Refreshing

Finally, an article or essay about Rihanna and Chris Brown that does NOT blame the victim. It’s an open letter to Rihanna, specifically.

Sure, I would have loved an angry open letter to Chris Brown, asking him why he’s such a misogynist, abusive, controlling piece of shit. But I like the non-judgemental and caring words Leslie Morgan Steiner sends to Rihanna, and, really, to all women who are subject to physical, mental, and sexual abuse at the hands of their male partners. She writes from experience, insight, and a feminist solidarity that looks ahead to healing and growth. Thanks, LMS.

Teen Girl Found Dead in Army Barracks

Teen Girl Found Dead in Army Barracks. -POSSIBLE TRIGGER WARNING-

Funny how they found no “outward signs of physical trauma” on the two girls’ bodies….Yet another case of the armed forces sweeping an on-base rape or sexual assault under the rug. Many of these male soldiers will stop at nothing to get access to women’s and girls’ bodies.

Western Democracy At It’s Best!

So some fucker from ::WARNING – POSSIBLE TRIGGERING EFFECT:: the CIA decides that date raping two Muslim Algerian women is a great way to root out terrorists and instill democracy in the Middle East North Africa.  Of course, the CIA refuses to hold an investigation.  This is yet another example of the U.S. government turning a blind eye to the injustices it enacts against folks, specifically women, in non-Western countries.

Isobel Coleman is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and specializes in women’s issues in the Middle East (I would say rape is a “men’s issue” too…but anyway…).  Here’s an excerpt from the article:

“Rape is ugly in any context,” said Coleman, who praised the bravery of the alleged Algerian victims in going to authorities. “Rape is viewed as very shameful to women, and I think this is an opportunity for the U.S. to show how seriously it takes the issue of rape,” she said

I also applaud the bravery of these two women, Ms. Coleman.  Sadly enough, I don’t think the U.S. takes rape seriously at all.  Rape is not just “shameful” to women, it’s absolutely dehumanizing, to put it lightly.  If the U.S. took rape and sexual abuse against women seriously the CIA wouldn’t even have members like Warren, let alone refuse to carry out investigations on the rape.  If Americans took rape seriously, the author of the above article would not be calling Warrens possible tapings of his raping these two women “sex tapes.”  It’s not sex, ffs, it’s RAPE.

What’s really awful about this too is that specifically Muslim women are going to be placed at the center of this debate or discussion as symbols or inhuman vessels of the “Muslim world” by both Westerners and North African Muslims alike.  And you know what that means!  Many Algerians will be using this incident to show that Muslim women are fragile “diamonds”, “virgins” to be kept away from the prying hands/dicks of Western men.  While Islamophobic and racist folks from the U.S. will either deny the two women’s allegations (but, of course, women, especially brown women, always lie :/) OR say that the CIA operative (Warren) was simply a “bad apple” and that “those Muslims” should be grateful the CIA is enabling democracy in their “evil” tyrannical country, thereby belittling the claims and sufferings of these two women.

I would also like to bring up the fact that Algeria is being implicitly referred to as being part of the “Middle East” in this article, and by the U.S. government….WHY?  Algeria is in northwest Africa.  It’s more European than Middle Eastern, geographically-speaking.  Or does the fact that a country has a predominantly Muslim populace and lots of couscous suddenly make it “Middle Eastern”?  The ignorance!

And there are about 170 comments in the ABC news story comment section for this article, which I will not even bother glancing at, lest I have an aneurism.

People drive me nuckin’ futs sometimes…

The fucker....and a map of Algeria.

Racist DJ in Arizona Makes Rape Jokes

Did I mention I spent a great deal of my upper-middle class sandnigger childhood in Arizona? Let me just give you an idea of what white males are like there. Here is the story, courtesy of WOC PhD (thanks Prof ):

http://profbw.wordpress.com/2008/07/25/another-public-figure-thinks-rape-jokes-are-funny/

Hi, my name is Jon Justice and I am a sexist racist clusterfuck

Oh, I forgot, most white males are basically like this, on a continuum. Also note that violence against women of color, specifically Latina women near the U.S./Mexico border, is rampant. Coyotes, white vigilantes, and police officers frequently rape, torture, and abuse Mexican and Central American women trying to cross the border.

http://www.change-links.org/Violence.html

http://www.libertadlatina.org/Crisis_Lat_Mexico_Juarez_Femicide.htm

Haha, so fuckin funny :/

I hate girls but I want one!

Another great example of male arrogance and privilege courtesy of craigslist.
Asshole #2 on Craigslist:

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/m4w/769379944.html

I could barely get through the first quarter of his commandments and I was simultaneously yawning and experiencing a “WTF?” moment.
What is it with guys? Really…This craigslist entry is a great example of their male entitlement. They think they can tell women what’s good for them, and then turn around and make fun of them for not knowing what’s good for themselves.
mAndrea says it best in one of her posts:

What kind of character trait is required before one can eliminate all educational opportunites for a group, and then turn around and laugh at that group because they have no education?

What kind of character trait is required before one can eliminate all job opportunities for a group, and then turn around and laugh at them because they have no alternative but to use the only thing they do have – their body – as a bargaining tool?

Really, what kind of character trait is required before one can be that much of an asshole? Because whatever kind it is, men sure do have an abundance.

Not My Nigel

Men rape. Yeah. You fuckin heard me. MEN RAPE. Men fucking rape. Men rape women and girls. Subject verb object. Strangely enough, in discussions of rape, the subject seems to have suddenly disappeared from the equation.

It took me a long time to really realize that rape can’t really happen on the incredibly grandiose scale that it does without a lot of damned men raping lots of women. It doesn’t matter that a male just happens to be your father, brother, son, uncle, boyfriend, whatever. They can rape, and many of them are intent on raping women and girls. Coming to this realization when it comes to the men in my life is a real struggle, and it’s incredibly hard to grasp and accept. But grasp and accept I will. Because if I don’t recognize that many, if not most, men rape or are intent to rape then I am doing a real disservice to women and girls all around me who have been the victims of rape.
When we know that roughly 6 out of 10 men are willing to rape a woman if said males know they can get away with it (I remember distinctly a study once done at a Rhode Island college or institution showing that 60% of males polled said they would rape a woman if they knew they could get away with it)*, then why the hell are some of us feminists so hell-bent on defending men? Why do some of us respond by saying that there’s a small number of men that don’t, or would not, rape? And what is that barely 40% of men who have not or would not rape (on account of not being caught for the act, FFS) doing or not doing about their male friends, family, and coworkers raping women?:

http://witchywoo.wordpress.com/2008/07/13/much-is-being-made-of/#comments

So take 10 men or boys in a room. At least 6 of those men or boys would rape a woman if they knew they could get away with it. Let’s let that marinade a little, shall we? How many men do you walk by in public each day? How many men do you have in your family? How many boyfriends? Spouses? How many do you think have raped or will rape a woman or girl in their lifetime? We always talk about how many women get raped (as if by some invisible, intangible fuckin force) but let’s just get down to the root of the problem here: how many men rape? Because if at least 1 out of 4 women have been or will be victims of rape at least once in their lifetime before they even hit their middle ages, that’s a lot of damned men out there raping women. Nearly 80% of rapes are committed by men or boys that the female victim is very acquainted with or knows well. That means that there’s just boatloads of boyfriends, fathers, uncles, sons, brothers, husbands, and male relatives raping women and girls in homes, in clubs, in cars, in porn studios, etc.

I would like to know why people ask us to be nice to men, to defend the “innocent” men, to not be suspicious of men, when quite a good number of them do this shit to us:

http://littoralmermaid.wordpress.com/2008/07/20/this-needs-to-end-now/

http://sparklematrix.wordpress.com/2008/07/22/radovan-karadzicarrested-for-war-crimes-former-yugoslavia/

http://www.womanist-musings.com/2008/07/colluders-justify-rape-of-11-year-old.html

http://www.womensspace.org/phpBB2/2008/07/21/women-terrorized-under-fundamentalism/

I could provide yet another hundred more examples of the atrocities committed every damned day by men against women and girls.
So I ask, again: how can someone look a woman in the face, a woman who has every valid reason to be suspicious of men, and tell her that her decision or compulsion to be suspicious of men is a form of “discrimination”?

Phemisaurus brilliantly makes fun of this “reverse discrimination” idea here.

So, fellow feminists, women’s liberationists, womanists. Look around you. How many men?

*this is a conservative estimate, 60%. Because even on anonymous surveys people believe themselves to be “better” than they actually are.

Ah, Craigslist…

Such are the self-centered romantic and repulsive seductive personals submitted by arrogant, misogynist assholes on Washington D.C.’s craigslist:

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/m4w/765051690.html

Now, typically when I come across male asshole rants on craigslist I laugh it off and move on*, but I decided to write this nasty little booger a nice email reply:

“Go fuck yourself.

-Sincerely,
An intelligent, cynical, and embittered woman”

This is the response I got:

“WOW..really? you’re not a feminist at all eh? Now I’d kindly ask you to return the favor of fucking themselves but I fear you’d enjoy it a bit much…?”

Haha, oh but I am darling, I am. More than you’ll ever know Who is “themselves”?? Hmm.

Go ahead and send Sunny Deo (sunnyd.rr@gmail.com) your best wishes in reminding him that not all women are the same. Lawd knows he needs more than a “cunty compatriot” for his dating and screwing needs.

*one of the best things to do when you are super bored at work with nothing to do (and if you have access to a computer) is to go on Craigslist and browse through the god-awful “men seeking women” personals on craigslist. You might either spontaneously combust OR laugh your head off OR shudder in fright. Good times, good times.

Who Would Have Thought?

That I would care about the presidential election so much?  What with gender and race and so many other factors that have explicitely colored the coverage and progress of the presidential campaign, I guess I have some really strong feelings about what’s going on in Washington D.C. lately.

This article, by Melissa McEwan (via MaryTracy ), is one of the best articles I have ever read about the important decisions being made, and the fine lines being walked, by feminists and womanists all over the U.S. in regards to this presidential election.

It’s really tough being a woman, particularly a woman of color, and trying to wrap my head around the sexism and racism being made even more apparent because of this election. I just got my citizenship about 2 or so years ago, and I have been so jaded with the government and electoral system in this country that I haven’t bothered to vote. This particular quote from McEwan’s essay really struck me:

Shaker CE once said in comments, “Knowing that the alternative is worse actually makes it harder for me; it just reinforces that sense I often get from some Dems, including Sen. Obama in this cycle, that they think they can do whatever the fuck they like to me, because I don’t have any other option. The worst part? They’re right.”

They are right. And I am not sure I am going to vote this election either. That’s the most disturbing thing about this election: the decisions that many of us feminists have to make are extremely difficult and complex. And I am tired of being threatened, cajoled, and manipulated by self-proclaimed “liberals” into supporting a presidential candidate (i.e. Obama) that has benefitted passively and actively from sexism and misogyny.

This sandnigger bitch is not takin’ that white liberal male bullshit anymore. Thanks.

Just go read the McEwan essay! Go, go, go!

AOL: Assholes Online

Patriarchy says: Miley is being hyerpsexualized as an adolescent girl...so it must be her fault! That tart!

I am studying my GREs (the GRE is a standardized test required for college students trying to get into graduate schools here in the U.S.) and I am working on the section that deals with analytical writing. One of the essay/issue prompts that my GRE practice book provides for practice is this:

During times of war and a struggling economy, obsession with celebrity becomes stronger in the media so that the public can distract itself from the stresses that war and a bad economy bring.

That’s just a basic paraphrasing of what the essay prompt said in my practice book. But it’s extremely relevant and timely, this one. And it is no coincidence that as the U.S. is stretching into its 8th damned year of war in the Middle East and West Asia, American media and the American people are gleefully trashing celebrities, especially female celebrities.

Oh, did I mention that AOL “News” is steeping deeper and deeper into the muck of misogyny and sensationalist trash that is the mainstream media lately?

Yeah. Within the past month or so, I cannot remember seeing more invasive and sexist gossip about female celebrities in my life.
Every single miniscule detail of every woman’s reproductive and bodily functions is laid out in big, obnoxious headlines for all to see. Here’s a list of a set of AOL news headlines shown at the most visible part of AOL’s homepage for only one day:

What Happened To Katie’s Hands? She Tries to Hide Odd Discoloration, But Scientology Rumors Fly: It’s Ugly

‘Plan on Seeing Me Fat … Proud’: Actress Has Reason for Weight Gain

Tinseltown Tribe Has Spoken New Lady Love for ‘Survivor’ Host?

Howard Stern Sad by Friends’ Split

J.Lo Must Not Have Known Cameras Were Snapping (when you click on this headline, this is the image and “story” you get)

And that was just one box of headlines, ONE! But don’t worry folks, it gets better:

Underneath a headline about the prospects of a male olympian athlete, and one about how a female tennis player cried because she lost a play or game, there is “Danica Gets Into ‘Heated’ Exchange: Why Did Female Driver Snap at Her?”

Mary-Kate’s Odd Boots Cause Stir

I won’t make you read the poorly written excuses-for-articles that numerous idiots from the AP or AOL crank out. You don’t even have to read the articles (unless you want to sponateously combust) to understand this: AOL wants to remind you that women suck hairy ass. Why? They get “too emotional” and “catty” when playing sports. Hell, the female celebrities that are conventionally pretty and fitting somewhat into their roles (like Katie Holmes, and JLo, for example) are still getting trashed all the time, for, I dunno, doing normal things like eating, not wearing makeup, talking. FFS.

You’re damned if you do, and damned if you don’t. This is the fate of women in the patriarchy. Yes, even if you are white and middle/upper class. Even if you’re a celebrity. Because when you’re a woman, even your racial and class privilege, even your celebrity, is revokable. It seems to me that the only reason there are females who are made into celebrities is so that men, and, by extension, the media, can piss and shit all over these women after placing them up on gilded pedestals.

And you know what’s even more sad? Is that there are quite a few folks out there who think these female celebrities are “empowered.” Empowered because of what? Their money? Their expensive clothes? The predominantly male attention they are getting?…

Here’s what I got when I googled images of “female celebrities.”

Here’s what I got when I googled images of “male celebrities.”

Interesting, huh?

So, tell me, what do you think about female celebrities and their status in Western culture (I am thinking the female celebrity gossip and attacks are prevalent in Europe and the UK too)? Do you think they can be empowered?

Oh, and poor Howard fuckin Stern, he’s “sad.” Boo f’*n hoo. I hope he croaks soon.

I love love love Staceyann Chin

Listen to her. You will see that her passionate and honest words have everything to do with my first post and discussion in the comments.

“…A revolution once pregnant with expectation flounders,
Apathetic and individualistic, no one knows where to vote
Or what to vote for anymore,
The faces that now represent us,
have now begun to look like the ones who used to burn crosses,
and beat bulldaggers
and fuck faggots up the ass with loaded guns…”

Thanks for the inspiration ekitty