Nov 13 2008
Femmes of Power: Exploding Queer Femininities
This book looks absolutely fantastic:
“To us, femininity is neither phallic fantasy nor default, it’s beyond surface and it certainly does not passively wait to come alive through a (male) gaze. Fiercely intentional, neither objects nor objective, we have stuff to get out our chests. But speaking bittersweets truths to power takes both busty bravery and some serious padding.”
Sep 26 2008
While 1/3 of women have had an abortion by the age of 45, there’s a tremendous stigma surrounding the issue, forcing most women to go through the process without community support or advice from women who’ve chosen to have an abortion or considered an abortion and didn’t get one. I’ve been reading What to Expect When You’re Aborting, a blog by a woman deciding on, preparing for, and getting an abortion. It’s an awesome blog. She’s honest and funny. This is the cartoon she posted about her post-abortion period:
Sep 22 2008
I really enjoy gender performance and the butch/femme dynamic, but a lot of people see butch/femme as a reenactment of sexist heterosexual relationship roles. So I was excited to read Sublime Femme’s post The Feminist Fairytale about Butch/Femme. Of course, I wasn’t disappointed. It’s absolutely fantastic. I tried to excerpt it here, but ended up copying practically the whole post - so just go read it.
Sexist ideas about masulinity and femininity are leading to underdiagnosis of autism in girls.
Uganda’s ethics and integrity minister wants to ban miniskirts for traffic safety.
As Republicans claim that all criticism of Sarah Palin is sexist, Katha Pollit comes up with 12 pointed questions for the candidate, including:
You say you don’t believe global warming is man-made. Could you tell us what scientists you’ve spoken with or read who have led you to that conclusion? What do you think the 2,500 scientists of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are getting wrong?
Cindy and John McCain say you have experience in foreign affairs because Alaska is next to Russia. When did you last speak with Prime Minister Putin, and what did you talk about?
You’ve suggested that God approves of the Iraq War and the Alaska pipeline. How do you know?
Sep 13 2008
From what I observed growing up in the South, I’d say this has a lot more to do with racism than class.
Sarah Palin charged rape victims for their own rape kits. As Majikthise puts it
Do fraud victims have to pay for forensic audits? Do banks have to pay the police to watch the security video after they’ve been robbed? Of course not. There is absolutely no way in good conscience that a mayor could force victims to pay for the own rape examinations.
A great analogy to the creationist argument [via Pharyngula]
The theory of childhood, also known as child origin, is a damnable, loathsome and indefensible lie. How can any thinking person suppose all humans used to be babies once? Just consider these arguments:
There is no development path from babies to adults, no transitional forms between these two species. Show me even one baby with the head of a grown man on his body. Can you? No? Not even a bearded toddler? No adults with unfused skullbones, outside unfortunate disorders? Not even a tiny little newborn girl suddenly sprouting a respectable bosom? You can’t find them, because they don’t exist. There isn’t a single transitional form between children and adults, and you will never find one because the theory simply is an unscientific lie.
A fantastic new blog-find: LundBlog.
Warmongering
Sep 06 2008
Indexed expresses a little anger with an awesome Venn diagram.
Hollywood’s five saddest attempts at feminism. [via Feministing] Lays out how those “strong” female characters are so very disappointing.
Some Iraqi’s have no hope left:
do you know
that your tomorrow
has no tomorrow?
that your blood
is the ink
of new maps?
Unsurprising news of the day: Many women leave the church because of its “’silence’ about sexual desire and activity, and because of its hostility to single-parent families and unmarried couples.” [via A Spritely Oolong]
Sciencewomen point to an awesome statement by Michelle Obama:
I was raised to believe I could do it all, and that was very empowering. Then I got into the work force and realized there was really no support for me to do it all. … We either have to fix that or be honest about it.
An awesome video - my new crush raps about the LHC.
Aug 20 2008
From Helen Boyd’s She’s Not the Man I Married
The overwhelming pressure to conform to masculine and feminine ideals - or die trying - is constant. The obligation to conform is also somewhat invisible and harder to put your finger on. It comes out in …. the funny looks I get pushing an elevator button myself instead of waiting for the guy nearest the panel to ask me where I’m going. Or the way a man might tell a woman he doesn’t even know to smile, as if it’s a woman’s job to keep up that cheery countenance for his sake. It comes in the form of subtle reactions, jokes you hear, ideas about what men and women are. And if you start breaking the rules, you start to feel cut loose, a little adrift; you don’t know why all the jokes other people are laughing at make you uncomfortable.
Aug 14 2008
From Helen Boyd’s She’s Not the Man I Married
the first time it occurred to me that my mother wasn’t just my mom or Mrs. My Dad, but actually had a first name, astonished me. I remember feeling shocked by the realization that my mother was a person, like me, and not just someone who’d been invented or come into being as a result of my father’s need for a wife or my and my siblings’ need for a mother.
Aug 10 2008
Abortionclinicdays proposes that a special notice to patients be displayed in places where caregivers are allowed to refuse reproductive care to women if it interferes with their religious rights. It begins”I follow my own religious beliefs ahead of your medical needs. Therefore, I will not support, offer, or approve any of the following checked off below.”
Fears of skin cancer may be leading to vitamin D deficiencies. My grandmother is definitely on to something with her strategy of “everything in moderation.” Though this rule doesn’t seem to apply to chocolate.
Helen Boyd has a link to a leaked Bush administration memo that defines the pill as abortion.
The most damning political attack ad I’ve ever seen. Via The Edge of the American West.
Jul 16 2008
Why is there so much anti-American sentiment in the world?
Rove is a criminal, on vacation.
Knowing about the economy is important if you’d like to be president, McCain.
No, I’m not a big Heinlein fan.
Rich people use drugs (poor, brown people go to jail for it).
Why having the legal protection of marriage is important for queer couples.
May 30 2008
Japan accidentally gives passenger 142g of cannabis.
Flagstaff has a wool festival. When I first saw fliers for this around, I thought it was a joke…
An incredible post on the infinite workload of an academic and trying to have a life via Sciencewomen.
If you don’t think cat-calling is a problem, read this.
How not to deal with illegal immigration.
The universe might be shaped like a doughnut. Via 3QD.
Thinspiration - eating disorder art.
The best poem I’ve read in a long time.
Think sexism doesn’t exist in the mainstream media?
Women “bored by science”, but continue to do well in it.
A very bad plan to pay for a mortgage bailout program.
Eurovision has very very bad songs.
I think the giant squirrel was a bit too much. Via Acephalous.
