July 2010
56 posts
Today, I got a "Avoid Being a [Rape] Victim" sheet from a college professor that told me I shouldn't wear a ponytail, talk on my cellphone in public, or be in a grocery store parking lot.
wonderful! this goes back to a conversation i was having with a friend who lives on a college campus. why do so many things tell women how to “prevent” being raped? men can stop [most] rape. it’s not about what a woman wears, or how she looks, or if she’s a virgin or not. here’s a crazy concept: you have no “right” to any part of another person’s body. not to see it, not to touch it, not to do anything to them or their body that they have not consented to.
Via: femasculine: prettyyoungtext:
Screw that. I put together a sheet of my own from various other sources to distribute to my classmates tomorrow. I would have liked to include a lot more information, but printing stuff costs money (specifically, my limited funds). With some careful formatting and double-sided printing, the text will fit onto one sheet of paper. I copy/pasted this from Word, so the format and bullet-points may look wonky, but you’re welcome to copy/paste/print this for your own means. Here we go:
What’s wrong with suggesting that women take precautions to prevent being raped?
It’s wrong because it puts the onus on women not to get themselves raped, rather than on men not to do the raping; in short, it blames the victim. (Finally Feminism 101)
A lot has been said about how to prevent rape. Women should learn self-defense. Women should lock themselves in their houses after dark. Women shouldn’t have long hair and women shouldn’t wear short skirts. Women shouldn’t leave drinks unattended. Hell, they shouldn’t dare to get drunk at all. Instead of that bullshit, how about:
If a woman is drunk, don’t rape her.
If a woman is walking alone at night, don’t rape her.
If a woman is drugged and unconscious, don’t rape her.
If a woman is wearing a short skirt, don’t rape her.
If a woman is jogging in a park at 5 am, don’t rape her.
If a woman looks like your ex-girlfriend you’re still hung up on, don’t rape her.
If a woman is asleep in her bed, don’t rape her.
If a woman is asleep in your bed, don’t rape her.
If a woman is doing her laundry, don’t rape her.
If a woman is in a coma, don’t rape her.
If a woman changes her mind in the middle of or about a particular activity, don’t rape her.
If a woman has repeatedly refused a certain activity, don’t rape her.
If a woman is not yet a woman, but a child, don’t rape her.
If your girlfriend or wife is not in the mood, don’t rape her.
If your step-daughter is watching TV, don’t rape her.
If you break into a house and find a woman there, don’t rape her.
If your friend thinks it’s okay to rape someone, tell him it’s not, and that he’s not your friend.
If your “friend” tells you he raped someone, report him to the police.
If your frat-brother or another guy at the party tells you there’s an unconscious woman upstairs and it’s your turn, don’t rape her, call the police and tell the guy he’s a rapist.
Tell your sons, god-sons, nephews, grandsons, sons of friends it’s not okay to rape someone.
Don’t tell your women friends how to be safe and avoid rape.
Don’t imply that she could have avoided it if she’d only done/not done x.
Don’t imply that it’s in any way her fault.
Don’t let silence imply agreement when someone tells you he “got some” with the drunk girl.
Don’t perpetuate a culture that tells you that you have no control over or responsibility for your actions. You can, too, help yourself. (Men Can Stop Rape)
In case you aren’t sure how to avoid raping, here are a few questions you may want to ask yourself:
© How do you define consent? Have you ever talked about consent with your partner(s) or friends?
© Do you think it is the other person’s responsibility to say something if they aren’t into what you’re doing? How might someone express that what is happening is not OK? Do you think it is possible to misinterpret silence for consent? Do you think silence is consent?
© Do you check in as things progress or do you assume the original consent means everything is OK? If someone consents to one thing, do you assume everything else is OK or do you ask before taking things to a different level? Do you think consent can be withdrawn after it’s been given?
© Do you pursue someone sexually even after they have said they just want to be friends? Do you assume that if someone is affectionate they are probably sexually interested in you? Are you clear about your own intentions?
© Have you ever tried to talk someone into doing something they showed hesitancy about?
© If someone is promiscuous, do you think it’s less important to get consent?
© Do you ever try to get yourself into situations that give you an excuse for touching someone you think would say no if you asked? (i.e., Dancing, getting drunk around them, falling asleep next to them.)
© Do you ever feel obligated to have sex? Do you ever feel obligated to initiate sex? Do you ever try and make bargains? (i.e., “If you let me______, I’ll do ______for you?”)
© Do you feel like being in a relationship with someone means that they have an obligation to have sex with you? What if they want to abstain from sex? Do you whine or threaten if you’re not having the amount of sex or kind of sex that you want?
© Do you think it’s OK to initiate something sexual with someone who’s sleeping? What if the person is your partner?
© Have you been sexual with people when you were drunk or when they were drunk? Do you seek consent the same way when you are drunk as when you’re sober?
© Do you initiate conversations about safe sex and birth control applicably? Do you think saying something as vague as “I’ve been tested recently” is enough?
© Do you think if a person has a body that can get pregnant, it’s up to that person to provide birth control? Do you complain or refuse safe sex or the type of birth control your partner wants to use because it reduces your pleasure?
© Do you think only men abuse? Do you think that in a relationship between people of the same gender, only the one who is more “manly” abuses?
You may want to keep in mind that rapists are often not strangers.
© 73% of sexual assaults were perpetrated by a non-stranger.
© 38% of rapists are a friend or acquaintance.
© 28% are an intimate.
© 7% are a relative.
Rapists are rarely hiding in the bushes. More than 50% of all rape/sexual assault incidents were reported by victims to have occurred within 1 mile of their home or at their home.
© 4 in 10 take place at the victim’s home.
© 2 in 10 take place at the home of a friend, neighbor, or relative.
© 1 in 12 takes place in a parking garage.
© The average age of a rapist is 31 years old.
© 52% are white.
© 22% of imprisoned rapists report that they are married.
© In 1 in 3 sexual assaults, the perpetrator was intoxicated — 30% with alcohol, 4% with drugs.
© In 2001, 11% of rapes involved the use of a weapon.
© 84% of victims reported the use of physical force only.
Rapists rarely serve time in jail for their crimes. 60% of rapes/sexual assaults are not reported to the police, according to a statistical average of the past 5 years. Those rapists, of course, never spend a day in prison. Factoring in unreported rapes, only about 6% of rapists ever serve a day in jail. (Rape Abuse & Incest National Network)
Plus Size Wars →
nytimes.com
via: supersoygrrrl: (via greengrey)
The market for plus-size clothes is effectively a Catch-22: women purchase less than they might because what they see on the racks doesn’t appeal to them; manufacturers and retailers cite poor sales figures as evidence of low demand and retrench, failing to provide the supply that might meet changing tastes. But correcting the imbalance isn’t a simple matter of translating a Milan runway look into a larger size. It is not because Miuccia Prada cannot abide women who are a size 18 that she makes no dresses in size 18. Matters of image and fears of brand diminishment may play a role, but the business of making plus-size clothes turns out to be enormously complicated.
The most formidable obstacle lies in creating a prototype. If you already have a line of clothing and a set system of sizing, you cannot simply make bigger sizes. You need whole new systems of pattern-making. “The proportions of the body change as you gain weight, but for women within a certain range of size, there is a predictability to how much, born out by research dating to the 1560s,” explained Kathleen Fasanella, who has made patterns for women’s coats and jackets for three decades. “We know pretty well what a size 6 woman will look like if she edges up to a 10; her bustline might increase an inch,” Fasanella said. “But if a woman goes from a size 16 to a 20, you just can’t say with any certainty how her dimensions will change.”
Thin people are more like one another; heavier people are less like one another. With more weight comes more variation. “You’ll have some people who gain weight entirely in their trunk, some people who will gain it in their hips,” Fasanella continued. “As someone getting into plus-size, you can either make clothing that is shapeless and avoid the question altogether or target a segment of the market that, let’s say, favors a woman who gets larger in the hip. You really have to narrow down your customer.” A designer must then find a fit model who represents that type and develop a pattern around her. But even within the subcategories, there are levels of differentiation. “Armholes are an issue,” Fasanella told me, by way of example. “If you have decided to go after the woman who is top-heavy, well, some gain weight in their upper arms and some do not. There are so many variables; you never win. It’s like making computers and then deciding you want to make monitors; a monitor is still a computer product, but it’s a whole new kind of engineering.”
Can we please come up with a better sizing plan for women already? Plus sized women aren’t the only women who don’t fit neatly into one arbitrary number. Shirts never fit me in the bust properly and anything that fits my waist never fits my legs. Anything that’s adult lady sized is always at least 4 inches too long for me. Just because you’re this weight or this height doesn’t mean your measurements are exactly one set way. And to say that any one group of people are more ‘alike’ and another group is totally completely different and therefore difficult is extremely messed up while at the same time, totally inaccurate here. If we completely overhauled how we did sizing, it would work better for EVERYONE.
Elisabeth Hasselbeck: older women become lesbians when they can't find a man →
fancast.com
i already thought her opinions were pretty “out there” but this is just stupid:
Elisabeth Hasselbeck apparently thinks women who come out as lesbians later in life only do so because they couldn’t find a man.
During a discussion on the subject of late-blooming lesbians on Tuesday’s show, ‘The View‘ co-host said that: “Older men are going with younger women, leaving the women with no one.”
Sistersong: A Frontline Report on Pro-Lifers in Atlanta →
sistersong.net
This is really amazing! check it out.
We were quite surprised when the anti’s piled off the bus – all but 4 of whom were white as far as we could tell! For a campaign organized by the African American Outreach Director for Priests for Life, Alveda King, it was surreal seeing all these white folks carrying signs that said “Abortion is the #1 Killer of Black America.” Can you imagine the optics of the scene? Here’s a group of white folks claiming to save Black babies being protested by mostly African American women and men who are shouting “Trust Black Women!”? Once we saw their signs, Paris instantly created a new chant: “Racism is the #1 Killer of Black America, not Black Women!”
The ironies of the day seemed endless – when was the last time Black folks protested at a white folks’ rally at the Center named after Dr. Martin Luther King?
"Liberals" want Palin 2012 →
cbsnews.com
what “liberals” are these, exactly?!? is it just because they hope it will mean another republican defeat?
If former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin decides to jump into the 2012 presidential race, liberals would be thrilled, an unofficial poll released today shows.
From the Frontlines: A Warm Welcome in Charlotte →
feministcampus.blogspot.com
Despite OR/OSA running amuck in the city, the pro-choice community of Charlotte was amazing…
Pro-Choice Charlotte, Charlotte NOW, Planned Parenthood, UNCC Feminist Union, and many unaffiliated individuals who worked alongside NCAP created a dazzling web of pro-choice support and grassroots activism that would eventually lead to the first harassment-free day at a local clinic in eight years. Even local law enforcement which had been reluctant to help in the past took a new turn in supporting the clinics.
Target homophobia? $150K anti-gay donation →
huffingtonpost.com
Following the money trail, the Minnesota Independent has also linked Emmer to a Minnesota Christian “punk-rock ministry” that supports the killing of gays and lesbians.
Learning that Target would lend financial support to someone like Emmer angered many LGBT shoppers and gay rights supporters.
Top 10 Anti-Gay Activists Caught Being Gay →
nuffy.net
Via: browngirlspeaksup: fuckyeahlgbt: projectqueer:
Here’s a list of 10 conservative anti-gay activists who turned out to be gay themselves.
Jury Decides Consent Is Not Required For Girls Gone Wild →
jezebel.com
Absolutely sickening. dancing in public means that you are fine with on-camera nudity? IN WHAT WORLD??!?! oh, i guess in this world, where our bodies don’t belong to us.
Via: caramelbaloney: jasencomstock: adailyriot: courageuse:
“A jury ruled yesterday against a woman who claimed her reputation was damaged after she was featured on a “Girls Gone Wild” video. What makes this case remarkable is that she didn’t expose her own breasts - she was assaulted. STLToday reports that the woman, identified only as Jane Doe, was dancing in at the former Rum Jungle bar in 2004 when someone reached up and pulled her tank top down, exposing her breasts to the “Girls Gone Wild” camera.”
“Patrick O’Brien, the jury foreman, explained later to reporters that they figured if she was willing to dance in front of the photographer, she was probably cool with having her breasts on film. They said she gave implicit consent by being at the bar, and by participating in the filming - though she never signed a consent form, and she can be heard on camera saying “no, no” when asked to show her breasts.”
This makes me so so so so ANGRY.
gross.
Bitch media, Portland internships →
bitchmagazine.org
Publishing & New Media internships with Bitch media:
We’ve got two great internships opening up soon at our Portland office and would LOVE it if you could help us spread the word! We’re accepting applications for both internships through August 1st, and will be doing interviews on a rolling basis starting at the end of July.
Help Planned Parenthood SE Defend Birmingham Clinic →
secure.ga0.org
Normally i wouldn’t post something like this, but the battle for choice is so important here in the south. women have to travel hours to get to clinics, sometimes out of state, and spend money on gas & lodging in order to obtain a safe and LEGAL abortion. the restrictions that legislature puts on a woman’s right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy become more and more obtrusive each session, but that doesn’t matter to many women who do not have the resources to travel to a clinic that may be two or three hours away.
planned parenthood southeast is on the front lines here, working hard for women. this is a mississippi issue, because for some women in our state, the birmingham clinic may be closer to them than the one remaining clinic here in jackson. for feminist and activists in other areas, it is hard to fathom what it is like to be a pro-choice activist in the south. we are the definitely a minority, in a place where religion permeates the workplace, schools, politics, and many public domains it should not. a woman’s decision on what to do with her own body has nothing to do with religion or politics; but that doesn’t stop the religious right from pouring money into making sure that it’s going to be as difficult as possible for women here to exercise their LEGAL RIGHT to an abortion.
every dollar that is raised by feminists in the south is met with countless dollars from the antis. if you can donate even $5 to planned parenthood southeast to help the birmingham clinic, i urge you to do so. if you would like to catch a glimpse of what it is like for women in mississippi and alabama, watch “the last abortion clinic” online at PBS. even living here and doing the work that i do, this documentary stunned me.
An email from Planned Parenthood:
$8,000. That’s how much it will cost Planned Parenthood Southeast to update eight security cameras at our Birmingham health center.
In today’s tough economy, we know that so many of you are cutting back. And so are we. We are careful with every dollar we receive from our supporters, but we’re also committed to protecting the safety and well-being of our staff and clients. Join us in ensuring that they are safe.
This weekend, Priests for Life have organized a so-called “Pro-Life Freedom Ride” from Birmingham to Atlanta, complete with rallies and vigils outside our health centers, and we want to be ready with updated security cameras for our Birmingham clinic.
Thanks to the generous response of many of you last week, we’ve already received $2,000, but we still have $6,000 to raise in order to update the equipment. Please help Planned Parenthood Southeast purchase new security equipment for our Birmingham office in time for the Priests for Life protest with a gift of $35, $100 or more (please choose “Local” to ensure that 100% of your gift comes to PPSE).
Our current cameras are outdated and need to be replaced. New ones will serve as a powerful deterrent to violent behavior.
No organization does more to help women and couples prevent unintended pregnancy and plan strong, healthy families. Your gift will mean that our clients and staff don’t have to fear for their safety, and that our facilities are protected from vandalism and damage
Feminally: If you are right... →
feminally.tumblr.com
This is a great post about anger.
I think there is something very basic that we continue to get very wrong. I think this mistake leads to much suffering in the world. In my years of social service and public education work I have been the mouthpiece for a running theme, and I can’t do it anymore. I can no longer say what the…
They're investigating that guy who put out a "Kill Order" →
dailykos.com
Via: stfuconservatives:
The Daily Kos reported Tom Kerr to the FBI in Charlotte after his Facebook post issuing a “Kill Order” for Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi et al in the name of the North Carolina Civilian Militia.
Sarah Palin doesn't approve of Bristol's engagement →
usmagazine.com
um, not to question sarah palin (lol) but isn’t it a bit hypocritical to claim to support “family values” and not want your daughter to marry the father of her child?
Anti-Porn Scholar: Watching Porn Gets Women Raped - The Sexist →
washingtoncitypaper.com
Via: ihatethismess: differentvoicecommunity:
Interesting!
Layden’s assertion is both victim-blaming and perpetrator-excusing. Pretending that porn is responsible for creating rape victims and perpetrators—that it robs men of “themselves” and robs women of consent—shifts the blame for sexual assault away from rapists (the few) and on to every man and woman who watches porn (the many). The implication is that the perpetrator and the victim deserve each other.
Anti-Porn Scholar: Watching Porn Gets Women Raped - The Sexist →
washingtoncitypaper.com
Via: ihatethismess: differentvoicecommunity:
Interesting!
Layden’s assertion is both victim-blaming and perpetrator-excusing. Pretending that porn is responsible for creating rape victims and perpetrators—that it robs men of “themselves” and robs women of consent—shifts the blame for sexual assault away from rapists (the few) and on to every man and woman who watches porn (the many). The implication is that the perpetrator and the victim deserve each other.
Victory for Constance & MSSC!
Via a MS ACLU Press Release:
Agreement Marks First School Policy Protecting LGBT Students In Mississippi
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 20, 2010
CONTACT:
Chris Hampton, ACLU LGBT Project, champton@aclu.org
Brent Cox, ACLU of Mississippi, bcox@aclu-ms.org
ABERDEEN, MS – Itawamba County School District officials agreed to have a judgment entered against them in the case of a recent high school graduate who sued her school for canceling the prom rather than let her attend with her girlfriend. The agreement ends a precedent-setting lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of 18-year-old Constance McMillen, who suffered humiliation and harassment after parents, students and school officials executed a cruel plan to put on a “decoy” prom for her while the rest of her classmates were at a private prom 30 miles away.
“I’m so glad this is all over. I won’t ever get my prom back, but it’s worth it if it changes things at my school,” said McMillen, who was harassed so badly by students blaming her for the prom cancellation that she had to transfer to another high school to finish her senior year. “I hope this means that in the future students at my school will be treated fairly. I know there are students and teachers who want to start a gay-straight alliance club, and they should be able to do that without being treated like I was by the school.”
As set forth in documents filed in court today, school officials agreed to implement a policy banning discrimination or harassment on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, the first policy to do so at a public school in the state of Mississippi. The school also agreed to pay McMillen $35,000 in damages and pay for McMillen’s attorneys’ fees.
“Constance went through a great deal of harassment and humiliation simply for standing up for her rights, and she should be proud of what she has accomplished,” said Christine P. Sun, senior counsel with the ACLU Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Project. “Thanks to her bravery, we now not only have a federal court precedent that can be used to protect the rights of students all over the country to bring the date they want to their proms, but we also have the first school anti-discrimination policy of its kind in Mississippi.”
In addition to today’s legal judgment against the school, an earlier ruling in the case set an important precedent that will help prevent other students from suffering the kind of discrimination McMillen experienced. In March, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi issued a ruling in McMillen’s case that school officials violated McMillen’s First Amendment rights when it canceled the high school prom rather than let McMillen attend with her girlfriend and wear a tuxedo.
“We’re pleased that the school district agreed to be held liable for violating Constance’s rights. Now Constance can move on with her life and Itawamba school officials can show the world that they have learned a lesson about equal treatment for all students,” said Kristy L. Bennett, co-counsel on McMillen’s case. “This has been about much more than just the prom all along – it’s about all of our young people deserving to be treated fairly by the schools we trust to take care of them.”
After IAHS’s original prom date was canceled by school officials in response to McMillen’s request that she be allowed to bring her girlfriend and wear a tuxedo, parents organized a private prom at which district officials told a federal judge McMillen and her date would be welcome. That private prom was then canceled as well, allegedly because parents did not want to allow McMillen to attend, instead organizing a “decoy” prom for McMillen and her date and another prom for the rest of the class. McMillen and her date then attended the event the school had told her was “the prom for juniors and seniors” on April 2, where they found only seven other students attending. Principal Trae Wiygul and several school staff members were supervising that event while most of McMillen’s classmates were at the other prom in Evergreen, Mississippi.
“We hope this judgment sends a message to schools that they cannot get away with discriminating against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students. LGBT youth just want to be treated like their peers and do all the normal high school things, like going to the prom with the date they choose,” said Bear Atwood, Interim Legal Director at the ACLU of Mississippi. “We’re very proud of Constance for standing up not just for her rights but the rights of LGBT students everywhere.”
McMillen is represented by Sun, Bennett and Atwood, as well as by Norman C. Simon, Joshua Glick and Jason Moff of Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP, and Alysson Mills of New Orleans.
The case name is Constance McMillen v. Itawamba County School District, et al. Additional information is available at www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights/fulton-ms-prom-discrimination. There is also a Facebook group for people who want to support McMillen, “Let Constance Bring Her Girlfriend to the Prom,” at www.facebook.com/pages/Let-Constance-Take-Her-Girlfriend-to-Prom/357686784817.
Depictions of rape, free speech? →
bust.com
i’m not sure which bothers me more, this video game or the comment that someone made about it.
Via Bust Magazine:
There’s been a whole lot of debate surrounding Japanese game culture lately. And reasonably so; as the entertainment industry has taken it too far with the new game “RapeLay.” Without elaborating, the motive of this crap rape game is to rape random female avatars, as well as their family members in discreet spots as well as in public. How’s that for stunting healthy sexual growth in young people?
But when this issue was addressed to the online community, many people spoke up and said they supported the game because Japan has a long history of pornographic expression:
These games are protected by the freedom of speech as long as they are marketed towards adults. These games can be considered an art form, and depictions of rape are protected as forms of artistic expression.
-Anonymous Commenter
Follow the link to read the rest of the post at Bust. I don’t like to repost entire articles or blogs. it doesn’t surprise me that the commenter chose to make such a statement anonymously, obviously they knew that people were going to be upset by such a statement.
what do ya’ll think? are depictions of rape protected as free speech/artistic expressions? and is there a difference between a piece of art (photo, painting, even acting in a film) and actively raping an avatar while playing a video game?
Whoopi discussion - context is of little matter
from comments and reblogs, people have stuff to say about whoopi’s comments on mel/oksana today on the view.
i don’t think that the clip is really the issue. it may make it appear that whoopi is on “team mel” whether or not the comments taken out of context make it look like she supports mel, when she doesn’t, isn’t the point. the point is that whoopi goldberg, or anyone else for that matter, has no right to speculate on the actions of a woman who has clearly been abused by her intimate partner. this shifts the focus from the horrible, disgusting, inexcusable rage of mel gibson and instead focuses on the person that rage was directed at. it makes us forget that no person should be spoken to that way, even if they are a gold-digging liar; even if they hoped to bring him into the public eye negatively by releasing the tape.
it is of absolutely no matter whether she gave the tape to the police prior to releasing it publicly. no one, not whoopi goldberg, not me or you, has any idea what this woman has been through, and cannot comment on her mindset. i doubt anyone who has been abused and spoken to that way would be thinking clearly.
when people say things like whoopi said, it distracts us from the fact that no one, even if they had married mel gibson for money or fame, deserves to be abused physically or verbally. the focus needs to stay firmly on mel and his inexcusable actions. can you tell me anything that you believe deserves that type of verbal abuse?
Video: Whoopi Goldberg blames Oksana →
tv.gawker.com
in this incredibly disheartening clip from The View, Whoopi Goldberg questions why Oksana didn’t go to the police sooner and why she released the recording of mel gibson’s violent verbally abusive rant.
what’s next? “he only hit her because he was drunk”? abuse apologist, blaming the victim, i really expected better from someone like Whoopi, who i *used* to be a fan of. what would sister mary clarence say?
Ableism, Appropriation, and United States of Tara →
bitchmagazine.org
will there be no shows left that i can enjoy, as a feminist? first i partially ruined true blood for myself by looking critically at it and now bitch magazine takes a good look at the united states of tara.
Spielberg and Cody are not showing DID as a part of the wide range of human experiences. This is not about a woman who happens to have DID. This is about DID as a sensitive freak show, and it contributes to the fraught perception of DID. Using disability to communicate these multiple personae, when no one prominently involved in the production of the show has actually experienced DID, is appropriation.
If you are on livejournal/twitter/a lot of social networking sites please read this. →
emigree.livejournal.com
information on a user of livejournal/twitter and other social networking sites who is harassing women if they add him.
luxuryproblem:feistyfeminist: (via lipstick-feminists)
Terrifying. Thanks for bringing this to my and other women’s attention.
Freelance photographer Followed by BP Security and Then Detained by Police →
propublica.org
Freelance photographer Lance Rosenfield [1] was working on assignment for ProPublica in Texas City, Texas, last week, when a BP security guard began following him. Rosenfield was later detained by police after taking photos for two ProPublica stories. One revealed that BP’s Texas City refinery had illegally emitted 538,000 pounds of toxic chemicals [2] into the air in April and May. The other reported that the Texas City refinery continues to have serious safety violations [3] five years after an explosion at the plant killed 15 workers.
Follow the link to read the full account of the incident:
…The BP security guard asked for my personal information and I declined because he is a corporate security guard and I had already given it to the police. Then the BP security guard asked Officer Krietemeyer for my information, which he gave him.
I protested and asked on what legal grounds could the police officer share my information with BP? I was never on BP property. They told me it was standard procedure and I told them I didn’t agree with it and didn’t understand what legal authority they had to share that information.
They said that when there is a Homeland Security threat, then BP files a report. I said I wasn’t a Homeland Security threat, that Officer Krietemeyer had already determined that the pictures posed no threat. Also, I was not under arrest, so why was BP getting my information? I asked the BP guard for his information, which he gave me: Gary Stief, BP Security…
Sharron Angle’s Advice to 13 Year Old Rape Victims: When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade →
blogs.alternet.org
In a January interview unearthed and widely publicized last week, GOP Senate nominee Sharron Angle told radio host David Manders that she opposes abortion even in cases of incest and rape, because “God has a plan and a purpose for each one of our lives and that he can intercede in all kinds of situations and we need to have a little faith in many things.” Waiting for God to fix things isn’t the most practical course of action for pregnant rape and incest victims; fortunately Angle has another recommendation: when life give you lemons (like rape) make lemonade (like carrying your rapist’s child to term against your will). Here’s an interview with Angle from late June on the conservative Alan Stock Show, in which Stock asks Angle what she’d tell a 13-year-old raped and impregnated by her father…
12th & Delaware →
sundance.bside.com
a short video interview with the filmmakers from sundance. it appears that there is not official trailer for the documentary, which airs on HBO august 2nd.
Crisis pregnancy centers: woman-by-woman assault →
brooklynrail.org
an absolutely wonderful interview with the filmmakers who brought us Jesus Camp, on their new film about crisis pregnancy centers, 12th & Delaware. definitely worth the read, please follow the link!!!
I was also surprised how few women talked back. I learned that women feel very, very guilty when they’re considering abortion. There’s a total stigma to it in this country. When I talk to women who are in their 60s, they talk a lot more clearly about the abortions that they had. I found that people in their 20s and 30s are way more tight-lipped about abortion than older women; the culture has changed.
True Misogyny?
after NOW issued their Hall of Shame call-out of the HBO show True Blood, i started thinking about the show and its depiction of women. for those that know me, it’s of little surprise that i like the show. i have always been a big fan of vampires; my common handle around the internet is “lady lamia” which is vampire related (it’s my permanent facebook url, rather than my name!) and my first tattoo was the name “lamia” with a tiny drop of blood coming from it. yes, for as long as i can remember i have been a big fan of vampires, and the supernatural in general.
i’m a huge buffy the vampire slayer fan. i watch the vampire diaries on the WB not because it’s that good but because as a kid LJ Smith was one of my favorite writers; the show is based on her vampires diaries trilogy. actually, “lamia” is because of LJ Smith as well. what i always liked about LJ’s books (i still own each and every one of them) was that her female characters were strong, complicated and real. they were teenage girls that a teenage girl could truly identify with. long before the edward/jacob bullshit, she had a female protagonist that never betrayed her boyfriend for the sexy supernatural dude that kidnapped her and all her friends because he had to have her. at the age of twelve, i was thinking “ditch the nice boyfriend and live with the sexy demon that kidnapped and stalked you!” but i understand at the age of thirty why it’s so important that the character never did. LJ’s young women were strong and smart; they fought their own fights and they usually saved the guys.
when i watched True Blood for the first time, i understood what all the buzz was about. the show, it seemed to me, was a brilliant analogy for being gay in America. vampires had “come out of the coffin”, they were trying to pass the vampire rights amendment, and they couldn’t marry. how fresh and great was this?! then on my vacation road trip two weeks ago, i began listening to the books on mp3. aside from hating charlain harris’ horrible writing: “Eric laid eggs in the car.” really? i realized that i really did not like the character Sookie. she seemed strong watching True Blood, but in the books Sookie is just a simple country girl who wants simple things. she loves romance novels, she wasn’t very good in school (but that was because of the telepathy…), and she really likes the attention of all these supernatural men. she’s pathetically wooed by the smallest gestures, she’s in love with bill who in the books is clearly not a nice guy - or vampire - and she can barely resist the attentions of eric who in the books is even more blatantly sexual and disrespectful in his pursuit of her.
after listening to the first four books in the series, i was pretty sure that True Blood was much, much better than the books. perhaps it is, writing-wise, but when it comes to the portrayal of female characters it is still sadly and pretty obviously misogynistic if you pay any attention at all to it. here’s my breakdown of the True Blood characters, given a little thought.
- Sookie - the protagonist. she’d probably prefer to be called “heroine”. Sookie is devoted to the men in her life, most notably her boyfriend bill, the vampire and her brother jason who is a womanizer. True Blood sookie is much stronger than the sookie of the books, but she is still lifeless without bill and the other vampires. sookie has no hobbies, she is a barmaid who didn’t date until she met bill, because she can read her date’s minds if they are human. she was a virgin before bill. in the books, sookie likes to read and that is her escape, but the show doesn’t reference this at all. sookie worries about how bill would like her to dress for his vampire friends, puts herself in situations she considers to be dangerous and that she doesn’t want to be in for bill and his friends, and book sookie is brutally raped by boyfriend bill not once but twice in four books. the show glossed over the first rape scene, we will see if season 3 is going to reference/show the second one.
- Tara - a major player in the show, book tara is not much of a character. (truthfully, none of the characters in the book are very developed.) True Blood Tara is a stereotypical angry black woman who can’t hold down a job because she can’t keep her sassy mouth shut. in the show, tara’s tough facade is just hiding the fact that she is a scared, lonely woman who really just wants love. she pays to have a fake exorcism with money that she borrows from her boss, sam, whom she later beds. she then falls under the spell of a supernatural creature who forces her and everyone else in the town to have sex as part of a pagan ritual. when her “boyfriend” eggs realizes he has done things he can’t live with and dies, she tries to kill herself because eggs was the only bright spot in her otherwise sad, depressing life. where we are at now in the show, tara has sex with a vampire, even though she does not like vampires, and then is “glamored” aka controlled by him.
apparently, human women are just going to be controlled by men but
that’s ok because those men are vampires.
- Pam - well, at first glance it seems like pam is going to be the one female, albeit vampire, character who actually has some strength and personality outside of men. she’s a lesbian afterall. however, pam is subservient to eric, but that’s ok because he’s her “maker” and when someone is made vampire by another they have to do that vampire’s bidding.
- Jessica - jessica is a hot mess who is just getting messier. an innocent girl made vampire by bill, without his guidance she’s pushing away the man that loves her and killing humans by accident.
- Lorena - the bitch “maker” of bill. it seems at first that in an odd way she is feminist, she kills men that would rape her back in the civil war era, she makes bill a vampire because he was the first man that respected her. lorena is a blood thirsty vampire who cares nothing for human life and the little spark of humanity left in bill eventually forces him to spurn her. why didn’t the just call her jezebel? overkill? read NOW’s hall of shame entry for a bit more on lorena if you aren’t familiar.
- Arlene - the only other major multi-season female is sookie’s coworker arlene, a mother who has been married several times, most recently to a serial killer who murdered sookie’s grandmother, tried to murder sookie, and tried to frame sookie’s brother jason for those murders.
sure, we have encountered some other female characters on true blood. there was gran, sookie’s grandmother and probably the only redeeming female character of the bunch, but she was murdered in season one. there was the mythical supernatural creature that thrived on chaos and forced humans to have sex as part of a pagan ritual in her single-minded madness to summon her male god. there was the shape-shifter who served the maynad (s/p?) who seduced sam as part of a plot, she was rather bland and uninteresting besides the seduction and shape-shifting. jason’s vampire blood addicted, hippie, homicidal girlfriend was around for a while, forcing him to kidnap and hold a vampire captive against his conscience. there were the women that were murdered in season one because they had sex with vampires, most notably the one that videotaped herself having sex with a vampire and then pretending to die during (recorded) s&m sex with jason. there’s mrs. fortenberry who is a stereotypical old southern busy-body, who smothers her adult son and is prejudiced against vampires.
i may be forgetting a character or two, but i doubt they’re going to have much redeeming quality at all. yes, when we look closely at True Blood, it’s hard to find the same fun escapism there after really paying attention to what we are seeing. True Blood is a boys club; the boys may not be that great, but they are calling the shots and the women either find their personality through them or have no personality at all.
Court Deals Blow to DOMA →
advocate.com
In a major victory for marriage equality advocates, a federal judge in Boston ruled on Thursday in two separate cases that a critical portion of the federal Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional.
“A prominent female state senator has said that she does not support the 19th Amendment, which guarantees women the right to vote, and that if it were being considered today she would vote against it.”
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—Senator Kay O’Connor opposes the 19th amendment
Let’s break it down:
A prominent female has said she does not support the 19th Amendment, which guarantees women the right to vote, and that if it were being considered today she would vote against it.
HOW WOULD SHE DO THAT, PRAY TELL?!?
(via stfusexists) (via ovarycat) (via nola-darling) (via stfuconservatives) (via ihatethismess)
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More Republican Family Values: Miami GOP Chair with domestic violence rap sheet shown the door →
pamshouseblend.com
Via Pam’s House Blend:
It turns out that the Miami Dade County Clerk of Courts website lists David Rivera as a repeat domestic violence offender… Here’s the question…if Rivera is forced out as County Chair, as seems likely now, will he end his candidacy for Congress? Even if by some miracle he’s not forced out— and we’ve all seen the Republicans don’t have a problem having wife-beaters in their party— will the national party force him to end his campaign?
Louisiana Abortion Bills Become Law →
msmagazine.com
This will also effect women in Mississippi, as many go out of state for reproductive health services.
Via: sluthaditcoming: eatingcheese: onlylivinglesbian:
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal signed three bills on Tuesday instituting new restrictions on abortion rights in the state. The first law requires women seeking abortions in Louisiana to undergo an ultrasound prior to the procedure. There will be no exceptions for victims of rape or incest Opponents remain concerned that the ultrasound requirement, an expensive procedure that may not be available at free clinics, will increase costs and make obtaining abortion services more difficult for women.
The second new law excludes providers from medical malpractice coverage for elective abortion procedures, reports the Associated Press. The third anti-choice bill signed by Governor Jindal yesterday prevents insurance providers in the new federal health insurance exchange from covering abortions.
I’ve said this before, but I’ve never meant it quite so much: Fuck you, Bobby Jindal.
ACLU Asks that Religiously-Affiliated Hospitals Provide Required Reproductive Healthcare →
msmagazine.com
The ACLU letter details several instances where patients in life-threatening positions were denied medically necessary procedures at Catholic-affiliated hospitals…
The case that initiated ACLU action occurred in Arizona at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center after Sister Margaret Mary McBride was reassigned and “automatically excommunicated” in 2009 for approving an emergency abortion for a patient who suffered from pulmonary hypertension, which limits heart and lung function and can be fatal during pregnancy. The patient would have died if she had not had an abortion. McBride was a senior administrator at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix.
