The Guerilla Girls...

were not my favorite I must admit.
As much as I hate to be the one who always has a problem with everything, I have to say that I was less then impressed by the Guerilla Girl presentation. Please please please do not misunderstand me on this... I respect what they do and appreciate everything that they said and have accomplished. All of the information that they gave is essential to any kind of woman's movement in the United States. Their posters are hilarious and creative, their passion is admirable and their gorrilla masks are fabulous, but lets be honest, their presentation sucked.

Did anyone else realize that they were not very good public speakers? The presentation was distracting when they didn't read the correct lines off of the posters and when the gorrilla on the left attempted to drink from her squirt bottle through the mask and against the microphone. This was the least of my worries however when the question and answer time began. For example, the first question:

Girl in audience: "How can I become a Guerrilla Girl?"
Guerrilla Girl: "Do you want the good news or the bad news first?"
Girl in audience: "......?"
Guerrilla Girl: [Well we don't add new members ever but you don't need us, start your own group]

This was incredibly disheartening. They apparently get asked this question a lot, could they try to come up with a less harsh way to say this such as, "You already are one by being here and by wanting to make a difference."
One of the later questions asked by a gentleman in the back sparked one of the guerrilla girls to assume that the people in the auditorium were only there to see the gorrilla masks. Maybe this is true, but I really hope not. At least that's not why I was there.
Then finally when I asked a question about how we should act towards women who perpetuate stereotypes in events such as the girls gone wild extravaganza that took place that night, they said they would think about it and get back to me. I went to try and get an answer from a gorrilla after their presentation and esentially got the cop out answer of, "well, what do you think?" I was looking for a little more direction in their presentation, but they had a plane to catch. The girls just left me a little frustrated.

I did read Rebekah's comments earlier about the girls' show and about Morrissey's comment on the street-turned-auditorium theater. I definitely would have enjoyed this more if it had been on the street as I don't think their presentation is meant for an auditorium. My disappointment wore off a bit after I realized this fact. I was expecting more of a call to action presentation then strictly facts about the inequality of women. I think that this is necessary for a good presentation and for good rhetoric. I didn't understand what I was supposed to get out of their "show" and this was very disappointing. I am not a feminist but I understand that women are not getting their fair share of anything. I do not think that anything can be solved by simply telling people what is wrong. Spreading awareness is only the first step. "women are unequal!"- you can shout it from the rooftops but until you offer ideas for solutions what excatly is changing.
Sorry for the incessant ranting, my next post will be supportive and uplifting, I promise.