: 

"As symbols go, the phallus is a yawn. Tubes that point and shoot and there you have it." 

"A phallus doesn't give you much to play with, metaphorically, and it doesn't lend itself to multiple interpretations. A hose is a hose is a hose is a hose."

He didn't finish the book, finding the writing to be too underscored by misandry. Below is my response to him. I am sharing this here because I thought it was a good example of banter about feminism. The author's name, the book's title, nor the friend's name were used to maintain anonymity.]


I think perhaps you took the author's words a bit too close to heart. Perhaps, as a woman, after years of being told explicitly and implicitly that I must be inferior, it is easier for me to allow a sentence or two insulting the metaphoric value of my genitals to just meander past me, unacknowledged. But for a man, it makes sense that it would be a more difficult feat to not put up a fight with a criticism of your prized phallus--for while the man, generally speaking, tends to identify himself with and in some cases perhaps even define himself by his cock, the woman does not rely solely on her vagina to define or identify her womanhood. However, I generalize; I know that this may just be my humble opinion, because I know that at my unripe stage of life I have not quite been able to grasp the concept of gender. But I do blame that partially on the fact that there are such rigid definitions of "man" and "woman" served to us on rusty tin platters from every angle, that indeed force the man to think that he is naught without his penis and the woman to believe that her physical appeal is the be all and end all of her worth. I have de-conditioned myself of the latter part of that sentence, and I do not care if my hair makes me "look like a lesbian" or that I really should wear makeup, or put on a real bra, etcetera etcetera et-fucking-cetera. All of it is nonsense. But I digress ever so slightly. The woman is taught that she must scrutinize every part of herself and fix what is imperfect and make herself perfect, no matter the physical, emotional, or fiscal cost. The man, however, is taught only to scrutinize his penis, and yes, he may be poked fun at for its size or for inopportune erections, but there is really nothing to be done to "fix" these "imperfections." 

I wholeheartedly believe that, considering the enormous hardship it is to be a woman in today's society--hell, in any day's society--from having to concern oneself with one's appearance, and fearing that one may be raped simply for BEING on a street at a certain angle of the Earth's rotation around the Sun, and striving to be considered for the quality of her mind rather than the size of her breasts, and so on and on and on, the author has every right to be snarky from time to time.

I think, and correct me if am wrong, you abandoned the book far too soon after dubbing it misandrist (ha! this derivative of "misandry" isn't even considered a word! "Misogyny" finds its roots in the 17th century, while "misandry" only came into existence in the 1940s) at times, but if every woman abandoned everything that was misogynistic, she would be left with nothing but a white room and perhaps a few pillows and a box of raisins.

In Defense of Miley

I've sort of kept my mouth shut about all of the Miley Cyrus hubbub that was sparked by her VMA performance in August for fear of being misinformed. But much time has elapsed since then, and the media--and subsequently the public--will not let up on their relentlessly condescending and degrading barrage of insults towards Miley. 

Miley Cyrus represents the dilemma of the woman in today's society quite succinctly. You can either fit in, do what the majority tells you is "acceptable," never deviating from the beaten trail, and be called boring or be criticized for being just another girl. Or, you can do what you want to do, ignore the oppressive delineations of social acceptability, and de-objectify your body through a reverse-psychological tactic of commodification (example: Miley demystifies the eternally used and abused female form by treating it as no big deal, because it isn't. A nipple is just as much a part of the body as a nose or a finger), and be called a slut, skank, whore, tease, the list goes on and on. Essentially, you're not taken seriously if you take yourself seriously. The rest of the world takes you seriously ONLY if you take THEIR standards seriously. Herein lies the as-yet indomitable dichotomy between satisfying oneself and satisfying others. 

Let's start by breaking down the uncensored version of Robin Thicke's--that hypocritical and disgusting bastard--music video for his infamous song "Blurred Lines," which talks about lines which are definitely not blurred and are in fact quite clear. The video consists of three women wearing high heels and underwear, breasts bared, dancing around two fully-clothed men. I recommend taking a moment to watch the video right now. 

Once you've done that (or not, your choice--even a few seconds will sum up the ensuing four minutes), keep scrolling. I took some screenshots while watching the video that exemplify the nauseatingly pro-rape message.

He's holding her down, she's naked, he's clothed...Does he really want his name hash-tagged over that image?

Someone has low self-esteem...

That's a mini STOP sign. See that word, right there? STOP.

If we can all stop retching and look at the Jezebel article that juxtaposes Thicke's lyrics with rapist's comments to their victims, I think we can conclude that "Blurred Lines" is one of the most offensive songs in mainstream media in at least the last decade, if not the history of forever (disclaimer: I have no data to back that up).

But here's the real catch: the song that Miley sang and danced to that put her in the media spotlight and heralded her advent into the spot of the "token punk slut" or something ridiculous like that was--you guessed it--"BLURRED LINES" BY ROBIN THICKE. Did Thicke get any shit for it? Absolutely not. He was grinding on her just as much as she was grinding on him. That's it, the golden example of female oppression. Congratulations, world. You have succeeded in perpetuating one of the most pervasive evils of modern culture.

Earlier this month, Barbara Walters debuted her "10 Most Fascinating People of 2013" list, and Miley was on the list. Walters' interview with Miley showed just how demonized she has become. Miley said that she wore a Marc Jacobs dress to an event recently and was called boring because she wouldn't get naked, yet when she bares her body in a bra and underwear, she's labeled a naughty slut.

A few days ago Miley posted a short preview on her Instagram of a new music video that's debuting on December 26th for her song "Adore You." In the clip, Miley is wearing a bra and underwear and is touching herself. So of course, the media pounced on her, calling her "provocative" and "racy," and patronizing her for showing "self-admiration." In this case, self-admiration is just a fancy word for masturbation, which according to The World is a deadly sin for females but is perfectly acceptable for males, the same way male nudity is deified and female nudity is completely taboo. Prime example: Dylan Sprouse posted Instagram photos of him straight-up grabbing his penis and it got little press; there have been no parodies made, no global uprising of anti-Dylan backlash, NOTHING. He can put up a few Tweets and a blog post on Tumblr and have it all blow over, being forgiven by his faithful fans within moments. But Miley performs a deeply personal and heartfelt song while sitting naked on a wrecking ball (neither her breasts nor her crotch were actually displayed but rather tactfully covered by her arms or legs depending on the shot and camera angle), and she gets months, maybe even years worth of shit for it. No amount of apologies or Tweets or anything will make anyone think differently about her.

There's also the issue that when a woman chooses to portray herself as a sexual being the way Miley does, it's sinful and tasteless, but when a model in a bra and underwear is placed on a billboard in Times Square with the words "Victoria's Secret" smacked on next to her, it's called an advertisement and is a lucrative business. No one thinks twice about how overtly sexual the Victoria's Secret models are. And even if it is their choice to be modeling the undergarments, they are not doing it for themselves; they are doing it for a broad audience. When sex is handed to us, relinquished to us, surrendered to us, we take it wholeheartedly. But when sex is shown to us and we can't have it, we shame it into a state of scandal.

The truth of the matter is, Miley Cyrus grew up in the spotlight. If you're a teenager right now, think about how difficult it is to simply exist. And then think about doing that with the entire world watching. And if you're an adult, all you have to do is think the same way, only retrospectively. People go through phases, they undergo transformations, they reinvent themselves from the inside out--IT IS NOT A SIN, IT IS NOT MISGUIDED, IT IS NOT A SIGN OF BEING "TROUBLED" OR "NEEDING HELP." It is a natural process that each and every freaking one of us either has gone through or will go through, and to completely dehumanize Miley in this way is further testament to our world's (but especially this country's) insensitivity and outright aversion to noncomformity, healthy sexuality, and, to put it bluntly, females.

Have anything to say? Post it in the comments!!

Petra Attack

Hello Rea-dears, 

Sorry for the long hiatus. Lots and lots has been happening lately and I have not been able to blob. (No typo) But I do have the energy/time/focus at the moment to acknowledge one of the ladies/people that's inspiring me right now: Petra Collins, artist, photographer, curator. Some of you may know her work from Rookie Mag, or from the recent Internet-outburst over her vagina t-shirts being sold at American Apparel. I think Petra's t-shirts are empowering--having your period is a real thing that no one actually talks about, really truly, as is female masturbation (the fact that I have to refer to it as female masturbation to make sure people know what I'm talking about is right there a "nuff said")--not "disgusting" or "too much" or "ew." You want to degrade us for our anatomy? Then stop being so gad-dam squeamish about the part of our bodies that you think make us inferior. What I really want to say is, of course, stop thinking we're not equals, but I've made that pretty obvious on many occasions.

Something I love about all of Petra's work is that she often seeks to capture women and girls' vulnerabilities, and thus our strengths. Hiding truth and reality, whether they are accepted or expected or anything except what they are, does not make anyone strong--it makes them weaker for not being able to stand head-to-head with the inevitabilities of the world. You can shake in your boots and melt to the ground or burst at the seams, but if you reveal yourself, You, to the Universe, in whatever way that may be, you'll always be strong. I know this all seems out of place and irrelevant, but it's integral to understanding and appreciating the starkness, rawness, and ultimately the impact of Petra's photographs. 

Here are some photos I screen-shotted from Petra's website that I think exemplify what I was trying to explain above. 

[All photos by Petra Collins.]

What I noticed/why I chose this photo: Bra strap/unhooked bra

What I noticed/why I chose this photo: Self-scrutiny

What I noticed/why I chose this photo: Silent tears

What I noticed/why I chose this photo: Anger/gun/pink

What I noticed/why I chose this photo: "Make good decisions!"

What I noticed/why I chose this photo: Pubic hair

What I noticed/why I chose this photo: Armpit hair

What I noticed/why I chose this photo: Menstruation + braless-ness

I'll be back with some more original content soon but just hold ya horses.

~News update~ Also I met a cute puppy the other day and he was very soft.

PS I suggest reading this interview Petra did with Vice, because she explains and articulates herself well.

Follow this blog

Chictopia/Huffington Post/Facebook/Bloglovin/Twitter

The Right To Be a Woman

"Feminism is the radical notion that women are people."

--Cheris Kramarae and Paula Treichler

I never really understood why feminism existed. In my earlier years, that was because I was considerably ignorant on the subject. I grasped the fact that women have never been socially, economically, politically, or anything-ly equal to men, but I just didn't understand why that was true. We're all just people; I couldn't wrap my head around why anatomical differences have engendered so many contentions and inequities. I still can't, although now I am more educated on the subject. 

I went to a very progressive middle and elementary school, an environment in which we had weekly lectures and activities about racial equality and LGBTQ rights (this was before the umbrella term trans* was created), but I don't recall ever discussing women's issues. When I began reading Rookie Mag--where nearly everyone on the staff is either a self-proclaimed feminist, a women's rights supporter, or something in between--was around when I started to understand what feminism actually means. I had always dismissed it as some sort of extreme movement that involved misandry, bra burning, and public protests, like the time Eric and Donna go to a feminist demonstration in an episode of That '70s Show. That was about the extent of my knowledge. I had never bothered to further enlighten myself because we are taught that feminism is something negative, and the subject was so foreign to me that I didn't even want to get involved. As I entered deeper into the trenches of my adolescence, I went around thinking that if someone looked at me lecherously or made an unwelcome sexual comment that it was my fault. I had led them on, in some way. So I stopped wearing V-neck t-shirts and never thought about it. Even at my equal-rights-for-everybody-even-though-we-only-talk-about-certain-groups-of-people-because-they're-minorities-and-women-aren't school we were taught, "Don't get raped," never "Don't rape." That never seemed out of place to me. It's extremely stifling and maddening to live in a world that objectifies women to such a degree that we don't even notice it anymore; that's how large a part of our society it has become. Or, I guess, always has been, for millennia. I only recently realized that as a teenage girl I was being affected by misogyny, disrespect, and degradation just by simply existing.

The fashion industry is one of the main propellants of the rigid concepts of femininity and womanhood that are held so highly in our culture. For decades, even centuries, women have been expected to either be a perfect combination of elegance, sexual appeal, and vulnerability, or urged to act more like men. Even with revolutionary members of the media popping up everywhere--Lena Dunham, Tavi Gevinson, Miranda July--women are only being more forcibly squished into these molds. We all already know that the supermodel-skinny standards are a major part of what's dragging us, meaning females, down. That topic deserves an entire article in and of itself, but it's not all that the fashion world is contributing to this huge dilemma. It's the clothing itself. It's a topic that I've written about before, without really knowing what I was saying. Taking a tip from the boys, menswear for women, things of that ilk. That concept has taken a turn for the worst.

While reading the Man Repeller a few months ago, Leandra Medine mentioned that in order to embody "swag," one must look like a male sixth grader: messy cropped hair, boyish clothing, baseball caps, the whole deal. I admire and respect Leandra immensely, but I felt that she had almost betrayed her fellow ladies in this post through words like: "achieving 'cool' is wholly about how well a girl can emulate a prepubescent boy." My immediate response to her story was a big, bolded, upper-cased WHY? I understand that this could potentially be misconstrued as me being ridiculously sensitive, but hear me out. Here's what I'm seeing. Looking cool now entails dressing like guys. That would be fine, if the same had ever been true for the opposite sex. When has it ever been considered trendy for a man to wear a dress, or heels, or another garment of clothing generally associated with women? Approximately never, except for in the seventeenth century, when almost everybody in the aristocracy wore heels. And Marc Jacobs's pink polo dress that he wore to the opening of his museum exhibition in Paris last year doesn't count. Marc Jacobs is not a valid representation of the general male population. 

I don't personally feel the need to wear anything characteristically feminine in order to feel good about myself or how I am presenting myself to the world. That probably stems from the fact that I grew up completely unaware of how these injustices applied to me. Do my androgynous tendencies--short hair, near exclusion of pink in my wardrobe, very little makeup, unshaved legs--imply that I am actively aspiring to look like a teenage boy? Not in the least bit. I like my loose jeans as much as I like my shift dresses. I cut my hair short because I hate feeling weighted down by masses of dead cells on my head. I don't wear pink because it makes me feel like a sickly amalgamation of an infant and cotton candy. I don't wear a lot of makeup, if any at all, partly because I hate having to worry about taking it off at night, partly because I prefer to present myself in my most natural form. I stopped shaving my legs because I have much better things to be doing with my time. I dress the way I want to because I like the way my clothing looks. 

One of the greatest misconceptions about people interested in fashion and clothing is that they care too much about their appearance. It takes a significant amount of indifference towards other people and their judgements to walk outside into a world where everyone feels entitled to share their opinions on every subject, whether they be valuable or completely uncalled for. That translates directly into the issue about women's rights. People make comments, assumptions, and evaluations on women's semblance all the time, thinking we crave their approval, that we strive for their acceptance. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. Some women definitely seek that sort of confirmation, but that often is a result of insecurity or lack of self-confidence. That isn't to say that ladies that choose to ignore others' criticisms on their looks are not insecure, nor is it to say that women who attire themselves in a more sexualized manner are doing so for the benefit of those around them. This may somewhat of a mantra for feminists, and hopefully eventually for every person: we are not trying to look a certain way for you, whoever you may be. I don't know who gave the general populace the power to decide who is a "slut," or at least looks like one, and who is not, but they should feel pretty crappy right about now because they are painfully fallacious. I don't think that word should even exist; I don't believe that promiscuity is so terrible as long as no one is hurt, either emotionally or physically, in the process. A woman has a right to use her body how she wants just as much as a man does. I've always wondered why nearly every rape story I've heard or read about involves a male rapist. What it is about penises that makes men think they can just stick them everywhere? I have a supposition that it has less to do with biology and more to do with social hierarchy. It boils down to the fact that women are simply not considered equal to men. 

When we ask ourselves where this inequality stems from, it's easy to say that way back in the Paleolithic and Neolithic Eras the men were the ones that hunted and the women tended to the children. The latter's fatal infirmity was their inherent femaleness: the menstruation and subsequent complications, the decreased ability to maintain dense muscle mass, et cetera. Men saw themselves as superior because they could go out and spear a buffalo for the whole clan and not have to worry about doubling over in pain from cramps or what have you. Sure, women have their weaknesses, but men don't? They absolutely do. The number one argument that I feel neutralizes everything is that women can have babies, and men can't. In theory, that should give us immense power, but it doesn't. Instead, guys just went ahead and took the liberty of impregnating women without their consent. I know it's completely inarticulate, but my instinctual response to that is: what the hell. I've never been pregnant before but I have taken freshman biology and I know plenty of people that have bore children, and it sounds like having a small person growing inside of you doesn't feel so fantastic. Forcing that on someone who has not asked for it is one of the most heinous crimes I can think of. Perhaps that's one reason why we don't see a lot of female rapists: we're at a higher risk of suffering the consequences of having non-assented sex both physically and socially. 

As a high school student and teenager, my future is like a massive, daunting, multi-colored cloud that looms ahead of me at all times. I have high hopes for that cloud. I want to be able to pursue a career in something I enjoy and not have to be concerned about whether my male occupationally equivalent colleague is getting more perks or has a higher salary purely because of my physical constitution. People's intellectual capabilities are purely a result of how much work they put into cultivating their garden, to cite Voltaire. In other words, my brain and all it can do and create is a product of my own labor, not genetic chance. 

I often think back to the time in my life when I had no idea what sort of unjustified prejudice I was in danger of facing because of my chromosomal makeup. I was ignorant and had been brainwashed by the patriarchal society we live in that, as a female, it was my duty to protect myself from harm but to simultaneously exude femininity. That only works if you're the only person you're ever around. There's no way to control what other people perceive as suggestive or girly (not that the two are synonymous in any way), thus it is impossible to satisfy everybody's personal requirements. If that's the case, then I don't see why I should bother trying to live up to the world's expectations for me as a woman. I would much rather strive to please others on the basis of what is expected of me as a human being. That's what we all are. Male, female, non-cisgender, somewhere in between, we are all just people. What baffles me is why we can't treat each other as equally as the universe intended us to be. If we were supposed to have hierarchal distinctions within our race, some of us would be born with five extra retractable limbs and x-ray vision. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I highly doubt that anyone possesses those abilities. 

Feminism is not about hatred or anger or misandry. It is not negative. Feminists are not intrinsically evil, nor are they lesbian by default, nor do they wish to purge the Earth of all non-women. "Male feminists" shouldn't have to be a term that distinguishes men that promote equity from those that don't. All of this is about equality and freedom and love. It isn't up to us to decide our anatomical structure, but we can most definitely choose to act in particular ways despite our natural differences. The power rests entirely in our hands to change, if not reverse, the undeniable misogyny of the world we live in. Once people can stop defining each other by their gender, appearance, ethnicity, or any other uncontrollable quality of ours, and begin to appraise one another based on the substance of our thoughts and merit of our deeds, we'll be on the right track. 

Follow this blog

Chictopia/Huffington Post/Facebook/Bloglovin/Twitter

Can I Have Your Closet: Alina Peña

Alina Peña is a rock and roll fairy. I think that's the most succinct way to describe her. I met her in my gym class, a class notorious for its fashion-diminishing quality. However, Alina is capable of dressing like a cool-as-fuq chick even when we're sweating and awkward in the uncomfortable environment that is a high school physical education course. From the first day I saw her, wearing her over-sized, high-waisted sweatpants, funky t-shirts, and old-skewl sneakers, I knew we had to be friends. And it turns out she's just as awesome as her clothes proclaim her to be. She's a fellow passive aggressive feminist and Rookie lover, as well as having her own unique thangs that she does. She makes zines, terrariums, and pins, and has the most amusing Tumblr I've ever seen. She always has what is seemingly fairy dust sprinkled delicately across her cheekbones. But most importantly, she has her own unique style that is just so Alina, but at the same time so difficult to pin point. Basically, she can rock everything, and totally will if given the chance. Without further ado, I present to you, Miss Alina. 

Odelia: How would you describe your style?

Alina: I knew you were gonna ask this! It's kind of a bit of an adventure 'cause I can't make any decisions whatsoever, it's just kind of an emotional roller coaster when I try and answer that question. But I don't know, it depends on the day. Sometimes I wanna be a go-go girl, sometimes I wanna be a rockabilly rebel, it just depends.

Odelia: Who are your fashion icons and who do you admire aesthetically?

Alina: Tavi Gevinson and Petra Collins are my queens, but I don't really know people, it's really bad. It's usually just old children's books, art deco children's books that I read, or photos from the sixties that I see on Pinterest and other pretentious things like that that usually are inspiring.

Odelia: Where are your favorite places to shop?

Alina: I was asking myself this the other day, 'cause I have a lot of clothing, and I don't know where it comes from! When it's me, myself, and I, it's usually just thrift stores, and the Salvation Army, and things like that, or vintage shops, but my mom does a lot of shopping for me, 'cause she's really good at that. She gets all these emails with coupons and goes back to stores to see if things are on sale, yeah. And it's all from, like, Century 21, and it all rocks. She does a lot of shopping for me.

Odelia: If you could own one or more items right now that you don't have, what would it or they be?

Alina: Ugh, I feel like I should name drop something! I really want this jacket I saw on Etsy that's red, white, and blue, and it says “Love” on the back, and it's all fringe, and it's really wild with like, hearts on it. I also want some pins. I just wanna be the kind of person that has pins all over their chest, on your butt, like, anywhere. Pins on my face. I just want lots of broaches. It's mostly pins, but then a few bug broaches here and there.

Odelia: Would you say that fashion is a big focus in your life?

Alina: Jesus Christ, yeah. It's a problem.

Odelia: How would you describe personal style as a concept?

Alina: Personal style as a concept?

Odelia: Like what does it mean to you.

Alina: I think it's just all of the inspiration that you gobble up and spit up however you like. It can change as much as you want, you don't really have to be pinned down, that's why it's so difficult to talk about, I guess.

Odelia: How do you feel that high school has influenced your sartorial choices?

Alina: I've always cared way too much about how I dress, but have always kind of been on-trend whether I want to or not. But I guess it's kinda pushed me a lot because people are super crazy fashionable in high school, and I'm so defensive about it, I feel like I have to be the best. It's been a good motivator.

Odelia: But there's also a lot of people that are really nastily dressed. It's kind of disheartening.

Alina: Yeah, that's true. I don't mind it too much.

Odelia: I'm that person that gets angry.

Alina: I don't know, it depends. It honestly depends. If I really hate it [the outfit], or I have something against the person, then I'll criticize them for it, and if I like them, I'll be like, “She can do whatever she wants, it doesn't matter, don't judge her!” So, I don't know. I don't really mind either way, as long as I feel like I look good! [Laughs]

Odelia: Okay, I'm throwing in a bonus question in reference to your scene days, but not really. Do you feel like your style evolves frequently, or is there a core Alina thing?

Alina: No, it changes all the time. It's so difficult for my mother when she wants to buy me things for Christmas 'cause she doesn't know what I'm into anymore. I mean, I'll get nostalgic for things I had when I was five, but there's not much holding it together other than, I guess, being really quirky. I guess that's a really core part of me. But otherwise I'm all over the goddamn map.

Odelia: Is there anything else you want to say?

Alina: Uh, I wanna be you when I grow up. [Laughs]

Odelia: This is funny, because she's older than me. So it's physically impossible.

Alina: [Makes kissy face at camera]

[Photos by me.]

Look at that magic. She really is shimmering. 

I learned all about the pure genius of layering tights from Alina. 

She and our friend Julianne wear their Growlers pins erryday. They're just big Growlers fans, I guess.  

Her bangs were probably the best decision she's ever made. Not many people can rock the midi-bangs (half way between micro bangs and regular bangs), except maybe Alina, Rooney Mara, and Tavi Gevinson. All of this Googling of bangs has made me really want to get bangs again, but make them midi-length this time. Please do all that is in your power to talk me out of this. I will regret it. So much. 

What even is this pattern??? Pastel fairy vomit??

Whadda shmerp. 

This fancy lady is supercute and quite fashionable. Nothin' you didn't already know. 

There may be a few weeks in between this "Can I Have Your Closet" and the next one, seeing as I don't have any lined up as of this moment. However, I have a few subjects in mind, so don't think this segment is going on a massive hiatus the way it did last time. Also, there will be more Fashion Week coverage coming your way as soon as I can find the time to write things up, plus there's a bunch of fancy projects going on behind da scenes here. Stay tuned! (I never really understood that phrase, because it literally means to adjust to the frequency of a required signal, so it doesn't even make sense in a television or radio context nowadays.) 

Follow this blog

Chictopia/Huffington Post/Facebook/Bloglovin/Twitter

Can I Have Your Closet: Taylor Morgan

It's back! The beloved "Can I Have Your Closet" segment has returned, and with a vengeance. I mean, it doesn't have any particularly evil intentions, except to totally bug you out with the two new questions I added to the interview. And the awesome new people I've met and subsequently recruited for the task. Up first, we have Taylor Morgan.

I had seen Taylor meandering through the halls of my school for about a year and a half, secretly admiring her fearlessly imaginative sartorial choices. She is a year older than me, so naturally I assumed that she was a billion times cooler than me. My suspicions were confirmed when, after finally working up the courage to talk to her and ask her to do this with me, we conducted the interview and photoshoot in Lincoln Center during Fashion Week. Taylor gave amazing answers and went off on more than a few tangents, which I sadly could not include in this post due to the fact that the daunting length of the interview would have deemed it unreadable. She was also very honest and open, not shying away from the more invasive questions. Since the question-and-answer portion is so long, I won't say any more about Taylor. Her responses provide you with more information than a silly blurb written by me ever could.

Odelia: How would you describe your style?

Taylor: I'm really interested in Americana and the fifties...Actually, all 20^th century women's fashion. I really love older clothes. It sounds kinda stereotypical, but... Fifties would probably be my favorite. I guess I'd say costume-y is sort of what I go for.

Odelia: Who are your fashion icons and who do you admire aesthetically?

Taylor: It'll probably be characters from movies, even though it should be like, fashion designers. I like costume designers, like Edith Head, from the sixties, she's really cool. Her style was basic, I guess it was the costumes that she made... David Bowie, for sure. Glam rock is awesome but I can't really pull it off as well as I'd like to. Everybody in Rebel Without a Cause, and all the people in Norman Rockwell paintings.

Odelia: Where are your favorite places to shop?

Taylor: Reminiscence is a thrift store in Chelsea and it's really awesome, because they've been around for years and years, since the seventies, so they're not too full of themselves with all the vintage stuff. Salvation Army... I don't really shop, other than that. I guess for the essentials I'd say Gap.

Odelia: Gap is great. That's where I got this little guy (in reference to denim jacket). If you could own one or more items right now that you don't have, what would it or they be?

Taylor: Platform shoes, for sure. I've been looking for good seventies platform shoes forever, and they're not anywhere to be found.

(A small interlude during which we discussed how often we say 'um' and 'like.')

Odelia: Do you have a specific style in mind, like the ideal shoe, the one where if you were to find it, you would be like, “Ugh, yes!”

Taylor: There's this one that I saw, it exists somewhere, but in a museum some place. It's like a loafer, but with platforms, and in the center is a star, and then around the star, stripes coming out of it. But it's dark purple and white, so it's not too much. I guess too much would be bright pink.

Odelia: Or crazy metallic neon sparkles.

Taylor: Ugh, I hate neon.

Odelia: Yeah, I can't handle it. When that was a big thing a while ago...

Taylor: But I really like roller disco, which now is thought of as neon, but it wasn't all neon. They had cool stuff going on.

Odelia: Subdued neon.

Taylor: Classier neon. Is that even a thing?

(Another longer interlude during which Taylor related a story about going to a fashion show at ABC Carpet & Home and seeing Ke$ha there, and also being mistaken for Tavi Gevinson at the same event, which then led to a discussion about the tribulations and perks of fashion blogging.)

Odelia: Would you say that fashion is a big focus in your life?

Taylor: That is a good question. 'Cause I'm actually asking myself that a lot now. For the longest time, I knew that I wanted to be a fashion designer, and then a costume designer, and now I might not be interested in that anymore.

Odelia: That's what happened to me this year! That's what I wanted to do my whole life, and I was like, “This is like, working up to my dream!” and now it's more, “Wait, what, I don't wanna do this...”

Taylor: I've been told by everybody that I should do illustration. But then the minute I start being into illustration, I come into school wearing this and I get all these compliments, and it's like, “This is awesome! I should do this more!” And they're like, “Wow, you should--” Well, one teacher told me today that I have a 'gift,' and I was like, “Oh my God.” But then I'll sew something and it'll be a bag, and it's supposed to be a dress, and I'm like, “I'm definitely doing illustration.” I think it [fashion] would be a focus, but I'm just not sure how much of a focus I will keep it. Maybe I could illustrate fashion. Ah, that's like the same thing. Fashion designers do illustrate. Who knows.

Odelia: How would you describe personal style?

Taylor: I guess what you feel good in, matched with whether you think good thoughts when you see it. I feel confident when I like what I'm wearing, for sure. Maybe if you would like what you're wearing on someone else.

Odelia: That's interesting, I've never heard that before. How would you feel that high school has influenced your sartorial choices?

Taylor: I decided that I wanted to walk out of my house dressing well in sixth grade, but I guess that was my bad experimental phase. I had some good things, but I'm really glad I didn't have to deal with that in high school. I found myself in middle school so I could start high school already pretty much being set on what I wore and how I was. I guess I'm less prudish now. That would be one thing from high school. It's actually gone the opposite way: I wore lipstick and stuff in eighth grade and freshman year, and then I stopped. And I wore push-up bras, and I stopped. And I wore tons of skirts. In freshman year I had a boyfriend, and suddenly I was super feminine because of that. But now I have a girlfriend, and I've decided that, I don't know, in my head, it's the time to be more masculine, which is really a weird concept I guess. I've been doing a lot of suits. Today is sort of an exception.

Odelia: But there is a tie. That's a really cool tie. Did you buy that or make that?

Taylor: I made it. It's pleather. I tried to make a whole jacket, which kinda worked but not really, so I was like, “Well, I still have the fabric, I'll make a tie.”

Odelia: That's so cool! I have some pleather in my house because in seventh grade we had to do these colonial projects and I was stuck with shoemaking. I had wanted to do clothing, and I was like, “Wow, this sucks,” but then I read about it and it was actually really cool. So I wrote seventeen-page paper on colonial shoemaking. I'm kind of like an expert on colonial shoemaking, so I have a bunch of pleather just lying around my house. At first I thought it was really dorky, but it's actually super helpful. The other day my friend's shoe broke and I was like, “Oh you can just get an awl and whipstitch it,” and she was like, “What the hell are you talking about.” Anyway. Do you have anything else to say?

Taylor: Follow your dreams! [Laughs] No, that's not my last statement. I don't think I have anything else to say. 

[Photos by me.]

The skirt and the tie were made by her. Not only is she really good at dressing herself in clothing designed by other people, she can also create a look that is entirely her own. Ah, the joys of sewing. 

She's only a few garments away from completing her Sandy from Grease look.

It was approximately thirty degrees Farenheit while I was photographing her. I'm not really sure how she managed to stay in one piece without cracking into a billion Taylor-ice-cubes.

I forgot how much fun it is to talk to people about their personal style. People are really interesting and kewl! (Some of them)

Come back next Monday to see and read the pictures and verbal musings of my friend Alina Peña, who's basically the coolest, babeliest, and feminist (heh) chick I know. 

Follow this blog

Chictopia/Huffington Post/Facebook/Bloglovin/Twitter