NEWS: You Go, Girls

CULTURE: You Go, Girls

Such a cool idea: two young women, 22 and 23, setting out on a cross-country road trip to interview other young women about feminism.

The results promise to be really interesting, and I love that these women are taking the conventionally male device of the road trip to frame their research.

Nona does the writing, I gather, and Emma takes fabulous photos (link available at the website, above). They've got a schedule of where they'll be and when, and a discussion board for folks to talk about the questions that their travels bring up--right now, the discussion board's sadly unused, but it's definitely worth checking out and contributing to, methinks.

I personally love their description of their interview with Andi Zeisler, the woman behind Bitch magazine.

But what's really awesome is the way that their posts about the different women they meet demonstrate the broad tent of feminism. In Flint, MI, Melodee, Crystal, and Krystal

In contrast, the women they meet in Detroit talk about white, rich feminism’s sense of exclusion again and again while Colleen, in Seattle,

I think, though, that Sprina in Portland--despite her hesitation--gets it exactly right:

Don't we all? I can't wait to read the GIRLDrive book.

Bitch_PhD loves road trips.

At least if they get lost along the way, they won't be too bull-headed to ask for directions.

I didn't know road trips were innately a male thing.

I bounce all over the place about the term feminist. I really just do not like labels, I find them confining. I am just me. . .

This book does sound really interesting, so I hope I remeber to keep an eye out!

Well yeah, ever since the movie Thelma & Louise, female road trips have declined by 87.5%.

Yeah, I agree about the label thing. I have no clue why we as a society have such a need to assess labels.

Maybe it's because people are under the impression that if you can define someone - then you can "easily" deal with them because they must be like all of the others in that label.

People can suck sometimes...and not always in the "good way."

Road trips a male thing? why? because cars are a male thing? Because that shitty movie made it a male thing? Because the mainstream media makes it seem like girls traveling alone are in danger? Because most of the road trip books are written by men? I'm afraid I just don't understand that sentence...admittedly I'm focusing on a tiny part of your article...but for some reason it really just threw me for a loop.

but whatever, it does sound fascinating.

hopefully they aren't driving that military jeep cross country. Those things are geared for offroad use and usually don't break 45 MPH.

I'm all for feminism as long as the dishes get done first...

But seriously, sounds like a great idea. Best of luck to the feminists.

They aren't going to Chicago, but they'll go to tiny towns? That's dumb.

Big cities get enough coverage already. Power to the people in small towns!

That sounds interesting, actually.

cool pics ad art on that site!

i think its traditional a male drives, i know grandmas that dont drive, never learned

That and the whole "male bonding" thing. Men need an excuse to indulge in the company exclusively of other men. Women don't (usually).

i'm confused about how they choose who to talk to. somehow i doubt they just bumped into Andi Zeisler.

Yeah. Really awesome. Was having a right shitty day until I read about this.

Not only did you focus on a tiny part of the article, you completely misread it. She said, "the CONVENTIONALLY male DEVICE," as in, our culture dictates that road trips are male experiences.

It would seem you scooped up the fumble and ran into the wrong end zone.

the coolest thing i ever experience was in history class in grade 10. my history teacher asked the class "raise your hand if you consider yourself a feminist" i think about 2 or three of us raised their hands. then he proceeded to go through the same process with questions like "do you beleive in gender equality" "do you beleive women should have equal pay as men" "do you beleive women are as capable as men" etc. and of course the entire class raised their hands. the word "feminist" has such a stigma to it. it's awful really

This has never ever even remotely occured to me. I'm not one to pick apart Bitch's articles (I think she's said some silly things on occasion, but nothing really serious) but this also threw me through a loop. I mean, I'm wondering what else is a "conventionally male device". Eating hamburgers? Listening to music? Going to the dry cleaners? All those things sound just as likely to me to be "coventionally male" as a road trip. Could just be a regional thing I guess.

I mean, if a woman says something like playing on a sports team is "conventionally male" then I see where they're coming from (despite the fact here are plenty of unisex or female leagues for all kinds of sports.) I know the stigma there. I understand it. But road trips? Wha?

It can go back to On the Road, or even further back to stories of men traveling across the country on horseback, outlaw business and the such. Guys trekking across the country together is, for some people, a rite of passage, and it has long been gendered that way in pop culture. Part of the power of a movie like Thelma and Louise is that they were taking part in that conventionally male activity that women can't really take part in (this isn't me speaking, by the way, it's the stereotype) because they have to pee too much, they get lost too easy, they can't read maps. You can say that it's sexist and not only will you be right, you'll be stating the obvious.

Road trips are as manly (in pop culture) as football games and heavy metal concerts, it's just "somethin' guys do."

And maybe it's an American thing.

Detroit has WAY more problems than rich white exclusionary women who live in the suburbs.
It's also a union city, a very masculine city ,and an extremely above average city for violence.

The black women in the city are often times more able to get a job and keep it than men.

Girls gone wild, road-trip style?
Did the guys at Bang Bus do this first?

Oh, that's right, Bang Bus is definitely a male dominated thing.

They're going to Philadelphia.

When you put it that way, I can understand the possibility that road trips could be a male thing, but I, like several others, never entertained that thought to begin with. I've never known a woman as helpless as the stereotypes you described. Maybe I've just had the privilege of living in a place where women know their ass from a steering wheel (suburban MA?) or maybe it's just that these stereotypes have no truth whatsoever. I'd lean towards the latter.

this sounds incredibly interesting. . . too bad i missed them (i'm in the detroit area). at least i have the book to look forward to.

p.s. roadtrips are awesome! I have yet to take one with a guy is better than the ones i take with my girls!

I really don't understand why the term feminism needs to exist. I would say the human race is in a crisis of identity right now. And in fact women seem to have a far stronger identity than men, especially where the media is concerned. The modern male has an extremely narrow path to walk with the slightest divergence leading to being labelled a fag. There are no decent male role models around anymore, just gangsters, or actors. I prefer the term humanist myself. I design and make clothes in the fashion industry and have experienced quite a lot of prejudice as a heterosexual in a predominantly female/ gay envornment. I can't bear to see people manipulated or subjugated, especially women, but really it applies across the board and I don't feel the need to side with men or women. And before you say it's because i'm a man and have had loads of opportunities that women don't, it has been an uphill struggle to be taken seriously as a straight designer, and people still assume that because I make dresses and am sensitive then I must be gay.

Nice to know another straight dude with a sewing machine! I remember when I was first trying to learn to sew how every single book would refer to the reader as being a female (and I'm only reading ones published within the last few years), how the class I'm taking is totally female oriented to the point where the males have to do different work on occasion. I'm far away from being a designer (if I ever decide to go that route) but it's interesting hearing your experience.