Breasts: A Documentary

The hour-long documentary Breasts directed by Meema Spadola (who also made a film called Private Dicks: Men Exposed) is a great resource for open dialogue about female bodies, specifically, breasts. Composed of a range of viewpoints--large and small, young and old--the film allows the women to talk about how they feel about their upper bodies and how breasts affect their interactions with the world. Although I am not sure I learned much from watching the film, it was refreshing to hear other opinions on breasts.

I watched the movie with a male friend of mine who I assumed wouldn't enjoy the film much, but afterwards we talked a little bit about his experiences. The film was a good jumping off point for the two of us to discuss other body issues that women have and initiated a few questions about breasts and how women might feel about them. He thought, though, there could have been a larger diversity of breasts and viewpoints and that by limiting the film to 22 voices, many of whom are only shown in specific segments, there were a lot of perspectives excluded.

I thought the film attempted to show women from various walks of life, but it is true that many of my own feelings about breasts were not echoed in what the women on-screen were saying. I did particularly enjoy the mother-daughter pairs who appeared together and discussed not only their own bodies but their feelings about each other's bodies. I think these scenes revealed a lot about how women feel about the bodies of those around them. I also particularly enjoyed the historic clips that were interspersed throughout the interviews because they did a lot to show different ways in which breasts have been depicted over time as well as kept the tone of the film lively.

One issue I did have is that the film raised the question of the power of breasts, something my male friend immediately picked up on and was joking about, without doing much to provide an answer. None of the women really were able to describe the power of having breasts in a clear manner. Instead, it came off as a vague and questionable notion. I would have liked to have seen a few more academic and scientific voices in the mix that could have possibly explained things like biological reasons for the power of breasts and sociological and psychological points of interest. However, as a film that provides a frank glance at what some women think about their breasts, I thought this film was worth seeing. Only an hour long, it easily held my attention and I was disappointed when it was over.

Even though many women assume that they are the target audience, I think this film is particularly appropriate for men. It allows them an opportunity to see women's bodies through the eyes of the women they belong to and to understand a little about what breasts mean to those of us who have them. I also thought the film would be an excellent resource for women with questions about body image who might need some reassurance that the way they feel about their breasts is completely normal.

You can see edited versions of this review on IMDB, Netflix, and Amazon.

The Great Happiness Space

This film, The Great Happiness Space by Jake Clynell, was an intriguing, thought-provoking and sometimes disturbing glimpse into a culture that is, to most, unfamiliar if not unthinkable. It engages the audience in a no-holds-barred look at the Japanese male companionship trade, providing insight into reasons for why men become hosts as well as why women seek out their services. Question after question was raised in my mind not only about the lives of the men working at Osaka's Cafe Rakkyo but also about a culture in which this industry can exist and thrive. What are these women lacking in life that makes them shell out thousands of dollars just for amusement, entertainment and male company?

Many reviews and even the synopsis on the website, compare these male hosts to geisha, citing them as a contemporary male version of this ancient tradition, but I have to disagree. Geisha were well trained in a variety of art forms and provided dance and music in addition to their intelligent conversation to the men who paid to spend time in their presence. The male hosts at Rakkyo lack these talents and, instead, offer a different set of services and fill a very specific niche in a Japanese society that has an interesting relationship to sexuality and intimate relationships.

This is a movie to watch, not just to learn about the sex trade in Japan, but also to spark thoughts on why men and women both seek intimacy in its different forms within the service industry. Having lived in Japan and possessing an interest in gender and sexuality issues, I thought I knew what I was getting into when I pressed the play button, but this film introduced ideas and concepts that I shuddered at and could not stop thinking about for days.

See an edited version of this review on Netflix Amazon and IMDB.

Initial Sources

I first started listening to Edward Fischer's lecture series from The Great Courses series entitled Peoples and Cultures of the World. There were lectures on family and marriage and after listening I felt like I had a much more open mind about various notions of marriage and family. I know these things and some examples Fischer uses will come up as I proceed along with my research.

After this, I headed with a group of my friends to Europe. I carried with me a copy of Ann Lamott's Bird by Bird. This book , on the art and craft of writing, detailed a contemporary woman's perspective on writing and new millennium life. Her reflections helped me think a lot about my experiences last semester taking class with the fiction author David L. Robbins. I had really struggled to navigate the path between how I write and how Professor Robbins wanted us to write. I was actively examining gender and sexuality in several of my stories (Behind the Bathroom Door and Sonata in C Sharp), but I wasn't always feeling like I was supported in some of my decisions about subject matter.

Once the new year began, I traveled to Paris where I participated in a writer's workshop at the legendary Shakespeare and Company bookstore and went to the Musee Dorsay where I saw, among other things, the Ferdinand Hodler exhibition, one of the special collections. His women were so strong and powerful and the sexuality was so frank I was almost shocked to find out that he was painting in the 19th century. I lost my friend in the museum, so I picked up a book in the library to read while I was waiting called Art, Women and Society. I am still in the process of reading it as I'm getting ready for the beginning of school.

Venus Boyz

Venus Boyz, a documentary film by Gabriel Baur, is all about the exploration and expression of masculinity by women. These individuals range from women who are primarily heterosexual and simply enjoy the power and entitlement they feel while wearing men's clothing and attitudes to women born as hermaphrodites who have, after years of classification as female, opted to explore their inner leanings towards masculinity and male-ness. This range of viewpoints was a key element of why Venus Boyz is a film worth watching.

Unlike their male drag counterparts (queens), drag kings don't have as may films that celebrate and explore why women sometimes feel the need to dress like men, although there are some. Other than Brandon Teena's story, which remains in the spotlight due to his traumatic death and Hillary Swank's portrayal of him in Boys Don't Cry, the individual tales of these female cross-dressers and trans-sexuals are often unheard. Venuz Boyz gives us a range of these stories and a chance to take a glimpse into the performer's lives both on and off stage. Although their tales are sometimes accompanied by kitschy performances, I felt like it was the less showy parts of the documentary that were really able to communicate to me some of the politics, problems and positives of cross-dressing and of exploring female masculinity.

I wouldn't recommend this documentary to everyone. Certainly, you have to be willing to listen with an open mind about these womens' experiences with the gender-biased world; but, for those who are interested in exploring how a group of women are working individually to redefine gender, this is a worthwhile film. Even though I had a very open mind going into the film and have a background in similar topics, I had no idea that the range of women who choose to cross dress was so diverse. I was also reassured to hear that many of the "protagonists" of the film have been able to find funding and support for their artistic explorations and expressions.

There is a reason that this film has won awards and been featured at major GLBTQ film festivals, and that it is because it offers an insight into a world not found in other films. And, if you have ever wondered about your own female masculinity, this film will likely offer you comfort and familiarity.

See slightly edited versions of this review on Amazon, Netflix, and IMDB.

Film Comments

Part of my independent study is dedicated to watching films, both documentary and fictional, that are able to contribute to my understanding of gender, the body, and sexuality. Originally, I had thought that my comments would be restricted to observations I would make either on this blog or in formal writing, but last night I started thinking about the whole point of my study. I'm interested in how contemporary women are working to remap the body and redefine female sexuality, but I am not completely sure whether I am content to sit on the side, watching and reporting what other women are doing. I am maintaining this blog in the attempt to reach people who are interested in similar issues, shooting my thoughts out into cyberspace where they may be helpful or useful to people searching for answers regarding any number of topics I may explore through my studies. I realized that if I am watching a film to find answers and am committed to reacting to it in writing, I might as well make sure that other people see those thoughts and comments. So, rather than only posting movie reviews and reflections here, I am also planning on contributing to various other forums including Amazon, IMDB, and maybe Netflix. I'm not really sure which of these spaces I will find to be the easiest to navigate, but I will play around with them a little bit until I really a routine that works. I will probably put the same comments in each place, but I know that there will be different formats and whatnot. So, stay tuned for updates on what I decide and the things I've been posting.

Intro Part I.

This blog, My Two Lips, was created as a reservoir for all of the written pieces and ideas produced as a part of my Spring 2008 independent study within the women's studies department at the College of William & Mary under the supervision of Professor Christy Burns.

I have recently been watching a lot of films, including Yesterday and Venus Boyz, and reading some books and poetry that are directly or indirectly related to the things I'm seeking to explore in my independent study and I realized that a lot of my initial thoughts were becoming lost as I sought time to sit down and write a more formal analysis.

I have still been toying with my ideas about the final product I want to result from my work, and while I still think that a scrapbook that contains formal work, images, reflections, and a significantly annotated bibliography is going to be extremely important, I wanted to ensure that I had a space in which to think "out loud" about my ongoing readings and projects wherever I was and regardless of what I was doing. To this end, I decided to create this blog as both an extension of my independent study as well as a resource from which I may later be able to pull ideas, information and even entire bits of text for my scrapbook.

The Internet has become such an important way through which to collect, link, and disseminate information and web logs are one of the quickest and easiest ways to produce a website where information and personal thoughts can be shared that this seemed like the right solution. All of the original work presented here is the sole and individual work of myself, Ashley Slaff, and is protected by copyright laws as such.

Thank you, again, for reading, participating and thinking. Please feel free to comment at your leisure. I'll be sure to keep you updated.

My Two Lips: Introduction Part II

So, the formulation of my independent study has been a work in progress. All through my graduate school applications and the fall semester, I've been reworking my ideas and they've finally started to crystallize. Partially this clarity comes because it is the beginning of the semester now and I'm counting the things I've done, said and read over the past few weeks as part of my research.

I started out largely with a dream and a dream advisor. I knew I was interested in women's studies and women's expression and I knew that I wanted to try something on my own. I had been dwelling on the ideas from a couple of classes, namely Nancy Gray's Modern Women Writers and The Politics of Storytelling by Women and Christy Burns' Theories of Visual Culture which was later revised into Film, Feminism and the Body. The themes of these courses culminated in my mind and I was thinking seriously about women's bodies and sexualities and the way in which these topics are explored--remapped and redefined--through contemporary literary and artistic media.

I wanted to engage in a study that would let me explore these topics--sometimes vulgarly and unscientifically--and write about it. The title "My Two Lips" developed from my ideas about the intertwining relationship between women's literature and expression and female sexuality. To speak--to desire. These ideas wrap themselves tightly around each other in my mind. When I read about women writers--from Virginia Woolf to Ann Lamott-- the idea of a woman writer is inherently tied to her motherhood which is inherently tied to her expression or repression of of her sexuality and sexual desire.

So, I started thinking, applying and reading. I thought a lot about what I wanted to learn and targeted some specific materials, a list of which will soon be included, but in reading some other books that I picked up along the way, I've realized that the topic can be found everywhere. I want to mention these resources now so that you all can participate in the formative process of this project, not just the finished product.