when you tell “ironically” sexist or racist jokes, sexists & racists will think you’re one of them. Keep making assholes feel okay with themselves, you’re Fighting The Good Fight buddy
But my rant is actually not quite about that stuff at all. It’s about history, and this notion that History Is Authentically Sexist. Yes, it is. Sure it is. We all know that. But what do you mean when you say “history?”
History is not a long series of centuries in which men did all the interesting/important things and women stayed home and twiddled their thumbs in between pushing out babies, making soup and dying in childbirth.
History is actually a long series of centuries of men writing down what they thought was important and interesting, and FORGETTING TO WRITE ABOUT WOMEN. It’s also a long series of centuries of women’s work and women’s writing being actively denigrated by men. Writings were destroyed, contributions were downplayed, and women were actively oppressed against, absolutely.
“
| — |
tansyrr.com» Historically Authentic Sexism in Fantasy. Let’s Unpack That. / A great post from Tansy Rayner Roberts; read the whole thing, share it. (via gwendabond) Yes, exactly! (via malindalo) |
Twenty-three years ago today, December 6, 1989, Marc Lépine murdered fourteen women and wounded ten women. He entered École Polytechnique de Montréal with a Ruger Mini-14 and a hunting knife for the purpose of “fighting feminism” by murdering the female engineering students there. He began his violence in a classroom where first he ordered the students to separate into men and women. He asked the female students in French if they knew why he had singled them out. One student answered no, and Lépine explained, “I am fighting feminism.” Nathalie Provost attempted to defuse the situation: “Look, we are just women studying engineering, not necessarily feminists ready to march on the streets to shout we are against men, just students intent on leading a normal life.” Lépine replied, “You’re women, you’re going to be engineers. You’re all a bunch of feminists. I hate feminists.” He opened fire and killed six women. Lépine continued through the school, committing more murders and assaults (gun and knife). Finally he killed himself. Contained in his suicide note was a hit list of nineteen more Quebec women whom he considered feminist figures.
On December 6, we remember the women whom Marc Lépine killed:
Geneviève Bergeron (born 1968), civil engineering student
Hélène Colgan (born 1966), mechanical engineering student
Nathalie Croteau (born 1966), mechanical engineering student
Barbara Daigneault (born 1967), mechanical engineering student
Anne-Marie Edward (born 1968), chemical engineering student
Maud Haviernick (born 1960), materials engineering student
Maryse Laganière (born 1964), budget clerk in the École Polytechnique’s finance department
Maryse Leclair (born 1966), materials engineering student
Anne-Marie Lemay (born 1967), mechanical engineering student
Sonia Pelletier (born 1961), mechanical engineering student
Michèle Richard (born 1968), materials engineering student
Annie St-Arneault (born 1966), mechanical engineering student
Annie Turcotte (born 1969), materials engineering student
Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz (born 1958), nursing studentand the women who lived who suffered from his violence.
In response to the École Polytechnique massacre, Canada designated December 6 National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. On this day we also remember all violence against women: we call attention to partner abuse and violence against women which is especially overlooked, like the violence so many Aboriginal women face.
- Aboriginal women are almost three times more likely than non-Aboriginal women to report being the victim of a violent crime, including spousal violence.
- In 2009, close to two-thirds of Aboriginal female victims were aged 15 to 34. This age group accounted for just under half of the total female Aboriginal population over age 15 living in the 10 provinces.
- Among victims of spousal violence, six in 10 Aboriginal women reported being injured in the five years preceding the survey; the proportion was four in 10 among non-Aboriginal women.
- Over three-quarters of non-spousal incidents of violence against Aboriginal women are not reported to police.
National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women
But let’s talk about how African American women die from breast cancer more than any other women,
And how our survivor status isn’t as celebrated in popular culture.
How every time we see some Susan G. Komen stuff, it’s white women, white women, white women, but Black women are the ones dying.
I DARE one of you snarkobots to let your mouth get jazzy about this woman or this hair.
Dare you.You know that Komen shit is indeed shit right? But yes this, this all the way.
That “Komen shit” is actually incredibly problematic, and they spend more money on their salaries and pink merchandising than on actually finding a cure. Couple that with the “no more money to Planned Parenthood” nonsense of earlier this year, and Komen is one of the worst and most corrupt breast cancer foundations, well, ever. Here are some alternatives:
- The Breast Cancer Research Foundation
- Living Beyond Breast Cancer
- The National Breast Cancer Foundation
There’s no organization that is so necessary that it can be excused of racism and corruption, especially not a right-leaning organization that spends less than 20% of its funds on actual research.
Follow up post re: MRAs and Family Law/Parenting
I left a big point out in my previous post, mostly because I was blogging from work ( shhh! don’t tell. ).
When MRAs starting talking about father’s rights, family law reform, etc. I want you to pay special attention to the things they say. You will notice a theme.
The theme is: controlling women. MRAs don’t really want improved parental rights. What they want is another way to control and victimize women. I have seen these discussions over and over again.
Every time some bro whines because “What if I want to be a dad and she wants an abortion? I should be able to have a say!” What this translates to is, “I don’t care what she wants. I don’t care about her body, health, or life. I care about being able to force my wants on her.”
Then there are those that will say, “Well, I’ll take her to court if she won’t let me X, Y, Z when it comes to my kid!” What this translates to is, “I can’t be a mature adult and suggest we try to settle this dispute amicably. Instead, I will threaten her with expensive legal action that will take time away from her job and life.”
All of this talk about how it’s so unfair that a woman ( sorry that this is ciscentric. Not only women can have children. ) can decide to abort or that a woman is receiving child support payments. All of it is really buttfrustrated sexist, misogynistic little assholes upset over the fact that they can’t control a woman’s choices. So they use threats, emotional blackmail, unnecessary legal action, and other means to desperately try and control these women who DARE to try have some control over their own lives and the lives of their children.
Rarely do I see MRAs talking about the kids in these situations. It’s ALWAYS about how unfair things are for men and what horrible, trickster, lying bitches women are.
That’s how you can tell that MRAs don’t really care about this shit. Because they don’t even address the real issue: Being a parent means making the best decision for your child, even if it’s something that you don’t want to do. And threatening to use your children to hurt the other parent is always shitty and always the sign of someone who doesn’t really give a shit about their children’s quality of life.
The report focuses on a phenomenon called stereotype threat:
Steele and his colleagues found that when women were reminded — even subtly — of the stereotype that men were better than women at math, the performance of women in math tests measurably declined. Since the reduction in performance came about because women were threatened by the stereotype, the psychologists called the phenomenon “stereotype threat.”
Stereotype threat isn’t limited to women or ethnic minorities, Steele wrote elsewhere. “Everyone experiences stereotype threat. We are all members of some group about which negative stereotypes exist, from white males and Methodists to women and the elderly. And in a situation where one of those stereotypes applies — a man talking to women about pay equity, for example, or an aging faculty member trying to remember a number sequence in the middle of a lecture — we know that we may be judged by it.”
Over the years, experiments have shown that stereotype threat affects performance in a wide variety of domains.
Also, one of my favorite bits (because it will be so useful when this inevitably comes up in the future):
“The sampling technique has revealed flaws in common stereotypes. Take the one about how women like to talk much more than men. When Mehl actually measured how many words men and women speak each day, he found there was practically no difference — both men and women speak around 17,000 words a day, give or take a few hundred.”
But of course stereotypes are harmless, racism/sexism/ableism/etc are over, and everyone needs to stop being so darn sensitive!!!! :) :) :) :) :) :)
Our attitude towards sexism and racism is kind of like abstinence-only education. In America we like to pretend that if we don’t talk about it and pretend it isn’t a problem, it isn’t actually happening. So we don’t talk about sexism or racism with our kids, or teach them about how society works. And we hope that will make it go away.
The difference is that there are a lot of people who support sex education and are against abstinence-only education. If enough people were also against color blindness, maybe then things would start changing…
“
| — |
- Racebending.com media liaison Mike Le, chatting about representation, sexism, and racism, at ComicCon with watermeloncholy. (It’s not a perfect metaphor, but it’s kind of interesting how people who support sex ed are accused of contributing to unprotected sex, and how, likewise, people who support color awareness—instead of color blindness—are accused of contributing to racism.) |
What if all women were bigger and stronger than you? And thought they were smarter? What if women were the ones who started wars? What if too many of your friends had been raped by women wielding giant dildos and no K-Y Jelly? What if the state trooper who pulled you over on the New Jersey Turnpike was a woman and carried a gun? What if the ability to menstruate was the prerequisite for most high-paying jobs? What if your attractiveness to women depended on the size of your penis? What if every time women saw you they’d hoot and make jerking motions with their hands? What if women were always making jokes about how ugly penises are and how bad sperm tastes? What if you had to explain what’s wrong with your car to big sweaty women with greasy hands who stared at your crotch in a garage where you are surrounded by posters of naked men with hard-ons? What if men’s magazines featured cover photos of 14-year-old boys with socks tucked into the front of their jeans and articles like: “How to tell if your wife is unfaithful” or “What your doctor won’t tell you about your prostate” or “The truth about impotence”? What if the doctor who examined your prostate was a woman and called you “Honey”? What if you had to inhale your boss’ stale cigar breath as she insisted that sleeping with her was part of the job? What if you couldn’t get away because the company dress code required you wear shoes designed to keep you from running? And what if after all that women still wanted you to love them?
“
| — | For the Men Who Still Don’t Get It, Carol Diehl. (via ashemo) |
Shevil fempire contributors/inspirations/friends appeared on Al Jazeera English earlier this week! Rebecca Watson and David Futrelle discuss online misogyny.
TRIGGER WARNING for discussion of recent threads regarding rape on reddit.
This is the woman behind “Feminist (Hey Girl) Ryan Gosling,” the meme that refuses to die. She’s Black, and has faced questions about sharing her perspectives on feminism in this way. From the article:
You’re a black woman, spreading the message of feminism through the face of a white male. Is that weird?
Doing it from this point of view was intentional. I mean, if I was just picking actors I was attracted to, it would have been Feminist Idris Elba. But part of the fun for me was replicating this trope from a younger white guy who’s not identified as a feminist, coming from the voice of a black feminist. In the beginning, a lot of people didn’t get that that was part of the joke. I got a lot of emails saying, “You’re talking about feminism and women of color through the lens of this white guy — and that’s really fucked up.” Nobody knew where I was coming from.
Hey Girl, Equality is Sexy: The Badass Woman Behind ‘Feminist Ryan Gosling’ on Her New Book —Jessica Bennett
File under “Shit That Rocks Hard.”
AskMen has done it again!
“They question our judgment. They question our expertise. They question our intelligence. They question our taste. It drives us absolutely crazy. In our quest to carve a better life, all we want is an impression of obedience and submission to our masculine dominance.”
Those silly FEMALES questioning things! It’s almost like they have minds of their own! It’s almost like they are autonomous human beings with wills, desires, and personalities! Can’t have that
And I think we deserve it if we earn it. You have to earn it. Otherwise you give real men who know how to control their women with a soft hand and sharp mind a bad name. So here’s what you doYes of course you deserve it, you deserve everything, you’re a MAN! There should be no question that you deserve a submissive fucktoy!
And here’s the real kicker…
“Be a real man and apply the advice in this article in order to manipulate the mind of your woman and gain control in your relationship. Remember; manipulation is neither cruel nor wrong if you love her. It is wise.”
Because as everyone knows, the way to raise up strong boys and men is to insist that their worth as men and their masculinity rest upon controlling women. And as we all know, domestic abuse is not cruel as long as you love her.
“control their women”
EAT SHIT EAT SHIT
UGH THIS FUCKING BULLSHIT MAKES ME SO ANGRY I CANNOT
Guys on Reddit are very typically coming from STEM fields - a lot of engineers, a lot of programmers. I really think the complete lack of basic understanding of social justice on Reddit, the lack of understanding of how past oppression continues to exert force on the present, is reflective of a larger failure of a good humanities education. It’s reflective of the increasing early specialization we require of college and even high school kids. Their STEM curriculums don’t require much of a humanities or social science foundation, so they grow up completely unarmed with the tools required to think critically about society, and totally unaware of how social structures shape everyone’s lives - and it’s especially invisible to them as mostly white, middle-class, straight males.
“
| — |
“Why is Reddit so Anti-Women?” Fascinating (and highly sensical) approach here, underscoring what gets lost when education (policy) is viewed as strictly the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields (the globally profitable/innovation-driven ones) at the expense of social/cultural education. (via marathonpacks) Yup. (via gaysagainstgaga) AND reinforcing the overall White maleness of STEM fields. Vicious cycle, that. (via 14kgoldnyc) |
A woman’s worst nightmare? That’s pretty easy. Novelist Margaret Atwood writes that when she asked a male friend why men feel threatened by women, he answered, “They are afraid women will laugh at them.” When she asked a group of women why they feel threatened by men, they said, “We’re afraid of being killed.
“
| — |
http://www.pbs.org/kued/nosafeplace/articles/nightmare.html (via alullaby) That sums it up (via erikawithac) This reminds me of a discussion we had in school, and one girl was talking about living in fear of her safety because she is a girl, and this guy chimed in and was all “It’s hard for guys too! I’m so awkward around girls! It’s embarrassing!” Yeah, not the same thing, exactly? (via tulletulle) (via kittencoaster) This reminds me of an article about online (heterosexual) dating that I read a while ago. It listed men’s and women’s worst fears about meeting someone from online. The highest ranked fear that men had was that their date would be fat, whereas the highest ranked fear that women had was that their date would turn out to be violent and kill them. I think that says a lot. (via kaitg) This is a pretty classic privilege dynamic I think, and one that we as a society tend to downplay in order to give the privileged even more volume.
This is really just a perfect X, Y statement to sum up the most basic tenet of privilege: if you are privileged, the majority of the time you don’t fear for your basic survival. (via stfusexists) Facts. Always reblog. (via offthetable) |
“As soon as teenage girls start to profess love for something, everyone else becomes totally dismissive of it. Teenage girls are open season for the cruelest bullying that our society can dream up. Everyone’s vicious to them. They’re vicious to each other. Hell, they’re even vicious to themselves. It’s terrible.
“So if teenage girls have something that they love, isn’t that a good thing? Isn’t it better for them to find some words they believe in, words like the ‘fire-proof and fearless’ lyrics that Jacqui wrote? Isn’t it better for them to put those words on their arm in a tattoo than for them to cut gashes in that same skin? Shouldn’t we be grateful when teenage girls love our work? Shouldn’t that be a fucking honor?
“It’s used as the cheapest, easiest test of crap, isn’t it? If teenage girls love a movie, a book, a band, then it’s immediately classified as mediocre shit. Well, I’m not going to stand for that. Someone needs to treat them like they’re precious, and if nobody else is ready to step up, I guess it’s up to us to put them on the path to recognizing that about themselves.”
“
| — |
a character from The Devil’s Mixtape. (via valjeans) Every now and then, something comes along on your dash that opens your eyes and makes you question assumptions you didn’t even realize you were making. This former teenage girl fell in love with Rush, RPGs, Russian literature, ancient history, sci fi flicks, and Led Zeppelin. I’d say she had pretty good taste. So why have I always defaulted to marginalizing or dismissing the tastes of other teenage girls? Why have I always counted the large teenage female presence in fandom as a black mark against it, or at least something that needs to be explained or surmounted for older fans to participate or engage? Why have I assumed that teenage girls as a whole are incapable of critical analysis or meaningful engagement with the same media that I enjoy, when it was the critical analysis and meaningful engagement of a teenage girl that got me into much of the same media I enjoy now? Wow. Talk about not even recognizing the patriarchy at work. (via sabrea) seriously, this just made me feel like a fucking asshole, which is always a sign that i’ve learned something important. (via methodistcoloringbook) Emphasis added. |
