In my dreams, I look like Yoanna House.



Instead of writing my paper for Feminist Theory, I watched all the episodes of America's Next Top Model Cycle 2 on YouTube. I felt compelled to watch them all as soon as possible because YouTube really cracked down on copyright issues earlier in the year. Back in January, I had bookmarked cycles of ANTM to watch on the weekend, and when I finally revisited the links a week later, none of the bookmarks worked because the content had been pulled due to copyright infringement. It pissed me off because the only season of ANTM on DVD is Cycle One, and I had missed the marathon re-run of Cycle 2 in January, so there was no way to watch previous seasons. But Cycle 2 is up and running and it was a blast to watch.

Luckily I justify my day spent on YouTube by seriously contemplating my seminar paper for Feminist Theory on Sailor Moon. Somehow America's Next Top Model is my brain food. It sounds completely antithetical, but it's true. I see issues of gender and race come into play and it's interesting which helps me brainstorm analytical issues I want to nail in Sailor Moon, but it's also such a guilty pleasure and I can let my brain rest while watching if I want. But if you doubt the rigorousness of my topic selection, compounded by the fact that I use ANTM to help me brainstorm, allow me to say that I have discovered, in recent viewings of Sailor Moon S Heart Collection, that there is combination of cyborg femininity and compulsory heterosexulty at work.

I think the heteronormativity that the series tries to reinforce disrupts what should be a lesbian continuum (thank you Adrienne Rich) between the original Sailor Scouts (Moon, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Venus), which then contributes to the "othering" of the newest additions to the Sailor Scouts: Sailor Uranus (Amara) and Sailor Neptune (Michelle), who happen to be partners/lovers. When Uranus and Neptune appear, there's an ambiguity as to which side Amara and Michelle are fighting (Love & Justice or the Negaverse). Also, we repeatedly see the original Scouts transform, using the accouterments that traditionally signify femininity (skirts, makeup, tiaras, heels), but we do not see the two newest members of the cast transform until we're sure that they are "good." I think the repetition of the morphin sequences of the Scouts illustrate Judith Butler's (and Simone De Beauvoir's) assertion that women are not born, they are made through the repetition of feminine acts.

Furthermore, I think the appearance of Rini (Sailor Chibi-Moon/Mini-Moon: Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask's daughter who travels back in time from 1,000 years in the future) reinforces the cyborg undertones of the show that reproduction is actually most important, and that reproduction is firmly part of the feminine sphere, even in the 30th century (which is kind of depressing).

Labels: adrienne rich, america's next top model, Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence, cycle 2, lesbian continuum, sailor moon, yoanna house

( 3comments )

at May 5, 2007 3:56 PM  Lorie said...

I saw an episode featuring Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune once when the series was airing on Cartoon Network. I thought the portrayal of the two of them as "cousins" was pretty funny. Sorry, but I don't think random extended family members hug each other quite like that or get that upset when the other person is is trouble. But I knew about that particular edit before I ever saw the episode (mustn't let the children of America hear about lesbians), so maybe that colored my perception of it.

And Sailor Chibi-Moon may be terrifying as the embodiment of the compulsion to procreate, but to me, she's just terrifying as a big-eyed, big-headed child. Not a fan of the chibis...

 

at May 5, 2007 4:03 PM  Samantha said...

I agree. Not a fan of the Chibi. She's really annoying. But I kind of like her hair.

 

at May 28, 2007 2:34 PM  charlie said...

Cycle 2 = Best. Cycle. Evar.