Link Farm & Open Thread #22

As usual, an open thread, and links to what I’ve been reading. Take care, y’all.

The 14th Carnival of Feminists is here!

Today is Blog For Radical Fun Day!

* * *

Echidne: John Kenneth Galbraith, RIP

Bitch Lab: Commemorative Conference for Andrea Dworkin

The Countess: Judge Orders Rape Victim Mom to Bring Kids To Visit Their Dad, The Rapist, In Prison
Of course, Men’s Rights Activists are endorsing the judge’s decision.

Jay Sennett Jaywalks: My Trans Political Agenda

The Blind Man’s Harley: White Canes and Gender Identity in America

Michael Berube: Blog Against Disablism Day

We’re talking about discrimination against people with disabilities, of course, but some people call this form of discrimination “ableism,” optional comma, and some call it “disablism.” This is actually not a trivial matter; rather, it’s a trivial index of a very serious problem, namely, that discrimination against people with disabilities is not really part of the public lexicon, because it’s not an important part of public consciousness or public policy.

Zimbabwe women with disabilities face hellish prejudice, hunger and rape

Ballastexistenz: Barnard Power – Abilism Within the Disabled Movement

Because they had never been popular before, many thought they were morally superior to the popular kids at their own schools. They thought since they had been bullied, that they could not bully.

Ragged Edge: Harry Potter and the Allure of Separatism
How is being a boy wizard like being disabled? (Curtsy: Ballastexistenz).

Creative Destruction: Bagels yesterday, burritos today

The only difference between the anti-immigrant sentiment of our grandparents’ time and the sentiment now is that, today, people occasionally feel stirred to preface their comments with a disclaimer about how racist they aren’t.

My Amusement Park: Interesting Debate About Wal-Mart
I linked to this in the previous link farm; as a result, Alsis and RA had an interesting exchange in the comments, so go look again. :-)

My Amusement Park: Appalling State of Public Transport for Disabled Riders in NYC

The Reality-Based Community: Links to the Complete Video and Transcript of Stephen Colbert at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner

The Colorblind Society: The American Demographic Tipping Point

We have a situation lately where the repubs are in a tough bind, due to recent issues related to security and Iraq. And they are suffering because of Bush’s falling popularity. So what do they do? They pull out the ol’ race card…. In this case they chose immigration.

Washington Post: The (Non) Wages of Housewifery

A full-time stay-at-home mother would earn $134,121 a year if paid for all her work, according to a study released Wednesday… A mother who works outside the home would earn an extra $85,876 annually on top of her actual wages for the work she does at home.

Ally Work: An Introduction to Whiteness Studies, with reading list

Queering Me: Genuine Support of Queer Rights vs. Using Abused Queers As Pro-War Propaganda

Family Law Prof Blog: Voluntary Support of Adult Children Becoming Routine?

Alternet (maziltov to Amanda Marcotte!): Pregnancy Crisis Centers Exposed
One of Amanda’s points – that by making young women think they’ve had a sonogram done, when in fact no one qualified to recognize a problem has examined the sonogram, these centers could do great harm – is not one I’ve seen made before, but seems correct to me.

Sally’s Life: Blog Against Disabilism
Really creative format.

Wet Machine: A Network Neutrality Primer
If you haven’t been following the network neutrality issue and want to get caught up…. Curtsy: Prometheus 6.

CultureKitchen: So Who’s More Popular, Bush or Gay Marriage?

Mad Melancholic Feminista: The Rape Conversation

My mother reacted in this way, she spent hours questioning my every action, my every utterance, looking for something that I said or did that would qualify as consent. And suddenly, an event that was so cut and dry became convoluted with questions of intent, and underlying wants. These questions inevitably birth some degree of doubt— doubt in your own story, doubt in your own role in the situation, doubt as to whether or not your own emotions over the events are even justified.

My Mother Is White
Check out this “blog for white feminist mothers of children of color and our allies.”

Majikthise: Cool Close Up Photo of Jumping Spider

Mad Melancholic Feminista: Sex and Gender in Firefly and Battlestar Galactica

What I couldn’t help but think about is why these shows cannot imagine more complex gender roles, or even imagine human interactions ungoverned by strict gender roles?. Taking Firefly for the moment: Why must the empathetic, sensitive character be a female: Inara. Why is the moral conscience a black man: Book? These are rather entrenched gender and racial stereotypes.

Life Scratches in the Sand: If Superhero Men Were Drawn the way Frank Miller Draws Women
Possibly not work safe. But funny.

Bush Vastly Increases Political Appointees While Vastly Reducing Female and Non-White Appointees (.pdf link)
Curtsy: Racism Ain’t Over

Privilege Judo: Oregon Liquor Control Commission Director Resigns After Drunk Driving Arrest
Why does this story make me so happy?

Feminist Law Professors: Cool Photo of Mammatus Cloud Formation

RESPONSES TO CAITLIN FLANAGAN’S TIME MAGAZINE ARTICLE

Bitch | Lab, Echidne, Feministe, Sufficient Scruples, Feminist Law Professors, What Could Happen?, Pandagon, World Wide Webbers, The Comfort Zone, Lawyers Guns and Money, The Republic of Heaven, and I’m sure many more.

For me, RebelDad succinctly gets at why Flanagan’s complaint in Time is ridiculous:

She holds herself up as some sort of ideal Democrat, driven from the party because of one teeny, tiny issue — her rampant neo-traditionalism. This would be a valid argument if Flanagan had indeed spent any time during her five years in the spotlight arguing for reproductive rights or against the war in Iraq or in favor of universal healthcare. But until now, she has used her high and mighty perch at the New Yorker and the Atlantic to beat home a single issue, promoting from every angle the idea that women ought to be at home.

There is a difference between Flanagan the person and Flanagan the public figure. Flanagan the person may well support liberal views on many issues; but since Flanagan the public figure has virtually never advocated any liberal view in public, for her to expect credit for her private, secret liberal views is silly.

Cross-posted on Creative Destruction. Please note that I limit the number of anti-feminist and right-wing comments allowed on “Alas” at any time; if you have trouble getting your comment to appear on “Alas,” please try posting at Creative Destruction instead.