I couldn’t help myself. I had to note Amanda Hess’s worst Holloween costume for today because not only is it ridiculous, it’s racist and absurd. SO there you have it the blond indian complete with ankle cuff. I could puke
Filed under: Double Standard, Feminism, Feminist, Rant, rape | Tags: Feminism, film, rape, roman polanski
So after more than three decades Roman Polanski has been arrested, and people everywhere seem to feel sorry for him. I’m confused. Isn’t raping a thirteen year old an atrocity?
Sure, the guy is a cinematic genius and an Oscar winner. And sure the Manson family brutally murdered his wife and unborn son. And I’ll even give you that he’s old and repentent. Yes, it’s also true that the victim feels that all of this is in the past…
But really people stop feeling sorry for this man. He drugged, raped and sodomize a child.
So I work at a for-profit university, and today we are celebrating opening week by using a movie theme. There was a raffel where students could win free movie tickets, a red carpet – you get the idea.
Today’s activity was focused around the film Grease. The played the musicas our students arrived and people dressed the part – mostly professors. At this point I need to mention that the students where I teach are of all races, but it is fair to say that white students are in the minority. With the Grease theme I couldn’t help myself from thinking about a disscusion I was having in a feminist theory class the other night – a discussion about intertextuality, social context, social construct, and essentialism.
What I keep wondering is can we really expect mixed race students to have the same affinity for and excitement about a film that speaks very little to their experiance? What does Grease mean to them? And also does a celebration of this film perpetuate the social construction of white sterotypes as dominant? It feels that way to me. I feel like my students are being asked to feel celebratory about everything that oppresses and marginalized them.
Filed under: Abortion, Activism, Election 2008, Feminism, McCain, Politicians, Politics, Rant
I can’t imagine that there are a whole lot of feminists out there who are considering a vote for McCain, but if so take a look at his position on choice….
Naral Pro-choice advises:
Sen. John McCain served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 1986 and in the U.S. Senate from 1987 to present. During his four years in the House, then-Rep. McCain cast 11 votes on abortion and other reproductive-rights issues. Ten of these votes were anti-choice. In the Senate, through 2006, Sen. McCain cast 117 votes on abortion and other reproductive-rights issues, 113 of which were anti-choice.
In addition to his solidly anti-choice record, Sen. McCain has never cosponsored or supported legislation that would prevent unintended pregnancy or reduce the need for abortion.
Voting Record:
Sen. McCain has an anti-choice record. He received the following scores on NARAL Pro-Choice America’s Congressional Record on Choice.
2007: 0 percent
2006: 0 percent
2005: 0 percent
2004: 0 percent
2003: 0 percent
2002: 0 percent
2001: Because only one choice-related vote was taken in 2001 – to confirm John Ashcroft as United States Attorney General – no numerical score was given for the year. Sen. McCain voted anti-choice.
Click here for all of Sen. McCain’s scores from 1987-2006.
Public Statements about Choice:
A selection of Sen. McCain’s public statements on this issue is below.
“If I am fortunate enough to be elected as the next President of the United States, I pledge to you to be a loyal and unswerving friend of the right to life movement.”
Sen. McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign website states that he “believes Roe v. Wade is a flawed decision that must be overturned.”
[John McCain for President 2008 campaign website, On the Issues: Human Dignity and the Sanctity of Life (accessed February 4, 2008). http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/95b18512-d5b6-456e-90a2-12028d71df58.htm]
“I’m proud that we have Justice Alito and Roberts on the United States Supreme Court. I’m very proud to have played a very small role in making that happen.”
[Transcript, Republican Presidential Candidates Participate in a Debate, May 3, 2007.]
On the Federal Abortion Ban, Sen. McCain said, “Today’s Supreme Court ruling is a victory for those who cherish the sanctity of life and integrity of the judiciary. The ruling ensures that an unacceptable and unjustifiable practice will not be carried out on our innocent children. It also clearly speaks to the importance of nominating and confirming strict constructionist judges who interpret the law as it is written, and do not usurp the authority of Congress and state legislatures. As we move forward, it is critically important that our party continues to stand on the side of life.”
Sen. McCain said that he has supported “the rights of the unborn” for 24 years “without changing, without wavering.”
[Michael Finnegan, Republicans Enter the Ring in Iowa; At a Key Party Dinner, Frontrunners for the Presidential Nomination Take a Beating From Lesser-Known Rivals, L.A. Times, April 15, 2007.]
“I do not support Roe v. Wade. I think it should be overturned.”
[Ann Althouse, Rudy & Mitt Hem & Haw on Abortion, N.Y. Times, February 24, 2007.]
Discussing his pro-life voting record, McCain said, “I have many, many votes and it’s been consistent. And I’ve got a consistent zero from NARAL throughout all those years… [M]y record is clear. And I think the important thing is you look at people’s voting record because sometimes rhetoric can be a little… misleading… As you know I don’t support Roe v. Wade. I thought it was a bad decision, and I think that the decision should be made in the states.”
Filed under: Celebrities, Double Standard, Feminism, Feminist, Hollywood, Rant, Women's roles, television
Last night after a weekly dose of the only reality television that I’m addicted to (Project Runway), I got trapped into Bravo’s newest atrocity to women-kind, Millionaire Matchmaker.
The premise of this show is vile, but i share it with you anyway. Patti, a professional matchmaker, searches to find “marriage material” for men who are very wealthy. Of course marriage material is defined first and foremost by appearance and then intelligence.
One of the “eligible” bachelors, the owner of a sex toy business, say that a girl who has a degree from Harvard seems “a little intelligent.” The girls are just as hard to take, primping themselves and flaunting their cleavage all in the name of catching the attention of marginal looking men with dollars. Yuck.
For the first twenty minutes I let my jaw hang open at the sheer grossness of the whole scene, and then I began to wonder if I could still delight in my hour of meaningless drama and creativity, aka project runway, knowing that in some backhanded way I would be supporting Millionaire Matchmaker.
So, this morning to balance out my unyielding desire to know the outcome of PR and the degrading nature of this new show, I say Boo BRAVO!!
Filed under: Activism, Anti-Feminist Propoganda, Double Standard, Election 2008, Feminism, Feminist, Hillary Clinton, Politicians, Politics, Rant, Women's roles, obama
A good friend of mine who is fairly active in florida politics and has always been a political mind, used to ask this question at college keg parties: Who will be president first a black man or a white woman?
The answer was almost always a black man but not until 2020 or 2050. So, in some ways we’re ahead of the curve. But with this in mind, I find myself wondering what exactly do people see in Obama? I know that he is touting change, and I know we need change, but is saying you’ll bring change a full platform for a presidential canidate?
As a country we are dissatisfied, as we should be. But we cannot be reactionary voters, especially if we’re women.
My friend notes that for her this is a gender war. (She wouldn’t say that to her constituates, but she feels it.) America does not like women in power, feminists should.
Right now we face huge International problems and we need someone with experiance in the hot seat. Hillary is that canidate, and as far as I’m concerened her being a woman is just a nifty perk.
Filed under: Beauty, Body Beautiful, Body Image, Double Standard, Feminism, Feminist, Rant
But according to OLAY: “You can have skin that looks too young for it.”
I know, I know, please will I stop ranting about the nature of the beauty industry, but it’s everywhere I turn. The more aware I become the less I want to participate with mainstream society. (I never did that well to begin with, but still.)
I was watching two and a half men the other day, which I thought was a funny and cute show, but I guess I haven’t seen the show all that many times. I hear a lot of people talk about how funny it is, and it has its moments, but wow is it chauvinist. In these two episodes I saw a woman conjoled with shopping and two men bribed into loving their mother’s boyfriend when he paid for their prostitutes. Lovely, huh?
I do not want to become one of those people who is insists on political correctness. To be honest, I can’t stand being in the room with that type of person and I certianly don’t want to be friends with them. Life should come naturally and not feel contrived but when we consider the constant force with which the beauty industry attacks our self esteem, it’s no wonder that the world is filled with double standards and negitive images of beauty.
Filed under: Beauty, Body Beautiful, Body Image, Double Standard, Feminism, Feminist, Rant, Women's roles, ageism
SO the cover of this month’s star (I think, might be another rag mag) features an article entitled “Hollywood’s Best and Worst Beach Bodies” On the left side is Hayden, whatever her last name is from Heroes and on the right side is a picture positioned just so that the woman in visible from only the neck down.
This headless woman is less tight than Hayden, who may I remind you isn’t even twenty years old yet.
Turns out the headless woman is Cindy Crawford, Supermodel and possible canidate for Goddess of Beauty. HELLO!! This woman has been the standard to which we’ve lived up to for years and now because she has kids and she’s older than she used to be you want me to replace her with the younger model and compete with that?? Cindy in gorgeous. Always will be.
The world needs to get a handle on this out of control beauty issue, which may be why I took fault with the intro to the Beauty Myth all those weeks ago. This issue with beauty and aging is an impossible burden. BEAUTY GROWS OLD. OLD DOES NOT EQUAL UGLY!
THIS WOMAN HAS AN AMAZING BODY:
Notice that this picture was taken on exactly the same day as the “worst” shot.
By the way, Cindy has been supporting another favorite in the fight for the beautiful, yet normal woman, Jennifer Love Hewitt.
Tonight I’m thinking about ageism and the double standard in regards to women. In general your female heroine is easily under 40, right?
Take a look at these two. Both would be catagorized as sex symbols, don’t you think? This year Viggo will turn 50. It is my contention that there are few to no women who are 50 that would easily be catagorized as “sexy symbols,” still sexy, maybe. Isn’t that sad?
Women are strong and sexy way past fifty and in a perfect world magazines and hollywood understand this. Recently, in a creative writing class I wrote a short story about the screwed up love lives of sixty-something singles, the most consistant comment by my peers was a note that people in their sixties don’t have “love” issues. Please, life does not happen only between the ages of 18 and 45.
Filed under: Activism, Feminism, Feminist, Friends, Gay Marriage, Politics, Rant
01) Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural
things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.
02) Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that
hanging around tall people will make you tall.
03) Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy
behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has
legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.
04) Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn’t changed
at all; women are still property, blacks still can’t marry whites, and
divorce is still illegal.
05) Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were
allowed; the sanctity of Britany Spears’ 55-hour just-for-fun marriage
would be destroyed.
06) Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay
couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn’t be allowed to
marry because our orphanages aren’t full yet, and the world needs more
children.
07) Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight
parents only raise straight children.
08) Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like
ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country.
That’s why we have only one religion in America.
09) Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model
at home. That’s why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to
raise children.
10) Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never
adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven’t adapted to cars, the
service-sector economy, or longer life spans.
A amazing feminist sent me this. She’s funny, beautiful, loveable and truly one of my favorite women on the planet.
