Posts in category Politics
A Woman’s Place
The conservative social forces conspiring to roll back the clocks on women's reproductive rights have much in common with the forces that tried to keep women from having voting rights. In an attempt to undermine suffragettes' struggles to gain rights that men were able to enjoy, these women were demonized as ugly, masculine, bad mothers, morally challenged, promiscuous, childish, and emasculating to men. Nearly 100 years have passed since then, but not much has changed:
“The social pressures that resisted suffrage can’t be underestimated. ... It wasn’t just that women had to fight for the right to vote, but women had to fight for the right to speak in public to be able to advocate for their own rights. ...
The battle for suffrage wasn’t just about the legal right to vote, but it was also about women’s ability to be public figures, not confined to the home. It was more broadly about women’s role in society. ... "The messages you find on anti-suffrage postcards from the 1910s are not dissimilar from what you might hear from Rush Limbaugh or Bill O’Reilly today in the 2010s. Suffragettes were drawn as conniving coquettes, ugly, mean spinsters or, worse, ugly, mean wives who left their families helpless as they attended town-hall meetings. ... “That was a common theme, that if women were given political power they would crush men and upset the gender roles in society, particularly in the family. ... “We operate with this zero-sum mentality, which is, if women gain rights, men lose them. ... You see the same sort of idea that if people of color or ethnic minorities make gains, whites therefore lose something. So if men only understand their identity in relationship to being bigger than women, then it’s a trade-off. You see it in dozens of anti-suffrage postcards, showing men being hurt if women advance. Human beings seem to operate with this mentality where if you expand the rights of some, it diminishes the rights of others, instead of collectively expanding the rights of all of us as a people.”
Read more here:
Madeleine Albright
Madeleine Albright, 1st woman to become United States Secretary of State, appointed by former President Bill Clinton ...
So He Could Run
(This should say Barack just for consistency's sake, but thought it was great nonetheless) ...
Princess or President?
Found at Handsome In Pink.
“The Rape Thing”
Infuriating, yet not surprising news of the day: Another middle-aged conservative mansplainer, Washington State Republican representative John Koster, discusses how "the rape thing" is not a good enough reason for a woman to have an abortion:
"'Incest is so rare, I mean, it's so rare,' he said. 'But the rape thing - you know, I know a woman who was raped and kept the child, gave it up for adoption, and she doesn't regret it.' He added, 'On the rape thing, it's like, how does putting more violence onto a woman's body and taking the life of an innocent child that's a consequence of this crime - how does that make it better? You know what I mean?'"
Yes, Rep. Koster, I know exactly what you mean -- and it makes you "the asshole thing".
Fifty Shades of Sexism
I've written previously about the negative impact of sexism in politics here and also in the article "Are You Voting for the Hot One, the Bitch, or the Mom?" Here's a recent example of how women also perpetuate this sexism.
During New York Senate debates, moderator Liz Benjamin — a reporter from YNN from NY1 -- actually asked female Senate candidates Kirsten Gillibrand and GOP challenger Wendy Long if they'd read Fifty Shades of Grey. WTF kind of question is that? And would a similar question ever have been asked if the candidates were male? "So Senator Bob & challenger Joe, tell me -- have you watched any Girls Gone Wild videos lately?" It would be absurd ... and just as absurd as asking these women about Fifty Shades of Grey.
By asking female political candidates such an inane question or focusing on their appearance, Research has shown that it damages the credibility of all women who try to run for political office or otherwise hold positions of power:
"[The] unfair treatment of women candidates is extremely detrimental to their campaigns ... [You can] identify sexism by using the reversibility test, which states that if terms are being used for women that wouldn’t be used for men, it is sexist. Would this question be asked if it had been a man standing at the podium? Why were these two professional and qualified women asked about a saucy romance novel? Not only did it unfairly trivialize an otherwise well-worded and intellectual match, but asking the candidates about such a sexually explicit novel is essentially asking them about their sexual interests. These comments lead the viewer to see these candidates in an unprofessional, inappropriate, and sexualized light—producing attitudes that gender stereotype and draw attention away from the issues at hand."
Watch the video here:
African Philosophy of Ubuntu
"[The African tribal philosophy of] Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can't exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can't be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality – Ubuntu – you are known for your generosity. We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole World. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity. ... A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, based from a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed."
Why Women Have Abortions
(NOTE: There's no mention of: "Treated abortion as birth control because it's just so easy & convenient & I'm an irresponsible slut")
To Republican Friends
Pulitzer Prize & Tony Award-winning playwright Doug Wright's recent Facebook post to his Republican friends about gay rights. Love this!
When Gay is Okay
Somehow, they're able to rationalize their cognitive dissonance when it's two conventionally attractive women. :/ If you're not familiar with the term, cognitive dissonance is the tension between having two conflicting beliefs, such as being against homosexuality, but being turned on by lesbian porn. A person might feel uncomfortable having these conflicting feelings, so they'll try to rationalize it to make sense (e.g., attractive lesbians aren't as "bad" as less conventionally attractive lesbians or gay men).
Abortion & Responsibility
I'm sick of hearing the "irresponsible slut" rhetoric. Sometimes, NOT having kids IS the responsible thing to do! (And before you start, please refrain from that "If you don't want to get pregnant, then don't have sex" BS. It's naive, judgmental, + it's none of your business anyway.) ...
Binders Full of Women
During the second Presidential Debate, while Mitt Romney explained how concerned he is about fairness and equality in the workplace, a meme was born. Someone quickly set up a Tumblr page called Binders Full of Women and it's since gone viral. Here's the infamous binder comment:
"In response to a young woman named Katherine Fenton's question about females making only 72 percent of what their male counterparts earn, Gov. Romney talked about how when he was elected in Massachusetts, he made 'a concerted effort to go out and find women who had backgrounds that could be qualified to become members of our cabinet.' He continued, 'I went to a number of women's groups said 'Can you help us find folks?' and they brought us whole binders full of women!' ...
First of all, who SAYS something so completely condescending and sexist like that -- referring to potential female hires as 'binders full of women'?! Sure, blame that tired old excuse that 'words don't always come out the right way,' but there's a reason that phrase jumped out at people. It's because it reflects how Mitt Romney really feels about women."
The Tumblr page has quite a few "binder" memes, but here are a couple of my personal favorites:
See more here. :)
Badass from Australia
Badass of the Week: Australia's 1st female Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, for brilliantly calling out conservative opposition leader, Tony Abbott, on being a sexist douchebag:
Grab some popcorn and watch her rip into the smug-looking bastard:"I will not be lectured about sexism and misogyny by this man, I will not. Not now, not ever. What I won't stand for, what I will never stand for is the leader of the opposition peddling a double standard, a standard he has not set for members of his own front bench. ...
"If he wants to know what misogyny looks like in modern Australia he doesn't need a motion in the house of Representatives, he needs a mirror.
"I was offended by the sexism, by the misogyny of the Leader of the Opposition cat calling across this table at me as I sit here as prime minister [saying], 'If the prime minister wants to make an honest woman of herself…' something that would never have been said to any man sitting in this chair. ...
"He has said, 'If it's true that men have more power, generally speaking, than women, is that a bad thing?' [and] 'What if men, by physiology or temperament, are more adapted to exercise authority or to issue command?'"
"He can apologise for standing next to signs [about me] saying, 'Ditch the Witch.'"
Devaluing Women
Sex selective abortion is a controversial issue that the anti-choice movement has co-opted in an effort to end all abortions. Since female fetuses are typically the ones being aborted, anti-choice proponents have manipulated this to argue how abortion hurts all women -- those having abortions and the unborn, future women that are aborted. However, what they fail to take into consideration is that sex selective abortions take place when a society devalues the female gender. The paternalistic attempts to eliminate a woman's right to control her own reproductive health is proof that her choices, her decision-making ability, and her desires are not valued.
In countries such as India and China, sex selective abortions are much more common. They occur because of cultural and economic factors that favor families for having male children.
"We know that in Asian countries [a preference for sons] is the dominant cultural factor. The reasons are: parents think sons alone have the obligation to provide security to the parents in old age; undertake the responsibility of younger sibling's education and marriage; bear the burden of family debt; perform the last rites for parents; bring in dowry; bring in return on investment made on their education; carry on the family business and protect the ancestral property.
But daughters are always considered as liability ... since any investment on them, especially on education will benefit only the husband and the in-laws and heavy dowry has to be paid for them. Moreover, their entire marriage expenses are borne by their parents. The society does not accept the practice of parents living in daughters’ homes in old age. Hence even in the 21st century these reasons prevail and have caused aversion towards girl’s birth. Girl children are not allowed to be born through feticide or abortion and in poor families not allowed to live through infanticide."
But the answer to ending sex selection isn't to ban abortion. The solution lies in changing cultural attitudes in which being a female is a detriment.
"One unfortunate consequence of that ban could well be the increase in the number of newborn female infants killed, or worse still, chronic neglect of the unwanted girls. The effective measures would be ... provide information and materials for effective contraception; ... enforce measures for higher education of girls so that gender equity is achieved in education and employment matters. The last measure would help in treating girls as an asset than a liability. They can meet their expenses without depending on others. Economic independence for women is an effective tool to counteract [the preference for sons]."
This can not only be applied to the issue of sex selective abortions in countries such as India and China, but also to abortion rights everywhere.
"An ideal feminist world would not be one in which abortions are free and common, but one in which women have greater control over pregnancy, and in which the circumstances that make pregnancies unwanted, have been transformed. Until then, in a hugely imperfect, unfair and sexist world, I believe feminists must defend women’s access to legal and safe abortions whenever they decide to have them – whatever the reason for their decision."
If Men Could Get Pregnant
No fair -- I want cool ranch!
“Moral Issue”
They'll pay for the erection, but not the protection. This ad is for a product that treats impotence. It's covered by (taxpayer-funded) Medicare and (employer-subsidized) insurance plans. Where's all the moral indignation and talk of religious beliefs now? Oh that's right -- it's only a moral issue when it has to do with female sexuality. A dick vacuum is a valid healthcare need, but not those slut pills.
Hey Girl … I’m a Douchebag
(Image originally from Paul Ryan's photoshoot with Time, showing off his P90X workout routine.)
Look on the Bright Side!
"The actions I'll take immediately is to remove funding for Planned Parenthood." - Mitt Romney, Oct. 10, 2012, Washington Post
