January 2011
22 posts
“Despite the fact that sexual harassment is shown to have a more damaging impact on victims than any other forms of school bullying, teachers are less likely to intervene in incidences of the former. Why? Well, as Jena’s teacher said to her, ‘boys will be boys’. The sexual harassment of girls is viewed as ‘normal’ behaviour for boys. And it is precisely this naturalising of the act, this insidious complacency it elicits, which has enabled sexist bullying and harassment to flourish in classrooms across the world.”
—The Equality Illusion, Kat Banyard (via petitefeministe)
“
“Today marks the 38th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that protects women’s health and reproductive freedom, and affirms a fundamental principle: that government should not intrude on private family matters.
I am committed to protecting this constitutional right. I also remain committed to policies, initiatives, and programs that help prevent unintended pregnancies, support pregnant women and mothers, encourage healthy relationships, and promote adoption.
And on this anniversary, I hope that we will recommit ourselves more broadly to ensuring that our daughters have the same rights, the same freedoms, and the same opportunities as our sons to fulfill their dreams.”
” —President Obama’s statement on Roe v. Wade (via rabbleprochoice)
damn straight.
(via deliciouslysubversive)
“
Women’s breasts, originally intended to nourish babies, are greatly fetishized by men. In a patriarchal culture, this makes them sacrosanct, so they must be covered up as something dirty. Dirty = arousing to men. (Men’s chests might be similarly arousing to women, but in a patriarchal culture, what is arousing to women is regarded as being of no real importance unless it suits male fantasy.)
Of course, as fetishized objects, boobs must also be made into ornaments (just like cars, also fetishized by men). So, they are primped and prodded, alternately bound and pumped up, displayed like prize ponies. Even if you don’t want to. (Have you tried to buy a non-wire bra recently that didn’t look like a Playtex Cross-your-heart? Good luck with that.)
When I first wrote the Subversive Scholastic essay, I got a lot of reactions from males who said, basically: You wanna take off your shirt? Hey alriiiight! Do it, babeeeeeee!
No, no and no.
If I should take off my shirt, I want you to be as lackadaisical about that as if your best male friend took off his shirt. Are you saying Hey alriiiight! to your best male friend and encouraging him to take off his shirt? Then I don’t want that either. Optimally, it would be nice if you didn’t even NOTICE.
Hey, says authoritative male voice, you can’t expect guys not to even notice, okay?
Question: Do women act like asses when men shed their tops? You know, we might be as excited about that as you are, has that ever occurred to you? But we have learned to behave ourselves. I am utterly confident that men could learn the same, if expected to.
” —Women should have a right to be shirtless (via iwillnotshavemyvagina)A conversation with my Dad at the pub yesterday had me thinking a lot about feminism. I’m a feminist, that’s for sure, and I’m proud of it. I’m also against discrimination of any kind. All humans regardless of race, gender, sexuality, age and ability should receive the same respect – it is only their actions that (for me) dictate whether that respect is maintained or diminished.
Back to the feminism, though.
Yesterday, my Dad said, in no uncertain terms, that he doesn’t agree with the ‘feminist cause’. He went as far as saying that, although he didn’t know what it was called, he was ‘anti-feminism’. He believes there is nothing left to fight for in terms of equality, and that feminists were now trying to ‘seize power from the men and turn the tables in some kind of attempt at revenge’. What? Seriously. What the fuck.
I don’t say this lightly – I say this because I have been affected directly by the male need to exert power over women. Until the day that a woman’s body is her own, until the day that influences outside of her own desire to use and treat her body how she so chooses to do so and outside of the constant and watchful eyes of society, feminism needs to exist.
Less than a century ago women were still fighting for the vote, and there is work left to be done. When women are no longer property; when chores are no longer denoted to ‘males’ or ‘females’; when childcare is no longer the preserve of women and men are no longer looked down on by male colleagues for taking an active role in childcare; when women and men receive equal pay in every industry without prejudice and with full transparency; when a woman’s body is no longer preened, pulled, restricted, scrutinised and scorned by the invisible corset of the fashion industry and in turn, herself; when women are no longer merciless at the will of a devious man wielding Rohypnol; when children’s toys cease to stoke the fire of sexism from +3months, only then shall feminists have little left to fight for.
This list is by no means exhaustive, of course. For every failed rape conviction, for every woman who earns less than her equally qualified male counterpart, and for every eating disorder fuelled by the need to appease peers, men and the fashion industry, feminism has cause to fight.
Play
Repealing Health Care Reform Could Kill 32,000 People a Year →
huffingtonpost.com
And yet this is the GOP’s first mission…
dream is destiny: Schrödinger’s Rapist: or a guy’s guide to approaching strange women without being maced →
queerdiddlebot.tumblr.com
http://kateharding.net/2009/10/08/guest-blogger-starling-schrodinger%E2%80%99s-rapist-or-a-guy%E2%80%99s-guide-to-approaching-strange-women-without-being-maced/
Gentlemen. Thank you for reading.
Let me start out by assuring you that I understand you are a good sort of…
With the phenomenal support of 107,053 people from 163 countries -- the most popular campaign ever launched on Change.org -- a tiny group of lesbian activists in South Africa just scored a major victory, taking "corrective rape" from an unspoken epidemic to a national discussion. Now we need your signature to reach 150,000 and crank up the heat on the South African government. →
change.org
Please reblog to get the word out. And please, please, please sign this. It takes two seconds to enter in your information that could save many women’s lives.
Play
