Jan

31

Yes Means Yes Live Chat

Filed Under blogging, books, personal and self-promotion, rape and sexual assault, violence against women and girls | Leave a Comment

On Monday February 2, I will be participating in a live-chat on Feministing with Jaclyn Friedman and Jessica Valenti, the editors of Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power & a World Without Rape.  Also participating are Feministing bloggers and fellow Yes Means Yes contributors Samhita Mukhopadhyay and Miriam Perez.

Did I never officially mention on the blog that I am a contributor to Yes Means Yes?  Yeah, that’d be my bad.  But I am!  And we can attribute the failure to make an official announcement to my forgetfulness and an unusual sense of modesty temporarily cropping up, rather than any lack of enthusiasm about the book itself.  I’m thrilled to be in the book — it’s the first time I’ve ever been been “really” published in print — and think that it’s an absolutely wonderful anthology.  I’m also glad to have been asked to partake in the live-chat over at Feministing, the first stop on its 20 day long blog tour, and look forward to it.

The live-chat is at 3PM EST on Monday, February 2. I hope you’ll join us — and maybe toss out a question for me to answer, too!

Jan

30

Court Rules that Religious School Has Right to Expel “Suspected Lesbians”

Filed Under LGBTQ, assholes, bigotry, courts, discrimination, education and schools, homophobia, patriarchy, religious fanaticism, sexual exploitation and harassment, social conservatives | 33 Comments

In 2006, two teenage girls were expelled from California Lutheran High School on suspicion of their being lesbians. That’s right — though expelling students because they actually were lesbians would have been a gross violation of civil rights, this took it a step further by expelling the two students merely on a guess.

Now, amazingly, the California  4th District Court of Appeals has ruled that the school had every right to do so.

In response to that suit, an appeals court decided this week that the private religious school was not a business and therefore did not have to comply with a state law that prohibits businesses from discriminating. A lawyer for the girls said Tuesday that he would ask the California Supreme Court to overturn the unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel of the 4th District Court of Appeal.

The appeals court called its decision “narrow,” but lawyers on both sides of the case said it would protect private religious schools across California from such discrimination suits.

Kirk D. Hanson, who represented the girls, said the “very troubling” ruling would permit private schools to discriminate against anyone, as long as the schools used their religious beliefs as justification.

“It is almost like it could roll back 20 to 30 years of progress we have made in this area,” said the San Diego attorney. “Basically, this decision gives private schools the license to discriminate.”

Yes, a license to discriminate.  That’s exactly what this ruling does.  As so often happens in this country, “freedom of religion” has been falsely interpreted to mean “the right to impose my religion on other people and use it as an excuse for my bigotry — even when I’m not following tenants as simple as the Golden Rule myself.”

Read more

Jan

30

It was 40 Years Ago Today

Filed Under Gratuitous Beatles Blogging, fun, pop culture | 12 Comments

Today is the 40th anniversary of the Beatles legendary rooftop performance, on top of their Apple office headquarters in Saville Row on January 30, 1969.  It was their last ever live show.  Below is one of the three performances they did of Get Back.

Oh, to have been there.

You can watch the full video on YouTube — part one starts here.  You can also watch in HD, which has outstanding visual quality . . . but there’s also significant lag time between the audio and video.  The choice is yours! Enjoy!

Jan

29

CIA Station Chief Accused of Raping Algerian Women

Filed Under International, human rights, misogyny, patriarchy, rape and sexual assault, violence against women and girls | 11 Comments

So, you know those CIA guys who we send overseas to work with foreign intelligence agencies, not only to protect our own security interests but also as a symbolic gesture to the world that we have a vested interest in their safety as well?

Well, apparently at least one of those CIA guys interpreted “displaying a vested interest in the safety of foreign nations” as “drugging and raping women from those foreign nations.” And when I say “one of those CIA guys,” I actually mean “one of those in charge.”

The CIA’s station chief at its sensitive post in Algeria is under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department for allegedly raping at least two Muslim women who claim he laced their drinks with a knock-out drug, U.S. law enforcement sources tell ABC News.

The suspect in the case is identified as Andrew Warren in an affidavit for a search warrant filed in federal court in Washington, D.C. by an investigator for the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service.

Officials say the 41-year old Warren, a convert to Islam, was ordered home by the U.S. Ambassador, David Pearce, in October after the women came forward with their rape allegations in September.

According to the affidavit, the two women “reported the allegations in this affidavit independently of each other.”

The article continues to go into graphic descriptions of how Warren allegedly drugged and raped the women in his home, as they slipped in and out of consciousness.  Oh, and he apparently text-messaged one of them an “apology.”

Yeah, clearly the way to build good nature towards America abroad is to have our governmental authorities treat women abroad the same way that they treat them in America.  Let me just say that when Isobel Coleman, a government official who specializes in women’s issues in the Middle East, says “I think this is an opportunity for the U.S. to show how seriously it takes the issue of rape,” I’m not exactly hopeful that it’s any indication that something will be done.

While recognizing broader implications, I’ll also note that these comments really got on my last nerve:

“This will be seen as the typical ugly American,” said former CIA officer Bob Baer, reacting to the ABC News report. “My question is how the CIA would not have picked up on this in their own regular reviews of CIA officers overseas,” Baer said.

“From a national security standpoint,” said Baer, the alleged rapes would be “not only wrong but could open him up to potential blackmail and that’s something the CIA should have picked up on,” said Baer. “This is indicative of personnel problems of all sorts that run through the agency,” he said.

Yeah, rape is always bad, but you know what’s really bad?

No, wait, what?  Can we not keep the focus on women when talking about an issue that directly impacts women for a single second?  This is about the two (or more) women who were raped.  This is about the abuse of governmental authority in violent and misogynistic ways, and the implications it has for both women’s sense of safety and their actual safety.  Why is it too much to ask that we actually make it about them when it is about them?

I’d ask if our bodies and rights really matter so little, but the fact that this case exists at all already provides an answer to that.

h/t Think on This

Jan

28

Rape Apologism Starts Early

Filed Under education and schools, rape and sexual assault | 20 Comments

James West, school dean for a prominent Roman Catholic high school for boys, has been suspended due to allegations that he sexually assaulted one of the students in his office. As far as this news story reports, there is absolutely no reason whatsoever to believe that the allegations are not credible and do not deserve to be taken seriously.  In fact, West has been criminally charged with forcible touching and sexual abuse in the third degree.

But of course, that isn’t stopping everyone from rushing to the dean’s defense and claiming that he could certainly never do something like that.

Among students and alumni, the arrest last week of Mr. West, 55, was met with disbelief and a chorus of support for the dean, who was also chairman of the math department and a Hayes graduate himself, class of 1972. His arrest was reported on Friday in New York newspapers.

“All he ever cared about was our learning and safety. He was real strict but cool,” Eric Hall, 14, a freshman, said Friday. “I really don’t think it’s fair to him that this happened.”

A sophomore, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because school authorities had told students not to speak to reporters about Mr. West’s arrest, said: “All I know is, the principal told us some kid lied about Dean West touching him. Dean West ain’t that type of guy.”

I want to make it clear that these kids are young, and so I hold no personal animosity towards them or the fact that they made these comments.  In fact, I think that choosing to interview them, even anonymously, when alumni are also allegedly rushing to West’s defense, could be considered quite exploitative of these teenagers.

But that doesn’t stop me from being concerned about their comments.  It is, in fact, their age that tends to concern me most.

On the one hand, we can hope that they’ll outgrow the view that “I like him, so he couldn’t have done this bad thing” — but of course we know that far too many adults also hold the same one.  After all, as the article says, adult alumni have similarly defended West against the allegations.  And I also find it frightening that even at this age, teens are receiving these types of rape apologist messages.  Either they’re being taught this kind of thing by our society directly, or we are critically failing to teach them the opposite.

Read more

Jan

27

T-Shirt Hell Closes Its Doors

Filed Under assholes, bigotry, misogyny, patriarchy, pop culture, race and racism, rape and sexual assault, violence against women and girls | 29 Comments

Trigger Warning — highly disturbing images below the fold.

Via Sociological Images, I just learned that T-Shirt Hell (no I’m not linking) — that website that sells t-shirts which are beyond racist, misogynistic, homophobic, ableist, and I’m sure in many other ways very hateful — is closing down.  And knowing that they will be no more, even at the same time as I know that someone will inevitably take their place as soon as I write this, makes it a good day indeed.

The delusions of grandeur in the final message from the asshole running it are also the first funny thing he’s ever produced:

Anyway, rather than cater to the masses, I’m just going to stop making shirts. It’s not enjoyable anymore and I have enough money to move on to something more rewarding. Maybe I’ll start my own hooker farm or maybe I’ll practice sleeping. Whatever I decide to do, it will be better than this.

Attention any venture capitalists or independent investors/business assholes who are about to inquire about purchasing T-Shirt Hell. Don’t. You won’t do the company justice and I won’t take that chance. I’m putting it to sleep. It’s over.

That’s right, I’m crazy. I’m pulling the plug on a company I could have sold for millions. Why in the fucking world would I do something so stupid? Because I can. I don’t care about money. This is the way I’ve always done things…my way.

So, to all the kickass motherfuckers who supported us and REALLY got what we were trying to do, thank you (no, not you, you racist idiots who thought we actually had racist intentions and no, not you, you dumb as a stump fucks who just think any shirt with the word “fuck” on it is as right as rain). Thanks to all the people who contributed to my vice fund and at the same time helped make a funny statement about the world today.

Oh yeah, Sunshine Megatron (no, that’s really what Aaron Landau Schwarz is now calling himself), you did good things.  And I’m sure your company really is worth millions. *eye roll* There is nothing more admirable, or more “satirical,” than making the kind of jokes that cause marginalized people to feel like they’ve been punched in the gut.  And if you’re offensive to every marginalized group, Lord knows that the feelings of those marginalized groups don’t count.  Like the feelings of those women who see the images promoting rape and sexual assault, below the fold.

Read more

Jan

26

Berlusconi: Women Are Raped Because They’re Just So Good Looking

Filed Under Europe, International, assholes, beauty myths, misogyny, objectification, paternalism, patriarchy, politics, rape and sexual assault, sexism, sexual exploitation and harassment, violence against women and girls | 20 Comments

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, known for putting his foot in his mouth in really offensive ways, has done it yet again. This time, it’s one hot mess of rape myths and rape apologism, and a revival of the “women are raped because they’re pretty (and therefore rape is a compliment)” meme, once more with feeling:

THE Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, has dropped yet another clanger, infuriating women with the suggestion that a recent spate of rapes will not stop until there “are as many soldiers on the streets as there are pretty girls”.

The comment, made after a decision to deploy more military to combat an epidemic of violent sex crimes, was described immediately by the Opposition Democratic Party leader, Walter Veltroni,as the umpteenth gaffe “by a leader lacking in responsibility and sensitivity for the human beings who have suffered such a crime”.

Mr Berlusconi, who has pledged to mobilise 30,000 soldiers to combat sex crimes after a series of rapes in the capital, Rome, described Mr Veltroni’s comments as obscene and said he believed rape to be “a crime of incivility, execrable and shameful, full stop”.

You know, on second thought, I’m really not sure whether I feel more offended that Berlusconi thinks us women are raped because there are “pretty girls” (not women) who don’t have the sense to stay home, or that his highest condemnation of rape amounts to stating that it’s uncivil.

Read more

Jan

24

Police Chief: Women Want the Dick

Filed Under assholes, misogyny, patriarchy, rape and sexual assault, slut-shaming, violence against women and girls | 6 Comments

Trigger Warning

Colorado State University Police Chief Dexter Yarbrough is a violent, misogynistic asshole.

It seems like so many people have posted on this already — from Feministing, to Womanist Musings, to Yes Means Yes, to name only a few — but couldn’t let it just pass without comment.  Because this is rape culture at its most explicit.  Misogynistic views on sex backed up by authority.

Yarbrough is currently suspended  for doing and saying a lot of illegal things:

Listing numerous accusations of improprieties ranging from falsifying police documents, to mandating the special treatment of student athletes, to teaching students illegal police tactics, several timid police officers say the President’s Office had plenty of alarming evidence to take action long ago but turned a blind eye to a handful of alleged abuses of power.

The list of those abuses includes telling students that as a police officer he would give informants illegal drugs in exchange for information, and bragging about how he would physically beat suspects — as well as this:

The lecture that inspired him to gather recordings, Gropp said, was one in which he says Yarbrough told the class “women want the dick, even when they say ‘no.’ They want the dick.”

There are, of course, a lot of things that concern me about this comment, especially coming from a police officer. There’s the fact that it gives me every reason to believe that Yarbrough is sexually violent himself. There’s the fact that impressionable kids are hearing this in their classrooms, coming from an authority figure — words stating that it’s okay to commit rape, because women like it anyway. And there’s the fact that he was overseeing the conduct of other officers.

But what actually concerns me most, when I hear this?  The fact that women were going to Yarbrough to report rapes committed against them.  Expecting support and feeling traumatized, they were instead met with this man.  I can’t even imagine what that must have been like.

While I think that it’s a problem that Yarbrough is currently only suspended, that it took so long, and that he’s still being paid to sit around and be an asshole, I also, like Marcella, do commend the fact that action was taken at all.  And I’m rather impressed that the statement above, which promotes rape, was the reason that the investigation began.

“In my book he just kind of condoned rape,” Gropp said. “I was just floored … that was when I decided to start recording things and file a complaint.”

Frankly, though the shockingly misogynistic and rape apologist nature of the comment seems clear as day to anyone who is willing to see the truth, far too many people — especially fellow-men who are listening to such a statement come from an apparent superior inside an institution built on patriarchal authority — would agree, laugh it off, or pretend they hadn’t hear it.  So good for you, Aaron Gropp.  Good for you.

Jan

23

Breaking: Obama Reverses the Global Gag Rule

Filed Under Barack Obama, International, abortion, anti-choice extremism, human rights, misogyny, politics, reproductive justice, women’s health | 2 Comments

It’s official. The gag rule is no more.  (At least until our next anti-choice president, if legislative action isn’t also taken.)

International funding can now go to organizations that provide abortions with other funding, or simply offer counseling about abortion as an option from a different provider.  Desperately poor women with high risk pregnancies won’t have to die because their doctor can’t tell them about termination options.  Many will have more access to safe abortion care, and won’t die or face permanent injury due to risky do-it-yourself procedures.  Women won’t have to get pregnant because their local birth control clinic had to choose between no funding or substandard, dishonest care, and subsequently closed down.

Yes, he’s a day late.  And no, I haven’t quite forgiven him yet for his supposed reasoning on that.  But mainly, I’m just letting out one of the biggest sighs of reliefs I’ve ever sighed.

This is what change can mean. Thousands of women’s lives saved.  And after the past 8 years of this deadly policy, it’s about time.

For an objective look at what the Global Gag Rule entailed, check out this fact sheet from Reuters.  For the pro-choice version, see Planned Parenthood.

Thanks to Colleen for the link to the confirmation I’ve been waiting for all day!

Jan

23

NY Times Article Got Story on DIY Abortions Wrong

Filed Under abortion, anti-choice extremism, blogging, human rights, immigration, legislation, media, pregnancy, reproductive justice, women’s health | 3 Comments

The other week, I blogged about this NY Times article on Dominican women in New York City inducing abortion themselves with misoprostol.

Well, it turns out that the NY Times go several key facts very wrong. AlterNet has the story. (emphasis mine)

So what did the study find? Far less misoprostol use than expected, it turns out. Data analysis isn’t finished yet and the study won’t be published until March. But Grossman said that 1,200 women were surveyed, and at most, only 17 reported using misoprostol at all, let alone in the US. “You absolutely cannot use this study to generalize beyond the groups we studied,” he warned. “But the vast majority of the women we talked to went to medical facilities, like Planned Parenthood, to get their abortions. Misoprostol use was not common.”

But the Times tells a different story. It says the study finds that in Latina immigrant enclaves like Upper Manhattan, misoprostol is “frequently employed …despite the widespread availability of safe, legal and inexpensive abortions in clinics and hospitals.”

When Times reporter Jennifer Lee contacted the Ibis and Gynuity researchers in December, they could not understand why the Times was doing a news story. We said, ‘There’s no news now about misoprostol,’” said Winikoff. “We told her, ‘Maybe there will be if you wait for the study.’” Their fears about premature use of their research were well founded. Lee’s editor at the Times, Jodi Rudoren, told RH Reality Check that when Lee talked to her about the study to make a case for an article, she gave an estimated figure for women reporting misoprostol use that far surpassed what the researchers say is correct.

And the Times article hammers misoprostol’s dangers, while completely ignoring all the research supporting its potential for relatively safe and effective DIY use. “We told her about that data and our education efforts,” Grossman said. Both topics have been covered in other publications in recent years.

The Times article also states — wrongly — that self-induced abortions in New York are “illicit,” and women do them “illegally.” In fact, according to the Guttmacher Institute, 38 states outlaw self-abortion, in laws which often track repressive statutes left over from pre-Roe v. Wade days. But New York isn’t one of them — women there can legally self abort early pregnancies if they want to.

You got all that? The figures are overblown, the self-induced abortion method — while certainly not ideal, and certainly more dangerous than a doctor-supervised option — is much safer than made out to be, and the abortions themselves are not illegal.

That’s not to say that the story has no merit at all, and do-it-yourself abortions do in fact happen in America.  I further stand by the majority of my assertions made in my original blog post: anti-choice policies do promote unsafe abortions, access (as the AlerNet article also notes) is still far too limited, and immigration policies only compound the problem.

But these facts are important.  And the NY Times fucked up, big time.  And their fuck up could have wide-reaching consequences:

After the Times piece came out, the national media followed with articles saying that misoprostol use among US Latinas is common, increasing, risky and illegal. As a result, Gonzalez-Rojas said, “there could be legislative action” to further outlaw or crack down on self-induced abortions, “including to criminalize women’s use of misoprostol” in the name of protecting them. “We do have concerns.”

Scary. Granted, this legislation would be completely ridiculous and unnecessarily punitive even if the newspaper did have its facts 100% correct.  But the fact that we could be seeing this kind of legislation thanks to an article that wasn’t even accurate?  Not okay.

Next Page →