Category: Semi-Retired Riot Grrl

Daily Mail: Marketing-sans-self-awareness

Posted on by Kelly Welles

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There are very few media disasters in the world that cannot be resuscitated by a carefully orchestrated scandal. And what better way to get those arbiters of British decency, the Daily Mail, spluttering into their ‘coming over here, stealing all our’ cornflakes in the morning than a poster advertising the movie version of events leading up to the death of their favourite Royal princess, right outside the tunnel where that fatal accident occurred.

Continue reading “Daily Mail: Marketing-sans-self-awareness” →

Larry Busby: Tom Hanks for the 2000’s?

Posted on by Kelly Welles

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It’s disappointing to realise that while I’ve spent the last godknowshowmany years trying to articulate the negative effects of pornography on young male minds (perpetuates illusion that instant gratification is not only reasonable but essential; requirement for women to conform to very specific parameters etc)  when I could have just waited for this guy to place his wanted ad and do it for me.

In pink, too.

September 4th 2013 AKA The Day The Internet Ate Itself

Posted on by Kelly Welles

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A troll annotates a photo of a cosplay participant with critical text. It becomes a meme and goes viral. The troll is then called out for lack of research into cosplay by other internet users. This trends on Facebook.

I think.

One Direction: Cheap Shots

Posted on by Kelly Welles

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I’m about 104 years past the median age of One Direction’s target demographic. I think their music is shallow, mechanical pop of the lowest order,  with lyrics specifically tailored to titillate and exploit the first flushes of sexual maturity in teenage girls.

Despite all this, I’m still uncomfortable with the media propagating the hysteria by reporting it, and then seeking to legitimise their coverage by pointing out how irrational and disturbing the resulting behaviour is. When a teenage girl is threatening to kill people for dating a member of the band, or herself because she can’t meet them, it should be a source of concern, not smart-arse articles describing them as ‘witless devotees‘

I’m surprised the press feel so superior. Cheap, formulaic journalism isn’t really any better than cheap, formulaic devotion, is it?

Image via standard.co.uk.

Cameron vs. Fry: It’s Just Not Cricket

Posted on by Kelly Welles


British Prime Minister David Cameron has rejected a plea from Stephen Fry to ban Russia from hosting the Winter Olympics, stating that while he “share’s [Fry’s] deep concern about the abuse of gay people,” he believes “we can better challenge prejudice as we attend.”

Continue reading “Cameron vs. Fry: It’s Just Not Cricket” →

Blurred Lines? Nope, Just An Optical Illusion.

Posted on by Kelly Welles

Parodies of overtly sexualised imagery are becoming more frequent in popular culture lately – their viral fecundity rooted in how hilarious blokes look whilst pulling the same ridiculous ‘erotic’ poses as their female counterparts did in the original.

The latest, a reboot of Robin Thicke’s controversial ‘Blurred Lines’ promo performed by Mod Carousel, is no exception. But when you’re done wincing, pointing and laughing as butch boys wiggle their way across your screen wearing thongs and high heels, there’s a more serious point to be made.

The poses, not the people, look ridiculous. We’re just so inured to ‘sexy’ women acting like elasticated, pneumatic, tottering automatons, we don’t really notice them anymore.

Scant comfort can be found in the fact that I’m not fourteen and primed to buy into this shit. After all, there’s millions of kids who are.

Homophobia: Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word

Posted on by Kelly Welles

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These images of formerly homophobic Christians attending a Gay Pride march in Chicago to apologise for their attitude have been circulating the internet since 2010.

I only saw them yesterday after a good friend of mine linked to them on Facebook, but does humanity in it’s purest form ever lose it’s power to inspire?

Continue reading “Homophobia: Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word” →

Feminism: If It Was That Easy, We’d All Be Doing It

Posted on by Kelly Welles

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Image via huffpost.

Jackie Johnson-Smith found this message written on her receipt after a restaurant meal with her family. During the meal, Johnson-Smith breastfed her baby and the waitress who wrote it, aware of the negative responses such behaviour sometimes provokes was moved to offer her support, stating that “We need to come together and support each other when it comes to nursing our children.”

Johnson-Smith was so touched by Bodi Kinney’s gesture that she photographed the receipt and posted it on Facebook. Her full response is here, but the line that caught my heart was the last one.

…although I don’t need a pat on the back for feeding my child, it sure felt amazing. It is amazing how we women can make each other feel when we empower each other.

It reminded me that feminism was founded on principles of mutual support and the benefits of sharing experiences. Somehow that’s become lost, probably somewhere underneath the dust and debris that falls as we all desperately scramble for purchase on the increasingly crowded wall of ownership and academic superiority.

The truth is, we’ve over complicating it. It really is that easy, and as human beings, we should all be doing it.

Rolling Stone: What’s Wrong With This Picture?

Posted on by Kelly Welles

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If I was a parent, I like to think I would be less worried about Rolling Stone’s decision to put Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on their cover and more about bringing my kids up in a society so bereft of worthy, morally responsible authority figures that they’re forced to seek alternative heroes in unsuitable places, like the entertainment industry.

I’m not a parent though. So I probably won’t get involved.

Image via huffpost.