Invade a Hospital, GOOD
Invade a Hospital, GOOD
— 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?
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.
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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)
Moral dilemmas re: eggs.
I spent a good 7 minutes deciding which kind of organic brown eggs I wanted - the cage-free or the...
Best. Description of Twitter. Ever.
Vanity wins.
by Stuart.Bassil via noupe