Hollaback, Canada has started. It's a site formulated along the lines of the initial New York site, with this purpose:
If you are a Canadian woman who is harassed, catcalled, commented on, kissy-noised at, or otherwise bothered by men on the street, whip out your camera and snap a pic of the offending jackass. Then email the pic, along with the location of the incident (as specific or vague as you like) and your comments, and we will post it for the world to see.
Speaking of New York, if you are around the area you can attend the 2006 Her Voice Her View Film Festival, a part of the Pioneer Theaters Female Film celebration.:
Her Voice Her View provides a forum for female writers, directors, and
producers to share their work with the community. The festival represents
some of the finest pieces from domestic and international women filmmakers
presenting films about anything and everything: modern feminism, b-girls,
abortion, sexual violence, prison, eroticism, human rights abuses, fairy
tales, motherhood, hip-hop.
The festival will open with Missing in America starring Danny Glover (The
Color Purple/Lethal Weapon) and Zoe Weizenbaum (Memoirs of a Geisha),
which has taken home awards like Best Feature Film from the San Francisco
Womens Film Festival and the Monaco International Film Festival. The
documentary NO! unveils the reality of sexual violence and healing in
African-American communities and includes testimony from women including
feminist activist Barbara Smith and former Black Panther Party Chairperson
Elaine Brown. The Shape of Water (narrated by Susan Sarandon with
introductory narration co-written by Edwidge Danticat) explores the
revolutionary ways in which five women from India, Jerusalem, Brazil, and
Senegal respond to environmental, cultural, and economic pressures and
constraints around them, receiving international acclaim. Not to be missed
is Soundz of Spirit, which features hip-hop artists Andre 3000, KRS-1,
Talib Kweli, Common, Cee-Lo, Jurassic 5, Blackalicious, Dilated Peoples,
Saul Williams, and many more exploring the relationship between
spirituality and the creative process in hip-hop culture. Lets Talk About
It is a new documentary by Deepa Mehta (Fire/Water/Earth) giving voice to
children as they break the silence and secrecy of family abuse for the
first time.
At each screening, audience members will receive a complimentary goody bag
filled with items generously supplied by our sponsors: Altar Magazine,
Clamor Magazine, BuyOlympia.com, Bitch Magazine, Random House Publishing
Group, Tomboy Tools, Barcelona Bath and Body, and more. For details on any
of these outstanding programs or interviews with the filmmakers, contact
us at the number listed above.
Ticket Info:
Pioneer Theater
155 E. 3rd Street (at Avenue A)
New York, NY 10009
Festival Info:
Her Voice Her View
955 Metropolitan Ave, #4R
Brooklyn, NY 11211
- Find more detail at www.altarmagazine.com.
My third item is not from my mailbag but from the feminist blogosphere. A curious thing happened on Pandagon: the invasion of trolls caused by one particular post Amanda made. Ilyka Damen wrote an interesting post about the meaning of the comments thread and about how it ended up as a semi-friendly debate between guys, and this on a feminist blog.
I've always been on the fence about posting something that might make the wingnut trolls come over here. It's not that I would mind a nice debate, rather the reverse. I love good debates. But trolling is not the same as good debates and managing trolling debates takes a lot of energy and time and leads to no useful discoveries. That I still call this "being on the fence" is because a part of me would just love to run out there and punch people left, right and center and also use all those thirty-eight methods of killing a larger person I've spent years and money acquiring. But that part is the one that usually gets me into trouble and never has anything really valuable to say. It's very much like the trolls.