Welcome to another Feminist Friday! That time of the week where we sit back, relax, and get into feminist mode by watching our fave videos of the moment. This week we’re all about women who are cutting through the noise and the bullshit to break taboos as well as barriers. First up, a brand new series from one of our fave women of all time, Twitter’s resident gynecologist, Dr. Jen Gunter (seriously, if you aren’t already following her, do it now!).
As a medical professional and celebrated author who regularly writes, speaks, and tweets about sexual health, while debunking the most ridiculous body myths perpetuated by alleged wellness “experts” (yes, she is known to go after Gwyneth’s GOOP site for publishing and promoting inaccurate and harmful information about women’s bodies and health), we’re excited to see her voice and expertise reach an even wider audience thanks to CBC! While Canadians have been able to watch ‘Jensplaining’ on CBC Gem since August 23, keep an eye on streaming services worldwide as well as her Twitter account for more info on how to view each episode.
The second video this week is Reebok’s new campaign, ‘It’s A Man’s World’, featuring a new shoe collection designed by trailblazing women who are all working to break barriers in various male-dominated industries.
The line-up features streetwear designer and activist Jazerai Allen-Lord, record producer Ebony Naomi Oshunrinde — aka WondaGurl — the artist Anhia Zaira Santana, Black Contemporary Art founder Kimberly Drew and Girl on Kicks founder Sanne Poeze.
Jazerai Allen-Lord said in a press release, “It has to start on the inside. A brand has to make a decision like Reebok did, to say we’re going to recognize the people on the ground doing the work. We’re going to be disruptive, and we don’t care.”
The idea behind the campaign is something Reebok has focused on in the past, and their decision to revisit this shows we still have a long way to go to reach equality, rendering these messages and conversations necessary still.
“In 2001, Reebok launched “It’s a Woman’s World” – A bold ad campaign that mocked established gender roles and featured trailblazing women. Nearly 20 years later, this, message is more relevant than ever. Paying homage to the campaign, Reebok is launching “ I̶t̶’s̶ ̶a̶ ̶M̶a̶n̶’s̶ ̶W̶o̶r̶l̶d̶” – A powerful campaign that celebrates fearless women who are defying convention and making their mark in male-dominated fields,” says the video description, which you can watch below.
Our final video this week is a music video from Shreveport, Lousisiana, band Seratones, called ‘Power’. Having just released their new album of the same name on August 23rd, the band has recently seen a fresh new line-up and are coming out of the gate with their sophomore album packed with some female emPOWERment. New frontwoman and guitarist A.J. Haynes, who comes from a gospel church background, told the Shreveporttimes.com that the title track is an ode to the community of amazing women she knows and loves. The video includes themes of female empowerment and civil rights, lacing taboo and hot button issues within the lyrics and using music as a platform to shed light on a situation.
The female-centric cast features young dancers are from Shreveport’s Style of Life Dance Company and the song is dedicated to Hope Medical Group for Women in Shreveport — one of Louisiana’s last abortion clinics where Haynes has worked intermittently since 2008.
The video was dedicated to civil rights activist Sadie Roberts-Joseph, who was murdered in July in Baton Rouge, Haynes told the publication. At a time when we are seeing women rise up politically and socially, challenging male-dominated legislative arenas and reclaiming their power and human rights, this song is a timely message about the work that is necessary to move forward.
“It’s about the push and pull of the struggle and how difficult progress actually is. It’s not always a very straightforward trajectory. It’s one step forward, two steps back,” said the singer.
Here is a snippet of the empowering lyrics: Cause this grind is so damn real / Trying to break that same bad deal / With the devil that I know and the devil that I don’t / We take two steps forward / They take one step backward / We take each step cause We Have The Power.”
Watch ‘Power’ below:
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