Welcome to another Feminist Friday, our weekly column where we share a handful of our fave feminist videos. We always aim to be as intersectional as possible, gathering content from around the globe showcasing the badass things women are up to. This week we’re patting ourselves on the back for finding content from Dubai, Australia, and here at home in the US.
First up, a theater company based in Sydney, Australia, called the Playhouse Youth Theatre, is exploring feminism through the lens of pop culture and music in a performance called ‘Playlist’, which runs from August 2 to 11 at the Fairfield School of Arts. In an interview with the Fairfieldchampion.com.au, the PYT artistic director Karen Therese describes the performance as “Beyonce, meets the Women’s March, meets Australian Idol”.
The story line follows the lives and perspectives of five western Sydney females to explore the state of feminism through pop culture and music. The cast includes Nigerian-Australian actor and dancer Ebube Uba, Tongan-Iraqi Australian hip hop dancer Neda Taha, Vietnamese-Australian slam poet May Tran and Croatian-Australian emerging pop star Mara Knezevic and comedic actor Tasha O’Brien.
“We talk about a range of things that shape the person you become like culture and politics,” said Tasha.
“It’s a pop culture call to action about the critical issues of our times. As contemporary Australians, the performers present a truly global perspective on women, culture and feminisms. The performers are all aged under 25 years, and it is they who are ultimately going to shape and live in this post #MeToo world,” added Karen Therese. We wish we were in Sydney to experience this in person, but for now we will settle for this video, and the knowledge that a group of badass young female performers are using their talent for an important cause.
The second video this week is a music video from artist Raffaela Capp, who is also an actress in the upcoming film ‘Reach’, as reported by Celebmix. If you’re into summer pop vibes and bright colors against a backdrop of catchy lyrics and melodies, you will want to check out the music video to her female empowerment anthem ‘I Love Me’, which will appear on the soundtrack of ‘Reach’.
The film is a coming of age story starring Garrett Clayton, a socially awkward teen intent on committing suicide. The film dances around the topics of teen suicide and depression while bringing to light the day to day challenges young high school students face.
The visuals definitely appeal to a generation of fans familiar with Youtube artists and personalities who have created a pop culture landscape of their own. And while there is so much noise and content to draw the attentions of Gen Y and especially Gen Z on the internet, it’s good to know there are artists injecting some much-needed female empowerment into their work.
Raffaela’s message is about self-confidence and putting yourself first, something girls don’t often get taught growing up in high school, especially when it comes to topics like body image, sexuality and relationships. Check out the video below and be on the lookout for its appearance on the ‘Reach’ soundtrack.
Our final video showcases a group of badass women from Dubai who are inspiring us to break a few gender barriers this coming week. We’re not sure how we haven’t heard of the Arabian Gazelles before (the organization, not the animal), but it looks like they are starting to gain a lot of worldwide attention, as reported by Thenewswheel.com.
The organization was founded in 2016 by Hanan Mazouzi Sobati who is a high-performance car fan. To date, the Arabian Gazelles are said to be the only female-only SuperCar Club in the Gulf region, and their mission is to entice more female car fans, while also disrupting the auto industry. And of course, female empowerment is very much part of their purpose, showing male auto fans that this can be a woman’s world too.
Women who have joined the organization so far range from stay-at-home moms to C-suite executives, encouraging a diversity among their ranks. Hanan told The News Wheel that while they have enjoyed some favorable press from the likes of Vanity Fair and Forbes, she has experienced some push-back from relatives of the org’s members.
“Their husbands were all scared of me, because I was the one about to corrupt their women,” she said, but that is slowly starting to change, alongside their reputation in the auto world. They have participated in a number of auto events, and even been asked their opinion for various auto-themed issues.
The video below shows the women enjoying a day on the track with Mclaren, the kind of coveted experience not many car enthusiasts in the world get to enjoy. You can check out more about the Arabian Gazelles on their website.
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