Yesterday was International Women’s Day (formerly International Working Women’s Day). Celebrated since the early 1900’s the day was created to observe the social, political, economic, and cultural achievements of women bc the bulk of human history has given short shrift to the achievements of women. Women have seen their ideas dismissed. Their skills, demeaned. Their hard work, stolen. On top of that, for too long, men’s achievements were seen as the only works of value. Even now, in 2016, that is still a problem. Hence this day of observation. It’s a day late, but here are 5 women whose accomplishments and skills are worth knowing:
feminism
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“If I can’t have you, then…”
Dear readers-close your eyes for a moment. I want you to imagine yourself as someone different. Imagine for a second (ok, a little longer than a second), that you are a 24-year-old man. A 24-year-old heterosexual man. A 24-year-old heterosexual man named Colin Kingston who works at GNC and aspires to be a businessman. You (well, you-as-Colin) have been dating a young woman (Kelsey Annese) for the last three years. Recently however, Kelsey broke up with you. Now, after three years, you-Colin Kingston-have obviously invested a lot in this relationship, so this breakup is devastating to you. You feel lost. You don’t know what to do. You need options. What options do you have?
- learn to crochet
- drown your sorrows in alcohol (since you won’t be drinking responsibly, get a buddy or call a cab)
- go skydiving
- take off work for a weekend, buy a gallon of ice cream and chocolate and binge eat while watching the favorite rom-coms you and your ex used to watch together
- cry yourself to sleep for a week listening to Celine Dion’s ‘My heart will go on’
- join a gym
- delete her phone number, lose her address, and throw away all pictures of the two of you
- buy an 8-ball and spend the weekend cleaning your house
- tell your co-workers that they can take the week off and that you’ll work the next 66 hours by yourself, figuring that if you throw yourself into work, you can take your mind off her
- take a vacation
- go to Vegas
- climb a mountain
- run for public office (unless your idol is Donald Trump or Ted Cruz or, really, any of the Republican shitheads vying for the nomination)
- decide to move on and hit the club with your buddies
Now, this is the point where you can open your eyes (although I guess you wouldn’t have been able to read all of the above with your eyes closed). Why? Because while YOU, dear reader, might have chosen any of the above (or something else completely), the real Colin Kingston did not make any of those choices. No, the real Colin Kingston decided to be a murderous shithead.
Monday’s Maddening Meme 1.10.16
Ok, there’s no reason to spend a lot of time on this ridiculous meme, bc as with most of the shit tumbling forth from the “men’s rights activists” at AVfM, this isn’t based in reality. Here’s quick rundown of just what is wrong with the image:
Outraged conservatives have a new target
- The Affordable Care Act
- immigrants
- queer people
- Common Core
- Happy Holidays
- multiculturalism
- black people
- President Obama
- atheists
- liberals
- feminists
- “entitlement culture”
- “PC” culture
- anti-discrimination laws
- contraception
- mainstream media
- environmental regulations
- people who fail to demonstrate proper obedience to authority figures
- Communists
- Marxists
- Socialists
- gun control
- evidence-based sex ed
- Planned Parenthood
- (who needs a free space with all the shit conservatives get pissy over) minimum wage increases
Unfortunately, I’m out of room on my bingo card, and there’s a brand-spanking new addition to the list of subjects that conservatives blow their tops over: Joss Whedon.
How will disoriented parents in the UK cope?
I don’t remember the exact age when I first walked into a Toys R Us. I think I was older than 8 and younger than 15 (really narrows it down, huh). I vaguely recall thinking it was so cool. All the toys, stuffed animals, games and more. It was like heaven for kids (except here, you could see the toys and touch them to know they actually existed). My first few times going, my interests were straight up Transformers. Not those knock off GoBots. I wanted the ‘robots in disguise’. I’d walk up and down the aisles of the boys section at Toys R Us looking for them. And when I finally did, I never wanted to leave. I wanted to sit there on the floor and play with them all (for some reason the store frowned upon opening the boxes and having an Autobot/Decepticon war in the middle of the aisle). I remember having several Transformers as a kid: Metroplex, the Combaticons, Hot Rod, Springer, the Constructicons, Blue Streak, Scorponok, several of the triple changers (can’t remember their names), Astrotrain, one or two of the Headmasters toys. Man, what fun. Ah, the memories. The days of cool toys for boys. But now it looks like those days may be numbered, as Toys R Us-in a bid to combat gender stereotypes-has ::gasp:: dropped gender filters from its UK website!!!
Continue reading “How will disoriented parents in the UK cope?”
Dear men, a PSA
There is no "perfect rape victim"
CONTENT NOTE: SEXUAL ASSAULT AND RAPE
Ah, victim blaming. One of the most ubiquitous manifestations of Rape Culture. Whether its blaming rape victims for their sexual assault due to their clothing, level of sobriety, flirtatiousness, or the company they keep, victim blaming can take on many forms. It is horrible because rape occurs regardless of how much or how little clothing a victim wears, their level of sobriety, how much they flirt, or who they choose to associate with. This is because the only person who can decide whether or not a rape will happen is a rapist. Victims have no control over the actions of a rapist. On its own, blaming a rape victim for their assault is horrible enough because it shifts the blame for the sexual assault from the rapist to the victim. Some rape victims have to endure victim blaming on top of another level of social humiliation: slut-shaming.
There is no “perfect rape victim”
CONTENT NOTE: SEXUAL ASSAULT AND RAPE
Ah, victim blaming. One of the most ubiquitous manifestations of Rape Culture. Whether its blaming rape victims for their sexual assault due to their clothing, level of sobriety, flirtatiousness, or the company they keep, victim blaming can take on many forms. It is horrible because rape occurs regardless of how much or how little clothing a victim wears, their level of sobriety, how much they flirt, or who they choose to associate with. This is because the only person who can decide whether or not a rape will happen is a rapist. Victims have no control over the actions of a rapist. On its own, blaming a rape victim for their assault is horrible enough because it shifts the blame for the sexual assault from the rapist to the victim. Some rape victims have to endure victim blaming on top of another level of social humiliation: slut-shaming.
Identifying ambivalent sexism
Reporter to female politician: “How do you juggle your work with being a mother?”
“Girls need to dress appropriately in school, so boys won’t be distracted.”
“A woman shouldn’t be POTUS because of her hormones.”
“It is in a woman’s nature to be a nurturing mother figure.”
“Women shouldn’t be on the front lines in the military.”
“Women are so much more emotional than men.”
“Teaching is a woman’s profession.”
“Pink is for girls, blue is for boys.”
“Stop crying like a little girl!”
“You punch like a girl!”
When someone is raped, who is responsible?
Content Note: discussion of rape and sexual assault
If you’re a feminist or a socially progressive individual who has spent any time reading comment threads following articles on rape or sexual assault, you can predict with a high degree of certainty that any such article will have someone (several of them, in fact) who will comment about how a rape victim (usually-though not always-a girl or woman) should have dressed differently or drank less alcohol or not been in a bad part of town. Many times a commenter will try to soften such a remark with a disclaimer like “I’m not trying to blame the victim here, but…”. Other times, a true asshole will come along and skip the disclaimer and put all the responsibility of the rape on the woman, leaving the perpetrator (usually-though not always-a man) free of most, if not all, the blame…as if the woman somehow made the perpetrator have non-consensual sex with her. No, it doesn’t make sense, but then rape apologetics only seem to make sense to those who either deliberately or unintentionally misunderstand what constitutes rape. If you’re someone who doesn’t get it, let me help you-RAPE IS NON-CONSENSUAL SEX. That should clear up any difficulties in the future (and if you think consent is difficult, consider what you need from someone to make use of something that does not belong to you-permission). For those who still don’t understand, well I don’t have much patience left for such fools, so here’s a chart that should be easy to understand for such individuals:
Continue reading “When someone is raped, who is responsible?”