Our Bodies Our Blog Shakesville Autostraddle Alas, a Blog | It's about stuff. When I originally wrote this, the crowd-funding campaign for funding this book was still ongoing. It’s over now—but yay, it succeeded! Here’s what I wrote about it. Cranky Ladies of History: Annie Oakley Several months ago, Tehani Wessely and Tansy Rayner Roberts contacted me and asked if I would consider writing a story for their anthology, Cranky Ladies of History. “That sounds awesome,” I said, and also, “I so don’t have time.” Cranky Ladies of History had met its crowd funding goal. I spent some time in IM talking to Tansy about which Cranky Lady I should pick. You Can’t Get a Man with a Gun If you don’t know who she is, Annie Oakley was a sharpshooter with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. She had a complicated relationship with feminism: she taught women to shoot, and she advocated for women to be allowed in the army. Although the musical that was made about her life story, Annie Get Your Gun, includes the song, “You Can’t Get a Man with a Gun,” she sort of did. Snuff a candle
The Abortioneers The F-Word Blog This is a guest blog by Mercedes King-Jones. She is a Divorce Lawyer and Partner with Wright Hassall LLP There was a certain irony that the Appeal Court hearing into Tini Owens’ divorce case was scheduled for 14 February 2017. The subsequent judgment attracted acres of newsprint, with much criticism being erroneously directed at the judges for the outcome of the case. In a nutshell, Mrs Owens’ desire to divorce her husband was thwarted by his decision to defend the petition. The nub of the matter, acknowledged by both Judge Tolson in the Family Court and Lord Justice Munby in the Appeal Court, is the requirement for someone who wishes to get divorced to cite one of five reasons: adultery, desertion, unreasonable behaviour, two years’ separation with consent of both parties, or five years’ separation without consent. Mrs Owens filed for divorce in May 2015. Image depicts two wedding rings Courtesy Robert Cheaib on Flickr Laura Cooke is a journalist from the south of England Empowered?
The Bono-ization of Activism Brigid Delaney, CNN, October 12, 2007 Naomi Klein's 2000 book No Logo galvanized a generation to resist the lure of brands and corporatization. Direct action such as protests and guerilla tactics such as culture jamming and graffiti were encouraged. Back then the movement had teeth and energy, but very quickly it has not just deflated but sharply turned into a world of hyper consumption, according to Klein. Welcome to the Pro-Logo generation that is more likely to buy a wristband and ticket to Live Earth than hit the streets in protest. "The Bono-ization of protest particularly in the UK has reduced discussion to a much safer terrain." Speaking to CNN.com, Klein said the new style of anti-poverty campaigning, where celebrities talk directly with government and business leaders on behalf of a continent (such as Africa) is another form of "noblesse oblige" where the rich and powerful club together to 'give something back.' Bono's Red initiative is emblematic of this new Pro-Logo age.
In defense of the sanctimonious women's studies set. On Monday night, Donald Trump’s wife Melania touched hearts as she addressed the Republican National Convention, sharing the lessons she learned growing up as a black girl on the South Side of Chicago. As first spotted by journalist Jarrett Hill, Melania’s speech bore more than a passing resemblance to another speech at another convention about eight years ago — Michelle Obama’s 2008 address to the Democratic National Convention. The cribbed portion discussed the values that Michelle and Melania apparently share, including working hard for what you want in life and keeping your word. Read more → I apologize for Feministe’s long, long radio silence, and I hate that this is the occasion to break it. Read more → [Content note: mentions of transphobia and child sexual abuse] While Feministe has been down, an issue erupted in North Carolina about where trans people are allowed to pee. Here are some highlights, if somehow you missed it while you were missing us. Read more → Calm down. Read more →
Democratic Diva fragile ego Being “privileged” doesn’t mean your life is rosy This is a guest post from Sparky, of Spark in Darkness. Many of you are familiar with him from Livejournal, as well as from his insightful and often hilarious commentary here. Each Tuesday, Womanist Musings will be featuring a post from Sparky. I generally avoid 101 conversations on Womanist Musings, or for that matter, on sparkindarkness. But something keeps coming up and over and over – both in comments that get through and the fun stuff behind the scenes as well. Can we be clear on something? You can have a privilege and still have a life that is not all fun and rosy. You may also face ethnic or national prejudices, you may face xenophobia (and don’t confuse xenophobia for racism) or other anti-immigrant, historical prejudices, religious prejudices, prejudice against you not speaking the local language or speaking with an accent – all true. And the same applies to all privileged and marginalised states. It’s like the difference between an insult and a slur.