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

Month: February 2009

PETA Racism Goes Into Overload

No, that’s not the KKK staging a white supremacy demonstration.

Those are members of PETA, dressed up like the KKK.

Seriously.

“Welcome AKC Members,” read a banner hanging from the table — with AKC crossed out and KKK written above it. Two PETA protesters dressed as Ku Klux Klan members, while other volunteers handed out brochures that read: “The KKK and the AKC: BFF?”

“Obviously it’s an uncomfortable comparison,” PETA spokesman Michael McGraw said.

But the AKC is trying to create a “master race,” he added. “It’s a very apt comparison.”

They’ve made plenty of such racist parallels before, from comparing the admittedly atrocious practice of factory farming to the Holocaust, and animal cruelty to slavery and the lynching of black people.  They’ve shown repeated, and outrageous sexism time and time and time again.  But this takes things to new heights.

Really, folks, where is the cut off point?  Because if dressing up like the most notoriously racist terrorist group in American history isn’t it, I don’t know what possibly could be.

This is not progressive.  Do you hear me?  This is not progressive. And the progressive movement needs to cut off this organization entirely and let reasonable, smart animal rights organizations that fight just as hard without sacrificing the dignity of humans take over.  Now.

Read more at Womanist Musings.

Updates on Burn Victim Roberta Busby

Moving this up so as many people see it as possible.

Just a few days ago, I put up a post about a woman who was doused with a flammable liquid outside of a strip club, her place of employment, and set on fire.  There are two suspects in this horrific attack, named Nathaniel Petrillo and Rianne Theriault-Odom.  In the comments here and elsewhere, there was a great out pouring of support for her.

The new details that have come in since then are few but significant.  The woman’s name has been released as Roberta Busby.  As of yesterday, she was reported to be in critical but stable condition.  This is a relief and excellent news.  Her attackers, however, still have not been found and arrested.  You can view images of the suspects here. If you know anything, please immediately call the LAPD at 213-485-2531 (or 877-LAPD-24-7 for after-hours and weekend calls).

Perhaps most importantly of all, many of you have asked how you can help Roberta financially with her medical bills.  I’ve yet to find anything on that specifically, but after some serious searching, I did find information on an account that has been set up for donations for her children.  Remember that Roberta is obviously out of work at the moment, has likely lost her previous livelihood entirely, and that any financial contribution will be a huge help in reducing the overall financial burden she is facing.

According to local CBS affiliate KCAL 9, here is how you can send donations:

If you would like to help the children of dancer Roberta Busby, who was recently set on fire outside the club where she works, bring a check in to any Washington Mutual branch, made out to “Rodrigo Busby For The Benefit Of The Children Of Roberta Busby” or send a check to

3835 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., #256
Westlake Village, CA 91362

Please give if you can, and pass on the information about how to help regardless.  If anyone happens to have any additional information, please let me know.  And keep up those well-wishes, prayers or whatever it is you’re doing in the hopes that Roberta is going to pull through.

A Request:

Can we please stop using terms like “smacked around” when we talk about men beating up women?

R&B princess Rihanna is cooperating with Los Angeles cops, who have charged her boyfriend, singer Chris Brown, with smacking her around during a raucous argument early Sunday, according to reports.

If one dude beat up another dude, you can bet the headline would not be that Dude A “smacked around” Dude B, or that they had a “raucous argument.” I know it’s the Daily News, so grain of salt and all, but come on guys.

Even “reputable” newspapers like the LA Times aren’t much better, considering that they published Rhianna’s name, despite a general policy of not revealing the identities of women who are victims of partner violence.

The commenters over at TMZ (which I’m not going to link to) are saying we need to wait for “the whole story,” because bitch might be lying. Despite the fact that Rhianna hasn’t actually said anything. There are also comments saying that maybe she provoked it, or did something to deserve it.

Even the Superficial guy can get it right. Why can’t mainstream news sources?

Transgender Woman Beaten By Police and Threatened With Murder in Honduras

From Amnesty International UK comes the story of a woman, transgender sex worker and HIV/AIDS campaigner (unnamed for her own safety) in Honduras, who was assaulted by police officers and threatened with death if she spoke out about the attack:

Four police officers in a police car approached the transgender woman, who has asked Amnesty International to withhold her name, at about 12.40am on 20 December 2008 in the Palmira district of the capital, Tegucigalpa. She was working as a sex worker at the time. The police officers tried to rob her but, when she resisted, they grabbed her by the hair and repeatedly smashed her head against a nearby window, breaking the glass. She received numerous cuts to her face and knees.

The officers then said that they were arresting the woman for breaking a window in order to gain forcible entry to private property. The officers took her to the local police station, and then to a local health centre to be treated for her wounds. Since she was bleeding, she informed the officers that she was HIV positive and the officers replied by saying “AIDS bitch, people like you should be in a separate place” (perra sidosa, gente como Ustedes tiene que estar en un lugar aparte) While on their way, the officers also told her “if you speak out, we will leave you dead in the countryside” (si hablas, te dejaremos muerta en el monte). She was taken back to the police station and was released without charge at around 11.30am. She has recently filed a formal complaint with the Human Rights section of the Public Prosecutor’s Office about this incident.

Jack said something wise on this very blog once when commenting on the murder of Duanna Johnson:

Just to be trans, just to be a woman, just to be a person of color in this country is enough to drastically increase one’s exposure to hatred and violence; when oppressions overlap, violence tends to multiply.

The context here is somewhat different, but to paraphrase Jack now, we do know that to be a woman, to be trans, to be a sex worker, and to be HIV positive pretty much anywhere is to increase one’s exposure to hatred and violence.  And yes, when oppressions overlap, the rates of violence increase.

We don’t know with certainty for which of the above reasons this woman was attacked: one, many or a combination of all of the above.  (My guess?  All but the last, unless they knew who she was, in which case all.)  But we do know with a pretty damn solid certainty that it was at least one.

This kind of violence is never acceptable, especially coming from police. It is even less so when marginalized members of our society, as they usually are, are the ones specifically sought out in this kind of violence.  And as Amnesty International notes in this materials, this is not an isolated incident.  Just like in the U.S., transgender sex workers are assaulted and murdered far too often in Honduras.  And police specifically have a reputation for assaulting transgender sex workers.

Click here to send appeals to the Honduran authorities urging that they guarantee the safety of the woman who was attacked. It will only take a moment of your time, and it is surely worth that.

h/t Womanist Musings

Thoughts on Feminism, Class, and Context

The other day I posted a missive that was a little ill-conceived at my other blog. I was too frustrated to frame this argument better. Here’s another try.

Awhile back, discouraged with my inability to squeeze dollars from nickels, I decided that I should just educate myself on the basics of money. It seemed simple enough. I stopped skimming the financial section of the newspaper, and began — for the first time ever, mind you — reading about budgeting, saving, looking at long-term solutions for some of our financial troubles. Many of the solutions proffered for people looking to get ahead are troublesome: buy less Starbucks, remortgage your home, invest in an electric car, don’t plunder your 401K, fly coach. Fine solutions if you have money to begin with, smart solutions, even, but not so helpful for those whose belts cannot be tightened further. This was the reason I started the HUHO project way back when.

Yeah, and all that shit fell off when the job market in my town really tanked and our options started to run out. It became one of those situations where you just had to put your nose down and be thankful that you were still getting a paycheck. The national economic crisis, to me, was elsewhere until everyone in my department, except me and two others, was laid off. And then when another twenty were let go when their jobs were “relocated” right before the holidays. Then the local factories closed down for their annual holiday and it was announced that they weren’t going to reopen for awhile, and when they did it would be on a limited basis. There’s basically a hiring freeze for three counties in any direction, so everyone shuts the fuck up and stops complaining because there aren’t any other options, and moreover, you know that any job that opens up has 300 people clamoring for it.

You know, this is my landscape. This is not a thought exercise on the disappearing middle class.

Read More…Read More…

Justice for Jason

The Justice for Jason website provides details on the story of Jason Vassell, an African American university student who was attacked in his dormitory by white assailants with believed racial motivations.  After the assailants broke Jason’s nose and gave him a concussion, he defended himself with a small pocketknife.  Jason was then very seriously criminally charged for that act of defending himself, and now faces up to 30 years in prison.

Horrific though this is on its own, it gets even worse when taking into account that one of Jason’s assailants was not charged at all, and the other was charged with mere misdemeanors.

Early on the morning of February 3, 2008, Jason, an African American student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, was in his dormitory. Two intoxicated white men, Jonathan Bowes and Jonathan Bosse, approached Jason’s dormitory window repeatedly referring to him as a “nigger” and breaking in the window. They then forced their way into the dormitory lobby where they assaulted Jason, breaking his nose and giving him a concussion.

Under this continuing assault Jason was forced to defend himself with a pocketknife, injuring his assailants. As a result of defending himself against this unprovoked assault Jason, the victim of the attack, was charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon. These charges carry a possible thirty year prison sentence. One of the perpetrators, Jonathan Bowes, was charged only with misdemeanors carrying a maximum eighteen month sentence. The other, Jonathan Bosse, was not charged at all.

It was disturbing enough that Jason Vassell was subjected to a severe physical attack and an assault on his spirit. What we have subsequently witnessed has been an even more shameful violation both of Jason’s rights and of the community’s values of justice and equality irrespective of race. We have watched the Northwestern District Attorney’s office march forward with no apparent regard for the potentially explosive racial implications of this case. The question here is one of justice and fairness; one of making a decision that is right. It is a question of justice for Jason and, equally important, of whether the interests and well being of the community are being served by this prosecution. It is not a question of whether criminal charges can be brought, but rather, whether they should be brought and against whom. It is a question of whether the interests of true justice and the well being of the community are being served by this prosecution.

Another detailed account of the attack on Jason and his defense of himself, complete with the fact that his assailants are believed to have attacked him because he was entertaining a white female friend in his dorm room, can be found at Womanist Musings. The post there also includes a discussion of the obvious and outrageous racial implications regarding who was and was not charged in this attack.

Justice for Jason recently ran a call-in day. It is not too late to make your call now, demanding that the charges against Jason be dropped. You can call (413) 586-9225 between 8am and 5pm, send a fax to (413) 584-3635, or email elizabeth.d.scheibel@state.ma.us.

To learn more about Jason’s case, visit the Justice for Jason website, and to get involved email mobilizingforjustice@gmail.com, or check out the organizing page.

Target Women: Chocolate

Oh how I love Sarah Haskins:

(If you have trouble viewing the embedded video, click here.)

See, if as Sarah suggests, that was the Beatles, that would indeed be my personal response. As many of you probably already know. But for them to suggest that I’d diminish my personal, special reserve of Beatles-related excitement and irrationality for a minuscule amount of Oreo Cakesters? Yup, I’m insulted.

Thankfully, Sarah makes me feel much better about it.