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

Shameless Self-Promotion Sunday

Jill

Go ahead.

79 thoughts on Shameless Self-Promotion Sunday

  7. This week I have two posts up about the Bill to protect Trans Canadians. The first is brief and gives information about the bill. The second rebuts an argument that claims the Bill creates “special rights” and “special protections.”

    [Trigger warning] I also have two posts up about rape culture. The first describes rape as akin to terrorism. The second discusses different kinds of responsibility for contributing to rape culture that become visible once we have an understanding of rape culture.

  8. Journey to Washington DC – I’m going to DC for the National Center for Transgender Equality’s lobby day, to talk to politicians and to get material for my upcoming show, No Gender Left Behind. I’m asking for donations to help get me there and to pay show-related expenses, and a generous donor has agreed to double your pledges.

    http://fridaythang.com/blog/2011/02/07/but-i-am-in-the-minority-you-are-in-the-majority/But…I am in the minority. You are in the majority. – Thoughts on being the only queer person in my primary group of friends

    The personal is political – Should I open a separate Facebook account for my artistic projects? Should I stop bugging my friends about fundraising, shows, and the like?

  11. Fuck yeah, Google! Google supports Wael Ghonim, one of the faces of the Egyptian revolution and an employee of theirs. How will Glenn Beck search the internet now that Google is part of the Islamist caliphate?

    Dr. Phil is confused, thinks genders are “unconfusing”. If you follow Phil’s advice, you will not only shame your child, you will actually thoroughly confuse them. They will be confused by these arbitrary definitions that you are forcing on them when all the want to do is play.

    In the “Please, STFU” category, Michael Goodwin. This language of American “weakness” in response to supporting the revolutionaries in Egypt (who I am constantly in awe of, I must say – you should seriously be following at least some of them on Twitter) is part of this messed up macho rhetoric that gets us nowhere but isolated and on the wrong side of justice.

    Which Students are ‘Adrift’? And why? When the authors of the study or the reporters discussing it talk about students in these big generalities, they are actually eliding the fact that students who major in the “traditional liberal arts” are getting a better education when it comes to those most minor of skills [/sarcasm], critical thinking and writing.

    Fat kids are dumber – a study and a scientist say so! [TW: fat hatred masquerading rather openly as science.]

  15. I am starting a blog that, at least in part, will discuss how I finally left the twisted, sexist, freak show that is AA. I have been gone for oever a year. And I have not slipped. I am not in a jail, an institution, or dead. Nor am I a dry drunk. If anyone has any background knowledge of the 12 steps and has a yucky or at least questioning feeling about them, check out my new blog. Or, if you just want to read the blog of a single mom who is trying to become a teacher who has no real parents, come read my blog. http://outofthelibraryandintothenight.blogspot.com/

  18. I recently rewatched Buffy the Vampire Slayer and wrote about problematic elements that crept up in a show that’s usually heralded as progressive. Part One talks about relationship abuse, and Part Two touches the surface on how race is depicted.

  19. It was a busy week at Yes Means Yes Blog.

    I continued the conversation about Naomi Wolf and why she is saying the rape apologist things he has lately in Naomi Wolf and the Danger Of Universal Genius.

    We ran Sarah Jaffe’s Meet The HR3 Ten: Heath Shuler, about the former football player and now anti-choice Democrat.

    The Anti-Choice Suffering Agenda examines the one constant to the recent anti-choice legislation: none of it will actually reduce abortions, but all of it will make women who need them more miserable. That’s what this is really about.

    We have seen the media bend over backwards to avoid the word “rape,” ever to describe an allegation. I add my thoughts to a good piece that appeared at On The Issues magazine in The Invisible R Word

    Finally, I have a call for participants. As some readers may know, Jaclyn is writing a workbook to pick up where Yes Means Yes left off, titled What You Really Really Want. The chapters of that book are undergoing a workshop process, and Jaclyn posted a call for participants some weeks ago. There will be a chapter for men and it will explore how men can support the women in their lives as they take control of their own sexuality, and that will be workshopped with a group of men. The call for participants is here.

  23. Following the Steelers loss at the Super Bowl, an open letter to the women who were sexually assaulted by Ben Roethlisberger.

    Our Sexual and Reproduction Health and Rights Situation Report looked at women’s human rights in Africa.

    After South Sudan peacefully and near-unanimously voted for its own independence, we examined what role women had in this decision, and how it will affect them in the future.

    Finally, we checked out Andrea Juhasz’s new book “Learning From Youtube” and discussed how new media can be harnessed for global activism.

  24. An Open Letter To Lady Gaga, From A Fan And Fellow Feminist: “Born This Way” is out, and there’s some… problems with the lyrics.

    Crazy: Addendum: How limiting my use of certain words improves my ability to communicate.

    9 Reasons Not To Spank Your Kids: Some stats on the behavioural effects of corporal punishment.

    For Trans Equality Write To Your Senators: The Canadian House of Commons passed a bill to amend human rights and hate crimes legislation to include protection for trans people. But the Senate might block it.

  30. This week I wrote a time line of modern Gay/Lesbian?Transsexual?transgender history showing how they developed in parallel rather than together. Where they converged to the point they became the alphabet soup of today.
    http://womenborntranssexual.com/2011/02/06/a-chronology-of-the-development-of-the-various-communities-of-glbttq-2/

    As a post-transsexual lesbian I have gotten sick and tired of the claim so many religious organizations make that they should have the right to discriminate against LGBT/TQ people because their religion tells them so. Why do they get special privileges to engage in faith based hate? why do they get to engage in faith based misogyny?

    Perhaps it is time to remove religion from a protected category.
    http://womenborntranssexual.com/2011/02/10/is-it-time-to-end-religion-as-a-protected-category/

  31. Hi all! It’s been awhile since I’ve shamelessly self-promoted over here — so fun to see what everybody is writing about.

    Over on Beauty Schooled, I’ve been exploring new directions for the blog (now that beauty school is over — as always, you can get the full story about that at http://beautyschooledproject.com/beauty-u/).

    I’ve been exploring my feelings about weight loss and feminism:
    http://beautyschooledproject.com/2011/01/17/good-feminists-dont-diet-at-least-not-in-january/

    And breast implants:
    http://beautyschooledproject.com/2011/02/08/breast-implants-are-bad-for-you-but-heres-whats-worse/

    And I’d love for y’all to come over and take this poll and tell me more about what you’d like to see on Beauty Schooled (whether you’re a new or regular reader — all feedback welcome!):

    http://beautyschooledproject.com/2011/02/11/pretty-price-check-02-11-11/

    Thanks and happy Sunday!
    -Virginia

  36. After years of introspection and analysis, I concluded there is no way to ethically do masculinity uncritically.

    http://bodyelectricblog.wordpress.com/2011/02/12/transmasculine-anti-masculinity-manifesto/

    I’m also going back to the 9 to 5 world, and I realized that I basically have a “masculine” resume and a “feminine” resume. I wrote about the differences between them:

    http://bodyelectricblog.wordpress.com/2011/02/12/back-to-work-part-1-of-many-my-resumes/

  38. This past week on Man Boobz:

    Men’s Rights Activists try to show that men aren’t violent by … harassing and threatening the director of a center for victims of Domestic Violence and/or rape.

    MRAs who think they’re the first people to ever have an issue with Valentine’s day.

    I look at an online calculator that purports to tell dudes the true cost of sex.

    A misogynist explains that he doesn’t hate women. He just wants them all to die bitter and alone.

    Plus the strangest misogynist quote I’ve ever seen.

  39. http://ladyinoh.blogspot.com/2011/02/what-do-women-really-want.html

    I’m taking my first steps into feminist blogging. I’d especially love some feedback on that post, be it critical, what I got wrong or right, your own thoughts on the question, etc.. I saw a question on my local news station’s site asking “What do women really want for Valentine’s Day?” and I started thinking about that question, what it’s actually asking and what it’s not asking.

    Thank you so much for reading if you get to it!

  41. A quick snark on how gender essentialism should make women rubbish at knitting, and a takedown of a New Statesman article arguing that watching football (soccer) makes you a misogynist capitalist bad egg. (Strangley, I did not agree with this argument.)

  44. On Taking Offense, and the Easiness Thereof: Atheist/feminist blogger Jen McCreight recently had a dustup with Reddit, wherein numerous commenters insisted that a female blogger who posts a picture of herself should expect to get leering, sexist comments and has no right to be offended by this. I point out the hypocrisy of this, insofar as male bloggers who post pictures are never subjected to this kind of abuse, and offer some suggestions on how any net community can police itself to be more feminist-friendly.

  49. First of all I’d like to shamelessly promote science blogger Cordelia Fine’s Let’s say good-bye to the straw-feminist.

    As for myself I’m feeling pretty shameless about seeking a synthesis between feminism and MRAs — not least because despite their sometimes panicky and often misogynistic reflexes to the contrary I’m convinced the answer to most of their issues lies in work feminism is already doing… and there’s even stuff MRAs emphasize that could mesh nicely with feminism rather than stand in opposition to it. Consider male-bashing, which MRAs attribute to feminism but which… well… I get into that in On the Suspiciously Male Origins of “Feminist” Male Bashing.

    MRAs (or at least some of their allies) are often apoplectic that both society, the law, and some feminists claim that men can’t be the victims of rape. And, in fact, under the law, or at least under FBI crime-reporting guidelines, men in fact can’t be. But! Check out One More Very Real Way Ancient, Established Patriarchal Attitudes Towards Women and Rape Hurt Men

    I’m looking for common causes in hopes of a future feminism/mra fusion. Here’s just one of dozens of possibilities: Hypergamy Being a Tool of the Patriarchy, Feminists and Men’s Rights Activists Should Work Together to Smash Patriarchy.

    figleaf

  50. Darn it all, I didn’t close a tag the first time I posted this. Delete the first if you can. My apologies if you can’t. –fl

    First of all I’d like to shamelessly promote science blogger Cordelia Fine’s Let’s say good-bye to the straw-feminist.

    As for myself I’m feeling pretty shameless about seeking a synthesis between feminism and MRAs — not least because despite their sometimes panicky and often misogynistic reflexes to the contrary I’m convinced the answer to most of their issues lies in work feminism is already doing… and there’s even stuff MRAs emphasize that could mesh nicely with feminism rather than stand in opposition to it. Consider male-bashing, which MRAs attribute to feminism but which… well… I get into that in On the Suspiciously Male Origins of “Feminist” Male Bashing.

    MRAs (or at least some of their allies) are often apoplectic that both society, the law, and some feminists claim that men can’t be the victims of rape. And, in fact, under the law, or at least under FBI crime-reporting guidelines, men in fact can’t be. But! Check out One More Very Real Way Ancient, Established Patriarchal Attitudes Towards Women and Rape Hurt Men

    I’m looking for common causes in hopes of a future feminism/mra fusion. Here’s just one of dozens of possibilities: Hypergamy Being a Tool of the Patriarchy, Feminists and Men’s Rights Activists Should Work Together to Smash Patriarchy.

    figleaf

  56. I started a new blog about reasons to be childless by choice for the sake of the potential children. You may not agree with not having children, but I would love for you to check it out here: forkidssake.blogspot.com. I frequently discuss gender issues.

  64. In response to an awful article in The Atlantic, I wrote about why porn is to sex what fast food is to eating and why that means we can’t deduce any “eternal truths” about sexuality from it, especially not about gender essentialism. That doesn’t slow down conservatives who want to attribute sexual violence in the military to gender essentialism and basically the idea that adults can’t control their urges.

    Finally, I spent some time explaining to a state-level lawmaker how an attempt in Virginia to create a legal loophole for school prayer might get him the opposite of what he wants.

  66. When I wrote my first “Food on Film” review about _Tampopo_, I smiled the whole time because I really enjoyed writing a feminist review that illuminates more about this film than other reviews I found online. It’s a great movie about a strong woman who strives to learn how to make exceptional noodles and the men who help her along the way. It’s much more than a film that plays with movie tropes, which is what seems to draw most attention for other reviewers.

    Tampopo, the noodle chef-in-training, is a driven, quick witted woman that we don’t see often enough in film. If you like smart films with smart women as the main character, do check out this entertaining film and see if you agree with my analysis.

    Food On Film: Tampopo
    http://centralcoastfoodie.com/2011/02/food-on-film-tampopo/

  68. I posted the beautiful Gay Men’s Chorus of San Francisco’s rendition of True Colors: http://marie-everydaymiracle.blogspot.com/2011/02/i-dare-you-to-watch-this-and-not-shed.html

    Why Ronald Reagan was not the great American president:
    http://marie-everydaymiracle.blogspot.com/2011/02/why-ronald-reagan-was-not-great.html

    Why I’m glad my three boys are not too “cool” for their parents affection: http://marie-everydaymiracle.blogspot.com/2011/02/for-love-of-affectionate-boys.html

    What’s wrong with women’s fitness magazines (link to Jezebel.com): http://marie-everydaymiracle.blogspot.com/2011/02/why-womens-fitness-magazines-are-really.html

    About the link between most of our chocolate and child slave labor (and why we should all be buying free trade chocolate!):
    http://marie-everydaymiracle.blogspot.com/2011/02/did-you-know-you-are-supporting-child.html

    Ever wished you could come up with witty, snappy comebacks? Here’s a link to a debate between a great writer and a redneck: http://marie-everydaymiracle.blogspot.com/2011/02/ever-wanted-to-be-like-murphy-brown-and.html

  69. I made the abrupt decision to move my blog from WordPress to Blogger, which is apparently the opposite of what everyone else does, so my blog feels all disoriented and weird now, but my friend drew me pictures to use for it, and it looks neat. I wrote a little:

    An extremely long post about country music and feminism, because that’s never been done before (lots of nostalgic music videos);

    A blurb about that TED video about why there are so few women CEOs;

    Just a short clip from Kids in the Hall, which totally reminds me of the feminist blogosphere in that j/k-xoxo sort of way;

    And a rant, sort of, of the difference in the labeling of my shampoo bottle and my husband’s.

  70. So this week started with my asking myself a question – Do I love me? — http://www.inspiritual.biz/inspiritual-reflections/2011/2/7/do-i-love-me.html
    And then after my wife was diagnosed with diabetes this past week, I wrote about how we were responding in Our Pantry Got a Remodel — http://www.inspiritual.biz/the-zenful-kitchen/2011/2/9/our-pantry-got-a-remodel.html
    And I ended week 8 and began week 9 of my spiritual journaling adventure
    Week 8, Day 6 – Happiness — http://www.inspiritual.biz/stirring-my-spiritual-waters/2011/2/7/week-8-day-6-happiness.html
    Week 8, Day 7 – Rewarding Yourself, The Choice — http://www.inspiritual.biz/stirring-my-spiritual-waters/2011/2/8/week-8-day-7-rewarding-yourself-the-choice.html
    Week 9, Day 1 – The Past — http://www.inspiritual.biz/stirring-my-spiritual-waters/2011/2/10/week-9-day-1-the-past.html
    Week 9, Day 2 – Present Time — http://www.inspiritual.biz/stirring-my-spiritual-waters/2011/2/10/week-9-day-2-present-time.html
    Week 9, Day 3 – Transitions — http://www.inspiritual.biz/stirring-my-spiritual-waters/2011/2/12/week-9-day-3-transitions.html
    Week 9, Day 4 – Aging — http://www.inspiritual.biz/stirring-my-spiritual-waters/2011/2/14/week-9-day-4-aging.html
    Week 9, Day 5 – Death — http://www.inspiritual.biz/stirring-my-spiritual-waters/2011/2/14/week-9-day-5-death.html

  75. Letha: Um. Actually it went through three times. *Dies*My blogging is so much less obnoxious than my commenting. &nbsp

    No worries! This happens to me all the time. In fact I’m having trouble submitting a comment now, so I’ll use this reply as a test.

  76. Rants Of A Gamer Girl: Is Carol Lieberman The Worst “Expert” In The World?
    http://www.feministfatale.com/2011/02/rants-of-a-gamer-girl-is-carol-lieberman-the-worst-expert-in-the-world/

    Rants of a Gamer Girl: Welcome To Titty City
    http://www.feministfatale.com/2011/02/rants-of-a-gamer-girl-welcome-to-titty-city/

    How Yoga Makes You Pretty- Part Deux What is your intention? Lookng pretty or feeling beautiful? http://www.elephantjournal.com/2011/02/how-yoga-makes-you-pretty—part-deux/

  79. I work for Her Circle Ezine, an online portal of women’s arts, acitivsm and socially engaged creative practice. We are organising organising a number of events for the weekend of International Women’s Day. IWD itself is on 8 March and HCE’s programme will run from the Saturday before (5 March) up to and including Tuesday 8 March. Here’s a brief summary of the events:

    Starting off HCE’s self-exploratory theme that will run throughout the year is artist Kay Chernush with her exhibition Self Examination. Here, Chernush paints a touching and harrowing picture of what it is to be diagnosed with breast cancer and to survive it. Her photographic style compliments this work perfectly to make it that bit more personal and moving. Juxtaposing medical reports with powerful photographic imagery and small excerpts of text, we are given an insight into her own struggle with the disease. With the figures for breast cancer diagnosis rising from 1 in 9 women to 1 in 8 women in their lifetime, this is a frighteningly relevant piece about the strength it is possible to have in such dark times.

    Kay Chernush closes the events for the International Women’s Day Festival with a Visual Artist Talk on Tuesday March 8 at 7:00pm EST.

    “Hot Topic is a series of 60 paintings that portray each person mentioned in the Le Tigre song of the same name. The song is a tribute to feminist heroes of all stripes: artists, activists, writers, musicians and others. Many of the people in the song have strongly influenced my own development as an artist and activist but are relatively unknown outside of certain subcultures. In a world that celebrates Britney Spears but forgets the names of suffragists, I wanted to find a way to solidify the memory of the underground superstars whose creativity and ideas have made such a difference to feminists of my generation” – Kirsten McCrea, 2008.

    Kirsten McCrea fronts HCE’s first ever Virtual Artist Talk during the International Women’s Day Festival on Sunday March 6, 3:00pm EST/8:00pm GMT.

    CIRCUMNAVIGATION is an online event designed to get you interacting with your environment in new and interesting ways. Anyone can experiment with this, regardless of where you are and who you might be. Whether this floats your boat or not one thing is for sure; if you choose to take part in the CIRCUMNAVIGATION event this March, you will end up viewing the world in a whole new way whether your destination is a desert island or a traffic island.

    Drawing on influences from relational art practices and the Fluxus movement (which turned attention to the “city as a canvas” and came up with games in relation to this), CIRCUMNAVIGATION is a direct response to the virtual relationships of the internet and our use of space in the real world. Taking instruction via live twitter feed, you will follow our directions on a “map” of your own creation. Following the event, submitted ‘maps’ will be posted to the Studio HCE Gallery for all to enjoy in HCE’s CIRCUMNAVIGATION exhibition.

    Choosing your own starting point be it your place of work, your local supermarket, your favourite bar or your own front door, you will be guided via another’s influence to discover a whole new world within your familiar home place.

    To take off on your own circumnavigatory adventure, all you will need is access to a live twitter feed and something to document your journey with.

    Taking part in this event is 100% free and open to all but you will have to follow HCE on twitter @HerCircleEzine and don’t forget to submit your entry to HCS at events@hercircleezine.com

    Circumnavigation will take place at 1pm EST, Saturday March 5th for our American friends and 1pm GMT, Sunday March 6th for anyone in Britain and Europe.

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