Rape Culture, Purity Culture and Where Virtue Sits
I haven’t had the stomach to write about the horrific Indian gang rape that left a woman dead, but this NYT op/ed by Sohaila Abdulali is worth a read. My favorite part:
...read moreWoman dies after being refused medically necessary abortion
“This is a Catholic country” was what Irish doctors told Savita Halappanavar after she learned she was miscarrying her pregnancy and asked for an abortion to avoid further complications. She spent three days in agonizing pain, eventually shaking, vomiting and passing out. She again asked for an abortion and was refused, because the fetus still had a heartbeat.
Then she died.
...read moreAmerican Horror Story and the Evils of the Sexual Woman
In terms of the female characters on American Horror Story there are quite a few problematic elements. There is the issue of violence and rape, but one that often gets overlooked is the treatment of sex. It is impossible to have a discussion about sex and American Horror Story without examining the character of Moira.
...read moreStop calling Sandy a bitch
I have finally escaped the wilds of northern California and am now back in New York, where I thankfully have electricity but no internet. Good thoughts are with Feministe readers and loved ones who may be less lucky. I did manage to squat at a friend’s house to write my Guardian column, which is about what it means that we anthropomorphize a hurricane into a slutty, bitchy woman:
...read moreSandy was a real bitch.
She was a whore who screwed cities across the eastern seaboard. She can blow real good, but we’re glad she’s gone. She’s sorting the men from the boys. She’s the most important woman in the swing states.
Conservatives ask themselves, fight cancer or fight sex?
And they choose sex every time. My latest in the Guardian:
...read moreExposing Internet Creeps
Adrian Chen is fucking awesome. And I have very little sympathy for cries about “privacy” from people who make it their primary hobby to violate the privacy of others. Sorry, but the internet is not, in fact, 100% anonymous. Just because you are online doesn’t mean you’re not interacting in the world. And “free speech” does not actually mean “the freedom to say whatever I want, no matter how awful, with zero pushback.” Content note on that link and the rest of this post: Violence, misogyny, sexual assault, racism, and just about anything else foul you can think of.
...read moreShorter Daniel Fincke: “TONE.”
Daniel Fincke asks: “Do marginalized people need to be insulting in order to be empowered”?
Caperton replies: Have you tried asking a marginalized person?
...read morePat Robertson on wife beating
Hey remember how Mitt Romney appeared alongside Pat Robertson this weekend to talk about God and Christian values and stuff? Now Robertson is encouraging men to beat their wives, so that’s cool. Very cool guy to hang out with and rely upon for moral guidance.
...read moreWhy Breastfeeding Is A Feminist Issue
What’s going so wrong with the breastfeeding and formula-feeding conversation? Start with the rampant individualism. Conversations about how you feed your baby tend to be preoccupied with women’s choices and decisions.. and then, blame. You know the conversation has little feminist value when you end up at a point where some poor, exhausted woman is [...]
...read moreThe Problem With Purity
Better feminists than I have written entire books on this topic (see The Purity Myth: How America’s Obsession with Virginity Is Hurting Young Women
Finally, open misogyny is cool (again)!
Ten years ago the opposition used to speak in coded language about how their attacks on women’s sexual equality were about “protecting women” from themselves, promoting “a culture of life” – because everyone knows that without guidance from wise, misogynist politicians, women just aren’t smart enough to make personal decisions about their own sexuality. Today the opposition has dispensed with its dog whistles entirely, and taken to openly smearing women who dare to exercise control over their health and reproductive rights as sluts and threats to the moral foundation of America. (They’ve also said pretty rude things about the LGBT community, but… one thing at a time.)
...read more
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