Shameless Self-Promotion Sunday June 30, 2013 Jill Promote yourself. Netiquette reminders: we expect Content Notes as a courtesy to our readers for problematic content in linked posts and/or their comment threads (a habit of posting only triggering/disparaging links may annoy the Giraffe (you really don’t want to annoy the Giraffe)) extended discussion of self-promotion links on this thread is counter-productive for the intended signal-boosting – the idea is for the promoted sites to get more traffic. If it’s a side-discussion that would be off-topic/unwelcome/distressing on the other site, take it to #spillover after leaving a note on this thread redirecting others there.
As we waited for the Supreme Court decision on Prop 8 and DOMA, we observed the anniversaries of two other major Supreme Court rulings that impacted gay rights. In fact, today is the anniversary of Bowers v. Hardwick, which affirmed states’ rights to to outlaw sodomy 27 years ago. And exactly 10 years prior to the DOMA decision, Bowers was reversed by Lawrence v. Texas, which struck down sodomy laws nationwide. And Thursday was National HIV Testing Day, which we observed with a post about rapid HIV testing. If you’re too nervous to wait days or weeks for your results, rapid HIV testing might be a good option for you.
Rep. Jodie Laubenberg of Texas says that rape kits are used to “clean out” damaged women. Ignorance is curable, callous stupidity not so much. Why do they say these awful things? It goes back a long way…Brutal Gynecology of the Republican Party
This week on broadsspeak, I began a series of posts on why understanding the complex diversity of single moms is crucial for helping the least fortunate families: https://broadsspeak.wordpress.com/2013/06/30/the-difference-single-mothers-make/
One woman’s story about why she regrets being a stay at home mome Your dream, how bad do you want it?
This week I wrote about the twentieth anniversary of Liz Phair’s Exile and Guyville, and the problems with labeling things as universal; and writing unlikeable female characters.
I wrote about: Existential whiplash: on the beaches of Boston, the future of Miami, and the terror of rising seas. As usual, I also have a Friday Links roundup where people are welcome to self-promote as well.
The Grammarian and the Alderman– I wrote to an elected city official to express my concern over a proposed sagging pants ban, and it turned into a ridiculous, unprofessional interaction where he told me it wasn’t his job to listen to me. I can’t say politicians like this are the reason my city is number 3 for murders, but it can’t be helping. Tightropes and Hard Times– So many of the famous rhetoricians (especially the female ones) had really hard lives. Does it take living a difficult life to hones these skills?
I posted a bit of Catholic humor about St. Joseph being added to the eucharistic prayer. And now that my job has calmed down a bit, I’m trying to catch up on my thesis work. I posted a book review, and an essay on Rejecting the Sacrificial System, which discusses an interpretation of Christ’s crucifixion that does not involve an angry or violent God.
Some of my frustrations of practicing yoga while boob-ed. And Breathwork, on travel and place and ways of belonging.
Also, last week I wrote a little about endometriosis and heat. And Lady Warriors, on schools’ tendencies to “other” girls’ and women’s teams in this way.
Over at delagar, I write about raising kids in a thoughtful, active manner in a post titled “What You’re Teaching Your Kids (Whether You Think You Are Or Not).” I also have a short post on the new internet term Derp. (No, not that derp! A new one.)
“Does it have to be humans?” Senator Randtorum goes man-on-dog responding to SCOTUS’ DOMA ruling in a purportedly ‘sarcastic’ box turtle moment. My colleague Kathy Kattenburg womansplains Rick Perry & Wendy Davis to the mansplainers.
[CN: male privilege, reproductive justice, anger] I wrote a hypothetical letter to my male friends after getting tired with their refusal to see why feminism (and women’s rights) are important. The rolled eyes and sighing were just becoming too much!
I’ve been blogging, as usual, about mental health and what it’s like to try to recover from a mental illness, with a healthy dash of family shenanigans and occasional pictures of my puppy. Content note for the various mental health issues, depression, suicidality, disordered eating, and so on. http://borderlinebookworm.blogspot.com
Don’t Let Your Daughters Grow Up To Marry Gay Cowboys http://broadblogs.com/2013/06/28/dont-let-your-daughters-grow-up-to-marry-gay-cowboys/
An ode to Sansa Stark and why I think she’s an unlikely but strong female character, and why I think Game of Thrones does a great job with its women in general. Spoilers for the Game of Thrones TV show and CN for mention of graphic gendered violence therein.
Sansa is super underrated. I think most people don’t get that of all the Stark children, she is the one who is most like Ned: she wants to fit society’s ideal of what someone in her position should look like, and goes about sculpting her life to meet that imaginary picture – then meets disaster when the reality of her society collides with its (already pretty messed up) ideals.
“America’s Most Wanded (The Texas Mandated Transvaginal Ultrasound Song)” is a lighthearted music video addressing one of Texas’ abortion laws. Content note: NSFW, contains images of a transvaginal ultrasound device (that we’ve turned into a cute-ish puppet) as well as images of Rick Perry. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su9i1Ko_tgM
It has been a rough and successful week for advocates, activists, and allies. Remember to engage in some little self-care.
I blogged about birth control activist and founder of Planned Parenthood Margaret Sanger’s arrest in Portland, Oregon, 97 years and one day ago for distributing copies of her birth control pamphlet, Family Limitation, over at the Margaret Sanger Papers Project blog.
My humble review of “The Heat” with Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy: http://www.a2review.net/2013/06/28/the-heat-lady-weapon-1/
I wrote on Friday about several recent incidents of straight white Christian men trying to style themselves as an oppressed minority.
“A Beautiful Body” Book Project by Jade Beall As I write this, I am less than an hour from administering my trigger shot, which means that in exactly 36 hours I’ll be under anesthesia while the doctor extracts a batch of cells from my very stimulated ovaries. These eggs are destined for another uterus. I am an egg donor and after viewing these moving images I hope more than ever that the recipient of my eggs gets big and beautiful and falls madly in love with her pregnant and post-pregnant body. Continue Reading
I wrote this as a self-exiled Texan about watching events in Austin unfold last week: Something Special Happened in Texas
This week I reviewed Brandon Sanderson’s new book, The Rithmatist— it’s engaging and has some fun ideas, but the female lead starts out as more or less a redheaded gender stereotype. I also reviewed Ready Player One, a virtual reality treasure hunt adventure that doubles as a love letter to the 1980s.
A long personal story about how I almost left my current tae kwon do (martial arts) club over something that was sort of sexual harassment…and how it could have been so much worse.
Miranda, blogspot hates me for commenting, so I’m doing it here; sorry. I just wanted to say that you sound very thoughtful and intelligent and generally awesome, and that you are really courageous for speaking up. Thank you.
Thank you so much, Mac. It really means a lot to hear such encouragement and compliments from such a cool person. 🙂
New blog post – another all-pictures one ‘cos I didn’t have anything publicly printable to report. 😉 NB one of the pics is mildly NSFW.
It’s all about the queerdom this week! First, in Gaelick: Pride, Parties and Protest: what’s it all about? responds to Dublin Pride’s decision not to let community groups speak after this weekend’s parade. (Fortunately, they came to an agreement with community groups after this) And then? Back at the Tea Cosy, I’ve got a reason that you probably haven’t thought about for sorting out marriage equality right now.
I think I missed last week, so there are two posts at Yes Means Yes Blog that I have not posted on a self-promotion thread: When Does “Allegedly” Die?!, which I wrote in a fit of rage at Whoopi at The View using “allegedly” to describe the Steubenville rapists even though they were duly convicted after a trial, and Barbara Walters’ tap-dance around Mike Tyson’s status as a rapist who was convicted by a jury, appealed and lost, and served a prison term. Look, at some point, there is no legal justification for “allegedly” and instead it stands as a value judgment that the commentator doesn’t want to concede that the person being discussed is, in fact, a rapist. Boundaries Are For The Little People, a guest post by a sex worker about a sexual assault by a client, and the issues of power differential and entitlement.
On heteronormative society, some of the forms it takes, how it shows itself, the consequences it has for some, and how it might be changed in small ways
I thought I’d add my own feminist ending to the Song of Miriam. (Don’t worry, this is really short.) The Song of Miriam from the Bible (JPS version) is in bold, followed by the additional lines to it which I have written. I did another version of this before, but this one is explicitly feminist: Sing ye to the LORD, for He is highly exalted: The horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea. He has liberated us from Egypt, from slavery; We must now liberate ourselves from sexism. Sing ye of the pain of sexist oppression, Sing of the joy and righteousness of women’s liberation.
At Feminist Spellings, I wrote about how I’m frustrated with comparisons between the Texas filibuster and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. http://tiny.cc/zrbkzw