Friday, March 30, 2007

Female Emancipation and Relocation



The wonderful ladies up there are The Pussycat Dolls, America's answer to the Spice Girls. If you don't know about them, they are a dance group that masquerade as a band because the lead singer (Nicole) does all the work. They sang Nick's favourite lyric (Don’t cha wish your girlfriend was a freak like me?), they also won an award last year for best female dance group or something like that even though what they do in my eyes amounts to stripping without a pole and without taking off their clothes. They have a reality show running Search For The Next Pussycat Doll, so lots of rauncy dancing on display.

Anyway onto what I wanted to ask. One of the girls on the show said she was inspired by them as they have done alot for feminism, another one said they have done alot for music today (huh?)

One of the celeb judges on the show, Lil Kim gave us this jewel; “Everything the Pussycat Dolls are is everything that I’ve developed myself into being.” Remember this is Lil Kim who now looks like a cheap imitation of Micheal Jackson, only with breast implants and prison record to boot.


Empowering women all over the world after each booty shake!

Anyway The Pussycat Dolls is press releases talk about the group representing "empowerment" of women and girls. They encourage women to be openly expressive of sexual desire, and to "take control" in their relationships. All fine and dandy in principle. But where does the line end from being figures of female emancipation to being icons of America's next generation of trashy sluts? Yes women's sexuality has been often repressed ie women made to wear constricting burqa's in Iran, Afghanistan etc. But does that mean that when you have the freedom to do something that you should run amok with that freedom? Because yes the Pussycat Dolls say that their risque costumes and burlesque performances are all for the cause of female empowerment but at times I think their actions cause more glee for their randy male fans then for budding feminists. Come to think about it, the Pussycat Dolls represent more of a male definition of sexiness and desirability than what some feminists have in mind, it's also interesting that you have to have fake boobies and a hot body to act in this position of female empowerment; the rest of you women out their simply aren't good enough for the cause! Oh lest I forget, the Pussycat Dolls were supposed to release a line of dolls via the makers of Barbie but several family values groups lobbied against it due to the overtly sexual nature of their performances, videos and dressing.
Anyway let me ask my question again, do you ladies out there feel "empowered" by the actions of the Pussycat Dolls?

Moving on, I was reading an account of someone who had relocated back home that was pasted on bankelele's blog but has since disappeared. There is this dude who relocated back to Kenya from the States and it seemed that he had complaints about everything from the dust, how long it took to get a job, salaries, Kenyans' love for bars, the roads, bureaucracy etc. Yes some of his complaints were merited and I wont invalidate them but I will say a few things in return. Why don't people ever do any research when they are relocating? If you have been listening to propaganda about about how Kenya is a new nation then you are going to be sorely disappointed, we have not yet reached perfection but on the other hand you also can't believe the reports in Western media that have us close to civil war, anarchy and with terrorists running free on the beaches of the coast. You have to do good research, get in touch with someone who is in the Kenya and have them tell you how everyday life goes plus some people need to know that they are setting themselves up if they compare Kenya to the Western country they were living in. Kenya is a great country but you can't expect the living standards to be the same so forget about KFC and get used to Kenchic. As long as anyone has sober expectations and know things wont be super easy when they relocate, I am sure things will go well. But that's just my $0.02, I'm sure there are some people out there who can write a far better guide about relocation to Kenya. Feel free to do so, I will read and book mark it!
ps: You all do know you can find a daily feed for my blog here.

15 comments:

bankelele said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
bankelele said...

Post still there with the comment.

It can be hard tarmacking from states if you don't have job or a solid plan lined up. And by a plan, I mean a well researched understanding of the Kenyan market. I see too many returnees whose business plan is (i)xyz is a wonderful business in america (ii) xyz is not in kenya (iii) ergo - i will start an xyz in Kenya. Check: Maybe Kenya has no need for xyz, because pqr works just fine or xyz is too expensive/not feasible or the infrasture/technology/demand is not here etc.

Girl next door said...

When I saw a pic of the Pussycat dolls, I was just bracing myself for what you had to say. On rare occasions when I have to listen to their music I cringe. Plus how can you have a group where one person hogs everything--wonder how long the group will last. To answer your question: Hell no! I don't feel empowered by them and it is a shame that they equate dressing sexy/slutty to sell albums with feminism. They should just be honest: the goal is to sell albums and concert tickets and be popular so the $$$ can roll in. When they won that award, I thought it was b.s. Are they entertaining? Yes, to some. The rest of us would rather listen to gregorian chant all day.

The topic of people's experience going home is one I'm very interested in.

Anonymous said...

Those dolls are a disgrace nay,an insult to the real advocates of women empowerment. They have cheapened the image and role of a woman to a mere sexual object.I'm sure that's not part of the idea advocates of empowerment had in mind. What they had in mind is for women to be able to express their full potential be it in business, public service or the academia not to undress and wag their tails!

egm said...

Up until I heard that song on radio the few times I was in the vicinity of one, I never knew who the Pussycat Dolls were. They are just a sham of a "music" group. I'm with GND on the gregorian chant!

As for relocating, that's something I am also interested in. I have talked to a few people who have relocated, some who had a good idea of what they would be doing, others who just did it on the spur of the moment (one person I know went home one summer just to visit and while there decided not to come back to the US, even to tie up loose ends). All of them have said that it is something they don't regret doing, though they all admit it took some getting used to. I would definitely be interested in reading different perspectives of returnees.

CiikuMrsBabes said...

Empowerment?

Half of those heffas look like trannys!!
People will say anything to sell a CD these days......

As for the relocation.. I am with EGM in wanting to hear more!

3N said...

There is nothing about PCD’s feminism movement that shouts out ‘now that’s a lady I want to marry / listen / engage with’.

In fact everything about them screams Screw Me NOW!

And then you add lil Kim of the ‘how many licks does it take to get to the center of the…’ fame; you have yourself a slut fest in session.

If this empowers any woman, we might be much closer to the end of the world than we dare to admit.

gishungwa said...

I do not equate the PCD stunts to empowerment. If that is empowerment/feminism/liberation...etc i will pass thank you.

Anonymous said...

Aco,

If the guy complains about dust, he should walk with a ndoo full of water and sprinkle his path. That way, he can keep the dust at a minimum.

Acolyte said...

@ Bankele
I guess I was searching within the current posts for it, I will be sure to link it in this post.
I do agree with your sentiment, I have seen it happen alot too.
@ Girl next door
I assure you that people will not remember who they are in 5 years time.
Yes I do agree there is business hidden under the guise of feminism with the PCDs.
Gregorian chants rock, especially after Enigma!
@ aizoh
Sadly I think they have taken their idea to the extreme and peverted the original concept.
@ egm
I do agree that their music is nothing to write home about.
I think research and planning is paramount when someone is planning to relocate.
I may start a series of posts on it with the help of someone back home so when our time comes we arent flailing in the dark.
@ movie buff
The wonders of plastic surgery! I plan to do as much research on relocation as possible.
@ 3N
And to think some people liken them to icons. Yes I laughed my head off at Lil Kim being involved.
@ gish
At times progress can be a two edged sword like in this case.
@ joshua
Lol! You cracked me up, I do hate it when some Kenyans take it on their own to give raw criticism about Kenya without acknowledging any progress or doing anything to change matters.

Lola Gets said...

I actually saw part of an episode of the PCDs show, and I just dont see how they manage to keep such little scraps of clothing on their bodies! Im a Smithie, I know feminism when I see it, and that aint it.
L

Juju said...

gr8 post Aco. There is a new breed of young women who are lost on what feminism is. This is the school of thought--> these young women are "independent" because they are making their own money. Sex sells in this country (and I am afraid urban Kenyan teens are taking this route too). Anyways, that explains their dancing and outfit, which is not unique to only them, but all pop music. Quite retrogressive considering how hard feminists have had to work to get where women are today, and how many women in the world are still fighting for basic rights... so really, this is an insult to feminism.

mama shady said...

pussy cat girls sadden me!personally i think theyre useless..or is that too harsh?!anyway, their campaign can only make things worse. as for guys relocating...heh, yup!its always good to do homework. its funny the way flying out or returning home is governed by emotion/heresay!i'll chill for youre posts on the subject.
hehehe...no didnt know we could get daily feeds from there!

Kelitu said...

If the P-Dolls are our answer to the Spice girls, then hell has clearly frozen over and the devil is on a pair of skates.
Someone is clearly stretching these girls 5 mins of auditioning.

BeautyinBaltimore said...

One part of me likes the pussy cat dolls(very small) but another part of me thinks they are very trashy.
If you have spent a long time in the west I think moving back to Africa can be quite diffcult for some people particaly young people