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Naked Layers: Imagoes on 1NMediaSalon

sapphrikah:

hardliqz:

The Refutation of “Good Hair” is a powerful new project by the brilliant Nakeya B. In this series, Nakeya has chosen to explore the literal meaning of the historically used phrase “good hair”. In her own words, “In each image a woman of color is seen poised upright while consuming a handful of hair. Accompanying the portraits are a selection still life arrangements placing hair and traditional African-American cuisine in the same setting. Doing such suggests “good hair” is nothing more than something to be consumed as if it were food”.

Yes.

(via loveisthewateroflife)

NAKED LAYERS



This is a project I’ve been wanting to do for a long time, and it has evolved over the course of a year. It came out of a nude photo shoot Novel and I had talked about doing for this site. The thought of getting naked and exposing myself in that way brought up so many feelings - excitement, fear, dread. I had all of these criticisms about my body, a million little worries and anxieties about how I look and what people would think of me. Doing the shoot and seeing the photos of myself naked was excruciating, intense, and liberating. Having that experience is what led to the creation of Naked Layers.


Naked Layers is a series of vignettes exploring the body in different spaces. The vignettes address various themes - vulnerability, beauty, desire - and share the experience of being exposed, what that means and how it feels. I want to find a way to talk about body image and the feelings attached to that, and to extend those thoughts into a larger conversation. Body image is complex, and encompasses so many things. How do we really feel about ourselves? How do representations and images of us and our communities inform our perceptions of self? How do we heal our relationships with our bodies? These are some of the questions I hope to explore, with honesty and authenticity.


This project is a journey. I invite you to enter this process with us.


‘Naked Layers’ on 1NMediaSalon



Photo by 1NMediaSalon



Friday, 4:30 pm. The first real spring day of the season. The sun has shifted and as I sit on the leopard bench preparing myself for the shoot, I wonder: Why am I doing this?


The truth is, I have been waiting for this moment for months, a year, even. Since I decided to do this project. This is it, I think. Here we go.


The air has cooled and most of my body is in the shade. I feel the breeze on my shoulders. I am waiting for Novel to finish setting up the camera. A part of me wants this to be over, and my mind zooms ahead to when we are finished shooting and I can put my clothes back on. As I sit there, naked, I feel totally exposed. Nervous. Vulnerable.


The feeling of vulnerability can be quite intense. It ranges from a flutter in my chest to full-on panic. I tell myself I am safe, and there is no threat of danger in Novel’s backyard. After all, it’s just us, right? Just me and my girl. And my bare breasts. And thighs. And crotch.


In preparation for the shoot I tweezed my eyebrows, used hair remover on my mustache, shaved my pits and bikini line. But the truth is, it doesn’t really matter. It can’t save me from this moment, sitting here, butt ass naked. With nothing to hide behind. With all of my perceived flaws, internal and external, out there for the world to see. I feel like my insides are showing.


It has been a while since I’ve done something that felt this scary. Where I wasn’t hiding in some way, protecting my feelings. I am reminded of how little I actually allow myself to be completely exposed, only revealing a bit here and there. How much I actually worry about how I look, how I sound, what folks think of me. I feel out of control. It is uncomfortable.


But there is something else, too. A feeling of freedom, a kind of liberation from all that I think defines me in some way. An opening. A call to enter myself, fully, real. This is me and there it is. I am awake.




My film project ‘Naked Layers’ on 1NMediaSalon

bilalmusic:

Jammin’ wit my boys

stfuhypocrisy:

(Quite possibly the greatest thing you’ll read all day)

Calls for Men to Be Blindfolded in Public
In response to claims that men are unable to restrain themselves from committing rape if they see women in skimpy clothing, members of law enforcement agencies around the country have called for men to blindfold themselves when they are in places where they might encounter a female wearing a tank top or a short skirt.

“For years, we have been told that men don’t understand how to respond to the sight of a woman wearing, say, gym clothes – that as far as they are concerned, if they can see the outline of her body, then that’s an invitation to sex that they are simply unable to refuse,” said one police chief. “If that’s true, then we have no choice. We want women to be safe, and there is apparently no way for some men to reasonably restrain their own behavior once they catch a glimpse of cleavage, so all men will have to cover their eyes while working out, going to bars or clubs, or relaxing at the beach.”

Popular radio “shock jocks” Skeezer and the Gooch have gone even further, arguing that men should be blindfolded at all times while in public, on the grounds that “it’s not just skimpy outfits, some dudes get turned on by random stuff like women wearing athletic jerseys and sneakers,” making situation-specific blindfolding insufficient to preserve women’s safety.

Unwise to Allow Men to Go Out Alone at Night?
A local coalition of religious leaders, concerned about recent studies showing that an average of 6% of men will commit a sexual assault during their lifetime, and that nearly all sexual assaults are committed by men on their own or in groups, are urging parents not to let their sons go out at night unless they are accompanied by a mother, sister, or trusted female friend.

Mens’ groups have responded with concern, pointing out that this may leave some men unable to complete the tasks of daily life, such as going to school, working, or socializing.

In response, the religious leaders said that they “understand that this may be an inconvenience for some men,” but that “the minor difficulties this imposes on men are nothing when compared to the lifelong horror sexual assaults cause their victims.” “Really,” said the organization’s leader, “almost any limitation on men’s freedom is better than the risk that they might sexually assault someone. That’s just common sense.”

Time to Admit That Some Jobs May Just Be Too Dangerous for Men?
Recent allegations that Jimmy Savile raped numerous children while working as a television presenter for the BBC, have led to widespread calls for television stations to avoid allowing men to do similar jobs.

“We know that not all men are rapists, and that some men can probably be trusted to present tv shows safely,” said the director of Televisions Within Borders, a professional group that promotes the welfare of TV hosts and the people they cover. “However, now we know that some men can’t. And why take the risk? There are plenty of qualified women who can do this job instead.”

Voices from the blogosphere agree. “You wouldn’t send a cocaine addict to do a Good Morning America segment about a big pile of cocaine,” said a blogger who calls himself “UltimateMindz.” “Letting men be TV presenters is basically the same thing.” That post has since been shared more than 180 times on twitter, and has garnered nearly 2000 Facebook “likes.”

Supporters of this movement point to the fact that there has not been a single recorded case of a football coach raping a child since all college football coaching staff were replaced by women after last year’s Penn State abuse scandal.

Deans of 25 prominent journalism schools have taken a more moderate position, however, urging television programs to do more segments on bodybuilders and military contractors – subjects who are seen as safe for male presenters to interact with because their physical strength leaves them less vulnerable to assault. That way, the deans argue in a widely-circulated letter, male presenters may be able to remain in their jobs, albeit in a role with less visibility and almost no opportunity for advancement.

(If you’re wondering where this post came from, see, e.g., here, here, here, and here.)

(via black-culture)

fazstreetart:


NYC:
Stop Telling Women To Smile

April 12, 2013

7-10pm

Fresthetic

552 Grand St, Brooklyn, NY 11211

Stop Telling Women to Smile is an exhibition of new works by Tatyana Fazlalizadeh. An extension of her street art project of the same name, the show will include oil paintings, as well as photographs, drawings and prints. STWTS addresses gender based street harassment. The work was created to be placed in the street - placing the presence of strong women in that environment to combat mistreatment. This show compiles that work and brings it inside to be viewed as a whole. The project has gained attention from The New York TimesHLNFast Co.NYU, and more. The work presented in the show includes portraits of women of color as advocates for better treatment of women, as friends, as simply human beings.

The opening will will be held at Fresthetic in Williamsburg, BK, on April 12th, from 7-10pm. The show will feature music from Donwill and Von Pea, and the opportunity for women and men to be photographed with their own captions about street harassment. 
Tatyana Fazlalizadeh is a Brooklyn based contemporary oil painter. Born and raised in Oklahoma City, OK, Tatyana moved to Philadelphia to attend the University of the Arts, where she graduated in 2007 with a BFA and a concentration in Illustration. She creates oil paintings on canvas, working with figures and portraits to create stunning paintings that capture socio-political ideas. She exhibits her work nationally while also completing illustration commissions for several musicians, films, and books.