Although she does not like the term, Iranian-American Anousheh Ansari is known as the “space tourist.” In 2006, she became the first self-funded woman and the first Muslim woman to fly on the International Space Station, which cost her twenty million dollars. She speaks about how the term ‘”space tourist” trivializes the experience as well as the intense training that she went through in order to qualify for the trip, the same training that astronauts are subjected to. This training included being spun on a centrifuge which often results in vomiting however Ansari was able to withstand the tough tasks involved. Her latest book “My Dream of Stars” shares her interests in Space and talks about the trip insisting that although some have criticized her for spending so much money that could have been used to help others in need, many young women who dream of being astronauts have been inspired by it.
In honor of International Women’s Day, The Designer’s Couch put together advertisements that highlight issues of abuse and human trafficking. While these ads think outside of the box and present thought provoking ways of demonstrating violence against women, a few of them caught my eye as being particularly extreme. The images above are part of a larger series that features naked women bonded in “Do Not Enter” construction tape. While these issues cannot be dealt with lightly and therefore strong imagery is needed in order to speak to such a difficult topic, at some point I found myself thinking about PETA who incorporates imagery that exploits women in order to speak about animal abuse. Does using one wrong for an important cause make it right?
Do you feel like having images like the two above really conveys a message against domestic violence across or does it emphasize images of exploitation?
Check out the rest of the images below and by clicking here.
Knowing the odds, of “making it” as an actress, Risa made a bold move when she decided to focus on experimental theater in her acting training. As a result, the creativity involved in this training has given her the ability to play a range of characters including a teenager turned gremlin David Lynch style, an abused girlfriend in her latest film with Carlos Dengler, the bass/keyboard player of the band Interpol, all this while producing some of the most hysterical comedic videos including her very own Tina Turner impersonation (see video below).
Age? 25
Places you have lived? Upstate NY, Italy, New York City
Places you want to live? London at some point
What do you do? Actress and Writer
Coming from an experimental theater background, how hard is it for you to get roles in that particular genre? How much of the work you get ends up being acting in commercials, straight plays, TV spots, etc… and do you also have to take other jobs to pay the bills?
I immediately started pursuing commercial work after I left the Experimental Theatre Wing at Tisch. As an actor, it was very exciting for me to make money right out of school. That first year out I worked on independent films, music videos and other commercial jobs that I was very fortunate to land. After a while, I started to miss the more creative and personal work. I began writing, making my own little films and collaborating again in stage work with a more experimental slant. I really enjoy both types of acting, so I try to maintain a balance. Like all actors, to make ends meet there’s also a need for assorted hostess jobs and other work flexible enough to mesh with audition, rehearsal and performance schedules.
The words “experimental theater” bring up all kind of images in my head. Can you tell me what was the strangest role you ever played?
One pretty strange role I played was in the Mac Wellman play “Sincerity Forever” where I portrayed a wholesome teenager who turns into a “furball” which was something like a gremlin. Something about it was very David Lynch inspired.
You were in the film “My Friends Told Me About You” co-starring with Carlos Dengler, the bass/keyboard player of the band Interpol, who also co-wrote the film and a text for the film entitled “The Ontology of Celebrity” in which he asserts that “the onset of celebrity is a tragic fall from grace and dehumanization of the famed-ego.” Do you agree with him and how does this idea come through in the movie?
Celebrity worship in our culture right now is both repulsive and fascinating to me.
The film represented this issue very abstractly. Carlos’ character is far from being a celebrity but experiences paranoia, alienation and distrust brought on by his confusion and dismay with being incapable of living up to his expectations for his life and his perception of what the world expects from him. Ultimately, he turns on his girlfriend, the character I play, in a violent and unexpected way.
How does our culture’s seemingly never ending obsession with celebrities affect you as an actor?
It always makes me very sad to hear about great, highly trained and talented actors being less appreciated than “stars.” I guess it’s just the nature of our culture right now and with the economy
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Women across the world will be celebrating International Women’s Day which is recognized as a national holiday in many countries. Starting in the early 1900s the day honors women in their economic, political and social achievements but has also as a day of respect and recognition for the women in ones life.
While it is unfortunate that the United States does not recognize this day as a national holiday, there are still many events going on across the country that I encourage everyone to check out. All of these events can be found on the International Women’s Day website.
One notable event in NYC is hosted by the organizations She Creates Change and Women’s Education Project and will raise money for the latter organization which prepares young women in South India from impoverished backgrounds to have access to higher education to improve their lives, families and communities. The night will feature a screening of the film “Women’s Strike for Equality” and will be filled with networking, tasty treats, spa pampering and chances to win some fantastic prizes. The Daily Femme will also be in attendance asking women to be featured in the ‘Hitting the Streets’ weekly post so click here to RSVP before spots fill up!
Let’s work together to give this day the support it deserves and so I encourage EVERYONE to take a moment and recognize one woman whether it is commenting on this site, using your own blog Facebook, or Twitter.
I will begin by recognizing my mother Dalila who inspires me by her great example but also her selfless love and support. She has raised the bar for mothers and yet never asks for anything in return.
Congratulations to Kathryn Bigelow, Mo’Nique, Sandra Bullock, Sandy Powell, Kim Sinclair, Elinor Burkett, and Mindy Hall for their big wins at the Academy Awards last night. Although only 7% of directors, 8% of writers, and 17% of exec producers are women, if last night is not just this year’s trend we are headed in a great direction.
I will however echo the sentiments of many who were disappointed that Farah Fawcett and Bea Arthur were left out of the tribute to those in the industry who died this year. This has happened before but it is even more disheartening this year since both were noteworthy actresses who have made film and TV history, each in her own right.
Yet, besides hearing Mo’Nique applaud the academy for showing that it can be “about the performance and not the politics” and watching Bigelow win, this year’s Oscars were a predictable snooze fest despite intentions to shake up the ceremony this year. Overall, I wish Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin had been funnier, the show shorter, and less categories had featured all male nominations, but this is Hollywood, a place where change does not come as quickly as some of us would like.
It seems like every site I go to has these “Is this your baby?” display ads that are well, frightening.
Personally I am not one who thinks too much about having children but the proliferation of ads featuring crack babies with cheeks the size of Gobstoppers and promising to show you what your baby will look like has forced me to think about what my baby might look like: what if it came out looking horrific. I am sorry but although my love for my offspring will be just the same, I am just not one of those people who think all babies are cute and cuddly. So, after seeing these images for the thousandth time, I finally caved and clicked figuring it couldn’t hurt to see what other freaky deaky children were in store. I was directed to the site Make-My-Baby.com, which takes two images and combines them into you guessed it, your future spawn.
Creeped out yet? Well of course this opportunity was just too great to pass up and I decided to give it a go…but instead of my partner’s picture and mine, I downloaded two pictures of myself. Hey if I am going to have a fictional kid, might as well test it out with my devilish good looks times two (if you can’t pick up on my sarcasm, just look at the pics below and you should get it).
So ladies and gentlemen I present to you the most beautiful (not to mention ACCURATE) baby this earth has ever laid its eyes on…..we can now return to our normal scheduling.
France’s First Lady Carla Bruni, braless at this past week’s state dinner. The more the press talks about Bruni’s breasts the less they talk about Sarkozy’s policies. How perfectly planned.
