The term ambivalent means uncertainty or fluctuation.
The problem with modern feminism is that you do have to know. You have to know what side you stand on in this ever-changing fight for equality.
Ambivalently Yours is an anonymous artist with a strong online persona based in Montreal. The anonymity wasn’t there in the beginnings, it started with the growth of popularity.
“The internet is kind of a volatile place, when I started this project I censored myself, the anonymity makes me braver and adds protection. “ said Ambivalently Yours.
“Pizza”
Her main mission through her online blog is to create a welcoming environment for feminists. Her clever drawings such as “Pizza”, show a female in her underwear eating pizza and in bright red letters it says “less starving more strutting.”
Her art bluntly speaks what the evolving world needs to hear.
It targets women’s issues and she responds to her fans with drawings as advice and creates a sense of community and a way to communicate, without having to use your words as the only form of expression.
Feminism has evolved since the era of Betty Friedan and Simone de Beauvoir. We have moved past the greater issues such as the right to vote and the right to not feel punished for having a successful career. But with modernity comes outrage; misogynists are in an utter panic.
“Feminism is a movement, not just a static thing, as society changes the movement grows.” said Ambivalently Yours.
This movement has come under attack because there is this sense that it is over or that we as females just want to “complain”, and that it can always be worse. But, why is that an excuse to stop trying and to stop creating content that does inspire others to fight for this movement?
“I hate that point of view, it becomes an excuse to not make things better.” said Ambivalently Yours.
We have to progress in steps, productivity just doesn’t happen. Her Tumblr site has gained a significant number of followers and this along with her blog is where she expresses her opinions and posts her art. This is where she can express her political opinion and “complain” about how we need to make things better.
We may be “complaining” but gender roles have been engrained in all of us. These roles that we as woman or men are supposed to play have stuck with us which makes us feel we are supposed to do certain things. We are supposed to birth a child than spend the rest of our lives taking care of it. Why? Because we don’t have the skills to go sit at a cubicle like a majority? A part of feminism is trying to break these roles so that there is no gender divide. The gender divide is also stimulated by targeted woman on woman hatred.
“The internalized misogyny is so ingrained in us and sometimes it comes out without us even realizing it and it makes us compete and it makes us tear each other down,” Ambivalently Yours said
Along with this feminist ideal have been lacking in the younger generation. “There has been an upswing in girls dressing in a really slutty manner we have worked hard to be taken seriously. They get their validation from looking like a hooker and there are consequences and that has become a disappointment for me,” 65-year-old feminist Lin Gitterman said. Generations have all experienced their “feminism” and what that word means for them. This isn’t to say that it does mean one thing or can represent one movement in time.
The US election brought on a movement of marches and displays of opinion; The Pink Parades were to spread this idea of equality among genders and to rally for respect. The parades brought together all ages, races, and genders. “I went to the rally at Place De Arts, it was great to be part of that with a lot of people coming together to resist these political forces is pretty impressive. I know there was a lot off criticism towards the pink pussy hats because it can be a bit transphobic. It’s not without its flaws but it was great to be there in the moment to experience that,” said Ambivalently Yours. These marches had an estimate 5000 people marching for the cause.
Ambivalently Yours is about community within the movement and this march brought together a wide range of people. Her art brings people together with her workshops and how she responds to her readers with art. Her advice can be interpreted since it isn’t a generic written response. It is more personal.
Feminists such as Ambivalently Yours strive to make equality a possibility by pushing the norms. This could mean displaying your art for the public or participating in a march to show how standing together can push the cause.
