This week at SexGenderBody: Olga Wolstenholme discusses unwelcome body conversations in the workplace, in Cleavage at the Work Place. Christina Engela notes how freedom and rights for all are being stripped by the vilification of the LGBTQI community, in Reja Vu. James Turnbull explores the cultural, statistical and personal aspects of men accosting women, in Groping in Korea: How Bad Is It Really?. jaded16 talks about some of the trolls leaving comments on her feminist posts, in Re-Making While Break-ing Bodies And Meanings. Fatma Emam diaries about meeting an admired activist and feminist, in A Day in Karamah. Luna Minsky journals and discusses societal and cultural enablement of rape when it happens to sex workers, in On Sex Workers, Sex Criminals, and Police Indifference.
A prominent gay activist is kidnapped by the Russian authorities. Homophobia in Russia has always been rampant and the homophobic actions of the Moscow’s mayor have made the situation even worse http://clarissasbox.blogspot.com/2010/09/gay-activist-kidnapped-by-authorities.html On how graduate school is experienced by a female academic http://clarissasbox.blogspot.com/2010/09/phd-vanity.html
Identity and Perspective – What does identifying as a man or a woman mean? What about identifying as trans? Rape and Responsibility – Thoughts on a post from Blue Milk, about whether women can share responsibility for rape. “Transgender clothing”? – Acne’s new clothing line of “tranny shirts” A delightful hookup – A recent hookup made me think about the pronouns I use to describe my body.
A depressing look at recent events in Canada: What kind of psychopathic little assholes post rape pictures on Facebook? Severe trigger warning. Reflection on a conference, and on the Pyramid of Egregiousness. Those who must smile and those who may have “attitude”
This week, I wrote a follow-up to my post on compulsory pregnancy in Poland, in which I discuss the history of abortion in Poland and present-day barriers to abortion access: http://michelleg3399.wordpress.com/2010/09/18/barriers-to-abortion-access-poland/
This week on Yes Means Yes Blog: The Boiling Frog Principle of Boundary Violation, about how little boundary violations are a necessary part of a culture of big boundary violations. Every rapist stands on a stepladder of disempowerment. They Hate Us For Our Freedom. Anti-abortion terrorists actually do hate us for the freedom that our Constitution provides, and their demand is that we curtail it. We do not negotiate with terrorists. The Excuses Write Themselves, about how media coverage of rape is almost immediately accompanied by speculation about how the crime didn’t happen or is excusable. I have not posted SSPS in several weeks. From the previous week: FRalse Rape Allegations Are Rare, reporting a forthcoming study from David Lisak, whose work is the primary source of Predator Theory (see the post at Feministe of the same name from earlier this year). GLBT Rights On The Prairie Of Prax, sort of a silly Dr. Seuss takeoff on political cowardice and GLBT rights. Terminological Bullshit, about policing women’s naming of their own experiences, in response to a comment on the false allegations thread.
On an episode of ANTM, Tyra tried to promote bullying awareness but, displaying an amazing lack of self-awareness, she actually spent a fair amount of time bullying the contestants with her fellow judges at panel. Upon taking a trip to the local second hand store, I was dismayed to find that they had reorganized their toy section by gender- with the boys section containing all of the toys that are not explicitly gendered, leading to a male-as-normal and female-as-other division of children’s toys. I wrote about enthusiastic concent in relation to several recent news events… this post has possible trigger warnings for sexual assault and issues pertaining to consent.
A post on Yom Kippur and its lack of prescribed gender roles or emphasis on gender, and how that fits into the holiday’s theme of repentance and stepping away from our usual selves
This week was an eclectic one—check out these articles: Read about the misogyny regarding math ”What is Missing?”: Maya Lin’s memorial to lost species Feminism and Domesticity Find out more about Men’s Studies and its value in understanding gender studies Who’s the real feminist in Mad Men? We’d love to read your comments, too, so please leave them if an article strikes a chord! Also, make sure to sign up for our newsletter, read about the Call for Writers and our Call for Artists. Thanks, Gender Across Borders
Defending Lady Gaga, And A Personal Reflection On Why I Do: Jezebel commenters on the meat dress annoy me. Daily Show RaceFAIL: STFU, John Oliver: John Oliver is a clueless white dude.
Ines Sainz and impossible standards: The patriarchy doesn’t really wish women would live up to its impossible standards; it wants them to fail. Anti-colonialist is a slur now? Why do so many women in their twenties read YA books? It’s sort of a mystery to me, but some commenters have been shedding some light on it for me.
Being trans, I’ve often run up against culturally incompetent health care staff. But going in for a “counseling” session before fertility treatment with my partner, I wasn’t ready for ignorance. http://wp.me/pij0l-l9
I went on a quest for female drummers to find some inspiration. http://mizzalice.blogspot.com/2010/09/my-quest-for-inspiration.html It was a blast.
I wrote about Delaware Republican senatorial candidate Christine O’Donnell’s views on women…in The Lord of the Rings. I also wrote a review of the book Helliconia Spring and some thoughts on how biologists can learn from the mistakes of evolutionary psychology.
I write a book blog devoted to women authors. I recently reviewed , and I will be reviewing Kindred by Octavia E. Butler very soon. Any recommendations for books to read and review are welcome!
What Would You Bend Over For?: Looking at how some easily walk past coins on the ground with realizing that this is a reflection of their class privilege. Really Tired of Lady GaGa: Looking Camille Paglia’s article about her in the Sunday London Times. Suicide: An Individual AND a Family Crisis: A woman talks about her sister’s attempted suicide and her personal battle with mental illness. Perhaps We Should Not Celebrate Gabourey Sidibe on The Cover of Elle: Looking at the fact that her image appears to have lightened and how this encourages hueism in the Black community. The Boondocks: Someone Teach Riley That Hate Speech Is Not Social Commentary: Looking at the promotion of homophobia as social commentary on the popular cartoon The Boondocks. Discussing Dusty Skins And Privilege (Part One): Looking at the way hueism is still an issue in India focusing on skin lightening products.
There is a stealthy right-wing education reform campaign going on in the U.S., with governments in other countries looking to copy what the U.S. is doing. I posted about it in: Newsweek’s Education “Reform” Articles
Included in a post on Gulf Coast fish kills, learning from a friend’s reportback that ‘recovery’ from the bp oil spill includes a racist and sexist division of working-class labor that looks to track Vietnamese women into nail salon jobs.
On the question of economic equality, I wrote about politicians and important figures who, despite serious flaws, have sought to level the playing field. The Definition of Robin Hood Depends on Who You Ask
I tried to respond to questions about why the intent of a perpetrator is relevant in prosecuting and defining rape. The result is Why Mens Rea – “Guilty Mind” – Matters to Rape. Not directly related to feminism (except insofar as poverty is part of the story): a tornado struck my town Thursday night for the first time in 50 years. Fortunately, no one was killed locally, but it was still terrifying, and those who lost the most are among my county’s poorest residents.
I wrote a lot more than usual this week. In “Sex Worker Sob Story Totally Misses the Point”, I ripped into that irritating and highly privileged story by a former Craigslist escort who seems to think that her bad experiences translate into a reason that the Craigslist ban is a good thing. [ http://clarissethorn.wordpress.com/2010/09/14/sex-worker-sob-story-totally-misses-the-point/ ] Here’s a list of the articles I’ve written on CarnalNation about sexuality in Africa: [ http://clarissethorn.wordpress.com/2010/09/16/circumcision-in-africa-and-colonized-libidos/ ]. And here’s some discussion of why I usually don’t discuss outright feminism on my blog — partly because there’s one blog [ sm-feminist.blogspot.com ] that already said everything intelligent about S&M and feminism. I also listed some of my favorite posts over there: [ http://clarissethorn.wordpress.com/2010/09/19/the-sm-feminist/ ].
I’m doing a rewatch of Buffy the Vampire Slayer with my 10 year old daughter. Analysis of episodes, part 1 and part 2 I did some mental housekeeping. My current bibliography and my works-in-progress list. Still on a fitness plan, albeit a geeky one. My six month progress on bicycling to Mordor. And I did a guest post on sex toys at a review site.
In response to an unpleasant journalpost from Elizabeth Moon, I wrote about reading Vatta’s War in the light from Park 51.
I’ve created a new blog, Chronicles of a Cosmo Nut, in order to spend a month following all of the advice in Cosmoplitan magazine, and blog about it. I’m also readign all of the articles, and blogging my responses to them. Some highlights from this week include: How an article on serial rapists reinforces rape culture: http://chroniclesofacosmonut.wordpress.com/2010/09/17/day-5-part-one-all-rapists-wear-hoodies/ Cosmo making sweeping, erroneous generalizations about the BDSM/kink community: http://chroniclesofacosmonut.wordpress.com/2010/09/15/day-3-part-two-cosmo-doesnt-know-shit-from-shinola-when-it-comes-to-bdsm-and-kink/ And an eyeshadow tutorial FAIL: http://chroniclesofacosmonut.wordpress.com/2010/09/17/day-5-part-two-smoke-gets-in-your-eyes/ I will be posting every day, so I hope everyone finds this interesting!
This week in Evil Slutopia: ~Some people are having a hard time understanding that it doesn’t matter what Ines Sainz was wearing when she was treated inappropriately by the Jets. ~Is Eli Lilly “milking cancer” with artificial bovine growth hormones? ~We love Robyn even if MTV apparently doesn’t. And this week on ESC TV we’re talking about the disappointing season finale of True Blood, the new CW cheerleading show Hellcats, Selena Gomez at a bar, and a double dose of The Vampire Diaries.
I wrote about how there’s a certain degree of privilege that goes into being socially and environmentally conscious. For instance, some people can afford to spend those extra dollars on an energy efficient lightbulb. The privilege of being socially, environmentally conscious.
This week on Elysium Avenue Natasha wrote about name changes http://elysiumavenue.wordpress.com/2010/09/13/the-names-the-thing/ And failing at baking Indian Desserts http://elysiumavenue.wordpress.com/2010/09/17/dessert-deserted-me/ I wrote about the compulsion and subsequent purchase of an American Girl Doll as an adult http://elysiumavenue.wordpress.com/2010/09/14/american-girl/ I also shared an amusing song, and story, about early relationship insecurity http://elysiumavenue.wordpress.com/2010/09/15/would-you-think-of-me-and-not-some-other-girls-boobs/ Then we were lucky enough to have several guest posts this week: Coming out as gender queer http://elysiumavenue.wordpress.com/2010/09/16/above-and-beyond-and-wimping-out/ Gender role non-conformity in little boys http://elysiumavenue.wordpress.com/2010/09/16/infantile-gender-deviance-your-heartwarming-tale-for-the-day-reblogged/ Losing your “home” as an adult http://elysiumavenue.wordpress.com/2010/09/14/the-road-is-home/ Female fat acceptance http://elysiumavenue.wordpress.com/2010/09/13/the-little-woman/ and finally, a Contest! http://elysiumavenue.wordpress.com/2010/09/15/blog-contest-2/
This week at re:Cycling, we have something to say about ‘Menopause Awareness Month’; what kinds of visual metaphors are used to represent menstrual bleeding in ads; and how young should women begin waxing. Also, we celebrate our own first birthday, welcome two new bloggers, offer up our weekly recommended reading, and comment about treating PMS with Prozac.
http://animeg.blogspot.com/2010/09/sometimes-i-think-that-worlds-so-small.html On sprawl, and the fact that George Will is an idiot.
I juxtaposed some quotes and used some analysis of Seventeen magazine to look at the counter-figuration of authority as the young girl (rather than “the man”.) I titled it after some magazine headlines, Look Pretty! Look Pretty Now!
I have to start by saying last night, I got an unexpected package – a friend who was cut off because he became abusive decided to send back the birthday present I drew him. I have spent all day trying to figure out what message he meant to send by that. ANYWAY, this week I wrote an update about having sex after being raped, and I told horror stories about the god-awful roommates I have had for the past two years. Really, if I escape this house without killing someone, that will be SUCH AN ACCOMPLISHMENT.
I put up a piece this week about the murder of people that society degrades and devalues: http://womenborntranssexual.com/2010/09/14/scapegoating-and-the-devaluation-of-life-for-certain-groups-of-people/ and another about the changing semantics of “tough” which now seems to mean the ability to inflict pain upon other whereas it used to mean an ability to endure pain and survive. http://womenborntranssexual.com/2010/09/17/the-changing-semantics-of-tough/
Oops. When I made my previous comment on eduction reform, I cited the wrong magazine. It’s Time Magazine, not Newsweek. Here’s the updated link: Time Magazine’s Education “Reform”
This week I saw some amusing and uplifting messages around my neighborhood, wrote about how my family eats healthily on a (relatively) small budget, rescued an abandoned kitten, and posted an update on our tiny urban garden.
My book, The Twisted Sisterhood: Unraveling the Dark Legacy of Female Friendships (Random House/Ballantine, Oct. 26) is now available for pre-order on Amazon, B&N, Borders, IndieBooks, et al. The book is an outgrowth of a New York Times article folks on Feministe, Jezebel, et al. discussed with impressive vigor. More info at http://www.kellyvalen.com. Thanks!
I’ve been on a bit of a health hiatus, but this week I managed a mini-comeback to glow about progressives in the south in electoral politics, talk about why teaching robots to lie is a bad idea, and talk about truthiness in science.
After several failed attempts at regaining my password from blogspot I’ve started up at wordpress. http://collegefeministphilosopher.wordpress.com/2010/09/20/musings-on-rape-notrape-birthrape-and-other-variants/ on why we need a broader term than rape.
Reading about ‘It’ girls makes me feel like a Shit girl: http://rachelhills.tumblr.com/post/1122695062
I am super late on this but I talk about being GenderQueer-http://witchyfeminist.com/2010/09/19/being-genderqueer/ Some hidden mysogyny in (a couple) of my favorite (used to be) bands song lyrics.-http://witchyfeminist.com/2010/09/17/hidden-misogyny-in-heavy-metal-song-lyrics/ How does eco-feminism fit into my spirituality?-http://witchyfeminist.com/2010/09/15/how-does-eco-feminism-fit-into-my-spirituality/ We got Sarah Palin faux feminism and we also have pop faux feminism, will it return? http://witchyfeminist.com/2010/09/15/spice-faux-feminism/ Goddess of the Month-Hecate Queen of the Heaven, Hell and Earth-http://witchyfeminist.com/2010/09/14/goddess-of-the-month-hecate/
Not much original writing this week, just some attempts to raise publicity about a couple of items: I chose to link to the F-Word Blog’s post highlighting the campaign against Marks and Spencer getting into bed with the Hooters chain – after writing my post, I followed the advice from shianushka to email the chairman, and got a standard brush-off reply. I also highlighted Maymay’s appeal for help after being mugged.
I get reflective about writing and mothers: http://goldennotebooks.blogspot.com/2010/09/fragmentary-thoughts-about-writing-and.html
I write about a prior experience with gender-based harassment in science, and how it might now be reported through formal channels and how this makes me feel (very conflicted!) http://scientistandwoman.wordpress.com/2010/09/16/he-shouldnt-just-be-able-to-get-away-with-that/
For Menopause Awareness Month – We look back at The Year in Menopause: http://womensvoicesforchange.org/the-year-in-menopause.htm
My Very First SSP Venture: the story of how I met a lady working in prostitution on my morning commute, and the ways we insulate ourselves from things that make us nervous. http://givetheanarchistacigarette.blogspot.com/2010/09/commuting-blues.htm
I have just started a community on LiveJournal called Alt_Abortion. There’s nothing there yet (I really just started it), but hopefully as word spreads around, we can get in methods of alternative abortions (i.e. pills, herbs, ect.) girls can try if a more legitimate and safe abortion is unavailable to them. It’s not a pleasant thought, but there are girls and women for whom an abortion is simply not going to happen, but who need one desperately and will try all sorts of things in the meantime to end the pregnancy. Hopefully this can provide some safer options.
You know the bullies who hang around outside health clinics with the purpose of making women feel bad about deciding to have an abortion? They call themselves “sidewalk counselors” in America, and they’re running a survey trying to find out, from women who have had an abortion, how effective they are. You get an opportunity in an open-text box in Q5 to respond to the question “Did you interact with any sidewalk counselors?” which I presume includes telling them they’re a bunch of creepy assholes: and a further opportunity to respond if you like in a question which assumes you might have decided not to have the abortion (though knowing how surveymonkey works, they can ignore all responses in this box from all the women who just had abortions). Obviously, this kind of survey is only mildly scientific. Surveymonkey logs a cookie which is intended to ensure that only one reponse is taken from one person. I’m sorry, I know this is not quite what was meant for “shameless self-promotion”, but I would love to see these guys inundated with responses from people who loathe their pavement-bully tactics.