Link: Facebook & misogyny

People need to stop linking to interesting things at night! I read them, and they get me all excited, and then I can't sleep until I have my two cents out in the open.

Tonight's link is an excellent blog regarding misogyny and Facebook, and the 12-year-old-slut meme.

It calls Facebook out for allowing groups and pages to exist that serve to denigrate, insult, and/or harass women because they're "humour". It makes the excellent point that they do not allow such "humour" to exist when it is against minorities (racial or religious. Sexual minorities seem to be the exception to all hate speech rules).

Read the blog, watch the stunning video. Then come back here for my thoughts on both.

About the blog:
I agree! But I won't give up my Facebook profile because of it. Encourage others to think about and consider what they are doing when they like these groups or pages, and work actively to beautify your little area of the social network. Educate people on why this is not humour, and how these groups are harmful. Be conscious of what you post and like. The biggest way to defeat these awful things is to open dialogue with the more rational people who go along with it (because some people are just not interested in rational discussion, and there is no point wasting energy on them yet) and slowly the circle being conscious will grow, taking away from the circle of people who go along with this.


About the video: I love the idea of this campaign. I love encouraging women to do self-advocacy, to stand up for their rights, and to work together. But I had issue with one of the vignettes: the rape. I felt the racial choice made here could be read as a statement or assumption, but even more I was upset by the idea that she could just suddenly fight him off. Like if someone gets raped it's because they just weren't fighting hard enough. I am sure the creator did not intend it that way, but it is one of those subconscious hidden messages we must always consider.


Alright, bedtime for this sleepy sleepy person.

Saturday Link 2: Sex Ed

I have bad Twitter hygiene. I see things that look interesting and "favourite" them, fulling intending to return to them soon. And then they sit there for 2-3 weeks. This morning I was woken up very early by annoying cats, and not being able to go back to sleep I caught up on some of those things.

There are two I wish to share today, but I could not bring myself to put them in the same post because while they fit together nicely in my head, they are very very different.
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The second is much more uplifting one. In our western world sex education has become politicized. It is not about giving young people information and letting them make healthy, well thought out decisions. It is about religious agendas, political beliefs, and control.

Which is why I love this video put out by @imMEDIAteFilms. It is a sex ed video made by young women for young women (though I would recommend young men and young whatever gender you identify as people watch it as well, it would be beneficial for ALL to see). It emphasizes healthy relationships, consent, awareness of one's body, the complicated world of gender, and knowledge.

It is not a complete sex ed package by far. It does not discuss the science side of things. It does not actually teach about the body, does not explain the processes of arousal/intercourse/reproduction, and does not discuss options. It is focused on the societal and emotional side of things. That being said, what I love about it is that it is not coming from voices of authority but from peers. We need more of this.



Linked to me by @FemFreq


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How do these two links fit together?

The first was an effort to eradicate ignorance, the second is an effort to create positive awareness. These two efforts must co-exist, or we will never move past where we are now.

Saturday Link 1: Defeating Ignorance (Trigger warning!)

I have bad Twitter hygiene. I see things that look interesting and "favourite" them, fulling intending to return to them soon. And then they sit there for 2-3 weeks. This morning I was woken up very early by annoying cats, and not being able to go back to sleep I caught up on some of those things.

There are two I wish to share today, but I could not bring myself to put them in the same post because while they fit together nicely in my head, they are very very different.
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The first piece has to do with children of rape. I did not go into the whole Todd Akin thing on here because 1) I was on vacation, 2) I would not have been able to stop ranting if I tried, and 3) it was being discussed by much more knowledgeable people all over the world. But rest assured it did anger me very very much.

This article is one of many responses that has been posted. It is a heartbreaking read, very upsetting, and absolutely  necessary. To be able to discuss issues related to rape and abortion we need to be willing to hear the hard stories.

It is definitely an article that comes with a trigger warning however.

The Legitimate Children of Rape (from the New Yorker)




(Credit: linked to me by @brainpicker)

Link & Share: Victim Blaming

Everyone needs to read this: http://unwinona.tumblr.com/post/30861660109/i-debated-whether-or-not-to-share-this-story


I have had the discussion too many times where I try to convince males that yes, it really is scary to be a woman. I have talked with other women about the things we do because it is almost impossible to feel safe walking down the street at night. About trying to memorize distinct features of every person you see, just in case they are the one who can't control themselves. About knowing how you would use your purse/keys/shoes/etc as a weapon and holding them that way JUST IN CASE.  And often males tell me I'm making it up, or that I am just paranoid, etc. etc.

READ THIS ARTICLE.




Also, on a related but different note, I really enjoyed this picture from a Facebook friend (see not all shares are ones that enrage me!):

It says it pretty much perfectly.

Blog Love - Prince Charmings need not apply

I love when I find someone else whose blog has said what I think (or close enough to be worth sharing) and done it better than I could anyways.

Go read this. She says it well, so there is no need for me to.

Sluts & Hos - articles

So apparently when you make your feminist rant-iness known, people start linking you to more stuff. Excellent...


1. Slut-Shaming article. 

This article was brought to my attention by a friend tagging me in Facebook. I was very glad she did, as I really enjoyed this article. Not because I give a damn about Kristen Stewart, but because I am so tired off society's madonna/whore complex: women are either innocent, pure virgins or they are awful sluts; with no middle ground. Also because male celebrities don't face anywhere NEAR this kind of backlash when they have infidelities.

Oh no! She slept with someone other than who you expected to! Clearly we must burn her at the stake! ⸮

(In case you don't know that weird thing is one of the marks that has been suggested throughout history for denoting sarcasm. I will go down that tangent some other time).



2. Big booty ho article.

This one makes me very very punch-y. My mom shared it on Facebook today, with a note that she was unable to watch the entire video. I completely understand why. I made myself watch the whole thing despite being both offended and horrified.

For this blog I will mention but not discuss the gratuitous violence of a group of young males beating up a clown (for the crime of not being a woman with large gluteal muscles apparently?). I would like to point out that many of the women are "dancing" in a way that makes it look like they are being restrained by their hands, and that none of them look to be enjoying themselves at all. But these aren't really women, are they? They are simple transport modules to carry around the tits and ass that the rappers are so interested in.

The article makes great points, and stands on its own without me having to really add any more thoughts about it. What I do want to add is that I am not a complete prude. I have no problem with the female body being used in music videos per say, even naked female bodies. I just think it has to be well done and respectful. For an example of a music video that uses nudity in a respectful, artistic way I recommend Amanda Palmer's "Want It Back" (NSFW obviously). The differences in how nudity is handled?
She is not super-sexualized; her body is being used as a canvas basically. Although there is a scene where she is restrained there is nothing about it that seems like she is being degraded, and the emphasis is on her coming free from from the restraints. It also helps knowing that she was an integral part of the creative team coming up with the concept, not someone hired to fill out a thong and bra.

Speaking of her, as I adore her comfort with herself and her body, I will use her as another example of a song and video that are even focused explicitly on female body parts, but I still find far less offensive. My only issue with her "Map of Tasmania" video is that all the women are skinny and relatively clean-shaven, which goes against the wording of the song. But it is still quite funny, and not degrading.


See? We can use women's bodies in art without degrading them!




(Looking back these things don't fit together as well as I had planned, but I'm okay with it.)

Videos: Target Women

I love things that critically analyze media, such as CBC's "Under the Influence" radio show.

I love things that are feminist.

Therefore I love these videos that I was introduced to today: Target Women is a series of videos that look at how advertising that is targeted at women is flawed in a sarcastic, hilarious way.







Wedding Shows: (because we all know that all women think about are weddings!)


Chick Flicks    (also, the girl in the first movie made me think of Feminist Frequency's first Trope vs. Women in Movies video)

Number Two: (I can't help but love the word "poopadox")

Okay... deja vu moment... creepy

Moving on

Chocolate

Okay, I like/love pretty much all of them. A special place in my heart however goes to this one simply because I love the sentence "milk will also bring sunshine to a land devastated by your period tears".


I will quit linking to and talking about these now, so I can focus more on simply watching them.

What are Daughters Good For?

This post is a few days late, but it has been a complicated few days so I am alright with that.

Saturday was "Daughters Day", with a celebration in Churchill Square. I haven't decided how I feel about this, I think I need to do more reading on why it exists. My gut instinct is feeling that we need to celebrate ALL people, not segregate into celebrating by gender, though I do agree we need to acknowledge the vulnerabilities of the female end of the gender spectrum and work to remedy them.

However, that's not what I am writing about. On Friday I was in my car listening to the radio when an interview about Daughters Day came on. The woman being interviewed stated that it was important to celebrate Daughters, giving only one reason: they are the ones who raise children.

Excuse me? That is the only thing you could come up with for why Daughters are important? If we are going to segregate celebrating people into gender specific days, can we at least think of other ways females can add value to society?

I refuse to accept that my only value to society as a person on the more female end of the gender spectrum is my uterus. Further, as someone who has no intention of having children (and is most likely not physically capable anyways) I am offended...does this mean I then have no value in your mind?

There are lots of ways that people on the female end of the spectrum contribute to society. And since part of the day was focused on issues like abuse and poverty, here are a few that could have been very relevant:
-in developing countries research has shown that providing assistance to "females" (I will use that word instead of mentioning the spectrum every time) is one of the most efficient ways to help lift a community out of poverty
-"females" now make up pretty much half of the working world, and generate about half (I seem to remember hearing 55% somewhere but am not sure where) of revenue in North America. Considering that in general "females" are being paid 70 cents to the dollar for the same work for men, that is pretty impressive!
-"females" are more vulnerable to violence and marginalization but still manage to do pretty much every thing "males" do, often in environments where "male" is still considered the norm and the more acceptable and expected way to be.


I provide a lot of value to my community. I work full-time, often having a second (or even third) job going as well. The work I have chosen helps people with multiple disadvantages overcome them and gain independence, dignity, and ways to become more productive members of society themselves. I contribute financially: not only do I pay my taxes, I also donate to charities when I can. I volunteer for groups so I can help further their causes. I do everything I am capable of to help take care of those I love, both family and friends. I enter each day of my life with the goal to do more positive than negative that day, and generally I succeed.

So if you want to talk about the value of Daughters, let's think a little harder than just what their uterus allows them to do.