Invade a Hospital, GOOD
Stuff that I like. Stuff that I don't like. Stuff that makes me laugh. Stuff that (sometimes) makes me cry. Stuff I think is important. Stuff that makes me think. Stuff that helps me stop thinking so darn much. And more stuff.
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This blog is also on Facebook now!
I am also on Twitter.
And Facebook.
And Flickr.
This blog is also on Facebook now!
February 9, 2010
"Of course, the political blogosphere is pugnacious. It’s ugly, and it’s relentless, and it’s full of spiteful misogynists, rampant rape-apologists, slut-shamers, and bitter men in lonely bedrooms across the world whose idea of a great night in is to shame, decry and otherwise tear apart the very personhood of remote, virtual women who they’re never likely to meet. Nearly every female blogger I know has at some point spoken to me, half-amused, about her ‘stalkers’, and the strange and cruel things they’ve emailed to say they want to do to them. There is a reason that women bloggers moderate their comments, a reason why the majority of female World of Warcraft players choose male avatars, a a reason why we often feel unsafe in spaces where, as liberals or as conservatives or music fans or uploaders of inane vlogs about our cats, we should not have to expect hostility. But when that hostility occurs, as it has for women since the internet began, most of us are big enough and tough enough to handle it, and handle it we do, quietly, exhaustively, relentlessly, fending off the misogynist attacks that any woman with ambitions to raise her voice above a whisper learns to handle. I have been called a cunt, a cow, a whore, a stupid little girl, I’ve been told that I deserve to be raped and beaten, I’ve been told I need to be taken in hand by a man who will fill me up with the babies that are the only thing my body and brain are good for, and I’m still here, I’m still writing, arguing and debating, and they haven’t managed to shut me up yet."
— Women, political blogging and the future of the left (via azspot)
“Feminists must not be the ones to define virginity because they misapprehend womanhood entirely. The definition must be placed beyond their manipulation. Virginity is becoming a commodity because feminism has divorced women from their roles as wives and mothers. Girls have been taught to place a low premium on virginity because they have been deceived into placing a low premium on marriage. Virginity is becoming a commodity because feminists underestimate men. There are men who will offer women something far more respectful and permanent than $31,900 for loving them enough to wait. In a culture where the thought of two people waiting until marriage to consummate their love is ridiculed and deemed nearly impossible, there is no room for error in how we value virginity.”
-Network of enlightened Women: Virginity Sold at a Price
Emphasis mine.
From a free online dictionary:
virgin - (n.) 1. A person who has not experienced sexual intercourse.
I think that’s a pretty good definition. “Virginity” is the state of being a virgin.
Someone should let these nutjobs know that virginity has been a commodity for thousands of years. The only difference here is that it’s a woman profiting from that commodity rather than her parents or her husband. And this girl’s education is more important than her presumed future husband’s bragging rights if she “saves herself” for him.
Personally, I think that going scuba diving for the first time is more significant (and probably more exciting and more immediately pleasurable) than having sex for the first time. Sex is really a very ordinary thing, even at its best. Why such a fuss over that first, when there are so many other equally or more important firsts in life?
February 8, 2010
Op-Ed Contributor - Sucking the Quileute Dry - NYTimes.com
Scarcely mentioned, however, is the effect that “Twilight” has had on the tiny Quileute Nation, situated on a postage stamp of a reservation, just one square mile, in remote La Push, Wash.
To millions of “Twilight” fans, the Quileute are Indians whose (fictional) ancient treaty transforms young males of the tribe into vampire-fighting wolves. To the nearly 700 remaining Quileute Indians, “Twilight” is the reason they are suddenly drawing extraordinary attention from the outside — while they themselves remain largely excluded from the vampire series’ vast commercial empire.
Just last month, MSN.com issued an apology to the Quileute for intruding on its territory while videotaping a “Twilight” virtual tour in September. MSN.com sought permission from the Chamber of Commerce in nearby Forks, Wash., but didn’t pay the same courtesy to the Quileute. The video team trespassed onto a reservation cemetery and taped Quileute graves, including those of esteemed tribal leaders. These images were then set to macabre music and, in November, posted on MSN.com. The tribe quickly persuaded MSN.com to remove the Quileute images. The Quileute’s Web site tells visitors about the tribal laws that govern Quileute territory. One of these laws specifies that burial grounds and religious ceremonies are “sacred and not to be entered.” Had MSN acknowledged the tribe as a sovereign government, it might not have broken that rule. The Quileute believe that respect for Indian tribal sovereignty could likewise bridge cultural gaps between other Indian communities and outsiders.
Yet the tribe has received no payment for this commercial activity. Meanwhile, half of Quileute families still live in poverty. It’s important to point out that the outside uses of the Quileute name, from the “Twilight” books to the tattoo jewelry, are quite likely legal. American intellectual property laws, except in very specific circumstances, do not protect indigenous peoples’ collective cultural property.
Undoubtedly, the Quileute, whose remote reservation leaves them with few options for economic development, would also welcome “Twilight”-based profit-sharing arrangements or other opportunities to capitalize on the phenomenon. They struggle to maintain adequate tribal housing and to support their tribal school, Elder Center and tribal court, all of which are integral to ensuring that their culture continues for future generations.
Because I’m not a Twilight nut, or particularly interested in it other than as something to mock and/or shake my head at, I did not know that the Native Americans in the book were actually a real people group. I thought, naively perhaps, that the author had simply made up a likely-sounding name for a fictional tribe—which seems reasonable to me as a way to avoid any possible insult or unsolicited/unwanted attention to the actual people who are members of the real group.
This is insane. So… tons of people get to make a ridiculous amount of money off the Twilight concept (garbage that it is) while the actual group of people whose name Stephanie Meyers appropriated for her work has about a 50% poverty rate.
Amazing.
We Love xkcd (via olganunes)
The sound on this is terrible, but it’s full of awesome.
"Let me tell you something, man-to-man. The fact that you or I haven’t beat a woman? That counts for nothing. The fact that you and I have even been so good as to nice to a woman when it wasn’t strictly called for? That’s not enough to qualify you (or me, or anyone) as a non-arsehole. You know why? Because women get that stuff for free. It’s a matter of course. It’s not something that requires a special effort and a pat on the back for us, every time we do it. “You know what, I have been on the road dozens of times, and I never once deliberately tail-ended someone, and even when someone else blew their horn when they got cut off, I totally agreed with a nod and sympathetic look”. The whole problem that feminism looks at is that the experience of being a woman just isn’t judged as being important or noteworthy. But hey, us guys, look at us, right? We’re nice to people for no reason! Doesn’t that make us great!
Here’s the dirty secret: nice, polite, friendly, politically progressive guys like you and me can reinforce and perpetuate sexism, in fact we often do. So let’s stop pretending that we have some sort of free pass because of our inherent niceness and instead when a woman says “you are behaving in a way that supports sexism” respect her perspective. Because your perspective on sexism? My perspective on feminism? Feminists don’t have to respect it. That’s not how it works because, uhh, we’re not women. So talking about how important it is that feminists “respect” our ‘oh, but as a really nice man I think sexism is bad’ perspective is just bullshit."
Here’s the dirty secret: nice, polite, friendly, politically progressive guys like you and me can reinforce and perpetuate sexism, in fact we often do. So let’s stop pretending that we have some sort of free pass because of our inherent niceness and instead when a woman says “you are behaving in a way that supports sexism” respect her perspective. Because your perspective on sexism? My perspective on feminism? Feminists don’t have to respect it. That’s not how it works because, uhh, we’re not women. So talking about how important it is that feminists “respect” our ‘oh, but as a really nice man I think sexism is bad’ perspective is just bullshit."
—
Just so you know, this kind of brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for getting it. Thank you for speaking up.
(via robot-heart-politics) (via vindyc)
(via lemdi)
(via katoleary)
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