Please use this thread to post whatever you’d like, including links to your own stuff. Meanwhile, there’s plenty of good reading out there:
Wampum: Final Voting for 2005 Koufax Awards
“Alas” didn’t make it to the final round (sob! wail!), but many great bloggers did. Go vote!
Salon: The Battle To Ban Birth Control
Curtsy: Blackfeminism.org
Persephone’s Box: Inside Every Polite Woman is a Valerie Solanas Screaming to Get Out
A Womb Of Her Own: In Which Melissa Is Shocked By Racism In Midwifery
Definition: Trans Issues Are Women’s Issues
The insistence that transwomen are not “real” women, is, at its heart, fueled by the idea that biology equals destiny: the idea that one’s body parts define that person completely, that there is no individual room for change or variation, that a woman is only as good as her ability to give birth (therefore, as good as her uterus), or to serve as a sex object (therefore, as good as her vagina, as good as her breasts), or as a caretaker, a mother, a housewife, a passive decoration (therefore, as good as her ability to conform to “acceptable” gender roles).
And that, no matter how you disguise it or dress it up, no matter what excuses you might give about male privilege or socialization or experience in a transwoman’s history, is not feminism.
Peek: Quick! Vote While The Black People Are Gone!
How hurricane Katrina will help the GOP grab more elections.
Big Gay Blog: Blogger Strong-Armed By Ex-Gay Group
Well if you haven’t yet heard, the ex-gay group Exodus International has served Mr. Watt, and at least one other blogger, with a cease and desist order for creating a parody of a billboard ad Exodus sponsored in Orlando, Florida.
Life, Law, Gender: Life In Hell
Transgender women are more likely to end up in prison than virtually anyone else. The oft-quoted statistic about African American men … that one in four has a history of incarceration … is dwarfed by the available stats on people who are male-to-female, or MTF. A San Francisco Department of Public Health survey conducted in 1997 found that almost two thirds of MTF respondents had been incarcerated. (Curtsy: Jay Sennett.)
Marginal Notations: feminism and authenticity, a.k.a. “i’m more of a feminist than you are”
ASCENT Blog: About that maverick congressman who proposed to censure Bush. No, not Fiengold; Conyers
Why does it take a white maverick to get progressives’ attention?
Woman of Color Blog: a conflation of desperation with enjoyment
No recreational facilities exist, and they prohibit residents from holding meetings or informal social gatherings in the community. As a result, leisure time for males is largely spent drinking alcohol. They prohibit news letters, bulletin boards or other forms of communication as is the installation of cable television services. Many residents we spoke with expressed concern with the level of social control in the community, a worker explained to us that they threatened them with losing their job and sending them back to their country if they were seen talking to outside agencies.
Tennessee Guerrilla Women: 400 Disabled Protesters Take Over Downtown Nashville
Whoo-hoo! They’re protesting cuts in Medicaid.
A Quote From A “Pro-Life” Philosopher: Remember, abortion is all about father’s rights
Both man and woman are parents, and the woman carries the child. Yet surely to be a parent, a generator of the fetus, a procreator, is to have a closer relationship to the fetus than merely to contain the child physically. And we can raise the question, again, of whether in fact such a husband is allowed to live out his pro-life convictions in our society. It is not even clear that the husband is “free not to have an abortion”, as the bumper sticker alleges, if his wife wants to have one.
Bloodless Coup: On Those Anti-Globalization Protesters Arrested in 2002
Long story short, the police arrested a number of people (the article says “about 30”) who were guilty of (wait for it…) looking like they were going to break the law.
Giant Lego Aircraft Carrier
Wow. Curtsy: The Argument Clinic.
New Statesmen: Was It Worse Under Saddam?
On 8 March, International Women’s Day, Yanar Mohammed, leader of the Organisation of Women’s Freedom in Iraq, announced that more than 2,000 women have been kidnapped since the fall of the regime.
Many women live isolated lives, their social contact limited to conversations over the telephone. Those who continue going to work, particularly in the Shia south, can find themselves harassed by Islamic militias. “Morality police” in Basra are likely to stop them as they enter schools and government buildings, checking they are wearing the hijab. This Taliban-style enforcement continues despite guarantees under the new constitution that women should be free to choose how they dress.
Ilyka Damen: “Shut Up, Sit Down and Scale Back” Is Not Feminism
I said I wasn’t going to attempt to define an “official feminist position” on any issue, and I am not.
But I am going to tell you what I think of Cathy Young, IWF, iFeminism, and former Bangles lead singer Christina Hoff Sommers: I think they’re more convincing as misogynist apologists than as feminists.
Pandagon: Bush admin decides that being queer is a security risk
Creative Destruction: The Wisdom of Jonah Goldberg
I have found a number of bloggers out there who are really good at presenting their own point of view, while also being intellectually honest about the views of people who disagree with them. There are also a lot of bloggers (of all stripes) who seem to be victims of the Moral/Intellectual Fallacy: the idea that anyone who holds Wrong Views must do so because of personal evil or personal stupidity.
Bloodless Coup: New Survey Shows That Students Think Liberal Professors Are Fair Graders
Professors who students think are liberal are generally rated more favorably by students on whether students are encouraged to present their own viewpoints, whether grading is fair, whether the learning environment is comfortable, and whether they care about the success of students.
Mind the Gap!: White Privilege Blogging
Reuters: Women’s Rights In Syria
Though such cases are greatly underreported, Da’ad Mousa, a prominent Damascus lawyer and women’s rights advocate, said that more than 100 cases of so-called “honour killings” were reported in Syrian newspapers between 2000 and 2003. The majority of the men involved, who killed a female relative suspected of an illicit sexual affair in the belief that the liaison tarnished the family’s “honour”, went unpunished.
Vegankid: Gender Is Required
This cracked me up.
Brownfemipower: Getting Priorities Straight
Right now, i think that many of us have no choice but to position ourselves (that is PROTECT ourselves) in a way that is mean or offensive to white folks. when i know for a fact that most of the white parents in my neighborhood look at my little chicano/a kids and see *trouble maker* *Drop out* *teenage pregnancy* *poor* *uneducated*, I really don’t feel much like working on trusting white folks much–cuz i’m not going to let my kids be fucked up by *their* shitty beliefs. i’m not going to work to dispell their beliefs about my kids, i’m going to talk to my kids and give them the power, education, self assurance and self love to realize that those folks are fucked up individuals. That way my kids deal with racists on *their* terms, not the other way around. (Curtsy: Egotistical Whining.)
Indymedia: Iranian Police Attack International Women’s Day Demonstrators
Iranian police and plainclothes agents yesterday charged a peaceful assembly of women’s rights activists in Tehran and beat hundreds of women and men who had gathered to commemorate International Women’s Day, Human Rights Watch said today.
Blac(k)ademic: Fuck the L-Word
Just when you thought TV can’t get any more racist or offensive…. Blackamazon concurs with Blac(k)ademic’s view of The L Word.
The Bloviator: Background Information About Wafa Sultan
This powerful video of Wafi Sultan speaking out for women’s rights and against terrorist violence has been getting tons of links and email rounds (the video is very entertaining, but if you prefer there’s a text transcript here). (Note that the link is to Memri, a group that has been accused of anti-Arab racism.) On the one hand, it’s thrilling to see a woman speaking out on Al-Jazeera against misogyny and violence; but on the other hand, I can’t help but be suspicious of a video that plays so fully into a Western triumphalism narrative. For a fuller background on Ms. Sultan – containing both negative and positive – be sure to read the Bloviator’s post.
NOW Breaks With Democrats, Endorses Alan Sandals For Senate
The Democrats, in contrast, are endorsing anti-choice candidate Bob Casey.
TMPCafe: Credit Reporters Give Special Privileges to V.I.P.s
Did you know, for example, that while you need to sweat out your credit report,the credit bureaus keep a special “V.I.P.” list of prominent citizens whose reports are specially tidied up so they look cleaner than they really are? If the big boys never experience the harassment or increased costs of a credit ding, then they are a lot less likely to insist on more legal oversight.
Political Animal: One Way Having A Woman On The Supreme Court Matters
Lawyers, Guns and Money: Should Children Have The Right To Vote?
Pandagon: IWF Rejects Amanda’s Submission To Their College Essay Contest
Gee, I wonder why? Here’s a sample:
A month later, my roommate approached me in one of her usual panics. “Amanda, I’m pregnant again!” she said. I guess she’d taken my lectures about the evils of the birth control pill a little too closely to heart. She explained to me that she had the cash, but she still needed a ride to the clinic. She swore up and down that this was only her 5th abortion, but I had learned not to believe anything she said after she kept swiping Sudafed out of my purse to keep her dorm room methamphetamine lab in operation.
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In the “we are the best religion in the world category,” the Vatican decides the Crusades weren’t really all that bad.
Spun off from my comments on the (really good, but it got away from me) thread about healthy living, here’s more on the looming loss of South Central LA’s community garden:
Northwest Rage explains the issue in short form.
There is a link at the bottom of NW Rage’s article, should you wish to send a letter supporting the community garden’s/farm’s continued existence.
Tom Philpott provides the machinations behind the issue in thorough, if depressing detail.
Finally:
Save The South Central Community Farm. Protest On 3/24/06 !
Ilyka Damen:
“former Bangles lead singer Christina Hoff Sommers”
Nonono. The Bangles lead singer was (and still is – they tour a bit) Susannah Hoffs. I don’t know anything about her politics, but in the absence of evidence, I see no reason to besmirch her good name by associating her with That Other Person.
I can’t complain about NOW making a point of backing someone other than Bob Casey. I do firmly believe that a pro-life Democrat can be a benefit in the Senate to the pro-choice cause. Case in point, Senator Reid. A pro-life Democrat will be better than a pro-life Republican and almost certainly would be better than a pro-choice Republican given how consistantly uninterested the few in office are with actually doing anything about their beliefs. Casey, however, has demonstrated that he would be equally as a bad as a pro-choice Republican. A slight advantage if it means Democratic control of the body, but only slight. Casey is just not sufficently partisan enough to be anything to be hopeful about. I can live with a conservative Democrat who is committed to his party (again, Mr. Reid, for example), but I have serious concerns about Casey proving to be another Fox News Democrat who’ll serve only to offer Republicans psuedo-bipartisan cover.
I’m more concerned when organizations defending a woman’s right to choose endorse pro-choice Republicans who offer at most token opposition to Bush’s pro-life judiciary appointments and sometimes don’t even bother with that.
Since nobody else seems to have gotten to it yet, Sioux tribal President Cecilia Fire Thunder has offered to set up a Planned Parenthood on the Pine Ridge Reservation to serve all South Dakota women.
http://www.indianz.com/News/2006/013061.asp
One individual was able to contact her by phone and got permission to post contact information for interested people to send donations and letters of support.
http://kathrynt.livejournal.com/366823.html
War is Peace.
Freedom is Slavery.
Pro-life politicians further pro-choice causes, especially when they’re at the helm for non-existent filibusters of Neanderthal Pro-life judges.
This was a great roundup– I read a slew of interesting articles. Thanks for collecting and linking.
Thanks for the kick-start, Ampersand. I’m alive!
Reid stood up strong against two pro-life appointees to the Supreme Court. What did pro-choice Arlen Spector do to stop them? How did Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins vote on Roberts and Alito? When Lincoln Chafee had a vote that mattered, what side did he fall on? In this case, this is no question that Reid has demonstrated more committment to the pro-choice cause that Republicans who adopt the mantle but then abandon it in office. Casey has demonstrated that his votes in office will pander to pro-life issues over Democratic ones. Yet even he would be a better option than a so-called pro-choice Republican. Because Casey would be a vote for a Democratic leadership even if his subsequent votes can be counted on to consistantly support pro-life issues. But to date, that is the result of Spector, Snowe, Collins, and Chafee. The have not voted to advance women’s rights but have voted for a consistantly hostile leadership. Casey beats them by a hair, but I will not pretend it is anything to be proud of.
But I’ll also admit when praise is due. Reid had lead his party admirably. He has fought and fought hard and he’s even won some. Even as a pro-life Democrat. And let us not forget that Reid has advocated for measures to reduce abortions rather than fixating on Roe v. Wade and governing on that and that alone. He’s kept judges hostile to Roe v. Wade off our nations courts. As many as we’d like? Of course not. But he fought them just the same. He’s reach across to pro-choice legislators to craft real-world plans both groups can agree upon to reduce abortions. As Amp suggested, no one who believes abortion is murder could rationally oppose such activities. Reid is apparently a rational man. I think he is profoundly wrong, make no mistake. If the choice is between a pro-life Dem and a pro-choice Dem, I don’t really think that’s a choice at all. But Reid has demonstrated that a pro-life Democrat can act in ways that do protect a woman’s right to choose. That’s something pro-choice Republicans have proven unable or unwilling to do. And that deserves to be said.
Got any links, Btsu ? Not that I think that Roe by itself can save the right to choice, but to me it’s most telling that Reid either couldn’t or wouldn’t produce a filibuster against Alito, though the base cried, begged, and threw money every which way in the build-up to confirmation. It also speaks volumes of the general contempt of Demo leadership toward its base that the man was kicked upstairs to that post in the first place.
Hey, you can dismiss me as a crackpot if you like, but I’m not exactly the only feminist whose noticed that the guy is a duplicitous user. Go spend an hour or two at Media Girl’s blog if you don’t believe me.
Is this true? At the time of the hurricanes, it was the disproportionate number of blacks who were unable to flee. Is there any evidence that the population is now whiter/ white majority?
On the other hand, if true, assumedly Dallas/other places the New Orleaneans went to will become more Democrat.