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

Tag: feministe

Feministe 2.0

Some house-cleaning stuff.

First, a big welcome to Zuzu, and to Mystery Blogger #2, who I think will be introducing themselves soon. I’m incredibly excited to be working with these two — many of you know Zuzu from the comments here and elsewhere, and I suspect you’ll recognize MB#2 as well. I’m looking forward to big things.

My internet at home died last night, so I couldn’t do my Blog for Choice / Roe Anniversary piece. It’ll be up later today. And it looks like our internet won’t be repaired for at least a week (thank you TimeWarner), so moderation of comments may be a little slow. I’ll be checking the comment dashboard throughout the day while I’m at school and in the library (9-7ish Monday-Friday), but after I go home I won’t have any access to it. Both Zuzu and MB#2 have access to comment approval, so they’ll be able to clear stuff when I’m not around, but please be patient if your comment is stuck in moderation longer than usual.

Finally, my bit about missing Ms. Lauren. I wasn’t surprised to see how many people were sad to see her go, and how many people dropped by to wish her well. I, for one, will miss her quite a bit. Lauren and I have never actually met, but since coming to Feministe I’ve considered her a friend and an inspiration. I consistently find myself reading her posts in awe, and going back into the archives to discover even more Lauren goodness. Before I began blogging at Feministe, I read her constantly; when I first started blogging on my own about a year and a half ago, she was one of the first feminist blogs I found (along with Feministing and Alas), and her style, wit, and intermixing of the personal with the political shaped the way that I aimed to write. When she asked me to be a co-blogger, I was both thrilled and terrified — the best feminist blogger out there wants me to work with her? I thought, in the eternal words of Wayne and Garth, “[I’m] not worthy!” After a few weeks at Feministe, and after getting more entrenched in the general blogosphere and reading more and more online, I realized that my co-blogger wasn’t the best feminist blogger out there — she was the best blogger out there, period. No one else I read had anything on her. And that made me work a lot harder, and care a lot more. Lauren created a community here, in a way that I haven’t seen anywhere else. And I am deeply grateful that she invited me to be such an active part of it. At this point in my life in particular, when all I do is school and when I feel generally isolated from activism and real-life feminist communities, this blog has been a godsend. It has become my only political/feminist outlet, and it’s the one thing that’s currently keeping me sane with all the pressure and disillusionment that law school has brought. Lauren built this vibrant, interesting and diverse community, and graciously allowed me to hop on board. So thank you, Lauren, for that. I hope you’ll drop by from time to time — we miss you already! And I know that great things are ahead for you. Keep us updated.

And good things are ahead for Feministe, too. I can’t wait to see how the blog develops with the two new people we’ve brought on. They’re fabulous, they came to mind immediately when Lauren and I were thinking of who to ask on, and I know you’ll all be impressed with their work. I’m looking forward to the new face of Feministe. I hope you are too.

Carnival of the Feminists 7

Carnival of the Feminists 7 will be hosted here at Feministe on January 18th.

The general theme for this installment is feminism and pop culture. All thoughts are welcome, all posts submitted by feminist writers will be included.

Submit your posts to web[at]feministe[dot]us with the subject title “Carnival of the Feminists” by midnight on January 15th.

UPDATE: I would prefer that submissions were made in the period since the last carnival, i.e. in the two weeks preceeding the 18th.

Education or Educational Smackdown?

Another Lynne asks something that I think is worth entertaining especially as feminist blogs become more prevalent in the ‘sphere. In part,

Where I get caught up in ambivalence is how to address those commenters who claim to know nothing about feminism. Yes, this blog certainly *is* advanced feminism. But still, shouldn’t we be willing to educate someone when they ask us? (Regardless of how facetious they may be when doing so) OTOH, so often this type of “commenting” is really just a way to drag strawfeminists out for them to ridicule and preach the hate, I don’t want to dignify that stuff with a response.

And at what point do we (reasonably) bring the smackdown to this nonsense? If the person is starting from the belief that feminism is *truly* about women being better than men, it takes an awful lot of work to teach them otherwise. (speaking from personal experience).

I’ve made some odd friends out of flame wars and heavy disagreements, but never in the public space of the blog. Usually this requires waiting until after the mess is over, contact through email and clarification of the messier bits point by point with a great deal of humor. While I don’t necessarily expect to change others’ views, I have softened them to the idea of feminism, or at least gain more respect for Jill and I with these contacts. Because my underlying philosophy for this blog is honest communication, as heady or juvenile as it may get, I attempt to operate from this frame.

Read More…Read More…

On the Myth of Inherent Female Bisexuality

Freudian psychoanalysts held that all people, male and female, are born bisexual and like a light switch held between on and off, will usually fall into one of two extremes. Freudians, on the whole, did not consider homosexuality to be an aberration or sickness in and of itself, but that societal pressures would undoubtedly contribute to unhealthy fetishes and sexual behaviors.

Following the light switch analogy, Alfred Kinsey’s famous scale would be like a dial pointing somewhere between homosexuality and heterosexuality: a continuum where the large majority resides very near the heterosexual end.

The twentieth century, with the discovery of a molecular basis for inheritance, saw a sharp rise in the use of terms like “inherent” and “predisposition” in lay discussions of animal behavior. Incidentally, it is of no surprise that discussions of human behavior dwell on human sexuality. Coitus, fornication, fucking, whatever you like to call it, is fun. It’s fun to do; it’s fun to talk about.

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When Feminists and Libertarians Chat

[19:38] BillINDC: your co-blogger has some fucking issues
[19:38] Feministe: eh?
[19:38] BillINDC: http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2005/11/29/i-heart-anderson-cooper/
[19:38] Feministe: ha
[19:38] BillINDC: that albino dipshit?
[19:39] Feministe: partisan
[19:39] BillINDC: no, not really. I just cant stand the dude because he says “thankyouverramuuuuuch”
[19:39] BillINDC: sort of like Elvis. And it drives me fucking nuts.
[19:39] Feministe: man, i haven’t had cable news for so long i had no idea who he was
[19:39] Feministe: i had to check and i only sort of recognized him
[19:40] BillINDC: well, let’s just say I think you need to have a sit-down with Jill and assess her sanity. Bill hemmer? Maybe. Anderson COOPER?
[19:40] BillINDC: jesus
[19:40] Feministe: dude, i have a thing for keith olbermann
[19:40] BillINDC: oh fuck all
[19:40] Feministe: hott
[19:40] Feministe: his show is totally a tv version of a blog
[19:41] Feministe: see, we’re both fucked up
[19:41] BillINDC: you deserve each other
[19:41] BillINDC: nevermind
[19:43] Feministe: i’m posting this
[19:43] BillINDC: heh
[19:44] BillINDC: which part? because I meant that news anchor judgment in a totally detached , WAY STRAIGHT MANLY WAY

For Future Reference

On behalf of Feministe:

At no time, despite any and all insults and accusations levied through this website, will Jill or I lower ourselves to the indeignanty of litigation.

Thank you, and back to your regularly scheduled programming…

An Honest Question

I’ve noticed the numbers of conservative and libertarian readership are significantly up on Feministe, and I’m generally curious why. It is because conservative and libertarian blogs have pushed you our way, did you find us on your own, is there something perversely attractive to you about our blog, or is it something else altogether?

Civil comments appreciated below.

Tips of the Day

Because I’m avoiding my Bluebooking work. Here’s what I learned this week:

1. If you’re on the subway and would like to comment on someone’s purse (mine, let’s say), it is generally considered rude to loudly say to your friend, “That bag is so Jewish.” The appropriate ethnic slur would be “JAP-y,” thank you very much.

2. If the buzzer rings and wakes you up, put on a shirt and pants before exiting your room. There’s a good chance that your room mate’s boyfriend will also be sent to answer the buzzer, and the sight of you half asleep in just boy-shorts underwear with your ass hanging out and boobs everywhere isn’t going to make anyone’s morning.

3. That said, remain on good terms with your room mate’s boyfriend (easy if, as is my situation, you genuinely like him). That way, when you forget to email yourself a big research project due at noon, you can call him at 9am and he’ll send it to you — because, thank god, he’s still in your apartment from the night before, even though your room mate has gone to work. He might also buy you wine glasses if you make him drink chianti out of coffee mugs often enough. (Let me add in here that Rizzo, you are my hero).

4. When you buy really cute vintage boots, get them water-proofed before you wear them in the rain.

5. Do not consider living with this guy, who one astute Gawker commenter calls “The Anna Wintour of gang bang organizers.” Ha.

6. What is the only better distraction than blogging when you don’t have a TV and can’t watch episode after episode of Entourage? Overheard in New York.

7. What goes wonderfully with Overheard in New York and, of course, Feministe, when it’s pouring down rain outside and you don’t want to leave your apartment? Fleece pants and a nice South African cabernet sauvignon. Today, it’s Exclesior. (Aren’t into wine? I’m currently obsessed with Newcastle).

Add your tips below. More will be coming as I get progressively more bored, and likely do more progressively idiotic things.