Ha

Debates!

Anyone wanting to watch this first debate chatting with me is welcome to come to IRC!!

irc.sorcery.net

#debates

See you there!!

I need a break

More Good Stuff, and Good News!

Bitch is saved people. YAY! In a scant three days we rescued an incredibly important Feminist voice in the print world. I'm happy to say the least. :D

And there's been some great reading since I spoke with you last. Have a sample:

John McCain is WHITE, Talk About that Rep. Westmoreland!

White Privilege, White Entitlement and the 2008 Election

Mi Familia. Mi Orgullo. Nuestro Historia.

Serving the Goddess
The dangerous life of a sacred sex worker.

14th Carnival of Sexual Freedom and Autonomy at Susie Bright's

50 Arrested as ADAPT Takes Affordable, Accessible Housing Crisis to Congress

How Am I to Learn? Entering New Spaces and Unpacking Privilege

Capitalism = Human Nature

Grenades During El Grito

CFP Feminism, Disability, and Bioethics

Urgent Help Needed! Please Help Me Save Bitch!

Bitch is by far my favorite magazine. It is reliably interesting and thought provoking. I look forward to each edition and if you have never read one, head out to your local book store or newsstand and buy one, then come back here and help me save them!!

This is not new to feminist publishing, but this is one we just can't let slide by.

Ya Basta!

I've been buried in links and readings about the women of the EZLN for a presentation for school for the last few days. Happily I think last week was my last of work, so I will have a bit more free time. But then of course I joined the Feminism In Action group at my University so perhaps not. :P One can hope though! I have been doing some reading though, and as always linking to my feed widget, and now want to link more directly to the stuff I want to call special attention to. A post upcoming with what I decide to address re: Zapatista women is a likely possibility.

Tanglad asks, Capitalism is "Best for Whom?"

It’s certainly not the best system for the workers at the Phils Jeon Garment factory at the Cavite Export Processing Zone in the Philippines. For demanding living wages,

the women strikers were hog-tied, blindfolded, and loaded into a waiting truck. The men dismantled their makeshift tents and loaded them into the truck along with the strikers’ other belongings. The workers were dropped outside the gate of the Cavite EPZ.

They were arrested because the strike was holding up production, and subcontractors needed to meet pricepoints and delivery deadlines.

The workers arrested because in a globalized capitalist economic system, making pesky demands for safe working conditions and a living wage raised the threat that subcontractors could move on to Vietnam, China, or a host of other countries with export processing zones.

And these workers were actually lucky that the armed strikebreakers stopped at intimidation. Many others were simply disappeared.

From Latoya at Feministe

These kinds of relationships with women and nonwhite public figures will be complicated. You can hate someone’s policies and still defend them from ad hominem arguments. I hate when people say that Condoleezza Rice is a sellout and that she isn’t black. That’s a ridiculous assertion to make. However, that does not make Condoleezza Rice a civil rights leader just because she is black and in a position of power.

I hate when people say Sarah Palin is not a woman, or she is a tool of the patriarchy, or any of the other non policy related attacks I’ve seen leveled at her from all kinds of places. But that doesn’t mean you need to start sipping the “this is a victory for women” kool aid. It isn’t. Sarah Palin does not magically become a champion for all women, everywhere, just because she happens to be a woman in a position of power.

Gauge asks Can we stop using the term Ally?

So, if you're acknowledging your privilege, seeing how you systematically benefit from it, and centering the concerns of those who do not share said privilege, you're trying to be a decent human being. Congratulations. Have a cookie. And if you're actively engaging in anti-oppression work in areas in which you're not oppressed, you're doing solidarity work. Just say you're working in solidarity with members of the oppressed class. This centers the work being done, and the members of the oppressed class, and not you. Because when you're a member of the oppressor class in dealing with a particular oppression, It. Is. Not. About. You.

From woc phd: The State Can Violate Women’s Bodies if They Want To

The federal government is considering making Gardasil vaccination, made by Merk pharmaceuticals, mandatory for female immigrants applying for citizenship. These shots, which vaccinate against certain types of HPV related to potential development of cervical cancer, are not mandatory for U.S. citizens. So why are they mandatory for immigrants? The two most obvious reasons are:

1. profit - women would have to pay out of pocket for these shots making a sizable profit for Merk (even if they subsidize the shots, the government/tax payers will be paying $360 or more per applicable immigrant to Merk)
2. human subjects testing without IRB - altho Gardasil has already been approved by the FDA recent complications in patients using the drug, 3500 major complaints in a single year and 8000 since the approval, as well as multiple deaths, could indicate that more testing is needed. Why pull the drug off the market when you can study the results through a mandated population?

Nezua reminds us that The Front Line is Everywhere

The GOP actually needs an army now, to make itself evident and dare celebrate anything in public. They have lied, killed, they laugh while we suffer with health problems or bemoan the loss of life and humanity. They bring their army to protect them from the voice of the People they supposedly serve.

Jill calls attention to a group I find horrifying and whom I was not familiar:

The Goretti Group looks like your standard abstinence-only educational team — they certainly rely on the same themes and messages. The “Purity at all Cost” tagline struck me as a little strange, to say the least — at all cost, really? — until I googled their namesake, Maria Goretti.

Maria Goretti is a Catholic martyr, who was killed by her would-be rapist. She’s a saint because, apparently, it’s better to die than to be unchaste.

Her murderer and attempted rapist was forgiven and attended Mass with Maria’s mother, where he took communion (something not offered to many pro-choice politicians). He claimed to pray to Maria and referred to her as “my little saint.”

When Maria was canonized, here’s what Pope Pius XII told the crowd:

“We order and declare, that the blessed Maria Goretti can be venerated as a Saint and We introduce her into the Canon of Saints.” Some 500,000 people, among them a majority of youth, had come from around the World. Pope Pius XII asked them:

“Young people, pleasure of the eyes of Jesus, are you determined to resist any attack on your chastity with the help of grace of God?”

A resounding “yes” was the answer.

That’s right, ladies: Better dead than not a virgin. Better to die than to survive rape.

Note that it was never attempting to fight off her rapist that made Maria great; it was her supposedly choosing death over sexual “impurity” — because apparently, being raped means that you’re impure. Did I mention she was 12?

Sister Blister - To ALL My Feminist Sisters in Movement

You and me were cut from the same cloth
It seems to some we famously get along
But you and me are strangers to each other
Cuz you and me: competitive to the bone

Such tragedy to trample on each other with how much we've endured
With the state this land is in

You and me feel joined only by gender
We are not all for one and one for all

Sister blister we fight to please the brothers
We think their acceptance is how we win
They're happy we're climbing over each other
To beg the club of boys to let us in

You and me estranged from the mother
You and me have felt impotent in our skin
You and me have taken it out on each other
You and me disloyal to the feminine

Such a pity to disavow each other with how far we've come
With how strong we've been

You and me are on this pendulum together
You and me with scarcity still fueling

Sister blister we fight to please the brothers
We think their acceptance is how we win
They're happy were climbing over each other
To beg the club of boys to let us in

We may not have priorities same
We may not even like each other
We may not be hugely anti-men
But such a cost to dishonor a sister

You and me have made it harder for the other
We forget how hard separatism has been
You and me we can help change their minds together
You and me in alignment until the end

Sister blister we fight to please the brothers
We think their acceptance is how we win
Theyre happy were climbing over each other
To beg the club of boys to let us in


-wisdom from Alanis
"Sister Blister"

CHILL

I know this is how I've been feeling lately...




h/t to Cara

More Links of Note

"Welcome back to school whatsername, now I kick your ass!"
- University

Sorry I haven't been around as much as you may have gotten used to beloved readers.

I haven't been reading as much as usual either, and I am a bit behind everyone else, but still, I do what I can. So without further ado, links of special note.

Why That Police Brutality Stuff Matters from bfp

But I wonder–how do you tell a woman to resist and reject the abuse of a man in plain clothes, while at the same time, tell her to accept and accommodate the abuse of a man wearing clothes of a state apparatus? How do you tell a man that abuse and violence is not ok while wearing plain clothes, but once he puts on an official uniform, it’s not only ok, but expected?

Are those schizophrenic messages we are sending?

For those in the Bay Area, I want to call attention once more to Proposition K in San Francisco

Proposition K Will Improve:

· Worker Safety by ensuring that crimes committed against sex workers can be reported without fear of prosecution and requiring that the Police Department and District Attorney’s Office vigorously enforces laws against extortion, battery, rape and other violent crimes; regardless of the victim’s status as a sex worker

· Public Safety by freeing up the critical resources used to enforce prostitution laws and focusing instead on higher priority crimes like human trafficking, child sexual assault and child labor.

· Public Health by lessening the social stigma that prevents many workers from seeking basic health care services

Renee at Womanist Musings sums up my thoughts on the pro-fashion/anti-fashion feminist debate perfectly:

Regardless of your position regarding performing femininity through make up and or clothing, what cannot be denied is that any purchase within our capitalist economy is predicated on the exploitation of women.

I too have felt that the fashion debate often rather misses the point. And even making your own clothes is fallible, because where does your yarn or cloth come from? Making a truly feminist choice regarding what to clothe yourself in living in the "First world" can be very difficult. Psst: I get around this by buying almost everything second hand. \o/

Jason at The Wild Hunt brings to light certain aspects of Sarah Palin that somehow manage to make her EVEN SCARIER.

"Sarah Palin's churches are actively involved in a resurgent movement that was declared heretical by the Assemblies of God in 1949. This is the same 'Spiritual Warfare' movement that was featured in the award winning movie, "Jesus Camp," which showed young children being trained to do battle for the Lord. At least three of four of Palin's churches are involved with major organizations and leaders of this movement, which is referred to as The Third Wave of the Holy Spirit or the New Apostolic Reformation. The movement is training a young "Joel's Army" to take dominion over the United States and the world."

These "Third Wave" Christians believe in supernatural powers, demon possession, curses, and ongoing spiritual warfare. Most of them are loosely grouped around C. Peter Wagner, founder of the World Prayer Center, and coiner of the term "Third Wave". Wagner believes that one of the greatest opponents to Third Wave Christian dominance is The Goddess.
[...]
While Palin has striven to present herself as a "post-denominational" Jesus follower, it should be noted that most Third Wave Christians also present themselves in this manner. Also, lest you think this article is some sort of liberal Pagan anti-Christian take-down, it should be noted that this Christian movement has been deemed heretical by several (conservative) Christian groups, including Fundamentalist Baptists.

What Pagans need to know, especially those who are considering voting Republican, is if Palin condemns or rejects the spiritual warfare teachings of the Third Wave movement. A movement that essentially espouses malicious Christian magic. Pagans have seen first hand that the religious opinions of Presidents have been used in the past by government agencies to deny us our legal rights. What would happen if our vice president thought we should be supernaturally eradicated?

Oh, Great

Just a quick note before I leave for school, this greeted me in my inbox this morning...

Bush Said to Give Orders Allowing Raids in Pakistan

Oh, fucking, GREAT. Pakistan is on the short list and Bush is determined to really leave a legacy!

More later...

Links of Interest

Besides the normal linked stories in the widget to the right from my Reader, I bring you especially noted stories.

What the New Orleans Women's Health and Justice Initiative (affiliated with Incite!) did with my money. Yay!

A new blog by a 23 year old about to have an abortion, I watch with sincere interest.

EU Parliament says sexism in advertising must stop.

Hollywood's 5 Saddest Attempts at Feminism from Cracked. Ok, I get Amidala and Elizabeth Swan, but Eowyn and River Tam? Wtf?

And Italy approves fingerprinting of Roma

A commission spokesman told journalists on Thursday (4 September) that the practice proposed by Italian authorities earlier this year is only aimed at identifying persons “who cannot be identified in any other way” and excludes the collection of “data relating to ethnic origin or the religion of people.”

The centre-right government of Silvio Berlusconi sparked protests from human rights organisations and several in the European Parliament after announcing its plan to fingerprint Roma people - including children - as part of a census of Roma camps.

The Post-Patriarchy

So Just a Girl from Don't Ask Me... and I were hanging out in the chat room a couple nights ago now and she asked a question I found very intriguing.

It was something along the lines of, we (feminists) are all working towards this goal, breaking down Patriarchy, but what do we think the post-Patriarchy is going to look like?

So, I'm throwing this out there to the masses of the feminist blogosphere.

In the post-Patriarchy....?

Protests at the Acropolis

From CNN
h/t to my fellow kinky hippie pagan political activist Radical Vixen

“Defying police presence and a thunderous downpour, dozens of Greek pagans huddled near the Parthenon in Athens on Sunday, holding a protest prayer for a museum being built at the foot of the sacred site.

The ceremony, attended by scores of curious onlookers, was performed amid the ruins of the 2,500-year-old Parthenon. The ancient Greek religion was outlawed by the Roman empire in the fourth century.

(snip)

” The Greek Culture Ministry forbids ceremonies of any sort at archeological sites. But in January, the pagan revivalists used a second century temple of Zeus in Athens to stage the first known ceremony of its kind in 1,600 years.

Four other ceremonies have been held in unfenced sites. On Sunday, the tiny band of pagans managed to enter the Acropolis’ heavily guarded grounds, paying an entrance fee as tourists and later convincing site guards of their innocuous cause.

More on Sarah Palin

Go read BlackAmazon today

Palin is what you get when no one believes you want anything more than to be indulged and fettered , rather than engaged and responsible. Palin is what you get when teh way you wield and identify power is observed and handed back to you. Poorly executed ( as Sylvia so adroitly and in a fashion that had me spitting grapefruit juice out my nose points out) but in essence a nice and succinct way for the way essentially we have treated women who are not able to boost the cachet/profile blah blah.
[...]
Sara palin is what happens when we SAY becomes radically and entusiastically different from what we do.Sarah Palin is what happens when we use the rhetoric of change and unity , to ADVERTISE our selves rather than change our worlds. Sara Palin is what happens when we make sure to ignore the ramifications of trying to constantly rewrite history and sweep shit under the rug.

In Feminism Is For Everybody, bell hooks talks about those feminists whom the media likes, who weren't really working towards feminist goals but towards attaining power for themselves and women like them within the system. Yah, looking at Sarah Palin, I can't help but think she is the out come. Honestly, Hillary was bad enough.

Protesting, Cops, and Violence at the RNC

At La Chola, indy media and los anjalis there's some great posts following the happenings at the RNC. There were a couple incidents at the DNC as well, but I didn't see anything like this. Check it out.

An Eyewitness Story of Evacuation

Via ProfBW

This is the first step of displacement. Those with cars drive away. Those without walk to a community center with their children and wait for a bus. The first of many buses they will take in their journey to who knows where. The bus that people are waiting for will take them to the train station where people will get off the bus, be entered into computers, be given bar code bracelets, and then put on other buses for a trip to public shelters in places like Shreveport, Alexandria and Memphis.

New Orleans expects 30,000 people need help evacuating.

Many waiting for this bus were in the Superdome when Katrina hit. . .

Read the whole entry here.

And more resources!

More Resources Straight from the WIKI (see my other posts below as well, esp. Incite! plea)

• Aid Agencies & Donations: Where to donate, by phone or online.
• Government Resources for persons & businesses: FEMA registration, postal services, insurance information, tax relief, loans
• Helpline Numbers: National and local phone numbers for emergency & disaster relief information
• Animal Rescue Resources: Comprehensive pet information
• Health and Safety Info: Water purification, diseases prevention, safety
• Recovery: Relocation Advice: Checklist of actions that can be taken by people who lost their homes and businesses
• Shelters - List of Locations
• Ham Radio Resources
• College Students
• Time Off: Activities for Children in the affected areas
• Fundraising events: Add your event