Army Of Hipster Celeb Ladies Wants You To Vote

Cara’s Team Pick

Morning, friends! Guess what? I’ve got lovely news. Today is one of those good days! No, not the Sunday Funday kind. The kind where approximately fifty badass and talented women have decided to lipsync to a politically relevant 1960s pop hit for you. It’s a gift! Go ahead, open it:

[yframe url=’https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMxtbAP2cyU’]

This pro-Obama Women Voter Call to Action PSA is the brainchild of cabaret artist and Citizen’s Band cofounder Sarah Sophie Flicker (she’s the one in the flower crown) and filmmaker Maximilla Lukacs, and like others we’ve seen recently, is much better than the higher-budget ones that have been put out this election cycle. For one thing, it has bypassed the ordinary Very Grave Piano Music in favor of Lesley Gore’s pioneering feminist anthem, “You Don’t Own Me.” That song is a better pump-up than coffee, which is lucky, because it’s going to be stuck in your head all day now.

WEBCAMS FULL OF WOMEN

For another, it’s a showcase of very cool people being goofy on their webcams for a good cause. I don’t know if it’s the nostalgia factor or the populist charm or what, but something about seeing celebrities eat noodles in sweatpants and play with their guinea pigs and try to outdo each others’ ferocious lip-sync faces just charms the heck out of me (even when I don’t recognize them – who are you, queer-repping polka dot girl?). They just keep popping up! Hey, Miranda July, may I borrow a book? Wait, Tavi Gevinson, can you even vote yet? Blink and you’ll miss one. (Yes, that was Carrie Brownstein in red plaid and a smile). It’s like Whack-A-Mole, but with artists/musicians/writers/fashion designers in place of the plastic moles, and rather than clobbering them, you just swoon repeatedly. I guarantee you will have two to eight new crushes by the end.

Finally, there’s the message, which is clear, simple, and well-expressed via intertitles and cute signs: women wield a huge amount of democratic power (in 2008, 60% of voters were women!) and we should a) use it, in general, and b) preferably to support candidates who will then support us, by fighting for equal rights, equal pay, and health care that belongs in this century. As Lesley Gore puts it, “I recorded You Don’t Own Me in 1964 . . . it’s hard for me to believe, but we’re still fighting for the same things we were then.”

NATASHA LYONNE IS STILL ON THE LAM FROM TRUE DIRECTIONS

But hey, we all know this. And I know we’re all going to vote and vote and vote some more. But, first, one more time, with Instagram-tinted feeling – “DOOOOOON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!”  (Vote, though.)

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Cara

Cara is a former contributing editor for Autostraddle and a current staff writer at Atlas Obscura. She lives in Somerville with her girlfriend, their roommate, and a cat who can flush the toilet, and is generally thinking about gender, sustainable biodiversity, and/or rock & roll music. You can follow her on twitter @cjgiaimo if you want.

Cara has written 113 articles for us.

30 Comments

  1. This was so great, thanks for posting!

    I think it is also worth noting that Leslie Gore is an out lesbian. :)

  3. I’ve already voted by absentee ballot. Mae Whitman, what other things would you like to tell me to do?

  4. Yay Sia with the blonde bangs! You’re only one of my favourite musical artists ever and here you are being even more awesome.. win.

  7. Can you imagine going to Army Of Hipster Celeb Ladies Bootcamp? Learning to fight evil with lip syncing, prejudice with witty intelligence and boring wardrobes with flower hats, aviators and appropriately stencilled t-shirts? I want to go to there.

  8. That’s cool. Dusty does a cool version of that song too. I’m a bit worried though, it’s reported over here (UK) that Mittens and Barack are NECK AND NECK in the polls. Is this RIGHT? What’s going on? I don’t know of a single American who respects Romney. Am I living in a rose-rinted, liberal bubble and spending too much time reading Autostraddle..?

    • yes you are, and so am I! I’d like to bet that the majority of other brits are regarding this election from afar with the same sort of misty confusion…

    • yes they’re neck and neck according to polling of people who answer the phone when it rings from an unidentified number in the middle of the day and tells a stranger who they’ll probably vote for. (I’ll tell you who DOESN’T do that — people dodging bill collectors!) but regardless of the popular vote, i think the electoral college favors obama. honestly thinking about mitt romney winning makes me want to jump off a bridge, so i just can’t

    • ahahahahha that is literally my favorite joke in that entire show all seasons (including the upcoming one, i already know)

  12. Oh god, I didn’t recognize a single woman. I had no idea these were supposed to be celebrities.

  13. i have watched this like 10 times b/c it is good but reeeeally just for natasha lyonne’s hair, mae whitman eating noodles, and lesley gore’s general presence. and also i appreciate that they included at least one lesbian and one trans woman. tokenism is ok with me in this adorable context i guess?

  15. What a freakin AMAZING way to encourage youth participation and provide education around these issues. Politics doesn’t have to be boring people!!!

    I am so inspired right now!

    • Thank you for that! I’ve just spotted where the inspiration for the Shane look comes from. There’s one pic where she looks very like Shane.

  18. You were right about gaining two to eight crushes by the end! Definitely sitting on a good 5 more now!

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