how to develop a MASSIVE index finger: PROLOGUE

This is a realistic illustration of my right hand at present. How did I get here? Well the story starts last summer when we left the second year and were asked to choose a project for the following autumn. I chose the moving image project as the brief was very loose and mainly it suggested that one should go for something they feel STRONGLY about. And I do feel strongly about things, oh girl or boy, I do!

These are some pages from my sketchbook. Because I went for something I feel strongly about, my research grew and grew. I have never before done this much reseach into a subject. So what was it I felt and still feel this strongly about? Well it's the hyper sexualisation and gender stereotyping of our culture. The general opinion seems to be that there is no need for gender equality discussion, no need for feminism, as things are ok enough. People seem totally blind to growing exaggeration of gender differences. Where this trend is blatantly present is the world of childhood. Perhaps because everything happens in the name of market power, we are currently raising our daughters into super PINK fluff and boys into sexist machoes. And most worryingly there is not enough discussion over this. People critisising the current trend are seen as prudish and silly. But I am angry. I thought that things could only get more equal with time but we seem to have walked into a big sexist wall.
 

The media everywhere advertises the so called biological differences of sexes and based on these biologigal "facts" our culture cherishes extreme femininity and masculinity. The whole idea of influence of culture on ones development and behaviour have been pushed somewhere aside. All a girl can be is first of all pink, very very feminine, looks obsessed and sexy. Boys can not be anything like that,indeed, quite the opposite, more active- violent even- and definitely macho. Us so called equal grown ups try our best to mould the next generation into super tight gender types. How is this even possible!!!!! How did it turn out like this?

After obsessing over this giant subject I eventually needed to cool down a bit and direct my anger and ethusiasm into something concrete. I needed a simple enough idea for a short film. My good friend Miriam told me about this Swedish child called Pop who's parents refused to reveal Pop's gender to anyone but very close family members. This story had attracted big amount of media attention, mainly negative and concerned. The parents were accused of child abuse. Their behaviour was seen as unnatural and totally wrong for the child. But wait a second, what these parents wanted to do was PROTECT their child from the culture that suffocates anything that doesnt fit into it's strict models. Why the averige parent forcing a child into a tight gender type is not seen as child abuser? Maybe Pop's parents felt that in order to give their child equal opportunities in this EXTREME world they needed to take an extreme action.
So I chose Pop as the hero of my animation. I didn't know much about the real Pop but Pop seemed to tell my story very well.
 

But all this doesn't yet explain why I eventually developed a massive index finger. I guess I have to explain a bit more in the next posting...