#this is a recycled quote tweet btw

[smosh-mouth]

it's literally them

[decoding1432]

“It’s patriarchy”

I’ll be making lots of comparisons throughout the post in order to illustrate better my point. Lauren said it: “It’s rampant sexism”. On the media, on the GP’s perception, on the production process, on the industry in general.

Let’s start with some basics....

BB released an article back in early 2015 where it was described Why Can't Modern Girl Groups Land a Radio Hit? These modern GG more like 5H & LM. In this written piece there are several statements that undoubtedly caught my attention. Starting with the last paragraph:

When I asked Biddle why he thinks One Direction enjoy more stateside success than girl groups, he echoed Wiegenstein's sentiment. "I don't know 100 percent. I guess it's because those boys are 'cute'? It could be as simple as that."

How sad it is that we exist in the midst of 21st century & still there are people that prefer “pretty faces & looks” over talent– btw this comment is not triggered to 1D in the slightest, I have nothing but respect for them– I just mean this in a very generalised form.

It’s not secret that a girlband has to work 10x harder to get a quarter of the recognition a boyband gets.

Similarly, a girl group isn't as easy to promote as a boy band. "In terms of teen magazines, the idea of marketing different members of boy bands is easier," says Anna Louise Wiegenstein, a former pop culture instructor (and Little Mix fan), who's giving a talk on One Direction fan culture at the National Pop Culture Association/American Culture Association Conference in April. "There's the 'funny one,' the 'mysterious one' -- it's easy to make quizzes and profile pieces around them."

When marketing a girl group to teenage girls, Wiegenstein continues, it's harder to tap into those teenage hormones. "When you're talking about a group of girls, they target the brands around personalities," she says. "It's more like, 'Which one would be your friend?' And there's less of a fantasy aspect to that."

Leaving aside the marketing strategy (which is true, bc how many times we have seen someone in the fandom say “I’m more like Lauren” or “Dinah & I would get along” etc.), I want to focus in the use of “teenage hormones”. Hormonal is always associated to the female self. Which leads me to jump into the media field:

Here a contrast on how media reported 5H x Camila vs. 1D x Zayn

Informing about the “We don’t talk to our ex-bandmates anymore” moment.

In contrast to Camila’s report, Zayn’s one has got this “scattering element”, if I can call it like that. The “chunky girls” & “Gigi Hadid” features helped to divert the viewer’s attention from the main point. Just look at the comments section from the two videos & the difference is pretty self explanatory….

Sadly the more problematic the situation evolves around the girls, the better. For boys, the situation is showcased in a much lighter form even if the conflict is tighter over there.

We know that in both cases narratives are recycled. However on this side the girls haven’t threw shade thus far, unfortunately media portraits the whole in an almost unforgivable way. For the record there was not really much to report. It’s only about the time Lauren posted the “fake that confidence bih” tweet, only to later explain it was to herself.  Still that was not going to stop them from pulling a video to attract a handful of viewers. The segment starts by quoting the title, which by the way ensures grabbing the spectator’s attention: “Did Lauren Jauregui diss Camila Cabello AGAIN After Grammy After-Party?”

*in my most sarcastic tone* You guys, apparently L shaded C more than once & we didn’t know… I grew three grey hairs with that headline itself.  Right after including Lauren’s tweet to the assumed shade, the only thing they added on the coverage script was a simple “preach girl” 😒😒

Whereas in the 1D side Zayn did throw shade (several times), a public fight on Twitter unleashed & the reporter’s remarks sound nothing like in the 5H coverage. The feud is a lot less magnified. “Ugh! Put the weapons down boys!”. Hell, Clever made sure to shut down the rumours that Zayn had unfollowed the entire band. Note how they even show what happen to be “receipts” while the host says “I’ve put some of my best creeping skills to the test & found out he has not yet unfollowed them so there’s that bit of kinda sorta good news for you & in hope that this won’t ruin their friendship for good.” We can also add how in a poor attempt of diminishing the climax they brought the dolls into the scene. Seriously, I’d love to see them doing something like this when addressing the girls’ drama *sighs* only in my wildest dreams.

Why does media scandalises more the girlgroup’s party than the boyband’s one?

I’ve said this before, but I don’t mind repeating it. Hollywood has used the stigma that “women can’t get along while working” for so long. Plus the infamous stereotypes of our incredible rational society that a girl is constantly hormonal, temperamental & always has to be involved in any sort of catfight with someone from the same gender. There has to be a “bitch” in the story without exception. Inside the entertainment industry, they love taking advantage of this cliché. Not said by me, but coming directly from a very renowned actress…

Jessica Chastain talks sexism in the industry

If the video loads for you, I highly recommend that you watch it. It’s such a short article, nevertheless I’ll be attaching some extracts below:

There was a great myth that I grew up with that women don’t work well together,” Jessica Chastain tells Vanity Fair.

Back when she was promoting The Help in 2011, Chastain explains, “so many of the questions I was getting from the press was about fighting on set—’Was it tough to be on set with all those girls?’ I wasn’t getting those questions with any of the other movies that I’d been involved with.” 

Out of joke, I lost count of all the times I’ve heard this same question with 5H.

Fun fact that I found randomly: Reminder that only 3% of the decision-making in media is made by women. Which means that 97% of how women are portrayed is decided by men.

Always pitting women against each other is what our generation does best nowadays. Clearly mgmt & the label have used this with the fandom. The creation of “-izers” are a great example of this. As well this standard is ultimately what impulses the narrative on a daily basis. Stans went from loving & defending the group with their lives, to only caring about their faves. I know some fans still keep up with each girl & love them all. I have faith in those stans. If you’re one of them, don’t fall for that mischievous game, thank you.

DON’T BE NAIVE, KIDS.

P.S. I leave you the link to others sexist scenarios in the industry. Worth checking each out.

This Is The Kind Of Bullsh*t You Face As A Woman In The Music Industry

99% of women working in the film and TV industries have experienced sexism

I’ve heard, for example, that if a male director is being picky, people say he has a strong vision. With a woman, people will say she is being difficult. It’s also common to assume that kindness is a sign of weakness.

7 Anecdotes From Female Artists Show How Deep Sexism Runs in the Music Industry

"Women in the industry are judged more," Nicki Minaj told Time back in February. "If you speak up for yourself, you're a bitch. If you party too much, you're a whore. Men don't get called these things."

Grimes Says Male Producers Threatened to Not Finish Her Songs if She Didn't Have Sex

Grimes is no stranger to being open about the misogyny and sexism she and other females face in the industry.

Grimes fielded one fan's question, who asked why the topic seems like such a "regular thing" for her to tweet and speak about if she finds it so annoying. Grimes explained it only seems that because of the way the press fixates on it.

[agentxthirteen]

Thinking Liberally Newsletter 1/23/17

Party like it's 1984:

If you have twitter, check whom you follow. Some people were following Trump, Melania, Pence, or Spicer without their knowledge. Twitter claimed it was a bug from when Obama moved to @BarackObama, but there are reports that people who never followed the @POTUS, @FLOTUS, etc accounts are now following them. (By the way, Obama's tweets as president are archived at @POTUS44.)

Did you notice how Trump got an unusual amount of applause at his first press conference? The press attested that Trump had employees in the wings to clap and laugh at his jokes. The same thing happened when he gave a speech at the CIA - in front of the Memorial Wall, no less. For which Trump is drawing a bit of fire. BTW, correlation is not causation, but morale at the CIA is allegedly at an all-time low. Oh, and look. Here's an article confirming that Trump brought a cheering section to his speech, and that relations between Trump and US intelligence agencies are now worse than before.

Also, beware: When the National Parks Service tweeted comparative photos of Trump and Obama's inaugurations, they were barred from tweeting again - even if it was only about weather updates.

After obvious lies - or, as Kellyanne Conway says, "alternate facts" - one quote to keep in mind is from George Orwell: "The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." (By the way, Sean Spicer is getting flack from other press secretaries - including Hillary Clinton's press secretary, Brian Fallon. Of course, the press knows the Spicer is a liar and has been for a long time.) Some have noted that the administration is aware that everyone knows they're lying - their constant lies are a way of saying they don't care. The best way to combat it? Keep demanding the truth - if nothing else, they'll have to waste time lying or convincing people that no one cares about the lies. I particularly love this tweet pointing out one of the lies. Keep it up, media!

Oh, and some people have noticed that Facebook posts critical of Trump have had privacy settings changed- these people have noticed that their posts can now only be seen by themselves.

The press was banned from Trump's DC hotel during the inauguration week.

Now might be a good time to point out you can download the Labor Department's Women's Bureau's resources in case they disappear in the future.

The Trumps evidently ignore the press and the press's requests for comments until it's time for a retraction.

Companies are already careful of what announcements they make, even recycling old press releases, to avoid pissing off the Don.

Links to inform and terrify:

As you can imagine, it's been an INCREDIBLY busy week for news. First, the terrifying stuff:

Day One of Trump's administration, he:

Signed an executive order to "ease the burdens of Obamacare." Also in the article: He signed paperwork to elevate James Mattis and John Kelly to his defense secretary and homeland security secretary, respectively.

Reversed Obama's mortgage fee cuts, leading to this bit of regret from a Trump supporter...

Trump caused a lot of concern when he scrubbed the info on the White House site, including policies to on healthcare, civil rights, and LGBTQ sections. This is normal for administrations. Two things caused concern when material appeared on the site again: the promotions for Melania's jewelry line and Trump's "America First" action plan.

Stated, through his administration, that environmental regulations should be cut back to increase American wages. Pretty sure it 1) doesn't work like that, and 2) those figures he used to justify getting rid of regulations on clean water, etc, are wrong. The Atlantic actually focused on whether or not regulations kill jobs in this piece.

A new budget proposes no funding whatsoever for National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities and ending federal appropriations for the Corporation of Private Broadcasting. There's still a chance Trump won't see it through, but so far, he's shown a higher regard for the Heritage Foundation's opinion than the American people's. And unfortunately, he's using the Heritage Foundation's dream budget as a template.

He also may cut funding to Violence Against Women Programs, based on that same Heritage Foundation dream template. This seems like a good idea to point out that Trump has nominated more men accused of sexual assault to his cabinet than he has women.

In terrifying things that you may regret watching, here's Trump blowing a kiss to FBI Director James Comey. You may remember that Comey is supposed to be investigating Trump. He was much more enthusiastic about investigating the Clintons - and has been since 2001. Maybe if Bill had blown him a kiss...

The lawsuits against Trump begin. One from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) to stop Trump from profiting from foreign businesses, and another from the ACLU.

After trying to help boost Trump's support among black voters, Kanye West is deemed not "traditionally American" enough to perform at the inauguration.

We have Betsy Devos's ethics report, and the vote to confirm her has been postponed. Rex Tillerson, though, is inching closer, so get your activists hats on!

Yeah, Trump's inaugural cake was a copy of Obama's. On purpose!

Only 28 of 690 appointments nominated so far. The thought of what will happen this week is terrifying. And, that's only the appointments. As for everyone else... Actually, the outgoing administration has no idea if anyone in the Trump administration has even read the briefing reports Obama's crew put together.

Trump's DOJ has determined that hiring his son-in-law is not against anti-nepotism laws.

Anti-vaxxer Dr. Andy Wakefield attended Trump's inaugural ball. I'm afraid to offer the odd on him soon being offered a cabinet position...

That inaugural speech that Trump wrote himself (in the Mar-A-Lago hallway, no less)? Yeah, not so much. (Also, sharpies? Really? After the unmarked filing folders at the press conference, I can safely say this administration has a prop problem.) And in case you were curious where the phrase "America First" came from and why it was so predominant, here. Warning for if you don't like Nazis and the KKK, that link has a lot about them. Given who wrote the speech, I suppose that goes without saying. (And no, Donald Trump isn't writing the new @POTUS tweets - those are from a "former" fake news promoter.)

The administration is so organized that Corey Lewandowski had trouble getting into the inauguration.

The inauguration parade could have been so much worse. The sparsely-attended event could have included military tanks. (My favorite review of the parade: "It's almost like a funeral.")

Trump has yet to resign from his businesses.

Trump's political career got started with the birther lie. Bill Moyers and four historians discuss the reasoning behind the lie and how it was allowed to fester.

Meet Norman Vincent Peale, Trump's spiritual guide behind Trump's self-confidence. (Or as some could argue, delusion. If only he hadn't won!)

Say hello to Steve Mnuchin, the man who "forgot" to disclose $100 million in assets. He might soon be our Treasury Secretary! Speaking of people Trump is working with, meet Stephen Miller, one of the people helping write Trump's speeches. And we can't forget John Gore, who defended discriminatory laws in North Carolina. He's on his way to the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice!

DC contractors for Trump's DC hotel say they're owed millions.

Donald Trump has a Secretary of Agriculture in mind. Surprise, he's an old white guy, who is also Georgia's first Republican governor since Reconstruction. Sonny Purdue! You might remember him from the time he led a prayer on the Capitol steps for rain. (Is this a good time to point out it started raining as soon as Trump began his inaugural speech? No? Warning: autoplay in the link.) 

The Endangered Species Act is also at risk.

This Washington Post article about Trump and accessibility is an interesting read.

Some notes on what mammograms and IUDs would cost in each state if we lose the ACA.

And now, some high notes:

Not only is Trump the least popular incoming president we've had in living memory, but protesting him is now one of the most popular things to do! It wasn't a local phenomenon, either - in addition to at least 633 cities in the US (the folks in Mentone, AL were not included in that number), there were Women's March protests all over the world. Crowd scientists report that there were three times as many people attending protests than Trump's inauguration, and that was just in DC! (The viewing numbers for the inauguration are in, and Trump also got lower ratings than Obama, Reagan, and Jimmy Carter. He is, naturally, upset about this and thinks everyone - i.e., the media - is lying.)

Some signs from marches (warning: autoplay, so don't watch at work)

Some pictures from marches around the world - including Antarctica!

Video of march from DC rooftop (warning: video!)

More photos from around the world - gorgeous!

More photos from around the world. You really get the two impressions from this set - 1) Trump is unpopular, if not outright hated, worldwide, and 2) Bush's place in history has officially improved.

Carrie Fisher's legacy lives on! (The link includes a speech by Trump you'll WANT to see!)

Charlie Brotman might not have kept his job as the inaugural announcer thanks to the 45th president, but he certainly had plans on the 21st!

READ. THIS.

The Women's March is still getting final numbers in, but is already one of the largest protests in US history!

A lot of media outlets have other things to focus on, so I'd like to draw your attention to the Sikhs handing out water bottles and food at the protests.

Fan of the march? They already have some action topics for Monday. Trump will likely try to avoid seeing pictures, but Congress can't ignore so many demands to save ACA and stop Jeff Sessions! (I don't think us leaving the UN is a viable threat right now, but the first two definitely are!)

Yes, the marches got noticed - by the media, at least.

Oh, by the way - there was an anti-gay protest outside Comet Ping Pong - they were soon drowned out by pro-LGBTQ protesters! Anti-protests included a dance party! (Dance party protests seem to be popular at the moment, actually...)

No arrests, despite millions of protesters across the nation!

Someone who allegedly knew Richard Spencer in school shares some character insight that might cheer you up!

Trump's transition to settling in at the @POTUS account is sad - if you're a fan of his, at least. Everyone else, have fun reading about it!

Despite Trump and Kellyanne insisting that no one cares about Trump's taxes, the official White House petition for Trump to release his tax returns has surpassed the threshold required for an official response!

There's already a creature named after Donald Trump. Neopalpa donaldtrumpi has a golden head and small genetalia.

Every book Obama recommended during his Presidency. And speaking of Obama, he's not done.

In conclusion, Edmund Burke once said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." This country and its citizens' allies around the world have shown that they're going to do something. The American people have always had a stubborn streak when it came to being told what to do, and at this point in time, we have more people interested in resistance than we ever had. Even in the American Revolution, only roughly a third of the country supported independence. Only around 20% of the population voted for Trump, and many of those voters are coming to regret it as he keeps up his Trumpness.

So take heart. Yes, there's a long, hard, bumpy road ahead of us, but we are not walking it alone, and we won't stop walking until we get our country back. As others have noted, it isn't enough just to protest Trump, we must defy him. At least we know we won't be doing it alone.