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

Month: August 2014

It’s a TRAP: Targeting mandatory delays, ultrasounds, and other clinic abuse

They’re frequently identified as “Women’s Health and Safety” laws, but a growing number of laws regulating abortion providers are more accurately called TRAP laws — Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers. Mandatory delays, ultrasounds, “informed consent” lectures, and medication restrictions strike out at abortion by hitting women directly. If you’re the kind of person who believes in evil, these restrictions are arguably the most evil of TRAP laws.

#IfTheyGunnedMeDown – challenging media bias in imagery

By posting two pictures of themselves – one in a conventionally positive scenario, and another in a more negative light – hundreds of people have hit back at a form of stereotyping they feel is common in the media.

UPDATE: as requested in comments, I want to make it clear that discussion of everything regarding police actions in Ferguson related to the Michael Brown shooting and the brutal shutdown of peaceful protests there, plus the history of other police shootings and oppression of POC, is on topic for this thread.

No one is paying for my birth control but me.

Imagine this conversation with your employer:

YOU. Hey, it looks like my paycheck is $25 short.

EMPLOYER. Oh, no, that’s for Kitten Day.

YOU. I’m sorry?

EMPLOYER. Once a month, we bring in kittens for everyone in the office to cuddle for a day. Studies show that it reduces stress. It’s adorable.

YOU. I’m sure it is, but you’re paying for it out of my paycheck.

EMPLOYER. Yes. Kitten Day is part of your overall compensation package.

Lessons in smiling for complete strangers

I used to work to and from work, my mile-long round trip taking me past plenty of men from all walks of life who were very concerned with my mental state as reflected on my face. “Smile, beautiful!” they would say, or, “Give us a smile, honey,” or, my favorite, “It can’t be that bad!” I felt so bad for letting them down by showing them my actual emotional state. If only the Smile Bitch Training Camp had a branch in Birmingham.

People and Things Against Feminism

So a bunch of women are gathering on Twitter and Tumblr and Facebook as #WomenAgainstFeminism, proclaiming how very much they don’t need feminism. And they get to do that. The sacrifices made by feminists and womanists throughout history have gotten us to a place where women are free to reject feminism on the grounds that since my husband is nice to me, I’m too smart and strong to ever get myself raped, I don’t personally feel threatened by street harassment, I’ve never personally been stopped from doing something I want to do because of my gender, I receive no pushback or consequences for dressing the way I want, I want and am ready to have kids, I’ve never personally been silenced, I like shaving my legs, I’m free to marry the person I love, my religion doesn’t require me to do anything I wouldn’t want to do anyway, I’m a lady, I personally find fulfillment in being a wife and a mother, I don’t even want to work outside the home, health care is easy for me to come by, and obviously nobody else is facing such issues, and if they are it’s their own fault for being big ol’ slutbags, what do I need with a movement that supports people who aren’t me? I already have everything I want! I’m not a victim and I don’t hate men, y’all.