All Men Are Created Equal?

yes, it's still racist

2009-06-04T13:11:00.003-04:00

I realize I haven't posted on here in awhile. I've been getting my social justice fix from reading and writing in other places, but I'd like to get back to doing it here too.

For now, I point you a post over at OCgirl about the terrible comic in The Oklahoman about Sonia Sotomayor. I was so angry reading all the things the media said about Sonia and reverse racism.

Here's the cartoon if you haven't seen it:

Virginia GA GOP booes high school students at session

2009-01-26T10:44:00.002-05:00

Wow, I can't believe ANY booing should be going on in a legislative session, much less in response to visiting high school students who are there to see how the General Assembly operates. For shame.

Here for video

Economy booster

2009-01-19T17:09:00.000-05:00

LOL

(From Love Puppy)

The Bible's case for gay marriage

2008-12-16T12:47:00.003-05:00

There's nothing I like better than poking holes in religious conservative arguments.

Thanks Newsweek.

Gay Marriage: Our Mutual Joy

About why gay marriage is not spoken against specificially by the Bible, and in fact, argues for it.

Religious objections to gay marriage are rooted not in the Bible at all, then, but in custom and tradition (and, to talk turkey for a minute, a personal discomfort with gay sex that transcends theological argument). Common prayers and rituals reflect our common practice: the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer describes the participants in a marriage as "the man and the woman." But common practice changes—and for the better, as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice." The Bible endorses slavery, a practice that Americans now universally consider shameful and barbaric. It recommends the death penalty for adulterers (and in Leviticus, for men who have sex with men, for that matter). It provides conceptual shelter for anti-Semites. A mature view of scriptural authority requires us, as we have in the past, to move beyond literalism. The Bible was written for a world so unlike our own, it's impossible to apply its rules, at face value, to ours.

Love that quote by Martin Luther King, Jr. I just keep repeating that to myself when thinking of social change.

Gay adoption ban violates FL's equal protection guarantees

2008-12-09T20:04:00.004-05:00

Florida Judge Rules Against the Gay Adoption Ban

NPR's All Things Considered, November 25, 2008 ·

A Miami judge ruled Tuesday that there is no rational, scientific or moral reason that sexual orientation should be a barrier to adopting children, finalizing the adoption of two siblings by their gay foster father.

It saddens me that we need a judge to emphasize that statement above. It is a good thing, of course, but it is a real shame that we can't realize that humans are humans, sexuality is a spectrum, and who you love and are attracted to is just one piece of who we all are.

Also, the dad looks a little like Skinner from The X Files

He's Not Black

2008-12-09T10:17:00.002-05:00

He's Not Black

By Marie AranaSunday, November 30, 2008; Page B01 The Washington Post

He is also half white.
Unless the one-drop rule still applies, our president-elect is not black.
To me, as to increasing numbers of mixed-race people, Barack Obama is not our first black president. He is our first biracial, bicultural president. He is more than the personification of African American achievement. He is a bridge between races, a living symbol of tolerance, a signal that strict racial categories must go.

The article discusses the complicated nature of race and how even in a historical event like this last presidential race, we still manage to look at race in strictly bilateral terms.

My Two Dads

2008-12-08T11:32:00.002-05:00

I don't know where this is originally from, but I found it on Lavender Lines

Protest

2008-11-20T11:41:00.002-05:00

From Lavender Lines

So many are killed just because of their gender identity

2008-11-18T19:02:00.001-05:00

Transgender Day of Remembrance

November 20, 2008
Richmond Friends Meeting House
4500 Kensington Avenue
7:00pm til 9:00pm

more
http://www.transgenderdor.org/

Election Night

2008-11-05T15:19:00.006-05:00

Since An OC Girl came looking for my post-election reaction, I felt compelled to post.

It's hard to sum up how powerful last night felt. There's something to be said for being in a huge room full of people on the cusp of history who all share your excitement, nervousness, wonder, and glee. It was truly amazing to be jumping up and down in 3 inch stiletto boots that I'd had on since 13 hours before and hugging everyone in sight, screaming at the top of my lungs, first as CNN called Virginia and then shortly after as they announced the entire race. I don't think any of us were expecting it to be decided so fast, and then BAM, McCain made his concession speech. Compared to the last two elections, when we all went to bed wondering what was going to happen, it was unexpected to have what could be considered a landslide. I don't think any of us expected that.

For me, the presidential race could be boiled down to an essential issue--who was truly speaking to ALL Americans. TV and commentary last night and today all piled onto that issue, and I'm not sure why all of a sudden they seem to realize that's what the race was about, but I'm glad. For once, a candidate was really bringing people of diverse backgrounds together. All you had to do was look at an Obama rally vs a McCain rally to see this. The stark whiteness of McCain's crowd spoke for itself. The crowd last night at the DPVA party was equally as telling. College kids, greying couples, black, white, Latino, Asian, gay, straight. All people who got it. That this really was about history, for more reasons than just the first black President. I don't think most unenlightened white people were able to grasp what it means for people to feel like they are finally being heard, that their voice is being represented. Delegate Jennifer McClellan of Richmond noted that Virginia hadn't voted Democratic since the Civil Rights Movement. A fellow supporter last night commented that the electoral map looked like the civil war, with blue in the North and red in the South. The 60's was not that long ago, yet it seems eons away culturally. I hope Americans are finally as surprised and disgusted as I am to realize that we haven't come as far as we think. This election proves otherwise. The world was watching us, and don't you wonder what they think now? Isn't it funny that most other developed nations, even those not as diverse as ours, have been far more progressive in their politics for far longer? Do you think they congratulate us, welcome us to their world stage, or do you think they are shaking their heads at their poor, slow-to-catch-on ally?

And isn't it terrible, that as Obama came to the podium to give his victory speech, that a uneasy feeling in my gut worried about something terrible happening to him at this pivotal point? That I had to even worry about the possibility. That others in the room hushed to hear him and thought their own private dark thoughts. That the sound of the helicopter in the background was hopefully a good thing.

So today is another day, just like every other day. My day-to-day has not changed. But let us not doubt Margaret Mead in that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

Yes We Can

Step outside of your privilege for just a second please

2008-10-30T20:24:00.008-04:00

It can be difficult for me to express articulate arguments when I get so worked up about the subject matter. When something is so important, you want to get it right, you want to convince people why it's important. Notice I didn't say convince people to change their minds. I don't think we all have to agree but some people certainly need more education, more perspective, and a different paradigm about certain things. We should not be afraid to speak up, to argue til we are blue in the face, to make a scene. If something necessitates questioning and action then keep talking, keep fighting, keep getting doors shut in your face, harsh words thrown at you.

I notice often that people have such difficulty stepping outside of their privilege, out of what they know to be. This is especially true of those whose privilege is the majority--namely, moneyed, white men. What bothers me is that someone of this privilege cannot comprehend that perhaps the reason that this particular election is so frenzied, that there is all this talk about change, and that there is more turnout all around is that for once, there is a candidate who is speaking to their issues. Someone who looks like them. Someone who could represent them. Let's discuss the terms Us and Them for a minute. The majority considers any other, them, and I speak not just in numbers, because a minority is not just a minority because it is small, but because it lacks power and influence. It is easy to group others into one lump when you do not understand them. This is why stereotyping is so frequent, so convenient. It allows us a frame of reference to begin to comprehend an other.

I am a sociologist. I can spot socialization, I can spot social pressure. I know movements when I see them. We are what we are taught, how we grew up, what we've experienced. This influence cannot be discounted. There are larger social forces acting upon us constantly. We are not always independent actors. Not everyone thinks like a sociologist. If it isn't your reality, then you don't look behind the curtain to ask why. If your reality is comfortable, you don't consider how it got to be that way, if it is inherently good or fair. Why would you? You like it the way it is. For all this talk of change, society and people are not quick to change. It was only 50 years ago we hunted people down and ostracized them for supporting an economic and political model that was in the minority. In America. In the melting pot. In the country that embraces free speech and dissent and the freedom to question government. Twinges of McCarthyism are resurfacing even now. We have learned nothing.

Everybody has a story. The American dream is talked about a lot. But somehow, the real meaning of the American dream was lost. That "real America" became a catchphrase, one that applied only to certain kinds of people. People of certain races, religions, occupations, parts of the country. We have become adept at putting our heads in the sand and living in our own terrariums. When did we become an America that really only cares about ourselves? When did sharing in things like wealth, resources, education, and privilege become a dirty word? When did those who want to do well for themselves decide that meant they had to at the cost of others?

I will continue to speak up, to champion the unpopular ideas, to dissent, to stand up for justice. I will continue to fight because the cause is worthy.

Church and State

2008-10-28T12:25:00.006-04:00

Sigh. I am so fired up by everything anymore. It is stressful. It's frustrating seeing hate and injustice and religion-pushing and stupidity and hypocrites over and over and not feeling like anything is changing.

And this is just ridiculous. Especially the commenters:
Virginia Pharmacy Caters to Pro-Life Customers

I cannot stand the argument that people who receive their life direction from God get to live by different standards than the rest of the world, most of whom DO NOT SHARE their position. When you live in a world with many other people who are different from you, you have to have separate spheres for public policy and legislation versus religion and home life. This is a John Rawls principle that is the simplest answer I've seen to these kinds of arguments. Rawls argued that a narrow definition of public reason was necessary for the sake of achieving agreement in a pluralistic society.

He also argues that since many people have differing doctrines that are understood to be reasonable, those who insist in the public forum on acting solely on what they believe (and that others don't) are being unreasonable. Therefore, in a public sphere, this concept of the reasonable then displaces that of moral truth. Rawls states, "Once we accept the fact that reasonable pluralism is a permanent condition of public culture under free institutions, the idea of the reasonable is more suitable as part of the basis of public justification" (Source)

This is not so different from our constitutional (though eroding) separation of church and state. It is fine for you to have a faith that makes you live your life a certain way. But when that way is incompatible with all the other freedoms and basic rights of others, then you don't get to push that way of life on others.

I think I'm going to start going back and re-reading my philosophy and political and religious liberalism books from college. I miss this kind of learning, this kind of discussion.

Obama in Richmond

2008-10-22T12:26:00.001-04:00

View the live feed of Obama's rally in Richmond today here

UR hosts Mayoral Debate

2008-10-14T08:44:00.002-04:00

The University of Richmond will host a debate among the five candidates for mayor of Richmond Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. in Tyler Haynes Commons, Alice Haynes Room. The debate is free and open to the public, and a reception will follow.

Questioners will represent local media, including the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Centro, Style Weekly, WWBT TV-12 and the university's student newspaper, The Collegian. Audience members may submit questions, which moderator Dan Palazzolo, professor of political science, will ask as time permits.

All five candidates for Richmond mayor—Paul Goldman, Robert J. Grey Jr., Dwight C. Jones, William J. Pantele and Lawrence Williams—have agreed to participate.

University sponsors of the debate include the Office of the President, Jepson School of Leadership Studies, Richmond School of Law, Bonner Center for Civic Engagement and the Center for Government and Policy.

For more information, call (804) 289-8056.

Celebrity do-gooding

2008-10-07T16:59:00.001-04:00

Brad Pitt stands up for LGBT

from Below the Belt

This is not a normal human

2008-10-07T12:04:00.005-04:00

Jezebel, in its popular, Photoshop of Horrors, illustrates how much photoshopping can change what a person looks like. Just looking at this ad, you wouldn't necessarily notice anything odd about Britney Spears.But at closer look, you realize that her wrists and ankles are impossibly thin. Her legs are unnaturally long. Her waist has been shrunken.

Have a comparison between the photoshopped version on the left and a regular photo of Britney on the right. See?

These kind of images, this kind of ultra-distorted photoshopping, affects us all. When we don't realize that the images we see every day are not actual reflections of reality, we assume them to be truth. So even though we may have an idea that some photos are generally photoshopped, at casual glance, our brain is not picking up on the fact that her ankles are not normal. All we see is a thin, tanned, perfect model. And we set that image as normal, as regular, when in fact, NO ONE is shaped that way. This is so harmful, not only for women and their own body image, but for men, who will expect women to look this way, even if only subconsciously.

I think many have noted that this issue is serious, and even unacceptable, but what can be done about it? What has to happen for magazines and photo editors to stop making cartoons out of humans? I can understand that a magazine wants the best possible version of their models, but this isn't removing red eyes and stray hairs--this is creating fiction.

Presidential Policy Advisers at UR today

2008-10-01T09:39:00.002-04:00

Environmental policy advisers to presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain will discuss their candidate's proposals Oct. 1 at the University of Richmond School of Law.

The 12:15 p.m. program will beheld in the Moot Court Room and is free and open to the public. Noah M. Sachs , assistant professor of law, will moderate. He serves as faculty director of the law school's Merhige Center for Environmental Studies . The event is co-sponsored by the Jepson School of Leadership Studies . The interactive session will begin with opening remarks from each campaign, followed by questions from the audience. For more information, contact Kris Henderson at (804) 289-8186, or see this release

Reusable bags aren't really all that "green"

2008-09-29T13:52:00.003-04:00

I'm really not surprised to hear that those hipster-trendy reusable shopping bags are not actually that "green". The WSJ article here explains more about why.

"If you don't reuse them, you're actually worse off by taking one of them," says Bob Lilienfeld, author of the Use Less Stuff Report, an online newsletter about waste prevention. And because many of the bags are made from heavier material, they're also likely to sit longer in landfills than their thinner, disposable cousins, according to Ned Thomas, who heads the department of material science and engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

What about you, readers? Do you use those reusable bags or do you reuse your current bags? My thing is, I reuse all of my plastic grocery bags again in my house for trash bags and for scooping out cat litter. I reuse the paper bags for recycling because they won't let you put recyclables out in plastic bags and won't give large apt buildings reusable plastic bins (nor will a huge bin fit in my tiny Fan kitchen). Most of the cloth or remade totes are not large enough to hold what a normal bag would anyway, and I'd need several of them for a large grocery trip.

More than 6000

2008-09-29T10:15:00.002-04:00

I snicker at this blog I found, that illustrates for us things that have more people than Sarah Palin's town.

My favorite so far is this (emphasis mine):

On July 25th of this year, more people than the population of the town of Wasilla, AK showed up to see Miley Cyrus sing in concert on Good Morning America in New York City. Approximately 7,000 people attended the festivities, proving that 15 year old star of “Hannah Montana” fame has a larger draw than Ms. Palin’s home town.

And we can't forget of course, our very own mob stampede right here in Henrico, VA

Richmond Mayoral Forum

2008-09-25T08:40:00.001-04:00

I know I still have no idea who I want to vote for. I'll definitely be here.

That's not feminism

2008-09-24T17:15:00.003-04:00

Thank you Jezebel, again, for articulating to the masses one of my most fervent arguments about selling your body/feminism/capitalism.

Jezebel writer Jessica, wrote to clarify her thoughts about a previous post regarding a woman auctioning off her virginity on Ebay, that I blogged about here. Jessica disagreed with many of the commenters on that article who seemed offended that Jezebel seemed to be attacking the women's free expression of her sex. Again, most people seem to be missing the point, as Jessica illustrates below (emphasis mine):

It was about pointing out the absurdity of the situation: a woman is hijacking the language of feminism to justify selling her body. I'm not saying it should be illegal, nor am I saying that she should be burned at the stake or something. My point is more that by buying into a system that values women exclusively for their sexual attractiveness does women as a whole no favors. Even if a woman makes boatloads of money exploiting that system, that doesn't make it an intrinsically feminist act, nor is it subverting that system. It's just making money.

Women Now Empowered By Everything A Woman Does

2008-09-18T12:25:00.003-04:00

This Onion article , excerpted below, pokes fun at the idea that suddenly, everything is "empowering" to women. Shoes, granola, tshirts, gaining weight and "woo-ing" are all considered. I think "selling your body for sex" and "pretending that Sarah Palin is a feminist" should also be a part of this article. Also, since when do the ends always justify the means?

Women Now Empowered By Everything A Woman Does

Barbara Klein, professor of women's studies at Oberlin College weighs in:

"Unlike traditional, phallocentric energy bars, whose chocolate, soy protein, nuts, and granola ignored the special health and nutritional needs of women, their new, female-oriented counterparts like Luna are ideally balanced with a more suitable amount of chocolate, soy protein, nuts, and granola,"Klein said.

Whereas early feminists campaigned tirelessly for improved health care and safe, legal access to abortion, often against a backdrop of public indifference or hostility, today's feminist asserts control over her biological destiny by wearing a baby-doll T-shirt with the word "Hoochie" spelled in glitter.
"Not every woman can become a physicist or lobby to stop a foundry from dumping dangerous metals into the creek her children swim in," Klein said. "Although these actions are incredible, they marginalize the majority of women who are unable to, or just don't particularly care to, achieve such things. Fortunately for the less impressive among us, a new strain of feminism has emerged..."

Latent Sexism

2008-09-08T17:07:00.005-04:00

http://jezebel.com/5045993/sexism-is-still-creeping-up-on-hillary-clinton-and-us

I love that the Jezebel writers all think so similarly to me.

Text from Jezebel article by writer Megan(emphasis mine):
The New York Times has an article today about how the Obama camp is going to "dispatch" Hillary Clinton and other female surrogates to counter the McCain-Palin efforts to reach out to women. It's your sort of run-of-the-mill story about campaign tactics until someone far more awake than me — specifically, Melissa McEwan of Shakesville — points out the subtle sexism of how the Times describes the Obama-Hillary relationship.

The Times says:

Senator Barack Obama will increasingly lean on prominent Democratic women to undercut Gov. Sarah Palin and Senator John McCain, dispatching Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to Florida on Monday and bolstering his plan to deploy female surrogates to battleground states, Obama advisers said Thursday.

As Melissa points out, it's pretty hard to imagine anyone "dispatching" Hillary Clinton anywhere, let alone the imagery of Obama "deploying" legions of female foot soldiers out to do battle. She suggests the following phrasing:

Prominent Democratic women will be providing Senator Barack Obama with key support next week, as Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton will travel to Florida and other notable female players will make appearances in battleground states to undercut Gov. Sarah Palin and Senator John McCain, Obama advisors said Thursday.

That's the difficulty with sexism most of the time — it's rarely the super-obvious kind. It always creeps in, leaving a few strands behind in a conversation or an article and slips away again, leaving you feeling slightly heavier without really knowing what's wrong. It's just so ingrained in our culture and in our way of looking at the world that it's hard to even tease out, let alone notice with any alacrity.

Using Celebrity

2008-09-08T15:13:00.003-04:00

Do you ever notice how the least memorable cast members of The Real World, with the least-developed story lines, end up being the ones who tour the country giving talks about subjects we're not exactly sure why they're qualified to speak on?

For instance, Jose, from the Key West cast. Remember him? Yeah, me neither. He's coming to a local community college to speak about bipartisanship and the upcoming election. Now while I think its fantastic that community college students have the opportunity to hear and discuss this historic presidential race, why would the not-really-famous-and-who-is-he-again? Real Worlder Jose be the best person to be speaking about this?

I get that to attract a youthful audience, organizers want to present someone who comes from youth culture. But The Real World? Do today's college kids even watch that? If they brought in someone actually famous from that series, a loyal watcher from my generation would be more likely to jump at the chance to see them than today's Millennials.

On McCain's speech

2008-09-05T10:04:00.005-04:00

I thought John McCain gave a fantastic speech last night. He has an extremely compelling and sympathetic personal story. He was tortured as a prisoner of war, and returned not bitter and even more willing to serve his country. These are part of what make him who he is, and he should be commended for those things. The video preceding his speech was very moving, as were his stories about his POW time. But having a great story, a sad story, does not a presidential candidate make.

I think John McCain made a lot of really good points last night, and was inspiring with all his talk of serving a cause greater than one's self, helping others, looking for alternative forms of energy, making real change, etc. I even think he really believes those things himself. He is a smart, experienced politician. I think we can all agree on that. The problem I have is that the majority of his Republican party do not also share the same thoughts that he expressed last night. Serve a cause greater than one self? That's a Democratic tenet!

The problem I have is that his followers, his voters, and those in Congress DO NOT adhere to the ideals he expressed last night. If they did, they'd be Democrats! Republicans are the ones not allowing gays and women equal rights, not helping out their fellow citizens in time of need. The ones who are not thinking about the global economy, that Americans are not the only country on the planet. The ones who act first and think about our international impact later.

I laud McCain for his speech, his ideas. He seems like he really does want to make a difference. I think he already has. His party does not follow all those beliefs though, and that's a problem. Call him a maverick--the term is getting a bit overused, but it's probably true. He does have crossover views--which I think is important. The right wing is just not going to do all those things, as they've shown throughout history that they do not.

I also have a problem with the utter lack of diversity in the audience at the RNC. I think the visual picture screams loud and clear who the party is really representing. A conservative friend of mine agreed and even joked "I know! It's like a Klan meeting." While I appreciate that he also sees the disparity, I'm not sure that joking about Klan meetings is really the way to show your understanding. I think it is just a shame that so many of those who identify as working class seem to think that this is the party for them.

It does seem as though McCain is getting painted as the guy with the good story. The hero. Full of character. These are good things, but I want policy, plans, details, issues. If voters only vote for who has the stronger character, what does that get us?

First they came...

2008-09-04T11:40:00.002-04:00

I was reminded of the importance of this poem today and for every day we don't speak up for the wrongs done against others. For every day we take our own privilege for granted--whether that be the privilege of being white, educated, upper class, male, or American.

The version inscribed at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. reads:

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out -
because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out -
because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out -
because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak for me.

(poem source)

Definition of hypocrites

2008-09-02T14:47:00.008-04:00

What the hell is Joe Lieberman doing speaking at the Republican National Convention? Yes, he's an Independent, but he was the VP pick in the 2000 Democratic presidential ticket, ran for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination, and he caucuses with Democrats. Someone explain this to me.

Also, I'm sure you've heard by now the talk about Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin's pregnant, teenage daughter. The Republicans are all upset that the "liberal" media is unfairly calling attention to it, attacking her, etc, etc. The line below from this Reuters article pointed out exactly for me why Repubs are so good at being hypocrites:

McCain spokeswoman Nicolle Wallace criticized "hateful" slurs and innuendoes in the liberal blogosphere. "I think the private life of a 17-year-old child ... is something that was being used as a political weapon by liberal bloggers and advocates of Democratic and liberal causes," she said on Tuesday on NBC's "Today" show.

Now you KNOW that if this had been Joe Biden's 17-year-old pregnant daughter, the right wingers would be all, TEH SIN, where are the PARENTS? HOW irresponsible! OMG, she is having TEH SEX. And would be calling him a bad parent for allowing his child to have sex. I cannot get over the fact that the Repubs are suddenly okay with a 17-year-old having the right to have sex in her private life and using the right to PRIVACY (reproductive rights argument, anyone?) as reason that the liberals are attacking unecessarily and should leave her and Palin alone.

If You Are Not Outraged, You Are Not Paying Attention

2008-07-16T16:10:00.004-04:00

The title is one of my favorite bumper-sticker messages. It is so simple, yet so to the point. It also leads me to my post today, information that comes to me courtesy of the Human Rights Campaign. From their email:

Former Senator Jesse Helms, the notorious author of dozens of measures attacking GLBT and HIV-positive people during his years in the Senate, died on July 4. Unfortunately, the legacy of discrimination against HIV-positive people he helped to create lives on in a law that bars nearly every foreign person with HIV from entering the United States. That's right – with very few exceptions, an HIV positive individual cannot come to the United States for any reason, be it to visit, work, study or become a legal resident.

Because of stigma alone, HIV is the only medical condition codified in U.S. law as a basis for inadmissibility for short-term travel and immigration – the admissibility of persons with all other communicable diseases is at the discretion of the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

But you can do something about it. Click here to send an email to your senators asking them to support Senators Kerry (D-MA) and Smith (R-OR) in repealing this discriminatory law.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In other news, the Bush administration continues to chip away at issues that are important to all humans. They are about to release a rule that will make it possible for federal funding that is specifically designed to prevent unintended pregnancy and promote reproductive health to now be used for anything but that.

The rule would also require entities that receive family planning funding, like Planned Parenthood, to certify that they will not refuse to hire nurses and other providers who object to abortion and even certain types of birth control. Between deceptive "crisis pregnancy centers" delivering woefully incomplete care and legitimate health centers with extremely limited funding, hundreds of thousands of women are at enormous risk.

You can go here to add your input to a massive public outcry being organized by Planned Parenthood.

disheartening

2008-05-28T13:53:00.008-04:00

I'm sorry I haven't posted in awhile. Truthfully, I've been burnt out on activism. I'm tired of saying the same thing and not getting heard or brushed off. An activist can only fight the good fight for so long without facing bouts of disillusionment. The political race has made me feel this way. Never before have I been so upset about certain things, but utterly unable to eloquently describe my position.

Politics is not always right v. wrong (not that anything is that simple, but usually there are big pros and cons to issues). Political races aren't always as obvious as glaring human rights violations. I don't have a passion for politics necessarily. I care much more about the issues than the process or the candidates. This unique and close-running presidential race has brought out fiery support on all sides, and good for it! But it makes me truly disheartened when I feel like I'm fighting my fellow Democrats.

This video below is just one example of what I've been trying to say. It is for everyone who keeps claiming that sexism doesn't exist, or isn't really a big deal. But you know what, the people who think that can't see it even when it's right there, because they don't want to see it. They're so blinded by their own entitlement and "that's just the way it is" that they just can't see it. So this isn't for them. It's for me, and others who notice this too, in the hopes that if we talk about it enough, perhaps some real change can be made. That's what anyone trying to make big change can hope for.

I'm also really tired of my thread on sexism being hijacked by people saying "but what about all the racism?" This particular post is not about racism. Certainly racism deserves discussion all on its own, but this is not a post about sexism v. racism. It isn't just one or the other. My bringing attention to the rampant, latent, sexism does not somehow detract from the obvious or latent racism. Precisely my point is that misogyny in this country and world are far more hidden and layered than racism and needs pointing out.

Food Rationing?

2008-04-22T09:00:00.002-04:00

Apparently there is a Matzo shortage. You'll be happy to know that our friendly neighborhood Carytown Kroger has a table with the product prominently displayed near the checkouts. In related news, the radio this morning told me there is food rationing happening in the Northeast and the West for items like rice and flour and some others. I don't really understand this, and there were no details. I don't want to get all DOOM AND GLOOM RECESSION ZOMG, THE WORLD IS ENDING, but are we really getting to the point of food rationing? Gas prices at $4, we're running out of oil, food prices are up, the world hates us, etc. Have we really just had our heads up our asses all this time? Should we be surprised at some of these things? I know for many of my generation, the idea of food rationing is just inconceivable. We've never known a world when things weren't plentiful. Last night at the grocery store, there were slim pick-ins. The banana section was completely empty and there was some note about there being a problem somewhere. Should we be expecting this more and more? Or is this just a series of isolated incidents?

David vs Goliath

2008-03-21T08:38:00.003-04:00

You go, Baristas
Starbucks Ordered to Pay Back Tips

I have been a barista since I was 13. I've worked at Starbucks and at independents. I have a lot of respect and love for Starbucks. When I worked there, Shift Supervisors were not allowed tips, and I assumed that was SBUX policy. Apparently, according to the article, it's also a state law in some states regarding supervisors and tips. Good for the front lines for fighting it and winning.

Starbucks is great because they give you health and dental insurance for cheap if you work 20 hours a week. There are only a handful of large companies who do that. That's why I worked there when my non profit jobs were part-time. Sadly, the wages ARE low, so every bit of the tips helps.

The Glorified Life of a Call Girl

2008-03-17T08:37:00.007-04:00

I am so angry about this article. The more I read, the angrier I got. I'm not sure I can put into words how bad an idea this whole thing is. Every time a sex scandal involving "escorts" comes up in the news, the media goes on a whole run of glorifying and giving fame to the idea of prostitution as if it's commonplace, as if it's just another job, as if it's not extremely telling of how strong the patriarchy is that things like this still exist.

Did I mention I was angry? Women like this one are delusional. They are setting a terrible, law-breaking, unsafe, misogynistic, degrading example for women, girls, and everyone else.

The article is here.

This woman, who says that Pretty Woman is a the world's best fairy tale, who tells of a fellow sex class women who "lived happily ever after with a client". She's in the news, she's got a book deal. Somehow, she's more legit because she went to jail for a laughable 26 days (“Three more days than Paris Hilton!” she says, as if it's a thing of pride.)

When asked if the movie Pretty Woman is realistic, she replies:

It actually happens. There was a girl I knew who worked for the agency, who had a booking with a client, went on a date. They fell in love, and he whisked her off to London. They have a house in London, a house in Paris and a house in New York, and they’re getting married. Isn’t that great?

I'm sure this now-married woman is an equal partner in this sham of a marriage. What do you tell people who ask how you met? And if you have children? What kind of message are you sending? How many other women who are a part of the sex class get book deals and fame and get to rave about how this wonderful job of theirs allowed them to fall in love, buy Manolos, and travel the world?

Please tell me that someone besides me sees the utter bullshit in this presentation of how to sell your body to skeezy men and live the life of a fairy tale.

This woman even claims that she probably saved some marriages, since men who wanted to cheat would see her instead of sleeping with their secretary. Look at what she says:

A lot of the married guys, one of the things I used to believe at the time was that I was actually doing a service for these guys, because rather than having an affair with their secretary and potentially ruining their lives, they would come see me, satisfy their needs physically and some of the companionship they wanted — going on a date, having fun, relaxing — and being able to sustain their marriage. Apparently that’s what some people need.

What some people need is to cheat? To think so little of womankind and of the person they chose to marry to have sex with someone for money? That's calculated cheating. That's not a "whoops I drank too much and went home with that girl at the bar." That's a man who has learned that his position in a patriarchy allows him to have a woman on-call for sex and to patronizingly spend time with him and make him feel important as a result of his money and his gender.

I can believe that women who are in bad situations will justify a lot of things, and will make themselves believe whatever they need to believe to survive, but in this woman's case, I think she truly believes these things are true. That she wasn't selling her body and her dignity for the enjoyment of rich, despicable men.

Now before anyone jumps on me and says, "But what about the women? Have you no sympathy for them?" I do. These women, fame or not, are still prostitutes, and are not in a good place. I'd hope that this press would call attention to the fact that most of these women are exploited, and perhaps some change could come from it. Women do not choose to become prostitutes because they feel like they have options. It is not an ambition. It is for the lowest, poorest class of women, those who feel they have no other choice. My point has always been, until we have an equal society, there is nothing empowering about prostitution. It is not something we should be lauding. It is not a desirable part of society.

Oh Jezebel

2008-03-06T15:18:00.007-05:00

I recently started reading a blog called Jezebel, and I love that they cover everything from politics to fashion to sex and more. A comment they made about an article they found on revirginization made me snicker. I enjoy Jezebel's honest, sarcastic, and conversational commentary.

The site they discuss is about "renewed virgins" who've "found" their virginity again and mentions that some women even have surgical "replacement" of their hymens (we'll talk about how that's problematic later). Jezebel notes how one woman gave her newly intact hymen to her husband as an anniversary gift.

Jezebel's response: Why is an intact vagina a present? Is sex only meaningful when dudes get all Star Trek and boldly go where no man has gone before? Does Jesus give a sh*t about your hymen?

Schools of thought (that might be a stretch) like the site they reference are why Americans, and especially women, have such screwed up notions of sexuality and self-worth.

Anyway, we both felt immediately guilty about it and cried and prayed for forgiveness. However, it lowered self-respect in both of us so that over the next year, it became easier for us to have sex because "we had already done it." It's not that we had sex all that often... but mostly when, 1. We didn't have a plan for the evening, and 2. No one was around.
And the sex wasn't even all that pleasurable at first... no one told me it would hurt or that it would be so much work! We felt pressure to try to "get it right," and I know it would frustrate him if I wasn't fulfilled... he felt like he wasn't good enough. We'd try so hard to feel the pleasure during sex, but we'd feel so guilty about it afterward. The strain between us started to grow. We really startedsecond-guessing each other and our entire relationship. Our relationship had originally began on the basis of the love of God... we had grown SO much together, spiritually and mentally. We used to challenge each other with our readings and have the best discussions.

That poor girl. See, no one ever taught her to love her body and that what the human body desires is natural and okay. Relationships are not based on mutual love of God. That's what churches are for. Relationships are more complicated than just one shared interest and include sexual attraction, and hey, sometimes relationships even fail, with or without sex. Sigh.

There's just so much to say about this that it makes me tired. I'm in support of saving yourself for the right person who you love/care about/like a lot/trust/is not a douche, but marriage does not automatically make those things true.

Oh yeah, and the whole, intact hymen thing. We are a species that just loves making absolutes out of imprecise terms, aren't we? (see: The Bible, race, sexuality, gender roles) Some women aren't even born with a hymen, and the absence of one is not the definitive definition of "de-virginized." I was pretty sure it was common knowledge from 6th grade health class (oh wait, many states don't allow those either) that a hymen could break from vigorous exercise or horseback riding.

Should college not be for everyone?

2008-02-20T12:34:00.004-05:00

I have a friend who claims that not everyone should be going to college. His point is that students are shuffled, en masse, to University, even when they don't have the motivation, grades, ambition, or skills to be there, and that perhaps they'd be better suited to something occupational or technical.

I can't say I disagree with him completely, but as a proponent of higher education (hey, I work there!), it's hard for me not to think, "Yes, come children, come to college, the bastion of learning and experience that it is. There is room for all!"

I was a motivated student. I am a bit of a nerd. I like school. I'm good at school. Not everyone is, which I have trouble understanding sometimes. I'd hate to narrow opportunities for students, but my friend has a point in that we don't advertise the OT (occupational/technical) programs enough.

For instance, in Virginia, there is a huge shortage in people to fill the needed jobs in nearly all of the health fields (many of whom make a lot more money than I do, and I have a bachelors degree).

I also blame parents. Helicopter parents of this new generation of millenials-and-younger push students to go to the big 4-year school in the sky. Higher education was their ticket to a better life when they were growing up, and they want it for their children.

What do you all think? Are we pushing the wrong people into college? What do we do instead?

I couldn't have said it better myself

2008-02-07T10:47:00.001-05:00

This is not a political blog. However, I find that politics and social justice are often intertwined. I have been finding it a painful challenge to explain exactly why I'm so fervent about my political candidate without having the words "polarizing," "divisive", or "bitchy" thrown at me to describe her.

So I was floored when both Gloria Steinhem (a woman I admire) and then Robin Morgan wrote articles in major press outlets summing up exactly what I was thinking.

Robin, wrote “Goodbye To All That”, her "(in)famous 1970 essay breaking free from a politics of accommodation especially affecting women." She felt so strongly about what was going on in the Presidential Race with Hillary that she was compelled to write a second essay. Here are highlights from it(emphasis mine):

Goodbye to the double standard . . .
—Hillary is too ballsy but too womanly, a Snow Maiden who’s emotional, and so much a politician as to be unfit for politics.
—She’s “ambitious” but he shows “fire in the belly.” (Ever had labor pains?)
—When a sexist idiot screamed “Iron my shirt!” at HRC, it was considered amusing; if a racist idiot shouted “Shine my shoes!” at BO, it would’ve inspired hours of airtime and pages of newsprint analyzing our national dishonor.
—Young political Kennedys—Kathleen, Kerry, and Bobby Jr.—all endorsed Hillary. Senator Ted, age 76, endorsed Obama. If the situation were reversed, pundits would snort “See? Ted and establishment types back her, but the forward-looking generation backs him.”

Goodbye to the toxic viciousness . . .
--This is not “Clinton hating,” not “Hillary hating.” This is sociopathic woman-hating. If it were about Jews, we would recognize it instantly as anti-Semitic propaganda; if about race, as KKK poison. Hell, PETA would go ballistic if such vomitous spew were directed at animals. Where is our sense of outrage—as citizens, voters, Americans?

Goodbye to a campaign where he has to pass as white (which whites—especially wealthy ones—adore), while she has to pass as male (which both men and women demanded of her, and then found unforgivable). If she were black or he were female we wouldn’t be having such problems, and I for one would be in heaven. But at present such a candidate wouldn’t stand a chance—even if she shared Condi Rice’s Bush-defending politics.

Goodbye, goodbye to . . .
—blaming anything Bill Clinton does on Hillary (even including his womanizing like the Kennedy guys—though unlike them, he got reported on). Let’s get real. If he hadn’t campaigned strongly for her everyone would cluck over what that meant. Enough of Bill and Teddy Kennedy locking their alpha male horns while Hillary pays for it.
—an era when parts of the populace feel so disaffected by politics that a comparative lack of knowledge, experience, and skill is actually seen as attractive.

Goodbye to some women pouting because she didn’t bake cookies or she did, sniping because she learned the rules and then bent or broke them. Grow the hell up. She is not running for Ms.-perfect-pure-queen-icon of the feminist movement. She’s running to be president of the United States.

Goodbye to some young women eager to win male approval by showing they’re not feminists (at least not the kind who actually threaten thestatus quo), who can’t identify with a woman candidate because she is unafraid of eeueweeeu yucky power, who fear their boyfriends might look at them funny if they say something good about her. Goodbye to women of any age again feeling unworthy, sulking “what if she’s not electable?” or “maybe it’s post-feminism and whoooosh we’re already free.”
Let a statement by the magnificent Harriet Tubman stand as reply. When asked how she managed to save hundreds of enslaved African Americans via the Underground Railroad during the Civil War, she replied bitterly, “I could have saved thousands—if only I’d been able to convince them they were slaves.”

Hillary said she found her own voice in New Hampshire. There’s not a woman alive who, if she’s honest, doesn’t recognize what she means. Then HRC got drowned out by campaign experts, Bill, and media’s obsession with everything Bill.

So listen to her voice:

“For too long, the history of women has been a history of silence. Even today, there are those who are trying to silence our words."--1995 UN World Conference on Women in Beijing

Not smarter than 5th graders or 2 year olds

2007-12-05T13:27:00.000-05:00

Yipes, it's been a month since I posted.

I was just referred to this video from a design blog I read: 2 year old identifies the world. I don't normally post Youtube videos, but this was remarkable.

All the commenters to that video (and I) were so impressed that a 2 year old could identify so many countries, and many commenters noted that she knew more than they did. Statements like that make me wonder what is wrong with us, if as educated adults, we can't do things children do? Think about shows like "Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?" (Ironically hosted by You Might Be A Redneck If's Jeff Foxworthy). What does this mean about our country? Is this just a U.S. thing? Many of the commenters were from other countries too.

Isn't this about more than just geography? Shouldn't we be ashamed that our knowledge is so poor? While rote memorization is helpful, I know it isn't the marker of all knowledge.

I'm disturbed when the community college students I work with place into Arithmetic as their "college" math. ARITHMETIC? Often these students have taken high school algebra and much higher, yet they didn't retain the information. That is a problem to me.

Non Discrimination Act passes House!

2007-11-08T09:39:00.001-05:00

From an email from the Human Rights Campaign:

Today, I witnessed something that just a year ago seemed nearly impossible. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). We are one step closer to our ultimate goal of ensuring that all GLBT Americans no longer live in fear of losing their jobs.

The progress we've made today is historic - it is the first time either house of Congress has passed employment protections of this kind. It took over 30 years of lobbying and grassroots political work to get to this point, and while the bill that finally passed was not the fully inclusive version we sought, this represents a major advance - and the best way to move towards our long-term goal of protecting our entire community.

HRC first helped introduce ENDA 13 years ago, to prevent workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation. This year, gender identity was added to the bill. Unfortunately, gender identity was not covered in the version that passed today, but this vote was a first and absolutely necessary step towards equality for GLBT people in the workplace. That's why HRC joined with a coalition of major civil rights groups who declared support for the bill before the final vote, including the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR includes more than 192 national civil rights organizations), National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA), and the National Education Association (NEA).

Supporting this version of the bill was a difficult and painful decision. But, without a doubt, the only path to achieving a bill protecting our whole community was by achieving the successful House vote today. A defeat of ENDA would have set back the possibility of an inclusive bill for many, many years. HRC remains 100% committed to doing the hard work necessary to pass legislation that protects our entire community, including transgender workers who remain especially vulnerable to workplace discrimination.

Today, we continue our determined march towards progress. And we recommit ourselves to educating our leaders and our neighbors, to speed the day when our community will be protected, as one. Your support has enabled HRC to lead the way in this struggle. We have formed strategic alliances in Congress, activated an unprecedented number of grassroots supporters, met with editorial boards, brought clergy to Washington to lobby their elected officials, and worked with the corporate community to expand GLBT workplace protections. We spent years defending ourselves from anti-GLBT attacks from the radical right. Now we are on the offense. But make no mistake: the extremists who work against us every day will be working overtime to hold back our progress.

Our fight will not be won overnight - it will be won one step at a time. This has been a grueling few weeks for our community, but we have never once given up on achieving our ultimate goal of workplace equality for GLBT Americans. Along this road, there will be challenges, but we must not allow them to divide us. We know we are working towards the same goal: equal rights for all.

We can get there, together, and we will.
Warmly,
Joe Solmonese
President

The adoption vs abortion myth

2007-11-02T11:20:00.000-04:00

From the Los Angeles Times

Excerpts:

Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani prominently featured one such myth in his speech Oct. 20 to a group of social conservatives. The former New York City mayor stated that "we increased adoption by 133% over the eight years before I came into office. And we found that abortions went down by 18% during that period of time. I believe we can do that in the United States."But Giuliani's implied causality between these two statistics is unsupportable for this simple reason: The increases he cites were in the rate of adoptions of children out of New York City's foster care system, not in the rate at which women were continuing unwanted pregnancies and placing their infants for adoption rather than having abortions. Nothing in the data he cites indicates that there was any significant increase in the city's newborn relinquishment rate while he was mayor.

Meanwhile, we know that very few women actually place their infants for adoption. In the United States, fewer than 14,000 newborns were voluntarily relinquished in 2003 (the latest year for which an estimate is available), according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. That proportion -- just under 1% of all the children born to never-married women -- has remained constant for almost two decades.

As a just-published Guttmacher Institute study shows, abortion rates are extremely high in many countries where contraceptives are not readily available and contraceptive use is not encouraged, even though abortion is highly restricted in those places by law. And the world's lowest rates of abortion by far are found in Western Europe, where very few legal restrictions are placed on abortion but contraceptive use and comprehensive sex education are widespread.

Behind virtually every abortion is an unintended pregnancy. The sooner politicians accept that the only way to meaningfully achieve fewer abortions is to do better in helping women and their partners prevent unintended pregnancies in the first place, the better.

The last 2 paragraphs really get at what I think is a very important point for people to remember in the reproductive rights debate.

Slutty is not a costume

2007-10-31T16:38:00.000-04:00

Now the epidemic is catching on with children. At least Newsweek agrees with me.

Some popular childrens' costume names:
Shipwrecked Pirate, Wayward Witch, Child's Chamber Maid Costume and Miss-Behaved

A girl isn't an Army cadet, she's a "Major Flirt," and who knew female firefighters wore fishnet stockings? Even Little Bo Peep comes with a corset, short skirt and lacy petticoat.

Joe Kelly, founder of the advocacy group Dads and Daughters comments: He sees the trend as symptomatic of a deeper issue. "The hypersexualization of younger and younger girls only serves to reinforce gender roles. When an 8-year-old girl can't find a doctor costume because all they have are nurse outfits, that's a problem."
The article points out that most websites selling costumes have more options for boys than girls.

Not that there's anything patently wrong with young girls wanting to look pretty. Child psychologists agree that embracing and understanding their attractiveness is a key part of early-adolescent development for girls. But when sexiness and body image become the sole criteria by which they judge themselves and each other, "That's when we start to see problems," says Dr. Eileen Zurbriggen, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who last year chaired the 's (APA) Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls. Their report, issued in February, declared that, "Throughout U.S. culture, and particularly in mainstream media, women and girls are depicted in a sexualized manner."

This is a disturbing trend. The article asks Are we prudes or is this practically kiddie porn? I don't care if I am considered a prude, this is not appropriate. I can't even imagine what I'd say if I had a daughter who wanted to be one of these costumes, especially when peer pressure is a strong influence. How do you get a 9 or 10 year old to understand that slutty is not appropriate? I know some people don't like the use of the word appropriate but that's really the most appropriate (ha) word. I think it is up to the parents to decide what they allow to be appropriate (after all, I suppose anyone could say that wearing a mohawk isn't appropriate, or being gay, and I see the possible implications here). I'm of the school of thought (and I say this without having had any children) that you should let your kids wear what they want as far as personal expression goes (i.e., they don't have to match every day, they can dye their hair pink if they want) as long as it doesn't harm them or others.

Where I do have an issue is what the article said, that it's not the best message to be sending to a young girl that her idea of herself is that of "Major Flirt" instead of Army Cadet.

More Domestic Violence Events

2007-10-18T08:45:00.000-04:00

Who: Anti-Violence Project of the Equality Virginia Education Fund and The Gay Community Center of Richmond

What: My Girlfriend Did It, a documentary about lesbian battering. The film includes several women sharing their stories as well as organizers and anti-violence advocates discussing resources and barriers from a community perspective. Following the film will be an open forum discussion where the community can come together to explore the anti-violence movement and the unique needs of the LGBTQ/HIV-affected communities.

When: Wednesday, October 24th, 7-9p.m.

Where: The Gay Community Center of Richmond at 1407 Sherwood Ave Richmond, VA 23220. It is accessible to persons using wheelchairs. Childcare available upon request. Light refreshments will be available.

For more information please call 804.643.4816 and ask for Quillin or email avp@equalityvirginia.org

Oh Style Weekly, how I love your spot-on snark

2007-10-11T15:15:00.000-04:00

From The Score: A weekly rating of the city zeitgeist.

Chesterfield Edition: Written Entirely in English

+8 Official Language: English. Kelly Miller, chairman of the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors, has reminded all of us how many problems could be solved by simply making English the official language of the county. ¡Gracias, Kelly! Language to be enforced by Media Watchdog Greg Pearson of the Chesterfield Observer, a fine, fine newspaper written in English.

+3 Official Hot Drink: Tea with lemon. To shake off any unfair backwoods stereotypes and help show off our class. Plus, it will underscore our heritage with Philip Stanhope, the late British secretary of state and Fourth Earl of Chesterfield, for whom the county is named. The lemon reminds us all how good we are at puckering.

+4 Official Road: Route 288. It allows us to bypass everybody.

+7 Official Currency: Smart Tag. Everyone has one, and what better way to painlessly extract the money we need from residents to cover the increasing costs of illegal aliens? Plus, we can use the Smart Tag to track the whereabouts of illegal aliens. And Ed Barber.

+6 Official Church:The Richmond Christian Center. Present it a plaque during Black History Month, which we already support. Doing so will divert attention from the way we successfully blocked the church from buying Cloverleaf when no one else was interested. Then let the media try to call us bullies. Extra points for racial tolerance to offset the county’s official Confederate History Month.

+7 Official NASCAR Driver: Denny Hamlin. OK, this sends mixed signals, we know. But it is his hometown.

Well done, Dear Abby

2007-10-10T10:31:00.000-04:00

Dear Abby is a vocal straight ally. From MSN.

Jeanne Phillips, who formally took over the column when her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease five years ago, has continued plugging the group, as well as its affiliate for parents with children who identify as transgender, and a suicide hot line aimed at gay teenagers.

“I’m trying to tell kids if they are gay, it’s OK to be gay. I’ve tried to tell families if they have a gay family member to accept them and love them as they always have,” she said Friday.
PFLAG director Jody Huckaby said Abby is the perfect choice for the first “Straight for Equality” award, part of the group’s new campaign to engage more heterosexuals as allies.

October is Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Awareness Month

2007-10-08T14:07:00.000-04:00

Domestic violence is an issue very personal to me. Here are a few facts about it and some local events.

Facts:
·Domestic violence is virtually impossible to measure with absolute precision due to numerous complications, including the social stigma that inhibits victims from disclosing their abuse and the varying definitions of abuse used from study to study. Estimates range from 691,710 incidents of violence against a current or former partner per year to three million women who are physically abused by their husband or boyfriend per year.

·In 2001, about 85 percent of victimizations by intimate partners were against women (588,490) and 15 percent of victimizations were against men (103,220).

·Nearly one-third of American women (31 percent) report being physically or sexually abused by a husband or boyfriend at some point in their lives.

·Every nine seconds in the United States, a woman is beaten by her husband, boyfriend or live-in partner

·Thirty percent of Americans say they know a woman who has been physically abused by her husband or boyfriend in the past year.

·70% of men who abuse their female partners also abuse their children

·Domestic violence is often passed on to the next generation: Boys who witness domestic violence are three times more likely to hit their wives than those who have not. Data also suggests that girls who witness maternal abuse may tolerate abuse as adults more than girls who do not.

·Up to 50% of all homeless women and children are fleeing domestic violence. (Schneider, Legal Reform Efforts for Battered Women, 1990)

Things that might be keeping you from saying something:
The violence can’t really be that serious. Dating violence includes threats, pushing, punching, slapping, choking, sexual assault, and assault with weapons. It is rarely a one-time occurrence and usually escalates in frequency and severity. Even if the violence is “only” verbal, it can seriously affect the victim’s health and well-being, so any act of dating violence is something to take seriously.

My friend must be doing something to provoke the violence. A victim of dating violence is never to blame for another person’s choice to use violence against her/him. Problems exist in any relationship, but the use of violence is never acceptable.

If it’s so bad, why doesn’t s/he just leave? Your friend’s emotional ties to her/his partner may be strong, supporting the hope that the violence will end. Perhaps your friend doesn’t know about available resources, or maybe social and justice systems may have been unhelpful in the past. Perhaps when your friend has tried to end the relationship in the past, her/his partner may have used violence to stop her/him.

I shouldn’t get involved in a private matter. Dating violence is not a “personal problem”. It is a crime with serious repercussions for your friend, your friend’s partner, your campus, and your entire community.

I know the abusive person– I really don’t think he/she could hurt anyone. Many abusers are not violent in other relationships and can be charming in social situations, yet be extremely violent in private.

The abusive person must be sick. Using violence and abuse is a learned behavior, not a mental illness. People who use violence and abuse to control their partners choose such behavior; viewing them as “sick” wrongly excuses them from taking responsibility for it.

How can my friend still care for someone who abuses her/him? Chances are, the abuser is not always abusive. S/he may show remorse for the violence after it happens and promise to change. Your friend may understandably hope for such changes. Their relationship probably involves good times, bad times, and in-between times.
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If you are living in an abusive relationship, help is available:
Virginia Family Violence & Sexual Assault Hotline - 1.800.838.8238
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I am delighted to see that The Clothesline Project is reappearing at VCU this year. I'm just devastated that they're only having it during the day so only VCU kids can see it.

The Clothesline Project gives victim/survivors who have been affected by violence a chance to express their emotions through the decoration of a shirt. The shirt is then hung on display as a testimony to the problem of violence against women.
Date: Wednesday, October 10th, 2007
Time: 10:00am – 4:00 pm
Place: VCU Student Commons Plaza
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Beating Hearts--Stories of Domestic Violence. Interactive.

Some of these just make your heart pang. I almost get teary at work reading these again.

Then he turned to me and his eyes scared me. He just stared at me, like a blind person does, without blinking. And he told me he was going to get the back hoe, and after he dug the hole, he was putting me and the kids in it. He said the only thing he hadn't decided was whether he'd kill us first, or just bury us alive.

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Sexism, Identity, and Intimacy in a Pornographic Culture –
Lecture by Dr. Gail Dines;
What does it meant to live in a stomach stapling, breast enhancing, diet loving, hook up junk-sex culture? Why is porn to sex, what McDonald’s is to food? Why does porn ruin men’s sex lives as well as women’s? Why do women’s magazines do stories about the dangers of over-dieting and then only use size two models? Why do the media celebrate Paris, Brittany and Lindsay and denigrate feminists? Why is porn more profitable than the Hollywood film and music industries combined? These are just some of the questions answered in Gail Dines’ compelling lecture.

Sponsored by: VCUVOX - a student run organization affiliated with the nationally-run Planned Parenthood- Contact: Leah Fremouw at leahfremouw@yahoo.com
Date: Thursday, October 11, 2007
Time: 7:00 pm
Place: VCU Student Commons - Richmond Salons 3 & 4
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A Rose for Toni - A dramatic monologue about the dynamics of dating violence. The story is conveyed through the character of Toni, a nineteen-year-old young woman who grew up in a physically abusive home. Although, Toni recognizes physical abuse, her current relationship depicts symbolic, emotional, and verbal abuse. The audience will become emotionally engaged with the plight of Toni as the story of this abusive relationship unfolds.

Date: Tuesday, October 16th, 2007
Time: 7:00pm
Place: VCU Commons Theater

Comment policy

2007-09-21T09:55:00.000-04:00

Hi all,

I recently changed the comments to disallow anonymous comments. This was not meant to discourage discussion or opinions, but I simply do not want posters who have no identity at all. I encourage people to use aliases if they'd like. I value the ability for us to be somewhat anonymous online, but do not believe in commenters being a blind face with an opinion. Logistically, it is also hard to keep track of which person said what when everyone is anon.

Thanks. Happy commenting.

Boys Will Be Boys

2007-09-20T15:57:00.000-04:00

A post over at my friends' blog, Below the Belt, about a Christian men's group that attempts to address "masculine" issues prompted me to post today.

The men's group was, on some level, criticizing women for repressing them. They were using a variation of the argument I can't stand, Boys Will Be Boys. I'm sure there is tons written up about this particular subject, but I'd like to know what you, readers, think as well.

I think a lot of how boys and girls/men and women behave is due to socialization, but in my gender studies, I have seen enough to concede that there are some sex differences in behavior between boys and girls. However, this "bwbb" argument oversimplifies it. It is often used to justify violent or sexist behavior, defining those behaviors or preferences as "masculine." Not only is this dangerous, it is often just untrue.

Thoughts?

Why do hate crimes at home shock us so?

2007-09-12T08:57:00.000-04:00

This sounds like something out of a movie from the 1950's. How awful.

BIG CREEK, W.Va. - Inside a shed on a remote hillside of this coalfield community, authorities say a young black woman was tortured for days, sexually assaulted, beaten and forced to eat rat droppings.
Her captors, all of them white, choked her with a cable cord, poured hot water over her and stabbed her in the leg while calling her a racial slur, according to criminal complaints. It wasn't until an anonymous tip led Logan County Sheriff's deputies to the property on Saturday that her ordeal ended and she was able to limp to safety, arms outstretched as she cried "help me!

Others in the article, including the mother of the 20-year-old victim, kept saying things to the likes of, "I can't believe people like this exist."

"I don't understand a human being doing another human being the way they did my daughter," Carmen Williams said Tuesday from her daughter's hospital room. "I didn't know there were people like that out here."

Which makes me wonder, are we naive to think that our fellow citizens aren't capable of such horrific acts? Has history taught us nothing? Is it awful and defeatist for us to presume that people will continue to perpetuate hate crimes and human rights violations? It happens routinely in many, many parts of the world, so why are we surprised? Certainly this is an inexcusable, terrible occurrence, but if similar things are happening everywhere else in the world, why are we shocked when it happens here? Is that ethnocentric of us, in the same vein as "It could never happen here" or "Not in my backyard" ?

Immigration reform put simply

2007-09-07T10:27:00.000-04:00

For lack of a secular word, AMEN to this:
Immigrants' Labors Lost
The New York Times
(emphasis mine)

IMAGINE we wanted to create a huge Latino underclass in this country. We would induce more than 500,000 illegal immigrants to enter annually. We would see Latinos account for half of America’s population growth. We would turn a hardened eye toward all 44 million Latinos, because 12 million jumped our borders to meet our labor demand.

We would know that if we paid them, they would come, but we would offer no legitimate employment. We would adopt a let’s-pretend labor policy in our fields, yards, factories and restaurants, and for child care, construction and cleaning, with a wage fakery worthy of the Soviet Union. There, the joke was “we pretend to work, and they pretend to pay us.” Here they would work, hard — and we would pay them, sort of, but pretend not to, denying ourselves the future tax revenue needed to pay for services we faulted them for needing.

Rather than fencing aspiring contributors out, comprehensive reform means Congress getting serious about entry-level job training and midcareer education programs for all workers. They deliver better economic returns than border patrols do.

The guy with the leaf-blower not only can learn English, he — like the unemployed steelworker — should have a chance to learn auto repair or programming. He’ll start with the jobs “ordinary Americans” won’t do. But we impair our economic future if we leave him there, imagining that’s all he or his children will ever do.

Postmodernism

2007-09-01T00:13:00.001-04:00

Hi, I'm back. Sorry for the very long absence. I've had some life turmoil and have not felt like discussing the big issues when the small ones were so pressing.

I've got new ideas though and look forward to writing again.

But first, readers, tell me, what's your definition of postmodernism? Now I know you can go to the Internets and look up a definition, but I want to know what you personally consider the definition to be. I've never been able to deduce a coherent, concrete definition. I also think that's a fault of the theory. I know it best to be an architectural definition--a push back against the idea that modernism was too cold, impersonal. Adding more details, instead of having just clean lines, taking note and including the surrounding environment when designing urban buildings, and more of a reference to historical decorative forms.

Much as I hate that everyone uses Wikipedia as if it's an academic source, I was referred to their page about postmod here and think it has quite a lot of information.

Hiatus

2007-06-18T00:46:00.000-04:00

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I've been having some sign in issues related to javascript on my computer and finally figured out a way around it. Don't go away, readers, I'll have some insights soon.

Next topic: "Lil' Bush" on Comedy Central.

Because of the World Order

2007-04-30T11:42:00.000-04:00

This comes from I Blame the Patriarchy again. I know I've been referencing a lot of other bloggers lately, but this was an excellent description of the position I've been trying to argue but not really getting across. People tend to get all up in arms if anyone tries to challenge their individual right to do something, but this argument isn't about you. It's bigger than that, but people don't want to hear it. I'm not even saying this is necessarily my own position, but certainly in all good debate, an issue doesn't have to be your own belief to be able to argue it. If not, then you just aren't a competent debater.

The Twistolutionary manifesto argues that anything called “porn,” whether or not it is explicitly violent or BDSM-y or designed to titillate ‘feminists’ vs. sweaty, beer-gutted pervs, exists only to enthrobulate the fetishization of culturally-generated (and, frankly, comically hokey) constructs. It is readily apparent to the visitor from the planet Obstreperon that these constructs include arbitrary standards of physical sexihotness, arch-backed-heavy-eyelidded-ooo-baby body language, penetration worship, dominance and submission, corny fashion accessories, “the art of seduction” et al — and that they have, at their root, everything to do with a paradigm of dominance and nothing to do with actual sex between individuals with equivalent personal sovereignty.

So what’s the big whoop, the empowerful young feminist asks?
Well, in addition to pornography’s negative philosophic value, which anyone possessing even a sliver of sapience can see is reason enough to give it the old stink-eye [1], our world order is predicated on binary sex roles, one of which is privileged and dominant, the other of which is oppressed and submissive. In such a society, where a woman is a member of the oppressed sex class, her performance of sex in a film which is then consumed by paying customers to satisfy their prurience, this is not even remotely a politically neutral act. Porn — gay, straight, bi, live-action, animated, or ‘feminist’ — is the graphic representation of the oppression of the sex class. Until the sex class is liberated from male oppression, porn can be nothing else, no matter how many fun feminists claim it empowerfuls them.

Or, if you prefer, in order for porn to be politically neutral, it can’t be porn. Merely announcing ... that one’s participation in porn, whether as a consumer or as a prostituted woman, is voluntary does not make it so. This is because the women doing the announcing are, and have been since birth, deprived of such privilege as is necessary for them to freely make that choice.

When you’re already oppressed, it is, in fact, impossible to volunteer for oppression. A woman is a member of the sex class whether she “chooses” it or not. This pre-existing condition forms the backdrop to any fun feminist’s conclusion that her compliance with the patriarchal sexbot mandate is voluntary. She may believe otherwise, but her belief does not alter the fact that patriarchy — a social order predicated on an oppression to which she is already subject — is real and in effect and entirely beyond any unrestricted control she may wish to exert and only too glad to welcome her as a team player and sign her up for the rewards program.

The fun feminist confuses “empowerment” with the decision to acquiesce. This is understandable; it’s the one actual choice she has in this game: surrender, or stand and fight. She doesn’t have to be Candida Royalle to recognize that if she chooses the latter all she’ll get for her trouble is ridicule, hostility, suspicion, and the threat of bodily harm.

Whereas the rewards for surrender to male porn culture are not inconsiderable: social acceptance, male approval, little psuedo-privileges that accrue according to the degree of one’s conformity, and of course the enormous relief at not having to fight it anymore. The if-you-can’t-beatem-joinem gambit has enjoyed millennia of popularity for good reason. It gives the appearance of the shortest and easiest route to life’s rich pageant. Too bad that, once they get there, chicks are only eligible for the women’s auxiliary.
1. Porn’s negative philosophic value, in addition to its general assault on T & B (Truth and Beauty) spans the whole of women’s oppression, from Maybelline to rape culture.

A Sex Positive Radical Feminist?

2007-04-27T16:20:00.000-04:00

Cablegai, this article is for you. Better than I could have said it.

And for the anonymous female poster who commented on the right for women to choose porn, I wasn't necessarily arguing that there was one right choice and choosing porn was the wrong one. I'm at the moment, mostly not anti-porn. But the problem is everyone looks at it as if it's only about individual choice. There are larger and complicated interweaving institutions at play here. Those who have not extensively studied institutions have a tendency to jump in with the "but it's a free country" and "free will" arguments. Anonymous girl (you have to leave some sort of pen name or else I can't keep track of who's who), you esp need to read this part (emphasis mine):

"It starts with the idea that people, even people who as a group are poor and powerless, do what they do voluntarily, so that women who pose for Playboy are there by their own free will. Forget the realities of women's sexual/economic situation. When women express our free will, we spread our legs for a camera.
Implicit here, too, is the idea that a natural physical body exists, prior to its social construction through being viewed, which can be captured and photographed, even or especially, when "attractively posed" -- that's a quote from the Playboy Philosophy. Then we are told that to criticize this is to criticize "ideas," not what is being done either to the women in the magazine or to women in society as a whole. Any critique of what is done is then cast as a moral critique, which, as liberals know, can involve only opinions or ideas, not facts about life. This entire defensive edifice, illogical as it may seem, relies utterly coherently on the five cardinal dimensions of liberalism; individualism, naturalism, voluntarism, idealism, and moralism. I mean: members of groups who have no choice but to live life as members of groups are taken as if they are unique individuals; the social characteristics are then reduced to natural characteristics; preclusion of choices becomes free will; material reality is turned into "ideas about" reality; and concrete positions of power and powerlessness are transformed into relative value judgements, as to which reasonable people can form different but equally valid preferences."

I Never Really Thought of it This Way

2007-04-27T12:29:00.000-04:00

It's a very good point. Written about the Virginia Tech killer, Screaming into the Void writes (emphasis mine):

The Virginia Tech shooter had a history of stalking women. Not just following them with starry eyes as the kindly (towards men) patriarchal imagination paints those poor misunderstood stalkers:Notice a pattern with these guys? Hello? Anyone? These serial killers and mass murderers who “suddenly snap” almost invariably have a problem with women. They almost always have a long history of stalking women, accusations of date rape or “domestic” violence (which are finally listed as “unfounded” and dismissed), and glorification of violence notable even for our violence-enamored society, often with a focus on violence done in sexual ways toward women.

But because women don’t matter, because women aren’t seen as people, these warning signs are not taken seriously. The campus police did not move to secure the campus early in the day when he shot the first two people because they blew it off as probably a “domestic” incident of murder/suicide - police shorthand for “He only killed a woman he’d had sex with before, so she’d probably asked for it anyway and of course he isn’t going to hurt any REAL people, just the bitch who pushed him over the edge.” Because they don’t take violence against women seriously, even murder of women, 30 more people were killed. They did track down her boyfriend to question him, but they didn’t lock down the campus in case they were wrong - they assumed a man who shoots his girlfriend isn’t a danger to any real people.

There’s a double mistake in this thinking. First of all, violence against one woman - even if the offender has a past or current relationship with her - should mean the offender is immediately taken to jail. Who cares if she wants to press charges? If someone starts beating up strangers on the street and the police are alerted, the offender goes straight to jail and the charges are sorted out later. Why? Because - and here’s a radical idea - even if she fucked him before, SHE’S STILL A HUMAN BEING WHO DOESN’T DESERVE TO GET BEATEN, RAPED, OR KILLED FOR IT. Secondly, while some men are happy to have just their own personal punching bag/gun target in the form of a woman on whom they perpetrate “intimate violence”, often a man uses women (or other low status humans, like the homeless or prostitutes) as practice before moving on to killing “real people” (like men, or unrelated university students with a career in front of them, or people with jobs, or chaste women who are married to/property of some other man). Even if you don’t take violence against an individual woman seriously, from a law enforcement perspective and a public safety perspective it is FUCKING STUPID to blow off someone who shoots, rapes, or beats his girlfriend as not being a danger to society. Yet law enforcement does this all the time.

I had been surprised to hear about all the stalking he had done and the judge-ordered mental health treatment, and then that the media and students all kept saying "well that didn't mean he was going to do anything dangerous". WHY NOT? When does it? I thought it seemed unusual that all that was so downplayed. Screaming into the Void makes good points about mass murderers usually having a problem with women. And then her second point how if it had been a stranger he went out and beat up/killed, he would still go to jail without having to "check with the partner" to see if she wants to press charges.

Art as Social Commentary

2007-04-27T11:29:00.000-04:00

I've been feeling very pensive lately, thinking lots of existential thoughts, for lack of a better word. In fact, I don't really have a word for how I've been feeling lately because I can't quite put a finger on it. It's quite frustrating.

As an art lover, I did enjoy the description of this piece, which was analyzed from an art and feminist perspective by Revolution is Not a Dinner Party (great name).

I wish the author had sourced it. She has to have studied art on some level to do that kind of analysis. It might be a bit long for everyone to want to read.

The bottom part of her analysis is what I liked--how it fits with her feminist blog. Her writing:

So, why write this tremendously verbose explanation for this picture? Dear Readers, it personifies the horrendous conditions under which women were bartered in a marriage system designed to benefit a patriarchal society. Collectively, these attitudes still remain entrenched in our society.

We need to be responsible for our own survival. As women, we cannot, in good faith, hinge all of our hope for the future upon another person’s care of us. And this needs to be addressed on all levels in our lives, financially, emotionally, physically, we must be learn to care for ourselves with the same dedication we were taught, as women, to care for others.

The woman in the picture didn’t have choice. In the old system, women were property (and still remain so in other parts of the world today!) and distributed to their masters accordingly. Now, we do have choice, and choice is an amazing thing, it provides for the freedom we’ve been craving.

Patriarchy predates Hip-Hop

2007-04-25T12:46:00.000-04:00

From Hip-Hop, Misogyny, and the Beats (we hate to love)

Author talks about loving hip-hop but hating the misogyny in it. This is relevant to news lately about Imus, and Russell Simmons' latest comment about suggesting banning certain words from music lyrics.

The comment thread on this is quite good. There are lots of perspectives from all sides. Go read it. Really, do it.

I myself am often torn while dancing heartily to songs with obviously offensive and disgusting messages. I recently saw the video for Beyonce's "Crazy In Love" all the way through, and was appalled at how objectified she seemed. And it was HER VIDEO. I mean, the girl looks good, and coined some new dance moves, but for most of it, she's crawling on the ground, making Maxim-cover-arched-back poses and writhing up on Jay-Z (and the fact that he's her boyfriend makes it seem even trashier). This isn't some rap video no name girl--this is Beyonce. She's a star. And still in her own video, she is reduced to the slut class.

It's about porn again

2007-04-25T12:16:00.000-04:00

I am still fascinated by the debate on Porn in the feminist community. This post is more about the subject of rape, which is an area I have strong feelings in as well. I found this great description of why rape may never go away from Twisty at I Blame the Patriarchy. I like her because she isn't afraid to say what she really thinks, instead of being the "cheerful feminist" which I find I (and others) sometimes fall into being or thinking I have to be for people to listen to me.

She writes (emphasis mine):

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: If women were not systemically oppressed, pornography could not exist. In a post-patriarchal society, free of the degrading paradigm of dominance and submission, pictures of people fucking would have all the prurient allure of a podiatrist appointment. It is the rape-based degradation to which consumers of pornography respond, dum-dum!
But I digress.

The remaining part of my theory is that the populus is so desperately invested in patriarchy that they are unwilling, even in the interest of justice, to part with one of its primary cornerstones: the slut class. Patriarchy depends on the slut class to serve as the receptacle for its pornsick incontinence. A slut class naturally implies a good-girl class, from whose virginal ranks the privileged male selects his unpaid housekeeper/fetus incubator/childcare worker. It naturally follows that if you go around convicting rapists, you diminish the she-was-asking-for-it slut class, which in turn, as distinctions between the two become more and more nebulous, diminishes the good-girl class. See, convicting rapists has the undesirable side effect of making women a bit more human.

You know, if I were a little more on the ball this morning, I might dip a querulous toe into the argument that society will never stand for the eradication of rape. Such success as capitalism enjoys is largely based on the wide availability of unpaid domestic labor created out of the sex class. Which sex class could not exist if women were not rapeable. Can you dig it? The global economy would collapse without rape.

Yet another study telling us what educated people already know about abstinence-only education

2007-04-19T15:25:00.000-04:00

Even though the first sentence doesn't really go with the rest of the article, and isn't backed up anywhere (strange), here's another study that says that abstinence-only sex education doesn't delay sexual activity. It's a rather short article by the Richmond Times-Dispatch which I wish would have been longer and more detailed, but here you go.

On a separate note, Brickweekly.com is actually a lot more fun to read than the actual newspaper (and I rarely say that because I love actually holding a newspaper. I think all papers should be the size/specs of Style Weekly and Brick because they are much easier to hold and read. ) As a foodie, I also love all of Brick's food/drink articles.

How Porn functions in society

2007-04-11T15:34:00.000-04:00

Haven't posted lately, so sorry. Been a bit busy.

A friend sent me a link to this article, which is a history of porn and how it functions in society currently. It's a very long article, but well worth a good skim. The good bits are down at the bottom, including this part, which I thought was quite good (but you kinda have to read the rest to really get it):

The power of art is that it lets us see, in someone else’s work, an idea that we dimly formed but lacked the skill to realise or convey, and in this way makes us feel less alone. Pornography as we conceive of it today, however, does the opposite. It isn’t art, cannot be openly admired or discussed, serves only to convince us of our isolation...

As a feminist, I have been interested lately by the debate of those feminists who are vehemently anti-porn and those who are advocating a free for all of it and sex workers, prostitution, etc. I think that gets into a different, though related area, including all those other sex related institutions.

I can see where anti-porn feminists are coming from (and so does the author of this article, but he also has some critiques). The problem is, as Porn functions now in society, it is hidden, dirty, embarrassing, shameful, and perhaps, gasp, am I going to say it, unregulated. The regulate it and everything will be fine argument about prostitution is one that gets me up on my soapbox to disagree with because it is just not that simple.

No time for more commentary right now, but you, readers, please discuss.

EDIT: Oh, and hey look, one of my blog friendlies has a post and a good comment discussion going on about some potential porn/obscene material censorship in the UK.

Military women in Iraq getting raped by their fellow US soldiers

2007-03-09T12:06:00.000-05:00

Thanks to West of Shockoe for the heads up about this:

Sexual assault of female US soldiers by their male colleagues in Iraq is a widely known problem, reports Salon.com. Comprehensive statistics on the sexual assault of female soldiers in Iraq have not been collected, but early numbers revealed a problem so bad that former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld ordered a task force in 2004 to investigate. The military's definition of sexual assault includes "rape; nonconsensual sodomy; unwanted inappropriate sexual contact or fondling; or attempts to commit these acts." Salon.com article
"The knife wasn't for the Iraqis," she told me. "It was for the guys on my own side."

I am so outraged at this! This is truly a case of "if you aren't outraged, you aren't paying attention." It makes it very hard to go on living a mundane, everyday life when injustices like this are happening within our own military. As if the military doesn't have enough bad image to deal with right now. They're not doing a so great job at making us support them with stuff like this.

I've got to say I'm not surprised that this kind of hush-hush and suppression of detractors or tattletales happens in the military because isn't that always how it's been for a long time? An individual doesn't have independent thought--you work as a unit. The military still has lots of "good ole boys club" in its blood. I would think that it'd be very hard to stand up and have integrity as just one of the cogs in the system. As with any institution, if you don't have any power or status, you don't have the ability to effect change.

Not having been in their shoes, it's easy for me and others to say "Well how come the women aren't saying anything?" You can't know how you'd react in that situation until it really happens, especially with the stigma of sexual assault, and how restrictive the military is. As one of the women said: Jennifer Spranger, 23, who was deployed at the beginning of the war with the Military Police to build and guard Camp Bucca, a prison camp for Iraqis, had a similar experience. "My team leader offered me up to $250 for a hand job. He would always make sure that we were out alone together at the beginning, and he wouldn't stop pressuring me for sex. If somebody did that to my daughter I'd want to kill the guy. But you can't fit in if you make waves about it. You rat somebody out, you're screwed. You're gonna be a loner until they eventually push you out."

And there's more to that. Fellow soldiers thinking you're a traitor because you've reported a rape, no women counselors, no way to report anonymously. It makes me want to cry.

And then there's the classic typecasting as listed here:

"There are only three kinds of female the men let you be in the military: a bitch, a ho or a dyke."

This is all relevant to recent events as well, because any time my seemingly liberal, progressive-thinking friends claim that "women are equal already," my answer to that is always one word: "RAPE". As long as rape happens in the scale and quantity that it does, all over the world, but especially in developed nations, women are not equal. This is also related to an ongoing discussion I've been having with some people, and had with some friends at an art reception the other night about sex workers/prostitution/porn and whether that was an act of oppression or not. More posts about that later.

Hate Crimes Legislation

2007-02-26T16:51:00.000-05:00

In Detroit last week, 72-year-old Andrew Anthos was riding on a city bus and was asked by a fellow passenger if he was gay. The passenger then followed Mr. Anthos off the bus and attacked him with a metal pipe. Mr. Anthos died from his injuries Friday night and according to media reports, police are continuing the investigation without any solid leads.

Take action today to make sure that Congress passes comprehensive hate crimes legislation this session. Fill out the form below to tell your Representative to become an original cosponsor of the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act that will soon be introduced in the House.

This legislation is a common sense, anti-bias crime measure which brings our nation's laws into the 21st century and is strongly supported by religious organizations, civil rights organizations and law enforcement officials. It is also widely supported by the American public.

You can go to the Human Rights Campaign Website to take action.

On a related note, I recently read this report at work and was so overcome with sadness I had to take a moment to compose myself. "50 Under 30: Masculinity and the War on America's Youth". Click on the big image on the bottom left of the screen to download the report. It details all the hate crime killings that have happened simply because of one's gender expression, and not even necessarily because of their sexual orientation.

From the report: Few of us realize just how many young people are dying violently each year simply because they don't fit someone's ideal for masculinity and femininity. Yet if federal law mandated the FBI to track genderbased hate crimes, they would outweigh every other category except race.

give what you wish? does that work?

2007-02-07T13:01:00.000-05:00

As someone who likes economics and social experiments and wants to run a coffee shop I had to share with you what I just read about this at this Richmond Business Blog:

At this coffee shop, the java is free

Freakonomics has a running commentary

I haven't had time to read it all yet but think it's an interesting concept. Share what you think with me!

I agree with what this commenter said:

From Freakonomics: 06 Feb 2007 at 10:12 pm # psteinx
...I agree with the other posters that these situations, when I’ve encountered them, make me uncomfortable. I would probably be inclined to overpay because I don’t want to feel like a cheapskate/freeloader, but I’d also be uncomfortable overpaying. Just tell me how much you want for your coffee. Let me feel happy when I feel like I’m getting a bargain, and let me choose another cafe if I feel I’m being overcharged.

Another aspect to this that makes me uncomfortable is the idea that everyone will likely be paying a different price. It reminds me of going on an airplane, where you never know whether you’re a chump or not without spending far more time than I prefer to in comparing prices…

Celebrate Marriage Week

2007-02-07T12:26:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure how I feel about this yet

CELEBRATE MARRIAGE WEEK in Richmond

Yet another blow to us single folk on Vday week. Ha.

On one hand, strong families=good
I think the idea of teaching responsible fatherhood, actions and consequences, and healthy relationships is good.

On the other, this is of course only saying heterosexual families are good, and that marriage is the ideal (which I'm not sure is something we should be saying). I think yes, it probably is a good idea for a strong family, but I think it's rather...arrogant, self righteous, offensive? to be saying marriage is the only ideal.

The org that runs it was originally started by churches, and that always makes me a bit wary of their intentions. I wonder if that's bad. I like a firm separation between church and state.

Hrm. Thoughts, readers?

i blame the patriarchy

2007-02-01T10:33:00.000-05:00

I just came across this blog, http://blog.iblamethepatriarchy.com/ and wanted to share it with my readers. This is its about me:

I Blame The Patriarchy exists to advance the radical feminist views of Twisty Faster, a gentleman farmer and spinster aunt eating dinner in Austin, Texas. I Blame The Patriarchy is intended for advanced patriarchy-blamers. It is not a feminist primer. See Patriarchy-Blaming The Twisty Way for details.

I dig that it isn't trying to be middle of the road. Part of discussions about social justice involve points of view that aren't on the fence, and that not everyone will agree with. I admire anyone who is willing to say what they think without trying to compromise. As one who thinks taking your husband's last name at marriage is a completely patriarchal and identity stealing practice, I like where this blog is going.

VA as compared to other states

2007-01-25T16:35:00.001-05:00

From ConnectRichmond: REPORT OF THE WEEK. The 2007 report Virginia Compared to the Other States National Rankings, includes data on income, unemployment, salary of school teachers and more: http://jlarc.state.va.us/Reports/Rpt347.pdf

Virginia is doing well in lots of areas, including having the top Bond ratings.

Delaware (my home state) kicked butt in a ton of other areas as well. They also have the second largest foreign-born population growth. Odd.

Starbucks in the Forbidden City

2007-01-24T11:58:00.000-05:00

I was just reading an article in the Wall Street Journal about a web crusade started by one Chinese blogger, to remove the Starbucks that sits in China's Forbidden City. I am trying to find a link to the article, but the WSJ doesn't allow free reading online, and this article is from Jan 19th. It's times like this where I miss being a college student and having free access to all those great search engines like Lexis Nexis. Let me see what I can find for you.

The point was, it was interesting that one person's personal opinion became a national agenda.

Tony Ip, the China general manager of WPP Group PLC's G2 Relationship Marketing (that title is long and unnecessary here) said, "When bloggers get a chance to talk to the CEO of Starbucks, they will want to show their power. Then an individual consumer's point of view can become a public agenda."

That last sentence there is really striking. That's incredibly empowering and scary at the same time. The article notes that China is a country with the second most Internet users, after the US. I didn't know that. How startling. The author of the blog said, "Blogging is giving ordinary grassroots Chinese people a chance to express themselves." Which is true. But if bloggers are getting up in arms about a coffee shop, imagine the power they might have if they actually put it to a better use, like for some social justice issues. And they are young bloggers (The Chinese man was 29), so perhaps the hope for generation next to care about issues like globalization and consumerism still exist. The blogger says he is a regular Starbucks customer and his goal was not to drum up anti-American sentiment:

"This became an issue because Starbucks is a symbol of Western popular culture," he says. "The question is, how do we absorb and embrace the Western world without losing our own identity. This is an issue that everybody is thinking about. I just happened to write about it."

What do you all think about this?

student documentary films at UR on Wed

2007-01-23T13:48:00.000-05:00

Related social justice event for any interested:

The Civic Engagement House of the University of Richmond invites you to attend a free screening of four student documentary films on Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. in the Brown Alley Room of Weinstein Hall. The films to be shown are:
- Cross Over Ministries: Improving Health Care in the Latino Community
- Homelessness: It Could Be You
- Not Just Sticks and Bricks: Affordable Housing in Richmond
- Youth, Violence and Gangs

Please join us to learn more about these important social issues and show your support for the student filmmakers. A brief reception will follow the screenings at 8:30 p.m. For directions or parking information please email tara.sulzen@richmond.edu

now you get taunted just for being male

2007-01-10T18:45:00.000-05:00

SAN FRANCISCO - Members of an all-male singing group from Yale University say they were taunted with anti-gay slurs, attacked and beaten after singing "The Star Stangled Banner" at a New Year's Eve party in San Francisco.

So now they're gay just beccause they're in an all-male singing group? Jeez. Or they just targeted the ones that "looked" gay? And in SAN FRANCISCO, for crying out loud.

Police said they arrived and found about 20 people fighting in the street. They interviewed some of the participants but let them go after taking their names.

WHAT!? No one was arrested? Taken in for questioning for a HATE CRIME? What the hell?

Minimum wage

2007-01-10T17:27:00.000-05:00

House passes the minimum wage increase... From CNN.com

Tackling a top priority, House Democrats pushed a $2.10 an hour increase in the federal minimum wage toward passage Wednesday, calling it only a partial restoration of purchasing power for America's lowest-paid workers.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, said passing the boost "is simply a matter of doing what's right, what's just, and what's fair. If the minimum wage had been adjusted with the cost of living on an annual basis since 1968, a minimum wage worker would not be making $5.15, not be making $7.25, would be making $9.05," he said.

While I think this is great, I do worry about repercussions from businesses, what with the now higher payroll costs. This also will be bad for my job, bc the companies we work with pay our students minimum wage, with a 50 cent increase each summer (3). It's a lot easier to sell a 16 year old to a company at $5.15/hour. I'm pretty sure the raise will make it harder for us to find business sponsors for internships. Drat.

I also don't understand why this has to be such a partisan thing. Bush is supportive, which surprises me. I can see how big business is going to freak and say, AGHH, it's expensive, etc, but better paid workers mean a better economy, less strain on gov't programs, more stable households, and all sorts of good things, that aren't partisan. I really hate that concept. Partisan. It's become a dirty word. To be behind things that your party supports. It has taken to being considered a synonym for divisive. Let's look up the meaning, shall we?...

par·ti·san –noun
an adherent or supporter of a person, group, party, or cause, esp. a person who shows a biased, emotional allegiance.
Synonyms 1. See follower. 3. biased, prejudiced.

Wow, that's interesting. I had the definition in my mind not to really mean that. I was thinking it meant just an adherent to a cause, which it does say, but the definition also emphasizes the "biased" part. Hrm.

Somewhat unrelated conversation I had on IM with a friend:

me: is anyone else annoyed at newspapers and online news' sites' attempts to include "technology" in their articles by putting video links to everything?
friend: u dont like the video?
me: I don't want to watch a video. i want to read about it. it's faster to read. and when i'm at work, i can't watch the video usually anyway
friend: some ppl dont like to read
me: i'm usually subject to a commercial first too
friend: because they cant!
me: dumbing down of america

Al Gore as President on SNL

2007-01-09T20:07:00.000-05:00

This is kind of on topic, related to the Global Warming and all the talk of Al Gore, but how could I have missed this hillarious opening of Al Gore hosting SNL and pretending to be President and speaking of the state of the nation?

He's really quite good on the show.

global warming

2007-01-08T10:19:00.000-05:00

I just noticed this post from The Richmond Democrat today about the movie "The Inconvenient Truth", which I have not yet seen, but coincidentally saw previews for on a DVD I rented this weekend, which made me want to go out and rent it. RD says about the movie: Gore has framed the debate and from this point forward experts on both sides will be working to support or refute Gore's thesis.

I liked that in the previews for the movie, Al Gore says, "This is not a political issue" which I completely agree on. We all have to live on this Earth. All of us should care what happens to it, in our lifetimes or later.

This is also relevant given all the coverage given to global warming this weekend with the 60 and 70 degree weather. It seemed like every channel I turned on was discussing this (and I did watch a fair bit of the Weather Channel). The consensus seems to be that one or two warm days or months are not enough to cry global warming, but the fact is, is that the Earth's core temperature has been rising steadily for a long time, especially in the last 50 years or so (or longer?). I feel another "End of the World" movie coming up based on global warming. I'm surprised we haven't had a "Deadly Hurricane" or "Tsunami" movie, but I suppose it's too soon after them to do that yet. Remember all the fuss when "World Trade Center" came out? That was also one of the previews of the movie I rented, and now I want to see it.

One of RD's commenters noted:
The Sunday Supper Club will be having a public viewing of this film in the very near future. See their website:sundaysupperclub.org.
Though it appears that group is based out of Fauquier County, VA (I'm not even sure where that is).

They also have a page of links of other organizations dedicated to peace and justice. Will need to go check those out soon.

middle schools

2007-01-05T14:43:00.000-05:00

The condition of our country's middle schools continues to amaze, startle, disgust, and worry me. This article from the NYTimes Magazine mentions the problems with middle schools.

For Raechelle Ellison, 11, transition was marked by tears, nightly pleadings to her mother that she did not want to return and the composition of poetry with verses like, “Life in despair/I don’t really care.”
“Being in middle school is just like a bird being kicked out of its nest by its mother,” Raechelle mused in the cafeteria one recent morning.

A friend from college is doing Teach for America in a middle school in Houston, TX and hearing his stories of classes full of failing students, no students on task, arrests, and death threats make my mouth fall open most of the time. I don't know how teachers stay motivated in that environment, especially the inexperienced TFA ones. Based on what I've heard from 2 people I know who've done TFA, it seems the program is only discouraging young, motivated people from becoming permanent teachers by scaring them away with these poor schools, as opposed to the opposite, which is the intent. More thoughts to come on TFA later... I'll have to get my friend to chime in on that.

Only 2

2007-01-05T14:30:00.001-05:00

Massachusetts swears in their first black Governor. Only the second one in the country.
L. Douglas Wilder was of course, the first, of VA.
He was even there :

Wilder, the shoe-in favorite for the new Richmond "strong mayor", now rapidly falling from pedestal with his strong opinions and sweeping actions.

Why do you think there have been only 2? That seems embarrasing and disappointing. This is also evidence I use when I tell people that I don't think Americans are ready for a woman president. I'd love for it to happen, but I don't think they're ready. I think they will choose a minority first (ala, Santos from The West Wing?). Colin Powell has been in the spotlight for quite some time now, and there's Barack Obama, currently serving as the "celebrity" favorite (I don't think he's even that good looking).

Favorite quotes

2007-01-05T13:42:00.000-05:00

I wanted to share some of my favorite, topic-related quotes here. Feel free to comment or add your own.

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for enough good men to do nothing. "
- Edmund Burke
(definitely relevant to the idea of this blog..I think I might add it to the title)

"What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal."
— Albert Pike, Scottish Rite Freemason (1809-1891)
(a quote I live by in my professional life)

"To be nobody-but-yourself — in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else — means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting."
— e e cummings, poet, artist, playwright and novelist (1894-1962)

"I've got all the money I'll ever need, if I die by four o'clock."
-- Henny Youngman
(related to our continued pattern of living beyond our needs)

"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself."
— Count Leo Tolstoy, Russian novelist (1828-1910)
(ah, so true)

First Blog Entry

2007-01-05T13:27:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the first entry in my social justice blog! I started this after having a debate about "the issues" with someone I was dating at the time. He didn't really know much or understand where I was coming from on the things that I am passionate about (see user profile).

I also noticed that the students I work with (high school) and even college students (including my classmates when I was a student) don't seem to talk about these types of issues. Social justice. Race/class/gender/orientation. Poverty. Oppression. Rich/Poor Gap. Education access. Feminism. Equality. What do those things mean to them? They (we) are supposed to be Generation Next--the ones who'll be in charge next of the world. Why aren't we engaged in discussions about these issues? Why are only students permitted access to these types of debates?

Being post college, there are few venues to discuss this (other than online, I suppose).

Please join/follow my blog with your insights and comments. I want us to start talking.