feminist playing cards

pitchfork: So lyrically there's "vertebrae," and as you were saying before "bones" and "marching", and then "Earth Intruder" and some kind of beast...

Björk: Well the lyric thing, part of it was having a little daughter and realizing what are we telling girls? And all these books out there about finding your prince, and this whole prince's face, I don't know if you know any girls under eight who just wear all pink--

Pitchfork: Yeah, I have a four-year-old niece.

Björk: And all they want to do is be pretty and find their prince, and I'm like, what happened to feminism? So maybe being exhausted with the self-importance of religion, and thinking, "Okay wait a minute, maybe we are one tribe, and we're actually part of nature," and trying to suggest some kind of patent for that.

Read the rest of this interview here: http://bit.ly/13cZHZ4

Interviewer: Does literature produce ecstasy?

Nicole Georges, our 10 of spades, is an illustrator, writer, musician, and all around rad lady. She contributes to the weekly advice column at Bitch Magazine, Ms. Opinionated, and gives really really good advice. In response to a recent question regarding meeting new people and dealing with family who are judgmental and upsetting, Georges responded:

Have you ever heard of the phrase "detach with love"?  It's real. It means that instead of just swallowing all of this anger and resentment you have for your father and sister, and growing a tree of anger that results in you icing them out of your life, you need to take responsibility for your feelings in these uncomfortable moments and speak up. Let them know what you need. 

Lovingly give them an opportunity to do right by you.

Read more here...

Oh, nothing to see here, just a Mary J. Blige inspiration board. Have you listened to her new album? NPR recently interviewed her about her stretch across the pond.

"Some Notes on Attunement" by Zadie Smith

This is a healing essay to revisit. As we age and are struck by the new--things that have been made by folks we weren't aware of earlier or things by those we've followed--we'd like to believe that we are open, but more often than not, we crave consistency. In this essay, Smith delicately hits on the vulnerability needed for an audience to embrace artwork--Joni Mitchell's singing in particular--and the same vulnerability that likes to flutter away in the face of an artistic "betrayal" i.e. Joni Mitchell's decision to become a painter.

The first MTV Unplugged aired 25 years ago today with guests Squeeze, Syd Straw and Elliot Easton. We can say a lotta shitty things about MTV, but Unplugged is one of the shining beacons that took my teenage brain a little closer toward art appreciation.

Above is Lauryn Hill's set on the show. Again, someone who brings up mixed feelings and politics, but who isn't complicated? Avoid your family for another 1.5 hours and watch.

The late, great Poly Styrene is our Jack of Hearts. After seeing an early Sex Pistols show, Marianne Joan Elliott-Said thought, "how fucking hard could that be," and placed an ad in a paper to start her own band. She chose the stage name Poly Styrene, saying she was "looking for something plastic", and started the seminal punk group X-Ray Spex.

Continue a day, a life, an eternity of honoring feminists who get shit done, and take a listen.

My mind is like a plastic bag That corresponds to all those ads It sucks up all the rubbish That is fed in through my ear I eat Kleenex for breakfast And use soft hygienic Weetabix To dry my tears

Thanks to all of the folks who've gotten decks so far! Make sure to use #feministcards when Instagramming so we can fiiiiiind you, and make you want us. Above photos by @cameraforaface and @butchtalk​

HEY. You there.

Get your daily Feminist Playing Cards news over on our Facebook (just click on Debbie). And, stay tuned for news about our upcoming 2015 deck! New artists, new musicians, same dedication to feminist empowerment.

This is a small departure from music in particular, but Cindy Crabb is a huge champion and proponent of the continuation of feminist publications--zines in particular. She has been writing her zine, Doris, since 1992, and recently published a book compiling some of that writing called The Encyclopedia of Doris.

In this clip, she talks about the simplicity of creating zines. Essentially, Crabb makes zines because she loves writing and needs to talk through consistent personal issues like family, self-care, abuse, connection, and more. Though it may come off as trivial advice regarding how to complete a creative project--just do it--Crabb takes the self-doubt that often rides alongside creation and incorporates it into the actual making of something. What I take away from her and her incredibly helpful writing is that with vulnerability comes the blossoming of creative expression and healing.

I urge all of you to wander into her world for a bit, and maybe walk away with something.

Goldie & the Gingerbreads is the first all-female rock band to sign to a major record label. Their sound is absolutely cemented in 60s girl pop but you can hear the punk wanting to shake loose.

Our 3 of spades, Genya Ravan, was the lead singer of the group. After they disbanded, she found herself in the company of a budding punk scene at CBGB and played a major hand in developing some of the most influential punk bands of the time. She produced Dead Boys’ debut album, Young Loud and Snotty, and Ronnie Spector’s comeback album, Siren, and became the first top-level female record producer in the United States during the 1970s.

Josephine Baker, our Ace of Hearts, was the only woman to speak at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963, where over 200,000 people gathered to rally for civil rights. Though born in the U.S., she performed her way to New York during the Harlem Renaissance, and subsequently to France where she wouldn't face the racism and segregation imposed within America. In her speech she noted:

You know, friends, that I do not lie to you when I tell you I have walked into the palaces of kings and queens and into the houses of presidents. And much more. But I could not walk into a hotel in America and get a cup of coffee, and that made me mad. And when I get mad, you know that I open my big mouth. And then look out, ‘cause when Josephine opens her mouth, they hear it all over the world.

The march is credited as a huge factor in helping to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 a mere 50 years ago. Baker may not live prominently in the white, male-heavy history books, but her spirit and notoriety is ever-present in the music community and with those who fight for change.