Hamid Karzai was far ahead in the vote count after last week's Afghan election -- Alive in Afghanistan (via Spencer) has reports on low turnout, violence, ballot box-stuffing and other issues.
"Culture, Cognition, and Consent: Who Perceives What, and Why, in 'Acquaintance Rape' Cases."
Skepticism about marriage is a new, hot trend? I was WAY ahead of this one...
Cecile Richards asks, "Does anyone else see the irony in the U.S. bishops wanting to define universal health care as covering everything except for what they don't support?"
On the struggles of international LGBT couples.
The number of men who have been raped in Congo has taken a sharp upturn in recent months.
Maria Gunnoe fought the coal industry -- and won.
Post Bourgie questions interpretations of Mad Men as feminist-friendly. Plus, Melissa at Women & Hollywood looks at whether the women writers on the show are actually in positions of influence.
The rise of the Muslim woman's travel memoir.
Where are all the men bloggers? (I have long wondered this myself. I am glad someone finally got up the nerve to pose the question. /sarcasm)
How do famous photos like 'Afghan Girl' shape Westerners' understanding of the East?
A domestic violence survivor is lobbying for more transparency in how public anti-violence funds are allocated.
Tami asks, "What's worse: Real Housewives of Atlanta, or race-based criticism of it?"
Anti-choicers in my hometown of Dubuque, Iowa promise a "shock and awe" campaign against the local Planned Parenthood affiliate. Because apparently the clinic is perpetuating the evil that is affordable contraception and basic reproductive health services.
Amanda on gun nuts and masculine insecurity.
Melissa at Shakesville writes, "No, I don't hate men. It would, however, be fair to say that I don't easily trust them."
Breastfeeding moms held a nurse-in at Chick-fil-A.
Lawrence, Kansas is considering a city ordinance banning gender-identity discrimination.
How Sephora bends the definition of "natural."
A woman presented herself as a man to compete in judo competitions, but was stripped of her medals when her gender was revealed. It's just been reinstated.
Tens of thousands of Malians --men and women -- turned out to protest a law granting women equal rights in marriage.
A call for counter-protesters to defend Dr. Carhart's clinic in Nebraska.
On coping with street harassment as a trans woman.
Frau Sally Benz is looking to start an online feminist book club.
The Carnival of Feminists has been revived!
Nation in Uproar as Michelle Obama Wears Shorts on Vacation.
A new study compares blood-clot risks of oral contraceptives.
Muslimah Media Watch critiques how the media has covered Lubna al-Hussein.
Rachel has a great post in which she thinks big on what "choice" (in just about any context) means for women as they navigate a patriarchal culture.
There is, apparently, a Streep Effect.
Just in time for back-to-school, Campus Pride has a LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index.
Circle de Luz works to support Latina teens through junior high and high school and help them pursue further education.
What have you all been reading/writing this week?
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I wrote a bit of a follow up on my earlier discussion of the gay allegory in True Blood. I've been annoyed at the portrayal of characters with Down Syndrome on Secret Life of the American Teenager and I wrote about the premiere of Top Chef with a bit of a Fat Acceptance gripe.
This week at Adventures of a Young Feminist:
I have looked at the virgin/whore dichotomy through relationship books.
I asked if clothes are more important than intellect when looking at how the media silences Michelle Obama's meaningful political involvement by focusing on her choices in clothing.
And I looked at how Kiera Knightly's breasts are airbrushed in ads and the societal implications that come from that.
I have a post on the difference between gaining genuine consent and overcoming lack of consent which received a revealing and hostile comment from a man who goes beyond claiming the difference doesn't matter. His comment lays out the rationalizations used by many "nice guy" rapists in the most bitter of terms.
I wrote a summary of an all day meeting on primary prevention of sexual violence in Minnesota which has already led to 4 counties in MN adopting sexual violence prevention resolutions.
On the ableism in the phrase "blinded by privilege".
On a Utah trans woman, Candice Metzler, and her struggles with employment, and attitude towards BTIALGQ individuals in Utah and Salt Lake City.
On the transmisogyny, racism, and sexism in MediaTakeOut's accusation that singer Kat DeLuna has a penis.
A recipe for avocado macaroni salad.
A guest post from Recursive Paradox on cis privilege
On Mad Men (I know, I'm getting sick of it too) race and Matt Weiner's white privilege
Kate Blatt was told to give a doctor's note and a picture of her genitals on condition of her employment with Manpower staffing services. I also included contact information for anyone who wants to tell Manpower how fucked up that is.
In 50 Books for Problematic Times, I had:
The Bone People by Keri Hulme
Blind Rage: Letters to Helen Keller, by Georgina Kleege
Take This Bread, by Sarah Miles
Drown by Junot Diaz
Scars of Sweet Paradise: the life and times of Janis Joplin, by Alice Echols
A Door Into Ocean, by Joan Slonczewski
Other People's Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom, by Lisa Delpit
Thomas Jefferson the face of a rapist: Re-examining the relationship between Jefferson and Sally Hemmings. Could a slave consent to sex?
Conan O'Brien Attack Trans Women: Looking at how comedy can be used as a cover for transmisogny.
True Blood I will Rise Up: A critical look at last weeks episode.
Racism and Power: Looking at power differentials between Whites and Blacks and how this charges the conversations that we have.
Black Female Athlete Dominates Competition-Gets Gender Identity Questioned: Looking at the role of race in the questioning of Castor's gender identity.
i got some Fuzz Therapy for you all to enjoy.
Little people = little burgers? looking at the new ad campaign for Jack in the Box.
But men aren't pretty! how challenging gendered language causes confusion among some people.
You know what's totally hot ladies?(trigger warning). this new product that romanticizes stalking! thank you twilight! /snark.
and my first post over at SexGenderBody features my sonnets to genitalia.
For the sake of your health...don't skip happy hour about the health benefits of beer for women.
Women in the Boardroom about Norway's mandated corporate diversity.
Too fast to be a girl about the gender test for South African sprinter Canter Semenya.
Choosing Security Over Environmental Justice? Not Exactly about a new law allowing a pipeline from Canadian deposits of oil sands to cross borders into the U.S.; this law will cause environmental and health effects.
Finally, Gender Across Borders is looking for EDITORS! More info click here.
Here at After cancer, now what? I've been busy.
First with Formula Tax deduction a story about a family who have been trying to receive reimbursement for baby formula, from their own FSA, because Mom is not able to breast feed.
Followed by No credit for formula but pet food okay is about a bill in Congress to make pet expenses tax deductible.
I joined other United Methodist young adults writing about our call to ordained ministry.
I also started Beauty for Ashes, a series of brief posts looking at ways that people are bringing beauty out of ugliness or life out of death. The first one links to a kick-ass re-working of that offensive PETA billboard, and the second one is about Detroit Residents doing urban farming/gardening.
Another edition of FML Fail http://mzbitca.wordpress.com/2009/08/21/fml-racist-fail/
A post on how twilight merchandise echoes the messed up relationship dynamics of the book
http://mzbitca.wordpress.com/2009/08/21/sure-theres-nothing-creepy-about-twilight/
In response to the Carhart counter-protests:
I know that most of you probably can't make it to Nebraska for the counter-protests, but at least take a moment to thank Dr. Carhart for the work that he does for women. It just takes a second, and a thank you can mean a lot to a person.
http://www.now.org/issues/abortion/carhart-thanks.html
Just One More Week to Enter to Win a Freestyle Vibrator from Babeland!
The Passionate Torah: Sex and Judaism: The essays range in tone from playfulness to fairly turgid exegesis, but the pieces are—without exception—bold, honest, and unabashed. They starkly confront the challenge of reconciling sexuality and spirituality from the perspective of those who study, worship, and identify with the Torah and the Talmudic tradition of critical analysis, while also maintaining active feminist belief and commitments to social justice that often seem to conflict with Jewish law, at least as it has been traditionally construed.
The Cheese Chronicles: A Journey through the Making and Selling of Cheese in America, from Field to Farm to Table: I detest the term foodie. My boyfriend teasingly calls me a foodie in his WASP-iest voice. It seems so pretentious, so elitist, so... stupid. I can’t deny, though, my great love and interest in all things food. I love to cook. I read recipe books like novels while curled up in bed. I could watch the Food Network all day. I can happily spend two hours in a grocery store. I look at food porn. I love to eat. I love to feed people. You get the picture.
Thirst: Park has dubbed his own film a "vampire melodrama," and there is definitely a strong classical Hollywood influence at play here. Tae-Joo is a modern update on the femme fatale of the '40s, right down to the way she convinces Sang-Hyun to murder her husband, clutching his shoulder a la Norma Desmond. And as in the best traditional noir films, it is she who steals the show and whose story we ultimately remember most. This is due in no small part to Kim, who is both classic and creative in her journey from a ghost of a young girl to a delightfully manipulative monster of a woman. To think that this young actor's career has only just begun is truly exciting.
Get Your Bitch Magazine Blog on!
NY Times 'Half The Sky' Issue, The New York Times Sunday Magazine this weekend is a "special issue" about women in the developing world. So, how'd they do?
Is CouchSurfing.org Safe for Women?, Since 2004 CouchSurfing.org has provided a way for budget travelers to connect with people across the world to take advantage of free hospitality—from a place to sleep to acting as a tour guide to simply meeting for a coffee. But do the site administrators go far enough to ensure its members aren't sexual predators?
From Page to Screen: Can Book Adaptations Bring Greater Visibility to Women Protagonists?, ...though I can’t speak for everyone, and I do occasionally loves me some gratuitous explosions, I’m fairly certain that an adaptation of Eat, Pray, Love is going to get more women in theater seats than say, G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra.
Feminists Protest PETA For a Change, On Tuesday evening, the Portland Feminist Action League stood inside (and then outside once they were kicked out) of Powell's and gave Ingrid Newkirk (and her fans) a piece of their minds.
Looking into the Toilet: Potty Politics
What do former U.S. Senator Larry Craig, women in Victorian England, and transgender activists have in common? Toilets!
The first multi-disciplinary book about potty politics to be published, Ladies and Gents: Public Toilets and Gender, explores the ways in which one of our most private public spaces is laden with cultural, social, and ideological meaning. From ablism (discrimination in favor of the able-bodied) to ethnocentric hygiene, this collection of essays encourages us to consider what toilets—their design and functionality—say about societies around the globe. I spoke with editors Olga Gershenson and Barbara Penner, who spearheaded the project, about how they came to write about the water closet, why the loo is still taboo, and what about their work struck a nerve among conservatives.
I loved this: Riches make themselves wings: they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
I also followed the big implosion over at We Are the Real Deal, and thought Rachel's blow-by-blow critique of it was spot-on, per usual: How to be Fauxgressive.
Over at Natalie Does New York, I asked some questions about the "number" and what it means.
This week on my blog:
Writing Violent, considering the uses of violence in my recent work
Writing Violent 2: William Golding, a discussion of why I don't really care for Lord of the Flies
Privilege, Experiment, and (Non)sense, a reflection on the ways privilege can appear in experimental poetry
Respecting Identity, a consideration of how normativity requires certain identities to be explained and others not to be explained
and Abuser are Not Tragic Heroes, another fail from CNN.
I'm sure I clicked a link here this morning (whether it was in the post or in the comments I can't recall) about "what high school is like today" or something like that and it took me to a young Australian woman's blog. All I can remember about it was something about her being "hairy". It looked fantastic but I had to log off quickly (damn work!) and now I can't find it anywhere!
Tell me I'm not going crazy- is anyone familiar with the blog I'm talking about? Cheers.
I enjoyed reading the article about the struggles of international LGBT couples. My partner lives in Canada and I live in England, and I had no idea until a few months ago how hard it'll be to immigrate (with me going there). I'm not clear yet what the Canadian law about LGBT sponsorship is, but neither of us are close to having near the amount of money it costs to sponsor even if Canada does allow it (they seem to?). As for a work visa, my 'dream job' - and what I'm studying for in university - doesn't fall under what Canada is looking for in people who immigrate. We've tried using the internet to research further into how I might live there. It can be confusing - one site appears to tell us that we can't live apart for more than so many months before the immigration; which makes me question how we're supposed to live together without me having legally immigrated in the first place. Same-sex marriage is not allowed in my partner's province, so that couldn't help.
It seems likely that I'll have to apply for sponsorship as a 'conjugal partner'. The process is very frightening to think about, heh (especially with the cost).
Same sex marriage is legal nationwide in Canada. It was a federal ruling in 2005.
This week I hesitantly wrote about Caster Semenya. It seemed that writing more about her was just one more person discussing her without her consent, but there were some things I wanted to say about how we discuss sex and gender.
I also talked about Pitt refusing the bequest from the shooter, and wondered if maybe they should have taken it and given it to the Women’s Studies department as a final eff you.
On a much lighter note, I also wondered if perhaps Always created the all-maxi pad swimsuit.
The gun nut article was tragically funny to me.
I stumbled across Spike's MANswers last night--there really was nothing else on and I was waiting for a download to finish--and stopped because it wasn't the usual puerile juvenile bullshit about what nation's women are most likely to be fast, but puerile adult bullshit: "What's the most powerful legal handgun you can buy?"
Cue attractive scantily clad women all but jacking off large phallic objects, then squeezing them to make them go off (and demolish watermelons, which was actually quite entertaining and successfully demonstrated the steadily increasing firepower). As they noted, the most powerful weapon, the M500, is so long "it doesn't even fit in the shot!"
On top of the previous approximately eight fucking hours of programming featuring muscular half-dressed men locked inside a cage grabbing each other and struggling for dominance while other men watched and hollered with joy, it makes you wonder if Spike can see the back of Tom Cruise's head inside the closet.
...I'm sorry, that was in bad taste. But seriously, why is it that all it takes is a slight shift in perspective to see "manly" activities and interests as, well, outlets for homosexual urges?
About questioning Mad Men feminism - I recently came across this interview with the producer/actors of Mad Men (all men, btw), and indeed it seems like feminism is not really at the forefront of the show's makers, although the producer admits that reading The Feminine Mystique influenced him in writing the script: http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/9192
I still love the show, although I am a little disappointed by this interview. I think MM does have more feminist content than most other shows on tv today, perhaps because they are honest about the society of that decade. I don't think the writers/producers/actors would do nearly as great a "feminist" job if the show were set in today's world.