JD Samson And Willy Siegel Discuss Feminism And Other Stuff Over Skype

Aug. 9, 2011

By Ryan O'Connell info

I write and edit Thought Catalog. I'm a brat. Send me fun things at ryan@thoughtcatalog.com

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Meet JD Samson—the gender bending musician from Le Tigre and MEN—and Willy Siegel (formerly known as Molly Siegel) from Baltimore art-rock group, Ponytail. Together they represent a small faction in music as two performers who challenge the notion of gender, one dance song at a time.

Impose TV had the two get together over Skype (so pomo) to discuss music, feminism, and a lot of other things I learned about in my liberal arts college. Willy and JD are not only articulate and brave, they actually make damn good music. I was always a big fan of Le Tigre and actually got to see them perform when I was in high school. I remember the night being overwhelmingly positive—like a mini-Pride parade—and being particularly enamored with JD Samson. Years later, I went to see the now-defunct dance group Junior Senior and was overjoyed to see JD come on as a surprise guest. There’s something about JD. The dreamy androgyny helps make for this effortless cool and intrigue. You want to be JD or sleep with JD and you’re not exactly sure why. Or wait, maybe that’s just me.

Watch the video above and marvel at two people in popular culture actually having an insightful and smart conversation… over Skype. TC mark

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  • Bernard

    I’m still sad JD and Sia broke up. 

    They were like the Brangelina of the Indie-Music-World.

    • spinflux

      I didn’t know they dated. How cool. They’re both amazing.

  • Asdf

    Another day another feminism article on TC.

    • spinflux

      I can only wish.

  • Strange Friend

    Why do you hate pronouns?

    • Jordan

      I think I have the answer to this, but why did you ask?

    • Jordan

      I think I have the answer to this, but why did you ask?

    • Jordan

      I think I have the answer to this, but why did you ask?

    • Jordan

      I think I have the answer to this, but why did you ask?

  • dip

    I hate on pretty much every article but this one is great

  • http://twitter.com/freckleballek Matthew Ballek

    This is a fantastic video. Thank you for writing something stimulating…and by writing, I mean linking.

  • Jordan

    Well I never quite knew JD’s gender (sex?  I dont know what you guys are calling things these days) until now, quite interesting.

  • http://www.facebook.com/gregpphoto Greg Petliski

    “Challenge the notion of gender.” Gender isn’t a notion. Its a biological distinction. Do you have a penis? You’re a male. A vagina? Female. This is how sexual reproduction works. You may feel like a male or a female all you want in your head, but if you produce sperm you are not producing eggs alongside and vice versa. There are a few species out there with blurred gender lines, such as in the frogs made famous by Jurassic Park, but sorry, homo sapiens are not one of them.

    • Guest

      dude, that’s “sex”, not gender.

      • http://www.facebook.com/gregpphoto Greg Petliski

        Tomato tomato. Its all a philosophical debate over the definition of a word. IE, same shit. The very idea that you can have body parts of a man yet think you’re a woman shows why consciousness is a fucked up mess. If you wanna feel that way, fine, it doesnt bother me. But lets not pretend like a man is the same as a woman and vice versa.

      • http://twitter.com/freckleballek Matthew Ballek

        “Challenge the notion of gender” is speaking to people like you, Greg.  There is this conception that gender always equals sex, when it doesn’t.  Your gender can be whatever you identify as and feel most comfortable being, whether it’s male, female and everything in between and outside.  Your sex is concrete and defined by what the doctor tells you.  Many people have started introducing themselves with their preferred pronoun as a way to stop this assumption from being made.

      • http://www.facebook.com/gregpphoto Greg Petliski

        But just because you feel like you’re a woman or a man doesn’t make it so. Only genetics make it so. Again, more power to ya for embracing whoever you are, whatever it is that makes you happy or stops you from killing yourself. But there is a pretty cut and dry distinction between men and women. That is all.

      • http://twitter.com/sparklescience princess

        what makes a man and what makes a woman? contrary to your ill-informed example of jurassic park frogs, biological sex is not something that can be dichotomized. 

        http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/intersex-spectrum.html

        follow this article and educate yourself

      • http://www.facebook.com/mollysteadman Molly Steadman

        you can’t say “more power to ya” and “it doesn’t bother me” and then continue to say damaging things about it. you clearly are bothered, quite a bit, by it. there isn’t really a cut and dry distinction between men and women- not really, anyway. society would like us to believe that there is, but gender is a spectrum.

    • http://www.facebook.com/mollysteadman Molly Steadman

      gender has nothing to do with biology whatsoever. a person’s genitals do not define their gender. you need to do some research before you start posting stuff like this. 

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