Dudes I Like: Neo-Weimar Edition

This feature will be replacing "Male Feminist of the Week" because, well, that was too hard. Not that there aren't plenty of male feminists out there, but there aren't many guys TALKING about how they're feminists. So we'll switch to guys who I think are cool, and living in a feminist way or embodying a feminist ideal, and we'll start with this one:

Brian Viglione of The Dresden Dolls.

Brian is, primarily, the drummer of this awesome Brechtian punk cabaret duo. I will in fact add a photo of both him and his counterpart, Amanda Palmer, as there are more cool pics of them together.


Anyway. One of the innumerable cool things about this band is that they are sort of an inversion of the White Stripes--male drummer, female lead vocalist and musician (keyboard), the woman is the front, uh, man. Viglione is, however, far more active onstage than Meg White. I of course have no idea how the Whites actually work when CREATING music, but Viglione has been a drummer since he was 9 (or earlier, depending on how you interpret his bio) and is a gifted musician independent of his main gig. Just sayin.

Comparisons aside, it is inspiring to see a truly talented man supporting a (also truly talented) woman. While they are clearly partners, the focus is usually on Palmer, and she tends to be the protagonist--whether on stage, on CD, or in videos. You must check out the video for "Coin-Operated Boy," which will give you an idea of how integral he is to songs that are clearly from a female perspective. The Dresden Dolls give one hope that maybe men are actually capable of listening to music by (and--gasp--often about!) women. Maybe it's sad that I'm so impressed, but I really appreciate a man being able to collaborate with a woman, and not have to be the center of attention.

Not that he never gets center stage. Oh no. I saw the Dolls perform this New Year's, and in addition to being awesome on drums and vocals, and playing guitar a bit, well: Just before the countdown, he stepped up to the mic and took up the guitar. Amanda got behind the drums (hot!) to back him up, and announced that they were going to perform a "very old but very effective Jewish protest song." They then performed "Fight For Your Right to Party." Amazing. He was totally a credible Beastie Boy.

Full disclosure: I also like him because he's damn sexy. I did not quite realize this until the concert, when he ditched his trademark bowler hat (and, uh, his shirt), and it turns out he looks like this:

Who can argue with that?

Also, according to Wikipedia (so who knows if it's true), he's been a crossdresser since he was 12. Hot. Sorry to objectify you Brian--I mean it with the utmost respect. There should be more like you.


PS: If you did check out that video (or have heard the song), it may interest you to know that the line "I can even take him in the bath" is, uh, different when performed live. FYI.

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Skate Fast Good, Fall Down Bad!

As some of you know, I have a passion for roller derby. This is not the kind of derby like that in Roll Bounce or whatever--it's the kind from A&E's Rollergirls. Seeing that show a few times whilst in Texas is what got me into it, and when I returned to the Republic of New York I googled the shit out of that sport. No, sadly, I am not a practitioner--I wish! But as I am without time or talent, I must be content to cheer from the bleachers. Which, this Saturday, I did--Championship game! And my favorite team, the Bronx Gridlock, won it all, in a very dramatic game with a miraculous near-comeback from the Queens of Pain--it all came down to the last 2 minutes.

For those unfamiliar, there was an article in the Times on Saturday. I think it's ok, but it makes it sound like it's not a sport, and that the crowd is men who come to gawk. Make no mistake--these women are ATHLETES. It's like rugby on skates, plus fishnets and make-up. Rugby without any assumptions about sexuality. To cite the interview with derby girl Penny Larceny:

Derby originally appealed to Penny as an opportunity to be more social and feminine. Unlike some incoming skaters, Penny had already pursued other aggressive and physical activities such as kickboxing and martial arts, but viewed derby as a way to "reclaim certain girl traits without trading in power. Skirts and makeup to go along with skill and strength, instead of replacing it."

This is the kind of thing I love more than anything. The, "Look, we can be badass and powerful AND be girls!" There's nothing sexualized about a derby match, but the women clearly feel sexy and strong, and there's a lot of individuation--everyone's uniform is a little different, everyone has their own style and personality. There are women of all sizes and shapes (though unfortunately the league is mostly white), and they all have their own strengths.

So yeah, this last game was INCREDIBLE. Bronx was killing Queens, and in the second half Queens was slowly closing the gap but clearly didn't have enough time on the clock to catch up--until Suzy Hotrod... ...scored an incredible FOURTEEN POINTS IN ONE JAM. The score was 93 to 90 Bronx, 1:13 left to go, and all the Bronx jammers were in the penalty box, so Queens was skating unopposed! But then Brigitte Barhot got out of the box and managed to keep Queens at bay! The whole crowd was on its feet.

Another cool part of the game was an exchange I had with my friend Dael:

Dael: Who's the leader of the E Street Band?
Susan: Um, Bruce Springsteen?
D: No, of the actual band.
S: Oh, I dunno. Max Weinberg? Stevie Van Zandt? Those are the only names I know.
D: Who's that guy sitting up there behind us?
S: Oh my god that's Stevie Van Zandt*.

Yep, this guy:

...whom you may also know as Silvio from The Sopranos, was there in all his head-wrapped glory. He was on his own at first but some off-duty derby girls came and sat with him, and he seemed to be very nice. So, that's how cool derby is-- The Boss's right-hand man is a fan!

As you should be, too.

*Full disclosure: I actually went around calling him Steve Zahn most of the night.

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Thank You Annie Leibovitz

As a PS, here is my all-time favorite photo of the Stripes:


It was way better in the original form, as a two-page spread in Vanity Fair--I had it on my wall sophomore year of college and it made me very happy. As I hope it does you.

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Fell In Love With A Girl. Unfortunately.

I do not have a crush on Jack White. Really. I swear. When I saw The White Stripes this summer, I found myself more able to fantasize about Meg than about Jack. And yet when I hear anything about his wife and children, I find myself pretty jealous. I want to pretend it's not true. Maybe it's a reverence-of-the-mythos thing, like I just don't want to think about anyone being important to Jack other than Meg. But probably it is SOME form of crush.

It helps that he went from his Sleazy Catfish look back to the Weird And Cute Jack:

(I think that latter is from the pre-Catfish days, as he's no longer quite that skinny, but you get the idea.)

I've always loved his "weirdness." And I find it strangely endearing that when he married Meg (sorry Jack, we know she's not your sister) he took her last name. (Is that hypocritical of me?) I love the band, obviously, and I love his commitment to the mythology of the band. But I really don't think I had any sort of celeb fantasy that he would one day be mine. Except that apparently I did. Because any reference to his red-haired supermodel* wife makes me feel dejected. Oh Jack! So, I confess: officially count me as having a crush. Cuz really, I haven't been this crestfallen since I found out Jon Stewart was married.

And now that I think about it, I'm actually a little disappointed whenever someone mentions Jack Black, because I wish they were talking about MY Jack. I mean, no one understands him or appreciates him the way I do, right? I totally love Jack more than anyone. I INVENTED liking Jack White. And one day he will be Jack B. Anthony.

Obviously.

[UPDATE: Please feel free to share any of your I-Can't-Believe-It's-A-Celebrity-Crush stories.]

*according to Wikipedia

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No Love For Love

I have never been ashamed to say that I have an unconditional love for Courtney Love. She's maybe not so relevant or interesting these days, but she has represented many important things to me, and I love much of her music. Lots of people hate her because the 90's alternative music scene was highly misogynist (the fans if not the artists--Eddie Vedder in particular is an awesome guy who might get a Feminist of the Week post soon). I was about to liken her to Hillary Clinton but probably that will sound ridiculous--basically, she was a woman married to a famous, talented man who dared to have a personality, who dared to be outspoken and have a career of her own. So, :P to you if you hate on the Love.

Lots of people point to her relationship with Cobain as the justification of this attitude, which only gets me thinking about the fact that we don't give a SHIT how male artists treated their lovers, but boy do we care how female artists treat theirs. I recently learned that William S. Burroughs shot and killed his second wife, and Norman Mailer stabbed his wife with a penknife, at a party. Novelists are different than rock stars, to be sure, but think--do you know or care how your rock idols treat women? Don't you ASSUME that most of them treat them pretty badly? We as a culture tend to romanticize this kind of behavior among male rock stars, or at most shrug it off and point to the quality of their music as more important. Live Through This was a (pardon the term) seminal album, if you don't, y'know, hate women. So don't tell me that's why. If you want to argue that she's less talented that Kurt Cobain, well--aren't most musicians? Is every artist we let off the hook as talented as Kurt Cobain was? Ha, yeah right.

And I'm sorry, she did not kill him. And she was hated before he died, anyway.

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