I am so excited to see that the most popular bands at the moment have female lead singers or are made up of all women! WOOHOO!

Every single time I turn on the radio, I seem to find some song that really annoys me. However, the new stuff like Paramore and The Veronicas is awesome. I am happy that I have tickets to see No Doubt and Paramore's tour this summer, which bring me to my point. FEMALE LEAD VOCALISTS ARE ON THE RISE!!!! Look at bands like Spinnerette, Juliette and The Licks (though I think she's performing with a new band now), The Donnas, etc. I think this is amazing! Even though most of the groups I named here are indie, I have a feeling things are changing and women are slowly taking the rock world by storm!




No Doubt





Paramore




The Veronicas! I saw these ladies in concert in NYC and....THEY ARE AMAZING!



The Donnnas!

Brody Dalle...a female rock goddess!

I've always been a Brody Dalle fan. I think The Distillers' music got me through my crazy adolescence, and I know it gets me through some of these crazy days at my redneck university. Haha! But seriously, her and her stage presence makes her a force that can't be ignored...which in the punk rock world, it's easy for bands to be dismissed for having "chick" singers. Brody crushes all of that ignorance about female lead vocalists in punk bands. The Distillers aren't together anymore, but her new band is called Spinnerette. Check them out!



Awesome, right?

Oh, and here's a pic from Brody's days with The Distillers:



Cool pics like that are responsible for me picking up a guitar! : )

Rosario Dawson owns!

I found this pic of Rosario Dawson and thought it was AWESOME! I've always been a Rosario Dawson fan because of the great roles she always has in Tarantino films and how well she played Mimi in RENT, but I became even more of a fan when I found out how much of a philanthropist and humanitarian she is. She's involved with the ONE Campaign, Amnesty International, PFLAG, and the Lower East Side Girls Club. She's definitely a woman worthy of respect and admiration.

From "Girl Power" to This

Victoria Beckham, formally know as Posh Spice of the Spice Girls, is known for her impressive fashion sense and being the wife of the world's most famous soccer star, David Beckham. However, I can't help but wonder if the "girl power" message she perpetuated with the Spice Girls years ago is simply a non-issue for her today. It seems that she isn't promoting that young girls should "do it for themselves," but instead parading around with her husband and amazing the world with her ability to fit into size 000 jeans. Her book, the cover of which is the picture featured in this entry, is all about fashion and how to make yourself "look better." As a very influential and powerful socialite, I must say I expected more from her. We all know she's beautiful and we love her for it, myself included. I was a Spice Girl fan back in the day! Haha! BUT I would like to see her write a book telling young women how to become successful business women and utilize their "girl power" in a manner that doesn't involve clothing, hair, or accessories.

The Legend of the "Tragic, Beautiful Actress/Model"

We've all seen how movies about women who have tragic demises become instant blockbusters and/or cult favorites, i.e. Gia and Factory Girl. However, I must say that I believe these women are very misunderstood. Gia was a beautiful model who just wanted to be accepted. Her personality, according to those that knew her, was magnetic. I don't agree with Hollywood's assumption that drugs led to her downfall because I feel PEOPLE led to her downfall. Just imagine being called beautiful, talented, and gorgeous all the time but having trouble finding love. Of course, someone would say "Well, I must not be all of those things because someone talented, beautiful, and gorgeous should have no problem finding love and acceptance." Nevertheless, the reality of that is women who are all of those things have it worse than anyone else who tries to find the same things because people are intimidated by their success, beauty, etc. It's almost as if you asked someone to look at the Mona Lisa and then describe it. I'm sure they would say marvelous things about it and be in complete awe of it. In contrast, if you asked them to hold it, I'm sure they would be scared and would probably find an excuse not to do so. That's what I think happened with Gia: people were too afraid to "hold" her and conversely she didn't know how to be "held." Therefore, she turned to things she knew would always be there: drugs, which inevitably led to her contracting AIDS and dying at a young age. But she was NOT a victim. She was simply someone trying to find a way to feel alive. I mean, does anyone care to wonder why Nikki Sixx did so many drugs during his Motley Crue days? NO! They just portray him as a young rock star living the life he was expected to live and take advantage of.

Gia Carangi

Now, the next woman I think Hollywood could have represented in a more positive manner is Edie Sedgwick. Edie Sedgwick is best known for being Andy Warhol's "superstar" since she starred in many of his films, many of which he is rumored to have refused to pay her for appearing in. She is also depicted as an airhead relying solely on Warhol for direction in these films, even though it's a well-known fact that Sedgwick was pretty intelligent.

In Factory Girl, Edie is portrayed as a woman who was fatally in love with Andy Warhol and couldn't help but let him mistreat her and use her because of that love. I think any "thinking" individual would find that representation problematic, especially since love should never be an excuse for allowing someone to treat you as if you are beneath them. In my opinion, Edie Sedgwick met her downfall when she blindly trusted someone she was told she could trust. At that time, Andy Warhol was changing art as the world knew it and there was an assumption that if you wanted to be the next big thing, you needed to be apart of the progressive movement Warhol was leading. Therefore, Edie probably assumed that someone so respected could not be so shifty. Plus, we must keep in mind that Andy Warhol wasn't an easy person to like. He even felt he was too famous to speak for himself in interviews so he often had others talk to reporters for him WHILE he stood by and listened. And we musn't forget that Valerie Solanas said she shot him because he claimed to have lost a manuscript she gave him. However, Solanas believed this "loss" was Warhol's attempt to steal her work and receive credit for it. But do we see representations of Warhol as being manipulative? NO! We see images of him being a man going after what he wants or being such a genius that those "envious" of him were compelled to shun him or, in Solanas' case, shoot him. As for Sedgwick, yes, she turned to drugs as well. But shouldn't the picture or portrayal of these women involve the unrealistic standards that society sets for women if they plan to make it in the entertainment industry. All people suffer, but suffering in an environment that doesn't allow you to be too fat, too sad, or too tired is extremely taxing on an individual.

My point is this: I admire Gia and Edie Sedgwick, but not because they were drug addicts, beautiful, and died young. I admire them, and think others should as well, because they were women who redefined modeling and entertainment by saying "Hey, we're young and beautiful, but we have problems just like everyone else. So, if we're messed up, you're messed up too!"

Edie Sedgwick Interview:



A Clip of Edie in "Poor Little Rich Girl," a film she made with Andy Warhol:

Triple threat!

Honestly, I could do without Beyonce, but a sober Britney and the always amazing P!nk definitely make a great combo!

Alexandra Pelosi: one of today's best documentary filmmakers

I'm unsure of whether she identifies as a feminist BUT she truly is one in my book because she's a strong woman showing America its good and bad (racist, uber-conservative, etc.) sides via film! Alexandra Pelosi makes AMAZING documentaries because they are so real and rich with content that wonderfully depicts the mentality of some Americans. Here's a clip from her new documentary "Right America Feeling Wronged."



Yeah, and there are more ignorant people in the documentary...like this guy:



Ms. Pelosi deserves an award for not going completely "ape shit" on some of these people because of their ignorance! LOL! Her ability to remain so calm, cool, and collected earns her major points!