April 2010

Tell the Department of Justice to Adopt New Standards to Address Prison Rape

by Cara April 30, 2010

In the past couple months, I’ve written two posts about the enormous issue of prison rape. Over at Feministe, one of our guest bloggers, Liliana, also wrote an excellent post on the subject, which I highly recommend. Amanda at the Sexist has recently published her own take (trigger warning: the post contains many important but [...]

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This is Not an Analysis of Rape Culture. This is a Rant.

by Cara April 28, 2010

Trigger Warning for very graphic and disturbing descriptions of rape, as well as descriptions of death from alcohol poisoning. This morning I read a story about how a man named Shareef Clemons confessed to raping a 15-year-old girl when he was 16. He raped her along with Juan Williams, who was 17 at the time [...]

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Court Gives Women the Right to Sue Wal-Mart for Gender Discrimination

by Cara April 27, 2010

Yesterday, a federal appeals court ruled that a class action lawsuit against Wal-Mart, for alleged discrimination against female employees, can go forward. For almost ten years, the company has attempted to block the lawsuit, and is still unprepared to give up: A federal appeals court ruled Monday that thousands of female Wal-Mart employees can sue [...]

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Top 5 Covers By The Beatles

by Cara April 24, 2010

It’s well known that the Beatles were influenced by — and some would say borrowed, some would say appropriated, some would say stole, depending on your perspective — a lot of early American rock and roll, which was predominantly written and performed by black musicians. From their earliest days in Hamburg, it was the songs [...]

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New Report on Murdered and Missing Aboriginal Women and Girls in Canada

by Cara April 23, 2010

The Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) has, through their Sisters in Spirit initiative, gathered information and released a report on Aboriginal women and girls who have gone missing or been murdered in Canada over the past generation (pdf). They found a total of 582 cases. Of those, 393 died as a result of murder [...]

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Rape Apologism in Action: “She didn’t say anything at all.”

by Cara April 20, 2010

Trigger Warning for rape apologism and graphic descriptions of rape, especially in linked article. An ongoing UK rape case presents us with a perfect example of rape apologism, and the grave cultural misunderstanding over what exactly constitutes both rape and consent. Jack Tweed, the widower of a reality show star, is charged on two counts [...]

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Blogiversary: The Curvature Turns 3

by Cara April 18, 2010

Today, April 18th, is the third anniversary of this here blog. And with it comes a full blog redesign! Lord knows that it was well past being due. For the brand spanking new logo, I’m enormously indebted to Marcus R. Gregory. He created the banner, was incredibly lovely and patient with me through the process, [...]

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Northern Territory Justice Comes Out Against Calling Rape “Rape”

by Cara April 16, 2010

Trigger Warning for rape apologism and discussion of victim grooming. Last year, a teacher from Northern Territory, Australia was arrested for engaging in sexual contact with a 13-year-old student. He was arrested because this contact, which he had willfully and knowingly engaged in, is illegal. It is illegal precisely because it has been determined in [...]

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The Importance of Consent in Everyday Situations

by Cara April 15, 2010

Yesterday, I had my hair cut. As the stylist called my name, she asked if I would like a shampoo. I politely declined. She then noticed how thick my hair is and she said she was going to take me back to the sink to wet it. And being incredibly used to this, I readily [...]

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How to Write About Domestic Violence Without Actually Discussing Violence

by Cara April 13, 2010

The mayor of White Plains, NY has been arrested on charges of domestic violence. Adam T. Bradley, who has not yet resigned, is accused of slamming a door on his wife’s hand, screaming at her that she should kill herself, and then threatening and harassing her to drop the charges against him. This is obviously [...]

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