Shameless Self-Promotion Sunday May 24, 2009 Jill Post a link to something you’ve written this week, along with a short description. Make it specific — don’t just like your whole blog. And happy Memorial Day!
“My job as an artist is to make you squirm” – a Scottish reaction to Elizabeth Bear’s depiction of Morag in Blood and Iron.
At City of Ladies this week, I responded to NOM’s anti-gay “confused children” ad: I’m Confused Too and Russell Howard vs. NOM Brian wrote about President Obama at Notre Dame: He’s a Uniter, Not a Divider
Humans vs. Animals: The idea that humans are “more advanced” than other animals is common, but absolutely false. Religion at Purdue’s Graduation: Looking for advice on how to deal with overtly religious displays at a public university’s graduation.
Names Do Matter: My journey to get my chosen name recognized at my school –I’m transgender– and why it’s important.
I took on the distorted use of the term “sex class” (compared to its original use by radical feminists) and discussed how I think this distortion has led down some blind alleys. When the Guttmacher Institute suggested that withdrawal was virtually as effective as condoms in preventing pregnancy, I analyzed why we should still be skeptical of pulling out as a primary means of contraception. And in a moment of boredom in a motel room, I discovered how weirdly prudish soft-core TV porn can be – in a distinctly sexist way (surprise, surprise).
So You Think You Can Dance: Homophobia In Ballroom Dancing: A same sex couple try out for the show and the homophobia goes into over drive from Nigel and Mary. What Can White Women Do?: Looking at what white women can do to be better allies to WOC and increase conversations. MRA, Feministing, and Racism: Looking at the ways white privilege in feminist spheres closely mirrors language used by the MRA 75 Year Old Gets “Designer Vagina”: Looking at why women think that there is an idealized version of a vagina..and the pressure to conform The Lynching of Eminem: Looking at the image of Eminem being lynched and what it signifies in racial dynamics. Is Whiteness really under attack?
Women don’t fare so well in TERMINATOR SALVATION: Women go crazy bout a sharp dressed man (warning: spoilers)
i have a new Pixar post up, one in which i more closely examine the roles of the women characters. this is in response to some dude graciously pointing out to me that there are women in the movies. i discuss the “standing up for what i believe in” vs. “being too sensitive” similarities when it comes to sticking with popular bigotry and challenging said bigotry. and in case anyone missed it, a third grader organized a rally supporting marriage equality.
Here are some of this weeks’ consumptive feminist analysis… Christotainment: Selling Jesus through Popular Culture looks at how conservative Christians have sold movies, NASCAR, music, toys, and even talking vegetables—and, in the process, peddled their own ideologies and values to a blossoming market of believers. Lessons from the Fat-o-sphere: Quit Dieting and Declare a Truce with your Body is a part of the blog-to-book phenomenon. Unbound by traditional rules of grammar, formality and structure, the authors take on an informal style, making liberal use of chummy, sarcastic and intimate prose. The Johns: Sex for Sale and the Men Who Buy It: I enjoyed the breakneck pace of Malarek’s narrative and appreciated that he interviewed so many anti-prostitution activists and researchers about the legalization question. Mentions of famous and infamous johns ranging from Hugh Grant, Hans Christian Anderson, and Eliot Spitzer to Charlie Sheen, Jimmy Swaggart and Clark Gable, and their easy rehabilitations will likely engage lots of non-academic readers. The Coathangers’ Scramble is a great mood lifter and will get you in the mood to slam dance the night away before you head out for the weekend. The lyrics are easily relatable for any girl who has stood up for herself or thought about taking action against those who are oppressing her.
http://edgylittledogooder.blogspot.com/2009/05/telling-encounters-with-clients-iv-drug.html Some anecdotal accounts from my work (I’m a sex worker) about class based assumptions people make about drug use and drug users, and how that classism is magnified in the context of sex work. http://followpinac.blogspot.com/2009/04/press-release-on-southerland-police.html Not from this week, but a little blog manifesta of mine questioning the concept of “pimping”: http://edgylittledogooder.blogspot.com/2009/05/of-pimps-running-partners-and-other.html Campaign my Northampton, MA based low income rights organization, Poverty Is Not A Crime, is working on, following up on allegations of police brutality that everyone else is trying to dismiss. The man, a formerly homeless veteran, is in a coma, possibly from the beatings. Follow up posts since the press release: http://followpinac.blogspot.com/2009/04/press-release-on-southerland-police.html Interview with the victim’s daughter. http://followpinac.blogspot.com/2009/05/michaelann-bewsee-smearingnorthampton.html Some of the backlash, and the Northampton Human Rights Commission and why it may be ineffective in dealing with this case.
I’ve got An Ode to Our Hairy Feminist Selves, which I think is fairly self-explanatory, and my difficulty in categorizing books most people would call “Chick Lit.”
Two civil liberties stories this week: Liberty University is backing off of its decision to ban the College Democrats from campus over the Democratic Party’s positions on choice and gay rights. Also, a ruling that possible SCOTUS nominee Sonia Sotomayor made in a student free-speech case isn’t as bad as some folks are making out.
In which I vent my frustration at the season finale of Grey’s Anatomy which features not one, but two women crying at work over their personal business. http://theboozetube.wordpress.com/2009/05/22/what-the-woman-hating-crap-is-this-crap/
Anecdotal accounts on my blog from my work (I’m a sex worker) of class based assumptions about drug use and drug users, and how this classism is magnified in the context of sex work. Not this week, but here–a little manifesta on my blog reconsidering the concept of “pimping.” Campaign my Northampton, MA based low income rights group, Poverty Is Not A Crime, is working on to follow up leads on an alleged police brutality case that everyone in power is dismissing as false without even looking into it. Follow ups on the first press release– Interview with the victim’s daughter & Some of the backlash and why the Northampton Human Rights Commission, the only system set up to deal with incidents like this one, might not be able to do so effectively.
Art Without Men, Paris museum nixes male artists for an entire year I Can Has Feminizm?, why can’t kittehs be more political? Who is Bula-Di?, a puppet educates India about HIV Tyra Asks: Is Gay the New Black?, the most popular new question gets fierce-ified Offensive Commercials: Fast Food Showdown!, a date-rapey toaster oven, a Warrant-loving park pervert, and a booty-shaking creeper in a king mask – which is worse? Lebanese Feminists Balk at Offensive Election Ad, we don’t elect jerks! duh! Iraq is the Bomb, The Narcycist is an “ambassador for conscious Arab hip-hop” Who You Gonna Call? LADY GHOSTBUSTERS!, 80s nostalgia gets a gender makeover Women, Whiteness, and Indian Cricket, women are making their entrance into cricket as players, team owners, and purveyors of sexism and White privilege?
I forgot to mention Sunday Shame 80’s edition: I lay bare all of things I am nostalgic for from the 80’s and invite everyone to share.
I wrote a pretty scathing response to the plethora of articles out lately about advice on buying your own health insurance and another about who has the right to own your genes.
New edition in my Breaking my Privilege Series: Why I thought Intent mattered http://mzbitca.wordpress.com/2009/05/22/breaking-my-privilege-why-i-thought-intent-mattered/ My problem with the fifth harry potter movie http://mzbitca.wordpress.com/2009/05/22/i-finally-figured-it-out/ A post on being Pro-Choice and what I think it means http://mzbitca.wordpress.com/2009/05/18/okay-seriously-pro-choice-people/
For those interested in race, politics, and hip-hop, I reviewed Tricia Rose’s new(ish) book “The Hip Hop Wars.” Follows much in line with the conversations on this site regarding Asher Roth, white folks, and hip-hop. http://socialsciencelite.blogspot.com/2009/05/book-review-hip-hop-wars.html I also wrote a couple posts on Costco coming to East Harlem, and a great story about a young Detroit native and Harvard grad returning to the D to help revitalize the city: http://socialsciencelite.blogspot.com/2009/05/i-put-on-for-my-city.html and http://socialsciencelite.blogspot.com/2009/05/our-new-corporate-neighbor-costco-comes.html Have a great holiday, all.
Hi, I’ve recently updated my blog where I post about my rape experience. In this latest essay I consider whether the resulting throwaway attitude to sex was a healing process which I controlled or whether it was a continuation of my role as the victim: http://onewomanmanytruths.blogspot.com/2009/04/repeat-to-fade-healing-process-or.html
this week I wrote two environmental posts: why you should care about plastic and getting rid of the single use plastic bag.
Two posts worth checking out this week: 1. What’s in a Name? – about my experiences so far getting my name changed in Illinois 2. Going Stealth – My thoughts about Lynn Conway’s extensive website of trans resources, and the places I disagree with her point of view
A short list of reasons I love Roseanne, brought on by TV Land reruns. http://srslyfuckthepatriarchy.blogspot.com/2009/05/roseanne-or-sitcom-subversion.html
I posted about my son’s first grade play, which had some gender/race issues… http://spectrumbeach.wordpress.com/2009/05/20/first-grade-play/
Are benefits a form of charity, or a form of compensation? Why equality and freedom amount to the same thing. With a certain amount of trepidation, I wrote two posts on the ethics of abortion. I collected some creepy looking mammals.
I did a post on the content of Obama’s commencement speech at Notre Dame: He’s a Uniter, Not a Divider. My co-blogger did a humorous post on the absurdity of a NOM ad: I’m Confused Too.
I wrote Church of evil about the widespread rape and torture of children by the Catholic church in Ireland.
We’ve had bodies on our minds this week at Women’s Glib… The Barnard graduation ceremony gets me thinking about who’s allowed to take up space. Shira rhymes on standards for women’s bodies.
This week, I discussed privilege and boundaries in I stepped in dog shit. No…wait, that’s sexism. Millie Jackson proposed a new vocabulary in Advocating For Sexual Literacy. I discussed in detail the intention of hosting a conversation about sex, gender, body rather than injecting it into another conversation in SexGenderBody: Home-field Advantage. Pepomint wrote about the unreal and unhealthy expectations of many men regarding the value of women in The Valley of the Dolls. -sgb
Charlotte Allen, the fabulous writer who wrote about how much she hates women in an infamous WaPo article a couple of years ago, offered up a missive about why atheists are so boring last week. I examined her article on my blog.
I wrote about why my nipples are not sexually harassing you, no matter what college columnists say, in which I discuss social communication. As a nod to the “tone” arguments in that thread, I tried to present my abstract reasoning about the ideas and still allow myself some appropriate zingers reflecting my feelings. I didn’t want to make an ad hominem attack, but I think it is right to call a dumb idea dumb, and use funny examples to show how dumb it is. Give me your opinion on how well I did, please!
So I Went And Saw Star Trek… I also have a new series on it’s way up A Case Study: The Role of Gender and Sexuality in Whiteness, Part One, and Part Two Police Brutality in Birmingham. I finished up my series on the women of the EZLN. And finally, I had some laughs.
I was offended twice this past week. Once with a Facebook quiz that assigns people mental disorders, complete with a negative, inaccurate, stigmatizing description of autism. Then, someone said something even more ridiculous about autism, believe or not. But, apparently it was a really funny joke everyone missed, so it’s OK.
In Vegans Against PETA, I write about the fact that, despite PETA’s endless misogynistic anti-fur campaigns, more Americans than last year view fur as morally acceptable and talk about the consequences of throwing oppressed groups under the bus for campaigns that might not even work in the end. I also have a more light-hearted post in which I have a go at PETA’s inability to (intentionally) be funny.
The fight for racial and gender parity will never end. What we must continue to fight for and why. http://actsoffaithinloveandlife.blogspot.com/2009/05/what-was-and-what-will-be-where-do-we.html Now that California rejected the Governor’s ballot measures we’ve really pissed him off! http://actsoffaithinloveandlife.blogspot.com/2009/05/california-to-ah-nuld-drop-dead.html
Women who worship motherhood where no men need apply. http://actsoffaithinloveandlife.blogspot.com/2009/05/motherhood-1-wife-0.html MD Representative Donna Edwards on what is means to be a true progressive. http://actsoffaithinloveandlife.blogspot.com/2009/05/donna-edwards-on-support-accountability.html When does non-conformity challenge mediocrity? http://actsoffaithinloveandlife.blogspot.com/2009/05/non-conformity-as-resistance-to.html The fourth part of my music/cultural appropriation an abandonment series: Deploying a Little Negro Spirit http://actsoffaithinloveandlife.blogspot.com/2009/05/deploying-little-negro-spirit-when_19.html
Over at Happybodies: We celebrated our nipples and hair, Jill talked with her mother about bodies, And we talked about activism: both the treatment of female activists, and the words we use.
A list of five things happy people do… you know you’re just a little bit curious… http://positivelypresent.typepad.com/positively_present/2009/05/5-things-happy-people-do.html
I’ve been been busy moving this week, so I didn’t blog much. Here’s what I did write: On Struggle, Study, And Interpretation (How We Read The Torah) — a post against Biblical literalism.
It’s been a slow couple of weeks, blogging-wise, post semester, but I have put up two links lists (here and here) of stuff I’ve enjoyed reading on the internet. And also a combined review of some of the books I’ve been reading and a one-off review of Alain de Botton’s Status Anxiety.
Report on sexual violence in Minnesota gives the results of several interconnected studies and provides thoughts about what we can do in response to that data to work toward genuine prevention. Patterns found in a series of murders highlights 500 murders along major highways and looks at the danger of dismissing violence against those living so-called high risk lifestyles. Irish Catholic Church child abuse discusses the systematic violence highlighted in a recent report and how some people who call themselves moral can read that report and continue to minimize sexual violence.
It’s a little hard to promote Except For the Wrong Parts I Agree With Twisty About Stuff because I was unnecessarily snotty in it. Still, I stand by what I said (if not the way I said it) and the discussion in comments was great. Including Sungold’s separate post Twisting the Meaning of “Sex Class”, which nicely corrects a number of misconstructions including, especially, mine. figleaf
mikaela of the end is nigh fashion creates clothing and accessories inspired by comic books, post-apocalypse movies, the sound of bricks through windows, fresh baked bread, leather, amazons, forests, feral children, rust… http://suchcoolstuff.blogspot.com/2009/05/end-is-nigh-fashion.html My friend Eve http://suchcoolstuff.blogspot.com/2009/05/hooray-for-color.html Tracy “Batty” Robertson of Azrael’s Accomplice Designs sells historical, gothic, and fantasy inspired cocktail wear, formal, bridal, and corsetry. http://suchcoolstuff.blogspot.com/2009/05/azraels-accomplice-designs.html
This week Brianna wrote about rock, race and hip-hop, AD wrote about gender and classical music, Turbulencia wonders about people choosing to be victims, and I posted a list of fantastic female-centered films you should watch.
A local megachurch-funded sex-negative group, ROCK, has just dragged one of the older adult stores in the Louisville area into court. Here, I debunk ROCK and announce a counter-group, PAPER.
I started blogging this week and introduced myself and wrote about the connection between neutrino oscillation and gender.
Women who worship motherhood over having a stable relationship http://actsoffaithinloveandlife.blogspot.com/2009/05/motherhood-1-wife-0.html Fighting mediocrity in life and the fallacy of non conformity http://actsoffaithinloveandlife.blogspot.com/2009/05/non-conformity-as-resistance-to.html
Megan McCain says that the Republicans can be a party for women. And yet in a video I posted there’s a crowd of angry Republican men screaming at a woman candidate calling her names, threatening her, and accusing her of sleeping her way to the top.
How the rules of engagement for Blacks post-Civil Rights needs to be negotiated http://actsoffaithinloveandlife.blogspot.com/2009/05/what-was-and-what-will-be-where-do-we.html This is the fourth conversation in a series where I discuss race, culture, appropriation and the abdication of African-American touchstones due to devaluation of our unique perspective and shame. http://actsoffaithinloveandlife.blogspot.com/2009/05/deploying-little-negro-spirit-when_19.html A reflection of the impact of Malcolm X and Zora Neal Hurston http://actsoffaithinloveandlife.blogspot.com/2009/05/world-without-zora-and-malcolm.html
The question of whether Red Lobster is a fine dining establishment is explored (satire) http://actsoffaithinloveandlife.blogspot.com/2009/05/red-lobster-cheddar-biscuits-fine.html
Just a couple of items to share this week: In “LORD: Grant me…” I take umbrage at someone portraying sex-positive feminism as “can’t help it” feminism. I also described a panic attack while at the supermarket. I am also hosting the Feminist Carnival of Sexual Freedom and Autonomy next week, and have a call for submissions up.
Art Without Men, France’s Centre Pompidou banishes male artists for one year I Can Has Feminizm?, LOL Catz get political Who is Bula-Di?, India learns about HIV from a ‘didi’ puppet Tyra Asks: Is Gay the New Black?, is ‘is gay the new black’ the new black? Offensive Commercials: Fast Food Showdown!, time for haterade! Lebanese Feminists Balk at Offensive Election Ad, sexified voting ad turns women off Who You Gonna Call? LADY GHOSTBUSTERS!, 80s nostalgia gets an extra X chromosome, finally! Iraq is the Bomb, The Narcicyst is an “ambassador for conscious Arab hip-hop”
My thoughts on working with another activist who became an FBI informant: http://vicwelle.wordpress.com/2009/05/21/this-activist-life/
http://combatqueer.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/05/memorial-day-heroes.html How for one of my officers it isn’t enough to honor soldiers. The “faggots and whores,” he says, also need to be taken down a peg.
I wrote at length about how it is that transphobic jokes get me so mad: it’s to do with the destruction of joy.
At Comrade PhysioProf’s joint, we are talking about troubleshooting scientific experiments and whether Michael Vick should be welcomed back into the NFL after serving his felony federal sentence for animal torture.
This past week at Evil Slutopia we gave some advice on how not to talk about racism and pointed out how stupid it is to refer to a Senator as “that Jew“. We also took a playful look at some new dumb things guys say and one of the evil sluts gave her unpopular opinion on the Daniel Hauser case.
Rape and the New York Times Are Vaginas Like Superman? And Other Pressing Concerns… (looks like my attempt yesterday evening was eaten by the Comment Monster)
http://smashthecisarchy.wordpress.com/2009/05/25/one-foot-forward/ An expression of my dark fears and my hurt, but also an expression of my optimism, of my hope, of turning despair into empowerment.
In Tennessee, a bill to amend our state constitution wrt abortion got one step closer to reality. Because this is a round-up post, scroll down to “The Tennessee Files” section for the relevant info and links. http://womenshealthnews.wordpress.com/2009/05/24/weekly-news-round-up-the-jet-lag-edition/
Your tax dollars help to support a rich televangelist in North Carolina. God Needs a Loan http://kmareka.com/2009/05/24/god-needs-a-loan/
This week, I commented on the fallout surrounding Missouri’s execution of dennis Skillicorn, and how one of the women who protested his execution got treated by anonomyous commenters. I also wrote about how a grand rapids campaign to increase donations fo products not covered by food stamps had an emphasis on products such as diapers, but completely ignored the need for mestrual products. I also wrote a lighter post with different “cheer up” things. http://cannedartistshit.blogspot.com/2009/05/warning-angry-rant-ahead.html http://cannedartistshit.blogspot.com/2009/05/question-does-first-amendment-guarantee.html http://cannedartistshit.blogspot.com/2009/05/badgoodbad-news.html http://cannedartistshit.blogspot.com/2009/05/things-that-will-make-me-feel-better.html
Dissected the Weekly Standard’s bullshit argument against gay marriage based on kinship norms. http://bobcaygeon.wordpress.com/2009/05/25/the-weekly-standard-applying-some-knowledge/ Conclusion: The Weekly Standard thinks gay people don’t have families.
More about feminism and fieldwork in rural India — are you in a sad situation for being a mom with only girl children? In most of India, peopel think of you that way. Offering a new perspective…
http://okazu.blogspot.com/2009/05/now-this-is-only-my-opinion-part-7.html: My readers ask me questions about lesbian manga and anime and…whatever. Cheers, Erica Hungry for Yuri? Have some Okazu! http://okazu.blogspot.com