rant

speaking of the wild west, a lot of things have been making me mad lately. actually, the wild west doesn't make me that mad. it's the time and place where lawlessness allowed relative freedom and power for women-- along with the unfettered exploitation of women of course. like bad ass calamity jane on deadwood, or belle star. but yeah, actually, the unfettered exploitation and objectification, medicalization and capitalisation of women's bodies in the late nineteenth century does make me mad...a lot of things, man. specifically, "rock and roll"* has been making me mad lately. or rather the spectre of the phallus which pervades it. i am serious.

today i read about marnie stern's kissing booth, which reminded me of going to see marnie stern back in october. let me explain for a moment in case you are not familiar: marnie stern is the sickest, baddest, most rocking guitarist i have seen in a very long time. the only word is disgusting. she is also very pretty, but mostly just badass all yelling and sweating and shredding. in any case, at this concert in october, in between songs some douche bag yelled out "you're a babe!", which despite being true is beside the point. i couldn't help myself, and yelled "fuck you dude! you're a sick guitarist marnie!". my point being that one should not have to be a pretty woman to be a good musician, and one should not be admired for looking nice while playing, but rather for playing well. or incredibly disgusting, as the case may be. there is this amazing musician in front of you and you want to tell her how hot she is? really?

but then it struck me: what if a room full of mesmerized hipster boys (attending what is always a cockfest, on stage and in the audience), is actually the perfect (post)feminist fuck you to all those hysterical girls swooning over elvis and the beatles that made us all look so bad? so my question is: sexuality? or rather sexiness? that almost solely female space of cultural value, seen usually as objectifying and devaluing women, could its certain strategic deployment engender an appropriate and well earned power? could it be a good way to try and pay parking tickets? did that douche and those awkward fans too terrified to kiss her actually make us look better? and really, am i just a little bit jealous that she didn't have a kissing booth when i saw her play?

hugz

kz

*except yukon ho!. yukon ho! is amazing, listen to them right now.