In defense of the sanctimonious women's studies set || First feminist blog on the internet

Category: Recommended

Weekly link dumps for your intellectual perusal.

“Loser” Is Right

I’m too wiped to even touch this one, so I’ll let you guys have at it. Bolds are mine.

Well I may be an unemployed man without a wife or girlfriend still living with my parents despite being over the age of 30, but at least I’m not so stupid as to think that a gorgeous young girl would be the author of a popular libertarian blog. She’d be too busy having fun. The kind of fun found in this post, except it would be happening every night instead of just being a one time event. You guys are so gullible!

Libertarians tend to be ugly because it’s an anti-majority philosophy. People who are attractive have an easy time going through life and derive far too many advantages from the status quo to ever question it. It’s only outsiders, who are usually ugly, who join up with fringe movements.

One thing I learned from this blog is how easy attractive woman have it. When I had a blog as my real self, no one linked to me, no one left any comments, it was as if the blog existed in a vacuum. But things were different for Libertarian Girl. Every day I’d check Technorati and discover new unsolicited links. It was like I had warped into an alternate universe where all the rules had changed. At the rate things were happening, this would have been an A-list blog in a few more months.

It’s funny how there have been some posts in the blogosphere saying that the political blogosphere was a boys club that discriminated against women, as evidenced by how few politics bloggers were women. Boy were they completely off the mark. It’s ten times easier for a woman’s blog to become popular.

This effect no doubt carries over into the real world. Whenever I see an attractive woman with a successful career, I’ll remember the experience of this blog and assume that she didn’t really get there on merit, just her looks.

Let us just take a moment to remember that I, in a very, very small contest, was voted sexiest female blogger – and I didn’t even show cleavage, write about sexual exploits, or something else equally silly. Oh, and that I am a member of several fringe movements. And, despite five years of this, I’m not A-list.

So what’s wrong with me? Oh yeah, the f-word again. Shit!

And this observation was made by a thirty-plus-year-old living in his parents’ basement. A good catch, that one.

via Ilyka Damen

Thrifty Food Plan, Thermostats, and Lunchboxes

For anyone who has been following this series, Elizabeth’s family has finished one month of the government’s Thrifty Food Plan. (Post one, the one that started it all.)

This conversation inspired me to get a few books on how to save money and shop savvy. There are some things on my budget that won’t budge, but others are completely flexible. Other than yesterday’s trip to the grocery store because I absolutely had to have fresh fruit, I have saved buckets on grocery bills for the two of us by modifying how we cook and eat. My primary problem (as of right now) is time. I don’t have that much time to stand around the kitchen and play Mother of the Year, and so far I’m spending most of my Sunday cooking for the week.

All I need to do now is figure out how to avoid the convenience of E’s lunchbox food and begin to make our own incarnations, and get used to the low-set thermostat and the house being cold. Because goddamn, it’s cold.

What I’ve Been Reading Since I Haven’t Been Writing

Now featuring fruits and vegetables! And mustard!

Feminism:
• Considerable pissing matches criticizing the “nice” guy/jerk binary between three notable feminist bloggers and an MRA. See Hugo Schwyzer (the instigator of criticism), Amanda, and Kameron Hurley.

• I rediscovered this old post at Rad Geek, Why Libertarians Need Feminism. Great read.

• Also at Rad Geek, who has been blogging for me this week, looks at the pro-choice/pro-life binary.

• The Progressive Protestant discusses abortion and the church from a pro-choice point of view.

• Lynn at Noli Irritate Leones looks at Goldman’s perspective on anarchism and violence. She is also looking for other anarchist views on violence, so if anyone has any suggestions, cruise on over and leave a comment.

Education:
• Erin of Critical Mass highlights a NYTimes article that details the “sad state” of literacy in American high schools. Unfortunately she, and most of her commenters, are removed enough from the pre-service programs to know that we are already working on it.

• Testing Companies Mine for Gold: An article that details how testing companies benefit from NCLB testing initiatives, and students benefit little.

• Madame Zenobia (whose kickass template made my day) has designed a class around hip hop studies. The text for the course sounds good enough to read on my own: That’s The Joint: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader.

Politics:
• Ophelia Payne finds a story at Fair.org detailing what happened to a NYTimes expose on the hump in GWB’s back during the presidential debates. As she says, even if he did have a receiver, he’s still a crappy cheater.

• Dr. Myers writes a great parable comparing plumbing to creationism politics.

• Daddy Alan Keyes kicks his daughter, Maya Keyes, out of the house when she comes out as a lesbian. Well, at least he’s consistent. I hate to say this, but Cheney 1 – Keyes 0.

Entertainment:
• Straight Outta White Suburbia: A look at Nina Gordon’s cover of N.W.A.’s “Straight Outta Compton” and why the author finds it offensive. I listened to it myself and it wasn’t clever or ironic. Not only has it been done too many times before, this version was just lame. Sorry, chica, but Kim Deal has it all over you.

• James Dobson suggests that parents keep track of their daughters’ menstrual cycles. Now that’s entertainment.

• How to Save the World shows how the “free” market ruins entertainment media.

• Dr. B. briefly looks at the Onion A.V,’s recent interview with Will Wright, creator of The Sims, and his decision to make versatile partnering relationships within the game.

• The movie Million Dollar Baby is discussed at Subversive Harmony, and although she is critical of many of the movie’s premises, finds it an enjoyable watch.

Blogging:
• Krista compiles a list of things she wishes someone would have told her when she began blogging.

• Atheist bloggers unite at the Carnival of the Godless. Some very good posts there, and some not so good. Still an awesome idea. (It appears COTG 2 is already out, hosted at Pharyngula.)

Other Anomalies:
• On the Evolution of the Female Orgasm.

• My new favorite blog, The Examining Room of Dr. Charles, features stories based on true experiences starring fictional characters. If this guy weren’t a doctor, I’d strongly suggest he write a novel.

Two Must-Reads

Tired of your musings on parenthood being dismissed as so much fluff? Clancy writes in response to a NYTimes article on parenting blogs for which she was interviewed.

I was interviewed for this story because part of my dissertation research focuses on women’s weblogs, many of whom are mothers. When David Hochman was talking to me about the story, he used the words “narcissistic” and “confessional” to describe parents’ weblogs, albeit in a questioning way (“Aren’t they just kind of narcissistic and confessional?” that kind of thing). As I told him about my dissertation, I tried so hard to explain to and persuade him that “baby blogs” are often — almost always — so much more than “the new baby book,” that they’re a way for parents to express what’s on their minds, but children figure in prominently, obviously.

The Well-Timed Period’s “A Government Guide to Reducing Abortion” dissects the language of President Bush’s recent phone call from Camp David to the anti-abortion protesters gathered at the White House near the anniversary of Roe v. Wade:

according to our most benevolent leaders the way to reduce abortion is to: 1) enact some more laws that don’t work; and 2) lie to women, and offer to increase their intraop risks. [If some of the anesthesiologists out there could blog a little about the difference between administering anesthesia to a pregnant patient vs. a nonpregnant one, the inherent difficulties and risks, drug delivery to the fetus, and what anesthetizing a fetus during an abortion procedure would entail, that would be most instructive.]

To reduce the number of abortions, instead of misguided politics and dreamy religion, how about some science? Emergency contraception (estimated to prevent 800,000 abortions per year). Education [one based on facts, not wishful thinking]. Increasing the availability of existing birth control methods to American women. Encouraging R&D of new methods.

Her look at the president’s speech itself is invaluable. Please read the rest.

The Dingo Ate My Baby

Nope, not thinking up a title.

The Ten Worst Corporations of 2004: Unfortunately the “no-repeat rule forbids otherwise-deserving companies – like Bayer, Boeing, Clear Channel and Halliburton” keep them off this year’s list, where they belong.

Arianna Huffington offers the Political Oscars of 2005. I have only seen one single, solitary movie nominated for the Oscars, so I’m not much in a caring mood. However,

Creative Writing:
Best: Charlie Kaufman for his mind-bending screenplay, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Worst: Alberto Gonzales for his morality-bending memo calling the Geneva Conventions “quaint” (a.k.a., “Eternal Torment of the Enemy Mind”).

was good enough for me.

There is one more explanation for why I might be feeling ill. After last night I’m fairly sure I have bronchitis, and Ethan woke up with morning with a vomiting flu. Yet it doesn’t explain the fall I took last night that left a massive bruise on my left knee. I’m tired of everyone telling me I look and sound like shit, should get more sleep, or take it easy. There are things that have to be done around here that either no one else can do or should do, or things that simply have to be done on my own, like school work, going to classes, and the new job.

Someone actually suggested to me that I get a hobby. Holy shit, Batman! I have hobbies! What do you call knitting, blogging, and running? These keep me sane!

If anyone wants to spring for a live-in maid (with whom I can live in peace without that pesky power-based relationship), perhaps a cook that also grocery shops, eyeglasses, or a long vacation (that preferably isn’t in a mental health institution), then we can talk about all the rest I should be getting.

More on all this later if anything comes from the doctor’s visit I’m supposed to be making this afternoon.

Coverville

Coverville might be my heaven. I’m listening to Aretha Franklin’s cover of “Eleanor Rigby” until my ears implode, and thus, it’s good to know that Coverville has me, um, covered with Joe Jackson’s version of the song once I’m done with Aretha.

Blame it on the lack of sleep.

via JC

What I’m Reading Since I’m Not Writing

• Lynn discusses a study on gender and sexuality in great detail:

The main thesis of the paper is, of course, what the title would suggest: Both men and women act as if sex is something women supply and men demand. It’s not enough for men and women to trade sex for sex; men need to supply something else to women to make it worth their while to sleep with them. This can be money or other resources, or it can be love, commitment, etc. So you can either read the argument as “Women are a bunch of frigid gold-diggers who exploit men by supplying sex to the highest bidder” – the cynical, “marriage is nothing but a longer term form of prostitution in which a woman sells to a single buyer” sort of take on the matter, or you can take the more angelic view of women, in which we’re purer and chaster than men, and therefore can control male sexual behavior by holding out for that ring on the finger (and someone who will actually, you know, hang around when sex starts producing kids).

Excellent post. Please read in it’s entirety.

• At Mousewords, Amanda continues to challenge the assertion that smart women are less marriagable by examining the masculine-active and feminine-passive.

• I’m down with LiL’s Rules for Life:

1.) to fail publicly and often; 2.) to learn to do something one is not naturally inclined towards; and the last 3.) the no jerk rule, which means you can’t be a jerk to people and have to try and get others not to be jerks either.

Every now and again, feel free to refer me back to these rules.

• In “Is this part of my sentence?” the Health Diva of Black Feminism looks at new statistics on prisoner abuse and assault. Most interesting is her pontification on the potential for the creation of a class of sexual slaves.

• Body and Soul looks at the unveiling of photographs of British soldiers abusing prisoners of war. Look familiar? At least the British will acknowledge that orders were given. Maybe W will too now that he’s been given this official providential mandate.

• Norbizness holds an Inaugural Nausea Captioning party. BYOB.

• One of the funniest polls I’ve seen of late is this one highlighted by Jacqui: “It appears as if 49% of our country views Bush as a ‘uniter’ while 49% think of him as a ‘divider.’ ” I hate whomever reported this poll on principle alone.

• Food Politicized: At Half-Changed World, this family of four engages in a social experiment to see what happens when they try to live on the government’s suggested food plan for a family of their size. Explanation of their original goal can be found here.

• Hugo Schwyzer prepares to be interviewed (or “attacked”) by the infamous Glenn Sacks, a virulent anti-feminist radio talk show host, this Sunday. Scary.

• Netaloid looks at the institutionalization of racism for the MLK Jr. holiday:

…And so the influence of the white, rural congressional districts grows, and the representatives from black, urban districts lose influence among their peers in Congress. And, in white rural districts with no industry or job base, new private prisons become major job centers and economic engines, popular with the white residents and thus popular with their congressional representatives.

And so the disparity already present in the “justice” system becomes greater, and there is no outcry in Washington about the disparity because it feeds the private-prison growth industry. All with the unspoken approval of those faithful to a dominant political party so attuned to the concept of We the People that it has garnered a grand total of zero black members in the House of Representatives or the Senate.

And so American racism is even more insidiously institutionalized.

• Lynn explains the use of Emma Goldman’s horsewhip against fellow anarchist Johann Most. Well done.

• Bitch Ph.D., Fred Vincy (additional writings on the topic listed at the end of the post), and Maureen Craig look further into the Summers statements, backlash, backpedaling, justification, and reactionary posturing. That anyone readily defends these kinds of beliefs is absolutely amazing.

The Illusion of the Third Wave

From the new issue of Ms. Magazine, the generation gap is an illusion:

It’s no mystery why the discourse that has developed around the waves is divisive and oppositional. Writers and theorists love oppositional categories — they make things so much easier to talk about. Similarities are much more difficult. So, naturally, much has been said and written about the disagreements, conflicts, differences and antagonisms between feminists of the second and third waves, while hardly anything is ever said about our similarities and continuities.

The rap goes something like this: Older women drained their movement of sexuality; younger women are uncritically sexualized. Older women won’t recognize the importance of pop culture; younger women are obsessed with media representation. Older women have too narrow a definition of what makes a feminist issue; younger women are scattered and don’t know what’s important.

Nothing on this list is actually true — but, because this supposedly great generational divide has been constructed out of very flimsy but readily available materials, the ideas persist in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.