Reproductive Control and Race: the Hidden Side of Domestic Violence

Please try to overlook the amateur and somewhat sensationalist writing style of the author and read this very important and revealling article on reproductive control in abusive relationships between men and women.

Now, for many of you reading this, this may not really be news. Many of you seasoned feminists/women’s liberationists are familiar with the fact that abusive and controlling men use various methods to oppress and control their female partners. Hell, these abusers all seem to follow a “Domestic Violence for Dummies” manual. But rarely ever do folks in the mainstream, and, more disturbingly, most social workers, doctors, nurses, and counselors, recognize pregnancy or repeated requests/questions for and about contraceptives and condoms as red flags for spousal abuse. I’ll admit, I didn’t really think too hard about the particular issue of reproductive control until reading the above article.

But here is a part of the article that really stuck out at me:

And it’s not just about pregnancy. Dr. Anne Teitelman, Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania, is an expert on partner abuse and HIV risk. In her published review on this link among adolescent girls, she found six studies identified an association between intimate partner violence and increased risk for HIV (as in condom non-use). Among adolescent girls, survivors of partner abuse are significantly more likely than others to be diagnosed with an STD.

When I lived in the Washington D.C. area, and marched many years ago at The March For Women’s Lives, I remember learning that D.C. has some of the highest rates of HIV infection in the country. D.C. has a huge black community, and black women, in particular, are at much higher risk of HIV infection than their male or white and other non-white female counterparts. This should be raising a red flag. Nay, sounding an alarm call!

So why do many folks not associate higher rates of HIV/STD infection with possible partner abuse? I think there are many reasons: one, that consciousness regarding domestic violence and partner abuse is practically nill in our society; two, that much of the dialogue we DO have about hetero male-on-female partner abuse is rife with myths and misconceptions (“she drove him to get angry and hit her,” “he couldn’t control or help himself” “visible bruises and lesions are the main or only indicator of spousal abuse” etc. blah blah de blah) combined with the fact that dialogue surrounding HIV and STDs is also laden with misogynist myths (“people (i.e. women) who sleep around are more likely to get STDs/HIV,” “gay people are much more likely to get HIV/STDs because they’re promiscuous, evil, etc.” yadda yadda); and three, black women (who are, in various regions of the U.S., at much higher risk of HIV infection) are certainly not thought of as typical victims of domestic violence. If you are fortunate enough to even get a news report on a homicide related to domestic violence, you often hear about a pretty middle-upper class white woman who’s been shot or stabbed by her husband. If one was to use the news as a representative of all that’s going on in the world (and, yes, many folks do this, without even knowing it) one would think that only pretty, affluent, virginal white girls are the victims of rape or abuse.

But this is not the reality. The stereotypes surrounding black women include the idea that they are too “tough” or “unfeminine” to be physically or mentally abused by male partners, that they have animalistic or “wild” sexualities that make them “unrapeable.” Add to that the oppressive and eerie silence withing the “Black community” regarding domestic violence, incest, and other forms of violence against women…And the fact that society and the media don’t really care about the lives of black and poor women. These misogynist and racist tendencies in our culture make it hard for people to consider that many black women are indeed on the receiving end of partner abuse. In fact, out of all of the racial and socioeconomic groups of women in this country, black women, I believe, are the most susceptible to rape, domestic violence, and spousal abuse particularly BECAUSE of the stereotypes that surround black female “sexuality” (as if there was only one) and femininity. I am not at all arguing that other groups of women do not experience rape and abuse at the hands of men on a massive scale. But I am claiming that pervasive ideas about black women and sexuality/femininity in American culture have created dire consequences for many working class and poor black women (I am not even going to debate with anyone on the clear link between classism and racism in the U.S.) who are stuck in abusive relationships. If a poor black woman is even lucky enough to have access to condoms or birth control at a clinic or institution, it might more easily be tampered with or taken away by an abusive male partner that wants to control her through her body. Combine that with the idea that black women are immune to, or “tough enough,” to handle such a boyfriend or husband and you have a recipe for disaster. The crazy and disturbing thing is that these misconceptions about black women are pervasive both in mainstream (white-centered) society and the “black community.”

We need to deconstruct and rid of common myths regarding women’s bodies, black women’s sexualities and lifestyles, and men’s behavior, in addition to lifting the shunning silence surrounding violence against women and girls among many black folks, if we want to make a change.

Fuck PETA

First this (watch for 12 seconds at your own peril).

And then this.

Because there's nothing more sexaayy than dead women sprawled nude on the floor. ::snark::

I’m gonna first start with the nitty gritty on what exactly is so disturbing and obnoxious about PETA’s racist demonstration and sexist ads. Then I’ll make some comparisons between the media coverage of the racist demonstration and the sexist TV ad.

PETA held its KKK demonstration at Madison Square, in New York. New York is in the U.S. of A. The U.S. of A. was built on the backs of Black slaves, Native American indentured servants, the oppression of non-white groups in general, and sex-classed women (many of whom are also members of said racial groups) for centuries. And the Ku Klux Klan was founded in the U.S. of A. About 140 years ago, in Tennessee, to be precise. And for almost a century and a half in this great nation, KKK fuckers have been terrorizing folks of color, intimidating them from exercising their right to vote, burning crosses on Black folks’ yards, gang-raping women and men of color, and basically being one of the worst terrorist groups in American history. I guess PETA either wanted to be added to the list of America’s most awful terrorist groups (I think they should), or they didn’t think, in their privileged college-educated phallocentric minds, that perhaps the mere sight of white people initially perceived to be members of the KKK (with white hoods, robes, and all) could be disturbing, nay, traumatizing, to folks of color walking along Madison Square.

But what really gets me even more about the mock KKK demonstration by PETA is the fact that they are trying to draw an analogy between the Westminster Kennel Club’s promotion of pure-breeding dogs and the KKK’s advocation of a (White) master race. This trivializes not only the suffering of folks of color at the hands of a White Supremacist organization, it reveals PETA’s complete misunderstanding (or lack of effort/care to understand) the reasons that groups like the KKK would have for wanting to kill off non-white folks. The Kennel Club’s promotion of pure-breeding leads to health problems for various dogs. Promoting White Supremacy and a master race (as the KKK does) does not hurt the white folks who only want to screw each other and make more white babies. It hurts the non-white folks in that the very notion of a “pure” White race only exists because there is the concept of a “non-White/non-pure” sub-class or race. It’s not like the Westminster Kennel Club is going around terrorizing and raping mutts and mixed dogs, for fuck’s sake. The fact that I am even having to write out the reasons that PETA’s demonstration is racially insensitive, White-centric, and ridiculous is making me realize more and more how absurd this PETA demonstration is.

And I’m not done there. Drawing a parallel between the pure-breeding of dogs (with its harmful side-effects) and the mass oppression/rape/terrorization of non-White folks is such a huge slap in the face to folks of color. Let’s keep in mind that vegetarian, vegan, and animal rights movements are traditionally and often White and middle-upper class. Rich white folks have the time and money to buy their expensive organic produce and go home and cook their Ina Garten-inspired recipes with said produce. Many folks of color in America, specifically Black and Hispanic folks, do not have the time or resources to do so. Thus, meat, dairy, and animal by-products (many of which are included in processed, low-quality foods) are a big part of their diets. To many folks of color the suggestion that one should restrict their already-dwindling choices of foods to feed their families would be absurd. The suggestion that they should refuse to eat meat, that a cow or pig has the same rights they do (when they barely have any rights or human status to start with) is ludicrous and blatantly offensive. My folks are Egyptian. My grandmother would tell me stories of seeing kids and adults having to beg, in huge numbers, on the streets of Cairo to barely feed themselves every day. Being able to restrict your diet so much, based on moral (non-religious) grounds, is indeed a class and race privilege, people.

So just imagine the double affront that folks of color had to deal with when they happened upon those PETA/mock-KKK demonstrators at Madison Square: not only was their systematic oppression, represented by one extremist/terrorist group, being trivialized, they were being told (perhaps unintentionally) that their very few rights as human beings of color are not merely as important as those of some pure-bred dogs at the Westminster Kennel Club.

Disgusting.

Regarding the absent-mindedly racist demonstration by PETA:

Most passers-by seemed more puzzled than offended, though those who didn’t stop walked away thinking they really had seen the KKK. The most common reaction was to pull out a cell phone and start snapping photos.

Police monitored the situation from nearby, but the scene was mostly calm. One shouting match broke out during the hour-long protest.

Earlier, a man strode away yelling, “That’s disgusting! I’m going to buy more fur!”

Good job, PETA. Your members, on one hand, look down on the masses by assuming that they’re too stupid and base to understand how animals should have rights like humans do by making adverts and demonstrations that cater to preconceived notions about race, gender, and class. Ads and protests that use the showiest and most obnoxious tactics to get people’s attention and shock them. And what has PETA accomplished? It’s hard to say, because they create adverts and demonstrations that don’t even get their point across at all to passersby and viewers. All PETA does is offend for the sake of offending, in order to get press time and media attention.

Speaking of whiny little white male hipster brats trying their very hardest to get attention, let’s turn to the (yet again) porntastic travails of PETA and its marketing crew.

What’s interesting here is that PETA doesn’t have to necessarily make such an openly political (I’m being nice here in referring to the above-mentioned demonstration as “political”) point about “master race” or oppression. It’s simply catering to the pornified representations of women that completely flood Superbowl TV and advertising. In fact, they don’t even have to get that creative. The advert crew at PETA’s headquarters sat there and thought “We need naked women, but this time, doing the naughty with vegetables! And then if men realize they can get their girlfriends/wives to shove olive-oiled asparagus and broccoli up their vajayjays that’ll make vegetables cool! And then women will empowerfulmentalize themselves by not eating meat AND showing vegetables some porntastic love!” I am almost certain that’s how it went. Why in the hell would any regular old Joe watching the Superbowl give two shits about not eating meat, let alone animal rights? What kind of demographic is PETA trying to target with this tacky, repulsive, misogynist ad? And what are female viewers really supposed to make of this? Were the folks at PETA hoping, perhaps, that the male viewer might identify with the carrot sitting in a woman’s cleavage and think “Gee, I would love to be that vegetable…vegetables get lots of sex with women….I’ll never eat meat again!” On second thought, eating the vegetables would severely minimize their chances of being shoved up women’s orifices and rubbed against their breasts, so are the folks at PETA confused? Perchance?

While the intentions of PETA’s personifying pumpkins is unclear, the tagline of the commercial is “Vegetarians have better sex.” Yup, that’s what folks at PETA are truly concerned about. People have boring sex. In fact, one idiot from PETA just shows the organization’s true colors:

Says a PETA rep: “PETA’s veggie ads are locked out, while ads for fried chicken and burgers are allowed, even though these foods make Americans fat, sick and boring in bed.”

Translation: “Animal rights? Pfsh, who cares?! We just don’t want you fugly bitches gaining weight and not putting out for us men in the bedroom! Who wants to fuck a fat woman with a cold?”

There is, again for the millionth time, the direct connection drawn between women’s naked (or half-naked) bodies and penetrative/hetero sex. And semen-receptacle is precisely the sole function that women carry, according to Patriarchy (and to it’s sidekick, PETA, of course).

Some people (not enough people, frankly) are outraged at the racist imagery put forth by the NY PETA demonstration on account it could traumatize people of color who have to have it shoved in their faces. And, as detailed near the beginning of this post, I agree. PETA is a white and male-privileged organization that can’t even differentiate its head from its ass when it comes to knowing how to use allusions to racism and genocide (of animals) without acting like the self-righteous white morons they are.

But, alas. What is it about the “racy” sexist PETA ad that got it pulled from playing during the Super Bowl? Because it was too “sexual.” NOT because it contributes to the dehumanization of women. NOT because it perpetuates the idea that women are, indeed, a sex class. No. It got pulled because people wouldn’t want 5-year-old Johnny to see a half-naked white woman grind her vag on a squash. Little Johnny’s not quite old enough yet to be taught to see women as fucking-machines, so says society,

But then again, I’m not surprised at this double standard in media coverage. Hell, sports culture all over the world, and especially in the U.S., completely thrives and relies on hyper-masculinity and misogyny. And while PETA and all of its supporters may fold their arms in smug hipster satisfaction that they’ve provoked the masses into questioning their meat-eating ways, they definitely have no problem in taking part in mainstream misogyny. The Superbowl ad time slots, and a regular day at Madison Square, were a perfect opportunity for a thoughtful and creative organization such as PETA :/

Just to drive the point home.

Perhaps we should all write up a petition urging PETA to quit its racist and misogynist ways. It will say “Black men and women are animals too!” It might actually get them to start giving a rat’s ass about the rights, dignity, and well-being of women (of all races) and men of color. :/

International Women of Color Strike Back in London!

For those of you feminists/women’s liberationists and any other women in London who care about the rights and livelihood of women of color:

Global Women Strike Event.

Thanks to Black Looks for letting us know about this event.

Please let me know if you go and how it goes/went. I am only sorry I don’t live in England.

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.

Let Me Introduce Myself – My First Vlog!

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 :/

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.