sexism

The week in racism

Tony Thompson,

“I don’t like black kids” says Fresno middle school vice-president

District spokesman Jed Chernabaeff said the comment was recorded on a student’s cellphone. The video was taken outside of the school’s cafeteria in east-central Fresno. He wasn’t sure when it was taken.

Chernabaeff said the district is investigating the incident. The parents of the student who recorded the video brought it to the attention of district officials Friday.

District officials are reviewing the 15- to 20-second YouTube video for the context in which the comment was made, among other details.

Chernabaeff said DiFilippo has been at Scandinavian Middle School,where 11% of students are black, since August 2010.

“Fresno Unified takes this matter very seriously and we will take any necessary actions pending the results,” Chernabaeff said in a statement.

* * * *

GOP politician says ‘Racism is over’, calls colleague ‘colored’

A hearing before the Assembly’s Legislative Operations and Elections Committee this afternoon turned into a festival of crazy, with plenty of lessons to be learned,” the Las Vegas Review-Journal noted.

“We’re in 2015 and we have a black president, in case anyone didn’t notice,” Fiore said at the meeting in an attempt to justify her claim that voter ID laws can’t possibly be racist.

The Review-Journal reports that “there were apparently audible gasps in one of the hearing rooms” after Fiore congratulated Democratic colleague Harvey Munford for being the first “colored man to graduate from his high school.”

“The color and the race issue,” said Fiore, “I think it’s time we put that to rest and we go forth.”

Gaaaah!!!!

The privilege! It burns!

* * * *

Yes, it’s goddamn 2015. Yes a Black man was lynched.

A body was found on property located off of Rodney Road.

The Coroner, J.W. Mallett, confirms the man was found hanging from a tree. Officials say the body was hung using bed sheets.

According to the Coroner the body has not yet been identified because the body has apparently been there so long that identification, by visual means, is nearly impossible. The body has been sent to the State Crime Lab for autopsy.

The Claiborne County branch of the NAACP is indicating the man found hanging is Otis Byrd.

The FBI is only saying that he is a “man last seen March 2nd; and his family filed a missing persons report with the Claiborne County Sheriff’s Department on March 8th.”

In a news release, the FBI say the body was found during a ground search  by the Claiborne County Sheriff’s Department and the Mississippi Wildlife Fisheries and Parks.

54-year-old Otis James Byrd was last seen when a friend dropped him off at Vicksburg’s Riverwalk Casino earlier this month.

His family and friends hadn’t heard from him since then.

The NAACP has now sent an email requesting the US Department of Justice “join the current investigation of the suspicious hanging death of Mr. Otis Byrd.”

The email goes on to say: “Mr. Otis Byrd’s body was [found] today, Thursday, March 19, 2015. After several days of missing, [he] was found hanged to death.”

Here’s a CNN report on the investigation:

Someone should send a link of this video to Rep. Fiore and ask her to explain how, if racism is over, a black man was lynched in 2015.

 * * * *

FOX guest: If you think this country needs to discuss race, then you’re the racist

“Stop identifying by your race. You’re not responsible for things that came before you, and you’re not entitled to things that came before you.”

“There’s no discussion needed on race in this country,” Hoenig insisted, before saying that “the ones who want the discussion, in my opinion, are the racists.”

Those are the words of FOX “News” panelist and author of Greed is Good: The Capitalist Pig Guide to Investing, Jonathan Hoenig, He really ought to have just said “I’m not affected by racism, and since it doesn’t affect me, it doesn’t exist. So please stop talking about all the ways People of Color are harmed by discrimination and bigotry based on their actual or perceived race.”

Meh. Perhaps that’s too wordy. Let me try again. He really ought to have just said “I’ve got mine. Fuck you.” Yeah, that works better. Especially since he’s an Ayn Rand acolyte and selfishness is at the core of libertarianism.

* * * *

Oh look, another racist (and misogynistic) fraternity!

Pi Kappa Phi has placed its North Carolina State University chapter on interim suspension pending the outcome of an investigation into the contents of a book that was found at a restaurant near campus, the fraternity announced Friday morning.

The little, green book, filled with handwritten comments, included racially and sexually charged language and derogatory comments about women and children.

Calls to NC State’s Tau Chapter of Pi Kappa Phi Thursday night went unreturned. No one answered at the fraternity’s national headquarters in Charlotte, either, but the fraternity posted on its website overnight about the interim suspension.

“The written comments and quotes reported earlier this evening are offensive and unacceptable,” Pi Kappa Phi Chief Executive Officer Mark E. Timmes said in a statement. “These statements are inconsistent with the values of Pi Kappa Phi and will not be tolerated. We have instructed our students to cooperate fully with all investigation efforts.”

An interim suspension means that the fraternity can not hold meetings or participate in philanthropic events during the investigation.

Fred Hartman, of NC State’s community relations department, issued this statement:

“NC State was made aware tonight of these disturbing allegations and immediately began investigating.”

Katie Perry, a senior, at State, told WRAL News that her co-workers found what appears to be a fraternity pledge book at a restaurant near campus.

“That’s embarrassing and scary,” she said of the book’s contents.

The comments were signed in places, and the names match up to those listed as brothers on the Pi Kappa Phi website.

“This is just a group of 60-something young men at State making jokes about raping people, raping children, raping dead women, making very overt racist comments.”

At the fraternity’s home on campus, no one answered the door Thursday night, although people could be seen inside the house.

“They were all sitting in the living room, but when they saw me they made a bee-line for the back room,” WRAL’s Ken Smith said.

A short while later, someone inside completely closed the curtains. Smith also saw several young men leaving the house and driving away.

By 9:30 p.m., the list of brothers’ names was removed from the Pi Kappa Phi website.

Excerpts from the book are disturbing.

“It will be short and painful, just like when I rape you,” one page reads.

“If she’s hot enough, she doesn’t need a pulse,” says another.

“That tree is so perfect for lynching,” reads another.

“Be kind to the whales because they’ll lead you to the dolphins,” says a fourth.

Perry hopes the discovery of the book is a wakeup call for those who wrote the comments and others on campus.

“I hope other fraternities are disgusted,” she said. “I hope that if they do have this sort of thing going on in theirs, that they’ll realize, whether they want to or not, that they should change, that they shouldn’t promote this kind of behavior.

I don’t think I’ll hold my breath on that.

The week in racism
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Saying goodbye isn’t always difficult

Tony Thompson, , , , 2 Comments

Whether its a 19-year-old heading off to college in another state, a military service member receiving an assignment overseas, or a long-time employee of a company leaving for greener pastures, saying goodbye can be difficult. For the younger sibling of that 19-year-old…for the father of that service member…for the friend of the long-time employee, for all that they may be happy for their sibling/son/friend, there is often a great degree of sadness. Sadness over being unable to go fishing with that older sibling-at least not for the foreseeable future. Sadness from the father who hates the thought of spending the holidays without one of his children. Sadness from the friend who will miss the daily talks with that long-time employee.

There are other times, however, when we say goodbye to someone and the accompanying emotion is joy, rather than sadness. Over at Addicting Info (don’t click the link yet), I just learned that a particularly odious individual may soon be making Costa Rica his home. Were it someone I cared about, someone like a sibling, or one of my [hypothetical] children, or a much-loved co-worker, I would no doubt be filled with sadness. In this case, I do not feel an ounce of sadness. I feel much joy.

Joy at the thought that USAmerican airwaves will have one less slut-shaming asshole spewing shit like this:

“A Georgetown coed told Nancy Pelosi’s hearing that the women in her law school program are having so much sex they’re going broke, so you and I should have to pay for their birth control. So what would you call that? I called it what it is. So, I’m offering a compromise today: I will buy all of the women at Georgetown University as much aspirin to put between their knees as they want. … So Miss Fluke and the rest of you feminazis, here’s the deal. If we are going to pay for your contraceptives and thus pay for you to have sex, we want something. We want you to post the videos online so we can all watch.”

One less so-called “pro-lifer” polluting the airwaves demonstrating that they really don’t care about children? Joy fills me.

“If you feed them, if you feed the children, three square meals a day during the school year, how can you expect them to feed themselves in the summer? Wanton little waifs and serfs dependent on the State. Pure and simple.”

Who wouldn’t be happy to hear less sexist bullshit like this?

“I’m a huge supporter of women. What I’m not is a supporter of liberalism. Feminism is what I oppose. Feminism has led women astray. I love the women’s movement — especially when walking behind it.”

One less science-denying nincomfuck? Yippee!

“Cholesterol has nothing to do with heart disease. Nothing wrong with saturated fats.”

I could very nearly jump for joy at the thought of one less person perpetuating Rape Culture.

“Public and private polling indicates that Ohioans, by a substantial margin, want to overturn the new law. Which means, if this is true, that people in Ohio want to rape themselves”

How could I not be filled with joy at the thought of a racist asshole departing the U.S.?

“Holocaust? Ninety million Indians? Only four million left? They all have casinos — what’s to complain about?”

Or the homophobia. I can definitely do without the homophobia (as well as the sexism).

“When a gay person turns his back on you, it is anything but an insult; it’s an invitation.”

Have you figured out the identity of the mystery man? Do you know who this racist, homophobic, sexist, misogynistic, Rape Culture enabling, faux “pro-lifer” is?  No? Here’s a hint:

Why am I saying goodbye to this bigoted, bloviating blowhard? He told us he was leaving back in 2010:

“If this [Obamacare] passes, and it’s five years from now, and all that stuff [from Obamacare] gets implemented, I’m leaving the country. I’ll go to Costa Rica.”

Well Rush? It’s been 5 years. Have you made all the necessary preparations? Have you bought your plane ticket? Is your stuff packed?

Dammit, turns out he wasn’t serious!

Now I’m sad.

A Limbaugh-less U.S. would be better for us all. For Rush, it would mean he wouldn’t have to bear the indignity of living in a country where millions of previously uninsured people now have health insurance. For the rest of us, we’d have one less hatemonger on the airwaves. Win-win! Of course if he did move, that wouldn’t be good for the citizens of Costa Rica. Perhaps a one-way trip to a deserted island would be better.

Saying goodbye isn’t always difficult

Saying goodbye isn't always difficult

Tony Thompson, , , , 2 Comments

Whether its a 19-year-old heading off to college in another state, a military service member receiving an assignment overseas, or a long-time employee of a company leaving for greener pastures, saying goodbye can be difficult. For the younger sibling of that 19-year-old…for the father of that service member…for the friend of the long-time employee, for all that they may be happy for their sibling/son/friend, there is often a great degree of sadness. Sadness over being unable to go fishing with that older sibling-at least not for the foreseeable future. Sadness from the father who hates the thought of spending the holidays without one of his children. Sadness from the friend who will miss the daily talks with that long-time employee.

There are other times, however, when we say goodbye to someone and the accompanying emotion is joy, rather than sadness. Over at Addicting Info (don’t click the link yet), I just learned that a particularly odious individual may soon be making Costa Rica his home. Were it someone I cared about, someone like a sibling, or one of my [hypothetical] children, or a much-loved co-worker, I would no doubt be filled with sadness. In this case, I do not feel an ounce of sadness. I feel much joy.

Joy at the thought that USAmerican airwaves will have one less slut-shaming asshole spewing shit like this:

“A Georgetown coed told Nancy Pelosi’s hearing that the women in her law school program are having so much sex they’re going broke, so you and I should have to pay for their birth control. So what would you call that? I called it what it is. So, I’m offering a compromise today: I will buy all of the women at Georgetown University as much aspirin to put between their knees as they want. … So Miss Fluke and the rest of you feminazis, here’s the deal. If we are going to pay for your contraceptives and thus pay for you to have sex, we want something. We want you to post the videos online so we can all watch.”

One less so-called “pro-lifer” polluting the airwaves demonstrating that they really don’t care about children? Joy fills me.

“If you feed them, if you feed the children, three square meals a day during the school year, how can you expect them to feed themselves in the summer? Wanton little waifs and serfs dependent on the State. Pure and simple.”

Who wouldn’t be happy to hear less sexist bullshit like this?

“I’m a huge supporter of women. What I’m not is a supporter of liberalism. Feminism is what I oppose. Feminism has led women astray. I love the women’s movement — especially when walking behind it.”

One less science-denying nincomfuck? Yippee!

“Cholesterol has nothing to do with heart disease. Nothing wrong with saturated fats.”

I could very nearly jump for joy at the thought of one less person perpetuating Rape Culture.

“Public and private polling indicates that Ohioans, by a substantial margin, want to overturn the new law. Which means, if this is true, that people in Ohio want to rape themselves”

How could I not be filled with joy at the thought of a racist asshole departing the U.S.?

“Holocaust? Ninety million Indians? Only four million left? They all have casinos — what’s to complain about?”

Or the homophobia. I can definitely do without the homophobia (as well as the sexism).

“When a gay person turns his back on you, it is anything but an insult; it’s an invitation.”

Have you figured out the identity of the mystery man? Do you know who this racist, homophobic, sexist, misogynistic, Rape Culture enabling, faux “pro-lifer” is?  No? Here’s a hint:

Why am I saying goodbye to this bigoted, bloviating blowhard? He told us he was leaving back in 2010:

“If this [Obamacare] passes, and it’s five years from now, and all that stuff [from Obamacare] gets implemented, I’m leaving the country. I’ll go to Costa Rica.”

Well Rush? It’s been 5 years. Have you made all the necessary preparations? Have you bought your plane ticket? Is your stuff packed?

Dammit, turns out he wasn’t serious!

Now I’m sad.

A Limbaugh-less U.S. would be better for us all. For Rush, it would mean he wouldn’t have to bear the indignity of living in a country where millions of previously uninsured people now have health insurance. For the rest of us, we’d have one less hatemonger on the airwaves. Win-win! Of course if he did move, that wouldn’t be good for the citizens of Costa Rica. Perhaps a one-way trip to a deserted island would be better.

Saying goodbye isn't always difficult

Victim-blaming double standards

Tony Thompson, , , , 1 Comment

When victims of sexual assault or rape share the story of their trauma, there are several depressingly common responses.

What were you wearing?

Why were you out alone?

Did you lead your attacker on?

Why were you drinking if you didn’t want to be assaulted?

Why were you hanging out with “those people” (c.f. people who blame women for going to frat parties and being raped)?

Those responses all blame the victim. They place some, most, or all responsibility for the sexual assault or rape on the victim, as if they had some measure of control over what happened to them. They don’t. They never do, because they aren’t the one committing the sexual assault or rape. The only person with the power to prevent a rape or sexual assault is the perpetrator. By not committing the act, no rape or sexual assault will occur. People have been the victims of sexual assault or rape no matter how much or how little they wear, no matter how much or how little they drink, in the presence (or absence) of friends or family, and in a variety of social situations (ranging from work environments to frat parties).

African-Americans and their progressive allies have received similar victim blaming responses as they continue to protest against a racist criminal justice system.

Eric Garner shouldn’t have resisted arrest.

Michael Brown should have listened to Darren Wilson and gotten off the street (or as some like to argue, “he shouldn’t have shoplifted”)

Tamir Rice’s father and mother had violent pasts.

All of these responses attempt to shift the responsibility for the deaths of the victim onto their hands. Eric Garner would still be alive if Daniel Pantaleo hadn’t placed him in a chokehold. Michael Brown would still be alive if Darren Wilson hadn’t shot and killed him.  Tamir Rice would still be alive if Timothy Loehmann hadn’t begun firing at the 12-year-old seconds after exiting the police car. Some might say that these examples are different from victim blaming the survivors of sexual assault and rape. But here’s the thing: in both cases, the victim is treated as having some degree of responsibility for what happened to them. The victims of sexual assault and rape are held responsible for their victimization. The actions of People of Color (or their family members) who have lost their lives to law enforcement officials are used as justification for their extrajudicial executions (can someone honestly tell me they think the punishment for shoplifting-for the sake of argument, I’m conceding this point-should be death…that expressing your frustration at being racially profiled by the NYPD should be cause for death by chokehold…that the actions of a 12-year-old boy’s parents somehow justifies the execution of that child?)

An article at .Mic highlights a Tweet by Stephen Dacres that perfectly sums all the above up, with an additional piece of insight:

The message gets to the heart of things. It encapsulates many of the frustrations faced by minority groups: victim blaming, a lack of institutional accountability, power imbalances. It also speaks volumes about the empathy our society is willing to grant people when they fall into the category of “white male.” When people who don’t fit into that box are the focus — even if they’re the victims — they fall by the wayside.

Brown’s death isn’t the only example of this. In the past couple of weeks Akai Gurley, 28, was shot and killed by police while walking down a dark stairwell with his girlfriend. Tamir Rice, 12, was killed by a first-year police officer in Cleveland because he had an airsoft gun in his hands. And the Rolling Stone detailed Wednesday, among other things, the failure of a university to punish an alleged gang rape of one of its own.

Go back even further and similar instances pile up. Yet there are still those out there who believe white privilege doesn’t exist, or that black Americans are pulling the race card or that a woman who is raped somehow deserved it.

And yet when incidents like Sandy Hook and the Aurora, Colorado, movie theater shooting occur, the discussions tend to revolve around mental health: Why did this happen? How can we prevent it? How did we fail these people?

That’s not to say these questions don’t have a place; we can and must continue to work harder to prevent these situations before they happen. But when we’re not asking the same things when women and people of color are concerned — and instead try to find any way possible way to place the blame on them — that’s a problem.

If there’s anything to be taken from the event of the past few weeks, it’s this: Privilege is one hell of a drug.

The horrible lesson of the realities of white male privilege? When People of Color are the victims of police brutality, they did something wrong. The victims of sexual assault and rape acted in a manner that caused them to be victimized. Both groups receive blame, derision, contempt, or character assassination. From many people, they get no empathy or compassion.

But the white male who causes violence or commits sexual assault? He can be the victimizer, and still get compassion and empathy (for another example: the Steubenville rapists, got a lot of compassion and sympathy as if they were the victims, while the actual victim got a fuckton of victim blaming).

I wonder why white men are treated differently? (That’s a rhetorical question, btw)

Victim-blaming double standards

Oh noes, the thought police are suppressing and bullying Richard Dawkins

Tony Thompson, ,

Richard Dawkins seems to think his critics are suppressing and bullying him. During a recent speaking tour in San Francisco, he gave an interview in support of his new memoir and invited a reporter to sit down with him:

Bottom line: He stands by everything he has said — including comments that one form of rape or pedophilia is “worse” than another, and that a drunken woman who is raped might be responsible for her fate.

“I don’t take back anything that I’ve said,” Dawkins said from a shady spot in the leafy backyard of one of his Bay Area supporters. “I would not say it again, however, because I am now accustomed to being misunderstood and so I will … ”

He trailed off momentarily, gazing at his hands resting on a patio table.

“I feel muzzled, and a lot of other people do as well,” he continued. “There is a climate of bullying, a climate of intransigent thought police which is highly influential in the sense that it suppresses people like me.”

Oh dear. He won’t take back anything he’s said and stands by everything he’s said (so much for his apology for Dear Muslima earlier this year), he thinks he is misunderstood, and he thinks he has been bullied and muzzled (oh and he thinks the thought police are after him).  Is that true? Let’s take a look at some of his past comments. When he made his  ‘Dear Muslima‘ comment:

Dear Muslima
Stop whining, will you. Yes, yes, I know you had your genitals mutilated with a razor blade, and … yawn … don’t tell me yet again, I know you aren’t allowed to drive a car, and you can’t leave the house without a male relative, and your husband is allowed to beat you, and you’ll be stoned to death if you commit adultery. But stop whining, will you. Think of the suffering your poor American sisters have to put up with.
Only this week I heard of one, she calls herself Skep”chick”, and do you know what happened to her? A man in a hotel elevator invited her back to his room for coffee. I am not exaggerating. He really did. He invited her back to his room for coffee. Of course she said no, and of course he didn’t lay a finger on her, but even so …
And you, Muslima, think you have misogyny to complain about! For goodness sake grow up, or at least grow a thicker skin.
Richard

he was criticized by many for minimizing the sexism and misogyny that women in the Western world face. People told him that the horrible misogyny women deal with in one part of the world doesn’t erase the misogyny other women in the world face. Those critics read  ‘Dear Muslima’ and came away thinking that was Dawkins’ way of saying “you can’t complain about sexism and misogyny unless you have it this bad”.  

When he made his comments about aborting a fetus with Down Syndrome, he was criticized by many.

“If your morality is based, as mine is, on a desire to increase the sum of happiness and reduce suffering, the decision to deliberately give birth to a Down’s baby, when you have the choice to abort it early in the pregnancy, might actually be immoral from the point of view of the child’s own welfare.”

He later said that he wasn’t trying to boss women around:

“Those who thought I was bossily telling a woman what to do rather than let her choose, of course this was absolutely not my intention and I apologise if brevity made it look that way. My true intention was, as stated at length above, simply to say what I personally would do, based upon my own assessment of the pragmatics of the case, and my own moral philosophy which in turn is based on a desire to increase happiness and reduce suffering.”

It’s clear to my eyes why people would criticize Richard Dawkins here. The words he wrote have subtext. They insinuate that if you don’t make the choice that  he, Richard Dawkins would make…if you choose to have a child diagnosed with Down’s, then you’ve made an immoral choice (either that or you don’t share in Dawkins’ morality which is essentially the same thing). He is offering his opinion of women who decide to have a Down’s child.  He is telling those women that he is better than them and that their choice is wrong. He also doesn’t seem to realize that people with Down Syndrome can and do live fulfilling lives.

When he said this:

he was criticized by many people for ranking rape and pedophilia.  They are both horrible. Both are violations of the bodily autonomy of an individual.  It serves no purpose to rank rape or pedophilia (a rapist or a pedophile may face a harsher sentence for their crimes, but that’s a courtroom assessment. It doesn’t mean that one bodily autonomy violating act is worse than another).

Looking back on some of the things he’s said, I can see quite clearly that Richard Dawkins has been the victim of the thought police…that he has been prevented from sharing his thoughts…that he has been bullied into…oh fuck this.

Richard Dawkins is not the victim of anything.  All that happened was people criticized him.  And that, I think, is one of his problems. He doesn’t like being criticized.  He can dole it out to religious leaders and lay believers. He can criticize Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, and every other religion out there but he can’t take criticism leveled at him. Especially when it comes from other atheists.  Does he really think he should be immune to criticism? Does he think himself the Atheist Pope (there is no such thing)? Does he think he can do no wrong?

If so, he’s wrong.  And people have called him out on the things he has said. People have explained why his comments are problematic. To him though, the people criticizing him (like PZ Myers and Ophelia Benson) are thought police engaging in witch hunts using online lynch mobs to suppress and bully him (I desperately want someone to shove a dictionary in his face and so he can learn what “thought police”, “witch hunts”, and “lynch mobs” actually mean, bc the way he’s using the phrases?  He hasn’t a fucking clue what they mean).  When I look at the responses Dawkins has received, none of them call for violence against him. None of them say he doesn’t have a right to think what he wants. None of them call for criminally punishing him for having these thoughts. Nope.  All that has happened is that he has been criticized. And I find it laughable that he’s complaining about being suppressed while in an interview in the midst of a speaking tour.  

Dude, you’re not being suppressed or muzzled.  You won’t shut up!  No one has kept you from talking, though many people have wished that you’d get the fuck off Twitter (not like that would stop the sexism from flowing from your lips).  I know of no one with the power to affect your speaking engagements, so you’re not being hurt there. When the media wants to talk to an atheist, your name always comes up. FFS, you have your own blog where you can share your thoughts to the world.  In what way have you been suppressed?

As for the bullying accusation, I find I can’t take that seriously when the worst that has happened to Dawkins is that he’s been criticized for saying things.  Last I checked, that’s not psychological bullying. It’s not emotional bullying.  It’s not physical bullying.  Verbal bullying? Maybe that’s what he means, but again, he has only been criticized.  If he thinks that the criticism he’s faced is the same thing as bullying…he has to explain how, and he hasn’t done that. To me, Dawkins comes off as someone who thinks his right to free speech means “the right to say what I want without criticism”.

Here’s my advice to Dawkins: stay off social media. If you don’t want your words criticized, then don’t fucking express them.  As long as you continue to publicly do so, and as long as you make the insensitive, sexist, misogynistic, Rape Culture enabling comments that you’ve become known for, you’re going to get criticism.  And rightly so.

Oh noes, the thought police are suppressing and bullying Richard Dawkins

The Great Big Pop Culture Link Round Up 11.13.14

Tony Thompson, , , , , , ,

The strangest looking pancakes I’ve ever seen. But hey, Nathan Shields sure is creative.

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 Bruce Campbell to headline Starz’s ‘Evil Dead’ tv series

Officially titled “Ash Vs. Evil Dead,” the 10-episode series will look in on Ash Williams, “stockboy, aging lothario and chainsaw-handed monster hunter who has spent the last 30 years avoiding responsibility, maturity and the terrors of the Evil Dead.” However, when a new Deadite plague is set to destroy humanity, Ash needs to get back into gear to take down the undead menace and vanquish his personal demons.

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Eminem raps about committing violence against Lana del 

Eminem dropped a new freestyle video on Vevo where he raps that he’ll punch Lana Del Rey “in the face twice, like Ray Rice.”

Yes, the rapper is talking about the Baltimore Ravens running back who was suspended after he was caught on a surveillance camera in an elevator punching his then-fiancée and now-wife Janay Rice earlier this year.

Eminem’s promoting his upcoming Shady Records compilation Shady XV with this track, which has these disturbing lyrics:

But I may fight for gay rights, especially if the dyke is more of a knockout than Janay Rice / Play nice? Bitch I’ll punch Lana Del Rey right in the face twice, like Ray Rice in broad daylight in the plain sight of the elevator surveillance / ’Til her head is banging on the railing, then celebrate with the Ravens.

Gendered and homophobic slurs, as well as talking about committing violence against women?  Fuck you Eminem!

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I found a really cool site called DC Women of Color. It’s a tumblr dedicated to Women of Color in DC Comics (whether it’s print, animation, or live-action).  I recommend visiting it (I’m going through the archives at the moment and there’s a lot of cool stuff as well as commentary from the blogger).

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You will believe a dog can fly hover

My Modern Metropolis has some humorous photos by German photographer Julia Christe.  The images are of various kinds of dogs as they leap in the air.  Have a look-see:

The Great Big Pop Culture Link Round Up 11.13.14

Feminist Link Round Up 11.8.14

Tony Thompson, , , , , , 8 Comments

MIT releases results of survey on sexual assault

One in six female undergraduates at Massachusetts Institute of Technology who responded to a survey has been sexually assaulted, but fewer than 5 percent reported a sex crime, MIT said.

Five percent of female undergraduates said they had been raped and one in five knew a perpetrator of unwanted sexual behavior, according to the MIT poll, which had a response rate of 35 percent from undergraduate and graduate students.

“Sexual assault violates our core MIT values. It has no place here,” MIT President Rafael Reif wrote in a campus email Monday accompanying the survey results.

MIT, which urged all its students to take the survey on attitudes towards sexual assault, is one of the first U.S. schools to release wide-ranging data on sex crimes on campus.

Lawmakers, activists and students across the United States have been urging a crackdown on sexual assaults on campuses.

MIT emailed the survey to all of its 10,831 undergraduate and graduate students on April 27 – two days before the White House called on colleges and universities to ask students about these matters.

* * * *

Joss Whedon is widely known as a feminist (though not one without problems). From his creation, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, to his support for Anita Sarkeesian, he has made his voice heard in feminist discussions. In a recent interview, he spoke up again, this time sharing his thoughts on why so many people are so angry about feminism.  It’s because something is actually happening:

You know, it’s one of those things that’s always surprising. I was raised by a very strong woman, I didn’t know feminism was actually a thing until I left home and found out the country didn’t run the way my mom’s house did. So I have this goldfish, idiot, forgetful thing in that every time I’m confronted with true misogyny, I’m stunned. I’m like, Really? That’s like, I don’t believe in airplanes. It’s like, What century are you from? I don’t get it. So usually I’m shocked, then occasionally amused, then occasionally extremely not amused, but once I get over the shock, it’s very clear that misogyny in our own culture — and not just where they perform genital mutilation and marry off 10-year-olds — runs so deep. When I see this hate bubbling up towards any kind of progress, my reaction is twofold: First, it’s horror, and then, it’s delight, because you don’t get this kind of anger unless real change is actually happening. It is a chaotic time. It’s an ugly time because change is happening. It would be lovely to be living after the change has happened.

Is change happening?  If so, is that change for the good? I don’t have an answer for either, though I hope Whedon is correct.  As a member of the atheist community, I’ve seen (and taken part in) discussions of women’s rights in the atheist movement. I’ve watched people argue against harassment policies. I’ve watched people argue against the movement being more welcoming to women. I’ve also seen the issue of feminism brought up in the comic book community, which I’ve also taken part in. I’ve read rant after rant of fanboys complain about people advocating for better representation of women in comics. I’ve listened to sexist twerps whine about how men are just as sexually objectified as women in comics (the male power fantasy is not sexual objectification; nevermind that comics have traditionally been aimed at boys and men–do these people not stop to realize that their examples of male sexual objectification-if true-would be aimed at them? Have they forgotten that a great many of them are heterosexual? Think, you fools). I’ve heard about sexism and misogyny in the gaming community (seriously, who hasn’t heard of GamerGate at this point), and the pushback against simple things like improving the treatment of women in video games (which wouldn’t fundamentally change the games, but would make them more welcoming to women, which means increasing the $$, unless legions of misogynistic fuckwits seriously plan on no longer purchasing video games unless female characters are sexualized). I’ve read about feminist issues in the science fiction/fantasy community. I’ve read about feminism in a wide variety of communities, and perhaps that’s a good thing.  This is getting talked about. Women are making their voices heard.  More and more men are speaking up in support of women and making their voices heard too.  It hasn’t been pleasant, don’t get me wrong. But perhaps Whedon is correct.  Maybe all this harassment, misogyny, rape/death threats…maybe it’s a sign that change is in the works. I hope so. I’m tired of women being run out of atheism, chased out of the video game community, or made to feel unwelcome at comic book conventions. Women should be able to participate in society to whatever extent they choose without street harassment, sexual harassment, or the threat of sexual assault or physical harm.

* * * *

 Mitt Romney:  ‘War on Women’? What ‘War on Women’?

47% of Americans pay no income taxes and are dependent on the federal government.

The middle class income is $200-$250K/year.

50% of kids coming out of school can’t get a job.

All those assertions (and more) have been made by Mitt Romney, and all of them are wrong. We can add something new to the list of claims made by Mitt Romney that are wrong:

“This rhetoric about the war on women or the war on one thing or another, I think people are saying, “You know, this just doesn’t carry water anymore.”

Birth Control.

Abortion Rights.

Violence Against Women Act.

The War on Women does indeed hold water. It is an ongoing attempt by the Republican Party to restrict the rights and opportunities of women in the United States. As with other statements made by Mitt Romney, this comment indicates he lacks an understanding of what he’s talking about. It’s especially egregious that a man with his money could be this smugnorant (portmanteau of ‘smug’ and ‘ignorant’).

* * * *

Saudi Arabia may relax ban on women drivers

The Saudi king’s advisory council — whose suggestions are not binding — has recommended that the government lift its ban on female drivers, a member of the council told The Associated Press Friday. Local media subsequently quoted an official denying the report.

There have been years of campaigning against the kingdom’s staunch rejection of any review of the ban. Though they are not obligatory on the government, simply making the recommendation would be a major step after years of the kingdom staunchly rejecting any review of the ban.

There have been small but increasingly bold protests by women who took to their cars over the past year. The driving ban, which is unique in the world, is imposed because the kingdom’s ultraconservative Muslim clerics say “licentiousness” will spread if women drive.

The council member said the Shura Council made the recommendations in a secret, closed session held in the past month. The member spoke on condition of anonymity because the recommendations had not been made public.

After the AP story first appeared, Shura Council spokesman Mohammed al-Muhanna told Al-Riyadh newspaper that reports about “the approval of the council of women driving” are not true.

There was no mention of the recommendation on the Saudi Press Agency, the kingdom’s official state news agency. Al-Muhanna could not be reached directly, and other officials declined to comment publicly.

Under the recommendations outlined by the council member speaking to AP, only women over 30 would be allowed to drive and they would need permission from a male relative — usually a husband or father, but lacking those, a brother or son. They would be allowed to drive from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday through Wednesday and noon to 8 p.m. on Thursday and Friday. It wasn’t immediately clear why the restrictions would be different Thursday and Friday, as the Saudi weekend was changed by royal decree in 2013 to Friday and Saturday.

Similar provisions have been floated as far back as 2008 as conditions for allowing women to eventually drive. It seems that the recommendations last month were building off the earlier studies, now with the additional contributions from women members in the council, appointed by the king last year.

The conditions also require that a woman driver wear conservative dress and no make-up, the official said. Within cities, they can drive without a male relative in the car, but outside of cities, a male is required to be present.

The notion that women should need “permission” to drive, or that they can’t wear whatever the hell they want, or wear make-up is so fucking oppressive and misogynistic.

* * * *

Stop Asking Why the Women Accusing Jian Ghomeshi Didn’t Go to the Cops

We have to face the possibility that in this world, the only one we’ve got, a woman who says she was attacked by a powerful man can’t necessarily expect justice and protection if she goes running to the law. That if she tells, her home address and telephone number will probably be splashed across the Internet where demented ragey misogynists will use them to terrorize her. That she’s not crazy to worry her relationships with her parents, her partners, her friends and colleagues will be forever altered if they hear about it, because lots of people just aren’t emotionally equipped to deal with a loved one going through something like this.

“So why didn’t I do anything?” says Reva Seth, the latest woman to come forward with a story about being attacked by Ghomeshi. “This is the part that I think is so important to understand if we are ever going to change the context in which rape culture and violence against women is perpetuated. I didn’t do anything because it didn’t seem like there was anything to do…And even if I had wanted to do something, as a lawyer, I’m well aware that the scenario was just a “he said/she said” situation. I was aware that I, as a woman who had had a drink or two, shared a joint, had gone to his house willingly and had a sexual past, would be eviscerated. Cultural frameworks on this are powerful.”

So either these nine women are all irresponsible dummies—doesn’t sound like it—or they did what tons of people in their shoes would do. They didn’t tell, because telling can be more painful than not telling. This is depressing, confusing, and awkward, but it’s also what happened.

Those refusing to understand why victims of sexual assault or rape choose not to inform the authorities may think the world is just and fair. That if they really were victimized it would be a simple thing to go to the cops, who would believe them, and arrest the rapist. Then the rapist would be brought up on charges and be convicted of a crime and go to jail.  Sadly, that’s often not how reality works.  The world isn’t fair. It isn’t just. The Just World Fallacy is exactly that.  A fallacy.

Feminist Link Round Up 11.8.14

Steve Santagati mansplains catcalling

Tony Thompson, ,

You’ve heard of the catcalling video* “10 hours of walking in NYC as a woman” featuring actress Shoshana B. Roberts** and produced by Hollaback right?  If not, here:

The video highlights the problem of street harassment which women face daily. Street harassment is defined as:

Street harassment is any action or comment between strangers in public places that is disrespectful, unwelcome, threatening and/or harassing and is motivated by gender or sexual orientation or gender expression.

Just trying to go about their daily lives-walking, riding a bicycle, jogging, driving-women are inundated with men encroaching on their space and demanding their attention. They offer up unsolicited, disrespectful opinions about women, commenting on everything from their clothing and hair, to their smile and breasts. You can see this on display multiple times in the video (which showcases 100 incidents of street harassment in one day). Street harassment both lowers the comfort level of women in public and limits their access to public spaces. Stopstreetharassment.org took a survey of 811 women in 2008. Here are some of the results:

Behavior that could be categorized as staying “on guard” was the most common. At least monthly women:

Constantly assess their surroundings – 80% (62% said always)

Avoid making eye contact – 69% (32% said they always do this)

Purposely wear clothes to attract less attention – 37% (10% always)

Talk or pretend to talk on a cell phone – 42% (10% always)

Next, behavior that limits access to public spaces was most common. At least monthly women:

Cross street/take other route – 50% (16% said always)

Avoid being out at night/after dark – 45% (11% always)

Avoid being out alone – 40% (8% always)

Pay to exercise at a gym instead of outside – 24% (11% always)

Most alarming was how street harassment prompted some women to make a significant life decision:

Moved neighborhoods (at least once) because of harassers in the area – 19%

Changed jobs (at least once) because of harassers along the commute – 9%

(Read SSH Founder’s Forbes.com article about why employers should care about street harassment and what they can do about it)

From anecdotes and women’s stories, it’s clear that street harassment also impacts women’s:

Hobbies and career choices;

Decision to go to evening networking events, night classes, political forums, and go on business trips;

Ability to go to restaurants or movie theaters alone;

Finances when women “choose” to pay for taxis rather than walk or take public transportation, drive their car short distances, pay to exercise at a gym rather than outside,  pay for a more expensive hotel in a city center while traveling, pay for room service rather than go out to eat when on a business trip;

Ability to go places without a male escort who often can help keep harassers at bay by showing a woman is “owned” or “spoken for”;

Desire to be nice to strangers because they never know which one will turn into a harasser.

Individually, any one of these strategies and restrictions may not seem like a big deal. Collectively, however, the long list of ways women tend to change their lives is extensive.

Here’s the thing though: women shouldn’t have to change anything. They should be able to go about their daily lives without being harassed. Without receiving derogatory comments about their genitals. Without being threatened. Without people telling them they need to smile more (really, if a woman wants to smile, she’ll smile; if she doesn’t want to, she won’t; contrary to what many men seem to think, women do not exist for their pleasure, and are not required to smile on command).  Men are the ones who need to alter their behavior.  They need to stop bossing women around. They need to stop expecting women to be open to their advances. They need to stop critiquing women’s bodies. And they need to stop thinking of street harassment as compliments.

Steve Santagati (author of The MANual: A True Bad Boy Explains How Men Think, Date, and Mate) is one of many men who don’t think what women experience is street harassment. He thinks the comments of men on the street are nothing more than compliments that “every woman” wants.  David Ferguson of Raw Story reports on CNN Newsroom’s recent discussion hosted by Fredricka Whitfield featuring Santagati and stand-up comedian Amanda Seales:

“Women are expected, from the minute we leave the house, to be smiling and available for whatever men want to say to us,” said Seales. “And don’t get me wrong, ‘Hello’ is fine.”

“Oh, come on,” said Santagati.

“I see you shaking your head,” Seales said to him, “but you are not an expert in this because you are not a woman walking in the street, so you don’t know.”

“No, no,” Santagati protested. “I’m more of an expert than you and I’ll tell you why. Cos I’m a guy and I know how we think, more than you guys will ever know. I can’t get in a woman’s head any more than just like, uh, thinking about it.”

“The bottom line is this, ladies,” he went on, “you would not care if all these guys were hot. They would be bolstering your self-esteem, bolstering your ego. There is nothing more that a woman loves to hear than how pretty she is.”

Whitfield and Seales wore almost identically bewildered, dubious expressions as Santagati continued, “Now, this particular video speaks for itself. These guys obviously don’t have a lot of class, but I’m also very suspicious. This video was put together by an ad agency to go viral. How do we know some of those guys weren’t planted?”

Santagati is not the expert he thinks he is. He has no clue what the problem is. It’s not the attractiveness of the men. It has nothing to do with the class of the men. It has everything to do with what they’re saying.  The men in that video harassed Roberts. Period. She did not welcome their comments. She did not want their comments. Some of them clearly ignored the fact that she wasn’t responding, and in so doing became creepy harassing assholes (seriously, that one guy follows her for 5 fucking minutes).  Why can’t she walk along the street without people commenting? Why can’t people keep their comments to themselves? Why do they think they have to share their thoughts with her? Why should she be expected to smile and say ‘thank you’ if she doesn’t feel like it? The men were sending a message:  you’re in our space, so follow our rules. Fuck that noise.

But Santagati doesn’t get any of that. All he sees are the “wrong type of men” and women who really just want to be complimented. How did he reach this conclusion? He doesn’t explain, but for a guy who wrote a book about what men think, how they date, and how they mate, it’s no stretch to think he’s got some biases and prejudices about women rumbling around his brain (did I mention his comment was sexist).

Women are not a monolith. It’s not cool to characterize all women as wanting the same thing. They don’t all respond to the same things in the same way. They don’t all love to hear how beautiful they are. They don’t all love to hear ego-boosts from guys. And even those women that like both may only like them in the proper context, such as a dinner date or during sex. But on the street? When they’re walking to work or school? When they’re exercising or jogging in a park? That’s not the time. It’s not the place. And it’s harassment.  Santagati would know that if he would actually listen to what women say (starting with the two women who were on the show with him). But noooo, he’s too busy mansplaining to women what street harassment really is. Trust me buddy, this is a good time to STFU and listen.

*although the video does point out a real, and problematic, phenomenon, it is not without problems. It has been criticized for presenting (perhaps unintentionally) street harassment as something only black and latino men of a particular socio-economic background engage in.  Santagati’s comments even reflect this. He thinks the men-black and brown men, remember-were the wrong kind of men. In his mind, Roberts would have been grateful if she were approached by the “right kind of man” i.e. a white guy with money.  You can read criticisms of the video here, here, and here.

**Roberts has received threats of violence in the wake of this video.  ::Sigh:: And people think feminism isn’t needed any longer.

Steve Santagati mansplains catcalling

Feminist Link Round Up 10.26.14

Tony Thompson,

Women Break Through On TV & B.O., But Glass Ceiling Remains

Lauren Zalaznick, former topper at NBCUniversal as well as cable nets Bravo and Oxygen, noted that the most powerful show runner going right now isShonda Rhimes. “There is some movement that may be systemic or it may be cyclical, and we don’t know,” she said, noting also the unparalleled presence of shows with strong female characters who are 45-plus.

The picture in TV is brighter than in film. “I very much feel that there’s an institutional resistance to female storytelling,” said producer Lydia Dean Pilcher (The Sisterhood of Night, The Talented Mr. Ripley).

“Who can tell stories? Anyone who has a compelling story that will drive box office,” said Stacy Smith, director of the Media, Diversity & Social Change Initiative at USC’s Annenberg School.

Smith pointed to results of a study she’d conducted about the prevalence (or lack thereof) of female producers and directors across the top 100 films in Hollywood. In 2013, for instance, 1.9 percent of the top 100 films in Hollywood had a female director, down from 2.7 percent in 2007.

So what are the persistent barriers? What you might expect, the panelists suggested, from long-standing attitudes that men are better at handling “the money” to a sort of Stockholm Syndrome among women in the business who remain vastly outnumbered by men.

The gates will come down, several panelists said, not by political outreach but simply by the sheer number of female-driven stories, on TV and film, that produce undeniable business.

Um, how are the barriers going to come down if women are outnumbered in the business?  I think outreach is necessary to give women the chance to produce more stories on tv and film.

* * * *

Women make up almost half of all gamers

For years, Gamescom—one of the world’s biggest annual trade exhibitions for digital gamers—has been a man’s world.

But games developers now are increasingly targeting a growing community of female gamers, as a way of boosting an industry expected to generate sales of $100 billion this year.

“We see a big and fast increase in female players, over all genres,” said Fredrik Rundqvist, a games producer at Ubisoft SA UBI.FR -0.80% ‘s Massive Entertainment studio.

Ubisoft has good reason to take notice. The company ran into controversy earlier this year when it scrapped the option to play as a female character in its coming Assassin’s Creed Unity game—an action game set in Paris during the French Revolution—slated for release this fall.

That decision—the company said including women characters would take too much production work—caused a backlash in the game world, another sign that women gamers could no longer be ignored. Ubisoft, however, has introduced a female character—albeit a nonplaying one—a Templar warrior called Elise, into the game, and has told media that its future titles will feature more diverse lead characters, without giving specific examples.

The timing seems to be right.

Female gamers made up about 48% of the game-playing public in the U.S. this year, according to a report recently published by the Entertainment Software Association, a U.S. game industry trade group.

That is up sharply from 40% in 2010. What is more, women over 18-years-old now represent a significantly larger portion of the U.S. game-playing population than boys under 18, a demographic that has traditionally been seen as a core target group for game companies. The ESA based its findings on a study of 2,200 U.S. households.

The article goes on to point out that there has been a surge in mobile gaming, which has contributed to more women playing games.  Unlike gamers though (who love to claim that those who play games on their phones or tablets aren’t “true gamers”, which is a version of the No True Scotsman fallacy), the article is not distinguishing between people who play games on consoles like Xbox360 or PS4 from those who play non video games. The article includes all games, which is as it should be, bc “gaming” encompasses more than just playing games on a console. It also includes gaming online, on mobile devices, or board games. Gamers don’t like this of course, but they don’t get to decide for others if they’re a gamer or not. So they can take their shit and shove it.

* * * *

 Gene Simmons thinks women should stop relying on men

 

Tantaros prompts the advice by bringing up a section of Gene Simmons book— Me, Inc.: Build an Army of One, Unleash Your Inner Rock God, Win in Life and Business—in which he tells women to put off having families until they establish a way to make money for themselves, because they can’t do both.

Men have to make a living, but women have the option of becoming a housewife—which only works, he says, until the man runs away. At that point, he graciously explains, “you have to balance your budget” and “you have to spend less than the amount of money that comes in.” (Unfortunately, Gene does not explain what the words “budget” and “money” mean, so I zoned out.) He continues:

“This is a very complex and difficult question to answer so I’m going to put it as simply as possible. Women: Stop depending on men. It’s as simple as that. Imagine there are no men in life. Find out that thing that you’re good for that makes the money and then get married and or have children from a position of strength.”

What a patronizing answer. Here’s a hint Gene, millions of women already knew this and are doing that very thing. Of course, institutionalized sexism presents obstacles that prevent women from attaining their goals. That’s m’ first problem.

Another problem I have is with the idea that women should find a job that pays money and then start a family. The opinion operates under the assumption that this should be a woman’s goal. I disagree. Some women want to get married and have kids. Others do not. There is no correct path for a woman to take. A woman’s life is her own. If she doesn’t want to get married or have kids. that is her choice.  As a society, we need to stop pressuring women to get married and have kids.  Women are in charge of their lives and they can make the decisions they feel are best for themselves without outside interference.

* * * *

Law enforcement officials violate privacy of women they’ve arrested

In yet another example of men acting as if they’re entitled to women’s bodies, a California Highway Patrol Officer is in hot water after admitting to stealing nude and semi-nude photos from the phones of women he’s arrested over the years.  Worse, he shared the images with fellow law enforcement officers.

CHP Officer Sean Harrington, 35, of Martinez, also confessed to stealing explicit photos from the cellphone of a second Contra Costa County DUI suspect in August and forwarding those images to at least two CHP colleagues. The five-year CHP veteran called it a “game” among officers, according to an Oct. 14 search warrant affidavit.

Harrington told investigators he had done the same thing to female arrestees a “half dozen times in the last several years,” according to the court records, which included leering text messages between Harrington and his Dublin CHP colleague, Officer Robert Hazelwood.

Contra Costa County prosecutors are investigating and say the conduct of the officers — none of whom has been charged so far — could compromise any criminal cases in which they are witnesses. CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow said in a statement that his agency too has “active and open investigations” and cited a similar case several years ago in Los Angeles involving a pair of officers.

“The allegations anger and disgust me,” Farrow said. “We expect the highest levels of integrity and moral strength from everyone in the California Highway Patrol, and there is no place in our organization for such behavior.”

You know what? I see comments of this nature on articles about police abuses of power on a regular basis. Law Enforcement officials will express anger or disgust with the actions of police officers when they do shit like this. My question is, what steps are being taken to prevent cops from doing stuff like this? There are innumerable examples of police officers across the country abusing their power. What is being done about this? Are departments undergoing sensitivity training classes? Ethics classes?  Racism classes?  Or is this a case of “deal with the problem after it happens, rather than try to prevent problems in the first place”?

Rick Madsen, the Danville attorney for the 23-year-old San Ramon woman who was the first to report Harrington, said the implications of the case are “far-reaching and very damaging.”

“The callousness and depravity with which these officers communicated about my client is dehumanizing, horribly offensive and degrading to all women,” he said. “It’s going to lead to another level of mistrust and skepticism to the motive of law enforcement in general.”

Law enforcement agencies across the country, if they were interested in doing their job effectively, would see incidents like this as a sign that their agencies need to be overhauled. These problems are not unique to an agency here and there. As with the wider culture, sexism, homophobia, and racism are prevalent in the law enforcement world. It’s made worse given that they have a level of power that regular citizens do not have. Which means when they abuse that power and act in an unacceptable manner, the damage done is far greater than if the same thing were done by the average citizen.

As this newspaper first reported earlier this week, the investigation began with a single incident: Harrington’s conduct during the Aug. 29 arrest of the San Ramon woman. The woman discovered that photos had been stolen from her phone five days after her release, when she noticed on her iPad that the photos had been sent to an unknown number. A record of the messages had been deleted from her iPhone, but the phone had been synced to the iPad.

In his investigation, Holcombe compared video surveillance and time-stamped text messages from the woman’s phone and determined Harrington was in possession of the woman’s phone at the moment the photos were forwarded. The woman — who registered a blood-alcohol level of 0.29 percent, more than three times the legal limit — was being processed in the Martinez County Jail when the photos were stolen, according to court records.

During questioning, Harrington admitted to stealing five photographs from the woman and said he forwarded at least one to Hazelwood, according to court records.

Reached by phone by this newspaper on Friday, Hazelwood declined to comment. Messages to the other two officers were not returned.

“Harrington said he first learned of this scheme when he was working in the Los Angeles office,” Holcombe wrote in the affidavit. “Harrington said when he was assigned to the Dublin office, he learned from other officers that they would access the cell phones of female arrestees and look for nude photographs of them. Harrington said if photographs were located, the officers would then text the photographs to other sworn members of the office, and, to non-CHP individuals. Harrington described this scheme as a game.”

A game.

Violating the privacy of women is a game to this pissant.  Faith in humanity -1000.

* * * *

I can’t believe it’s 2014 and people are still being hung

A 26-year-old Iranian woman convicted of murdering a man she accused of trying to rape her as a teenager was hanged on Saturday, the official news agency IRNA said, despite international pleas for her life to be spared.

Reyhaneh Jabbari walked to the gallows at dawn on Saturday in Tehran’s Evin prison after failing to secure a reprieve from the murder victim’s relatives within the 10-day deadline set by sharia law in force since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The death sentence sparked U.S. and European Union condemnation and the government of President Hassan Rouhani, who won election last year on promises of liberal reform at home and easing Iran’s isolation abroad, to intervene to get it commuted.

Justice Minister Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi said in early October that a “good ending” was in sight, but official media reported later that the slain man’s family could not be persuaded to approve leniency for Jabbari.

Jabbari was sentenced to death in accordance with Koranic “qisas”, or eye for an eye, law after being found guilty of stabbing dead an older man with a kitchen knife in 2007.

This is retributive justice and it violates the right to life that all human persons possess. No higher purpose was served in killing Jabbari. Her attempted rapist isn’t brought back to life.  All that’s left are two devastated families, rather than one. How in the world does this make the world, or even just Iran, a better place?

I despise ‘eye for an eye’ “justice”. It focuses on payback, or revenge for actual or perceived crimes. It also violates the human rights we all possess.  It’s a barbaric form of “justice” yet people keep embracing it. Perhaps it’s because punitive justice is preferred to rehabilitative justice, but it’s a shame no matter the reason. Another reason for my opposition to retributive justice:  there are enough people in the world suffering and dying and such barbarism only contributes to more of the same. I want to live a life with minimal amounts of suffering and anguish and I want the same for everyone else, so I oppose things like retributive justice and capital punishment. Part of the efforts of social justice activists is to make the world a better place. Part of that is reducing violence. There’s also the problem of governments killing their own citizens. That stands at odds with the function of government, which is (in part) to protect its citizenry, not to kill them.  I long for the day when retributive justice is consigned to the dustbins of history.

Feminist Link Round Up 10.26.14