What I’ve Noticed

A beautiful post on hierarchies and judgement within marginalized communities.

The Skeptic’s Book of Pooh-Pooh points out an awesome news story on the danger anti-vaxers create for children in their communities.  The anti-vaxers hypocrisy is also on display in their support of chemical castration for autistic boys.

We can’t expect toxic products to stop coming from China anytime soon.  Honesty and transparency are impossible with a government that actively represses knowledge of its own history.

Women continue to be kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and brutally murdered in Mexico.  Despite the hundreds of victims that are likely the victims of one or more serial killers, the police aren’t doing anything about it.

As the AZ legislature slashes education funding across the state, especially at the university level, the AZ Republic has a timely article about the importance of research – even if it sounds ridiculous.

Justice.”


Lindsay Beyerstein
explains that we do still need journalists and should be paying them – most bloggers provide commentary and synthesis, not reporting.

The role of partisanship in California’s economic crisis.

Something to have nightmares about: the rise of private policing in the US.

Right wing extremists kill more law enforcement officers.

Dr. Isis’s fantastic post Boys Talk About How Girls Should Talk About Science…

It’s easy to consider a civil discourse when you’ve never had your ass grabbed by a colleague, been called “young lady” in front of your peers, or been asked about your reproductive plans.  It’s easy to ask the participants to be calm, and minimize profanity, when you don’t have to keep in the back of you mind which which men to avoid at a meeting when they’ve been drinking.

Plants recognize themselves.

The representation of hetero men in conventional pornography vs. the spectrum of things hetero men actually enjoy.

FSP on “us and them.”

The next cake I’m going to bake.

Pennsylvania is starting to look like the deep south half a century ago.

Texas AND Alaska charge victims for their own rape kits.

Comments

  1. Mike says:

    Reference that post about judgments in marginalized communities, I am a fairly frequent commenter at Pandagon.

    I’ve noticed there (and in many other blogs, but that stands out the most), that if you disagree even 1% with one of the points one of the big kahunas of the site makes — or, in some cases, even if you aren’t enthusiastic enough in your agreement — that you are automatically labeled a troll.

    It’s ridiculous that “troll” has gone on to mean merely “someone who disagrees with me,” especially in communities — such as the liberal/feminist one — who need all the unity we can get.

    • sarcozona says:

      I think what you’re talking about is pretty different from internal hierarchies. I would argue that getting your own place in the pecking order of an internal hierarchy is actually something that can’t happen to someone who isn’t a member of the marginalized/oppressed group.

      I understand why disagreement so often gets labeled as trolling – you’re disagreeing on someone’s blog, which is kind of a personal and “safe” space for many minority/women bloggers (regardless of what the sites may claim about public conversation). Plus, I imagine you aren’t so good about using the “right” kind of language and tone (especially) on feminist blogs, which I’m guessing would prevent people from paying attention to the argument you’re actually making (or encourage them to disregard it).

  2. Mike says:

    I am rough around the edges. But really, I didn’t intend this conversation into something all about me.

    Was just sad to see today that Prop. 8 was upheld. The country really is going in all the wrong directions.

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