WTF, Marie Claire?
Posted on: October 29, 2010
is all I can say.
Head over to Jezebel for more info:
http://jezebel.com/5673680/what-was-marie-claire-thinking-with-this-fatties-piece?skyline=true&s=i
I don’t actually think I buy anything from their advertisers, but I’m double checking and I urge you all to do the same, and if so, change products.
One unintended consequence of the article I’ve felt? Feeling really sorry for the author.
I didn’t expect to! I didn’t intend to!
But someone who holds that much contempt for other people, to the point of being physically sick over their appearance and likening them to heroin addicts (which everyone knows means Bad Person, yeesh), must have a lot of self hatred.
It hurts to see a woman hate her body so much.
And it hurts to know that thousands of women feel the same way.
Intent: Its Fucking Magic!
Posted on: October 28, 2010
Please, go here and read.
Pear of the awesome linkage linked me to this and it sums up everything i’ve been being upset about for the past, oh week.
My sociology class is hung up on intent. Lots of second wave feminists, including a second wave feminist presenting professor. Addressing those marginalized in comments would be negating the intent of the comments, which was to…uhm.
Well, I’m not really sure what was intended by comments comparing the oppression of lesbians to the “oppression” of brunettes, and I would have loved to find out. But that would have been “villainizing” the girl who made the comments, so instead I should shut the fuck up and “not get angry when people say insensitive things.” because “intent goes a long way in the classroom.”
Yes, intent goes a long way in the classroom. A long way in MARGINALIZING PEOPLE.
Fuck people, srsly.
I’m sure some of my angst over this has to do with actually COMING OUT to my family and claiming the identity of lesbian (I mean I’m telling my GRANDMOTHER, people. I can’t get out of this one) and this is my first actual incident where I’m experiencing marginalization and can talk about it with people in real life.
And talk about it I do. Constantly. Perhaps at the risk of becoming annoying.
But I mean, I just defined kyriarchy for my girlfriend!
Dear Second Wave Feminism
Posted on: October 20, 2010
Please stop telling me to subvert my identity to keep you happy.
I thought we were past this, solidly into the third wave, maybe emerging into the fourth, realizing that women of color, queer women, disabled women, imprisoned women and every other woman had their own voice to add to our movement. I really thought you were done telling me that my identity needed to be sectioned off and isolated into pockets of activism. You’re telling me I should suppress being queer in order to further a movement that represents women, yet if you have your way, won’t represent me. But I’m pretty sure I’m a woman. I’m also pretty sure that the trans women I know are women too, and that your definition of woman and female are woefully inadequate, insulting, and just another way to perpetuate your tired stereotypes and patriarchy approved message of racism and homophobia.
In other words, fuck you sociology class.
Love,
R.F.L.
WTF, Colorado?
Posted on: October 6, 2010
Colorado: give birth to your rapist’s baby, and btw, your hormonal birth control is illegal. Yeah, they’re going there. A (female!) writer of Amendment 62 states
“Many of the oral contraceptives have an action that makes the womb inhospitable to a developing embryo and, hence, the new living, growing baby is prevented from residing where his or her creator intended until birth.”
Remember, women, you’re just a walking womb!
Go over to Rachel Maddow for more information: http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/09/29/5200358-gop-for-big-government-in-a-small-uterus
Laura Bush on Anderson Cooper
Posted on: May 14, 2010
- In: abortion | feminism/feminists | Media! | Politics | Television/Media | theory
- 1 Comment
This has made the rounds in all of my feminist circles and news sources: starting at Feministing, winding its way over all the forums, and finally ending up being posted seven times by different friends on my facebook feed! Reactions range from “Yay!” to “Too late, cute though.”
http://www.feministing.com/archives/021171.html
(I suggest not reading the comments on the Feministing article though, unless you want to see a man be condescending to women in a feminist space and people speak really harshly to each other for no good reason. 😦 Moving on,)
Props to Laura Bush for finally sharing her opinion. Boo for it happening far, far too late and only after her husband had managed to erode rights for both women and the GLBTQ community. I mean, why is she saying this now? If she backed these words up with some work with the HRC or a well placed donation, I’d be a little less suspicious, but I just don’t see why she’s speaking up now.
This also brings up some interesting ideas about the roles of first ladies. People were upset when Hillary Clinton worked on health reform during Bill Clinton’s presidency, people have criticized Michelle Obama for working on her childhood obesity program, etc. What do we expect from these women who are uniquely exposed to the highest level of political office in the United States? Do we want involved, active First Ladies? When we criticize these women for their role in government, are we promoting the idea that politics are a men’s world? Are we stripping these women of their predefined social place (working on “social” issues, like poverty, nutrition, etc) like many First Ladies have done, in order to get women into a political position with more power? Or are we working for the patriarchy in that we’re trying to silence women who have a position where they can be heard, by saying that they weren’t elected? (Of course they weren’t: NO WOMAN HAS BEEN.) How will this change when a woman is elected, and will our views on what a First Gentleman should do be different, and if so, how?
Today is a question day! If I had answers I’d give ’em to ya.
“Men’s bodies are commodified too!” “Men can understand the female experience!” “Men’s genitalia are stigmatized, just like women’s!”
I really think this is just another way of turning feminist dialogues into being about men and their oppression. Oh noes, it happens to them too!! Which can easily be turned into, “see, they understand what its like!!!”
Nope. Not at all.It happens to the general population, but it specifically and systematically targets women on a large and deeply rooted scale and men can not understand what it means to live that, because they do not live with that reality. Bringing their oppression and experiences into the discussion is another way of the privileged group exerting their privilege.
Example: I’ve been involved in a conversation on Livejournal where the experiences of people with “black” names, like “LaShawn” are treated negatively in job situations due to their names, either by not being called for interviews, but being called when submitting the same resume under Shawn, or by customers while working in telephone positions and giving their name and getting requests for “white” or “nonethnic” personnel. Suddenly, it seemed like a large storm of white people decided they needed to share their experiences with their names barring them from opportunities: a welsh girl in America’s name being spelled a more American way. A white woman named Monica (said Moe-knee-kuh, not mohnikuh) having her named said incorrectly in a waiting room. These events have little to NO significance in the context of discussing the systematic oppression of people of color through name/stereotypes, so it is totally inappropriate for these types of stories to drown out the voices of the people actually living this experience, and it is an example of them using their privilege to continue the oppression, HOWEVER unintentional it is.
That’s what I see whenever I hear “well men’s bodies are stigmatized too!” or “Men don’t feel good about the wage gap!” or “my boyfriend says…” in feminist discussion. It is just another way of shifting the focus off of the people who need to be doing the talking by making the problems less gender specific (“it happens to men too!”), thus marginalizing women even further.
FYI and PSA
Posted on: May 7, 2010
FYI: If you google “sex worker photos” or “indian sex worker photo” you can get here. Hm. Also “rape schedule.” I like the third search term the most but oh well, can’t win ’em all. I’m calming myself by thinking that maybe these people were looking for photos of sex workers as they really are: people with families, work, bills to pay, etc and not for any sort of porn purposes. Don’t disabuse me of this notion plz! It is possibly valid.
PSA: So I’ve been fighting the sexist language battle for sometime, with various people and places. Saying “she’s got balls,” “be a man,” and using slang terms for vagina (“cunt” “pussy”) as insults is supporting a sexist culture. Recognizing where these terms come from, why we use them as such, and the systems we are supporting while using them is important.
I’m sure someone much better verses in linguistics and language/culture relation can elaborate/disprove/whatevs this little PSA, but there you have it. It is 2:35 in the morning and I am done with finals, people!
Danny Dyer (British actor) wrote in an advice column in a men’s magazine,
You’ve got nothing to worry about, son. I’d suggest going out on a rampage with the boys, getting on the booze and smashing anything that moves. Then, when some bird falls for you, you can turn the tables and break her heart. Of course, the other option is to cut your ex’s face, and then no one will want her.
An ap0logy has been issued. The apology is half assed.
Due to an extremely regrettable production error, an inappropriate and indefensible response to a letter has appeared in this week’s issue. Zoo editor, Tom Etherington, apologises unreservedly for any offence the response may have caused and has launched an internal enquiry to ensure lessons are learnt.
Let me rewrite that for them.
Due to a culture of mysogyny and lack of understanding of the sexist culture we live in, an inappropriate and indefensible response to a letter has appeared in this week’s issue. Zoo editor, Tom Etherington, apologises unreservedly for blatantly furthering the culture of violence against women and making light of the plight of the millions of women who are physically, emotionally and otherwised abused each day. We have launched an internal enquiry to ensure lessons are learnt.
New NOW director in Utah
Posted on: May 5, 2010
After the departure of their previous director, NOW’s Utah branch disintegrated into nothingness. Now a young woman named Eve Rinali has been tapped to get it to its feet.
City Weekly: Now’s New Director
With all of the controversy in Utah, from the miscarriage bill to the plain issue with a church that has a longstanding history of racism, sexism and homophobia being a huge influence, NOW needs a new, strong leader to continue the fight for equal rights. Let’s hope Eve is it!
More Hell, Fewer Dahlias: The Musings of a Radical Feminist. 
Logging In
Posted by: radfemles on: January 28, 2012
Hello! I logged into the email associated with this account to see I’d gotten some pingbacks and that the rape schedule post had garnered a bit of attention. So thanks!
No thanks however, to the person commenting on the entry with lots of victim blaming and slut shaming. It was refreshing to post the “not approved” button.
In other news, the Republican primary is hilariously awful and my Nana is Catholic and supports Planned Parenthood. Whoo!