So, hopefully you’ve all noticed that the first issue of PaperDolls has been up for almost two weeks now. We worked super hard to get it all up and looking awesome and we’re pretty proud of how it turned out. What was most amazing for me was all of the submissions we got from all over the country. I am so impressed with what people wrote and the illustrations we have to go along with many of our articles.

Our next issue, The Media Issue, will be up in October which seems so far off, but don’t worry because we have plenty of updates in store for the next two months of this issue. Look out for a few more She Said, She Said reviews from Liz and Whitney, some more poetry in the Girls Write section and a few more things we’ve been working on. Keep checking back! 

Next week is our last movie night of the season. We’re going to be playing SHAG and Girls Just Wan To Have Fun, which should be a great way to end our summer movie series. I was talking to Whitney (from She Said She Said) tonight and she told me that D.E.B.S., which we played for our “Ass Kicking” night was actually started as a comic strip. Apparently Angela Robinson, the writer and director, had started drawing D.E.B.S. as a comic when she was in college. She later got a grant to turn it into a short film and eventually made it into a feature length film. Knowing that explains a whole lot about the details and humor in the movie, and makes me love it just that much more (if that’s even possible). If you haven’t seen D.E.B.S. and weren’t able to make it to that movie night, you should totally rent it A.S.A.P! I was so critical before I saw it, but I’ve recommended it to anyone who would listen to me since. I love it you guys. I really do.

Be sure to check out the last movie night next Wednesday, August 20th, for a great dance off double feature. The flyer is below, take a look.

The PaperDolls Magazine launch party was a huge success! The bands were awesome, Emily gave three straight hours worth of bang trims and styling advice, and everyone had a great time making their own personalized paper dolls.

The PaperDolls crew wants to give a huge thank you to mother falcon, fourtrack blackjack, the diving captain, the el guapos, puff puff and the receivers, Emily Lowe, and Zoe Cordes Selbin for being a part of the celebration. And thanks to everyone who came out and had a great time! Your support means a lot to us!

Also, check back August 1st at www.paperdollsmag.com to see the first issue of the magazine! We are so excited for you to check it out!

So yesterday Erin and I went to see the final performance of the Grrl Action summer program and we had such a great time. Grrl action is a program here in Austin run by the Rude Mechanicals that works with teen girls in a three week writing and performance workshop. The girls, age 13 to 16, spend the three weeks working on writing and creating pieces. The workshop culminates in two days of performances.

I had so much fun. The performance was smart and funny, mature, well put together, and the pieces were so well written. Everybody laughed their asses off at Leela’s piece about an armadillo coming over for drinks, making a fool of himself, and coming back to piss somewhere in the house. And I got pretty emotional at some of the pieces too. Hope’s piece about her biological mother and Lola’s piece about attempting suicide until she realizes people care about her, both hit me pretty hard.  But man, that Cell Block Tango picked me right back up. I don’t know about actually hitting cheating boyfriends in the face with a frying pan, but… 

I was also so impressed by the girls being able to articulately express the things that play such big parts in our lives- friendship, love, family, race, email and media, who we are as individuals- without sounding totally cheesy.  The girls had all created altar tables to themselves, which we got to explore after the show. They really opened themselves up, it was so brave. I used to start crying whenever I had to give a speech in class, and am amazed by how well these girls did on stage, even the ones who you could tell were a little more shy than the others. Everyone presented herself as an individual and I left knowing a little bit more about each girl.

I also left with an awesome anthology with a lot of the work the girls did in the workshop. Each girl has a few pages filled with poetry, collage, short stories, and images. It’s good inspiration to express myself and let people know who I am, not to be afraid of what others think.

So, definitely check out Grrl Action. Not only do they run this sweet summer program, they have an awesome year round arts mentorship too. They definitely have grrls’ freedom of expression at the forefront of their agenda.

We are gearing up for a great Launch Party for the first issue of PaperDolls! Come out and celebrate with us!

Can't wait to see you there!

Check out the great bands that are playing:

mother falcon

fourtrack blackjack

the diving captain

the el guapos

puff puff and the receivers

PLUS: Hairstylist Emily Lowe and friends will be there giving bangs cuts and styling advice, Youth Spin will be there with a table and djing, and there will be a ‘make your own paper doll’ craft table. We are super excited!!

See you there!

A piece of cinematic history. That’s what I’ve heard Sex and the City referred to as. I finally saw the movie, and there’s no doubt in my mind as to why the film’s a hit, just as the series was. But, come on, a piece of cinematic history? Why? Because it stars four females and, according to a recent Reuters article, has grossed $345 million worldwide since its May 30 release? That same article calls it “the biggest chick flick of all time.” I say we will only achieve a mark of cinematic history when a movie about women will be released in the big theaters nationwide–—worldwide!–—and not be called a “chick flick.”

Two directors have decided not to wait for Hollywood’s re-evaluation of women in movies. Amy Sewell, writer of 2005’s acclaimed documentary Mad Hot Ballroom, and film producer Susan Toffler completed What’s Your Point, Honey? in January of this year and have taken it on the road, screening the film in independent theaters and private venues across America. The two first-time directors have concluded that a grassroots approach is the only way to have their movie seen. Why? Because it’s a movie about women. What’s more, it’s a movie about feminism, about young women fighting to achieve quality in the workplace, and in U.S. government—not a movie about attractive, rich white women who shop and gossip about men all day. So don’t call it a chick flick.

What’s Your Point, Honey? screened at Chicago’s Gene Siskel Film Center on a rainy Thursday, July 10. The documentary, which the ladies began filming in 2005, centers around CosmoGirls!’s (that’s right, CosmoGirl! is involved in a feminist movie) Project 2024. In 2002, CosmoGirl! teamed up with The White House Project to offer an internship program to college girls. It was named Project 2024 because that’s when the youngest readers would be 35, old enough to run for U.S. president. The program is intended to encourage more female readers to run for public office and to one day—if not 2024, then before—close the gender gap in presidential nominees. Not one female candidate running against eight male nominees, but eight women running alongside eight men.

Sewell and Toffler document seven young women who participated in Project 2024. Their stories are just one portion of the portrait painted about women and girls in America today. The film also follows three female tweens around New York City as they question kids their age and adults as to why there hasn’t yet been a female president. Another story is told, albeit subtly, through the eyes of teenagers as they learn about male-female inequalities in school and ignore it in their fashion magazines and the media-infested world around them.

The film is smart, funny, and a must-see, though sadly few will probably see it. So make an effort, people! What’s Your Point, Honey? will screen in San Francisco on Thursday, July 31, at the Red Vic Movie House, at 7:30pm, and on Thursday, Aug. 28, in Asheville, N.C., at the Fine Arts Theatre, at 7pm. Also, they now have DVDs available for sale through their Web site, along with educational guides that accompany the movie.

So check it out. And check back at PaperDolls next month, for an interview with Sewell and Toffler.

-Sofia

The other day I was sitting outside a coffe shop on Broadway Street in Chicago, reading some PaperDolls submissions I had printed out at a nearby Internet cafe, and I was so struck by the contradictory weather. The violent sun was beating on my legs, burning them, really, but the cool wind whipped across my face and arms, chilling me. It was a really odd but fantastic sensation. I experienced more or less the same effect reading the submissions.

So far, we’ve received some wildly different articles. Sex, health, and fitness pieces; poetry; arts reviews; feature stories; even an excerpt from a yet-unpublished young-adult novel. It’s all very exciting, because we surely will have an interesting first issue. I’m quite happy to disagree with a lot of the writers’ opinions, because that’s what PaperDolls is all about: offering teens a plethora of ideas and information, as well as sharing with them other terrific teen-oriented publications and institutions out there. It’s inspiring to see all the writers getting excited as well, not to mention working so hard.

It’s going to happen: The Girl Issue will be one great first issue, thanks to the hard work and collaboration between the two beautiful editors in blistering Texas and I, as well as all our contributors, supporters, and everyone else out there in this unifying World Wide Web.

 -Sofia

Last night was the second installment of the PaperDolls Summer Film Series. The night was a lot of fun- we watched Mean Girls and Heathers to celebrate all our frienemies. Although the turn out wasn’t huge, we all had a great time laying out on blankets under the stars eating delicious hot dogs and veggie dogs, pop corn, and ice pops. Thanks to everyone who came out to support us, you gals are awesome!

Twice a month for the summer we are showing double features on the front lawn of PaperDolls HQ. If you missed last night you should come out on the 16th for Ass Kicking Night! We’ll be showing Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the awesome hilarious movie, not the serious TV show with that recurring awful sound commonly referred to as Sarah Michelle Gellar’s voice) and D.E.B.S. And gals and guys, if you haven’t seen D.E.B.S., let me tell you: I was skeptical, and then I watched and it was the funniest movie! Get on this. You need to be here on July 16th. For real though.

A super huge thank you goes out to the gals at Camp Camp who are sponsoring us with the use of their awesome projector. Thanks Camp Camp!

Come Check It Out!

-Jordi

Check out Erin Gentry (NOT Sarah Gentry!) talking to Megan O’Rourke from the Burlington, Vermont community access channel, Channel 17.  Channel 17 is associated with the Center for Media and Democracy, a great organization that “works to protect free speech, public access and open networks.” Megan asked Erin “What do you do to bridge your community and the media?” This interview was done at the Media Reform Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota June 6th, 2008. Erin’s interview is about five minutes into the program, just after Jason Barnett with the Uptake.

Here’s the link to that interview again:

http://www.cctv.org/watch-tv/programs/natl-media-reform-conference-interviews

Our new website is up and running! Submissions are rolling in and we at PaperDolls are so excited about the progress of the magazine! This weekend, Jordi, Sofia, and I are on our way to the the National Conference on Media Reform in Minneapolis, MN to promote the magazine and learn all about the current state of media in the US. Be sure to check out www.paperdollsmag.com and learn all about PaperDolls and how you can get involved! 

-Erin