The Dyxploitation Manifesto
From the relentlessly awesome Dyxploitation website:
Entertainment is not a frivolous thing. If it were there wouldn't be so many people devoted to censoring it. Popular entertainment can revolutionize society, can foment social upheaval, can change people's way of thinking. Popular culture influences modes of dress, adds catch phrases to the language, is routinely referred to. Entertainment provides escapism, even happiness for a lot of people. For these reasons entertainment is more valuable, or at least more influential than fine art. We dykes want to have entertainment created with us in mind. Without any media presence we are invisible. But there is a problem. Since our very existence is offensive, we find ourselves on the list of things to be censored. Our systematic exclusion from TV and mainstream films proves that entertainment is not frivolous. It is accessible to all, which is why we are excluded.
Let's face it, media images of women are pathetic. Female characters are mostly props and/or plot devices used to propel the male characters. There is the wife/girlfriend/daughter who is raped/killed/kidnapped and that event inspires the big man into action. In drama, there is the supportive wife/girlfriend who nurtures his greatness or the nagging wife/girlfriend who thwarts his noble efforts. In comedy, women can either be the butt of the joke or the on-screen laugh track. Of course, in every genre there's always the fantasy babe who falls hopelessly in love with some guy who's a total schmuck and 30 years older to boot. A fashionable television concept is the self-loathing straight woman, desperate for a man. There's nothing in there for us. Lesbian characters can't fit into those slots so we remain unseen.
The rare appearance of a lesbian character blows the whole formula. That's why Ellen was cancelled. Even the blatantly mega-dyke spectacle of the WNBA is ridiculously closeted. We have to search and sift through popular entertainment trying to find some evidence we exist. Often we are grateful for any little crumb that befalls us: some coded glance, some double entendre remark, some hinty, winking reference. When we find one we are ecstatic. It's truly sad to see us get so worked up over piddling crumbs. Ellen said she's - wink wink - Lebanese, and then Rosie O'Donnell said she too might be - hint hint - Lebanese. Wow! Xena looked at Gabrielle teary-eyed and said she was her - nudge nudge - best friend! Woo hoo! If we're going to have to do this, let's take it all the way. Until we really have our own shows and movies, let's just assume everyone is queer and that everything is created with our amusement in mind. Oprah said she just - hint hint- LOVES Toni Morrison. Oh yeah, mama! Kathie Lee Gifford... oh, baby! Hey, why not? Let's just claim everything for ourselves. If it's about a male/female couple, it's really an allegory about the butch/femme dynamic. Next time you watch TV, give it a try.
Exploitation is not a negative thing. It is the utilization of some commodity fully or advantageously. It is the marketing of something with the desires and needs of a target audience in mind. In entertainment it is giving the target audience what it wants. It is the manipulation of certain plot elements and conventions to produce the maximum amount of satisfaction to the most members of that target group. Exploitation movies are often criticized as trashy, but poor taste is an elitest concept. The best of these movies possess a subversive power that is undeniable.
A good model for us dykes is Blaxploitation. The 70's were ripe for Blaxploitation and right now is ripe for Dyxploitation. Blaxploitation movies gave a long neglected segment of society entertainment portraying black people in a way never before seen on screen. In these movies it's all about black people. Almost all of the main characters are black; the heroes, the villians, and everything in between. These characters are powerful. They're running things, dealing out justice with sawed-off shotguns, offing the pigs - all to the delight of the audience. These movies succeeded beyond anyone's expectation by attracting the kind of attention art house movies never could. They are still remembered and referred to today. Their trashiness is fun; their violence is cathartic; their message is "Don't fuck with me." All trashiness aside, that's a valuable message to get across.
Now is the time for DYXPLOITATION! Now is the time for the dyke movie to make the leap from art to entertainment; for us to become visible; for movies and shows about us to become widely distributed. Now is the time for us dykes to crash popular culture in a big way. While sensitive coming-out stories have their place, they don't attract a whole lot of attention. We need to stop worrying about what others think of us and make pictures that elicit a gut reaction. We need to stop thinking and get down and have some fun. Now is the time for the dyke action movie. Now is the time for the dyke softcore sex movie. Now is the time for the dyke horror movie. If society thinks we're threatening, let's give them something to be scared of: the screen image of kick-ass dykes. They think we're dangerous. They're right; we are. We need to show dykes running things, doing things, being things other than the sad sexless victim, or the dignified doormat. Now is the time for movies, TV shows, and plays to be about us; for us to have entertainment that we don't need to adapt and translate to make sense to us. Let the others do the translating for a change. Now, finally, it's all about us!
The Dyxploitation Six Point Platform
1. As dykes, we are members of a special, exclusive, and glamorous social subset. It doesn't matter if we are ugly, stupid, crack-addled, trashy, beyond idiotic, ignorant, criminal, insane, bitchy, drunk, or just plain unpleasant. We are still, at least, dykes.
2. As members of said glamorous social subset, it is safe to assume the whole world revolves around us.
3. We must be amused. Our satisfaction is of paramount importance.
4. By changing our perceptions of reality, reality will soon change to meet our perceptions.
5. Everyone is queer until proven otherwise.
6. By crashing popular culture with trashy, exploitative entertainment we will gain visibility, have fun, and scare people, which is always a good thing.
Entertainment is not a frivolous thing. If it were there wouldn't be so many people devoted to censoring it. Popular entertainment can revolutionize society, can foment social upheaval, can change people's way of thinking. Popular culture influences modes of dress, adds catch phrases to the language, is routinely referred to. Entertainment provides escapism, even happiness for a lot of people. For these reasons entertainment is more valuable, or at least more influential than fine art. We dykes want to have entertainment created with us in mind. Without any media presence we are invisible. But there is a problem. Since our very existence is offensive, we find ourselves on the list of things to be censored. Our systematic exclusion from TV and mainstream films proves that entertainment is not frivolous. It is accessible to all, which is why we are excluded.
Let's face it, media images of women are pathetic. Female characters are mostly props and/or plot devices used to propel the male characters. There is the wife/girlfriend/daughter who is raped/killed/kidnapped and that event inspires the big man into action. In drama, there is the supportive wife/girlfriend who nurtures his greatness or the nagging wife/girlfriend who thwarts his noble efforts. In comedy, women can either be the butt of the joke or the on-screen laugh track. Of course, in every genre there's always the fantasy babe who falls hopelessly in love with some guy who's a total schmuck and 30 years older to boot. A fashionable television concept is the self-loathing straight woman, desperate for a man. There's nothing in there for us. Lesbian characters can't fit into those slots so we remain unseen.
The rare appearance of a lesbian character blows the whole formula. That's why Ellen was cancelled. Even the blatantly mega-dyke spectacle of the WNBA is ridiculously closeted. We have to search and sift through popular entertainment trying to find some evidence we exist. Often we are grateful for any little crumb that befalls us: some coded glance, some double entendre remark, some hinty, winking reference. When we find one we are ecstatic. It's truly sad to see us get so worked up over piddling crumbs. Ellen said she's - wink wink - Lebanese, and then Rosie O'Donnell said she too might be - hint hint - Lebanese. Wow! Xena looked at Gabrielle teary-eyed and said she was her - nudge nudge - best friend! Woo hoo! If we're going to have to do this, let's take it all the way. Until we really have our own shows and movies, let's just assume everyone is queer and that everything is created with our amusement in mind. Oprah said she just - hint hint- LOVES Toni Morrison. Oh yeah, mama! Kathie Lee Gifford... oh, baby! Hey, why not? Let's just claim everything for ourselves. If it's about a male/female couple, it's really an allegory about the butch/femme dynamic. Next time you watch TV, give it a try.
Exploitation is not a negative thing. It is the utilization of some commodity fully or advantageously. It is the marketing of something with the desires and needs of a target audience in mind. In entertainment it is giving the target audience what it wants. It is the manipulation of certain plot elements and conventions to produce the maximum amount of satisfaction to the most members of that target group. Exploitation movies are often criticized as trashy, but poor taste is an elitest concept. The best of these movies possess a subversive power that is undeniable.
A good model for us dykes is Blaxploitation. The 70's were ripe for Blaxploitation and right now is ripe for Dyxploitation. Blaxploitation movies gave a long neglected segment of society entertainment portraying black people in a way never before seen on screen. In these movies it's all about black people. Almost all of the main characters are black; the heroes, the villians, and everything in between. These characters are powerful. They're running things, dealing out justice with sawed-off shotguns, offing the pigs - all to the delight of the audience. These movies succeeded beyond anyone's expectation by attracting the kind of attention art house movies never could. They are still remembered and referred to today. Their trashiness is fun; their violence is cathartic; their message is "Don't fuck with me." All trashiness aside, that's a valuable message to get across.
Now is the time for DYXPLOITATION! Now is the time for the dyke movie to make the leap from art to entertainment; for us to become visible; for movies and shows about us to become widely distributed. Now is the time for us dykes to crash popular culture in a big way. While sensitive coming-out stories have their place, they don't attract a whole lot of attention. We need to stop worrying about what others think of us and make pictures that elicit a gut reaction. We need to stop thinking and get down and have some fun. Now is the time for the dyke action movie. Now is the time for the dyke softcore sex movie. Now is the time for the dyke horror movie. If society thinks we're threatening, let's give them something to be scared of: the screen image of kick-ass dykes. They think we're dangerous. They're right; we are. We need to show dykes running things, doing things, being things other than the sad sexless victim, or the dignified doormat. Now is the time for movies, TV shows, and plays to be about us; for us to have entertainment that we don't need to adapt and translate to make sense to us. Let the others do the translating for a change. Now, finally, it's all about us!
The Dyxploitation Six Point Platform
1. As dykes, we are members of a special, exclusive, and glamorous social subset. It doesn't matter if we are ugly, stupid, crack-addled, trashy, beyond idiotic, ignorant, criminal, insane, bitchy, drunk, or just plain unpleasant. We are still, at least, dykes.
2. As members of said glamorous social subset, it is safe to assume the whole world revolves around us.
3. We must be amused. Our satisfaction is of paramount importance.
4. By changing our perceptions of reality, reality will soon change to meet our perceptions.
5. Everyone is queer until proven otherwise.
6. By crashing popular culture with trashy, exploitative entertainment we will gain visibility, have fun, and scare people, which is always a good thing.