I wrote an update about a homophobic rant from a colleague. This one was mostly about how I felt in the days after he told me that his penis could cure me of being gay. I wrote about lesbian visibility in relation to a postsecret picture. I wrote about queering the It Gets Better movement in relation to a comic. I posted a campaign to take on corporate tax cuts by a union. And lastly, I did a short Blog for Choice Day post.
New at Musings of an Inappropriate Woman… Naomi Wolf and me… or why heroes are only for the very young. The sorrows and joys of being a misfit… reflections on the long term impacts of childhood and teenage bullying.
I wrote a blog post in celebration of women’s body hair. The post was prompted by an offensive PETA ad I saw. Here you go: http://angleboc.blogspot.com/2011/01/three-cheers-for-pubic-hair.html
“Rape Gurney Joe” Lieberman declared this week, that he’ll take his talents to the private sector in 2012. If only the victims of sexual violence could afford his advocacy the way defense contactors can… http://errport77.blogspot.com/2011/01/short-ride-off-into-sunset.html And, in further victimization news, how do you top the horror of Vatican policy discouraging the mandatory reporting of child abusing priests? A record-paced rush to sainthood for the man who was captaining the ship, at the time. http://errport77.blogspot.com/2011/01/patron-saint-of-kiddie-diddlers.html
I already linked this on the other thread, but less than a week after non-pologizing for not updating recently, I was inspired to update! I shared a personal story about my adolescence and struggling with the idea that I was only as good as a boy who would fall in love with me. It was roughly motivated by some of the stuff going on in Clarisse’s PUA thread and my personal emotional context relating to that, but it’s also a new iteration of a post I tried writing months and months ago when I was first thinking about starting a blog.
Poking fun at the Daily Mail might be the lowest form of blogging, but it never fails to cheer me up – so here‘s a round-up of last Thursday’s Femail. And, two years after everyone else, I got really into Torchwood, so wrote a big long ramble about how it portrays a whole lot of bisexuality, and almost zero bi/homophobia.
This week I blogged about stealth feminism, and I wrote a short post about my state’s all too restrictive abortion laws for Blog For Choice day.
Evolution of Rape Avoidance Just-So Stories Are Stupid (a response to the Slate article arguing that women have evolved specific rape-avoidance behaviors during ovulation)
Whether it’s learning about the child sex trade in the U.S., factory farming, genocide or another global challenge, part of creating a better world means putting ourselves in the way of new (& often painful) information: http://humaneconnectionblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/part-of-creating-better-world-means.html We CAN create a just, compassionate, healthy world for all. The key is education. Watch IHE President, Zoe Weil’s TEDx talk: http://humaneconnectionblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/my-ted-talk-world-becomes-what-you.html
I deconstructed a vignette in the Vagina Monologues, “Because he liked to look at it,” and discussed why Bob’s behavior isn’t necessarily a good model for male sexuality in my essay, Bob never got consent.
Is mothering a form of labor that society should pay for? http://clarissasbox.blogspot.com/2011/01/should-mothering-be-paid-for.html Misogynist priests in Russia http://clarissasbox.blogspot.com/2011/01/misogynist-priests-in-russia.html Ending male genital mutilation http://clarissasbox.blogspot.com/2011/01/initiative-to-end-male-genital.html
A post on MTV’s “No Easy Decision” special on abortion, and how it is a poignant, important, and educational look at abortion in America today–certainly worth a watch. Also, a post on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade about the bills in Congress that pose a dangerous threat to reproductive rights in America.
To mark Blog for Choice Day, I dissected a proposed Ohio law that shifts the burden of proof onto physicians to show that an aborted fetus was not viable. In a post heavily indebted to Audre Lorde, I made the argument that white guilt is counterproductive, and that taking responsibility is a less self-centered, self-indulgent, more hopeful approach to fighting privilege and racism.
I have been bothered by the homophobia I am seeing exhibited by some in the transsexual and transgender communities regarding many gay and lesbian folks giving a higher priority to marriage equality than to ENDA. I wrote several pieces regarding this over the last couple of weeks. http://womenborntranssexual.com/2011/01/20/why-marriage-equality-has-a-higher-level-of-priority-in-the-gay-and-lesbian-communities-than-a-trans-inclusive-enda/ http://womenborntranssexual.com/2011/01/18/enda-is-dead-for-now/ And a piece regarding class privilege http://womenborntranssexual.com/2011/01/19/class-privilege/
In honoring Blog for Choice day, I discussed the importance of honoring our bodies, and how the way society approaches sexual trauma is similar to pro-life arguments.
Fetuses are people, women are places I am disgusted by RedState’s claim that women’s bodies are just “locations”. Also, I try to explain why equating the institution of slavery with abortion negates the existence and the realities of the lives of enslaved women. Glenn Beck – June 6, 2010: “Shoot Them In the Head” TW for violent rhetoric. Basically, Beck is a coward for saying liberals need to be shot in the head but not taking responsibility for his words. And, in unrelated news, Giffords is a superhero. Tennis star, Kim Clijsters, put gossipmonger in his place Story of the Day: Michelle Obama is Killing Pedestrians. Or not. Whatever. Facts don’t matter. TX’s Proposed Budget Makes Me Want to Cry. It comes down to battle between actual real-life children/disabled/poor people and Republican theories about fiscal responsibility. Guess who will probably win. Hence, the crying. DR. LAURA – YOU ARE NOT BEING ASSASSINATED! YOU KNOW WHO WAS ALMOST ASSASSINATED? REP. GIFFORDS. YOU? YOU ARE BEING ASKED TO STFU.
This week I wrote a post about the limitations of the term ‘literature’ as they apply to people of color, specifically, indigenous people. I’m taking a Native American Lit course and the professor made a few statements that caused me some extreme discomfort. http://scribblesandsonnets.blogspot.com/2011/01/what-is-literature.html
My blog features my poem “Penis Envy” this week. The poem tackles such topics as sexual assault,misogyny, bisexuality and the norms and laws that try to govern female choice. http://carvingoutavoice.wordpress.com/poetry/ I also write about my experiences facilitating a creative writing group at a domestic violence shelter and a modicum of other feminist/humanist matters, so check out my blog as well, please!
From Despair to Courage Rosa Parks worked undercover. She was a field investigator for the NAACP, following cases of gang rape of black women by white men. You have to know how bad things really were for black women to understand why they would risk their lives to sit at the front of the bus. Marriage Equality Law Stands in DC In 1967 the Loving v. Virginia case made interracial marriage legal in all states. Read the hysterical rants against miscegenation, and imagine the awful endless debate we would suffer if that Supreme Court had not settled the issue. This Supreme Court refused to hear a challenge to marriage equality in DC. A good day for rights. Long Road to Healing We love the Great American Recovery Story. Gabby Giffords is making almost miraculous progress, but no one survives a traumatic brain injury unchanged. Neuroresearcher and stroke survivor Jill Bolte Taylor has advice for friends and family.
http://fortyshadesofgrey.blogspot.com/2011/01/misogyny-at-mail.html More misogyny from the UK’s finest anti-feminists. A critique of their article “The high-fliers with the ultimate status symbol – wives they can afford to stay at home”. Enjoy.
First, I thought some about sex objects: http://lovelettersinhell.blogspot.com/2011/01/what-does-sexual-objectification-mean.html …. and then, I thought about another way to interpret the phrase: http://lovelettersinhell.blogspot.com/2011/01/another-take-on-sex-objects.html I also wondered how we should treat attacks on pregnant women that kill wanted fetuses, since they’re neither people nor really property: http://lovelettersinhell.blogspot.com/2011/01/how-should-crime-that-kills-wanted.html
Berkeley Citizens Cis Fail A breakdown of how cis people in Berkeley reacted to finding out about the fact that the city may pay for $20,000 (per year) worth of what they refer to as “sex change surgery” for city employees.
Just one post this week. I got cross when a couple of UK newspapers decided that recording 30,000 racist and homophobic incidents among school children is a bad thing not because racism and homophobia are bad things for children to be doing, but because it “generates the illusion of a problem with racism in Britain’s schools”.
Rape-olutionary rape-ology: looking at the latest evo-psych claims and what’s wrong with them. (Trigger warning for rape apology, in case you couldn’t tell by the title.)
This Week in Awkward: How do I deal with a clingy friend who tries to make over my life? where we talk about when relationships fail to evolve over time. Your letter could be about any relationship that has failed to evolve. We get trapped into roles and habits of being with each other, and then we only see each other on holidays so we pull those roles out of storage and put them on because it’s easier to perform the scripts we know than to write new ones. It works right up until it doesn’t. This is so fundamental to how families and people who know us from our youth relate that I’m pretty sure it’s even in The Bible, like, Jesus grows up and goes home to preach a sermon in his hometown and everyone is all “Remember when we were on the playground and he was was all ‘Turn the other cheek!’ and then we pushed him down and wrote ‘Loser’ on his other cheek?” and Jesus is all “YOU GUYS I AM THE SON OF GOD, COME ON NOW” and the people are like, “Eh, overrated.” See also: How are abusive families like reality dating shows? (Answer = Stockholm Syndrome). Before you went to therapy I bet you told stories about abusive things that happened in your childhood as if they were totally normal, and it took friends or whoever you told to say “Hey, that’s really not normal, and in fact, is kind of abusive.” And I’ll bet you an American dollar that the first thing you said back the first time someone said the A-word was something like “No way, that’s just how my dad is. It’s not like he’s a child abuser, or anything. He just wanted me to learn how to be responsible.” Seriously, let me know, and I will send you that dollar in the mail. I keep getting great questions from Feministe readers, keep them coming!
Here’s a sampling of what’s new at Gender Across Borders: Colleen wrote about mental health issues among British women and the troubling ways in which those issues are addressed by the media. Guest contributor Sara Messelaar explored the portrayal of female bodies and sexuality in Germany. Another guest contributor, Judith Avory Faucette, uncovered another wrinkle in marriage recognition. Carrie discussed the men in the fight against feminism and explained why fighting against feminism might not ultimately help their causes. Friday was Blog for Choice Day, and Emily expressed her concerns for choice in 2011. GAB will be running a series on Women and Peacebuilding in the Middle East, and we’re looking for contributors! Check out the call and consider submitting a post by Tuesday, 1/25.
I published a series of photos on the anniversary of my father’s death, just a few short days after another loss that took place at the very beginning of this year. For me factoring myself and state of mind into my lefty radfeminist politics as a way to ground, be emotionally intelligent, forthright, non-compartmentalized, honest and as non-hypocritical as possible is very important work for me. I woke up and felt puffy, drained..there were dark circles around my eyes…
Interceptions: The Real-Life Story Behind TV Show “The Game” http://bit.ly/i05xGG Who’s Getting It Right #2: Janet Jackson Chooses Wisely (Dating relationships) http://bit.ly/eYt4Rx The End Of The Sony Walkman & Other Things I Miss From the 1980-90′s http://bit.ly/gbUaQ7
Happy Sunday – After Health Reform Vote, What Now? – Last week’s vote was symbolic, but will the Affordable Care Act be starved of the nutrition it needs? Oncoplastic Surgery: When Is It The Right Choice? – Lately, there’s been a new buzzword surrounding the surgical treatment of breast cancer: oncoplastic surgery. A report from a recent meeting of top surgeons about options for reconstruction.
Danny <a href=”http://ethecofem.com/2011/01/18/ali-carr-chellman-on-re-engaging-boys-in-learning/”posts a TED Talk from Ali Carr-Chellman on re-engaging boys in learning after realizing that boys were falling way behind girls. What do you think? Sometimes, scorned people take to the Internet to vent their pain. It seems so wrong when I read about it in the news, but oh-so-right when the douchebag being outed is someone who fucked over my friend. Is it ever justifiable to spread the word of someone’s assholery on the Internet? WHATEVER. Is refusing to date inter-racially racist? Ever worked at a gas station? Ever gone to the same gas station more than once? You may know what it’s like to be stalked, then. A collection of some ridiculous and strange things people have Googled to get to ethecofem.
Partly inspired by the pregnancy discussions going on here, I reviewed some pregnancy guides that I’m reading these days: http://spaceshipnola.blogspot.com/2011/01/reviews-of-pregnancy-books.html
Today I posted about Women in the world of wine. It’s a clunky piece due to the flash-history lesson I tried to include, but the analysis is pretty solid, I think… maybe you’ll disagree, but I’d love to hear how or why! http://mostwineisgood.wordpress.com/2011/01/23/women-and-wine-a-feminist-friendly-pairing/
This past week on Man Boobz, my anti-misogyny blog, I took a break from the serious stuff and went in search of oddball misogyny. And found plenty. Note: Even though this stuff is ridiculous, it’s also pretty obnoxious, so be warned. Why is a vagina like a mousetrap? Leech Women in the Food Court of Doom Beware the jackbooted feminazi marriage thugs! A misogynist offers a very strange, Ayn-Randian tribute to feminism. The Ugly Diva Crisis And a more serious post: Is Jared Loughner a misogynist? Does anyone care?
I wrote about having a good feminist day http://mturnstyles.tumblr.com/post/2830616448/lucky A short review of the movie Total Recall http://mturnstyles.tumblr.com/post/2891923944/total-recall And about being invited to an online sex therapy discussion http://mturnstyles.tumblr.com/post/2814805101/invited-to-an-online-sex-therapy-discussion
I wrote about the gender environment that children’s pop culture creates: “Instead of looking at films, books, and TV programs in isolation, I encourage parents and caregivers to look at them as representative of the wider gender bias that permeates all areas of children’s popular culture.” http://www.achilleseffect.com/2011/01/the-gender-environment-we-have-created/
This week, I’ve written about gender neutral bathrooms and marriage equality, among other things. It’s a new blog, so there’s all kinds of random stuff.
I get nostalgic at the ballet: http://goldennotebooks.blogspot.com/2011/01/idea-of-datedness-with-jazz-hands.html
As a feminist scholar and gamer I’ve been disappointed in the lack of feminist gamer blogs out there. I’m happy to announce that a project long in the making went live this week, Not Your Mama’s Gamer a site and podcast that I do with two other smart, funny women. We discuss games, game culture, feminism, and anything else that strikes us.
I wrote about my experience interviewing for a ‘fantasy roleplay studio’ and also explored some of the language around kink and sex work.
This week I wrote about the difficulty and importance of correctly identifying personal responsibility in environmental issues, a response to a reader’s question about how I came out, how I came into feminism, and what this all has to do with education, why I personally need the Affordable Care Act not to be repealed, and some of my struggles with being femme in a sexist, heteronormative society.
An Interview with Jessie Fahay about her upcoming feminist production of “The Taming of the Shrew” – http://michelleg3399.wordpress.com/2011/01/21/an-interview-with-jessie-fahay-feminist-activist-and-theater-director/
Conservative psycho-therapist becomes of the Jonas Salk of race relations by offering America a vaccine for White Guilt! (at World O’ Crap’s new blog home).
Can I Have My Monogamy and Happiness too? My Review of Sex at Dawn I wrote three posts on the role of political rhetoric in the Tuscon shooting. Congressman Gary Ackerman responded to my letter about Net Neutrality An Eco-Friendly Valentine’s Day Gift Guide and More Green Cosmetics Reviews. I wrote a letter to Congress asking them to regulate Crisis Pregnancy Centers.
imnotme writes about women and wine: http://ethecofem.com/2011/01/23/women-and-wine-a-feminist-friendly-pairing-2/ Another amusing and confusing collection of some of the things people have Googled to get to ethecofem: http://ethecofem.com/2011/01/23/things-people-google-to-get-to-ethecofem/ The stalkers that female gas station cashiers (and customers) seem to get: http://ethecofem.com/2011/01/23/girls-and-their-gas-stations/ Is refusing to date interracially racist? http://ethecofem.com/2011/01/21/is-refusing-to-date-inter-racially-racist/ Is it ever okay to out someone for something awful they’ve done on the internet, like the high school student we heard about months ago who called a fellow student a rapist on Facebook? http://ethecofem.com/2011/01/20/outing-assholes-on-the-internet/ Danny on re-engaging boys in school (TED video): http://ethecofem.com/2011/01/18/ali-carr-chellman-on-re-engaging-boys-in-learning/
On women in music videos and advertising: http://feministheadbanger.wordpress.com/2011/01/21/forced-to-rock-and-make-a-blog-post/
A while ago I posted about the newest Ken to add to the Barbie franchise: Sweet Talking Ken http://animadams.blogspot.com/2011/01/toys-for-tuesdays-barbie-sweet-talking.html Ashley put up a new Lady-mator showcase with clips from the great Sarah Haskins http://animadams.blogspot.com/2011/01/ladymator-showcase-sarah-haskins.html She also posted a quick reaction to the Beyonce vs. Vizio commercial http://animadams.blogspot.com/2011/01/2-beyonces-1-asshole.html And finally I have follow up to my first article about the potential of Quorra as a character in Tron: Legacy http://animadams.blogspot.com/2011/01/quorra-of-tron.html
On my blog Carolyn A. Edgar, I wrote about receiving a Facebook friend request I from a former college acquaintance who lied and claimed we’d had sex when we hadn’t, a claim that led to me being labeled a major slut in college and then raped by one of the guy’s friends. http://carolynedgar.wordpress.com/2011/01/18/facebook-friending-ghosts-of-the-past/
This is from a newspaper not a blog, but needs signal-boosting: in the UK female activists are protesting against Scotland Yard after revelations that police undercover agents were encouraged to form sexual relationships with activist women in order to spy on them more effectively. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jan/24/scotland-yard-blockade-spies-sex http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jan/22/undercover-police-cleared-sex-activists
I probably should have posted this yesterday, but my fingers were aching in this -2 degree weather . So here is what I have written this week. Inspired by an old time Beatle song my wife was playing, I began by reflecting on how I do more then get by with a little help from my friends — http://www.inspiritual.biz/inspiritual-reflections/2011/1/17/i-do-more-then-get-by-with-a-little-help-for-my-friends.html Then I truly bothered those I know who are traditional brownie lovers by suggesting the need for creativity with food and suggesting that you could make a savory brownie and that brownies do not even need to be brown. http://www.inspiritual.biz/the-zenful-kitchen/2011/1/20/albert-einstein-is-my-sous-chef.html Of course I ended week 5 and began week 6 of my spiritual writing program. Week 5, Day 6 – Prayer — http://www.inspiritual.biz/stirring-my-spiritual-waters/2011/1/17/week-5-day-6-prayer.html Week 5, Day 7 – Rewarding Yourself, Movement Comes — http://www.inspiritual.biz/stirring-my-spiritual-waters/2011/1/18/week-5-day-7-rewarding-yourself-movement-comes.html Week 6, Day 1 – Uniqueness — http://www.inspiritual.biz/stirring-my-spiritual-waters/2011/1/20/week-6-day-1-uniqueness.html Week 6, Day 2 – Risk Taking — http://www.inspiritual.biz/stirring-my-spiritual-waters/2011/1/20/week-6-day-2-risk-taking.html Week 6, Day 3 – Reducing Blocks — http://www.inspiritual.biz/stirring-my-spiritual-waters/2011/1/21/week-6-day-3-reducing-blocks.html Week 6, Day 4 – Strengthening Access to Creativity — http://www.inspiritual.biz/stirring-my-spiritual-waters/2011/1/22/week-6-day-4-strengthening-access-to-creativity.html Week 6, Day 5 – Using Day and Night Dreams — http://www.inspiritual.biz/stirring-my-spiritual-waters/2011/1/24/week-6-day-5-using-day-and-night-dreams.html
A bit late, I know, but the first time I’ve had an opportunity to post it: Here, I talk about the “benevolent” sexism idea that has been bounced about on several different forums, although with a personal touch attached. http://indignantfeministrants.wordpress.com/2011/01/24/theres-nothing-benign-about-benevolent-sexism/