Dorm Room Diaries of a Fem Nerd: Afro-punk 2010 Festival Feminists

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Comment by sad runaway♥ on September 9, 2010 at 11:02pm

I love hearing these things... i personally wasn't getting anything real from being normal...i sort of started to feel a little lonely.. i like being different..actually being black and different is weird (which i like)...but it can get lonely.... thank you Twyla for showing these smart beautiful women.. it helps to know that there's people out there who GET IT...

Comment by Lex on August 3, 2010 at 5:21pm

Excellent! I love that you made this video! And yes! Girls brave enough to be themselves rock a whole different form of chemistry. Keep up the great work! <3

Comment by Nove Gree on July 30, 2010 at 10:05pm

It shouldn't be that people have to be so defensive about their own choices. The masses don't get a voice in anything that matters- so we get to squabble over the things that don't. Human nature continues...as expected

Comment by Riot Grrrl Iggie! :) on July 25, 2010 at 2:09am

Thank you. This means a lot to me. I'm thirteen & I have often looked at certain women and felt like, Gosh! I have to be that skinny, will anyone find me attractive because I have wider hips & I don't necessarily look like that? I love that this video showed these punk women, who I think are still beautiful, by the way.. I've always been a bit scared to be honest, being black, young, & into punk. I'm not saying I'm the only one who has felt this way. I often feel discouraged to act on a certain impulse, like dying my hair (which I want to do really badly!). At school, I didn't hold back & clearly expressed my taste in different music and/or fashion. I was immediately thrown into the position of being the "odd one" the "weird girl". The one I heard most recently was "oreo". I was accused of trying to be white. This video helped me in my on going journey to find who I am & not be scared to be the different one. I am tired of living up to someone else's standards of what being black is, by that I mean, why does listening to punk make me trying to be white? I am tired of being the odd one out. This video was great & also because of you, I've gotten into feminism. All together, I really want to thank you. I don't know if you realize the impact things have on other people's lives. Sorry, that this comment was so long, by the way.

Comment by Renegade Muthafuckin' Green on July 21, 2010 at 5:27pm

Love the video..and i love the array of women u interviewed. 2 thumbs up

Comment by Twyla on July 21, 2010 at 11:53am

Full Frontal Twyla: http://www.afropunk.com/profiles/blogs/dorm-room-diaries-full-front...

Comment by Twyla on July 21, 2010 at 11:47am

I'm pleased mostly everyone likes this post. I was very nervous putting it up since it's my first time doing something like this.
And @Kyler, you're probably my favorite commenter becuase you give me a real reason to post on my feedback other than to say *thanks, I'm glad ya'll like it.* I will attempt to answer your questions to the best of my abilities...

"And pornography? What's so wrong with that? "
First things first: I am a sex-positive feminist and always have been. I thought that people would get that from my very first post where I specifically stated that I am sexually liberated. In fact, I feel like women can reclaim a lot of their power through their wholly beautiful and magnificent cunts. Eradicate the double standards of sex (there are SO many). And in fact, I'm studying to be an OB/GYN largely because of my highy sex-positive and radical menstruation-loving beliefs.
As far as porn goes, the only thing I have a problem with is that there isn't more of it for the straight girls who don't wanna see 5 hours of dick-sucking before the good parts. But that's just me. I prefer alternative and feminist porn to the normal stuff. Although I do have a love of the hardcore stuff...
Seriously though, a lot of feminists have problems with it because a lot of the time it can get violent towards and degrading to women. But that's all personal preference. I may like getting choked and slapped around during sex while my best friend is horrified by it because she was raped last semester (purely an example). Most of the antiporn feminsts are just uber focused on rape culture and are afraid that porn reinforces the types of mindset that cause rape.
Meh, I don't really believe that.
So I watch massive amounts of porn.
I've had fellow feminists call me anti-feminist and a supporter of rape culture, but I just think that porn is not the reason we have rape.
And I don't think it's empowering to deny oneself the pleasures of getting off while watching porn, either.
But that's a whole 'nother post within itself...

Now that *that's* out of the way...
The term "feminism" relates to the *equality of the sexes.* The only reason why it focuses so much on women is because we live in a patriarchal society-- i.e. one that is organized by using the father as supreme head of the household (most kids have their father's last name, and it's usually something worth mentioning when they don't). Although this is not the case in every home in this country, our society has still been largely fabricated with this belief as the reference point. And because of this, there are a few qualms I have with the way things are run here, which I mentioned in my post *Full Frontal Twyla.* Go back and check it out to find out why we still need feminism.

In short, it's called "feminism" because in order for us to have equality, we must socially raise and empower the womenz to stand equally with the menz.
(Truthfully, in my opinion, we can forget about labels entirely. I don't care what you call it. I just know what I believe.)


"Guy's are being told to be super macho, buff, pimping slobs, and women are told to be beauty queens. The standards of society are total bullshit, and they almost always have been. But the fact that you victimize women as only ones being opressed, thaat just doesn't add up.*
I have never said that men do not have their own set of expected "beauty standards" analogous to those of women because I know for a fact that they do. The media is fucking us all up. But it is my fault that I did not make it clear that *feminists know this* and I apologize. We know that one of the biggest things holding us back from social equality is the media coming in and telling both men AND women, how we're supposed to look, act, think, and feel. And we are fighting to eradicate *all of that,* not just the stuff about women (because then it would be pointless). You would see it more if you knew me in person, but I call out the bullshit that is directed towards both women AND men, whether it's done by men OR women on the daily. Saying someone should or shouldn't do something/be a certain way just because of their sex is just dumb. And I hope you would feel the same.
That's probably the main reason why I'm a feminist.
However, I choose not to focus as much on that side of the spectrum because, in my opinion, men's lives and bodies are not subjugated ito the same extent as women's are. bikini or a skin-hugging dress can be seen selling anything from beer to a hamburger. Like I said before, this issue is addressed in my blog "Full Frontal Feminism"

Jeez this was a long comment.
Did I cover everything well or are you still confused?

Comment by Pandorums_Box on July 20, 2010 at 11:14pm

GREAT PIECE!!! Very inspiring. Its great to see other women standing up and being themselves at ALL times. Even the most confident ppl can get down sometimes, and this vid will help you to remember to be you! Thanks!

Comment by Shannon Rakai Caldwell on July 20, 2010 at 8:06pm

i really liked this...i liked that you had a fat girl. i've been feeling so much hate for being fat and cursing and wearing a locks and...everything i am...this really hit home. thank you(especially since i couldn't make it to ap fest this year).

Comment by Maat on July 20, 2010 at 2:30am

fresca, yea?

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