The Terrible Bargain We Have Regretfully Struck. [Trigger warning.]
My Own Political Struggle with Transgenderism. [the image above is a pro-transgender feminist symbol from here, and I have added that networking site, anarkismo.net, to my important webpages to me list on the right side of this blog] [Revised on 27 August 2009, adding bits about John and Julian Lennon, and clarifying a few point.]
There was another post made here a couple of weeks or so ago that a good friend noted was potentially transphobic, or, at least, not very welcoming of trans visitors to this blog. I agreed with her and pulled the post. I revised it so much it became something else. What follows is that something else. Strengthening Anarchism's Gender Analysis. Lessons From The Transfeminist Movement Transfeminism developed out of a critique of the mainstream and radical feminist movements.
The feminist movement has a history of internal hierarchies. I'm not sexist but... YO IS THIS SEXIST? Meet The Predators « A huge proportion of the women I know enough to talk with about it have survived an attempted or completed rape.
None of them was raped by a stranger who attacked them from behind a bush, hid in the back of her car or any of the other scenarios that fit the social script of stranger rape. Anyone reading this post, in fact, is likely to know that six out of seven rapes are committed by someone the victim knows. Cocktail Party Physics. Last week, Linda Henneberg, a young science communication intern at CERN in Switzerland — best known these days as the home of the Large Hadron Collider — wrote a blog post about her experiences at the laboratory as both a woman and a non-PhD physicist.
Haltingly, timidly, even a bit apologetically, she confessed, “I’ve never felt more constantly objectified, hit on, and creeped on than while at CERN.” She was careful to say that she has not encountered blatant sexism of the most egregious sort, although she has endured unwelcome awkward flirting: a wink and a hand on the knee, lame attempts at playing “footsie” with her under the table during meetings, and of course, tacky double entendres. Finally, A Feminism 101 Blog. Reproductive Health Information, News, Commentary and Community.
Feminism Links.
FBI redefines rape to mean, like, rape. The FBI’s official definition of rape, via its Uniform Crime Report, has remained unchanged since 1927: “the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will.”
Obviously, this is problematic on a number of levels–basically, every word except for “the” and “of.” 1. the carnal knowledge – excluding any assault with fingers or foreign objects, on any orifice but the vagina 2. of a female – excluding anyone not a cis female (the definition actually explicitly classifies male rape victims as victims of sexual assault) 3. forcibly – excluding any assault involving drugs or coercion 4. and against her will – excluding statutory rape Correction–the words “a” and “and” also seem pretty square. We can’t know exactly how many rapes have gone uncounted to date, because the government doesn’t track figures on we-don’t-consider-it-rapes. Some of those video game princesses ain’t so Peachy « man boobz. Why can't they all be like Princess Peach?
It’s almost impossible to catalogue all the ways men are oppressed by women in contemporary gynocratic society. There are so many! For example, did you know that men are oppressed by female characters in video games? If you’re drunk and get raped, you’ve got no one to blame but yourself, says NSW Police Commissioner. Oh look, the NSW Police Commissioner, Andrew Scipione, is a rape apologist: Girls’ drink pact: YOUNG women planning a night out should tell their friends if they plan to have sex to avoid unwanted and potentially dangerous drunken encounters, the NSW Police Commissioner, Andrew Scipione, has warned.
Douchebag Decree: Scott Adams, Douchetoonist. Have you been following the Scott "rape is a natural instinct" Adams story?
If not, hold on to your hat barf bag. Adams, creator of the cartoon Dilbert and noted mega-douche wrote on his blog recently that, among other things, men are naturally prone to raping women (and "tweeting their meat," which he lumps into the same sentence as rape) and society is to blame. An excerpt: No doubt you have noticed an alarming trend in the news. Powerful men have been behaving badly, e.g. tweeting, raping, cheating, and being offensive to just about everyone in the entire world.
It shouldn't come as a surprise to you that Adams is involved in the Men's Rights Movement, since you've likely seen this kind of hey-don't-blame-men-we're-just-walking-boners argument used to justify sexist remarks and behavior before. Just to give you a bit of douche history, Adams has been taken to task for blogging while sexist a few times before this. Yeah, it looks like Alice is fed up with Dilbert's misogyny too. Shakesville. Intent! It’s Fucking Magic! « Genderbitch: Musings of a Trans Chick.
Crossposted to Questioning Transphobia Warning: This post is sarcastic to such a point as you may actually slip in the pools of sarcasm that are dripping off of it.
Please walk carefully. The caution cones are there for your protection. Also, we totally didn’t intend for you to slip so we’re not responsible if you do. What’s wrong with saying that things happen to men, too? « Finally, A Feminism 101 Blog. Short answer: Nothing in and of itself. The problem occurs when conversations about women can’t happen on unmoderated blogs without someone showing up and saying, “but [x] happens to men, too!” Lesson 1238 - Harassment. I wrote this comic months ago, after seeing certain statements come up in harassment and rape reports over and over again. Yes, it certainly simplifies the issue, and no, it doesn't cover all types of harassment.
But it's important to remember something - seeking attention is not the same as seeking harassment. If someone has been harassed or raped, then by definition, they were not asking for it. At some point, you can't shift the blame, and you will always be responsible for your own actions. I'm sure some of you reading this are going to disagree. Predator Redux « Meet The Predators, which featured a 2002 study co-authored by psychology professor David Lisak, has attracted a lot of attention and links in the last few weeks.
To all those who have picked this up and discussed his findings, thank you. I think what he was able to show, and what McWhorter’s Navy study replicated, is very, very important stuff and the more exposure it gets the more difference it can make. Lisak is not new to rape and interpersonal violence research, however. It is a major topic of his career-long body of work. Melissa McEwen at Shakesville (who linked Meet the Predators) has posted about Lisak’s work before, and I’ve been doing some more reading. The last time I discussed Lisak’s work, I focused on the proportion of the population are the serial predators: a limited group within the population who are recidivist rapists, and who account for the overwhelming majority of rapes, and for a large portion of the child abuse and molestation and the intimate partner violence.
Antifeminist trolls - Pharyngula Wiki. The Sage: The "holier-than-thou" who wags their finger at you for the heated discussion before leaving providing nothing of merit. Any insight they do give will be of the "both sides are equally bad" sort. The Gibberer: Comments are rarely in response to anyone, the Gibberer often repeats themselves with a catch phrase or odd quote and is just there to spout as many short trollish comments as possible.
The Brick Wall: Acts like they want a discussion, but doesn't listen to anyone. The Brick Wall will often complain about people not taking them seriously or educating them.