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

Month: March 2012

Go to get Skittles for your little brother, end up dead

An unarmed 17-year-old boy was shot and killed last month by a Neighborhood Watch leader. What happened? The kid was walking home after buying some Skittles at a convenience store for his little brother. George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old man who headed the local Neighborhood Watch, saw the kid and thought he looked “suspicious.” Zimmerman called 911 to report a suspicious person. The 911 dispatcher told Zimmerman not to follow the kid. Zimmerman did anyway. Some sort of confrontation ensued, and Zimmerman shot the kid to death. Zimmerman has not been charged with any crime.

How Parents and Children Can Move Out of the CrossHairs of the Weight Cycling Industry

I always ask “who benefits” from any given “social problem.”

The $60 billion diet industry or, as Dr. Deb Burgard has called it, “The Weight Cycling Industry” is in the business of cashing in on a problem of its own creation. Any truly efficient method of changing body size would put them out of business, but since none exists, they can keep making money as long as they can keep the hysteria flowing.

“Planned Parenthood: we’re going to get rid of that.” – Mitt Romney

Sure, he’s a totally moderate Republican who’s just a good businessman, right?

I actually don’t think Romney actually gives a fuck about Planned Parenthood. One year he loves ’em, the next year he hates ’em, whatever — homeboy will do or say whatever he needs to do or say to get elected. What’s scary is that if he is elected, he’ll be beholden to the party that got him there. And the GOP “base” are some scary folks — including people who are actively hostile to women’s basic health care needs, and would like to “get rid of” Planned Parenthood for that very reason.

What happens if you get rid of Planned Parenthood? You have a whole bunch of women, especially low-income women, who no longer have access to reproductive health care. The rate of birth control usage goes down. The abortion rate goes up. Complications from STIs increase. Fewer women have abnormal cervical cells or breast lumps caught early, and so rates of cancer increase. Literally not one good thing will happen if Planned Parenthood is destroyed.

I realize many people on the left are disenchanted with Obama. I am too! But between Romney and O, there are enormous differences. This is an important one.

Arizona demonstrates why “The Pill isn’t just for family planning!” isn’t enough on its own

The Arizona legislature, in yet another bid to prove that they’re willing to reach for the stars in the interest of screwing people over, is debating a bill that would allow employers to offer insurance coverage for good girls with medical needs without covering hobags who just like to do it–assuming the women in question are willing to put their private medical records up for the judgment of their boss.

Fun in Getting Taken Out of Context

So there’s this book called “50 Shades of Grey” that everyone is talking about, and I haven’t even read the damn thing, but it sounds like all kinds of silly and kind of fucked up, and probably a bad representation of BDSM and sex generally, and it’s being compared to Twilight and championed by “Mommy Bloggers” so I probably will not bother picking it up. When a journalist contacted me and asked if I’d give a quote on it, I said I hadn’t read it, but I could speak generally on issues of consent and sexuality. Great. She emailed me a very general question, I gave a general answer. This is the outcome:

Old Ladies Talking? IN PUBLIC?!?!

“I know older men in comedy who can barely feed and clean themselves, and they still work. The women, though, they’re all ‘crazy.’ I have a suspicion — and hear me out, because this is a rough one — that the definition of “crazy” in show business is a woman who keeps talking even after no one wants to fuck her anymore.” -Tina Fey