elizabeth's longest blog entry ever
because: I am just barely back from my vacation and it's so weird to have the internet again. I feel really aware of the bits of it that can get draining (like even thinking about the email) verses the bits of it that are inspiring, like this interview with Exene Cervenka from the suicide girls website (see, I can't even talk about the internet with the appropriate lingo anymore) (the water was turquoise and I stayed in there for 2 hours yesterday) (I thought it was one hour) (also at night we went kayaking in this glow-in-the-dark bay, not of New Jersey variety glow-in-the-dark but phosphorescent plankton variety) (I know how to get a kayak out from under a mangrove tree when it gets stuck now) (also, I know how to steer one even while sitting up front so I won't need to get, um, kayak-towed by the very nice guide man).
Anyway. My favorite thing about this excerpt is the very last sentence:
DRE: It seems like the new kind of thing to do is for girls to get naked on the Internet.
Exene: Yeah, I think it’s destroyed any chance women have to build on the Feminist gains of the 60’s and 70’s. I think it’s really sad that women have decided that they’ve given into the whole sex object thing and have decided that that’s the highest level they can reach in life is to be in a porno film. I’m not a Feminist per se because I think it has bad connotations and I don’t believe in segregation. I think I’ve been an example of not having to do that and I’m proud of that. But on the other hand, perhaps that’s all women are. Maybe they’re just sex objects. Maybe that is the highest level they can reach in our society. As far as popular culture goes, maybe Paris Hilton is the most important thing to aspire to and maybe having a porno film of yourself and your boyfriend on the Internet is your goal in life and that’s a total accomplishment for you. Maybe men are just voyeuristic adolescent idiots. Maybe that’s who we really are. So if that’s the case, then fine. I’m not participating in it, nor would I if I was young, but it’s not my problem. My problem is making art.
(Criticizing Paris Hilton/porn/plastic surgery/scary TV culture using the term "sex object" freaks me out. I wish there were an easier way to dismiss this nasty plastic porn culture yet still honor the power of women's beauty and sexuality and the honest pleasure men and women both get from that--pleasure that doesn't have anything to do with fake boobs or giant Lindsey Lohan sunglasses.)
Okay, wait, but there's more. The interviewer brings up Dave Chapelle who is going to be the patron saint of the Grace boys night if we ever do a big reading of the guy artists we love (which I really hope we do soon) (I just need to go on maybe one more vacation first)
DRE: Dave Chappelle has been doing a lot of interviews lately; did you ever watch his TV show?
Exene: Yeah, I’ve seen him live too.
DRE: He said that one of the reasons he stopped doing his show is because when they were taping they did a joke making fun of racism and there was one crew member that laughed weirdly, like he was enjoying the racism in the wrong way.
Exene: He didn’t get the irony. Right.
DRE: It made Dave realize that with so many people watching his show, he has more of a responsibility than to just be funny. At what point did you have this realization for yourself?
Exene: It was a long time ago. Punk was founded on this whole different cultural model than what we have today. It was against the excesses of rock stars and it was against the wealthy and had all these ideals about anyone who could get on stage and play an instrument. There was no sexism and there was no racism. That was the model. When the Go-Go's went on the cover of Rolling Stone wearing just towels, I think that model got skewed. I’m from a different time. I’m a time traveler and I come from a time when abortion was illegal. When the civil rights happened, I was around. When rock and roll started, I was around. I respect all those people that broke through some of those sexist and racist barriers because it was really hard to do and a lot of people died doing it. So I still have that model and the punk rock model that I live by and self-respect to me is really important and respect for other people is really important. Not objectifying people is really important and not degrading people is really important because it makes for a better culture and a better society.
Fuck yeah. Okay. Thank you Exene. I know I'm not the only one who turns to you in a moment of lost faith. xxoo Elizabeth