Gwen Verdon, Bob Fosse, and Beyoncé Knowles

Today we discussed citation in class, and we examined Beyoncé's music video "Single Ladies" as an example of a commonly cited text. However, in my discussion of the history of the music video's citation, I forgot to mention something very important.

Knowles' dance isn't original. I don't mean to claim that Beyoncé is plagiarizing her moves, or that her choreographers Frank Gaston and JaQuel Knight ripped off someone else. The director and choreographers of "Single Ladies" are citing Bob Fosse's "Mexican Breakfast" in the video.

Fosse is a notable American choreographer who worked on musicals such as Chicago, Damn Yankees, and Cabaret. Fosse composed the dance routine for "Mexican Breakfast" in the '60s, and invited his wife Gwen Verdon (pictured above) to dance lead. The people behind "Single Ladies" are paying homage to (or, citing) Fosse's routine in their video.

Watch the original video here. Compare/contrast. Get excited about citation.

Who is Jo Calderone?

Since Lady Gaga's meat-kini cover of Vogue Hommes Japan is making headlines, especially after Gaga's meat dress and assorted accessories debuted at the VMAs, I thought I would post her opposite cover for the magazine. On this cover, we see her in drag... or perhaps I should say as her male alter ego, Jo Calderone. Lady Gaga hasn't entirely come out and said, "I am Jo Calderone." But there's enough evidence out there to see that it has to be the one and only Lady Gaga.

On top of the photoshoot, Jo Calderone did an interview with Jo-Ann Furniss, which can be found on Nicola Formichetti's (Gaga's stylist) blog. In the small interview, we can see that Jo is a simple Italian boy who has a passion for cars... and Lady Gaga as well!

Anyways, I just wanted to post this because I thought it was interesting. It got a few sites on the web buzzing for a while, but it didn't really spark a wildfire like the meat dresses, which surprised me since the main rumor that has been dogging Lady Gaga since 2008 is the "Is Lady Gaga a man?" rumor. Hell, even Barbara Walters asked Gaga if she was one on her "10 Most Fascinating People of 2009" special. I thought the drag cover would've made those skeptics freak out. But they didn't... So I'm left to wonder why Jo Calderone didn't make the headlines since, to me, it's a meatier (no pun intended) story than wearing meat.

Rachel Zoe & Motherhood

Whether or not you're a fan of the Rachel Zoe Project, there's been a very interesting plot about motherhood on the show this season.

For those of you who don't follow the show, Rachel seems uninterested in having a baby, while her partner Roger really wants to have children. In a recent episode, Rachel confesses that she's afraid of what might happen if she were to miscarry, and she doubts she'd be physically strong enough to carry a baby to term.

You can watch a part of the episode on Jezebel.

More from the Haus of Gaga

Lady Gaga's VMA outfit last night topped many of her previous clothing stunts. During the festivities, she wore a dress made out of raw meat.

Asked by Ellen DeGeneres, a vegetarian, about her choice, she responded: "It's certainly no disrespect to anyone that's vegan or vegetarian. As you know, I'm the most judgment-free human being on the Earth. It has many interpretations, but for me this evening it's [saying] if we don't stand up for what we believe in, if we don't fight for our rights, pretty soon we're going to have as much rights as the meat on our bones."

Bitch Is The New Black

I am, to put it lightly, a bit obsessed with Tina Fey. I was searching for Tina Fey, since I'm using her as my feminist text, and found an article/video on Jezebel. If you've never seen her "Women's News" segments on SNL's Weekend Update then you definitely need to watch this video.

Check it out here.

Fatal Fashion: Style in Action

New York Magazine's "Vulture" blog has a great article called "Rating the Practicality of Female Action Hero Fashion." Check it out here.

  

Eat, Pray, Love

I saw Julia Roberts' new chick flick Eat Pray Love this weekend, and was curious to see how it stacked up against the harsh reviews a lot of critics have given it. I thought it had good and bad moments, but it's an interesting movie to think about in the context of our class. The movie even has a shout-out to feminism: Felipe, the heroine's love interest, is praised as a "good feminist husband" for staying home and taking care of his children while his first wife pursued a career. 

Huffington Post also published a "feminist" reading of the movie, here. 

Leather & Whips-- What a fierce combo ;)

I was psyched when I saw that my specific clip that I wanted to use for unit I was on Youtube. Talk about 'feeyacee'-- this just oozes sexiness and women empowerment! With the leather, the coke bottle figure, the obvious observation that men are totally subordinate to Liu-- get that! haha :P Enjoy and hope ya'll had an awesome Labor Day weekend, see ya'll tomorrow!

-Odessa

Whitney Thompson, ANTM

I'm so thrilled to see you all joining the site as "authors." If anyone has any technical problems, please let me know. And to reiterate - if you don't want to post or join, you aren't required to do so.

You all brought this to my attention on Friday: Whitney Thompson, the  cycle 10 winner of America's Next Top Model, has done some work posing nude recently. After some Googling, I found that Thompson has posed nude on two occasions recently.

She's posed nude for Broadway Cares / Equity Fights Aids, and then again for the National Organization for Women (NOW's) Love Your Body Day. Here's a picture from the second shoot:

Crazy in Love, Crazy for Beyoncé

Here's a post to get the ball rolling: a visual artist has created large-scale drawings of Beyoncé's music video "Crazy in Love." These oversized sketches adorn public spaces in Seattle. Thoughts?

Welcome

To readers, and all electronic passers-by:

This is a blog that will run parallel to the course RHE 309k: The Rhetoric of Popular Feminism. Uncensored and unedited, this site is an electronic space for students to freely share their ideas with one another, and respond to the multi-faceted popular texts circulating in contemporary US culture.

To students:

Please feel free to post anything that you think relevant to the course. If you've found a cool blog that you'd like to share with your classmates, or saw a hilarious segment on Oprah, or just think that a TV show represents women in an interesting way, this is the place to put your thoughts. I'll not grade your comments here, and posting certainly isn't required. Please use this site as you see fit to communicate, talk, gossip, and think through pop culture.

Best,

Sarah