Since Washington D.C. recognizes same-sex marriage Catholic Charities of D.C. has decided to drop spousal insurance benefits altogether. Too little, too late, I say. Did they let divorced and remarried people onto their plan? Adulterers in the eyes of God? Sinners according to the principles of the Catholic Church? I hear nothing but a deafening silence on that issue. Deserving “… we notice that her voice is not sweetly feminine, nor is her presence timid, tender and winning; there is wanting that diffident sexual consciousness, which gently woos, and at the same time modestly repels, and tends to awaken interest, curiosity and desire.” Even Dr.Pierce’s Golden remedy couldn’t cure this unnatural condition… The Normal Woman, 1908
I wrote about my short, sad, totally unscientific take on college rape statistics, and how college police treat rape in ways that confirm the stranger-rape paradigm. I also wrote an appreciation of the satirist and blogger Jon Swift, who recently died far too young. Besides having a bitingly funny wit, he was a great ally to feminists and liberal bloggers, especially those of us who aren’t A-listers.
During a visit with my mom, aunt, and cousin, I was surprised to find that they were all so invested in keeping women down, despite the fact that they were all women.
This week over at femonomics: It turns out Sarah Palin’s visit to the tonight show was laugh-tracked. Unfortunately, the person who broke the story chose to describe her in utterly vile, sexist terms. News orgs and blogs are all over the former issue, but no one has bothered to mention the latter. Mongoose6 has a two great pieces on NPR’s coverage of the failure of universities to protect rape victims and punish perpetrators. I note the surprising, and maddening, fact that ABC has given us 14 seasons of The Bachelor and 6 seasons of The Bachelorette without managing to find a single non-white star. And we talk about why having Orcas in captivity is just a really bad idea. Be sure to check back tomorrow for Oscar coverage, on the red carpet and off.
Naomi Campbell Gets an Apology, It seems Class Privilege Strikes Again: Looking at how class and celebrity often causes people to over look violence. White Towson Prof Fired For Using The N Word: Apparently if you have a Black person in your family it is okay to use the N Word. When Black Women Choose To Date Inter-Racially, They Are Not Abandoning Their Race: Looking at the reasons why Black women are shamed for dating outside of their race. MS. Failure: A Feminist’s Feminist, The Eulogy of Mary Daley: Looking at the deification of Mary Daly Shaming Black Women Will Not Reduce Abortion: Looking at the way race is thrown at Black woman to control their fertility.
This week, an invitation to an International Women’s Day event in La Paz, Bolivia, and a post about a controversial health subsidy that pays women to go to the doctor.
Oops, forgot to mention. I also cover @radicaldoula‘s visit to Barnard College, where she and three other reproductive justice advocates spoke about championing choice along the entire spectrum of reproductive decision-making.
Two entries: On dealing with internal sexism in classmates while studying algebra after 20 years: http://onefemalegaze.wordpress.com/2010/03/02/mathochism-im-a-woman/ Talking about chronic illness and disability in a hopefully interesting way: http://onefemalegaze.wordpress.com/2010/03/06/ra-diaries-sexy-with-a-disability/
Tomorrow is Blog for International Women’s Day [IWD]—it’s not too late to sign-up! GAB just started a book club: take a sneak-peek into Kamila Shamsie’s Burnt Shadows, GAB’s April Book Club preview Message when I read the obituaries: “Only white men are important” about the lack of diversity in the obituary section of major newspapers Burlesque: Meow of a Kitten, Roar of a Feminist
At Equal Writes, I wrote about Mauritanian Islamic scholars issuing a fatwa against female genital mutilation/cutting — definitely cause for celebration, unfortunately not sufficient to end the practice by itself. I’m very gratified to see the imams disavowing any Muslim support for fgm/c, though. http://equalwrites.org/2010/03/04/mauritania-islamic-scholars-issue-fatwa-against-female-genital-mutilation/
I directed “The Soup Show,” a beautiful, moving and inspired piece of feminist theatre, in honor of the 30th anniversary of Women’s History Month. It involves three naked women performing in and around a giant pot of soup. We observe the female as consumer and consumed and as an agent of conflict and commodity, asking the question, “How far has the women’s movement moved us?” If you live in NYC, come see it!
I wrote a post about women in animation. It’s off-topic in context of the rest of the blog, but I think it’s still relevant to feminism. Tangent Tuesday – animation
I ranted about Abortion in India. And managed to not kill myself after I wrote about the rampant hypocrisy in our media. (http://jaded16.wordpress.com/2010/03/04/i-got-published-in-the-fbomb/)
I wrote about the “Human Library” project, which my university took part in on Thursday & Friday. Short version: I admire the goal and think the actual execution is in some ways quite good. But the language framing how people talk about it (starting with the name) is…problematic.
Nominations for the Hugo Awards close Saturday 13th March. If you’re eligible to nominate (if you bought a Worldcon membership before 31st January 2010, for the 2009 or 2010 Worldcons) you can read about the women who are eligible to be nominated at Hugo Voting on the Cheap, a guest post at Feminist SF by Cheryl Morgan. I wrote a post about women leaving footprints in Antarctica and the male dominance of the Antarctican narratives: We left no footprints.
The metaphors for transitioning – As part of a writing exercise, I’m trying to come up with a solid list of metaphors for transitioning. Anyone have any suggestions?
I wrote a couple of bits about menstrual management, both the societal expectation that menstrual bleeding should be handled in ways that are unobtrustive and invisible to other people and how often that does or doesn’t happen.
I wrote a brief post about how I’m tired of hearing people say that Obama’s doctor told him he has a drinking problem, because that’s clearly not what he said. I was annoyed with the insinuation that fighting against sexism that affects me makes me oppressive to other women.
1. Femme Is A Noun. On the identities people do & don’t take seriously. 2. Gendering & Misgendering. What it’s like to be mistaken for a boy being mistaken for a girl.
I took issue with the heteronormativity of discourse about HPV and the HPV jab. And here I wrote about the Utah miscarriage bill. …And I proposed a lighthearted response to the Anglicising of my name. –IP
This week on CBShe, a Canadian Feminist Perspective: I look at what is and isn’t included in Canada’s new citizenship guide, and this week’s debate over lyrics in “Oh Canada.”
CYCLING AND FEMINISM. hi everyone, i had some time to think on a long bike ride today. i thought i would share. (and i won’t apologize for resisting capital letters- just go with it.) we all know that however we choose to navigate the roads, it is often a very intricate power struggle that can bring the worst out of people. the smallest differences affect the way that people choose to treat each other: size, wealth, age, color, sex, what that guy’s bumper sticker says, how fast someone notices the light turned green, the type of neighborhood, how loud the stereo is, how pissed someone is that the person in front of them is lost…. on and on. these affect how we choose to treat each other, either subconciously or conciously. so, a bit on why i am a feminist (and, damn it, why you should be too.) cyclists are quite often the minority on any given road. as females, we are an even smaller minority within a minority. as an acknowledgement of my fellow female riders: it is a TREMENDOUS act of courage to assert that we have the same right to the road as the tons of metal flying all around us. hey, guys: do you get heckled and yelled at? we probably get it more. and imagine the things men scream to women while they are alone on a street. sometimes it is expected to be taken as a compliment, and when it is not, you can guess the ways that drivers like to try to piss off cyclists who have “wronged” them. do you get startled by motorcycles reving their engines? often, they wait until the last second to do it right behind me. whether to impress me or scare me, i’ve never had the pleasure to ask. do you get lectured on how you shouldn’t be riding on the road? imagine all the stereotypes that our society uses against women and, predictably, those are often their knee-jerk reactions. namely: i am just a dumb girl who doesn’t know what she is doing, slowing them down; i am a bitch who just wants to ride wherever i want; i am a naive idealist who needs to be taught a lesson. i say this not to scare people away from cycling because a) the more of us there are, our presence is stronger and the level of aggression, i really believe, will be less and less. and b) i am a stronger woman because of cycling and i can handle everything i mentioned above. and you can too. cycling has taught me to be a clearer communicator, while not feeling guilty about it (no matter how many times a car horn or “bitch”, etc. is the retort.) it has helped me realize how capable and strong i am mentally and physically. and it’s helped be become proudly assertive because no one is going to give you space you don’t claim in this world. with that, will you invite one woman who might not ordinarilly ride a bike for a bike ride this spring? even if you are a more seasoned rider, could you take it a little easy, and help her figure out that she is capable of much more, but that there is no rush, and you can just enjoy the ride? i think this is a small sacrifice because we will likely get back much more seeing the ride through a fresh perspective. i think we’ll all be better for it. thanks, juli
You say ‘feminist’ like it’s a bad thing: when the F-word is used as an insult. Pregnancy, privilege and the joys of occassionally having decisions made for you. The idea of giving in to circumstance is only appealing if you retain control of which circumstances you give in to.
I wrote about double-bind insults – the kind where there’s two things to take issue with at once – and how awkward it is to deal with them.
This week on Yes Means Yes Blog: Predators Again: NPR Cites Lisak. I am a big proponent of the work of psychologist David Lisak, who has studied undetected rapists in the population, and shown that the overwhelming majority of rapes are committed by a group of repeat offenders in the population, who plan their attacks primarily using alcohol and targeting their friends, and avoiding overt force and attacks on strangers that would make them more likely to face prosecution. NPR did a piece on Lisak’s work, and I discuss it. Jill also covered the NPR report a few days ago. What Is Sex? The Wrong Question, where I argue that not only is it fairly silly and useless to try to come up with a definition of sex (sexual activity, not the characteristic, though the latter is less straightforward than many folks presume as well), but it’s often actually harmful to try to define it.
My take on IWD tomorrow: http://thedelphiad.wordpress.com/2010/03/07/happy-international-people-with-funny-bodies-day/
So after reading yet another paean to abstinence before and the perils of how bad sex before marriage and/or long-term commitment can be I reflected on my own long- and short-term relationships over the years and… came to a conclusion I hadn’t expected. Which I tried to communicate in Speaking of Fulfillment, Enjoyment, and Casual Sex. When I first started getting pushback in comments I thought I just hadn’t made myself clear in that post. I finally realized I’d been making a crucial but unstated assumption. I put that in a post modestly (ok, ok, I meant shamelessly) titled Figleaf’s Ultimate Definitions of Good and Bad Sex. Comments on that one have been nicely filling in gaps and carrying things forward. None of it would have happened, though, without my commenters, who are awesome and I’m not even slightly ashamed to promote. Then there’s Guess What Else? Sometimes Drunk Students Commit Rape and Then Claim They Aren’t Rapists In the Morning, which thumps a way-too-common form of victim blaming. And finally, I’ve been spending time appreciating feminists who call out anti-feminist misandry and just generally wondering where the idea comes from that it’s feminists who hate men. figleaf
I mused about that old standard anti-Feminist critique that the Feminist movement has made women less happy, not more so and tried to generally destroy it Examining Happiness Beyond a Gendered Lens
I’m totally proud of my Disability 101 on Armchair Diagnosing and since it’s such a persistent habit in the bloggosphere, I want to urge everyone to read it. Yes we constantly complain when people use words like “crazy” or “traumatic” as random descriptors for all kinds of stuff, so I thought a post that shows exactly why this is offensive might help to see the light a bit. Because I do get the vibe that we’re just being petty… Also, anyone who’s disgusted by Amanda Palmer’s recent TV appearance might enjoy our sarcastic lampoonery: Kontroversy Korner: Up Yours Amanda Palmer!.
This week at re:Cycling, we wrote about an article in POZ magazine addressing menopause, menstruation, and HIV+ status; new research that recommends against giving the HPV vaccine to older women (anyone over 34); yet another edition of the hateful, misogynistic “ESPN Ladies Sports Classic” skits on Saturday Night Live; Alexandra Jacoby’s vagina vérité® project; menstrual activist/artist Ingrid Berthon-Moines’ photos; new (and old) research on managing hot flashes with breathing techniques; that study about men’s knowledge of birth control that everyone is talking about; and new guidelines for screening for cervical cancer in young women in England. Plus our “Saturday Surfing”, recommended reading from like-minded others around the web.
Updates on UCSD: – Noose found, <a href="http://thatneedstogo.wordpress.com/2010/03/02/kkk-style-hood-found-at-ucsd-escalating-tensions-and/., Racial Tension., more protests, and why the move to try to be more “colorblind” fails.
Updates on UCSD: – Noose found, KKK style hood found, Racial Tension, more protests, and why the move to try to be more “colorblind” fails. http://thatneedstogo.wordpress.com/2010/03/02/kkk-style-hood-found-at-ucsd-escalating-tensions-and/ http://thatneedstogo.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/denise-is-the-other-black-woman-that-works-here/
I wrote a passionate post: “A freaking lesbian mintrel show.”, about this week’s episode of Law & Order: SVU. Enjoy!
So what’s more important, a small scar or your friggin’ life My response, to the marketing to women’s vanity even in the face of cancer.
I’m a new blogger & this is my first time shamelessly self-promoting! I wrote my thoughts about the titles Miss, Mrs, and Ms at my blog dreaming iris.
This week on happy bodies: Mugs and mixed messages: how diet culture pervades all aspects of our lives. Assessing your values: A series of questions to really interrogate your opinion on reproductive rights. (Un)safe spaces: The unique environment of college campuses and how we can make them safer.
Brazilian Feminists Get Played by a Naughty Blonde: American beer commercials may be able to overtly portray women as sexual objects, but as brewer Grupo Schincariol found out yesterday, doing so in Brazil can get your ad banned. Sex In The Dark: Writer for the Washington City Paper Amanda Hess took to the streets to interview men on their knowledge of birth control methods for her column The Sexist. She turned up much confusion, some blind optimism and a whole lot of ignorance. Ready or Not, Girl Comics is Out: Girl Comics Issue #1, a collection of comics written, stenciled, and illustrated completely by women, hit stores yesterday. It’s one of three anthologies to be released this year by Marvel Comics. It’s actually part of a year-long project of “Marvel Women,” celebrating female characters and creators alike of one of the top comics publishers. It’s also been wracked with controversy since its December announcement.
This month Feminist Review has five opportunities to win prizes from women-friendly companies: Bowen Woodworking is giving away an African mahogany bowl to one lucky winner (click here to enter) and DivaCup is giving away one menstrual cup and wash set each week (click here to enter). March is Women’s History Month, and in the past three and a half years, Feminist Review has brought you nearly 3,500 reviews of current books, films, music, theater performances, eco-friendly clothing, and a whole host of other products. If reading Feminist Review has inspired you to read a novel or download an album, we hope you will donate to our I ♥ FR Campaign today. There is no better month than this to give to feminist media. Making its debut this evening, Who Do You Think You Are? explores the family history of a celebrity who travels about to find missing information and reconnect with their ancestors by seeing for themselves the location of their family’s historical events…the first episode staring Sarah Jessica Parker was the most gripping. She discovers that she has an ancestor who was involved in the Salem witch trials. As she waits for whether her ancestor was an accuser or a victim to be revealed, it’s most incredible to watch her conviction and sense of responsibility.
For Women’s History month I’ve blogged about one awesome woman each day. This week: Miep Gies, Emma Thompson, Sally Rand, Nora Ephron, Lily Tomlin, Kristen Schaal, and Karen O. I also “reviewed” a Monster Truck show! And the much beloved Copy Edit Craigslist Tuesday!
I went to the same high school as Chelsea King, the young woman who went missing during a jog and whose body was later found. This week I wrote about the lack of connections being drawn between sexism and misogyny and attacks such as this one. http://noticingthegap.com/2010/03/02/connecting-the-dots/
As a response to Autostraddle’s recent analysis of Taylor Swift, check out this analysis of sixteen-year-old pop-star Justin Bieber. It includes a look at his main themes and the larger implications of stars like him. “Let’s stop teaching young people to rely on the opposite sex, dating, and money to feel worthy. Let’s give everyone mutual autonomy in relationships, and the sexual freedom to choose who, when, how, and why to engage in romance.” http://raesruminations.blogspot.com/2010/03/why-justin-bieber-and-taylor-swift.html
One more that just went live: An Oscar Win for International Women’s Day: The Oscars have been over for five minutes. My cheeks are flushed, there are tears in my eyes, and my stomach is doing flips. It has finally happened!
I wrote about Canada’s proposed monument to ‘victims of communism’ http://ms-marx.blogspot.com/2010/03/monument-to-victims-of-communism.html And anti-feminist responses in Canadian newspapers to a study done on the wage gap. The article in question fabricates statistics while blaming the study of using the wrong numbers. http://ms-marx.blogspot.com/2010/03/gendered-wage-gap-in-media.html
A bit late, but I wrote on a disappointing lecture on domestic violence, took an abortion rights survey of sorts via The Abortioneers, and commented on my completely failed attempt to make rainbow cupcakes in one of my fave posts of the year, Queers Don’t Make Cupcakes.
I wrote two pieces for International Women’s Day this year. On the blog Choosing Raw I wrote a guest post examining the links between veganism and feminism, and the necessity of both. http://www.choosingraw.com/until-we-are-all-free-international-womens-day/ On my blog The Voracious Vegan I posted a short film I made called Why Feminism?. http://thevoraciousvegan.com/2010/03/08/international-womens-day-why-feminism/ Can’t wait to read all of your other suggestions on here, everyone! Thanks and have a wonderful IWD!
Only non-defective aliens, please: On the language and conditions US immigration services uses for US permanent residents.