Does anyone know this boy’s parents?
October 17, 2008
by The New Agenda
|116 Comments
The creator of the “Drill Baby Drill” pro-rape rap video is named Ezra Stead. He’s a film student at Minneapolis Community and Technical College, working on an Associate Degree.
Ezra Stead works as a cashier at the Riverview Theater, 3800 42nd Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55406. Phone: 612-729-7360.
Ezra Stead’s email (stedrazed333@yahoo.com)
Note: all information came from the MySpace page of the individual in question.
- that is just fantastic work! of course copies of the video need to be sent to Mom and Dad and many of the neighbors too. If child molestors have to register and people have the right to notify others of their presence, why shouldn’t neighbors be alerted to the presence of a male who advocates raping women? Would you want him hanging around one of your daughters/nieces/sisters/aunts/granddaughters/girlfriends? Talk about the need for boot-to-the-groin therapy, it would be applied by most men I know.
This is from the terms of use at MySpace:
“Content/Activity Prohibited.
The following is a partial list of the kind of Content that is illegal or prohibited to post on or through the MySpace Services. MySpace.com reserves the right to investigate and take appropriate legal action against anyone who, in MySpace.com’s sole discretion, violates this provision, including without limitation, removing the offending communication from the MySpace Services and terminating the Membership of such violators. Prohibited Content includes, but is not limited to Content that, in the sole discretion of MySpace.com:
1. is patently offensive and promotes racism, bigotry, hatred or physical harm of any kind against any group or individual;
2. harasses or advocates harassment of another person;
3. exploits people in a sexual or violent manner;
4. contains nudity, violence, or offensive subject matter or contains a link to an adult website;”
Is it time to barrage MySpace with complaints? YouTube removed it from their site when we flagged it.
Wow! I’m impressed you found this info.
I really like that you post people’s email so that we can contact them for their role in sexism…. but I think it is a bit much to post other personal information, where they work for example. Why post this?
I have invited Phil Davis, the president of Minneapolis Community and Technical College to come here and comment on his student’s work. He will be out of his office until next Tuesday, but let’s see if he comes when he gets back. I have also filed a complaint at MySpace asking for Ezra’s account there to be closed.
All in October – the note below the information states that all information came from his website.
Note: all information came from the MySpace page of the individual in question.
Samanthasmom – I am curious if Phil Davis shows up to make a comment. I’m glad you extended the invitation!
Ali,
At first I thought the same thing, but this is what we need. this is the activism that we need. Men do this to Feminists all the time, and it is about time we do the same.
Phewww I feel mortified about all those things that Ezra put in that video. To think that he and I used to pray together in Grammar school. Jeez. I guess you never know. Any of you who have not seen the video you should become well informed and know what we are up against. While it is crude it is cunning. Almost in a way he uses similar tactics to my favorite Fox News anchors. So it is important that we learn what makes this appealing to people so we can know how to counteract it.
I have to say that I missed the pro-rape aspect of it… it seemed that he implied it was all consensual. Does anyone know if he can claim immunity under parody/satire laws? Those tricky liberals and their legal loopholes for free speech.
I am the creator of “One Serious Joke” aka “Drill Baby Drill” and I would like to join your forum in order to respond to those who accuse me of being “pro-rape,” etc. and who apparently feel it is a good use of their time to increase my internet presence (which is what you’re doing by supplying a link to the video) while simultaneously implicitly encouraging violence against me by posting the address of my workplace for anyone interested in applying “boot-to-the groin therapy” to me on the premises of a community movie theatre. The video in question has gotten over ten times as many views as anything else I’ve posted on MySpace, thanks in no small part to this forum. It is also interesting to me that a supposedly progressive organization like yours is so quick to censor anything that they find offensive. I am extremely far from being pro-rape, and nowhere in my admittedly tasteless work do I condone it. The “rape-culture” vocabulary and imagery I employ in the video is satirical in nature; the overall concept is a sick joke similar to that of using perhaps the most anti-feminist woman in history as a political tool to win the votes of American women. Despite your obviously pro-censorship agenda, I hope you are at least fair-minded enough to allow me to respond to my hate-mail on your forum.
I hear what you’re all saying about this video. I can’t say I like all the images or graphic descriptions, but as a fellow film studies student, acquaintance of Ezra’s, and a feminist woman, I’d ask you to reassess your actions.
Firstly, this song/video is called satire. No offense, but this is why I have to explain to my college age guy friends that not all feminists are angry, humorless women. Ezra is commenting on the way that we as women allow ourselves to be ruled by white men who don’t care about us past the pleasure we can give them.
Secondly, just because YOU wouldn’t want to have sex with him, does NOT mean this song is advocating rape. Please, site me a line in the lyrics in which he says he’s going to have sex with these women against their will. Stop calling him a rapist. It just makes you look as closed minded as the women-haters in Washington.
And lastly, if this “New Agenda” of your’s means taking part in trying to censor a young artist, I for one want no part in it.
I have made a point of not watching that video because I don’t want to be triggered — but can anyone tell me basically (but non-graphically) what’s in it? Thanks.
P.S. My parents are well aware of the video and can see it on their own, but I appreciate your continued efforts to spread the word.
Ezra doesn’t even know what satire is. He’s not just pro-rape, he’s also a moron. And I love all the d00ds out there who suddenly know what feminism is all about just so they can call Palin an antifeminist. Because all real feminists are about, evidently, is making women and girls and babies easier for men to fuck.
Ezra Stead loves him some rape.
There’s a line drawn between satire and hate Ezra, and you’re the perfect example of our raison d’etre i.e. that our society tolerates an untolerably high level of sexism. What does it say about a society that it’s ok to depict such degradation of women and hide behind the excuse that it is satire? We certainly have drawn the line about racism and what is acceptable. It’s time to do that about sexism. And if you can’t see the sense and difference in it, please tell us how to educate people like you. You may have a sister, and you are likely to have daughters and grandaughters someday. Is this the kind of world you want to show them that they will have to deal with?
This latest comment has brought a smile to my face. In the same post “Rich” calls me a moron and then proceeds to spell “dude” with two zeros and say, “Ezra Stead loves him some rape.” Perhaps I am mistaken about the tenets of feminism, but Palin’s desire to take abortion rights away from all American women (except of course her daughter Bristol, who, Palin is quick to remind everyone, made the choice to keep her baby of her own volition) doesn’t seem to fit. For those of you who have trouble interpreting rap lyrics, this is what the line “I wanna give you more protection than a pearl necklace” refers to. My guess is the subsequent line, “We’ll see if they’re still pro-life when I get up in ‘em” is the source of all this “pro-rape” nonsense, which implies that the only reason a woman would be pro-choice is if she had been raped. That’s your sick minds at work, not mine.
Ezra, perhaps you or one of your friends would consider posting the lyrics, and then we could discuss the precise ways in which your piece degrades and objectifies ALL women, not just your intended targets, and thereby promotes hatred and violence towards women.
I’m sorry that you feel some discomfort about being attacked in your place of employment. On behalf of The New Agenda, we deplore violence and would instead advocate non-violent protest of offensive materials such as your video.
Please consider that, while you believe yourself to be a brilliant satirist, there is virtually no way to distinguish your “satire” from straightforward, intentional hate speech directed at women. I do find your claim to satire somewhat disingenuous, given the clip from your student film, “The City”, which, though now removed from your MySpace page, included misogyny equivalent to that found in your rap video. In fact, the clip contained little else.
I invite you to give this article a read: http://www.womensenews.org/art.....xt/archive and perhaps reconsider the rationale behind your piece. Give some thought to what it is that creates a culture of violence in which women are disproportionately victimized, and how your work fits into that.
I also question Mr. “Rich”’s own views toward rape, since he infers that I have sexual inclinations toward “girls and babies” – again, your sick mind, not mine.
“perhaps the most anti-feminist woman in history”?
Let’s see: Sarah Palin is a self-described feminist who believes in equal opportunity, equal pay, equal access, Title IX. She explicitly avows her belief in gender equality and is raising her children with those values. She does differ with mainstream feminism on choice, but she has given no indication that she would impose her beliefs on others. In fact, in her interviews it is abundantly clear that she understands and respects other women’s pro-choice views.
The “most anti-feminist woman in history?” Sounds like Ezra doesn’t know much history.
But even if it were true, even if Sarah Palin were an antifeminist monster, she still wouldn’t deserve the treatment Ezra is clearly eager to mete out. Freedom from oppression and discrimination is a basic human right, not a privilege you earn by belonging to the right political party. Or at least, that’s how it’s supposed to be. But not if Ezra and his friends get their way.
Ezra—-you aren’t responding to anyone except Rich. We’d like some feedback please.
Cynthia and Dawn C. -
You raise valid points and it is precisely that “line between satire and hate” that I am intentionally walking. I would say that a society in which “it’s ok to depict such degradation of women and hide behind the excuse that it is satire” can be said to be a free society, just as said society is free to put out Valerie Solanas’s “SCUM Manifesto” as a feminist classic, or allow Chappelle’s Show (which employs several Caucasian writers) to make satirical use of racial stereotypes. I am not comparing myself to Solanas or Chappelle any more than I am making claims of being “a brilliant satirist,” but the fact remains that this is a humorous work, and humor will always be subjective. I have personally been offended by numerous things in my lifetime that I also found funny, and I hope that at least a few of the minds behind this website are open and complex enough to be capable of the same. Apparently, as the title of this blog indicates, words only have great power if they are words you don’t like; if this situation were reversed, would a title like “Does anyone know this CHICK’s parents” be acceptable? The tone of that title, as well as the overall content of the comments on this page, only serves to show the rampant conservatism of this “new agenda” you are promoting. For those of you who don’t know, this group has overtly distanced themselves from NOW (National Organization for Women) bcause NOW is pro-choice!!! So take that into account when you see them attacking me for sexism in my obviously pro-choice (and, again, admittedly tasteless) work, in much the same way that I am “hiding” behind the barriers of free speech and satire.
In the interest of continuing this debate fairly, here are the lyrics to the song, as requested. Feel free to point out to me exactly where I advocate rape and any other concerns you might have, and I will do my best to explain:
Yeah, I fucked Sarah Palin, but she paled in comparison to Barbara’s Bush -Back to the left like Jim Garrison!Tipper Gore tipped the scales so I flipped the whore! Made her listen to Prince while I dicked her on the floor! I’ll make you rethink that abstinence-only! Doggystyle Ann Coulter like her ass isn’t bony! Condoleeza, please just bend ya tush! Are you down for a threesome with Jenna Bush? Fuck it, bring Laura too! I’m implorin’ you to part with the old-fashioned ways – Explore the new! Maybe if these fucks would kill their unborn babies, I wouldn’t see so much of Bristol Palin lately! Ladies, please don’t think this shit is sexist; I wanna give you more protection than a pearl necklace! This is for all my conservative women: we’ll see if they still pro-life when I get up in ‘em! Drill, baby, drill! Put ya legs up in the air! Drill, baby, drill! I deep-stroke your derriere! Drill, baby, drill! In ya face and in ya hair! Drill, baby, drill! My crude oil everywhere! Isn’t it feminist to concede all our choices to rich white men who wanna speak with our voices? Greed and hypocrisy attached to your fortunes; I wanna give your mothers retroactive abortions! I’m all for the first female Vice-President; just not a backwards Alaskan backwoods resident! The money they got, I couldn’t begin to complain -I’d just buy me a trophy wife like Cindy McCain! Splinter ya frame with my dick in ya brain! What a shame – they wanna give my cock-blizzard a name? On ya lawn, “pro-choice” should be written in flame! Overpopulation, bitch -get with the game! Pitiful lames don’t see the big picture and blame me for being the messenger! In history’s name, I’ll rip the frame off ya oval office -I’m just curious! Put a smile on ya twat -Why so serious?
Elinor,
Many of us are angry, humorless women, and we got that way from years of dealing with men like Ezra. If you ever figure out what being a feminist really is, you’ll be angry and humorless when you’re our age, too. Or you can help make things change. You could start by no longer being an apologist for misogynists.
Violet Socks -
In all the Sarah Palin interviews I’ve seen, it is not abundantly clear to me that she is not out to impose her own Christian views on the issue of abortion on all women; in fact, quite the opposite. Regardless of that, I certainly agree that all people should be free of “oppression and discrimination” no matter what their party choice or religious, social, and political beliefs. I find it nothing short of hilarious that you imply that me and my fascist friends are out to oppress women one music video at a time. This is an argument that has been leveled at Hip-Hop since its inception, and which has always been mainly due to the content of music videos. It is this classic debate that I am attempting to satirize right along with Ms. Palin and her “self-proclaimed feminist” cohorts whose ridiculous PC agenda seems to have taken root on this very website. Clearly you are all complex enough to support equal rights for women while still being in favor of censorship, yet unfortunately you lack the complexity to laugh at (or at least brush off) obvious jokes at the expense of your chosen cause. The overriding argument against my video’s satirical legitimacy seems to be that, whether it’s funny or not, it promotes negative attitudes toward women. Yet, by starting this forum, complete with a link to the video, you are creating more publicity for it and thereby ensuring that more people will be affected by its “pro-rape” content. You know what they say: no such thing as bad publicity. And of course: fuck ‘em if they can’t take a joke.
I thought Ezra an odd choice of criticism when I first looked at this. I mean, the web is full of similar videos of similarly dubious quality, making similar sentiments. And I was frankly a little disturbed that you published personal information about the student in question. But the more I think about the issue, the more I support the move.
Ezra thinks he can get away with posting such sexist trash because he’s doing it under the guise of a pseudo-progressive perspective. What feminist is going to dress him down for criticizing conservative right-to-lifers? In my mind, this is what differentiates The New Agenda from other organizations – you’re not willing to collude with the promulgation of such sexist garbage merely because the new age misogynist who created it payed lip service to traditional feminist causes.
So kudos to the staff at The New Agenda blog, and shame on Ezra Stead – your mother would be mortified, I’m sure. You should pay attention to that, and if you’re willing to be honest with yourself for a minute, ask yourself why that is.
And drop the persecuted “artist” schtick – nobody’s buying it, and in your heart, you know it’s bullshit anyway.
Well, the definition of “art” is always in debate, but I think it’s amusing how easily all you anonymous folks out there drop knowledge about my mother and other things about my life that you should really just stay out of. I made a music video – I didn’t rape or murder anyone. As for “traditional feminist topics,” everything I’ve said in both the song and this forum is my own opinion and beliefs, whether they are part of the “new agenda” or not, and I am not paying lip service to anyone.
Progressive politics is a pretext for Ezra Stead’s fantasies of rape and of violent penetration. A raging misogynist and Obama supporter, he believes he knows more about feminism than the women who have had to endure oppression. This fantasy of colonizing the feminine is clearly the result of traumatic traces that lie embedded in Ezra’s unconscious. But even worse, the retroactively constituted memories of trauma that motivate these his misogynistic impulses also fuel his unrestrained sense of entitlement. Because he believes he has been abused, he believes he can abuse the Other. This heteroagression also surfaces in his decision to berate members of this forum for discussing and analyzing his debased predilections and proclivities. A clear menace to society, Ezra should seek the help of a therapist. This, I believe, would be more to his benefit than creating sexist and racist videos online. And yes, they are racist, for Ezra reinscribes the trope of the virulent black man in his rape video. That too is obviously a symptom of his castration anxiety, for nothing threatens the white man more than the specter of the black penis.
While Ezra’s phantasms are cultural and therefore overdetermined, I still view his behavior as pathological.
Ezra, so long as we’re talking about your beliefs, it’s crystal clear that one of the things you believe is that disagreement with someone is ample justification for subjecting them to the most offensive objectification and shaming you can muster. Also clear is that sexual objectification and sexual shaming with language and imagery that connotes rape is okey dokey, so long as you feel your cause is sufficiently just.
As an artist with feminist sensitivities, would you care to provide some perspective on how this is not an attitude that reinforces rape culture?
Oh, and what was your justification for including Tipper Gore in your victim’s list? Has she made some statement about right-to-life I’m not aware of?
Samanthasmom,
I didn’t realize any members of New Agenda knew Ezra, or anything about him past this video. I am sorry if your dealings with him have not been as pleasant as mine.
Oh, you’ve never met him? Hmm.
Also, please do not assume that because I am young and have a sense of humor I have never had to deal with misogyny. I have seen plenty of it, a lot more then some people could handle, and my mom taught me one of the best ways to deal with it is to laugh. I am sorry for you that no one ever gave you such sound advice. I wouldn’t be here if she hadn’t.
Contrary to popular belief (on this site), just because I don’t agree with your conservative view of feminism, doesn’t mean I don’t know what ‘being a feminist really is’. If Sarah “take-away-my-rights” Palin can be a ’self identified feminist,’ as Violet Socks points out, then I should have that right as well, shouldn’t I?
I think Ezra has defended his points on satire and the fact that he is anti-rape sufficiently, so I won’t go into it again. Either you think it’s funny or you don’t. I could care less.
What really bothers me is the way this group took it upon itself to censor someone they never met. Is that what being a feminist really is? Because in my family being a feminist means men and women having equal rights. And in our country, Freedom of Speech is a right. I wonder if you and your crew have worked to put a stop to any of the countless music videos in which women work to further the misogyny thrust upon them by our society, no satire involved; videos such as Black Eyed Peas ‘My Hump’ or Lil Kim’s ‘How Many Licks.’ Is it OK because their women? I would argue that main stream women destroying women are the people you should go after before some no name kid from the mid-west (no offense Ezra).
But I guess that would mean going after your girl, Palin, wouldn’t it?
Peace.
elinor,
girl is a derogatory term. i recommend you refer to sarah palin as a woman. and regarding your friend, i just telephoned his workplace, and i explained that i cannot view films in a dark theater knowing a man who harbors rape fantasies is lurking about.
and by the way, there is a difference between satire and reification. and yes, your little friend merely reified misogyny and sexism in his violent rape video.
This little pig is an excellent argument for birth control. His parents should be ashamed at what they raised. I hope they didn’t produce any more like him.
satin.sheets -
That is some excellent psychobabble. Perhaps you’re right. By the way, can I use your quote “a clear menace to society” on my next album?
fieldingbandolier -
The Tipper Gore line “made her listen to Prince while I dicked her on the floor” refers to the PMRC (Parent’s Music Resource Center), the censorship group that she started in responsive to the Prince song “Darling Nikki,” which subsequently led to the Parental Advisory stickers on CDs that can still be seen today. She may be affiliated with the Democratic party, but she’s still conservative.
I don’t have to meet this boy to “understand” him. And you can call anything art, even excrement. So don’t expect to drape yourself in the first amendment and be shielded from criticism. Apart from the misogyny and disrespect, this kid’s “art” is just an angry adolescent fantasy set to drum machine. Boo, hoo, your address was posted – call “Joe the Plumber” to complain about your newfound notariety. And all he did was ask a question……
You can call it art, ezra, but you’d better keep your day job at the copy shop.
stained.sheets (cont’d) -
Oh, so it was you. I was looking in “stephaniesmom”’s direction on that one. If I get fired, feel free to see it as a victory. By the way, if “girl is a derogatory term,” how do y’all justify the ridiculous title of this blog? I also find it appalling how many personal attacks have been levied against me and my family, while many of you are apparently above even posting links to your own e-mail addresses. Your attempts to get me fired are clearly way more fascist than anything I’ve done, and your behavior indicates that you are nothing more than a coward hiding behind your overzealous support for your cause.
Ezra,
No, you may not. Besides, you are talentless, and I doubt you will ever publish an album. And yes, I am correct. Perhaps this explains your vituperative response to my incisive comments.
You clearly desire to revolt against a society you feel has slighted you. Why else do you desire to distribute your crude oil across every visible surface?
You are in serious need of psychiatric help.
Elinor, Darlin’:
Two words: Spell check.
Ezra, I suspected as much – that you were less concerned with the issues you were using as justification for your misogynistic sentiments than you were looking for an excuse to voice them.
Care to address the rest of my comment?
Elinor,
If your mother told you to laugh when you’re faced with misogyny, then she gave you very bad advice. That’s like giving an alcoholic a drink. You are an enabler. As far as censorship goes, Ezra signed an agreement with YouTube and MySpace which forbids uploading material that does not meet their standards. We are simply bringing his work to their attention. The decision to remove his work is up to them. Since Ezra list his school in the credits, we are interested in what the school’s administration thinks about his work. Does it meet their criteria for “art”?
stained.sheets -
“You are in serious need of psychiatric help.”
Sounds good. You buying?
Maura -
Wow. We’re nitpicking about spelling now? Your arguments must be strong if you’re taking that route.
satin.sheets-
perhaps to you girl is derogatory, and that’s too bad for you. Here are the two reasons I chose the word girl in that sentence.
1-in hip-hop/youth culture saying I am going to “hang with my boy” or “call up my girl” is used to refer to a close friend. I was implying that the organizers of this site are on close terms, if not personally then politically, with Governor Palin.
2-in the title of this post you refer to Ezra as ‘boy.’ Unless you decide to change that, I will use my right to freedom of speech to call Palin a girl.
Do you live in Minneapolis? I doubt your type would have been found at the Riverview anyway. You should also consider not ever seeing a movie in a theater again, since they are public venues, and who knows who could be lurking in the seat behind you?! it could be….gasp…a liberal!
I also would like to note that STILL no one seems to be willing to really discuss the issue of censorship at play here.
“Ezra, so long as we’re talking about your beliefs, it’s crystal clear that one of the things you believe is that disagreement with someone is ample justification for subjecting them to the most offensive objectification and shaming you can muster. Also clear is that sexual objectification and sexual shaming with language and imagery that connotes rape is okey dokey, so long as you feel your cause is sufficiently just.”
Yes. I believe that one of the most important things art can do is stir up emotions and inspire debate, which this video has clearly done. I leave it up to the rape culture to decide if I’ve reinforced it.
I don’t know if you read that link I posted earlier, Ezra, but perhaps this one http://whedonesque.com/comments/13271 is more your speed.
If you really care about women and find it objectionable that they are treated as objects for men to use, consider whether your video is part of the problem or part of the solution.
You’re young. You may not get it for some time, yet, but I hope you’ll keep thinking about it.
Note to everyone: I’m now deleting comments that are mere invective. I know this stuff gets heated, and I’m all for vigorous debate, but let’s not get sidetracked into personal attacks. It’s not helpful.
For those of you who are interested to know, this was not a class project, nor were school resources used. I am officially taking myself out of these forums. Feel free to consider it a victory for your cause.
I recommend everyone contact his work. He clearly should not be exposed to the public. And he should not be near children, especially little girls.
Actually, I think we should contact the Secret Service. They investigated a woman whose only sin was telling an Obama caller that she wouldn’t be voting for him because of his stance on whatever that fetal bill was. The Obama worker distorted or mis-heard her remarks and lo and behold, the Secret Service showed up at the lady’s door asking why she was so mad at Obama.
Given that Ezra is clearly advocating the rape of Sarah Palin and perhaps is planning to commit this crime himself, I think the Secret Service needs to be notified.
Ezra, there are some things that are not a joking matter. Think about it. Would you joke about a murder of a child? I can give other examples, but I hope you get my point. There are limits. Unfortunately.
Rape is a cruel reality to a lot of women. Still today. Do you have any idea of the psychological, emotional, physical, not to mention spiritual, damage rape causes to women? Do you understand that rape is used as a weapon against women (and the nation attacked) at times of war? Do you understand that when you rape a woman, you destroy not only one life, but life around her? Do you understand any of this?
I cannot understand you. My heart is broken by your belittling remarks on this website. The condescending tone that seeps from your writing, it pains me that you do not see the pain that you cause. You come off as a bully to me. You laugh at someone being down. You hurt someone and when they cry out, you say it was just a joke.
I am saddened that a woman has gotten you so scared that your fear has reduced you to a bully. But I guess, I too, am just a funny comment to you that you can belittle and bully. Maybe you should make this song about the women in your life and sing it to them at Thanksgiving. See how funny they find it.
“Feel free to consider it a victory for your cause”.
My cause is to convince people like you to take a look at whether they are a part of the problem or a part of the solution.
And to make people, especially young men, think twice about dehumanizing women. Actions have consequences.
Actually, Ezra is advocating “retroactive abortion” which I believe is a euphemism for murder. The violence in this video is chilling.
Here is the new link for those of you who want to see the video in question. It has been modified to disassociate Minneapolis College, which has nothing to do with the content of the video. They were merely thanked out of respect to their contribution to the craft for “no name kid[s] from the mid-west” such as myself:
http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm.....d=44799951
Excuse you Ezra, you’re nothing more than a guy with a “big affliction”. Your in love with your taint and you want the world to know it. Give it up, hardhead. Satire your plaything, it is.
This master needs to be ignored.
Ezra,
Let me address the rape language. You only talk about what you do TO the women… it’s about you, your actions and your control. This is rape.
I fucked Sarah Palin
Tipper Gore tipped the scales so I flipped the whore!
Made her listen to Prince while I dicked her on the floor! I’ll make you rethink that abstinence-only!
You are celebrating and inciting violence against women because you disagree with their politics. Rape for political ends is as old as time… it’s shameful.
And let me tell you one more thing, young man…
Women’s rights don’t begin and end with abortion.
“Yes. I believe that one of the most important things art can do is stir up emotions and inspire debate, which this video has clearly done. I leave it up to the rape culture to decide if I’ve reinforced it.”
Ah – so you wash your hands of the consequences. The purpose of this post was to make it difficult for you to do that. Kudos, again, to The New Agenda blog, and their refusal to passively allow misogynists of any political stripe to escape the consequences of their actions. That’s why people are calling your employment and contacting your school.
It’s not that you don’t have the right to post whatever vileness you decide is “art” – it’s that you don’t have the right to claim artistic license as a means of avoiding any responsibility for what you create and disseminate in the world. If you’re ashamed for people (employers, professors, anyone who googles your name in the future as part of a job screening process) to find out what you’ve done, you should examine the basis for those feelings.
I wish I did know your mother.
Hey Ezra Stead, I hear you also create racist satire. Can we have that link too?
Why do people equate feminism with “choice.” I am a woman, with a very succesful legal career, I put myself through law school and supported my family, including my husband who took a break from his legal career for a few years (a modern stay-at-home dad) ….but yet I am more “pro life” than I am “choice” . . . (I only believe an abortion should be an option until 5 weeks – just before a heartbeat).
I do consider myself a feminist and I fight daily for equal treatment, equal pay in a very male oriented industry (the legal profession, although 50/50 in law schools, is still dominated by men in the top tier of law firms and, yes, I did make partner).
Feminists, like women, come in may shapes, sizes, colors and beliefs….including pro life beliefs.
The Dems don’t own “feminists” and definitely not this one.
What a loser. And where the hell are our heros at NOW and the the like?
WTF?? Do we only protect democratic women.
Every passing day makes me regret more and more my allegiance to the democratic party. They have proven to be nothing but a bunch of pathetic blow-hards.
The democrats have gone beyond the pale. I will never, ever vote Dem again. Never.
This is a Party that needs to go away. Just like the Whigs disappeared back in the 1800’s.
The Republicans replaced the Whigs and, finally, were able to get rid of slavery, over stiff opposition from the Racist, Slavery-loving Democrats.
Lets get rid of the Misogynist, female hating, racist, divisionist Democratic Party.
We the People deserve better, far far better than these bottom feeders.
signed, long time feminist and dem voter
Great idea Egalia. I’d also love to see Ezras’ racist satire commentary.
Perhaps something about how the Dems have stolen the soul of just about every AA community in the USA by keeping them poor and dependent on the meagre government dole, all the while professing to “help” them.
Look at these disgusting NE US towns that have been degraded and made destitute by 40 years of the Dems “helping” our black communities.
You and your Party are an absolute disgrace Ezra.
Hopefully, more and more Democratic-voting Americans are waking up to this fact now, after the horrific treatment of Sarah Palin from the Obama campaign.
signed, Democratic Voter no more.
We should not want to hurt this kid because he is an artist?
How about he is a violent criminal? Will that do?
Rape didn’t just get into his mind when he saw Sarah Palin and decided to do a rape video. Someone should be checking out the
area he lives in to find out if there have been any reported rapes that have not been solved. Might want to check out murders also.
Our county had a murderer kid who liked to write songs about attacking women and his murder. He’s in prison now after assaulting half a dozen women, attempting to kill them, and murdering one. Sounds like this “film student/artist” is on the same road.
And who the hell would want to view his porno, unless they were as sick as he is?
Ezra
It is all to common for so called artists to try to compensate for their lack of talent by producing something as controvercial as your trashy video. I am sure you are enjoying the attention both negative and positive. But you will most likely never know the true feeling of creating something beautiful. That is what true art is. It may not be lucrative and may limit your popularity to a mature and self respecting audience, but its rewards far exceed the instand gratification of trash posing as art.
This has gone way too far. I have been threatened with violence, as well as slandered as a “violent criminal.” I personally removed the video from all sites where it was posted because I am disgusted by how out of control this and other similar forums have gotten. I hesitated to do so because now everyone will have no choice but to believe the wildly unfounded comments on this page. The inaccuracies and ridiculousness of many of these comments is appalling, especially on a website that purports to only promote exchange on issues and not hate-speech; apparently you’re only interested in preventing women from slandering one another. Say what you will about the messages of my video; I take full responsibility for my own work. However, I am not now, nor have I ever been a “violent criminal.” I made a music video, originally intended as nothing more than a topical joke, and that is definitely not a violent crime. I would like to end this peacefully and as soon as possible. I sincerely apologize for the poor taste in which my work was conceived and made – it was intended to make people laugh and many have; the sense of humor is highly subjective and there is no accounting for taste. Many of the people on this page have made excellent, valid points and I want to take this opportunity to publicly apologize for perpetuating any bigotry; I know this will be refuted by nearly all of you, but I sincerely made this song and video as a satire of just such bigotry. In order to preemptively respond to comments about that, yes, I know realize that the overwhelming majority of people who saw it did not take it that way, and I sincerely hope I have not negatively influenced any impressionable minds. I would also like to point out that I have never made claim to any affiliation with Obama or his campaign, and this was certainly not the intent of the video. Blame me for what I have done, not Barack Obama, who is undoubtedly completely unaware of my existence. In conclusion, I would just like to say again that I apologize for all the negativity I have created with this work, and I hope we can all be adult enough to end the slander, threats and accusations. You are almost all clearly angry with me, and I apologize for any disrespect I’ve shown to any of you on this forum. Thank you all for being passionate about your cause; this is the most important thing any of us can do.
“The inaccuracies and ridiculousness of many of these comments is appalling, especially on a website that purports to only promote exchange on issues and not hate-speech;”
Ezra, first of all I congratulate you on your response, taking action and your realization for an apology. It shows maturity and hope. Yet, the quote above shows your lack of perspective and your lack of understanding in taking responsibility and standing behind your actions. There is an old saying: what goes around, comes around.
You created something that is full of hate. In essence, you created hate. The response to your ‘art’ is a direct result of that creation. You took action, maybe without thinking, you hit a target and it hurt. You humiliated women and what it is to be a woman. You took a violent act and in your words turned it into “art”. Your action reveals your lack of compassion and maybe even lack of exposure to women and what women experience in this day and age. Rape is not art, like murder is not art.
Lot of rap artists and movie directors get away with this in this day and age. Some even make a lot of money. It does not make it right. Money is not a meter of what is good and acceptable. Rape and misogyny are obviously misunderstood in the current climate of pop culture. It is sad. And it is not right.
I accept your apology. But I am just one person. I do not represent the group or the New Agenda. You have to understand, others may not accept your apology. And just because I accept your apology does not mean I approve your previous conduct nor does it excuse you from taking responsibility for your actions and consequences thereof. I am hopeful that next time you may want to really ‘create’ something instead of being on the fast lane of notoriety and fame. One road is full of discovery, the other is empty. You decide.
And always remember your actions have consequences.
I have been friends with Ezra for about 4 years now. He is the last person I would imagine becoming a violent criminal. Since you all don’t know him, it’s easy to think horrific things about him. So your anger is understandable.
I’ll just say that I DO know him, and I know his sense of humor, his sometimes brazen way of expressing himself. I’m not apologizing for him, as I don’t think any more apologizing is necessary. But this is far from the first time a risque artist has been vilified (rightly or wrongly). For the record, I watched the video. I found it very twisted and very funny.
If you choose to harass him (in person or email or phone), be aware that that could make you legally liable. And I agree that if you want to post his personal contact information for everyone to see, you should post yours as well. Here’s mine: explosionof9@msn.com.
Peace.
Ezra posted his personal information himself where anyone with basic search skills could find it. That it produced unintended consequences for him is something that young people who live their lives online should consider before they do it. Last night’s conversation here and at other feminist blogs has become what your teachers used to call “his permanent record,” which anyone searching for his name in the future can find. He chose to participate and said what he wanted to say. He posted a hateful video online for the world to see. . Our drawing attention to it meant that many more people saw it then Ezra probably ever imagined would. He didn’t think when he did it or he wanted the attention. I can’t speak for “the management” here, but I don’t think anyone who participated here last night has any intention of harming or harassing Ezra past shaming him last night. However, he unleashed hate into the blogosphere, and given how few people participated in our discussion vs. the number of hits his video got, many, many more people saw it than us. We can’t be responsible for what his video said about him to others. If either you or Ezra wants to converse with any of us, you can leave a message in one of the threads for us. We have more sense than to put our private information on a blog. You should, too.
I commend Ezra for his apology and hope that he now realizes how hurtful and hateful is video was to so many.
However, I find it ironic and, dare I say funny, that Ezra and his friends are appalled that people who do not know him would call him vile names, make accusations and threaten him. But that is exactly what he did to those women. (Please note that if Ezra was physically threatened, I condemn that. Violence adds to the problem, it does not solve it )
Ezra is amazed that people would make assumptions about him and his character based on his ‘art’. But you, Ezra made assumptions about people based on third party information that is not even accurate. Ironic again, because Ezra is now concerned about “inaccuracies and ridiculousness ” that exists about him.
It is easy and funny to be on the throwing end of vile names and violent threats. (Yes, Ezra forced sexual contact is violent) Not so amusing on the receiving end.
so to Ezra and his friends, I suggest Do unto others as you would have done onto you or perhaps Judge lest not you be judged. Both of which do not preclude disagreeing with one another on issues or heartfelt debate. They do however include a modest amount of respect.
I think more people should see this disgusting video. It’s what we’ve tolerated too long. Thank you The New Agenda and to TN Guerilla Wmn!
I’m certainly not interested in debating the matter with the person who produced this. He is merely a cultural conduit, a marker for the problem. There is nothing “cutting edge” about this video. We’ve seen it hundreds of times before.
Contact the academic dean at the college and protest. The school has set policies on not tolerating sexual harassment and sexual violence, and those policies note that “discrimination and harassment are not within the protections of academic freedom or free speech.” The school might be concerned about adverse publicity or even legal action, and it should appropriately deal with the student according to its academic policies.
See below for my letter, which I signed and included my office address and contact numnbers.
“Karen Hynik
Academic Dean
Minneapolis Community and Technical College
1501 Hennepin Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55403
Re: Pro-Rape Video
Dear Dean Hynik:
I am one of thousands of women who are outraged over the pro-rape, hate speech video produced by one of your students with the support of Minneapolis Community & Technical College. I do not believe in censorship, but this video, “Drill Baby Drill,” crosses the line in its promotion of rape and hatred toward women.
I understand the film student who made this video has removed MCTC’s name from its credits, and re-posted the video online. Regardless of the removal of the school’s name from the video, if it was made with the direct or indirect support of your school, I sincerely hope that you will immediately take the necesssary steps to disassociate MCTC from this offensive hate speech, and then take appropriate academic action against this student.
The advocacy of violence of against women, whether they are public figures or not, should not be tolerated.
Thank you.
(DCAttorney)”
Ezra, on the one hand I feel bad for you because this is indeed part of your permanent record, and it may come back to haunt you. On the other hand, your initial “fuck ‘em if they can’t take a joke” responses, and your incredulity and anger at the vehemence of our responses tells me you’re still not quite getting it. While that makes sense to me, and I’m inclined to cut you some slack for youth and inexperience (growth doesn’t happen overnight), I’m nevertheless compelled to try one more time to help you make the connection.
So: among your friends and your extended circle of acquaintances (perhaps some of those who worked on that movie with you) is there anyone who, upon finding himself alone with a passed-out-drunk girl to whom he was sexually attracted, might find himself touching her or taking further liberties with her person while she was incapacitated? Anyone at all you feel might do something like that? If there is such a person, is he someone who found your video funny? Do you think watching such a video helps or hinders him in his pursuit of sexual gratification by whatever means necessary?
In general, do you think that your video implies or supports a culture of tacit acceptance of the attitude toward women that the video demonstrates? Does such an attitude toward women make the world more or less dangerous for women?
I don’t mean to impugne your friends. I don’t even know them, and they didn’t post a vile and degrading video. This is really just a thought-experiment. See if it makes a connection for you.
Ezra,
Someone at another site has linked to your photo array. Is the photo that you have posted at your MySpace site with the young woman tied to a chair while a young man stands over her with a knife at her throat with other young men watching satire, too? I’m really trying to get a handle on your art. It’s popping up all over the place. Darn those unintended consequences.
Does he know what he’s doing, samsmom? Or is he just going along with the hip and edgy culture of misogyny because it’s the new cool?
Does it matter?
Dawn,
I honestly don’t know. Although I am an engineer by training and trade, I spent the last ten years of my career in the classroom. When I saw Ezra’s video at Lynette’s blog, it struck me in a very visceral way that this young man was capable of hurting someone. Usually when I felt that way about a student in one of my classes, the gut feeling was right. I needed to help find Ezra and expose him so that people who do know him up close and personal might take another look at who he is, or I wouldn’t have been able to sleep. When I invited the president of his college to join our discussion, I copied the film department faculty on it. Hopefully, I’m wrong, and he is just being “kewl”. At the very least people who know him in person have been given a stranger’s view of him, and maybe they’ll take another look. One of his other videos has the characters abducting a frightened young man, dressing him up like woman, making him plead for his life, and then shooting him. The video production quality is terrible, but the message is loud and clear.
I value instincts such as yours, samsmom.
Nevertheless, in consultation with other members of The New Agenda, we acknowledge that we have no wish to ruin this young man’s life, nor to appoint ourselves arbiters of his conscience.
We’d would like to remove this post and comments from our blog, provided Ezra is willing to write a brief, unqualified apology that we may post in its stead.
That works for me. Like I said, I hope that someone close to him will help him work through this.
Why is a so-called “feminist” organization using the same tactics as “Nuremberg Files”-creator Neal Horsley? This post contains an implicit threat against not only Ezra Stead, but his family, coworkers and fellow students.
Who funds this “New Agenda” anyway? Richard Mellon Scaife? A “feminist” organization that fails to protect reproductive freedom sounds like just the sort of thing the Republicans would like to see popping up everywhere.
i would think it a tragedy that this post would be closed, erased and replaced… is the new agenda to delete history we can not immediately appreciate? Feminism — my ex-wife calls herself a feminist – me i’m just a human bean that started as a seed lost ona breeze tossed from his mother… and the sign said to speak my mind :
Ezra – shame on the proof for your views… ladies – if ezra was your son, would you yell at him? beat him? hug him? or treat him like any other person who does something for attention… have any of you ever read the book Reviving Ophelia? i have not, though i have prused portions of this and other books, as i also have a daughter whom i love with all my heart mind and whole…
you’re right – there are some gruesome images – that while i may not want my daughter to see – her future husband may hope her to be familiar with their ideas — the booty-shakery, etc… not to say i’d ever show her this video – especially at her tender age, but eventually the question would arise – do you have kids – would you let them see this video…?
but about ability – it was not taught, but i soon learned that Freedom of Speech is not about saying what ever you want – but about being open minded enough to be able to hear that which you don’t want to… i learned this quickly as a child after being chided in school, at home, and in my parents evangelical church for the color of my skin – as i was adopted by two Scandanavian Protestents, and so set my path from there… futhermore – YouTube in an international Bulletin Board – as a parent i like avail my daughter of my desire as a primary male model of my desire to speak with her about life, society and the complexity of her experiences/relations. It would be a much different story if EZ was flyering advertisements of his video to children on the play ground…
none the less he is a twenty something kid who is exploring dots, lines and connections… we live in a very convoluted world as i’m sure you could all agree — we’ve all felt debased and made inhumane by the destructive portrayals of women we have all had to endure – as Tupac Shakur once said “And since we all came from a woman Got our name from a woman and our game from a woman I wonder why we take from our women Why we rape our women, do we hate our women? I think it’s time to kill for our women Time to heal our women, be real to our women And if we don’t we’ll have a race of babies That will hate the ladies, that make the babies And since a man can’t make one He has no right to tell a woman when and where to create one So will the real men get up I know you’re fed up ladies, but keep your head up.” – yes tupac was a contridicting fellow – he also co-wrote a song called I Get Around, Dear Mama, Never Call U Bitch Again and How Do You Want It?
i think that all of you are victims in need of company searching for vindication— i would find beautiful if you could show us humility as well and keep this post open – allow the conversation to continue and grow…
knowing oceans flow within your self as well…
these coasts are just our consciousness… are we conscious yet?
and its alright to be confused… though bruised we’re all standing tall and true…
imagination whispering …
all of life’s… possibilities…
[and like the moon, around our tongues, like motes make castles into fortresses --- from which we croon... could it , should it, would it ever be true?]
safe travels and thank you for your time
No one has been threatened except the women featured in Ezra Stead’s video. His entire video is about raping these women. We complain, and yet we’re the ones creating the threat? Protesting violence against women is so bizarre that you feel compelled to put the word feminist in scare quotes and speculate that we’re really a right-wing organization?
Whoever you are, you have your head on backwards. Or perhaps violence against women is now so accepted in our culture that protesting it is now an outrageous act.
As for who we are, it wouldn’t hurt you to read the various articles we’ve catalogued in our media section. The New Agenda was founded by a number of life-long Democrats and feminists. The choice angle is being well-covered by many other women’s groups, and our mandate is to focus on a broader base of women’s issues — including the culture of violence against women.
Ezra Stead is not a kid. He’s a grown man. He’s 25 years old.
I’m tired and so apologize for the grammatic and semantic errors of my last post…
and lastly- with regard to these ideas of hate, doing onto others, comes around goes around, sins of the father typa stuff…
a coupla centuries ago a bunch of people arrived on an inhabited shore… we fed and cared for by the inhabitants for a few years — then the new arrivals butchered the inhabitants and moved them all onto reservations… they took over the land – made legal decrees, called it their own and now complain when other refugees do the same…
one thing i would like to say about some of us in the twenty something poetic demographic of our generation… we are exploring the idea of these atrocities and how they are coming back to haunt us… the idea that patriarch has reigned for quite some time – and that it was preceded by matriarchy ( the League of the Iroquoi Nations would meet beneath a gigantic hut to discuss food weather and their futures, sitting around the circle of men would be a circle of women who would remove a man from the inner circle if they did not like the cut of his jib — matriarchy!)
you’re right – a picture a delicated delia bound by ropes with a knife to her throat is a horrid image difficult to process…. but perhaps that is where we are in society…
scared of what we don’t understand… the story of edipus often comes to mind.. and idea that in the end, if i am not mistaken, he gouged out his eyes desiring to feel not see… anywho… i know what your inner intuitions are saying to one after seeing or hearing such a purposely jarring message… though urge you to understand the idea that the message if from an individual just as disgusted with the world as you all are,,, and for the exact same reasons… Palin has been a governor for a term, before that she was a mayor and didn’t have use for a passport ’til when?
The only reason America hasn’t economicall defaulted as whole is because we are financially propped up by India, China, Mexico, the Middle East and Europe — i.e. foreign relations – something one needs a passport for, to fully comprehend in any humane coherent or productively communicable way…
Palin is a goat chained to a post. a discraction… she may be very intelligent, she may be kind, she may be every impassionate – but she is still being used — she is not global material, she hasn’t traveled… we live in global world… sure if you want to continue sending children to and call it a war against the tyranny of evil — — — — – — — – is that not exactly what Osama is doing… … … i do not mean to point fingers – but ask what do we really want… can unity and individual freedoms co-exist whose right and whose job is it to sanction was our community as access to?
Since Ezra and his friends are clearly having a difficult time understanding why violence against women is a problem, I suggest an experiment. Ezra is a cinema artiste, yes? So I propose Ezra create another video about assassinating Barack Obama. Satirical, of course. He could fill it with historical imagery of lynchings, of past black leaders murdered. Perhaps he could get some of his friends to act out an assassination scene. And I’m sure he could come up with terribly clever rap lyrics about the bullets he’s going to put in Barack’s head, along with some choice racial epithets. All satire, of course.
Ezra should make this video and post it. And then see how funny people think it is. See how long it takes for the Secret Service to show up at his door.
i say kid – because they said boy…
years ago, your right — he should have kids and be working the soil by now, and been doing so for a decade plus…
others say a man is just a boy wondering if he is yet a man…
while others, such as myself do not think a fully mature masculine perspective is attainable until at least the age of forty — pending that is the road one has chosen…
mind you we live in society that condones/encourages childish behavior — video games, Sport Utility Vehicles, All-Terrain Vehicles… these technologies have their vocational uses, but are perhaps more often found recreationally utilized
chris, what’s your point? Could you quit free-associating and boil it down for us? I know you’re a poet and all, but I had to learn to explain myself in a lucid manner, and you will, too.
Could you summarize it for me?
Dawn,
My 28 year-old son says leave the blog up. He says that Stead is not a “kid”. He’s grown man, and as such is accountable for his own actions. He says “he raised me better than to let a jerk off the hook”. I like Violet’ s idea for the new cinema project for Ezra, though.
how the video does not re-inforce rape culture…
SexCells… SexSells…
what is is said to reflect is that that sexuality – not love it overtly publicized… okay (not really, but roll for a moment with me)…
often times it is portrayed aggressively, even violently – who remember eminem his wife kim… and elton john…?
ezra’s video says ok… lets talk about women, sex, and politics… be real about… not about pining over a moldy relationship, or being “into having sex, (not) into making love” (to quote Fi’tyCent) … women – hetero-relations with men – and politics….
women have been dicked over by men since damn near time immemorial… Palin may be a great person – but she is being played like chess…
a nasty fantasy? perpetuate war while calling yourself a patriot
ezra is not trying to hurt you or anyone…
there is a rational place ezra’s work is coming from… he is trying to say something… and it is not that he enjoying sexual escapades with older women – he is young… but do not blame or persecute him the intensity of his questions and passions… do onto other… celebrate his quest – it is the same as yours — for understanding and acceptance
creativity and willingness to confront difficult topics is a lost art — many are too lost in our own defenses… so please wake up and learn what it means to love… the more one talks about hate the more it will arise..
i know ezra – he is not one to rape anyone… a women will confront him and say – lets about about politics philosophy and life… and they will talk about such things only to part as better friends…
the idea of being a New Agenda is overtly agressive itself — perpetuates confrontation when we could be comprehending better our own conversations…
Like the war on women Chris? Seen the numbers on murders from domestic violence? Double the number of women have died of it in the last seven years than in that same period in Iraq combined.
Where’s your rage and protest sign? There is a war on women around the world. Go ask the women in the Congo, go ask the women under sharia law, even in western countries and the women in North America who need many more shelters than we have to hide from their own loved ones.
Want a cause? That one has been on the back burner for far, far, far too long and no one bothers with it because?? Because it’s been deemed as more acceptable. The bodies of the dead are “only” women after all.
If you don’t live in that world, then you might not understand why a video such as this one may be considered an attack by those who live where they have and may be at any time again the moving target of such attacks.
Some see this as condoning it with a rubber stamp. Like so many other rubber stamps of thinly veiled hatred of my gender. It’s unacceptable against any other group of people.
Word, Alice Paul.
chris, in fact I have read Reviving Ophelia. I have a book suggestion for you if you’d like to acquire a better grasp of the issues at stake here: http://www.amazon.com/Getting-.....089608776X
Also, this site is a good one: http://www.xyonline.net/articles.shtml
in my world their is a war against children dreams and freedom
i’m not saying that ezra video is to be celebrated…
but i do think that the war against children trumps a war agaist women if you to want pit semantics againt each other…
my mother and sister are victims of these wars as well.. and upon my breast i wear and eye with two tear drops, shed by my mother for my sister and i — do to imperialistic capitalistic expansion she was forceds to leave her rural village and move to the city and work as a maid for a family that she might send money to her famiy, that they might survive. her employer had a son who created my sister and i… making me a literal bastard child:0)
i wear my rage and protest on my wrists and arms – tattoos that read ErosApriori and Don’tPanic
i think that if i didn’t speak up about your attacks would be rubber stamping your aggressive defensiveness…
my entire life i’ve experienced thinly veiled hatred – i understand your anger and have lashed out ignorance before – quite often – i’ve got a record if you want to find it… talk to my mom if you’d like — she’s the music director and wayzata evangelical free church loves god.
though just because i have seen the blood on my hands doesn’t mean i condone it — rather i’d like you to see that there is blood on yours too…
Dawn
thankyou i’ve bookmarked XY and will endeavor as time allows….
again apologies for semant and grammatic errors…
i think men need to learn to forgive them selves…
women need to do the same…
men need to forgive women…
and women need to do the same…
as the tao says – know the masculine, embrace the feminine —
could this mean forgive? who has the ability to begin?
we are all guilty – and the moment we experience have been cultivating themselves for centuries —
take the blame & shapeshift to shame – because if we don’t have a conversation – what can change…?
sure you could tell ezra to shut up — you could physically shut him up… bind him with ropes and put a knife to his throat — what have you accomplished — have you learned anything… what was your purpose – what did you want — do ends justify means… on a personal note i find the last notion mentioned tyrannically masculine… yes/no/maybe?
Forgive each other?
Been there, done that, got the t-shirt (hint: it doesn’t say, “Sarah Palin’s a Cunt”).
chris, you need to put down the bong. Men need to get out of the way.
The forgiveness portion of our show is over.
Chris, do you think we have not seen it??
We are the ones who have fought against such things for years now. When the time comes for the war on women AND children to be put on the front burner the LEFT attacks rather than defends much less does anything about it.
it’s time…it’s been time. It’s past time. That’s all. It is not about which other war we have not fought against “….yet…because we HAVE. We were there for every cause you can name. Name one…women have always been the ones to carry the work load in most of these issues.
But it’s beyond the day when we need to hold feet to fire on this. The numbers are soaring every year. I suppose what I find the most curious and hurtful to be frank is that those who are so upset about many other issues never seem to be outraged at these things. Misogyny costs lives.
if you see what has happened to those of your loved ones affected by it then multiply that by millions around the world we need an over haul, a wake up call.
Maybe the unanswered for hate speech spewed at women in this election cycle IS that wake up call.
It has been for me because I know I paid dues, in the civil rights movement where because my parents were involved *I* was beaten as a child and never sorry for having been there, where I have fought against war, where i was part of “Human Rights Watch* ALWAYS I assumed if it came time for those who worked with me on these other things to stand WITH me for women’s issues FINALLY they would be there too.
Instead, we saw that women were once again held to ten times the standard, were targets for hatred and that “issues” became an EXCUSE to unleash a kind of hatred specifically meant to harm because of gender. It was worse than what I’ve seen in many years.
No one said that everyone in the cushy west does not have “blood on their hands” BUT I have fought those other battles my entire life. Now it is time to fight this one. Past time, LONG past time.
Alice Paul, I agree, it’s worse now than I have seen in many years. Perhaps it has been for some time and we’ve just opened our eyes to it again?
No going back now. Never again.
The video has been pulled and I have apologized for any undue distress it has caused. Regardless of how it may affect me and my “permanent record,” I am glad it has opened up such a lively dialogue. For those who have not seen it and find the above link useless: I will not be reposting the video, but if anyone wants to see it for any reason whatsoever, feel free to e-mail me and I will send you the file: ezra@deathrayscientific.com
Chris:
Your perseveration on the topic is telling. Your meandering responses are like filling the conceptual space with feathers – they’re obfuscatory and undoubtedly intended to wear down your opposition. If you cannot winnow your comments down to something on the order of a single coherent paragraph, I’d suggest the blog quit publishing them.
Ezra:
I hope your contrite stance is sincere, and not merely placating. Ezra, if you really are coming to a more enlightened understanding of the issues at play, the most effective image-rehabilitation you could undertake would involve some public statements to the effect, not on a one-time basis, but incorporated into your work. At the very least, you could delete sarcastic statements about your presumed dangerousness from your profile and replace them with something more that more effectively demonstrates your new insights into the nature of sexism and misogyny in art and media.
In either case, my suggestion for the blog is to modify the post – redact his contact information but not his name, and leave the comments section intact. I think it would set a precedent for reciprocation that might be helpful in future instances (only my opinion).
This issue and the subsequent discussion has been very enlightening for me on a variety of fronts. I’d like to thank everyone who has contributed to it.
Please, Dawn, reconsider pulling this post. People need sites like this and conversations like this to understand what happened to women this political season and what helped and is still helping to put us there.
As for Ezra’s latest apology, and his “permanent” record, he himself posted his lyrics here, so his complaint that “now everyone will have no choice but to believe the wildly unfounded comments on this page…” misses that point. Let him thrive or not on his own lyrics “dicked her on the floor.”
I really appreciated Lisa’s explanation on why this is rape language. A few years back at a poetry venue in Boston one of the male hosts got up and read a horrific “poem” that was a personal experience of his: at a wedding he recognized a cheerleader from back in his high school days who didn’t recognize him. He had some grudge against her and proceeded to get her drunk, take her to a hotel where he detailed all the sex acts he did to her before “stiffing” her for the bill, leaving her there after looking down on her sleeping or passed out at the end of the night.
I was the only one horrified and came back the next week and read a response poem about this glorification of rape, asking what if his weapon had been that “date rape” drug instead of alcohol?
And still people tried to tell me that was an example of “consensual” sex.
We need this conversation here to stand. So few take a stand against the likes of “dicking her on the floor” parading as art.
The conversation is good as long as people are listening and open.
You know years ago racism was cloaked in something else too…there were those who claimed it was gods will and waved the bible, who took things and twisted them to “justify” something so brutal while all around them people were demeaned and died and never were considered whole persons by so many. STILL those with a blind eye claimed it wasn’t their fault, it was ordained, it was “just” a “reflection” of some higher purpose they were not in control of. That the complaints only came from a “angry” “militant” faction and were a indication that those factions were “hysterical”
This is the same thing. i challenge EZRA to continue to study the history of abuses against women around the world. To try and understand living in that world and then to make a decision as to whether or not his world view is understanding enough to make the decisions he’s made in the past.
This is what those who have never lived where a woman in political power is a new voice for them. All their presidents and leaders look like them, and tout their deepest held convictions. They have ALWAYS had a voice and do not know what it means not to have it.
Oh, and lest anyone thinks Ezra’s apology is real, check out what was recently posted over in the Ezra thread at Tn. Guerilla Women:
http://www.deathrayscientific.com/
Thanks for the publicity! Due to popular demand, the video will be back up soon! Let the outrage continue! People like us will be voting in record numbers!
======
Looks like someone got bent out of shape at the accusation he’s talentless and won’t have any recordings, because a new website is under construction and it looks like Ezra plans to capitalize on the negative publicity.
So, yes, the outrage is exciting these young thugs. It’s titillating them.
And the violence is escalating. In Manhattan a petite middle-aged woman holding a McCain sign was beaten about the head and face with a stick broken off another sign by an enraged Obama supporter. The brawny young man said he didn’t know why, he just “snapped.”
Meanwhile, a fictional character used by Reebok a few years back, Terry Tate: Office Linebacker, has been resurrected in a violent get-out-the-vote ad where he tackles Sarah Palin unconscious. In the ad, he references…..”Drill Baby Drill.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....-is-funny/
For background, here is a look at one of the vintage Terry Tate: Office Linebacker ads for Reebok, called “Sensitivity Training.” The sexism is revolting, but it’s very telling that in this ad Terry Tate says he’s an “equal opportunity hitting machine” who doesn’t discriminate by gender, etc. In the storyline, the male office manager is forced to bring in a “sensitivity trainer” in response to the Terry Tate violence, and the trainer is a “sluttyl” young woman in a tight skirt suit with no shirt underneath and her ample bosom spilling out.
http://video.google.com/ videopla…790625809448921
Don’t remove the post. But I would not be opposed to a removal of personal information beyond the name he identifies himself with.
Oh and those of you saying you know Ezra but can’t imagine him raping anyone…. 1 in 4 women are raped. I’ve seen statistics suggesting that anything from 1 in 5 men to 1 in 10 men will rape at least once in their lifetime. Anyone who can write a song like this, produce a video like this and defend it until it gets too hot… definitely has issues with women.
Disclosure: I have known EZRA for several years and consider him a close personal friend.
1. Any progressive agenda must, by definition, work to defend the freedom of speech–even for speech that is morally repugnant. If you would rather censor a video that you disagree with than stand up for free speech (a basic tenant of any democratic society), you are working with the enemies of the Movement.
2. The song is a satire. Is Colbert an enemy of peace activists because he uses militaristic language in an attempt to show how absurd militarism is? No. Is EZRA an enemy of feminists because he uses misogynistic language in an attempt to show how absurd misogyny is? No. If you don’t understand this concept, I beg you to take a college course in literature or analysis sometime.
3. EZRA is not a misogynist. In fact, EZRA is one of the most progressive people I am privileged to know–across the board. He has always been vehement in his commitment to peace & nonviolence, feminism, GLBT solidarity, and any number of other social issues.
It is important to bring issues like this to light and discuss them rationally. However, if you are willing to analyze EZRA’s work in a holistic way with an open mind, I am sure you will find it to be satirical, and you will find EZRA himself to be almost saintly in his commitment to progressive causes.
Stop the censorship; stop the reverse McCarthyism. Stop posting individuals’ personal information, such as their place of employment–this reeks of witch hunt mentality and is unacceptable.
In Solidarity,
Michael Mlekoday
As an addition to my previous statement in defense of EZRA–
There is a major difference between (1) arguing that his satire is offensive and thus ineffective as a piece of art and (2) attacking the artist and saying he “has issues with women” and that he might be a rapist.
It is important to be critical in our evaluation of the moral purpose of art. EZRA has stated that his purpose was to be satirical, and as a friend of EZRA’s I believe that is true. If we as a community believe that his piece was ineffective in delivering a satirical message, and that is a failed piece, and that it is morally offensive, then EZRA is simply an artist who made some poor artistic decisions. This does not make him evil, conservative, misogynistic, or a rapist–it simply means that, like all artists (and indeed all persons), he is imperfect.
I have worked with EZRA on many occasions as an artist and critic, and I can attest to the fact that he defends his art even when the great majority of critics tell him a piece is ineffective–he is stubborn, and that may be why he hasn’t come out and absolutely apologized.
Thanks.
Oh, it’s art, says the smug college kid, explaining to us stupid old women that we’re simply not grasping the aesthetics of the thing.
Sez Michael:
Since a good many of the women at The New Agenda are actually Ph.D.s who teach or have taught at universities, we’ll be able to audit the classes for free! Yay!
Michael’s comment is strikingly similar to this comment made by Ezra himself in enthusiastically endorsing the film Irreversible, a French torture-porn flick in the mode of Captivity:
Ezra gives the film, which features a 9-minute anal rape of the lead actress, a big 5 stars!
How fortunate we are to have these young film students explain to us that movies that salaciously focus on the rape and torture of women are simply “art.”
Alice Paul on October 18th, 2008 9:07 pm
Like the war on women Chris? Seen the numbers on murders from domestic violence? Double the number of women have died of it in the last seven years than in that same period in Iraq combined.
Where’s your rage and protest sign? There is a war on women around the world. Go ask the women in the Congo, go ask the women under sharia law, even in western countries and the women in North America who need many more shelters than we have to hide from their own loved ones.
………..
Alice Paul,
I agree there is a war against women and for some reason the misogyny is acceptable in our society, but this must change. I am worried about this election and I am worried that Obama didn’t pull his support from Odinga when he signed to support Sharia Law. I don’t want Sharia Law in this country ever!
As for Free Speech, there is a line, and that line is you aren’t allowed to yell FIRE in a theater and you aren’t allowed to promote violence/hate towards other human beings, including women. The later needs to be tested as for far too long this misogyny has simply gone without a challenge.
We need to Say ENOUGH..NOW!
Michael Mlekoday, I’m not trying to censor Ezra. I’m responding to material that I find profoundly offensive. I honestly don’t care whether it’s satire or manifesto. It crosses a line beyond which such distinctions are moot. Those who called his employer or wrote his college are also responding to material that they find profoundly offensive. Their speech and my speech is also free speech.
Ezra may be one of the most progressive people you know, but he clearly doesn’t know enough about his subject and its impacts to handle it responsibly. If he wants to help women, this is not the help that women need.
I suspect that he doesn’t want to help women at all.
Was Hostel II satire? I thought I saw it on his list.
Michael, you’re wasting your breath, like those “poets” who thought because that turd of a man was the host he was funny when relating his own date rape of a woman he resented. But then, you’re only here to lecture not read and learn, am I right?
Ezra and his “friends” like you have already recanted every false promise and apology here by running over to Tn Guerilla Women and posting a taunting link to the new website where he will self-publish his talentless insults to real art.
Damn, this Ezra character is possibly the fastest bingo I’ve ever gotten.
Oh, yes, and behind his anonymous new nym he *thanked* us for publicizing his drill baby drill video and said it was going right back up.
I bit the bullet and contacted this scumbag in order to see the video and it was one of the most disgusting things i’ve evr seen! We should be contacting the media in the area where he lives, i.e. Minneapolis/St. Paul newspapaers, TV news, etc. People in his area need to know what kind of filth lives in their neigborhoods!
ashley_nicole, forgive me if I’m wrong about you, but I have the sneaking suspicion that you’re a friend of Ezra’s trying to get us to help him get press.
Maybe we should take the post down. Perhaps others should do the same.
You’re not wrong. Ashley Nicole appears to be a student from Metropolitan State University (Minneapolis/St. Paul).
Ezra’s friends are not terribly bright.
That’s funny.
Note the image in the original post.
Maybe we should notify the staff at the college about Ashley Nicole too. Neither of these 2O something adolescents should be allowed to graduate.
The young women in Ezra’s social group who have been defending his actions have obviously not encountered rape and physical abuse in their own lives or in the lives of those close to them. Unfortunately, the statistics say that one day they most assuredly will, It will be interesting to see if their attitudes change.
We’ve made the school aware, and there really isn’t anything more we can do. Let’s not give him any more free publicity. If he continues to use websites that have standards agreements and violates them, we can continue to flag his work.
Dawn C says: “Ezra may be one of the most progressive people you know, but he clearly doesn’t know enough about his subject and its impacts to handle it responsibly. If he wants to help women, this is not the help that women need.”
That is an extremely justifiable, reasonable position, and a fantastic way of handling this issue. Criticism of EZRA’s video need not include demonization of EZRA himself.
On the other hand, people like Zee, Violent Socks, and Tara are making ad hominem attacks on EZRA and any of his defenders/friends.
For example, Zee–why are you attacking me? How can you claim I am here to lecture and not learn while simultaneously ignoring everything I tried to discuss with you? I’m simply trying to participate in this discussion in a reasonable fashion.
Tara–Asserting that these students shouldn’t be allowed to graduate because they made a piece of art poorly and offensively? Really?
The New Agenda–why are you making blanket statements about the intelligence level of EZRA’s friends?
Violet Socks–you are correct that the one sentence you outlined from my two posts is indeed a bit combative. I apologize. However, there’s no need to attack me back. I made plenty of reasoned arguments that you apparently felt no need to consider.
I’m not saying that any of you are wrong about this video being offensive. I’m saying that: EZRA is not the misogynistic rapist you think he is, and that you might get more accomplished by making logical arguments rather than attacking people, and that in attacking people you’re not setting a very good example for how nonviolent discourse should be able to settle problems like this.
If anybody would like to continue a rational discussion about these issues, try getting in touch with EZRA, or even me–my email address is mrmlekoday@stthomas.edu –if you’re just going to keep making ad hominem attacks on people, I want no part of it.
Quick poll, for anyone still reading this thread:
How many of you women have, in the past, had a man tell you that your response to sexism was ill-conceived, and then go on to counsel you on how you might better respond?
How often has his advice been suggestions for how you could be more diplomatic, gentler, more considerate, and/or more compassionate toward the person you’re complaining about?
How often does the advice suggest that the sexism you’re complaining about isn’t real sexism, or that it is mitigated by factors a, b and c, and therefore is less heinous than regular old sexism?
My suggestion for Michael Mlekoday: consider taking a Women’s Studies class, or read the XY Online blog I linked above.
Friend of a friend knows someone on the faculty. Is this Michael character a student there too?
These idiot boys will keep doing this as long as we give them a forum, you realize that. There is no power on earth to make a 25-year-old male twit grasp the magnitude of his own twit-hood, especially when it comes to women. This Michael clown will continue to masturbate in public with his pose of “art” and “rational discussion” as long as we give him a forum.
Then take down the post. We have all written down the phone nubmers for the dean and teachers. Let’s take it from there. 3 folks to call the dean about.
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