Shameless Self-Promotion Sunday April 27, 2014 Jill Promote yourself. Netiquette reminders: Want to recommend someone else’s writing instead? Try the latest signal-boosting thread. 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.
Eighty-five years ago this week, a “gray-haired, kindly looking matron” was found guilty of obscenity. Who was this lady? She was Mary Ware Dennett, whose frank writing on sexuality made her a pioneer for sex education. The battles she fought in court in defense of her important work presaged the controversy that continues to surround comprehensive sex education today. * * * Sixty-nine percent of people with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa, where access to prevention and treatment is often limited. Additionally, family-planning services can be difficult to come by. However, nonprofit groups are spearheading new technologies that may help address both problems! We wrote about a new intravaginal ring, currently in development, that researchers are hoping will protect against both HIV and unintended pregnancies! * * * And for those of you who need more links to click on, look no further than our reprojustice news roundup.
Trigger warning for discussion of rape, and spoiler alert if you are behind in Game of Thrones! Reading all the media coverage of last week’s episode got me really riled up at what mainstream bloggers and even places like Slate and Vulture, were describing as “consent”. So, I responded, analyzing the book against the show, and giving a more nuanced discussion of consent and rape between partners. Article: http://hbowatch.com/rape-in-the-great-sept-of-baelor-an-analysis/ Below is the thesis I prove through the article: “Most of the above criticism is in response to an overwhelming discomfort at the “changed” scene, and is coming from readers who, in reading the book, did not recognize it as a sexual encounter that involved blatant disregard for Cersei’s lack of consent. So to have it presented to them so plainly as a non-consensual encounter by HBO flew in the face of their interpretation of that sex scene, because, of course, if it had been rape, they would have seen and remembered that! So, HBO must have added that in, as obsessed as they are with shock value! Those are all easier emotions to feel than the uncomfortable idea that you yourself didn’t recognize rape when you read it in black and white.”
I wrote about: –No more “deserving” vs. “undeserving”: why we need a guaranteed basic income (and a parallel to intuitive eating). –Some thoughts on Earth Day, mostly about how much privilege it takes to be able to give up on climate change.
Responding to sexism http://disruptingdinnerparties.com/2014/04/24/feminist-buzzkill-in-5-easy-steps/
For some really shameless self-promotion, I had a story up on Daily Science Fiction this week (yay me!): Life on Mars. Go read and give me rockets, y’all! Also, a new post at Grounded Parents: Default Sexism.
I was out of town last Sunday so, two weeks of links CN: sex, nudity Art Collecting in a Dystopia. An illustrated lecture of a fictional character’s subversive tastes in art. CN: sex, violence, consent Sunday Snippest from the Cyber-verse. Dark future fiction to promote a forthcoming anthology (which didn’t forthcome) CN: BDSM, sex, langauge Frolicon report CN: Misogyny There’s a t-shirt showing up at conventions and half of fandom is taking exception to it. Open anthology calls Four days left on an indiegogo campaign
Last week at Bitch Flicks, we had a theme week and our posts revolved around Rape Revenge Fantasies. Here is a roundup of all of the posts, which includes analyses of Irreversible, I Spit on Your Grave, Titus, Thelma and Louise, Teeth, Shakespeare, and more. * trigger warning for frank discussion of rape and violence.
I’ve gotten back into the swing of things and have been writing a lot this week: I talk to my kid about sex and then go look at some pretty water. Yes, you can be pro-choice and still refer to a wanted pregnancy as a baby Add crowd-surfing to the long, long list of things that do not justify sexual assault (read: everything) – Content warning for sexual assault and Iggy Azalea
Oh! And also! Crossed Genres, the SF/F magazine I edit for, is reaching the end of its Kickstarter. We’re kind of famous (I say modestly) for annoying the neo-conservative asshats in the SF/F world (the racist, sexist, homophobes) because of our mission to publish inclusive SF/F, and to seek out and publish LGBTQ writers and writers of color, and writers from places other than the USA. We’ve got three days and just over three thousand dollars to raise. Kick in if you can! Fabulous prizes await you!
I just finished my first science fiction novel – it has a great feminist theme. It has been through editing and I have a galley (advanced reading copy) I’m sending to bloggers, magazines, and people in the aerospace industry for review. Book Title: I Choose Mars Synopsis: In 2037, twelve pioneers leave Earth to live, breed, and farm in the newly completed Mars biodome, but something sinister happens while they are on the way. A psychopathic crew member has given the crew and the Company an ultimatum: Acknowledge him as ruler of Mars or he will destroy the biodome. Tommie Candour escapes from a storage pod and finds the crew in chaos and communications severed. She is driven by a sense of duty and her love for Turbo to risk her life, and the life within her, in an attempt to save them all.
Toxic masculinity won’t save us. David Brooks says Obama has a “manhood” problem when it comes to foreign policy. But what kind of manhood is he talking about, and how will it supposedly shift geopolitical realities? A win in the fight against private prisons. There’s encouraging progress in what often seems like an intractable fight to roll back mass incarceration in the US.
Effective changemaking: No judging: http://humaneeducation.org/blog/2014/04/21/effective-changemaking-judging/
When Someone Tells You Not To Transition. Someone is going to try to talk you out of transition. This is a question of when, not if. Parallax. Awareness knocks my mind blank. I drop into the moment, single and crystalline. It really is right now.
Does an equal marriage mean less sex? Unfortunately, a recent study shows that on average sexual satisfaction for women decreases as men do housework. But the common interpretation that “equality is bad for sex” isn’t a necessary conclusion. Equal Marriage = Less Sex? Meanwhile, too many frat boys disrespect women behind their backs, disrespect them at parties, disrespect them after sex. Why the hate? Ritual Degradation & Male “Superiority”
TW – transphobia, “parody” violent image, violence against women I wrote a statement denouncing a sso-called parody video by drag performer Alaska Thunderf*ck depicting shooting a trans activist in the head. The video is not linked; you can find it on YouTube. I also examined some practical issues if PA has a pro marriage equality court verdict this spring. Then what?
This might be of interest as well … I hope it is okay to post a second time. I attended a community art exhibit that is a Pittsburgh tradition only to see a volunteer open carrying a handgun. What?
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This week I wrote about rape on college campuses. Specifically, what cultural factors have lead to it being so prevalent, and what I think needs to be done to stop it.