Feminism
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Feminism
It’s International Women’s Day again! Why, it seems like only last year that a couple of people in the media spent a few hours pretending that anyone gives a crap about women’s issues. Tomorrow, progressive dudepundits like Matthew Yglesias can go back to pointing out how the whole “war against women” anti-birth-control dealio (which for some reason everyone is treating like some kind of recent and bizarre ‘phenomenon’) is really not about women at all. No, the “real stakes in the contraceptives fight,” according to Yglesias, is about regular health care for regular people. In the meantime, my inbox today will be full of girl-a-riffic stuff like this:
I Blame The Patriarchy
pandagon.net - we are the public option
Homophobia is more pronounced in individuals with an unacknowledged attraction to the same sex and who grew up with authoritarian parents who forbade such desires, a series of psychology studies demonstrates. I have some strong concerns about how they established "same-sex desire", because none of the tests they used strike me as establishing desire . At best, interest. Which causes serious problems for the causal claims here, since it may also be that straight people who have internalized a high degree of homophobia linger over the suggestion of gayness simply because the forbidden is inherently attractive. I don't think sexual orientation is a "choice", I do think it's more fluid and complex than people think, and authoritarians may actually cause otherwise straight people in their midst to linger more over fantasies of same-sex sex.
So, President Obama was on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last night, and it was interesting. Video of the interview is available here . The President, appearing at UNC Chapel Hill, did really well selling his support for not increasing interest on student loans, and I thought when he said that he and First Lady Michelle Obama, who both funded their law school educations with student loans, only paid off those student loans eight years ago was a remarkable moment.
Shakesville
Throughout this series, I have tried very hard not to write about the gigantic elephant in the room: Dan Savage. He’s a controversial figure, particularly when it comes to his statements on bisexuality , and though I quoted him in my post about Bi the Way , I haven’t wanted to dwell on him. I find much of his commentary on bisexuality thoughtless and insensitive, but he insists he is not biphobic , and I choose to believe him. I may disagree with a lot of his ideas, but I like some of them, I respect his efforts to campaign against LGBT youth bullying and suicide, and I am not interested in making assumptions about what lies in his heart. But in discussing bisexuality and the media, mentioning Savage is unavoidable. And since his new MTV show, Savage U , premiered on Tuesday, there’s no better time to open this can of worms.
Bitch Magazine
Once again, Feministing is partnering with the Civil Liberties and Public Policy Conference, From Abortion Rights to Social Justice: Building the Movement for Reproductive Freedom, which will be held next weekend, April 13th-15th at Hampshire College. We should really thank Republicans for making this conference even more relevant and urgent than it usually is. Last year, Lori and Jos attended the conference. This year, Lori is returning and will be joined by Eesha, who is also speaking THREE times!