Dec 13 2008
China and India will follow the US on climate change policy, but countries like Mexico are leading the way.
Dr. Isis has an inspiring post up on being a woman in science. And believe me, we need some inspiring posts on the subject with so many “Daves” out there…
Remember, there are more than two genders.
Nov 23 2008
Obama is considering a drug czar who opposes needle exchange programs. Needle exchange programs are very effective HIV prevention tools and help slow the spread of of other diseases such as Hepatitis C.
Not long before the Transgender Day of Remembrance police brutally beat Duanna Johnson, a transwoman. She was found dead recently. Sublimefemme links to a powerful post about mourning by queenemily.
This is not Pride. This is remembering our dead. This is not something you can make fucking upbeat and acceptable and call “awareness.”
Grace the Spot has a useful guide for surviving and possibly even enjoying a holiday with your family.
Luxury handbag designers tell their customers not to buy counterfeit bags because they come from places that horribly exploit their workers. Well, turns out the factories of Prada, Mulberry, Louis Vuitton, Samsonite, Aspinal of London, Nicole Farhi and Luella are pretty horrific too:
Workers earn poverty wages, work long hours, and suffer from a variety of health complaints linked to poor health and safety conditions. They complain that there are not enough toilets for all the workers and those that exist are filthy. The only drinking water is from a hose on the toilet floor.
Justin tries to find the best time to drink coffee.
Leibniz, Spinoza, and Descartes’ failure.
Democrats, homophobia isn’t ok.
Princeton has their own version of Proposition 8 - and it’s just as silly as the one in California.
Sublimefemme has an awesome post up about femme invisibility, prompted by the response to Lindsay Lohan.
There seem to be two dominant schools of thought about Lindsay’s sexuality, both of which turn on the “problem” of her femininity. The first position, which I’ve written about before, is that she couldn’t really be a lesbian because, hell, just look at her! The other position is the inversion of the first. It claims that Samantha Ronson is a real lesbian (hell, just look at her!) and Lindsay wouldn’t chose a girl like that unless she was herself really queer. In this reading, it’s the butch’s supposedly irrefutable lesbian appearance that provides evidence for the femme’s queerness. However, in both cases, queer femininity is fundamentally framed not just as a contradiction in terms but as a disappearing act.
Nov 20 2008
From Jeanette Winterson’s Written on the Body
Frank had the body of a bull, an image he intensified by wearing great gold hoops through his nipples. Unfortunately, he had joined the hoops with a chain of heavy gold links. The effect should have been deeply butch but in fact in looked rather like the handle of a Chanel shopping bag.
Nov 17 2008
From Jeanette Winterson’s Written on the Body
My job was to go into the urinals wearing one of Inge’s stockings over my head. That in itself might not have attracted much attention, men’s toilets are fairly liberal places, but then I had to warn the row of guys that they were in danger of having their balls blown off unless they left at once. A typical occassion would be to find five of them, cocks in hand, staring at the brown-streaked porcelain as though it were the Holy Grail. Why do men like doing everything together? I said (quoting Inge), ‘This urinal is a symbol of patriarchy and must be destroyed.’ Then (in my own voice), ‘My girlfriend has just wired up the Semtex, would you mind finishing off?’
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 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 15 2008
Natt Nightly wrote about handwriting and gender the other day. I don’t think my gender would be identified by someone just from my handwriting (though two choices does give anyone pretty good odds). I do associate both neater and more rounded handwriting with feminine and messy or almost childish handwriting with masculine. I’m not sure why and I’m not really sure it’s valid.
So, what do you think about my handwriting?
Sep 02 2008
I know you don’t look at my blogroll, so I thought I’d point you in the direction of a few blogs I really enjoy.
If you like plants, Seeds Aside is awesome (and has a great sense of humor). If you’re addicted to shoes, Manolo’s Shoe Blog points out the best. If you’re into art, Le territoire des sens finds some great pieces. If gender turns you on, you should be reading Sugarbutch Chronicles. If you’re going to grad school, or thinking about being an ecologist, Ruminations of an Aspiring Ecologist lets you know what you’re getting yourself into.
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.
Mar 28 2008
Siberia is melting fast and so is Antarctica
Fox news: Democrats are mommies, Republicans are daddies
No frogs + no bats = serious bug problems
Dolphins give their girlfriends flowers too
Velorution (why doesn’t my school do this?)
Follow the money - which politicians get money from oil companies
