rebellion

Rebel Rebel: Anti-Style

admin — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:23:00 +0000

I have always been interested in the fashion of subcultures. I've been stenciling my clothes, painting stuff on them, adding studs and strategic rips, sewing random things together and pillaging thrift stores since I was a freshman in high school—which is why designer Keanan Duffty's book Rebel Rebel: Anti-Style originally caught my eye. A style guide with a chick wearing chucks and fishnets on the cover seemed awesome!

Duffty himself has also been embellishing clothes since he was a child and, like most subculture fashionistas, was inspired by the music, particularly The Sex Pistols and David Bowie. His book reads like part autobiography, part look-book catalog, part intro to modern fashion history, and part helpful style guide.

I'd never heard of Duffty before, so his life was a somewhat interesting read, but I did not find myself impressed with the photos of his work included in the book. I'm not sure if it's just that the collection included is mostly from his later years, but to me his style was less "Rebel Rebel" and more mall punk, easily found at your nearest Kohl's. Duffty does include inspiration and scant ways for the reader to embellish and make their own clothing creations, though, so one could simply use his ideas as a springboard and go from there.

I also wasn't too impressed with the fashion history aspect of the book. While a lot of facts were interesting, such as the entire history of the jean pants, some facts were blatantly untrue: No, the Beats were not called the Beats as short for 'deadbeat,' and no, the hippie scene did not spring from the Carnaby Street Mod scene (it had been going on slightly earlier—and in America). There were just so many errors that even I, a somewhat average reader, picked up on that it made me question some of Duffty's more plausible bits of trivia.

Rebel Rebel: Anti-Style could be a good coffee table book, as it's rather large and, again, some of the illustrations are really nice, but I wouldn't pull it out to impress the FIT grads—or sit down and read it again.

Written by: Jen Klee, September 30th 2009

State Quarter Necklace

admin — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 23:18:00 +0000

By Wabisabi Brooklyn

Readers, Wabisabi Brooklyn’s State Quarter Necklace has got me feeling conflicted. You see, I've always had a fondness for small acts of rebellion: sneaking a few beers as a teenager, slapping "this is offensive to women" stickers on public advertisements, getting it on in the coed bathroom at an indie rock show. I know these things aren't going to change the world, but a little transgression makes for funny stories and hours of mischievous entertainment. So you'd think I'd be down with a necklace that is evidence of a minor crime against the U.S. Treasury—and yeah, for the most part, I am.

Having drilled two small holes through the quarter on either side of Colorado, Wabisabi designer MaryAnne LoVerme affixes an 18-inch copper chain to the coin, which positions it just below the sternal notch. A tiny gold star and company stamp are attached to the chain near the lobster claw clasp, which increases the ease with which the necklace can be put on or removed.

As the company's name, according to LoVerme, means "beauty of imperfection" in Japanese, the silver-copper color contrast perfectly suits her design aesthetic. LoVerme says she works with coins in order to "imbue jewelry with an element of chance and luck," and luck is something she'd better have on her side on the off-chance that the secret service takes issue with her creative liberties. Those folks don't mess around:

Whoever mutilates, cuts, disfigures, perforates, unites or cements together, or does any other thing to any bank bill, draft, note, or other evidence of debt issued by any national banking association, Federal Reserve Bank, or Federal Reserve System, with intent to render such item(s) unfit to be reissued, shall be fined not more than $100 or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.

This necklace is cute, but it ain't $100 or six months in jail cute.

Another thing that isn't cute about this necklace is wearing it where I live: India. While twenty-five cents doesn't get you more than a Ring Pop or a Wacky Wall Walker in the States, on the streets of Kolkata I can get a kati roll and a cup of cha with that loot. I could buy two kilos of aloo or 500ml of Amul dahi. And the thought of wearing a symbol of American economic imperialism around my neck in a place where millions are starving... well, let's just say I won't be wearing this chain around my neck until I'm back on US soil. For those who aren't in my same situation, feel free to show your state pride or the upside down profile of George Washington by visiting Wabisabi Brooklyn. LoVerme may even throw in a free gift; I got a Goumet Scented Pencil made from recycled newspapers that smells like Black Cherry. I think I'll give it to one of the schoolgirls who lives in my building.

Editor's Comment: No more comments will be allowed on this post, as it has become a playground for a group of etsy/indie designer bullies who would like to turn Elevate Difference into a site for some ridiculous and contrived vendetta against one of our writers simply because she expressed a political sentiment they disagree with (or, more entertaining, who they see as having participated in a conspiratorial plot against Wabisabi). Much of the information being circulated in the etsy/designer realm of the blogosphere about the way this review came about is inaccurate—such as the claim that this necklace was sent by the designer to India at her own cost, which it untrue as the necklace was requested by an ED Editor and sent to ED's office in Georgia, not the writer directly. This can be verified by asking MaryAnne LoVerme at Wabisabi. I shouldn't have to remind grown adults about the import of information being based in fact, not speculation and blatant falsehoods. We have published several reviews that are less than favorable (some written in a far more caustic manner) for a given product, but this type of overblown response that some people are demonstrating is quite rare, I can assure you. Probably because most people recognize that throwing tantrums in public isn't good for their own business. Well, unless you're Glenn Beck or someone who makes a living on that sort of thing. Either way, the ganging up of anti-feminist trolls who perpetuate oppressive myths about catfighting and female irrationality is in direct opposition to the mission of Feminist Review, and only serves to make women in general and etsy and indie designers in specific look foolish, so it will not be allowed to continue on this blog.

Written by: Mandy Van Deven, August 9th 2009

Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women

admin — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 16:37:00 +0000

By Victoria Law

PM Press

Of the many staggering statistics in Victoria Law’s eight-year study, Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles Of Incarcerated Women, the following fact will make your jaw drop: the number of incarcerated women in United States prisons has almost doubled from 68,468 to 104,848 between 1995 and 2004.

Like their male counterparts, this population of women is overwhelmingly comprised of African Americans and Latinas, which can be largely attributed to racial profiling—not, as popular mythology might suggest—an ad hoc increase in crime amongst these ethnic groups. Law’s fascinating text is born from her personal experience as a teenager who narrowly avoided incarceration herself, and the friendships she cultivated with women who were not so lucky. As Law raised her own consciousness about the prison-industrial—complex, she began investigating incarcerated women’s involvement in prisoners-rights movements and was told flat-out by other activists that “Women don’t organize.”

Resistance Behind Bars is a compelling testament to the untruth of this statement, and offers innumerable examples of women’s prison uprisings. One such instance is a 1975 sit-down demonstration for improved medical care at the North Carolina Correctional Center for Women, in which women fought back against prison guards attempting to beat and herd them into a gymnasium. Creatively, these prisoners used volleyball net poles, chunks of concrete and anything else immediately available, causing the state to invoke the aid of over 100 guards from other prisons to pacify the rebellion.

Law’s exhaustively researched text includes anecdotal information she harvested from interviews, letters, and conversations with prisoners as well as government reports and major media sources. Most importantly, Law highlights the deeply gendered nature of women’s prison experiences, which cuts across virtually all aspects of incarcerated life. Sexual abuse, motherhood, physical labor, education, medical care, and the extent to which women prisoners’ activism receives media attention are all areas that Law treats with a distinct sense of urgency. What’s more, Resistance Behind Bars has bonus features that underpin Law’s activist project: a list of resources organized according to region for how readers can get involved in the prisoners-rights movement, and an annotated list of recommended readings.

Written by: Heather Brown, July 5th 2009

Zodiac Girls: Recipe for Rebellion

admin — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 20:40:00 +0000

By Cathy Hopkins

Kingfisher

Cathy Hopkins has sold millions of books, most of them written for teenage girls. After reading her latest book, Zodiac Girls: Recipe for Rebellion, I credit her popularity with a tone that both accurately captures the anxieties of adolescent life, and also achieves a likeability of character that is the key to most of today’s popular literature. Formerly an art school student, rock singer, aromatherapist and teacher of meditation techniques, Hopkins has an edge to her, a wit and style only found in people who have lived life outside of the lines to a certain degree. And this comes through in her characters.

Recipe for Rebellion is the story of Danu Harvey Jones, a motherless thirteen-year-old whose father has left for the archeological expedition of a lifetime and foisted her off on his sister, a workaholic attorney. Danu hates having to leave her home, her pets and her friends, and hates the cold high rise her aunt lives in. So, she plots to get herself sent back home by dreadlocking her hair, adopting a scowl and acting out in class. Unfortunately these tactics only increase her loneliness and isolation, until she meets a magical stranger who informs her that she is this month’s "zodiac girl."

While the plot and characters are interesting and engaging enough to stand up on their own, the key to the Zodiac Girls series is that each book is centered on an astrological sign, Recipe’s being Sagittarius. And through the foil of fantastical characters - people who represent planets and all live together in one small, needless-to-say very funky town - Hopkins manages to give a solid overview of astrology to her reader. Anyone not familiar with astrology would have a much better idea of what it is all based on and how it all works after reading a book in this series. That in and of itself is a reason I’d recommend this over most other teen chick-lit books. It is informative as well as incredibly entertaining.

Written by: Jen Wilson Lloyd, June 19th 2007