judith “jack” halberstam on drag, gender and fashionable stupidity ...

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Otsu (www.veganmart.com) A San Francisco boutique with an online shopping site, Otsu is dedicated to eliminating the consumption of animal products. They sell hard-to-find, high-quality and fairly made vegan accessories as well as cookbooks, comix, zines, music and more. (DTY) She Made This (www.shemadethis.com) It’s all about DIY at this website filled with great ideas for fashionable projects, from ’80s-inspired earrings to disco balls made from unwanted AOL CDs. (DTY) Sparkle Craft (www.sparklecraft.com) Find handmade accessories including belts, vegan guitar straps and wristbands. All of the items are earth- and animal-friendly. The site is run by a girl named Tina who designs and custom-makes everything in order to suit your sassy style. (DTY) Buy Olympia (www.buyolympia.com) I sure heart my “Reading Is Sexy” tee by Sarah Utter, which I got, along with some stuff by Nikki McClure, at Buy Olympia — a onestop shop for clothes, bags, art, zines and more by a whole slew of progressive, independent designers and artists. (JH) LOUDmouth 7 celebrating feminist fashion culture FEMINISTS MAKE FASHION FEMINISTS MAKE ART ABOUT FASHION CONSCIOUS COUTURE Matrushka Construction, 4281 Fountain Ave., L.A., (323) 665-4513, www.matrushka.com. Walk into Matrushka Construction in Silver Lake, and you’ll find one of the owners, Beth Ann Whittaker or Laura S. Howe, sewing one of their hip and affordable designs. That’s because they design and make virtually all of the clothes they sell. Combining vintage elements and contemporary concepts, their clothes are unique, mostly one-of-a-kind and reflect the designers’ dedication to functionality and creativity. But beyond constructing stylish clothes, Beth Ann and Laura want to “build proliterate fashion.” They create an environment where “ideas and inspiration can converge.” Special events include art openings and T-shirt-construction nights, where guests can design their own tees. They encourage political awareness and aren’t afraid of mixing politics and fashion, offering messages like “Stop Bush,” “Love Somebody” and “Hug a Tree.” Soon after they opened in 2003, I was very happy to find a reconstructed “No War” tee that was both stylish and fit well, unlike a lot of activist clothing I find. So go on, support your local, feminist-owned, DIY, politically active store. And look good while you’re doing it! (DTY) The Josephine Meckseper Catalogue by Josephine Meckseper et al. (Lukas & Sternberg, 2004) — This catalogue of Meckseper’s recent exhibition IG Metall and the Artificial Paradises of Politics at the Galerie Reinhard Hauff in Stuttgart is printed on high-gloss paper and designed to mimic the look of fashion magazines, with artwork masquerading as ads. Essays by John Kelsey and Andrew Ross explore art, aesthetic surfaces, class, consumption and politics in an era marked by limited consumer consciousness of garment-industry labor and a resemblance between art galleries and boutiques, in both of which curatorial priority is increasingly given to products that can be shown and moved with ease. Available at www.printedmatter.org. (JH) FASHIONFASHION by K8 Hardy (self-published, 2003) — This funny and smart little zine is made mostly of photographs (there’s a bit of text) that provocatively play with mainstream fashion mags’ (and, at least in my reading, some countercultural fashions’) narrow presentations of gender, beauty and sartorial style. (JH) FEMINISTS MAKE SO MANY BOOKS ABOUT FASHION. INSTEAD OF AN INEVITABLY UNCOMPREHENSIVE LIST, HOW ’BOUT WE HIGHLIGHT THIS ONE? The Veil Unveiled: The Hijab in Modern Culture by Faegheh Shirazi (University Press of Florida, 2001) — One veiled woman can be perceived in a hundred different ways (pious, erotic, oppressed, etc.) depending upon the understanding of the person who is looking at her. In this stimulating and provocative book, Shirazi makes clear that the semiotics of the veil are multifaceted. This heated debate is nothing new, although 9/11 brought it center stage as the United States justified war on Afghanistan and Iraq partly in order to “free the veiled women.” It’s important to remember that “To veil, or not to veil?” is not the only question and often functions as a societal distracter, de-emphasizing fundamental issues about women’s rights and sovereignty. Shirazi is an Iranian scholar who teaches at the University of Texas, Austin. In this book she asks, “What cultural context makes it possible for a physical object to acquire metaphysical proportions?” Religion, sex, politics — she hits the span of where and how the veil is used and understood. She critically analyzes veiled images in advertising and in American erotica and the position of the veil in cinematics. She has chapters on the role of the hijab in Iranian politics and the militarization of Middle Eastern women. Shirazi concludes with a look at the literary dynamics of the veil. Presenting complex ideas in simple language, Shirazi dares the reader to no longer accept current clichés or homogenizing representations of the veil. This work challenges the current debate, shedding light on the possibilities of taking it higher. (SA)
Dear Gwen, Congratulations on your new record! 1 I know it’s been a challenge for you to go solo, and as a woman in a male-dominated industry, you’ve had to overcome a lot. But Gwen, I gotta ask you, what’s up with all the Japanese girls? They’re on your album cover art and in the lyrics and videos for your first two singles, “What You Waiting For?” and “Rich Girl.” You even have an entire song dedicated to them. 2 The girls have also been your back-up (or should I say stage props?) in interviews and performances. Actually, I get it. You’ve made it pretty clear in interviews and the “What You Waiting For?” video that you were scared. As an MTV News-online headline reads, “Gwen Stefani’s Debut Solo LP Inspired by Insecurity and Japan” (Nov. 10, 2004). So you needed inspiration. And a security blanket — something to make you feel safer, more confident, powerful. You found what you were looking for in these girls. You’re certainly not the first person to feel empowered via Asian women. As an avid and conscious media consumer, I’m pretty sensitive to the representation of Asian Americans in popular music. For the most part, Asians are invisible. Sure, you can come up with token examples — believe me, I know them all. From Tony Kanal, your exboyfriend/bass player from your band, No Doubt, to Harley, the whereis-he-now winner of the reality-TV show Fame. Or Jasmine, the Icoulda-been-a-contender kicked off American Idol, and the nobodyknows-my-name guy from the Neptunes. But the main role of Asians in music and music videos is as accessory. And you’ve sure been sportin’ the Asian-girl accessory in your new solo-artist and designer roles. I like to accessorize as much as the next fashion-forward girl, although I prefer shoes, earrings, a bag, etc. But for you, it’s all about Harajuku girls. And you don’t have just one. You need four girls to dress up your latest look! I’m deeply troubled by this admitted fascination you have with Japan and the girls of Harajuku. Your obsession is known as Yellow Fever — a fetish for Asian women. The phenomenon is nothing new. There are many (often white) men who are attracted to Asian women because of the stereotype that Asian girls are exotic, subservient and really good in bed. There are also gay men, a.k.a. “Rice Queens,” who have the same fetish for Asian guys. You may think to yourself, “I’m 1 No Doubt singer Gwen Stefani released her first solo album, Love, Angel, Music, Baby in November 2004. The album title also refers to Gwen’s clothing line, L.A.M.B. 2 The song is “Harajuku Girls” and refers to the popular shopping and entertainment district in Tokyo, known for the wild and trendy, mix-and-match street fashion worn by many of the Japanese teens who hang out there. not fetishizing them. I think their style is wicked. I’m their biggest fan,” as you note in your lyrics. Well, fetishes are often marked by adoration and desire as well as power and dominance. For example, in “Harajuku Girls” you talk about how much you admire the Harajuku style. In the intro to an online performance of the song on AOL Sessions, you are seated in a throne with your crown and wand, surrounded by your silent, doll-like Asian girls. And I say “your girls” because you talk and act as if you own them. The performance opens with you standing in the center and the four girls bowing down to you. With your platinum-blonde hair and super-fair skin, you’re a vision of whiteness, towering over and commanding these girls. So you’ve got the Harajuku girls as your new entourage, at least until you get bored with it and decide to appropriate something else. No one knows the girls’ real names, because you have labeled each of them according to the name of your album and clothing line — Love, Angel, Music and Baby. In addition to being your back-up dancers, they follow you everywhere you go, including photo shoots, public appearances, award shows and interviews. They play up the usual stereotypes of Asian women — they’re either shy and docile or hypersexualized. Their job is to be silent, look cool and market your products (your music and your clothes — they also model your Harajuku Lovers accessories line). And what’s even more fucked up is that you have mandated their silence. As reported by British Vogue as well as VH1 VJ Bradford How (during the Top 20 Countdown, Feb. 26, 2005), although the girls speak fluent English, they are allowed to speak only Japanese in your presence. If they speak English, it’s a breach of contract, and they could lose their jobs. So go ahead, steal their culture, their style and their voice, why don’t you?! I realize that you’ve had a long, complex relationship with the Other, that is, those who have been marginalized on the basis of ethnicity, gender, class, etc. There was your Rude-Girl Two-Tone phase in the early No Doubt days, which was about black and white coming together in music, fashion and people. You dabbled in other “ethnic” trends, like wearing the Hindu bindi or co-opting “ghetto” style in order to prove you were more than just a white rocker girl. In constructing your own image, you’ve exploited others, thereby perpetuating and participating in systems of oppression. Over the past 10 years, you’ve enjoyed a lot of success and have been a big influence on kids in the United States. They admire your tough-girl style and image. So, please, at least try to acknowledge sexism and racism, and stop exploiting and objectifying others in the process. —Daria Teruko Yudacufski LOUDmouth 8
Page 1 and 2: Issue 9 | Spring 2005 JUDITH “JAC
Page 3 and 4: past A note: After publishing “I
Page 5 and 6: DRESS TO KILL FIGHT TO WINBy Dean S
Page 7: Joanna E. Gaspar, M.S., M.P.H. Ques
Page 11 and 12: While engagement with sociopolitica
Page 13 and 14: COTTONPICKING AMERICAN APPAREL By L
Page 15 and 16: ¿QUIEN LLEVA LOS PANTALONES T he d
Page 17 and 18: DRAG, GENDER & FASHIONABLE STUPIDIT
Page 19 and 20: when we talk about a nation as bein
Page 21 and 22: By Stephanie Abraham I. Oppression
Page 23 and 24: in widening my fashion consciousnes
Page 25 and 26: more economically vulnerable than I
Page 27 and 28: A PARADIGM SHIFT IN PROGRESSIVE POL
Page 29 and 30: prestige, most 16-year-olds today c
Page 31 and 32: DOMESTICV DOMESTIC IOLENCESE XUALAS

judith “jack” halberstam on drag, gender and fashionable stupidity ...

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