Just because I think this is funny.
As always, there is too much good stuff out there and not enough time to blog it all. A few things to check out today:
–Female race car drivers in Iran kick ass — and one of them, a feminist icon, is the only female athlete to have competed against a man in the past 25 years:
She is a pioneer in Iran, the first female athlete to have competed against a man in the 25 years since Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini established the theocracy. It was in 2004, during a long-distance race in Tehran. “I broke a taboo. I’m proud of it. Why should Iranian women be weak? I don’t know,” she says in fluent English. “Our Prophet Mohammed never claimed that women should be locked up at home and doomed to watch the children while the man enjoys himself outside. On the contrary: He wanted men to encourage their wives and daughters to develop their personalities to the fullest. To be a successful country, we need strong women.”
Thanks to Kyle for the link.
–And here in the United States, a young Muslim athlete (and one of the fastest young women in DC) is being disqualified from track meets because her religious dress violates the uniform code, despite the fact that it gives her no advantage and is unobtrusive: “The custom-made, one-piece blue and orange unitard covers her head, arms, torso and legs. Over the unitard, she wears the same orange and blue T-shirt and shorts as her teammates.”
–“No shit” story of the week: Financial strain is a factor in abortion. But what I particularly like about this story is that it points out the fact that financial strain is also a major factor in becoming unintentionally pregnant in the first place. Which would suggest that perhaps, if “pro-life” people actually want to decrease the abortion rate, they’ll focus on issues of class and poverty and support social programs that promote upward mobility and financial security. (I won’t hold my breath for that). The article also gets into the “black genocide” argument, essentially arguing that pro-choicers trick foolish black women into genocide. Which is, of course beyond offensive, not to mention totally counter-productive. It is telling and problematic that black women have abortions at disproportionate rates — it means that issues of race and class cannot be separated from issues of reproductive rights, and clearly black women are not getting the financial and health-related resources they need. But of course, dealing with that problem might force us to do something beyond telling black women that they’re genocidal baby-killers.
–Thankfully, groups like the Chicago Abortion Fund help low-income women afford the procedure. My favorite quote from the story comes from activist Gaylon Alcaraz:
“You don’t see poor black women talking about abortion in public,” she said. “You don’t see them asking, ‘Why is it they don’t want me to have an abortion but they’re not doing anything to help me with work or child care?'”
The South Dakota Women’s Health Fund also helps low-income women access abortion.
–Putting a Guy in His Place: New York Times style writer Guy Trebay says that Miuccia Prada “has some complex sexual issues to work through,” but I’d suggest that it’s Mr. Trebay who has issues with sex and gender, as he apparently thinks that to be a woman is to be humiliated and mistreated, and is thoroughly upset when the feminine things long imposed on women are turned on men:
Speaking after Sunday’s show to Suzy Menkes, the fashion critic for The International Herald Tribune, Ms. Prada quipped that the collection was revenge on men for the social and sartorial contortions they impose on women. She laughed when she said it, but she clearly wasn’t kidding around.
It is no stretch to suggest that the Prada collection read like the manifesto of a gender revanchist. The man in Ms. Prada’s current vision was domesticated and so passive as to be a neuter. One notes this not merely because the models looked abnormally robotic and were given nothing to wear outside the house.
Like a flipped version of the Unwomen in Margaret Atwood’s feminist parable “The Handmaid’s Tale,” the Prada Unman was gotten up in humiliating tutu belts, severe high-collar shirts that buttoned up the back and odd cummerbunds that disappeared in a chevron down the front of trousers conspicuously lacking a fly.
As usual with this designer, there were things to admire: a lean clerical silhouette, the severity of a nearly monochrome palette, the way color and its absence were used to mark out the torso in floating zones. But when designers stop conceding to biological function, they move away from the realm of fashion and into that of social engineering. It is one thing to nudge men toward exploring their girly sides and quite another to suggest they sit to urinate.
Thanks to Kiru B. for the link.
–Obama is being smeared — with accusations that he’s Muslim. And the accusations are being circulated within the military, violating all kinds of regulations and laws. I’m not sure what’s worse: The fact that “he’s Muslim” is a damning insult, or the fact that such an accusation may be quite effective in impeding his electability.
–Tim Russert thinks it’s ironic that feminists have emotions. Clearly, our Angry Fembot Army is slipping. Get it together, ladies.
-Good Roe-Day news: Anti-choice asshole Missouri governor Matt Blunt is not seeking a second term. Thanks to Sean for the link.
–The women of the National Women’s Law Center reflect on what choice means to them. Lots of powerful stuff.
–Jessica Wakeman at HuffPo writes about slut-shaming on Gossip Girl. I will simply add that I want all of Blair’s dresses and underwear.
–Revisiting King’s Dream. Dr. King and reproductive justice.
-Thanks to the hard work of feminist activists, the ACLU and others, important pay equity legislation has passed in the House.
–One Woman’s Abortion: Mrs. X tells her story. From the August 1965 issue of The Atlantic. It is very much worth a read.
-Chuck wants to know: If your opposition to Sen. Clinton for President isn’t sexist, which female candidates would you endorse, were they to enter the race tomorrow?
–Mainichi sounds like an MRA dream — a lecture on domestic violence was recently canceled because opposing domestic violence might lead to the breakdown of families:
Opponents criticized the Law for the Prevention of Spousal Violence and the Protection of Victims, which allows the government to provide shelters for domestic violence victims, on the grounds that it would lead to the breakdown of families.
Apparently beating up your partner has no impact on breaking down families. Thanks to Natalia for the link.
-The American Constitution Society gives us a fantastic piece by Professor Dawn Johnson titled A Progressive Agenda for Women’s Reproductive Health and Liberty on Roe v. Wade’s Thirty-Fifth Anniversary.
–Fibromyalgia, a disease that primarily affects middle-aged women, is finally becoming treatable — despite the fact that many doctors think it doesn’t exist. Women are often assumed to be “chronic complainers” instead of in chronic pain, and a male-dominated medical establishment continues to take women’s self-reporting on medical issues less than seriously. Thanks to Simon for the link.
-And finally, a little vomit-in-your-own-mouth humor. Thanks to Tatiana for the link.