PROPOSAL Re: [Seattle-editorial] Re: how to make the seattle website work

[sheelanagig at juno.com]

Here are my three latest articles over the last three days.
The weenie wagger one is on infoshop and pdx imc right now from this
mornings postings from me.
The one after it on antischool hit front page pdx imc and infoshop on
Sunday.
The one on street performing afterwards also made cover story on pdx imc
and also infoshop.org. As a matter of fact, the last I looked, I had the
first two cover stories on the first page of infoshop.org. I ask you make
sure my website somehow is left below author name or is prominent
somewhere as I just had my domain name swiped by Ben Schroeter, owner of
Seattlelivemusic.net, which is why seattlelivemusic.net is currently shut
down, which is a news story waiting to happen, as he took out
www.ballardfirehouse.com, www.reggaehotline.com, www.larrysbluescafe.com,
www.ocff.com, and more, when he was taken offline for slandering me on
Saturday last week. So getting out the word to change my link URLS and to
use my old site domain name is crucial to me right now.

Good luck, I said I am here to feed you quality articles whenever you are
ready. I am willing to try this again...as I live here and would like to
see a good site! I fully understand all of our concerns and frustrations
on this...but let's get something better than a dead site happening. We
can do that with local writers, of which I am one, if we can just
establish a decent site.

Kirsten Anderberg

*******************************************************************

SUMMARY -
Weenie wagging. Whipping out a penis in public at women where no one can
see. It is not about nudity. It is not about sex. It is about
intimidation, it is about control over women, it is about power. But who
is really vulnerable in that situation? The men are half-naked, they do
not want anyone to know, they are in public...it is women's FEAR they
count on to hide them. So let's SPEAK UP and ANNOUNCE these guys to all
as they do this...you will be amazed how quickly the tables turn when you
LOUDLY ANNOUNCE "HEY EVERYONE, LOOK AT THAT GUY JACKING OFF TO SCARE
WOMEN." bringing all eyes in the vacinity onto the penis he wanted only
you to view!

ARTICLE -
WOMEN WAGE WAR ON WEENIE WAGGERS!
by Kirsten Anderberg
www.angelfire.com/la3/kirstenanderberg

Weenie Waggers. Guys who get off on indecent exposure. As a young girl, I
had many an unwanted dick thrust upon my naked eyes, and I was scared.
These men chose spots that were isolated, they waited until there was no
one else around, they were intimidating and scary, it was verging on rape
and you could not tell if you were ABOUT to be raped if you did not get
out of there fast. It definitely is more than nudity. I am fine with
nakedness and nudity. This is something else. And it is not sexual
either. I seriously doubt these men EVER get a reaction of "ooh, neat,
can we have sex?" from the women these men assault. This is a power move
by men on women. Plain and simple. And it is the kind of power move that
reinforces a Patriarchy. So it must come down NOW!

The first assault of this manner that I remember was when I was in junior
high, walking home from school. A boy would not stop following me, then
walked right next to me, then whipped out his penis and I was terrified,
I said NOTHING, and quickly walked, with him next to me, right into the
neighborhood store and went straight to the store manager for help. The
boy waited outside in the phone booth for me. The manager went out and
talked to the boy and he left. I was fearful of that route to walk home,
and random penis', from then on.

As I entered my late teens and early twenties, I would have this weenie
wagging occur regularly near me. One time it was on the back of a Metro
bus in Seattle. Another time I was walking through a Seattle park and it
happened. I even went to thrift stores and it happened! Men are just
waving their dicks out where only one young woman can see it all over the
place! I asked a male friend if men talk about this phenomenon, because
women sure do. My male friend said, "No, men do not sit around and say,
"So I whipped it out on First Avenue yesterday" to one another." And I
think it is interesting that these men whip their dicks out in public,
yet do not want anyone to know. 

This whole thing turned radically for me once at the Vancouver Music
Festival. Some women friends and I were bathing topless in water...and
these men began to ogle us from the banks, sexually. We all decided to
SCARE the men. So we RAN AT THE MEN, TOPLESS, SHRIEKING LIKE BLACK
PANTHERS, LOOKING CRAZY AS CAN BE! The men ran in fear, I am not kidding!
It was incredibly empowering and I started thinking. You know, these
weenie waggers are adamant on hiding and doing this where only the woman
sees. So THAT must be the point of weakness in all this. So I decided to
start punching holes in the anonymity of weenie waggers.

The first one I remember vividly was a thrift store assault. I was in
line with my Motown band and we were buying costumes. I paid first and
was standing at the register as my friends were rung out. All of a
sudden, one of the dressing room curtains opened and a man looked at me.
Next thing he opened the curtain a titch, just at penis level, and showed
me his dick. Well, I screamed laughing LOUDLY, "Hey look at that guy in
the dressing room jacking off!" The curtain closed quickly. I said "the
room with the plaid coat on the floor!" And all of a sudden he grabbed
the coat off the floor! We all had a good laugh. Then about 5 minutes
later, he opens the dressing room curtain and says loudly, "I was not!"
And everyone burst into laughter again. VICTORY! I left feeling empowered
instead of assaulted.

In another thrift store in downtown Seattle, I opened a dressing room
door for a second to use it. In that brief second it took me to open the
door, I saw someone was in there and shut it, yet I could swear a guy
turned toward me and jacked off. I went to my friend and said, "This
sounds nuts, but I could swear when I just opened that dressing room
door, a guy turned to me jacking off." She said, "Kirsten, you would not
IMAGINE that. Tell the woman clerk." I did and the woman clerk FLEW INTO
ACTION. She was an inspiration. She knocked on the dressing room door
loudly yelling "I TOLD YOU CANNOT DO THAT IN HERE ANYMORE!!" and she
grabbed him by his collar and literally threw him onto the curb. She was
a big woman and I could only be impressed. But she also reinforced in me
that it is the FEAR that gives the men the power in this. And the minute
you are not afraid, but rather ANNOUNCE this behavior, these guys are WAY
vulnerable! The power shifts within SECONDS and HARD!

Another one I remember vividly was when I was walking to the co-op
through Ravenna Park in Seattle. I started hearing rustling of leaves
near me, purposefully trying to get my attention. I looked up the hill
near me, and there was a guy, completely naked except tennis shoes,
leaning on a tree, jacking off towards me, grinning. Unafraid anymore, my
first comment was, "Hmm, you should go do that for your mother." Then I
said, "You know, I know a bunch of large dykes and we want to help guys
like you get all the publicity you can. So if you can just wait here for
oh, 10 minutes, I will come back with some large dyke friends and we will
tie you up on the main Ave with a sign around your neck that says "I was
jacking off at women and they tied me up here for all to see." So please,
wait right here, I will be right back!" And I went to the co-op. When I
returned, he was gone.

I know of a man in Seattle who has had several indecent exposure charges.
I believe he told me in 1995 that he has been charged three times for
this. He told me the first ticket was because he was a few feet over the
legal line at a nude beach. He then said his second ticket on this was
because a bunch of teen girls in a school bus pulled next to his car, one
teen flashed him, lifting her top he says, and so, of course, logically,
he whipped out his dick in his car and waved it at the girls. He explains
this as if this would be ANYONE'S normal reaction. Well, the bus of girls
called the police and they arrived at his door to charge him for that.
Hopefully, the girls learned a lesson...whether one did flash him or not!
But somehow, I do not think HE got the lesson. Just the way he explains
it as if he was a victim, says it all! 

Another incident I remember was once I was walking on the path by the San
Lorenzo River in Santa Cruz and I could see this guy, from my higher
vantage point, trying to position himself to weenie wag for two women who
were quickly approaching the spot where he was. So, since I am gifted
with a voice that can project like a half-mile hailer, I just screamed at
the top of my lungs right before the women were to stumble on his dick,
"Hey everyone, look at that guy wagging his dick out trying to scare
women in front of the car dealership down there..." He grabbed his erect
dick and tried to jam it in his pants as EVERYONE on the trail looked at
him. He ran into the car lot, still trying to jam his huge dick into his
pants while everyone watched him trying to retreat. I was the announcer,
I was yelling, "There he goes into the car lot...oh no, he is approaching
people trying to buy a car and he STILL does not have his pants on
properly yet..." Everyone was roaring with laughter. This is the way
these things should end, not with women afraid and intimidated and
feeling assaulted against their will!

Many men have been angered when I took all the fun of fear and
intimidation out of their afternoon by outing them loudly. For some
reason, women have been silent in this realm too often out of fear. Look,
WE are not the ones vulnerable when men are NAKED IN PUBLIC JACKING OFF,
THEY ARE! First off, they are naked or have their genitals exposed, so
that is an easy target to begin with. Next, they are doing something they
do not want anyone to know they are doing! Usually these things happen
where people are within HEARING distance, if not visual distance. I have
found if you are LOUD and IMMEDIATELY SAY AT THE TOP OF YOUR LUNGS AS
LOUDLY AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE, "HEY LOOK AT THAT GUY JACKING OFF TRYING TO
SCARE WOMEN" that the dynamic of power IMMEDIATELY shifts from the man
having the power, to the woman. Instantaneously. As soon as the men find
out you are not going to silently play a victim and take that home as
baggage yourself, but instead are going to turn that muther on its side
and make HIM the vulnerable one AND NOW, these men usually start to RUN
away, and I am NOT kidding! TRY IT! I encourage all women to turn this
stupid power play on its head each and every time you encounter it. I
have not had a one weenie wagging where I have not turned it into trauma
for the weenie wagger since that day at the Vancouver Folk Festival back
in oh, 1979? I am not saying you should endanger yourself by doing this
where no one is around. The only way to make this work is if people are
around and could see it if attention is brought to it. Usually, since
they are in a public place, waiting to catch women walking by in public,
there are others nearby. The men count on our fear to keep silent. So if
people are near, just ANNOUNCING IT LOUDLY usually ends it quickly. And
you will end up leaving feeling empowered, instead of assaulted. It is
truly a great feeling to not fear weenie waggers anymore. And to actually
look forward to our encounters now as I ALWAYS win!

*****************************************

"The Complete Anti-School Site" Inspires Us All
by Kirsten Anderberg
<BR><a
href="http://www.angelfire.com/la3/kirstenanderberg">www.angelfire.com/la
3/kirstenanderberg</A>

<P>The "School Survival" site at <a
href="http://rise.f2o.org/schoolsurvival">http://rise.f2o.org/schoolsurvi
val</A>, run by a student from South Africa, boasts it is "The Complete
Anti-School Site." She began the site in 1999 when she became
disappointed in her school and protested its policies. The site hosts a
lot of good information, and as an adult, who has not been in high school
for almost 30 years, I still found myself laughing outloud at some of the
things available through this site. 

<P>One page had a list of "insanely stupid class fun," which included
many creative and bizarre things I am sure I would have utilized when I
was in high school had I thought of them, or stumbled on a list like
this. I remember thinking if they were going to hold me hostage in school
and treat me like an idiot, I would act like an idiot and have fun. So, I
remember this mindset well. The problem was that much of school was rote
memory for tests and mandatory attendance for funding quotas, and
institutionalized views that did not encourage discussion or thinking,
really. I did fine when you gave me the book to read, some folks to
discuss it with, and/or let me write about it myself. But hold me hostage
for hours with nothing to do, discussing the obvious basics of things,
with unchallenging teachers, and it was hard. Some highlights on the list
of "Insanely stupid class fun" things to do were:
<BR><UL><LI> Change seats every time the teacher turns his/her back 
<LI> After the teacher explains something,  laugh really loud and say
"Oh, now I get it!" 
<LI> Lick yourself clean like a cat does 
<LI> After the teacher has explained something, say "Quite right, old
bean" in the typical old english style 
<LI> Sing your questions to the class 
<LI> When the teacher calls roll, after each name scream "THAT'S
MEEEEE!!! Oh, no, sorry." 
<LI> Page through the textbook scratching each picture and sniffing it 
<LI> Address the teacher as "your honour" 
<LI> Sit in the front, sniff suspiciously, and ask the teacher if he's
been drinking 
<LI> Present the teacher with a large fruit basket 
<LI> Claim that you wrote the class text book 
<LI> Stand to ask questions. Bow deeply before taking your seat after the
teacher answers 
<LI> Laugh loudly at everything the teacher says. Be sure to snort and
make weird noises while you laugh 
<LI> Tell your teacher that you don't do homework, because of your
religion 
<LI> Ask questions while trying not to use any nouns or make any sense.
ex: I have a question: When you said that we should get that thing over
there with the stuff on it, did you mean the thing that, you know, had
the stuff with the (mumbles) . . . over there. . . .Well, do you? (nsrt) 
<LI> While taking a test get up about halfway through and point at the
teacher or one of your peers and scream "You ruined christmas" and then
storm out of the room slamming the door on your way out.
(ScottBaioFan)</UL> 

<P>Another highlight of the site was the page "How to effectively waste
time." These tactics could be as effectively applied at minimum wage jobs
you do not care about as well. Here are some of the highlights from that
page:
<BR><UL><LI> Collect school notices (stuff that gets sent to teachers
with info on meetings, etc). Make your own ones that look similar, and
distribute to teachers. If you can forge the principal's signature even
better....Like tell certain teachers you hate, that times have changed,
and that they don't have a class (when they do). They either won't show
up, or will get confused and go ask, which will make the principal
confused, which will make everyone confused....There, you've successfully
confused everyone.  Feel proud :) You can take this further and make
notices saying there's no school on a specific day for whatever reason.
<LI> Use a phone, before class, call the school and ask to speak to the
teacher you have next period. Say it's urgent. If you're a good talker
you can keep him/her busy for a long time...
<LI> When there is a sub and as usual dont want to do jacksquat, have
someone raise your (or a friend's) hand and say you or your friend lost a
contact lense. The sub SHOULD agree and have the class help you find it.
All you got to do is pretend to look. Before you know it class is
over.</UL> 

<P>The woman running this fantastic webpage is constantly exhibiting
incredible levels of responsiblity, saying things like "There used to be
other things like gluing the teacher's coffee cup to the desk, or putting
slimy stuff on doorknobs on this page as well, but I removed those.
Things like that may waste a bit of time (like, 5 seconds), but are
likely to piss the teacher off, who will then be less likely to tolerate
less irritating things afterward, like the stuff on this page."

<P>The site also includes a "School Protest Guide." She says "If some new
rule or regulation at your school is pissing you off, don't just ignore
it, do something. Here's what you can do..." She highlights a few steps
to protesting in school. "First of all, make sure that you're targeting
something specific. Protesting against school in general unfortunately
won't get you anywhere (except in trouble most likely). If it's a certain
teacher that's causing your problems, protest against that teacher. If
it's a new rule, protest the rule." She also says, "Make sure you have
enough support." She recommends you start peacefully with a petition
given to the school administration outlining the complaint. But when that
doesn't work, she suggests a strike be threatened and facilitated, if
necessary. She suggests all stay away from school for a day in protest.
She suggests going to the press with letters, calls to local TV and print
news, etc. And her good advice continues, "Make sure you explain very
clearly why you're protesting." She points out if it is a rule you are
protesting, you can just ignore it en masse. The guide contains a section
on walkouts, with guidance on picking a cause, finding a high profile
place, time and date, and spreading the word. She recommends reading her
Avoiding Punishment page, which reminds students, "The more students who
work together in a walkout/protest/civil disobedience, the less possible
it is to punish them. As soon as you have a large number of students
doing something, you can see how little power the school administration
really has over students." She continues, "The school administration can
however punish the organizers of a walkout/protest, in the hopes of
discouraging students from organizing such things in future. But they can
only punish them if they know who they are."

<P>The site also has basic instructions on making a zine, i.e., write
stuff down, lay it out, print it up, distribute it. And a page of true
stories from student protesters. The issues they protested include not
participating in the pledge of allegiance, the issue of school uniforms
in classrooms, school funding cuts, ...She has a page entitled, "Disobey
and Resist - How to disobey teachers and resist their authority,
hopefully without getting yourself in trouble." She offers some
interesting cheating tips, like tapping pencils or coughing in Morse
Code, the "Team Effort," where 1-2 distract the teacher while another 2
cheat, and the odd Lip Balm on the Scantron tip! Her site also hosts
discussions on abortion, conformity, "Christians who disgrace
Christianity," marijuana, racism, the death penalty, violent games, the
Middle East Conflict, etc. The site also hosts news and editorials.

<P>I, honestly, was quite impressed by this website. I would have LOVED
it as a high school student. It reminds me of Abbie Hoffman's "Revolution
for the Hell of It." It had enough silliness and fun to lighten up the
heavy topics, and I appreciated the creative approach to things. I liked
her clear guidance on how and what to protest, I like the material she is
offering and sharing on the web. I recommend this site. It is amusing,
informative, educational, and makes you want to go have fun right away.

*********************************************

When I ask all my street performer friends why they think there are so
few career solo women street performers, they all hint to the sexual
safety issue. So, as a visible, veteran, solo woman street performer for
27 years, I thought I would tell ya my take on it...

************************************************************************

<P>WOMEN STREET PERFORMERS AND SEXUAL SAFETY
<BR>By Kirsten Anderberg  
<a
href="http://www.angelfire.com/la3/kirstenanderberg">www.angelfire.com/la
3/kirstenanderberg</A>

<P>Everyone agrees street performing, or “busking,” is hard work. Someone
once said about acting, that they do not pay you for the acting, they pay
you for the waiting around. That is true in busking, too. Performing
talent is about 30% of a good street act. The ability to persevere under
harsh conditions, to battle police and merchants over air space, to
assert free speech rights at every corner as they are questioned, to
spontaneously gather and hold a crowd, and to keep up with hecklers,
makes the profession a die-hard one, at best. You spend little time on
musical rehearsal, as compared to holding your place in line for a good
spot, or “pitch,” and then defending that pitch from police when they
show up to shut you down. Street performing is not for the weak. And
being a solo woman street performer has extra unseen entanglements, due
to societal gender stereotypes.

<P>American society traditionally wanted women to be seen, and not heard.
The “Ideal Woman” was dependant upon men “for her keep,” like a slave,
serving males like royalty. She had a natural nurturing instinct that
made her clean and cook as if it was innate, and she enjoyed childcare as
her primary goal in life. Women were not to be sexual in any realm,
except for procreation, and as her husband’s sexual property, as defined
in our rape laws. Women did not need to vote, read, attend college, or be
involved with property, politics, or money, was the idea. Solo woman
street performers directly conflict with these “ideals.” They make their
own money, they are loud and independent, they speak their mind, they
talk about politics, they compete with the boys, sometimes stealing the
spotlight with women’s issues, and they encourage other women to do the
same, as visible role models in the public square. 

<P>If you are a woman breaking gender roles by commanding street corners
for entertainment, your safest bet is to sing sad love songs, depicting
yourself as lovelorn and lost, still looking for a man to save you. Or as
Joni Mitchell sings, “There’s a wide, wide world of noble causes…but all
I really want to do right now is find another lover.” Although people are
uncomfortable with your use of the street venue, as a woman, they are
consoled by the material, which fits the female stereotypes and keeps a
male focus. When I began street performing at age 18 in 1978, I followed
these gender rules. I had a confident stage presence and strong voice,
yet I sang about needing a man, and of men who left me heartbroken. One
day a male street performer came up to me and said, “Is love all you can
sing about?” It made me take notice of what men sang about. They sang
about sex, and getting drunk and high. They were singing about traveling,
and wars, and whaling, and politics. And about trying to stay away from
women who would marry them. They were not singing forlorn love songs. 

<P>Holly Near had released a song called “Get Off Me Baby” around this
time. She said she liked singing blues, but hated blues because the
lyrics usually victimized the women. So she wrote the song where the
woman is empowered, and the difference was marked. Immediately I saw the
power in taking traditional forms of music, and twisting them to empower,
rather than victimize, the women. Often, sadly, it was as easy as
switching the genders in songs, to make the woman end up the victor. By
pushing these boundaries, I found out that sexist double-standards exist,
double-standards that you may never see if you were not actually a solo
woman street performer yourself. I began to sing “Summertime,” as “Your
mama’s rich, and your daddy’s good looking,” as one of my first gender
lyric switches. I began to focus on issues that were relevant to me, as a
woman and mother. While the men were singing about balling all night, I
was singing about men’s responsibilities in birth control and child
support, and was developing lesbian comedy. Many people felt I should be
jailed for such behavior in public.

<P>I have asked many street performers, male and female, why they think
there are so few solo women street performers. Predominantly, women
buskers show up with a male street performer they date, play with them
until they break up, and that is the end of their busking career. A very
small handful of women can, and continue to, perform as professional solo
women street performers in America. The ratio of male to female solo
career buskers is about 90:10. The most common reason buskers gave me for
why they think women do not busk solo is a fear of rape, basically. They
are afraid it would be construed as “asking for it” if they sang on a
street and then were raped later. They fear they will be mistaken for
prostitutes, the way male performers can be mistaken for “bums.” Yet I
found I was safer than most women I know in downtown areas I busked in,
because I knew the street people, and they treated me as an asset to
their world. Street people protected me from harmful people, intervening,
explaining I give good free music, so to leave me alone. But the main
reason women tend to avoid performing on the streets alone is this sexual
safety issue.

<P>If women are scared doing male-centered, meek love songs on the
street, imagine the fear in doing a sexy Bessie Smith song out on a
street corner as a woman. Men perform songs about their sexuality freely
in public, but those gender stereotypes kick in hard and fast as soon as
women start singing freely about their sexuality in public! Especially if
it leaves men out altogether, as in lesbian comedy. I found that men’s
jokes about women’s genitals were accepted, even by families. No one
noticed. That is what men do. But you make a joke about men’s genitals as
a woman performer on the street, and the police are there within minutes!
Testing these boundaries, I decided to sing sexy songs covered by Maria
Muldaur and Bonnie Raitt, et al, instead of sad love songs by Joni
Mitchell. I began to get large, clapping, stomping crowds like the men
got. No longer was I surrounded by hippie men who wanted me to join their
cult, or hippie “chicks” who could “relate, man.” Respect for me doubled
among my male performer peers. Ironically, I felt even more safe on the
streets after asserting my sexuality in my music, like the men. I felt
more like a rapist’s dream with the meek singing act, than as an
in-control, bawdy, woman. 

<P>But singing about sex with men, in songs like “Women Be Wise,” still
does not rock the boat, as it is still male-centered. Issues of
pregnancy, birth control, child care, women’s sexual fulfillment, and
lesbianism, DO rock the boat. Until the insertion of feminist material
into my act, all loved me. No one cared if men balled all night, or if
women cried in longing all night. But singing about women having sex
together with other women all night, and not crying over men, was
suspected criminal activity! Not only were authorities called in, but my
own male performer peers backed up in confusion too.
I received 8 “peace disturbance/obscenity” tickets in Santa Cruz, Ca. for
busking. This happened while the famous busker Artis, the Spoonman, was
screaming, “Give Me Back My Foreskin!” in his street performances up the
street. I was ticketed for the word “penis,” when I said in my act, “What
do you get when you cross a penis with a potato? A dictator.” I got
another ticket for the word “bitch” in a song lyric saying, “Girls have
got to act a certain way, or else, they ain’t A-OK, always be willing,
never get mad, or they call us bitch, they tell us we’re bad.”
Interestingly, that same song was later used in Seattle, Wa., at the Pike
Place Market, as potential grounds for banning my performances there. The
double-standard for obscenity on the streets for men and women became
painfully apparent after I fought off 8 obscenity tickets with the ACLU
in Santa Cruz, and attended hearings to fight for my free speech rights
in Seattle. 
   
<P>After seeing that double-standard, my whole performing career came
into focus. Police are present to reinforce societal norms, and the
status quo. And it is not clear where the status quo stands on solo women
street performers. Much less, solo women street performers who make fun
of the sacred male genitalia, and talk about women-centered sexuality and
other dangerous feminist issues. Some would ban solo women street
performers altogether if they could. Some have tried that with me. Others
would allow solo women street performers, but would censor their material
to be male-centered. That has been tried on me too. In 1989, I was so
sick of being hassled by police for performing, I put on a nun’s habit,
thinking it would confuse the public. I was not sure if the public would
side with a cop or a nun, but I found the nun’s habit effectively
intimidated police. I have not been ticketed once since I have performed
as a nun, and I can do material that is MUCH more racy than I ever did
before! My journey as a street performer continues on, but it is a
different journey than my predominantly male peers’, for many reasons.
The biggest reason being the lingering gender stereotypes in our society.





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