Feminism | SPOTTED COUCH

Browsing All Posts filed under »Feminism«

Dark Heart of the Handmaid’s Tale: Dead Texas Woman Kept on Life Support to Incubate her Fetus

December 20, 2015

“Blessed be the fruit.” – Chapter 4, The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood In case you haven’t reached your dose of disturbing anti-abortion-related laws from Texas, here is one tale that could be a spine-chilling scene straight out of Margaret Atwood’s cautionary novel, “The Handmaid’s Tale”. [I originally wrote this piece in 2014, but have revised […]

Whipping the Pussy Riot Grrrl Act

March 7, 2014

“Riot Grrrl, in a conscious response to second-wave feminists’ rejection of the word “girl,” reclaimed it with pride — and also in parody. Songs, performances, and fashion statements mocked the depictions of feminine innocence and compliance served to us in the face of discrimination, exploitation, and endemic sexual abuse.” — My Riot Grrrl by Johanna Fateman Powerful words […]

Stalking Is Not a Love Song (Unless You’re Sting)

February 23, 2014

“Every breath you take And every move you make Every bond you break, every step you take I’ll be watching you” – The Police Sting’s breathy tribute to unrequited love or ‘stalking’ as we know it today. Sting wrote the song in 1983 when he was divorcing his wife. It won ‘Song of the Year’, […]

The Deathly Siluetas of Ana Mendieta

February 21, 2014

Highly prolific during her short life, Cuban artist, Ana Mendieta left behind an extraordinary body of work including her beautiful Siluetas – a series of earth-body sculptures where she imprinted or outlined her silhouette into or onto the natural elements. Hauntingly foreboding in their gesture, these works recall sites of mourning and the tracings of a […]

Crazy Bitches on Trial

February 19, 2014

“… Criminals are an exception among civilised people and women are the exception among criminals… As a double exception, then, the criminal woman is a monster.” – Cesare Lomroso, Italian Criminologist, 1893 The public’s fascination with women who murder is palpable, if not dangerously obscene. Apart from its statistical rarity, female killers (or those accused) fascinate […]

Fembots, Flesh Dresses and the (Anti-)Fetishization of Jodi Arias

February 18, 2014

In a sensationalist plot where consumerism meets science fiction meets true crime, Jodi Arias emerges as the perfect fembot (or flesh dress) who obediently shaved her parts, donned superhero briefs and bent over tirelessly for her man. Their perverse game met a brutal end when Arias murdered lover Travis Alexander. As Arias awaits sentencing, her […]