Here’s the bag I’ve been working on since December (one I’ve had to restart 3 times due to snafus–I am a beginning beginner in this arena). The first time, I took "knitting on the round" to a whole new dimension, and managed

If this is the best and brightest the Dems have to offer, we are all in a heap of trouble.

Do they seriously think we’ll just melt away with embarassment if they call us names or use naughty words? I can’t believe these guys. Seriously, I thought this kind of thing was history in the 80′s. It’s 20 years later and they still don’t get why abortion matters?

We have been coddling these boy-children for to damn long. It’s time for them to grow up and face the realities of women’s lives. It ain’t all whipped cream and fake breasts fellas.

“Oh men are sexist. No shit. Deal with it and stop acting like you’re owed something because mommy and daddy kissed your ass and your professors, when not trying to fuck you, catered to your nonsense.”

Gosh, why on earth would women be feeling like we were only of use to some prominent male progressives, and we were only “real” liberals when we shut the fuck up and work on what we’re TOLD are important issues? The minute we step out of line, some of them, guys I kind of figured were on my side, are spouting off about “menstruating she-devils” and sanctimonious feminazis looking for sexism under every rock, and how anything we’ve accomplished in the real world that makes us feel qualified to disagree with any man’s take on things, well we only accomplished that because having tits to exploit gave us an easy ride through university.

Note: I’m not saying all male liberals were saying this, but enough of them, guys I might have previously considered to be nice guys who “got it”, that yeah, I feel a little fucking betrayed. But in fact, it’s illegitimate for me to feel that way, some man will let me know how I should react, and what issues are important to me as a woman, and if I step out of line, that man will immediately stoop to personal sexual attacks to get me to shut up and stuff envelopes for liberal fundraisers while he and the other men get on with sorting out the issues.

Call me naive, but I didn’t expect to have to deal with that stuff from the guys who say they’re on my side! Anyway, I finally (after quite a long period of simmering quietly, and not wanting to post a response to Steve because while my original comments had been polite, I wasn’t sure I could STAY polite given what he’d just assumed about me) posted a response. I managed to stay on-topic, reasonable, and I think fairly polite, but still call him on it. Well, that was, um, twenty hours ago, and thus far his silence has been deafening. Maybe a big important man like him is too busy to check the comments thread on his own blog or something.

I have to say that this whole experience has been a huge eye-opener for me. It seems like there’s a subset of liberal, progressive men who are very much against sexism and in favour of women’s rights, as long as they and not women are allowed to define sexism and women’s rights. Challenge their perceptions, and boy, watch how fast things change. Incredibly heartened, though, that there were women (and a few men) in that thread challenging Steve and his friends’ narrow worldview. And I guess better to find out that the guys on your side have big old feet of clay beforehand.

Yep. So pervasive that it is generally considered “normal,” and lots of people think defending it is merely “common sense” or having a “sense of humor.”

Mad Kane now has an audioblog, which means you can listen to read her entries and hear her sing the lyrics to her humorous political songs. She writes that an American Idol she’s not, but I think she’d pose a…

gilliard’s reaction? wow. i–i can’t even articulate what i’m thinking. hostility, ignorance and no editing – all in one package.

Right on, Lauren.

I don’t think the word “sexist” makes liberal guys quite as crazy as the word “racist” makes white people. But sometimes it comes close. Case in point: Some readers (mostly female,

The G8 nations have forgiven $40 billion worth of debt from countries too poor to even make their interest payments, earning them plenty of fulsome praise. George Monbiot explains why the terms are extortionist, and Naomi Klein gives a case…