I’m a girl who loves a bit of lippie. From Barry M’s bright orange to Revlon’s Red Velvet ColorStay (trust me- you won’t find a longer lasting shade of scarlet out there!), I’m all about the pout. Which is why I am so excited about M·A·C’s latest Viva Glam collaboration, with two of my favourite ladies, Lady Gaga and Cyndi Lauper, who have each had their own shade of lipstick created for the cause.
The M·A·C AIDS Fund was established in 1994 to support men, women and children affected by HIV/AIDS globally. Through a series of celebrity collaborations (past names include Dita Von Teese, Pamela Anderson and Missy Elliott) , Viva Glam has raised over $150 Million in 67 countries to date. And that’s exclusively through the sale of Lipstick and Lipglass. Who knew make up could be so empowering?
100% of proceeds from the sales of the Lipsticks (which will set you back at a mere £12.50 each, or £12.00 for the Lipglass) goes to the M·A·C AIDS Fund, and be assured, charity never looked this good. Whether the sexy bubblegum pink Gaga takes your fancy, or the lush coral red Cyndi is your thing, you can now pucker up for a very good cause. As Lady G put it herself ‘Lipstick is a symbol of womanhood and inner strength’. Mwah!
Two of my very favourite female pop musicians right now have come together to create (okay, okay remix) a dirty great slice of harsh, nasty, catchy hip-pop. Cause for celebration? Yes… and no. (Oh, come on! As if I could leave well alone!)
The song, Video Phone, has been around for a while on Beyonce’s I Am… Sasha Fierce album (of which I am a proud owner!) but it has had a re-vamp with new vocals from Lady Gaga for the album’s re-released Deluxe edition. Now, much as I LOVE Beyonce (and much as the song is sexy and catchy and all that), I’d always found the lyrics of this song hard to swallow.
The lyrics all point to a woman allowing a sexual partner to film her whilst they have sex – “What, you want me naked? If you liking this position you can tape it on your video phone” – so that he can remember her later whenever he watches it.
Beyonce is often portrayed as a powerful woman, which is probably the main reason I like her. But this song feels devoid of power… I mean, as Paris Hilton knows only too well, once you create amateur porn for a boyfriend (and the ‘male character’ in this song seems a lot less long-term, and trust-worthy, than that), your lack of control with the output leaves you in a rather powerless position.
With this song Beyonce (who is always said to have buckets of class) was basically saying that she would pull out some amateur dramatics in the bedroom for any old Tom, Dick or Harry to film on their phone and then wank over later. Before showing it to their friends, probably. And then leaking it onto the internet. Oh, Beyonce… that’s disappointing. (more…)
But maybe I’m becoming desensitised to the ’sexy dead woman’ images (oh what a world we live in when I can type that sentence!) because, even though I found this element of the video deeply problematic, what I found most disturbing whilst watching Paparazzi was the eroticised treatment of the Gaga character’s pain and discomfort… (more…)
Stephanie Phillips, of Don’t Dance Her Down Boys blog, went along to the launch event for UK Feminista to see what prospects the site might hold for the advancement UK women’s movement.
Women-only Hip Hop Festival b.supreme kicks off this Friday. Roshni Goyate speaks to festival co-founder Holly McCartney and finds out what we can expect this year.
