January 2008 – Feministe

Erica Jong on Circumcision: A Case Study in Racism and Body-Shame

Is Erica Jong insane?

I’m all for greater discussion about male circumcision. Personally, I find circumcision seriously troubling. I wouldn’t do it to my kid. If you want to be circumcised, more power to you, but I think parents have an obligation to allow their children to make decisions about permanent body modifications for themselves, once they’re old enough to understand all the of the issues involved. That said, I don’t blame individual parents who have made the decision to circumcise their children – at least for my generation in the United States, circumcision was billed by the medical establishment as “clean,” as “healthy,” and as “normal.” I don’t have stats on this, but I would guess that the majority of boys born in the 1980s in the United States are circumcised. I don’t think that those boys have parents who are cruel or stupid. I don’t think that these boys are mutilated; I don’t think there’s anything wrong with them or their bodies. I think that religious and cultural reasons behind circumcision are compelling, and I believe that most parents have the best interests of their children in mind. But I do think that circumcising children without that child’s consent (and at an age where the child is totally unable to give consent) is wrong.

But that isn’t really what Jong is talking about. Instead, she writes a bizarre screed about how Jewish men have issues with women, and manages to not only insult Jews and men in general, but Asian, Asian-American, black, African-American and Eastern European women in one fell swoop.

Ever wonder why Jewish boys are so fucked up about sex? Ever wonder why they fall for mile-high models from Slovenia who wear those big cold crosses? Ever wonder why they like Chinese girls, Chinese-American girls, Blonde shiksa cheerleaders from Kansas? Or those cool black models who dance like Beyonce?

Attention Rebellious Jezebels:

There’s now a t-shirt just for you. Two pages of shirts, even. And all the proceeds go to NARAL — what could be better?

Thanks to Laurie for the link.

Reminder: Feministing Party TONIGHT

6pm, Link Lounge — 15th and Irving Pl.

I’ll be there around 7:15. Hope to see some of you!

Subpoenas allowed in AutoAdmit suit

This should be interesting.

(No, I don’t feel like writing about this anymore. Hopefully the reasons behind that sentiment are obvious enough. If you have no idea what I’m talking about or what AutoAdmit is, here are some posts, in chronological order, to get you all up to speed):

One: The first time I discovered AutoAdmit.
Two: The Washington Post discovers AutoAdmit; I respond, the AA board flips out.
Three: I respond again.
Four: Zuzu explains why this is important.
Five: AutoAdmit’s dude in charge loses his job offer.
Six: No, I had nothing to do with it. Nor with “leaking” the story to the WSJ. Nor with this suit. Still don’t (although I certainly wish them the best).
Seven: AutoAdmit gets itself sued.
Eight: The usual suspects think that female law students are just being whiny.

I hesitate to post this at all, because as far as I know my name no longer comes up on the AutoAdmit boards, and I’d like to keep it that way (also, because my memories of AutoAdmit are not particularly pleasant ones, and I’d kind of like to pretend that the whole thing never happened). But it is news, so there you have it.

Overheard at the SOTU

Roommate’s boyfriend: What do you think Nancy Pelosi and Dick Cheney talk about up there?
Jill: I think Nancy is probably like, “So, Dick, how are you?” and Dick probably responds with something along the lines of, “I like turtles,” except in his menacing voice. And then Nancy smiles really widely and nods and is like, “Uh-huh, that’s nice!”

I’m pretty sure it’s true. What do you think they talk about?

Waterboarding Cows and Poisoning Kids

Well this is disgusting, and offensive on several levels. It’s no secret that the American meat industry is inhumane and under-regulated, but the Humane Society has just released a video of slaughterhouse employees essentially torturing cows in order to get them to stand up for health inspectors — employees shoot water up the cows’ noses, electrocute them, and jab them in the eyes. Beyond being simply inhumane and shockingly cruel, it’s also a major health hazard — cows that refuse to get up may have Mad Cow Disease, among other problems, and their sedentary state can be a cue to inspectors. Animals that have been laying down have also been wallowing in feces, increasing the risk of transmitting salmonella, e. coli, and other diseases.

And did I mention that the slaughterhouse where the video was shot recently received an award from the Department of Agriculture for Supplier of the Year for the National School Lunch Program?