I am inviting contributions from people of all genders and in any medium or art form that you wish to work in: writing of all types (research, manifestos, fiction, poetry), music, painting, drawing, video, radio shows, podcasts – you tell me.
What we are going to end up with is similarly fluid – a book or maybe a magazine, quite probably a website and very possibly a series of exhibitions.
If you have an idea of something you want to do please get in touch.
And if you are not sure what you want to do but you want to collaborate in the project, get in touch anyway and let me know what you’re good at.
Deadlines
Send in your ideas for submissions as you come up with them.
The deadline for completed work is August 15th 2014.
What is lad culture?
Lad culture emerged in the UK in the early 90s with the launch of Loaded magazine, and the prominence of Britpop. It brought the message that it’s okay to be openly misogynist after all. Many other sexist publications followed suit, and it took on a life of its own in the form of a widespread relapse into sexist language and behaviour, but with a renewed vitality, taking explicit hatred of women to greater depths in the form of misogynist student groups, jokes about rape, even night clubs that promote rape. In 2012 the National Union of Students (NUS) commissioned a piece of independent research into lad culture, the results of which consider how “Seen by some as just a bit of fun, ‘lad culture’ has been criticised by others as at best being dismissive and objectifying towards women and at worst glamorising the sex industry and normalising sexual assault.”
Themes
Here are some ideas about aspects of dismantling lad culture, but don’t feel you have to be limited by this list.
- Background – movements in misogyny
- What is lad culture? Definitions.
- History/origins/development of lad culture
- How it relates to raunch culture, the boys’ club of rock, pop videos, rap culture, video games, student culture, the depoliticisation of “indie” music, etc.
- What has it led to? The picture now. Why it’s problematic.
- Experiences/perspectives: boys, girls, lads, ladettes, kids of all genders, grown-ups, parents etc.
- The resistance – who has opposed it, why and how?
- What does it mean to change culture?
- History of feminist resistance.
Methods for dismantling lad culture – biggest section!
- What fronts are we fighting on? Raunch culture, body insecurity/beauty industry, silencing through banter, perceived limitations of female capabilities, rape culture.
- How do we change culture, how do we dismantle the structures of lad culture, how do we (work with people to) overcome the damage that has been done?
- Future visions – how much better it can be.
Send your ideas to
LCdismantlers@gmail.com
Please share this now
Think of yourself a hub and please share with all the people in your life who you think might want to contribute in some way.
Funding (lack of)
There is no funding for this project as yet. If you have some ideas or can help find some funding, let me know. But it’s gonna happen anyway.
Comments about this
Anything I have missed or anything you want to challenge, please email or comment below. Misogynists aren’t welcome, by the way.
Who’s written this
Karren Ablaze! produced music fanzines in the 1980s and 90s, was active in the riot grrrl movement, and writes for The Guardian, The F word and The Girls Are websites. Her first book, The City Is Ablaze!, was published in 2012.
Source: Dismantling Lad Culture