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

Month: July 2009

A Heavy Hand on the Hunan Heat

Hello folks! Kai here. Some of you may be familiar with my writings, ramblings, and riddlings — especially if you’re the type who prefers to chill on the other side of the tracks where levels of melanin and capsaicin seem to increase in tandem. By which I mean, communities of color and spicy foods are my comfort zones. I’ll be slummin’ it here for a couple weeks, though, crashing on the futon and rifling through the pantry. Let’s see what we can cook up.

When I started blogging in 2004, I didn’t really have a clear idea of what I was going to focus on. I knew I wanted to explore the craft of polemical writing from a subversive Asian American perspective, so I named my blog Zuky, an anglicized version of a word used in karate meaning “hand strike”. At first I started posting online the Iraq anti-war essays I’d been printing as colorful leaflets and plastering in train stations and bus stops in the middle of the night. However, it quickly became apparent that the so-called progressive blogosphere was plagued by a particularly foul, airborn strain of white liberal racism; so I started pointing my linguistic arrows in that direction, and ever since then my writings have been primarily associated with anti-racism and my blog has found a home amid a kind cluster of melanin-rich online offerings.

Last year, I also became one of the founders of a community blog called The Sanctuary, which focuses on immigration and which I’m proud to say received a 2009 National Ethnic Media Award from New America Media in the category of Best Blogger on Ethnic Perspectives. My friend and longtime blogmigo Nezua (who incidentally has also previously done a guest-blogging stint here at Feministe) flew to Atlanta to accept the award on behalf of our crew, and as you can see from the official photo of all the award-winners, one of these recipients is not like the others. Yep, the one wearing shorts and a Felix The Cat hoodie, sitting on the floor — that’s us.

Anyway, this is probably a good moment for me to thank Jill, Lauren, Holly, and the whole Feministe crew for extending the invitation for me to spill my unpredictably seasoned words on this platform. It’s a questionable move as I’m well-known to have a heavy hand on the Hunan heat, but I’ll do my best to balance the flavor profiles I bring to this table. I’m not going to bother rattling off a catalog of personal identifiers at this time because I’m an old-school believer that you will know me by my words and actions in real-time rather than the banners I fly in downtime. Be forewarned that issues of race and immigration will inevitably come up, and if these subjects confound you in any way, well, don’t worry; they’re not supposed to be easy. I’m a 38-year-old dude of color from an immigrant family and these subjects often continue to confound me. So I only ask that you approach my words and thought-forms with open hands, not clenched fists, and we can work on this tangled knot together.

Palin’s anti-choice legacy

Via Feministing, a post by Clara Jeffery of Mother Jones tells us that one of Palin’s last acts in office was to accelerate a parental notice and consent law for women under 18 who are seeking abortion.

We see this shit all the time: my sisters’ rights to our own bodies are routinely taken away in the name of paternalistic “protection.” We saw it in the conservative media hoopla when the FDA approved over-the-counter access to emergency contraception for women 17 and older, as opposed to an earlier 18 and older policy (my favorite Mike Galanos quote: “With Plan B, they can do it now and deal with it later”). And we’re seeing it again with Palin. Nevermind that young women who don’t tell their parents about their abortion have damn good reasons for keeping quiet.

Before news of the resignation, Beverly Wooley and Jay Butler, two of Alaska’s public health experts, were essentially forced out of office for meddling in Palin’s anti-choice crusade.

Both [Wooley and Butler] made the critical mistake of wanting to present scientific evidence on the impact of parental consent laws to the state Senate. They never got the chance; the Senate “ran out of time.” From the Anchorage Daily News:

Wooley said she also intended to answer questions from legislators and said she would rely on data, not anyone’s personal beliefs. Whether she personally agreed with the governor is beside the point, Wooley said.

She intended to refer to studies from states that already had passed similar legislation, she said. Some of the research shows that, with parental involvement requirements, girls tend to get abortions later in their pregnancy, which is riskier and more expensive, she said. Other research shows fewer girls get abortions, which abortion foes like Palin likely would applaud. Wooley cautioned that the studies are small and not definitive because such laws are still fairly new.

…

That was enough to get her canned. And guess what? The next day, the very day that Palin resigned:

A proposal to require parental notice or consent before a female younger than 18 could have an abortion was certified Thursday by the state so that its backers can seek enough signatures to get the initiative before voters next year.

So, Sarah Palin may be gone soon. But her policies live on.

I’d just like to say: this is outrageous. Not only that Palin is so clearly shaming young women for having sex (how crazy is that? Women having sex?! News to me!); not only that she is firing staff for, in Clara Jeffery’s words, making the “critical mistake of wanting to present scientific evidence…to the state Senate” (I mean, I know Palin is scared of science, but come on!); but also that a young woman’s fundamental right to control her own body is being set aside in favor of abortion statistics.

Even if the stats show that requiring parental consent for teenagers’ abortions lowers rates — party at the Palin anti-choice mansion, anyone? I love me some barbecued moose — I still need the right to get the procedure without my parents knowing! Statistics and evidence are of course vitally important to crafting effective legislation, but reproductive rights and bodily integrity should not depend on whichever survey is being considered. They are fundamental.

Cross-posted at Women’s Glib.

What the DOE doesn’t want you reading

As I mentioned in my introductory post, I will be a senior at a public high school in NYC this fall. (As much as I’d like to forget all about school during these fleeting summer months, it still seems to be on my mind.) As far as public schools go, mine is pretty well furnished. We have a dedicated Parents’ Association that puts on impressive fundraisers, and most of our students come from families privileged enough to donate — though because of massive budget cuts (even worse than last year’s), all of the nifty electives our teachers planned for are simply not happening next year.

So we’re relatively well off, and that means we have quite a few computers: one in each classroom, mostly for teacher use; a few in our small school library; and around forty in a lab that’s available for us students to use during our free periods and afterschool.

The problem is that when you’re using a computer at school, finding what you’re looking for on the internet can be quite a task. You see, the New York City Department of Education uses Websense, a service that “provide[s] hundreds of organizations around the world with the latest security warnings on malicious Internet events including spyware, phishing, spam, crimeware and compromised Web sites.” In our case, the so-called “malicious” and “compromised” sites are identified by categories; if the program picks up on one of its trigger categories, the entire website will be blocked.

So what does the DOE consider “malicious” enough to block?

The category “personal networking” is blocked. This is ostensibly to stop students from logging on to Facebook, though I’m of the opinion that a little downtime on Facebook would make kids more relaxed and productive overall — but this also means that I can’t read Shapely Prose and some other blogs while at school.

The category “pro-choice” is blocked. This means that not only am I unable to use NARAL Pro-Choice New York’s Book of Choices to find a clinic where I can pick up free emergency contraception, I’m also unable to do research on abortion laws for an assigned project.

The categories “sexuality” and “homosexuality” are blocked. This means that not only am I unable to look up counseling resources from the Anti-Violence Project to use in a Gay-Straight Alliance club meeting, I’m also unable to find HIV/AIDS infection statistics in preparation for my school’s AIDS Action Day.

These are just a few categories that have given me trouble recently. I’m sure there’s a wealth of even-more-taboo keywords that are also blocked. Obviously there’s quite a lot of unbiased information that the DOE doesn’t want students worrying our silly little heads about.

Cross-posted at Women’s Glib.

Federal advisory panel recommends ban on Vicodin, Percocet

UPDATE, July 7: Via Lauredhel, the FDA has made a decision regarding pain pills Darvon and Darvocet, which are pain killers containing a different ingredient (propoxyphene, a pain killing ingredient related to methadone but less addicting) with similar concerns (accidental overdose). They have decided against a ban, but are imposing stronger warnings on the products.

The reason they give, at the end of the article: “the benefits of using the medication for pain relief at recommended doses outweighs the safety risks at this time.” If nothing else, it is somewhat encouraging. If this is their thinking on Darvon/Darvocet, we can hope that similar thinking will guide their decision on Vicodin/Percocet.

***

And according to the New York Times, the FDA

… is not required to follow the recommendations of its advisory panels, but it usually does.

Emphasis mine. In other words: the ball is rolling.

Vicodin and Percocet are two commonly-prescribed narcotic painkillers. They combine hydrocodone or oxycodone (respectively), the narcotic agent, with acetaminophen, brand name Tylenol.

Acetaminophen is coming under fire because abuse of the drug can lead to liver damage. The safe limit for acetaminophen has generally been regarded as 4,000mg per day. That translates to two extra-strength Tylenol (500mg each), four times a day (eight pills total). The dose of acetaminophen in various combination drugs varies, usually 325mg but ranging up to 750mg.

The panel voted against a ban on over-the-counter cold, flu and sinus relief medications, the vast majority which contain acetaminophen. Apparently these medications aren’t a concern, despite containing just as much acetaminophen and being available over-the-counter, where consumers do not have a doctor and pharmacist counseling them on how to take the medication.

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Ross Douthat tries to understand teh sexism.

And fails.

Here are lessons of the Sarah Palin experience, for any aspiring politician who shares her background and her sex. Your children will go through the tabloid wringer. Your religion will be mocked and misrepresented. Your political record will be distorted, to better parody your family and your faith. (And no, gentle reader, Palin did not insist on abstinence-only sex education, slash funds for special-needs children or inject creationism into public schools.)

Let me re-write that for him.

Here are the lessons of every national politician ever. Your children will go through the tabloid wringer (see Chelsea Clinton). Your religion will be mocked and misrepresented (see Barack Obama is a Muslim). Your political record will be distorted, to better parody your family and your faith (see id).

None of which is to say that Sarah Palin didn’t endure her share of sexism — she sure did. She was ultimately brought down by her own idiocy — a fate that didn’t befall her idiot compatriot George W. Bush. She was attacked for her looks and for her family choices in a way that male politicians aren’t — she also played on her looks and her family choices in a way that male politician’s either can’t or don’t. But what makes me the most uncomfortable about Douthat’s piece is this observation:

In a recent Pew poll, 44 percent of Americans regarded Palin unfavorably. But slightly more had a favorable impression of her. That number included 46 percent of independents, and 48 percent of Americans without a college education.

That last statistic is a crucial one. Palin’s popularity has as much to do with class as it does with ideology. In this sense, she really is the perfect foil for Barack Obama. Our president represents the meritocratic ideal — that anyone, from any background, can grow up to attend Columbia and Harvard Law School and become a great American success story. But Sarah Palin represents the democratic ideal — that anyone can grow up to be a great success story without graduating from Columbia and Harvard.

He’s sort of right about the “perfect foil” observation (less perfect, I suppose, in that she failed to actually foil Obama). What rubs me the wrong way is the idea that Palin’s “great success story” was at all democratic, or represents a democratic ideal. In truth, it represents an ugly truth in the same way as GWB’s rise — it’s the idea that a class of people, no matter how foolish or lazy, deserves access to power simply by virtue of being born a particular color and in a particular social class. “Anyone” cannot grow up to have a success story like Palin’s. While that’s certainly a comforting thought to the traditional right-wing base (read: disgruntled white people who are unnerved by the fact that others are getting a piece of the American pie), it’s not something that sits so well with the rest of us.

“The rest of us,” though, are growing demographically. Hopefully that will translate into a broader definition of the supposedly democratic ideal.

Hello and all that

Hi everyone! I’m Miranda, one of your humble guest-bloggers for the next two weeks. I’m white, cis, able-bodied, middle class, and jonesin’ to get to know the Feministe readership. Come September, I will be a senior at a public high school in New York City. A few months ago I started Women’s Glib (women’s liberation + glib), a blog by and for teenage feminists, where my henchwomen and I muse, bitch, and ramble in between (or in place of) homework assignments. My focus in my posts here, as it is on Women’s Glib, will be feminist issues specifically affecting teenage women.

About commenting: on my blog, the policy is pretty much what I say goes (or on posts by other bloggers, what they say goes). Comments which are outright hateful or judgmental are obvious deletes; beyond that, moderation is at my thoughtful discretion. For my posts here, things will be pretty much the same. I love comments that are respectful, that are thought-provoking, and that help me keep my privilege in check. I don’t like comments that derail threads. Also, I’m working during the day without computer access, so don’t fret if your comment takes a while to be approved.

Of course, thanks to Jill for inviting me to contribute and all the other Feministe bloggers for being fantastic inspiration. I’m excited about the next two weeks!

Oh — and I have a cat. Here’s Mr. Miyage:

mr miyage

I’m being taken over by the fear

 

“I’ll take my clothes off and it will be shameless/ cos everyone knows that’s how you become famous.”

 Taking a side step away from specifically trans posts (cos y’all tiring me out already, and I have another week to go here), I want to talk about fear.  Recently Mark K-Punk had this to say about Lily Allen’s “The Fear.”

“All Allen can do is point to her own inertia and complicity but awareness can only reinforce the very condition she is talking about [. . .]  The verses are unsure whether they want to be satire or not, unsure whether they want to mock consumer-nihilism or celebrate it , unsure because – after all – what’s the alternative, where can all this mocked from? [. . .]  Celebrity culture and its critique are coterminous; the jeremiads about its superficiality as cliched and empty as the culture itself, both appearing on the same pages of LondonLite. Only the negative capability of the choruses, only the admission of The Fear, breaks out of this circuit.”

What gets left out of this perceptive critique is precisely how sexed this is, how fear is produced as an affect on/in/through female bodies.  What lies behind so much of our self-policing is fear. 

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