19 posts tagged “gender”

Courtesy of the Broadsheet, when being interview by a female reporter, Sen. Obama responded to her question by saying, “Hold on, one second, sweetie.”

This isn’t the first time Sen. Obama has made sexist remarks towards or about women that he’s had to go back and apologize for. Better yet, there’s a video clip of the sexist comment.

Sen. Obama, of course, apologized for the comment in order to avoid any additional negative press. He claimed “sweetie” was a term he used out of habit. Sorry, still not buying it.

Hi Peggy. This is Barack Obama. I’m calling to apologize on two fronts. […]

Second apology is for using the word ’sweetie.’ That’s a bad habit of mine. I do it sometimes with all kinds of people. I mean no disrespect and so I am duly chastened on that front.

So, where is the video of Sen. Obama calling a man “sweetie?” Right, that’s what I thought, there isn’t one.

I was more than a little shocked to see this article on the front page of CNN:

As the weather warms each spring, women — especially in cities with active sidewalk traffic — once again face catcalls from men. It’s a situation some find unnerving and an invasion of their space, while others ignore it or are even flattered by it.

“I call it street abuse,” said New York filmmaker Maggie Hadleigh-West, 49. “It’s unwanted attention and invasion of space.”

In her 1998 documentary “War Zone,” Hadleigh-West confronted catcallers and filmed their responses. Many of the men literally ran away to avoid talking to her about why they whistled or made a provocative comment. […]

“Being in a public space with a strange man who is being sexually aggressive is potentially dangerous,” Hadleigh-West added.

On the other hand, some women appreciate the attention in certain cases, like Jessica, a 31-year-old health-care educator in Los Angeles who declined to use her last name to protect her privacy.

“Yeah, it’s objectifying and all, but you know, if I walked down the street and didn’t have men looking me up and down and catcalling, I’d think, ‘Boy, I must really be getting old and dumpy,’ ” she said.

This is absolutely disgusting. Is that how you feel better about yourself? BY being verbally assaulted by men? I think it’s a little sad that the state of the world makes women feel flattered when they are being yelled at by strange men simply for existing. Where is your self esteem? Do you really need that much attention to feel good about yourself? I know I’m being a little more than harsh here, but I absolutely hate women like this. Especially when cat calling isn’t as innocent as a man being a jerk and asserting himself on a woman:

“There seems to be some evidence that it increases self-objectification,” said Fairchild, who surveyed 550 women both online and at Rutgers University in 2006 and 2007. The women — who ranged in age from 15 to 64 in the international online component and from 18 to 24 in the Rutgers survey of women from central New Jersey — were asked about their experiences with street harassment.

Catcalling “encourages women to look at themselves as body parts instead of as full, whole, intelligent human beings” and can cause women to fear for their safety, Fairchild says.

“When a man catcalls you, you don’t know if it will end at that point or if it could escalate to assault,” she added.

I’m glad that there is research being done on this - but I’m sad that it’s getting attention only after the article’s author finds some random woman who just lives for the attention cat calling provides her with.

You know, I was totally fine with this article, even the bits including the attention-seeking woman, until I reached the end:

“A lot of men have no idea that women don’t like being talked to in this way,” she said. “It never crosses their mind, and yelling doesn’t educate them. If you yell, they often don’t understand why you are upset and so they take it personally.”

Often, Kearl says, an assertive, clear response can illicit a kinder reaction than one expects.

“A lot of the time, I find guys will just say, ‘Oh, OK, I didn’t realize it made you feel that way. Thanks.’ “

Ok, now, really, as a woman who experiences cat calling because she has to dress up for work, I can honestly say that no matter how you respond to a man making sexual comments about you, they will still take it personally and be even bigger of an asshole about it. I have asked cat callers more than once if they think whistling and making sexual remarks at women is really the way to get their attention, and I’ve either been called a bitch, stupid, or a lesbian because of my return comment.

What is a man’s expectation when he says these things to a woman he doesn’t even know? Does he expect her to fawn over him in appreciation? Does he expect his comments to be appreciated, or does he know they are offensive?

I’m doing my part as a woman to make it clear that we don’t appreciate these comments, but I’m only one woman living in one small city - I can only do so much.

I’m a big believer in following The Rule: I usually don’t see a movie unless it meets three basic requirements:

1. It has to have at least 2 women in it…
2. who talk to each other…
3. about something other than a man.

Which, considering the crap that Hollywood has been churning out these past few years, has been a difficult task indeed. I like movies with real 3D characters that face difficult life challenges and do it on their own - regardless of whether they succeed or not. I don’t like movies that skirt around important issues to improve their comedic value. While it is difficult to find movies to watch that have two women in it talking to each other about something other than men, it is a good starting point to begin any movie search.

I’m not the only one who has noticed movies have taken a pathetic downturn, especially in the female leads department. Almost none of the major movies slated for release this summer meet all of requirements of The Rule, let alone one or two:

The girls of summer are few in number, and real women are close to extinct. The teenage Emma Roberts plays a Malibu brat shipped off to boarding school in “Wild Child,” and little Abigail Breslin has gone blond for “Kit Kittredge,” the first big-screen spinoff from American Girl dolls. Meryl Streep stars in the adaptation of the jukebox musical “Mamma Mia!,” and the cast from “Sex and the City” hits the big screen, though as that HBO show’s fans know, its four bosomy buddies are really gay men in drag. Angelina Jolie flaunts big guns in “Wanted” amid a so-called fraternity of assassins. Cameron Diaz stars opposite Ashton Kutcher in the comedy “What Happens in Vegas,” in a role that shrieks Brittany Murphy five years ago.

And in August, Anna Faris stars in a comedy called “The House Bunny,” in which she plays a Playboy Bunny who is ejected from the Mansion because she’s too old. In a trailer for the movie Ms. Faris’s pretty-in-pink character responds to her firing with surprise. “I’m 27!” she yelps. “But that’s like 59 in Bunny years,” a male friend explains. In Hollywood years too, he might as well have added.

But the most gut wrenchingly true part of Dargis’s article is the following:

Last year only 3 of the 20 highest-grossing releases in America were female-driven, and involve a princess (“Enchanted”) or pregnancy (“Knocked Up” and “Juno”). Actresses had starring roles in about a quarter of the next 80 highest-grossing titles, mostly in dopey romantic comedies and dopier thrillers. A number of these were among the worst-reviewed movies of the year, including “Premonition” (Sandra Bullock) and “The Reaping” (Hilary Swank), the last of which was released by — ta-da! — Warner Brothers. The days of “Million Dollar Baby,” for which Ms. Swank won an Oscar, and “Speed,” which rocketed Ms. Bullock to stardom in the summer of 1994, feel long gone.

The last movie I saw in theaters was “Juno,” and before that, “Horton Hears A Who!” Prior to those two films, it had been over a year since I shelled out the $9.75 for a movie ticket, and I haven’t once been upset about my decision to abstain from theater going. If there were a movie worth seeing (that was available to me), I would have gone to see it. Granted, there were several films I wanted to see, but didn’t get a chance to, particularly 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days and Miss Pettigrew Lives for A Day (which doesn’t appear to hold up to The Rule, but it just might upon closer examination).

Regardless, it looks like it is going to be a slow movie summer for me.

The past few months, the media has been overrun with stories relating to rapes that have been covered up by the military and KBR (and KBR, again), immigration officials, and many more. The coverage of rape myths has continued to remain popular, despite the thousands of women who have experienced otherwise. Stories have been released that tell us just how frighteningly common rape and sexual assault are in the military, even though we all know that the majority of sexual assaults go unreported, even though it is extremely frequent.

And you know what? I’m sick of it. Sick of the fear, the stigma, and the trauma all associated with rape. Sick of the guilt, sick of the terrible media coverage, sick of people blaming the victim. And you know why this happens? Do you? Because if you don’t, I do.

When companies like KBR discover that their employees are being victimized and violently attacked, they have the opportunity to do one of two things:

1. Take a stand for their employees and fight like hell for their rights. Assist them in the investigation and prosecution of the offender(s), and provide them with paid medical leave and access to trained rape crisis professionals, free of charge. Accept that you are responsible for what happened to them and reach an agreement with them privately.
2. Cower like idiots, take absolutely no responsibility for the crimes, discourage them from reporting it, force them to sign agreements taking away their constitutional right to a jury trial, and make them feel so much shame and guilt that they can no longer function physically or emotionally.

KBR, of course, being a huge, rich, and wealthy company, opted for route #2. Despite the fact that they have the money to help these women prosecute the offenders and the resources to provide them with help when they return home, they neglected to take care of their employees. They decided to force these women into arbitration so they don’t have pay exorbitant punitive damages to the victims if these charges were sent to a jury. Because, really, let’s be honest: if these cases went to trial, the circumstances are not in their favor. While the offenders may not be convicted, the women would most likely win in civil court.

But KBR knows just how many zeros can follow the number 1, and they didn’t want to take any risks. Instead of taking the high road and setting examples for corporations across America, they took the low road and continued to victimize their employees by not allowing them access to justice. It’s sick, and it’s wrong, not to mention cruel and inhumane.

But back to the point. All of this happens, the lack of reporting, the believing in rape myths, and the blaming of the victim because of the very public actions taken by KBR. If you are a 16 year old girl and you happen to stumble upon the story of one of these KBR rapes, what will you think? Will you think it’s safe to bring rape charges up on someone? Will you think the law is on your side? Will you think people will believe you? No, you won’t. And you won’t report your rape, and you won’t seek help. You will live your life in fear and shame, and you probably won’t even tell your friends what happened to you.

Rape is the dirty crime - it’s a crime associated with shame and dishonor. If you walk outside and discover your car is stolen, you report it. If you wake up and your house is on fire, you report it. If you are walking home from a night class and you are raped, you report it.

If you have been a victim of sexual assault, rape, or domestic violence, I urge you to REPORT IT NOW! April 29, 2008 is Angela Shelton Day: a day where victims come together, break the silence, and transform themselves into survivors.

It occurred to me that I have been neglecting my poor little vox lately. So instead of swamping my neighborhood with all of my posts from the past few months, I have them all collectively linked here for your clicking pleasure. They are listed in reverse order, from oldest to newest.

I vote we just abolish the silly feminism thing right here and now
Published by Liz on February 20, 2008 12:26 am under equality, feminist thought, ridiculous
Ultimately, I am a feminist because I believe in two things: equality and choice. Equality for all people, regardless of what labels are applied to them by themselves and society, and choice for all people, so they are able to live their lives as close to their dream as possible. I don’t expect everyone to be feminists, but I do believe that feminism can benefit the world as a whole.

Censorship at the Grammy Awards: Somehow I'm not surprised
Published by Liz on February 20, 2008 04:51 pm under feminist thought, pop culture, sexuality, tv
By now I’m sure everyone knows about Amy Winehouse being asked by the Grammy Awards producers to cover up her tattoo’s nipples for her performance, but can we just pause a moment and reflect on how this is being reported to media outlets?

Reason #389 why I love Bill Clinton
Published by Liz on February 21, 2008 09:08 pm under abortion, anti-choice, anti-contraception, clintons, reproductive health, tidbits
When verbally assaulted at a rally by anti-choicers, Bill responded, and I have to say, I am impressed by his response… and not just because he’s Bill, but because it’s an awesome response. Yes, he got angry, and yes, he may have yelled more than a little… but he did get his point across and (I hope) filled the anti-choicers present at this rally with a more than a little embarrassment.

The usual bull shit: sexism in the media and Hillary Clinton
Published by Liz on February 28, 2008 04:53 pm under 2008 election, clintons, dollymix.tv, feminist thought, gender, media, politics, pop culture, ridiculous
Sexism in media is kind of a big topic. A lot of people research it for a living, and quite a few people have gone to painstaking efforts to observe the sexism that is occurring in the Democratic presidential election and all the publicity that surrounds it.

Rejoice! Pregnancy can give you a pass for the carpool lane!
Published by Liz on February 28, 2008 11:12 pm under abortion, anti-choice, children, christian right, feminist thought, ignorance, politics, reproductive health, ridiculous
Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, aka Reagan 2.0, has just recently endorsed an amendment to the Colorado constitution that would consider a fetus a person. Aside from the whole ridiculousness surrounding when a fetus becomes a person, this is a dangerous line to cross.

Where in the world is Prince Harry fighting?
Published by Liz on February 29, 2008 04:59 pm under media, opinion, politics
Yesterday I was browsing through CNN’s front page when I saw the headline “Prince Harry sent to Afghanistan”. Now, how is that safe? How is that ok?

Happy Sadie Hawkins Day! PROPOSE WHILE YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH IT!
Published by Liz on February 29, 2008 05:31 pm under dollymix.tv, feminist thought, gender, marriage, ridiculous
Not only is today Leap Year (and another lame excuse for things to be one sale in stores), but today is also Sadie Hawkins Day. Which means, for you ladies who are so inclined, today is the one day every four years where a woman can propose to a man and get away with it.

Female artist of the moment: Missy Higgins
Published by Liz on March 4, 2008 07:54 pm under music, pop culture, the usual
I thought I would take a moment to step off my soap box and blog about Missy Higgins, an awesome musician from Australia who has a lot to say about life, love, and all the other miscellany things going on in her world.

Stick to what you're good at: housemaking, swooning, etc
Published by Liz on March 4, 2008 11:18 pm under feminist thought, gender, ignorance, media, pop culture, rant, ridiculous
I think every single feminist blog I read has picked up on Charlotte Allen’s sexist “women are idiots” piece already, but it’s my turn now.

Single sex education versus gender based education
Published by Liz on March 5, 2008 06:19 pm under children, feminist thought, gender, opinion
The doctor has become an advocate of single-sex education (not same-sex education, because that would be GAY) because during his years as a family practitioner (not a child therapist, not a psychologist, not anything remotely related to early childhood educational and mental development) he realized that boys and girls “learn differently”. Now, in psychology, gender is one of those big categories that they use to look for differences because it is (usually) easy to identify. However, many studies have come to the same conclusion: the differences within each gender are greater than those between genders.

LOL of the day: a resume full of "hopes and plans"
Published by Liz on March 5, 2008 07:53 pm under 2008 election, lol of the day, media, politics, tidbits
All these years I’ve been creating accomplishments and gathering experience to list on my resume. From now on, I’ll just list my hopes and plans. All that work was so unnecessary.

Who cares about your career? Have a baby now!
Published by Liz on March 5, 2008 11:59 pm under american traditions, children, feminist thought, life stuff, rant, reproductive health, ridiculous
“Want to have a baby? Now’s the time women eager to have children need to direct career drive toward mating.” For an extremely short article, it is riddled with tons of sexist “facts” from various fields of research.

The top 10 things men lie about
Published by Liz on March 6, 2008 06:44 pm under gender, ignorance, media, opinion, pop culture, ridiculous
If the NY Post can be completely sexist when it comes to lying, then so can I. The piece was published over the weekend and it uses a book written by a woman (whose credentials - or lack thereof - are completely ignored) to claim that women are lies. Well, it’s my turn now. So I present you with the Top 10 Things Men Lie About.

Tid bits: Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics used "sexual experimentation"
Published by Liz on March 6, 2008 11:11 pm under lgbtqi, media, pop culture, sexuality, tidbits, tv
I caught an article on the New York Times about Issue #12 and Buffy’s lesbian “experimentation”. This isn’t the first time Joss Whedon has included lesbianism in his series. For those not familiar with the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series, Willow - a witch and Buffy’s best friend - develops a lesbian relationship with a fellow witch, Tara, during college. After Tara’s death, Willow begins dating a potential slayer.

Life Lesson #7: If you wear a skirt in public, it is 100% legal for people to take pictures of your naughty bits
Published by Liz on March 17, 2008 05:52 pm under body image, gender, life lessons, politics, ridiculous, tidbits
A man in Oklahoma was found not guilty under a “Peeping Tom” statute for putting his camera up a 16 year old girl’s skirt (without her consent, obviously) and taking photos. Don’t go commando in Oklahoma!

Tid bits: Dolores Huerta's speech canceled at Catholic school due to her public pro-choice stance
Published by Liz on March 17, 2008 06:18 pm under abortion, anti-choice, children, feminist thought, ignorance, opinion, reproductive health, ridiculous, tidbits
Ridiculous! I am not that shocked that a Catholic school would cancel Dolores Huerta’s speaking engagement, but at the same time, I thought they would have enough intelligence to understand that the talk was about “her founding role in the United Farm Workers and the importance of public service” and not abortion.

"Horton Hears A Who!" Not "Horton Hears An Anti-Choice Protest!"
Published by Liz on March 18, 2008 03:43 pm under abortion, anti-choice, children, christian right, feminist thought, gender, ignorance, media, movies, opinion, pop culture, religion, reproductive health, ridiculous

STOP RUINING MY CHILDHOOD, ANTI-CHOICERS! And more importantly, stop ruining the childhoods of the millions of children going to see this movie. I understand that they are trying to make their point in as public a venue as possible, but it is a children’s movie: the primary audience is children (and families)… not exactly the kind of people that need to be converted to their cause.

Celebrity blow up dolls: there are no words
Published by Liz on March 18, 2008 08:05 pm under body image, gender, pop culture, rant, ridiculous, sexuality
Apparently, a company called Pipedream Products (google at your own risk) produces celebrity blow up sex dolls as part of their “Super Star Series”. They have dolls of: Eva Longoria: she’s your whore next door!

LOL of the day: the 105-pound mystery
Published by Liz on March 19, 2008 03:18 pm under lol of the day, tidbits
While I’d rather not discuss the whole Elliot Spitzer thing, I found this absolutely hilarious: Most of the focus was on “Kristen”, the prostitute he met at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington DC and booked for $1,000 an hour. She was described as, “American, petite, very pretty, brunette, 5 feet 5 inches, and 105 pounds”.

Oh, Catholicism, how you humor me
Published by Liz on March 19, 2008 04:11 pm under american traditions, anti-choice, anti-contraception, christian right, religion, reproductive health
I guess today is the day for humor! As I’m sure everyone knows, the Vatican has just recently released new sins. Yes, much like a summer blockbuster or a new fashion line, the Vatican decided to get hip with the times and tell everyone that there are more things they need to not do in order to get into heaven.

Back Up Your Birth Control: EC Day of Action, March 25, 2008
Published by Liz on March 20, 2008 03:46 pm under abortion, birth control, feminist thought, reproductive health, sexuality
As a woman who falls into the 18-24 and sexually active statistic, it should come as no surprise that I have used emergency contraception at least once in my life. I am lucky enough to live in a liberal town where access to Plan B (and other emergency contraceptives) is readily available without scrutiny.

How exactly is the blue dress relevant to this presidential election?
Published by Liz on March 20, 2008 08:02 pm under 2008 election, clintons, feminist thought, media, opinion, politics, rant, ridiculous
I have to say that I am completely shocked that ABC would even consider this as news. This story was published to embarrass Senator Clinton, plain and simple. This is not news! In now way, shape, or form is this news! I also like how they call her “Hillary” in the header: almost as if it doesn’t matter that she’s a Senator or a Democratic presidential candidate.

Senate hearing on rape as a weapon of war
Published by Liz on April 3, 2008 08:44 pm under feminist thought, politics, rape, reproductive health
We’ve all heard the gruesome stories of female military personnel going off to war and being raped, kidnapped, mutilated, and tortured, whether by the enemy or by their fellow soldiers. The United States Senate has finally caught up with the use of rape as a weapon of war and the Senate Subcommittee on Human Rights and Law held a hearing in regards to this monstrous tactic.

The beginning of the end of abstinence-only education programs
Published by Liz on April 3, 2008 09:00 pm under anti-choice, anti-contraception, birth control, christian right, feminist thought, gw bush, ignorance, politics, religion, reproductive health, sexuality
Our lovely lawmakers have finally gotten up the nerve to tackle Bush’s abstinence-only sex education funding. It’s no surprise that it took a Democrat controlled House and Senate to allow this challenge to happen, but the question is, why didn’t it happen sooner? Despite years of outcry and criticism, it took our lawmakers seven years into Bush’s term as President to put any concentrated energy towards the removal of abstinence-only sex education in schools.

Tid bits: admitted rapist and murderer convicted to 5 years
Published by Liz on April 7, 2008 03:50 pm under politics, rant, rape, tidbits
A man who admitted giving a woman a fatal dose of “date rape” drug during his alleged drive to have sex with 100 women was sentenced Friday to five years in prison during a hearing that exposed the stark emotions of his victim’s family.

Virginia 1st state to mandate internet safety lessons
Published by Liz on April 8, 2008 03:43 pm under internet, pop culture, social networking

All I have to say is GOOD, and maybe FINALLY. With so many kids using sites like MySpace, I’m sure that percentage of internet users 10-17 who have received unwanted sexual solicitations has gone up. Is it just me, or does this make you feel old? Do you remember back in the day when you would go into the Yahoo! Chat rooms and someone would send you a message asking what you’re wearing or if you were in the mood to get frisky? I know chat rooms aren’t the thing anymore - and good thing, too, because they were kind of creepy - but places like MySpace are just as bad, if not worse. Innocent unaware teens are posting pictures of themselves with their friends at the beach, school, or wherever else, and someone is using those pictures and the information in their profiles to stalk them.

Life lesson #8: being raped is the same as being force-fed chocolate
Published by Liz on April 10, 2008 08:02 pm under dollymix.tv, feminist thought, gender, life lessons, politics, rape, reproductive health, ridiculous
I read this on DollyMix last week, and I thought I posted it already, but apparently not. The incident which state-side feminist blogs have only now just gotten wind of actually occurred early last week, but we’ll let them pretend they were the first to blog it even though they’re presenting the facts inaccurately.

A much needed reality check for the anti-Hillary camp
Published by Liz on April 23, 2008 04:26 pm under 2008 election, clintons, media, opinion, politics
With Hillary winning last night’s primary in Pennsylvania, I think the naysayers who told Hillary to leave the race should be feeling a little more than stupid right now. While I’m sure their decision to ask her to remove herself from the race was based on their opinion that Barack is a better candidate, I feel it’s unfair (and immature) to ask someone to remove themself from a Democratic process just because you don’t like them. Maybe there is even a little fear in them asking Hillary to remove herself - maybe, just maybe they’re afraid she might win and that their golden boy will have lost.

Just another day int he media: using scandal to degrade victims
Published by Liz on April 23, 2008 04:42 pm under feminist thought, media, pop culture, rant, rape, reproductive health, ridiculous

This headline is absolutely grotesque and inexcusable: Victim ‘had sex with captor willingly’. While the contents of the article are a little more divulging with the details than the headline, it’s obvious that the headline was created purely to attract attention and raise a shock factor. Which, congratulations, it has. However, I don’t think it’s the kind of attention any paper wants: degrading a victim’s suffering and her exploiting her experiences while being held captive to get more attention. That’s not ok.

How the Democratic party "front runner" managed to lose all the major states, I'll never know
Published by Liz on April 29, 2008 02:57 pm under 2008 election, clintons, opinion, politics
Me, personally, I don’t understand why everyone is so eager to declare Obama as the Democratic party “front runner.” I don’t want the Democratic presidential candidate for 2008 to be weak in California, Texas, New York, Florida, Pennsylvania… need I go on? That just spells yet another recipe for disaster for the Democratic party, and success for McCain.

I'll take a side of forced vaginal penetration with my abortion, thanks!
Published by Liz on May 1, 2008 08:07 pm under abortion, anti-choice, christian right, feminist thought, ignorance, opinion, politics, rant, rape, reproductive health
The feminist blogosphere has been up in arms lately (rightfully so) about an Oklahoma bill that requires a woman to get an ultrasound, and look at the images, one hour before she gets an abortion. The bill says that the woman will be required to get either an vaginal or abdominal ultrasound, whichever shows the best picture. Aside from this being a completely pointless and unwarranted medical procedure, most women in early pregnancy will have to get a vaginal ultrasound, since that provides the best picture.

From Alternet/Huffington Post:

Obama, grave-faced and sympathetic in tone, opined that when Senator Clinton was ‘feeling down,’ she went on the attack to make herself feel better; that is, she committed an error in judgment because she was in a bad mood. That was the moment when I, and other women of a certain age, all over the country, winced.

The change candidate had embraced one of the oldest clichés in the book — that women are held hostage by emotion, that we can’t be trusted with the big decisions because, depending on our age, we’re either on the rag or having a hot flash. The overtly sexist position used to be that you didn’t want to entrust the red phone to a woman because women are unpredictable and irrational; a fit of hormonal pique and kaboom, we all glow in the radioactive dark. The ones who aren’t instantly vaporized, that is.

The kinder, gentler version? A soft-spoken observation about what a female candidate does when she’s “feeling down,” the implication being that Hillary’s distress over the delegate count had impaired her judgment, and that someone who loses her way like that is not strong enough to withstand the rigors of the presidency. If you think that I and the indignant gal friends I’ve polled are overreacting, try the acid test: Imagine any major candidate making that kind of subtle put-down about a man’s psychological fortitude. In 1972, Thomas Eagleton had to have shock treatment to get us to raise a national eyebrow about his mental health, ending his brief tenure as George McGovern’s running mate. Short of that, we tend to assume that the boys are steady enough to handle the job.

[…] If it wasn’t a spontaneous comment — if someone in Senator Obama’s camp thinks it’s wise to use code to address and exploit our primitive fears about whether women can cope — then whoever came up with it ought to be ashamed of himself, and the man who uttered it needs to rethink the strength of his opponent and her supporters. Beat her on better ideas, or oratory, beat her with passion and energy, but beat her fair and square, if you can. Don’t talk about change and then quote from a 1950s playbook on the battle between the sexes. (Emphasis mine)

Now I’m sure everyone has heard about this but now, but I couldn’t agree more. It was a ridiculous comment to make. While it is not my goal to analyze every single thing that comes out of someone’s mouth in regards to Clinton, this is pretty ridiculous. Relying on the accepted idea that women are out of control and can’t be trusted to make sane decisions, especially if they’re upset. Heaven forbid the leader of our country get emotional or have a menstrual cycle! Maybe, just maybe emotions are what our country needs to fix all of its ridiculous problems.

I don’t feel that this is a personal attack on Barack - although more than one person has told me that my past posts are “personal attacks” rather than legitimate questions regarding his politics and abilities. He said something, he made a mistake, and he’s being scrutinized for it. The same thing has happened time and time again with Hillary - the key difference being her getting “emotional” is suddenly described as a tear-fest and Barack’s words and actions being taken as they are and for what they mean.

How amazing would it be if I could yell at someone and not get the response “geeze, are you PMS-ing” or “it must be that time of the month”?! How delightfully wonderful would it be if I could cry, be in an irritable mood, or just be downright irritated and not have to answer questions regarding my menstrual cycle? I think it would be downright wonderful. But, apparently, Obama does not.

Originally...

Last weekend the boyfriend and I settled in for a nice and dull evening at my house. We curled up with the cats in my bed and popped a movie into my fabulous iMac as we eagerly awaited the beginning of the movie. I had just gotten 3:10 to Yuma from Netflix and the boyfriend really wanted to see it, even though he didn’t particularly care for westerns. I thought it looked decent, and I’d heard some okay things about it, so I didn’t have many objections.

It was one of those movies that was good, but terrible at the same time. I couldn’t really put my finger on what bothered me about the movie. From my perspective, it was a movie about people and their complex morals and personalities and all that… except, when you finished the movie, you didn’t feel like you knew much about anyone who was in it. It was a movie about character development that didn’t really spend much time on character development. And I thought about it some more, and the only thing my brain kept saying was “damn westerns”, and I blamed masculinity for the movie’s pathetic failure in my mind.

Read more...

It took me a little longer than Cate, but I was finally able to articulate in a coherent manner why I can’t support Barack Obama.

I’ve been feeling a lot of unwarranted political pressure in my office and my life lately. Everyone but myself in the office supports Barack Obama, and while a few people are supportive of my advocacy for Hillary Clinton, the majority of them are not. It is the same with my friends - most of them support Barack and are not afraid to be crude and insulting towards my candidate of choice. I try to maintain a level of respect with it comes to the upcoming Presidential election simply because, well, my opinion isn’t hateful, rude, or insulting.

I have several reasons why I have chosen Hillary over Barack, and most of them have to do with her policies on key issues, her experience, and my belief in her ability to do the job. I cannot support Barack because he has been consistently vague about his policies during his campaign, he has almost no experience, and I do not believe he can do the job as well as I believe Hillary can. I do not feel comfortable having someone who was a Senator for one term (regardless of their potentially shady past, all politicians are dirty) running the country I live in. We would not want someone who has only been a doctor for three years inventing experimental treatments and executing them with no supervision whatsoever.

Take it from me and Gloria Steinem, if Barack was a woman, his lack of experience would be a huge issue. People are used to men running the country, and they are willing to elect the far less experienced candidate because they want to keep things the way they are. And, personally, I couldn’t agree more with her. I am not a fan of saying “what if he were a woman…” in situations like this, but I think it’s time we take it a bit more seriously when it comes to Obama:

The woman in question became a lawyer after some years as a community organizer, married a corporate lawyer and is the mother of two little girls, ages 9 and 6. Herself the daughter of a white American mother and a black African father — in this race-conscious country, she is considered black — she served as a state legislator for eight years, and became an inspirational voice for national unity.

[…] I’m supporting Senator Clinton because like Senator Obama she has community organizing experience, but she also has more years in the Senate, an unprecedented eight years of on-the-job training in the White House, no masculinity to prove, the potential to tap a huge reservoir of this country’s talent by her example, and now even the courage to break the no-tears rule. I’m not opposing Mr. Obama; if he’s the nominee, I’ll volunteer. Indeed, if you look at votes during their two-year overlap in the Senate, they were the same more than 90 percent of the time. Besides, to clean up the mess left by President Bush, we may need two terms of President Clinton and two of President Obama.

Yes, Obama is an appealing candidate because of more than just his sex or race. But still, he is severely lacking in experience. Severely.

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Now I know why I never went ivy. A group of Zeta Psi pledges gathered up outside the Yale Women’s Center with a derogatory sign were completely blocking entrance to the center. Do you think you would be able to break through a group of 12 fraternity boys to get into the Women’s Center for your rape counseling? I’m doubtful I would take on that challenge, even if I needed to go to the bathroom and the YWC was the only bathroom within 10 miles walking distance.

Following a frat stunt picturing twelve alleged Zeta Psis with a sign reading WE LOVE YALE SLUTS by the Yale Women’s Center, the Women’s Center is threatening to sue. From the Women’s Center directly:

The gentlemen of Zeta Psi have apologized to “YALE SLUTS” — but only for what they thought they’d been caught for. They didn’t apologize for chanting “dick” outside the Women’s Center before their photo-op, and intimidating a female student from entering the Center (which, by the way, services rape victims — roughly 25 percent of women). They didn’t apologize for using the word “slut,” and being proud of it. They didn’t apologize for committing premeditated hate speech, for documenting that hate speech with pride, or for exalting it on Facebook.

And they didn’t apologize at all until we threatened legal action. The bigotry of Zeta Psi is unexceptional. It is pervasive, at Yale and around the world. This sort of behavior has to change, everywhere, here, and right now.

Of course, their apology was ridiculously lame. No word from the national front, which is no surprised if you ask me.

Although, I guess, if you were single and desperate for a boyfriend, you could always knock on the door of the Zeta Psi house and say “hey! I’m a slut! I go to the Yale Women’s Center! Date me!”

Right…

Having a semi-scientific background and understanding the ways in which scientific studies work, I have to say I was more than a little miffed to read this article about a study done linking adolescent girls’ weight to their perception of their own popularity. They claimed that girls who viewed themselves as unpopular gained more weight over a two year period than girls who viewed themselves as popular. What was the weight difference, you ask? Popular girls only gained 6.5 pounds over two years, while unpopular girls gained 11.

While how a woman feels about herself can be important when looking at her weight gain and loss, it isn’t always the source of their “fat”. I have met fat, popular high school girls and I have also met skinny unpopular high school girls - all whose happiness did not hinge on their weight. But then again, what one person knows isn’t true for the entire world of American high schoolers. Unless, of course, I’m completely off base here and everyone is walking around high school in mini skirts and stilettos like the ladies of Mean Girls.

Now, maybe it’s just me being “old” and “uncool” (ok, I’m 22, I’m not that old and uncool)… but have things really changed so much since I was in high school? Sure, girls were dieting and drinking Slim Fast for lunch - or skipping lunch altogether - but they were not nearly as concerned with their weight as high school girls are today. The last time I sat in a room surrounded by 15 year old girls was only a few months ago and all they seemed to care about what their weight, their appearance, and how this would attract boys. They spent eons criticizing other girls out of the yearbook or on their MySpace pages and almost as long looking at themselves in a mirror. Maybe it’s because I went to high school in a smaller and less urban town, but there is something wrong with this picture. Are young girls really connecting thinness with popularity?

Of course, we can always blame the celebrities, models, and other worthlessly famous individuals for this sudden “thin is in” craze. We can even blame Apple, Inc. for their last iMac commercial - “Thin is Powerful.” But really, can we blame anybody? Thin has been in for quite awhile. We can’t blame Lindsay Lohan or Nicole Richie for a trend that has been raging for years - more years than I think most of us have been alive.

While I’m sure being rail thin, but supple in all the right places, has helped many actresses and talentless famous people further their “careers”, is it really helping people in the real world? Other than the occasional “scientific study” claiming pretty people get hired more frequently and those of us blessed with an hourglass body make more money, there isn’t really much of a claim to be had by being thin.

One minor reflection on the previously mentioned study: they compared girls using their self-reports of popularity. While they are claiming to link a girls “self-image” of her popularity with her weight, how do we know this wasn’t impacted by a psychological illness such as depression, or even more serious life events such as sexual assault, family problems, or trouble with classes? Or, even more minor in a researcher’s eye, a recent break-up with a boy who told a girl she was disgusting and nobody would ever love her? In addition to this, they compared 4,264 self-reported popular girls with only 182 self-reported unpopular girls, leaving quite a few questions unanswered as far as I’m concerned.

This study is trying to link a poor self-image of popularity with unhappiness by preying on our deeply ingrained stereotypes that nobody likes a fat girl.

While the data for this study was taken in 1999, they are interpreting the it with today’s societal perceptions of body image and weight, which have become more and more in favor of increasingly thinner bodies. I was a high school freshman just turning 15 in 1999 and I knew I was dreadfully unpopular. Hell, I was even harassed on a daily basis for being rail thin and flat as a board and I still didn’t gain the weight this study is claiming the girls they took data on did. I didn’t even weigh 100 pounds, and didn’t hit anything above 110 until after I was in college for two years. While my weight is mostly due to genetics, my self-image didn’t have much of an impact on whether or not I gained weight.

But then again, I like to think of myself as a fairly logical and level-headed person: I don’t connect two variables together that are entirely unrelated and try to draw conclusions to support society’s stereotypes.