Apr

29

Oops

Filed Under LGBTQ issues, blogging | 2 Comments

Uh, so I set up wordpress to post this for my yesterday . . . and it totally didn’t.

I will be gone all day — and I do mean all day – for Equality and Justice Day in Albany. It’s the lobbying day for LGBT issues and I’m excited to be a part of it, especially since some cool stuff will be going on. But it does mean that I’ll be gone from 4 in the morning to sometime around 10 at night.

I probably won’t get the chance to check back in until Wednesday evening, since I’m busy that day too. I’ll be speaking on my first-ever panel at a fundraising conference about the work I’ve been doing online with Planned Parenthood, and probably a bit about my blogging, as well. Not a big deal, but public speaking always freaks me out — especially when the people I’m talking to get to talk back!

I’ll probably be exhausted by the time I return . . . but hopefully I’ll have something interesting to report.

I am exhausted, and I do plan on writing a post about yesterday and getting it up this evening. See you then.

Popularity: 15% [?]

Apr

28

Feminist News and Links

Filed Under blogging, feminism, media, random | 20 Comments

I’ve been pretty busy, lately. Here’s some stuff I won’t get the time to blog about in depth:

With regards to the Seal Press boycott, many have asked “but what are feminist authors to do?” Prof Black Woman answers that question with a list of kick-ass feminist and multicultural printing presses.

Lauredhel goes after one of my biggest pet peeves: the media referring to rape, particularly child rape, as “sex”.

An Austrian man admittedly kept his daughter prisoner for 24 years — slightly more time than I’ve been alive — continually raped her and impregnated her (at least) seven times. Horrific.

What Ashley said.

I keep forgetting to mention this hilarity: many anti-abortion opponents do not support the latest bid to outlaw abortion in South Dakota. They feel that because of the unworkable “exceptions” for rape, incest and health, the bill doesn’t go far enough. Let’s hope the asshats manage to bring themselves down.

Maybe we should be more concerned about the fact that Vanity Fair has no problem with sexualizing 15-year-old girls in their magazine and what that says about adults, rather than whether or not it will cause teenage girls to run off and join some kind of crazy promiscuous porn circus? (And maybe wonder when the fuck Annie Leibovitz went from shooting the most iconic magazine cover of all time to just shooting racist and sexist smut?) Just a thought.

Don’t forget to Wear Red on Wednesday.

The U.S. marine accused of raping a 14-year-old Japanese girl is facing court martial.

Professional tool Marc Rudov calls himself a “feminist,” says that women say “‘I do’ at the alter and ‘I don’t’ in the bedroom”. I wonder why women hate him so much?

Racist attacks on Obama get even worse.

The Feminist Art Project is promoting feminist art/exhibitions throughout the country. In related news, there is A Day of Collaborative Performance in the Bronx next month, and participants are needed.

Tigtog gives an important warning to those who use wordpress.com to host their blogs. If that’s you, this is a must-read.

Also, last chance to get your nominations into the Carnival Against Sexual Violence.



What have you been reading? Feel free to shamelessly self-promote.

Popularity: 19% [?]

Apr

27

Oh No They Didn’t

Filed Under education and schools, fun, media, pop culture, random, religious fanaticism | 8 Comments

You know that stupid Ben Stein movie Expelled, that argues in favor of “intelligent design” and chastises the sane for not allowing religious bullshit to be taught in science classes? Apparently, they used the John Lennon song Imagine in the film . . . without permission.

Yoko Ono, one of my all-time favorite feminists, isn’t having any of that shit. The issue came to her attention when bloggers started accusing her of selling out. And so she slapped the filmmakers with a lawsuit.

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Popularity: 20% [?]

Apr

26

Faulty Feminist Introspection

Filed Under feminism, misogyny, patriarchy, rape and sexual assault, sex and sexuality, sexual exploitation and harassment, slut-shaming, violence against women and girls | 17 Comments

Will someone tell me what the fuck this shit is?

A study has concluded that men often “misinterpret” women’s subtle messages during a sexual encounter when the message means “stop”. But my WTF is not towards the study, which is nonetheless very interesting to talk about — my outrage is at the blog post from Broadsheet (emphasis mine).

Now, for the ear steam: I think it’s unfair to blame this sexual miscommunication on men. Just as men are misreading women’s indirect resistance, women are miscalculating how men will interpret their cues to slow down or stop. (Interestingly enough, in previous research, Motley found that women use indirect messages of resistance to avoid upsetting men, but most men easily accept direct resistance.) I also find it hard to blame men for not correctly reading women’s indirect resistance; women are often expected to, in the very least, put on a halfhearted performance as the steadfast sexual gatekeeper — even if it’s clear that she ultimately intends to abandon her post for the night. Given that cultural script — first she resists, then she consents — how is it any surprise that a guy would misinterpret a woman’s subtle suggestions to slow down?

What. The. Fuck.

Of course, the commenters think that it’s the best damn thing since sliced bread.

When Clark-Flory began this post with anger for the concept of “faulty male introspection,” I was with her. The idea sounded pretty damn offensive to me, too. What, guys are just too stupid to talk to women and ask what they mean when unsure? Women are a whole different species that we can’t expect men to actually communicate with? It’s not that he’s sexually assaulting you, ladies, it’s that he has faulty male introspection.

But no. That’s not what she was mad about. She was mad because it placed all the blame on guys. Due to ambiguous writing, I’m not even sure if she merely thinks that women need to take some of the blame, or if she thinks men should be entirely off the hook.

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Popularity: 24% [?]

Apr

25

A Crazy 24 Hours

Filed Under WOC issues, books, feminism, media, race and racism | 14 Comments

I’ve been waiting to weigh in on the latest of the Amanda Marcotte controversies: the images in the book. I’m not going to rehash it all here; if you don’t know what I’m talking about, click the link because Holly explains it all.

I haven’t read the book or even seen it in person. So, I was unaware of the images. As for my opinion, I agree with everything that Holly and everyone else who was outraged had to say. I noted my shock and disgust in the comments. And I didn’t anticipate writing anything about it unless there were developments.

There have been. Both Amanda and Seal Press have issued apologies.

And though I’m happy that they realize they’ve done something wrong, the apologies themselves do bring up a hell of a lot of questions.

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Popularity: 21% [?]

Apr

24

Why We Need to Stop the Democratic Infighting

Filed Under Democrats, Republicans, assholes, class and economics, discrimination, legislation, misogyny, parenthood, patriarchy, politics, pregnancy, sexism, work | 12 Comments

Because John McCain is a misogynist nutbag. As are his fellow Republicans.

Yesterday, Republican Senators successfully filibustered — that’s right, not just voted against but fucking filibustered — a bill that would provide those who have been the victims of discriminatory pay with more legal recourse. In other words, they filibustered a civil rights bill. Because Republicans have so learned the error of their prejudiced ways.

Republicans said the proposal to ease the time constraints would prompt more lawsuits and lead to litigation over outdated cases. “This debate today is not about allowing, favoring or supporting discrimination,” said Senator Johnny Isakson, Republican of Georgia.

[. . .]

Mr. McCain, who was campaigning in Louisiana, skipped the vote but told reporters he would have opposed the bill since it could contribute to frivolous lawsuits harmful to businesses.

Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, accused Democrats of unfairly trying to paint opponents of the bill as unsympathetic to victims of salary discrimination. “The only ones who will see an increase in pay are some of the trial lawyers who bring the cases,” he said.

Um, what exactly, Senator Hatch, is being unfairly represented? Victims of unfair pay discrimination need a recourse, and you are actively denying it to them. You’re openly protecting companies who have a history of discrimination. And you are allowing, favoring or supporting discrimination, Senator Isakson, by refusing to hold those corporations who have engaged in it responsible for their actions. This is pretty fucking simple.

John McCain didn’t show up to vote — but did support the “it would provoke lawsuits” argument (um, assholes, that’s the point), and had this to say:

“They need the education and training, particularly since more and more women are heads of their households, as much or more than anybody else,” McCain said. “And it’s hard for them to leave their families when they don’t have somebody to take care of them.

“It’s a vicious cycle that’s affecting women, particularly in a part of the country like this, where mining is the mainstay; traditionally, women have not gone into that line of work, to say the least,” he said.

Oh, I see: so Senator McCain, you’re going to start supporting flexible work schedules and reduced working hours for both parents? You’re going to promote men taking a more active role in child-rearing and support social services that help women with child care? You’re also going to support those who are genuinely stuck in low paying jobs because a lack of educational opportunity with resources, and work to improve school systems and economic equality?

Um . . . no. McCain supports the “free market” — the very same free market that allows employers to discriminate against women, racial minorities, the disabled and LGBTQ individuals. He’s just using an opportunity to remind everyone that women belong back in the kitchen with a child on each hip. He also needed to point out that women are only paid less is because we just can’t stop popping out the kiddies, are uneducated and don’t do equal work — even though the Ledbetter case shows that this argument is a bunch of shit.

Below the jump, what I think of McCain and the Senate Republicans (all but six of whom voted to block the measure).

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Popularity: 18% [?]

Apr

23

It’s a Small Feminist World

Filed Under WOC issues, blogging, feminism, race and racism | 16 Comments

It’s an ironic one, too.

I will admit that I have not been following the Seal Press debacle extremely closely. I paid attention for the first week, and not a whole lot of new stuff seemed to happen after that. And though they’re definitely related, the BFP/Amanda “thing” came up and it kind of dropped off of my radar.

I thought that Seal Press was wrong from the beginning. The super-duper condensed version of what happened? Black Amazon wrote a comment on her blog that said “Fuck Seal Press.” Then a representative from Seal Press showed up and proceeded to begin a blog war by acting like a stupid, unprofessional, privileged asshole (sorry, calling them like I see them). Again, this was a pretty clear cut situation.

There was a question up in the air: why did BA say “Fuck Seal Press”? It was a remark addressed in a sort of private way to a friend, and for good reason, BA refused to say.

Last week, it turns out that the story emerged, and I missed it. Adele Nieves, a published woman of color writer and editor, came forward:

An informal meeting with an editor from Seal Press at the WAM conference regarding the proposal for my anthology left me feeling frustrated and deflated. I was not seeking or particularly interested in having them publish the anthology, but merely hoping for advice on my book proposal. The editor, while impressed with the format of the proposal, advised me that anthologies don’t sell, and I should get someone like Gloria Steinem or Katha Pollitt to contribute, even though, as she said, I wouldn’t be able to get access to them. I was struck by the fact that she did not suggest I contact Daisy Hernandez, bell hooks, Andrea Smith, or Alice Walker. I might not have access to them either, of course, but given the intent of the anthology is to highlight the voices of people of diverse backgrounds, especially those we’ve not heard from in other works, I found her comments discouraging.

Afterwards, I had a private conversation about the meeting with a small group of friends, including Black Amazon, in hopes they could help me work through this. They did.

Earlier this week, I wrote a post about my feelings on the Amanda Marcotte controversy. In it, I briefly mentioned an article I had written for a feminist anthology that was shopping around for publishers. Today, about half an hour before happening to stumble across Adele’s explanation in a roundabout way via Ilyka, I got a message from the woman behind that anthology (saying that the project was now on hiatus for reasons that don’t seem to be very important here — for me this is sad, but not devastating).

Why is this relevant?

Because the woman behind the anthology is Adele. We’re talking about the same damn book.

And do you remember the title of the article I wrote? The Importance of Allies: A Call to White, Straight, Middle-Class Feminists.

You know, this thread got me close but not quite there. Now I’m going to go cry about how much my fellow white feminists can suck.

Popularity: 18% [?]

Apr

22

Headline That Will Make Your Head Explode

Filed Under assholes, media, misogyny, patriarchy, rape and sexual assault, violence against women and girls | 10 Comments

Victim ‘had sex with her captor willingly’

And this is where we have a conversation about how exceedingly few fucking people in the world actually understand what rape is — and about how cops are some of the worst rape-deniers.

Here is the back story.

I’d say more, but pieces of my head seem to be scattered all over the room . . . and once I collect them all, I do believe there’s a fetal position with my name on it.

Popularity: 16% [?]

Apr

22

Is it August yet?

Filed Under 2008 election, Democrats, media, politics | 20 Comments

The Pennsylvania Democratic primary is today. I could be slightly more enthused.

In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve more or less dropped out of campaign coverage. The answer is simple: things have gotten ugly. And with apologies to Clinton supporters, I don’t understand why she is still in it (yeah, I know: “to win it”).

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Popularity: 15% [?]

Apr

21

Teaching Rape

Filed Under education and schools, misogyny, patriarchy, rape and sexual assault, slut-shaming, violence against women and girls | 8 Comments

Trigger Warning

Via abyss2hope comes this disturbing and nauseating story about a wedding disc jokey who has been arrested for allegedly sharing an instructional video on how to sexually abuse children.

A New York disc jockey has been accused of sharing an instructional video showing how to sexually abuse children.

The case was referred to the Queens district attorney’s office by police in Illinois who said they found two child porn videos in an Internet file-sharing program the DJ was using in February.

Police say one video shows a 4-year-old girl having sex with a man and the other gives advice and examples on how to sexually abuse minors.

Sigh. Everybody say it with me: a 4-year-old cannot have sex. This called rape. This other article describes the video slightly differently as showing “4-year-old girl performing a sex act on a man.” While desperately trying to avoid an image in my mind’s eye, I can make an educated guess as to what that “sex act” was in order for them to describe it as the 4-year-old girl performing it on the man. But I can assure you that he was indeed the one raping her. As a 4-year-old, she was not doing the “performing,” assholes. For fuck’s sake.

This is all a tangent, but Theologian said here that feminists need to work on a way to hold the media accountable for the language they use, and I couldn’t agree more. Especially since (as a general rule) when I do google news searches, more stories about rape come up under the keyword “sex” than under the keyword “rape”. Often, media outlets will excuse this language on the basis of “he’s only alleged to have raped her! To say ‘rape’ would be misleading!” First of all, that’s generally bull. Secondly, it doesn’t fly in this case, as under absolutely no circumstances can a 4-year-old consent to sex act.

Anyway, back to the story at hand.

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Popularity: 18% [?]

Apr

21

Parental Advisory: Explicit Content

Filed Under blogging, fun, random | 13 Comments

This just made my day:

The Blog-O-Cuss Meter - Do you cuss a lot in your blog or website?
The Blog-O-Cuss Meter - Do you cuss a lot in your blog or website?

Created by OnePlusYou

HAHAHAHA.

Stolen from Ren, who has a paltry 34.5% of her pages containing curse words. Better pick up the pace, Ren!

By the way, the average is 9%. And my rate of swearing is apparently 988% more than other websites that took the test. I’m not sure whether to count this as a big win or an ultimate fail.

Honestly, I didn’t think that I swore quite that much — more like a 75%. Then again, it must automatically read comments as well. In any case, I feel like I should throw in a few expletives here just to live up to my apparent reputation. So . . . fuck. And ass.

Popularity: 14% [?]

Apr

19

On Being an Ally

Filed Under WOC issues, blogging, feminism, race and racism | 17 Comments

Last week, I noted that BFP’s blog had been shut down. And I said that with regard to the situation that caused her to close it, I did not know what to say. Later on in the day, Holly put up a post on the topic. And after reading it, and reading the thread, I did know what to say.

And I didn’t say it.

A few months ago, I wrote an article for an anthology that is currently shopping around for publishers. It’s called The Importance of Allies: A Call to White, Straight, Middle-Class Feminists. It’s about just what it sounds like: the fact that the mainstream feminist movement has been overwhelmingly white, straight, middle-class, and though I do think that we’ve made progress, and though I do think that more of an effort is being made, we haven’t come nearly as far as we think we have. I think that a lot of the article is outdated now, and that’s a shame — not for me and the damn article, but because I gave us more credit than we deserved.

My eyes have been opened.

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Popularity: 24% [?]

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