Do you always have to be so "political"? I've been asked a few times on facebook and also in person. Add to that the word "nasty" - I've been called that, too, of course - and we have - in my eyes - a rather attractive and strong package of female power: Political & Nasty. Just like Hillary.
Maybe the Trump Roadshow revved me up more than I already am at any time and pushed me into the arms of my all-time favorite topics: spirited rebellion, disobedience, provocation, defiance. And if you do it right - one of the rewards will be an unintentional compliment by the likes of Donald Trump which is: "Nasty woman". Right on! Thank you! Delightful!
Hillary lost the election but she didn't lose the title! She is still in good company, and the list of "Nasty Women" with fire in their veins and revolution in their hearts is neither new nor that short, be it in fiction or real life. Artists like Frida Kahlo and Cindy Sherman? "Nasty". All the female singers from Joni and Beyonce to Pink and Annie to the fabulous jazz stars Aretha, Billie and Simone? "Nasty Women". So, this is a fact: Speaking Up IS political.
How important being "political" can be was very powerfully demonstrated by the Russian punk band and fierce and fearless provocateurs "Pussy Riot" (what are they up to these days?). They demanded attention to a political system that suppresses people by doing political satire. And they were willing to be incarcerated. Not a good thing?? Just the opposite. It was a beauty of courage and daring.
To be political, the chance to be political which means basically to consider yourself important enough to have a position and an opinion that has the power to change society, is a gift. Although I see it more as a simple human right.
I grew up in the late Sixties, and those were heady years of upheaval, rebellion and protest. We, the women, wanted something, with all our hearts. Change! And, looking back and looking at the present, it seems as if we actually have achieved some change in the end. Mostly, because we were "political" and many were willing to risk quite a lot for being heard and seen.
We had a saying: "the personal is political", meaning that whatever you do, whoever you are and everything that happens in your own four walls - child abuse, neglect, fights, Dad's chauvinism, Mom's drinking problem, but also inspirational teachers, good role models - has an effect, makes a ripple in the world - good or bad - and is therefore political.
Without courageous - make that political - women who secured the right to the women's vote, we wouldn't have the powerful political woman of the moment: Hillary Clinton. What if she hadn't decided as a young, serious and awkward woman with thick glasses that she wanted to be "political" - which meant nothing more than using her brain, not her tits in the name of progress? We wouldn't have had the "almost" first female president.
Fictitious Nasty Women are a favorite of mine. From "noir" Bad Girls to the "Troublesome Twos" Thelma & Louise. I have such strong revenge fantasies when I see the entire Chauvinist-Club of the world that I wish that the two legendary angry road warriors would pay Groper-in-Chief Trump (and the rest of his ilk) all over the world a visit and do their gutsy thing.
I can only dream of what they would do to a guy who thinks nothing of "grabbing them by the pussy". A swift kick in the groin and mussing up his yellow hair is probably the kindest of their options I think.
Why is it that this 20-year-old feminist road caper was one of the biggest blockbusters in 1991? Because it put the finger right in the old wound: women in their (partly accepted) roles as Nobodies and targets for abuse and sexual advances. What was so satisfying about the movie was that it tried to reverse the passive and pliant woman (Trump's favorite targets) who offers no resistance to the crudest and even violent hassling.
Finally enraged, the two spirited Besties - or shall we call them "Nasties" - introduced a new and rather effective way to put men in their place (one of them actually five feet under). It felt mighty good to shirk for once the shameful role of the whining poor victim.
I remember women applauding and jeering in the cinema when the two intrepid vagabonds shot the tires of that disgusting trucker jerk (come to think of it, he was like the Trump of the Asphalt). It was a triumphant day at the movies all right. Don't mess with "Nasty Women" who operate on pent up rage.
More than ever, it's the fearless spirit women should be looking for - sometimes asking where it all went. Let's bring it back and transport it into offices, colleges, and well, all the places where men and women converge.
Be loud, be clear, be strong, be explicit. Give 'em hell!! Don't be a doormat, be the one who slams the door! Right in the face of the Trumps of the world. It will be a welcome and beautiful noise! TIME FOR NASTY WOMEN! And for being "nastily political".
"FUCK BEAUTY DUTY"
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B014CBAG1K
