Saturday, March 31, 2007

Woah! I have vague feelings of being impressed. and also vague feelings of no, don't go away. Although mostly I am hot, and unable to unwind and relax.

At least this amusing bit of objectification will lighten the mood.
It's raining. Some guy broke a law student's nose. I don't like doing schoolwork, but it's easier now that I got a new keyboard.

If you are tempted by this ad break up with your non boyfriend.
Dear random internet people, I am favoring my left foot so no zumba today. Dear random internet people, I am saving up for various things, so I am having a free shipping sale on my site.

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Question: is this bead safe for work? Too controversial for customers or no?
Really, I think that women entering doctoral programs don't need to be told its effect on marriage or whether guys might think dr before your name is scary. If someone is that obsessed with what the booooys might think, they'd be too busy batting their eyes and giggling to study anyway, and the rest of us women will go and study even if we might not get a maaaayn.
Such tasty stupid! But I have to go to the library, so I'm putting it on the blog to keep it for now.

I don't want to work on the huge paper of doom now. So here's some wank about lesbians who love the cock. If it helps, lesbians who love the cock A LOT.

Sleepy baby shannon has one link to pandagon. Technically, when my mom let my aunt babysit us, we were in daycare. mom wishes I had had more daycare as even today I am shy and timid.
Ok, I was reading that transphobic Heart again, and then I realized that her pal Britta posted something I wanted to reply to, so you guys will have to give me a moment,ok?

Rebecca Whisnant gave a great presentation, comparing 2nd and 3rd wave feminists - 3rd wave feminism largely promotes individualism and choice, a “willful myopia to the effects of one’s choices in a broader culture of sexual dominance,” or, in the words of Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards in their book Manifesta, “Feminism isn’t about the choice you make, it’s about your freedom to make that choice.” This contrasts with the prevalent 2nd wave feminist knowledge that “women are a class, sharing a common condition,” and that the fate of one woman is tied to the fate of all women, whether she likes it or not. Thus, the question is not so much “Did she choose X?” as it is “Does X further the oppression of women as a whole?” In general, 2nd wave feminists embraced responsibility for the broader results of their personal choices…whereas 3rd wave feminists are so afraid of being seen as essentialist, and are “reluctant to speak in an assumed and potentially false solidarity.” But it’s not as simple as saying any choice a woman makes is a feminist choice, so long as she freely chooses it, for that ignores the effects our choices can have on *each other*.

I'm 2.5 here. I'm not into the whole "feminism is about choices" thing because I can choose anything. I can choose to call you a cunt, I can choose to say that rape is acceptable, I can choose to do tons of shit that isn't feminist. Then again, all women don't have a common condition- poor sex working transwomen with AIDs in the third world have it way worse than I do, and have many different experiences from I. But then again, there are ways that we should be responsible for ourselves and our choices.

The truth is that no matter how much we'd like to have it otherwise, there's no such thing as a free lunch. Nobody thinks you're as special as you think you are. If you make a choice that has a negative effect on other women, such as acting like the other woman enticed the man to cheat on his own and giving all the blame to her instead of giving any blame at all to the man, and somebody feminist walks by and calls you on it? That's life!

If you are always talking about how 13 year old girls are 'fast' and somehow deserve to be catcalled and harassed by men and some feminist calls you on it? Oh woopty do! That's life!

If you're pretending that gendered behavior comes hardwired in, and wonderbras just fall from the sky and some feminist says that's not correct? You know what? Tough fucking cookies!

If you're grown enough to say that your choices are sacred, you're grown enough to take responsibility for them.

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

I'm putting this post by ginmar here as a bookmark so I'll remember to post a wank report.

Reading the first few words of this post makes me not want to read the comments. Piny posts on transpeople. I'm going to talk about something else that has little to do with transpeople, although I agree with the lady who wanted a trans 101 website. We all have rude and offensive questions, such as "so do you want to buy a big TV now?" or "so what was it like, having your girlhood so late?" but if we all said stupid things all the time, the smart people would never have any time to say anything smart.

Also, piny on gender. Instead of writing a brillant treatise on gender, I think I'm going to use irrelevant personal anecdotes. I'm androgynous on the inside. I like good old male identified values like not being a giant wussy, being a responsible adult, understanding that sometimes facts are important,etc. Of course, everyone sees me as a girl, as I am very short, and do not have strong body language. Then again, I must admit, if I don't know what gender you are, I assume you're a female. Also I assume everyone on etsy is a female too. Also, people seem to be happier when I'm dressed as a girl, but I don't like it.
A squicky article on 'Mandingos'- the interracial swing community. A gentleman in the street and a thug in the bedroom? Seems like that a lady in the streets and a whore in the bedrooms old mess to me. But feminism is about choices!!!! so because the men knew they were fucking for the pleasure of racist bastards, us random internet people can't be like but OMG!!!! RACIST!! I'm sure some of the guys are laughing and saying OMG, cracker!!! but that doesn't make being a racist OK.

NO ONE IS ILLEGAL, MISS SCARLETT!!!
Man, pregnant is the meanest community in the whole world. Dang, if you don't fix your cat, people want you to abort your kid?! Man, *starts crying illogically* Wank overdrive

Also, welcome to my world where english is sometimes spoken is slightly too heavy for chicklit. Chicklit requires a happy ending, a good splash of comedy, and much less of this whole searching for meaning pathos, and a good man won't make you happy stuff. So my verdict- a regular novel in chicklit semi trade dress. That doesn't mean it's a bad novel, it's just not a good example of the genre.

etsy thread: etsy commercial.


SUPERBAD! WRONG!!


More on child dead from overdose. Always adhere to ethical standards, people!

Also, dear internet people, should I get counselor's insurance?
Poor skills makes stupidfree, giving me an opportunity to note that reverse classism doesn't exist. Some idiot is like my cleaning lady told me that you can polish silver with a toothbrush! I can see why poor people might resent folks with cleaning ladies(we don't even have a cleaning lady!) waltzing in and trying to tell them about the super special tip she learned(and seriously, who didn't know this superspecial tip?). Not to mention, some poor people use the internet at the library.

But back to my main point: Reverse classism doesn't exist. I know it's sad that people online don't think that your tips from your cleaning lady are wonderful and amazing, bu t the truth is that that is more an issue for you to discuss with your friends or a mental health professional than it is a systematic way that the poor are keeping us down.

There is room for good old whinging and moaning, but not everything rises to the level of oppression. Also, there's a difference between poor and broke. Poor is when anything goes wrong, whether it's a speeding ticket or anything, you're in danger of having your lights cut off, being homeless, your kid going hungry. Broke is when you have a bit of a cushion. You get a speeding ticket? Beg your parents for cash. Higher utility bills than usual? Cut down on the netflix. Holidays coming up? Sell on ebay.

Broke is having options. Poor is not having options. It's in that I think the oppression lies.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Are you down with the P.C.C.? The breakdown of the nation-state. Feminist makes stupid free, with typical headdeskery. It's the oppression olympics!!

Etsy post: the dos and don'ts of etsy.

If you have a classroom activity in which you list all the minority groups you an think of and then apply social distance numbers to them and then think up stereotypes, always have it be the rating of the average (fill in the blank). That way white whining will be muted. Our class found that nobody likes Arabs or Muslims(my group said nobody likes Latinos), and that people all think that transgendered folks are sex workers, bisexuals are strippers and Jamaicans are drug dealers. Although, in our group, African Americans were clerical workers, Africans either were hair braiders or doctors, so I don't see where we got the Jamaician from in our class...

Question for the imaginary audience: should I take off the lazy links tag since every post is a links post?
There is a difference between something being 'feminine' and it being 'womanly' or like a woman. The difference to me is that a woman is an adult role. Femininity is not really an adult role as it means being less- not asking for the big porkchop, settling for being the 'power behind the throne', paying more but getting less, doing more work but getting less pay, and being all happy about it. But being a woman doesn't mean you have to be feminine. There's no rule saying that you *must* eat shit and like it just because you have labia.

I was reading about Adlerian group therapy today and they went on and on about encouragement, which can mean to give courage to people. I hope that people can find the courage to be feminists not because it sounds good, but because they really think the ideological underpinnings make sense to them, and when they are willing to do the work.
Some morning bits and pieces: modest clothing that I would actually wear. Just only in winter. Except for the layering shell. I need some more of those- they work great with anything. Also, huh!? Friends of stupidfree only post about the former huhness. And...I am not my cock. Guys have been able to control themselves around me when I was showing side NIPPLE, so your excuses are all invalid, pervy guys!!

Etsy thread: buying to make a sale.

Why I don't go to feminist often: apparently, quiznos sandwich commercials are really horridly sexist. Because ladies who really love meat filled sandwiches are holding them down. Also, feminist flamewar- someone says something racist, and they're off! I agree with the person who says that we shouldn't not fight against racism and sexism because other people might not like it.

Monday, March 26, 2007

Feministe makes OTF wank! With a bit of headdeskery about bad feminists.

Etsy thread of the day: hair splinters. Ugh, I'm going to puke!!
I'm going to point out stupid and postpone my mortgage!post to cheer myself up. Apparently, some random lady got engaged, giving this guy major 'PTSD' Man, dude, I don't even get PTSD from reading in my career book about how 90% of young adults are expected to get married(I'm also postponing my divvying up the housework post) and reading in National Geographic that women east of the Mississppi are more likely to be in huge cities with tons of single women and like two single men. Let me tell you internet, that gave me slight psychological damage, but not an actual intense mental disorder.

Also, rape wank.(don't read this, spotted elephant!!!) Inside the wank is the fact that your kink is not OK. Also, LOL, non sexual fetish(top picture not safe for work or life or anything, scroll past so that your retinas don't fall out) Because tattooing yourself with a picture of a baby animal peeing itself is totally a good idea. Yea really.

Also, there's a long thread on femininity at Twisty's.
I'm not a fan of femininity as I tend to be the sort of person who wants to get the best of everything. I want the best life role,the most fun, the tastiest food.
Let me tell you internet is my new tag. Let me tell you internets, first the electricity went out in the library and caused the computer to eat my paper. I feel like we pay zillions of dollars to Memphis Gas Light and Water, but the second anything happens, whether it's one drop of rain or a cloudy sky, our electricity goes out. Next I got pulled over because I didn't stop *enough* at a stop sign. I understand that dangerous criminals have guns and stuff, so you can't pull them over. But seriously!!! It's a hard day being Shannon
Does bringing your own tea bags to a resturant make you an asshole!? I'm posting this so I have an excuse to post the reason journalfen disappeared for like a day.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

An email I received:

Memphis Mobile Center Open from Monday, April 23rd to Sunday, April
29th

The Road Home Program will be Opening a Mobile Housing Assistance
Center in Memphis, Tennessee. There will be an open house on
Saturday, April 14th from 2-6 pm at the Holiday Inn Select, 2240
Democrat Rd, Memphis TN 38132. The Mobile Housing Assistance Center
will be open from Monday, April 23rd until Sunday, April 29th. All
Louisiana Citizens are encouraged to come out to meet with the Road
Home Staff and tour the facility and to schedule individual one-on-
one attention on applications and/or filing of the Road Home
Program, visit www.road2LA.org or call 1-888-ROAD-2-LA.

"We are making every effort to reach all eligible homeowners and
ensure that they can move through the system as quickly as
possible," said Michael Taylor, director of the Disaster Recovery
Unit, Office of Community Development. "It's vitally important that
Louisiana homeowners who are living in the Atlanta area call the
program to file their applications and make an appointment at the
Atlanta center."

Louisiana residents currently residing in Memphis or the
Southwestern Tennessee area who have applied to the program, but
have not yet scheduled their appointments may do so by calling
1.888.ROAD.2.LA and choosing prompt #4. Homeowners who have made
appointments at a Louisiana Center have the option to reschedule
those appointments at the Memphis location by also calling that
number.
Bad parenting suspected in death of preschooler.
I'm assuming this icon is a parody of sexist commercials:

Superbabymama and Brownfemi are going on hiatus.
I love the let me tell you internet meme, and want to use it before it becomes old meme. Let me tell you internet, it's going to be nearly 90 degrees in March. And my nose and head hurt. And I have nausea. And my throat is stopped up. It's a hard day being Shannon. Ok, that's not a very good one, internet.
A white woman encourages fat people to get self esteem. You know, there are many great diy seamstresses that will sew up to your size. And many women in my dance class are fat. It's good to exercise at any size.

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Shannon's brain has melted. It's so hot.

Brownfemi is fighting against racism. I don't see how blackamazon can even think nowadays, let alone type, but her writing is good lately. I don't feel like talking about anything important, like my sense of the outlines of the situation in Zimbabwe, so I'm going to give you my thoughts on why nobody thinks video girls are empowering. It's because we don't got time for that BS. White women can get away with saying that showing their naughty bits to people and talking about how we should listen to the children is really hard hitting activism. We can't. If I wrote a post, say, on blackfolks, claiming to be uplifting the black community by showing my buttcheeks to all and sundry and smiling indulgently at small black children, I'd really get it, as folks demand some sort of accountability about things. It's like the guy I heard on NPR once. He wanted to hear what works. He didn't want to hear what makes us feel good or what is fun.

Also: major feminist blog has post on women of color, but it is framed by the Brad Pitt story. A white woman writes a poem about feminism.

Friday, March 23, 2007

The pleasureseeker has a good post on femininity. I feel so hot that I'm going to pass out.
Feministe highlight reel, with special threadjack. The threadjack helps us understand the dynamics of the whiny wimpy chicks or whatever they call themselves.

I hate the whole put on a burqa thing, so I'm quoting one to show it exists. Also, how come modesty obsessors never tell men not to wear suits? Suits are hot and lead to self abuse.

Why doesn’t he just tell us to put on a fragging burqua? Completely hide any semblance of a female form - or for that matter human form - from view.

and why is it always women who are told to be modest but men aren’t told the same?


About the Orthodox Feminist Alliance:

This is the wackiest form of feminism I’ve ever seen! I don’t see any actual advocacy for women’s rights anywhere, all I see is explanations about how the home is really important and how women are good at home-centric tasks like pleasing their husbands

Yuck!

Out of the many fucked-up threads in The Attic, one of the ones that most stands out in my mind was a discussion of whether standards of modesty still applied around the girls’ own family members. The consensus was that coming down to the breakfast table in your pajamas might tempt your brothers to rape you. Very, very sad.


#44, we get to the first comment about how the meaaaaan feminists are oppressing us, courtesy of Natialia:

Also, and this is something that I’ve been thinking about as of late - it’s interesting how some of these ah, lovely boys’ (not men, dammit) arguments are similar to certain feminist arguments, i.e., if you’ve put on some lipstick and a tank top - you are doing it for men, and you are a fool, or worse. The motivation, I believe, is different, but there’s something to this, no?

Elinor tries to straighten things out:

No, I don’t think there is.

While I personally am quite fond of lipstick and tank tops, I’m really offended by the notion that motivation doesn’t matter. And the number of feminist women who’ve actually given me crap for the way I look, as opposed to pointing out the misogynist nature of the beauty industry, is, hmm, zero.

It doesn’t make sense to decide the feminist agenda by playing Opposites Day with the religious right agenda.


I'm not *fond* of lipstick or tank tops, but I have some, due to the fact that when I go to the appropriately gendered section of the store, choose my size, and then choose for aesthetics, effects on others(will people think this is fashionable? is it figure flattering?) and weather proofing, some of the selected items are tank tops. I also receive gifts from people who live in cultures.

Ugly in Pink has a stronger reaction:

Oh pfft. All I see from the hairy armpit androgynous feminists (of which I am one) is to examine your choices and not just make the knee-jerk defensive rationalization that you’re wearing those three inch heels solely for yourself to celebrate your wonderful empowerful womanliness, or something. I think there’s a great difference in saying (as these people are) dress for men’s whims or we’ll treat you like dirt, and saying maybe give a second thought as to who you’re dressing for and why, because shouldn’t it be mostly for yourself?

I'm androgynous too! Woooot!!! But I also had one of these childhood things, and so I wear lipstick to appear acceptably 'made up'.

Elinor tries to stake out a middle ground:
Frankly I don’t see a problem with occasionally dressing for the menz. I’m attracted to men. I want men to be attracted to me; of course, naive little tart that I am, I think it’s possible for a man to think “nice person” and “nice body” at the same time.

I don’t know why it’s necessary to get so defensive about the notion that you might be dressing to get a reaction from other people — unless you pick your clothes in the dark out of a closet stocked by somebody else, that’s what you’re doing.

There are people out there telling us we have to wear sexy clothes (or we’re unattractive), as many if not more than are telling us we can’t wear them. You’re making it sound as if tank tops, lipstick, push-up bras and high heels arrive in the stores without any fanfare, or maybe just drop out of the sky, who knows.


I'm reading a book, Mississippi Sissy, and it seems that the child's (in the South, we all have childhoods!) relatives are socializing him for a masculine role.

Natalia replies to Elinor:

’m going to assume you weren’t wearing a “Who Needs A Brain When You Have These?” t-shirt…

I don’t really dress provocatively either way.

I’m sorry some self-described feminist women were mean to you.

It happens. I can’t say I’ve never been mean to anyone because of their appearance - I can be quite the bitch - but I sort of figured things out by the time I left my teenage years behind (or so I like to think). When adult women do this, especially adult women who have power over you, it can get disconcerting.


Elinor continues sensibly
:
For sure. And I don’t think that trashing another woman for the way she dresses is a properly feminist thing to do. (Which is not to say I wouldn’t be seriously pissed off at a woman in a “Who Needs A Brain When You Have These?” T-shirt, because I totally would.) But I think it’s important for feminists to be able to criticize the fashion and beauty industries. A lot of the clothes that make it difficult for you to do the housework and play with toddlers, as God intended, can also make it difficult for you to walk more than a few blocks, can harm your feet and back, can consume time and energy and money that you might want to spend elsewhere, etc.

As a feminist, I'm totally cool with 'tearing down women' if it's stuff like saying that Marie Anotoinette was not the best feminist movie EVER or that while jilling off is fun it's not exactly feminist revolution.

Ginmar posts twice:

It’s a strawfeminist. Heard it a million times. “OMG, feminists were mean to me because I LOVE men AND lipstick and…..” Dude, I got mugged by a black guy once. Doesn’t make me hate black guys, it makes me hate MUGGERS. That’s assuming that there are feminists out there acting like, you know, strawfeminists do. According to their alleged victims, strawfeminists go around kicking puppies with their combat boots covering their hairy legs, spitting on babies and beating up men and housewives. They also have bonfires of books, pretty dresses, and makeup. I’ve been a feminist for twenty years and I’ve never seen one or heard this sentiment first hand; it’s always second hand.

Only the best one was selected.

Jill writes a long post, here is an excerpt:

I think it can be really difficult to talk about things like beauty and raunch culture without blaming women, or sounding like you’re blaming women. I think there are some feminists who fall into the trap of deriding girls instead of Girls Gone Wild culture. But for the most part, most feminists are critiquing the broader social structures which create mandatory beauty culture and which tie female-ness to the trappings of femininity. But for a lot of women, hearing a criticism of make-up or high heels can sound a lot like a criticism of them, even if it’s not necessarily intended that way.


The whole criticizing makeup and high heels is criticizing me viewpoint that some have confuses me. I'm wearing shorts. If someone doesn't like shorts, what does that have to do with me?

BMC confuses me:
Jill, I make zero apology for any gender normative behavior I choose to engage in. This is the hand I have been dealt and learend to cope with for nearly 4 decades, and I would find it deeply uncomforable to have to wake up tomorrow and have to act the way men are socialized to act, or just reject all gender . I just don’t sit at the back of the bus, accept less pay for the same work, do more than half of the domestic chores, allow others to make decisions about my own health, or tolerate anyone treating other women that way. I think that’s a pretty tall order without worrying about whether St. Peter will let you into the feminist section of heaven for having worn eye shadow.

Huh? I don't get where Jill said she had to reject gender or act like a man. I find it easier personally to just act like myself and throw overly confining gender stereotypes over the wall.

Natalia speaks again:

What I’ve encountered wasn’t plain meanness - it was an exercise in power, in questioning my abilities, and in a workplace environment no less. It wasn’t a feminist pow-wow where I showed up wearing heels and the other women didn’t. It was a whole lot closer to home, and a whole lot more pointed and specific.

I personally don’t believe in a warm and fuzzy and diverse “sisterhood” that can bridge all divides and empower all. I have my way of doing things, and other people have theirs. I don’t apologize, and neither should they. But if an accomplished older woman is going to threaten me professionally because I’ve a predilection for the colour pink and whatnot, or, in a different scenario, practically pat me on the head and tell me what a “victim” I am - I am not going to trust that woman, like I wouldn’t trust a man who says that I am a “victim” (of my own wanton sexual nature, of course) because I generally don’t conform to HIS standards of appropriate dress.


We're sad that your boss is a jerk, but don't take it out on everyone else.

Nausicaa uses a psychological argument:



The “accomplished older woman” might be (in part) projecting — she may have come up in an era where she felt she had to scrupulously protect a nonsexualized image in the workplace in order to be taken seriously. And she might be jealous and angry that you don’t have the same hurdles to face. And, like it or not, she may also be giving you advice that’s still relevant in today’s workplace — a sexualized or girlish image, expressed through clothing or doing things like baking cookies for the office, just isn’t good for career advancement.

Then again, she may just have an Althouse-like boob obsession.


Thank you!


So a woman you worked with was an asshole and this extrapolates to “feminist arguments” that lipstick is inherently bad - how, exactly?

Natalie, I do think feminist critiques of the beauty industry require a certain sensitivity (whilst not relinquishing their critical power), and I hate people who jump on women for performing aspects of stereotypical (white, middle-class) femininity without any knowledge of the woman they’re heaping shit on. But I think better of feminism than to label such behaviour as ‘feminist’. As far as I’m concerned it’s decidedly unfeminist behaviour, because part of feminism is eradicating the kind of culture that rewards us for tearing the crap out of each other and enacting the catfight rubric


Natalia responds:

Ah, but mine is an “ethnic-flavoured,” Ukrainian, insidious femininity… Or so I’m told.


But I think better of feminism than to label such behaviour as ‘feminist’.

I think feminists are very diverse. I don’t think we should all be required to get along. Should we? I mean, I’m open to any idea here, honestly, because all of this is very dynamic. And I did point out that this behaviour is not representative of feminism as a whole - but certain strands of feminism. But where I’m living now - said “strands” are dominating the landscape.

Oh, and it’s Natalia. Not Natalie… It’s a pet-peeve of mine. :-)


LOL, Ukrainian not white. What's next? I hope this isn't the same place where black people have all the jobs, women are always lying about child support, and hamburgers eat people.

Now this threadjack gives us an interesting idea of modern feminism at the crossroads. The thread is originally about a bunch of weirdos and a poll about modest dress among women. The thread is jacked into criticizing all of feminism over the actions, that may or may not have happened, of one or at least less than ten women. It's not gender triumphs race, it's your asshole boss triumphs organized religion, the state, and the capitalist economy.
Read Kirby Rainbow Resort and I'll be back this afternoon for a feministe highlight reel.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

We talked about our family constellations in class and this girl asked if I felt left out because I was a girl, and I was like no, we all played unisex games like basketball and video games(and anyway, I was slightly older than my girl cousins, so even though sometimes I had to give my my little ponies to my cousins, I could boss them around when we played school.) So that caused me to remember a really cute Kirby memory- I loved the little first you draw a circle, then you dot the eyes, animation on Kirby's Dreamland. It was so cute!

*I've decided on a new tag 'aspie talk' for me blathering on whatever my new obsession is. The fact is that even my imaginary audience for this blog doesn't have enough of an inhibiting effect to stop my blathering.
WHY!?

*note- just because you have labia that doesn't make cultural appropriation or crimes against fashion OK!

Also, learn how easy you have it as a parent! No diapers, no small people pretending to be monkeys, no umbrellas in the library, no small people who interact with the world by throwing things- just free money all the day long!

LOL, there's PICTURES OF GUNS ON THE FRONT PAGE!!! NO!!!!

People argue about Israel.
I am tempted to bust out with: guess who else thought they had a special homeland from God? THE BOERS!!!!
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Wednesday, March 21, 2007

You know after looking at these cute Kirby figures, I was thinking that the first Kirby game was the girliest game ever. I mean you play a pink little blob, who has really cute powers, suck in an enemy, and you get it's powers, and at the end, you have to fight the evil king with the cute little star rod that shoots off cute little stars... Too bad they don't have Kirby being a girl instead of a guy...
The Happy Feminist is alive.

Also to put you in a happy place, it's a pretty zeenoky or whatever.

Hey! It's the worst thing ever!(NSFW)

Etsy thread of the day- why am I being asked to change my pics now?
World have your say is live in Harlem, and there's a whole lot of shouting going on. You know what drives me nuts? White people get credit for 'raising awareness' and for being feminist for being born, but us black people? We can organize all the day long, we can mentor, we can counsel people in life skills, we can donate to all the organizations ever, we can march in the streets, we can write letters to Congress, and for some reason, we're not doing anything!!`

But on the lighter side, BDSM'ers argue about whether the woman needs to screw the pooch or just screw the moron. Can entitlemoos expect good service from MiccyDs? Also, call dr el jay! White man has console game playing project rules. Also, some believe we have 20 pounds of shit in our colons. Woman dumps horsefucker. Shannon's rad fem heart leaps in joy.
Arguments on the internet!

Mnem has a bone to pick:

Okay, I tried to read the links, but I was so annoyed by the reference to “Sofia Coppola Feminism” and the complete misreading of Marie Antoinette (hint: she really didn’t say “Let them eat cake,” and the movie wasn’t about her being a pure and innocent soul) that I can’t take the rest of what they say seriously. Sorry.

I liked the costumes in Marie Antoinette, but it wasn't exactly a groundbreaking work of feminism.

Then Mnem continues to pick at a bone:



Mnemosyne, I’m wondering who the pronoun “they” in your comment refers to?

“They” would be Donna at The Silence of Our Friends and BlackAmazon at Having Read the Fine Print (who I linked to through Donna).

I know it’s oh-so-fashionable to hate Sofia Coppola because she’s privileged young white woman who makes movies, but, really, haven’t we had enough of tearing other women down because they’ve had more advantages than we have? (And I include myself in that “we” who hasn’t had nearly as many advantages. I’ve had a lot, and I know it, but I’m not at the Coppola level.)

Also, both of the above writers seem to be under the impression that the lead character of a film is always supposed to be admired and is always the hero/heroine. You’re not supposed to like the Scarlett Johanssen character in Lost in Translation. She’s shallow and mildly xenophobic, and she’s whiny about it. Anyone who doesn’t understand that doesn’t understand film very well.

(Disclaimer: I have two film degrees, so it drives me batty to have people who don’t understand basic things about film complaining about them. Yes, the guys in The Virgin Suicides don’t understand the girls and have foolish illusions that they can save them. THAT’S THE FUCKING POINT!)


This sort of thing is why I'm against feminism is about supporting women. Just because someone has labia doesn't mean that people can't wonder about the classist subtexts in their movies. Also you don't need a film degree to understand movies I say.

I try to argue because I am argumentative:

Mnem, I think my classismometer is blinking towards you. Is it you that’s got it going off? Sometimes we have false positives, but then again, do you really need a film degree to understand a movie? And maybe there are multiple interpretations or something? Anyone? Bueller

I am from a privileged background myself so I can't tell but I try to follow along from what poor people tell me is classist.


Mnem continues to talk:

Mnem, I think my classismometer is blinking towards you. Is it you that’s got it going off?

I get that a lot when I try to explain to people that Sofia Coppola is not automatically a bad filmmaker or a bad person because she’s from an upper-class family. Somehow, the same people who get all upset about all of the advantages that she had never get quite as upset when we’re talking about Rob Reiner or Joss Whedon, who had just as many (if not more) advantages as Coppola did. Something about her being a woman director really pushed people’s buttons.

Sometimes we have false positives, but then again, do you really need a film degree to understand a movie?

Not necessarily, but it helps you realize when people are making a bullshit argument and trying to illustrate it with stuff that’s not there except in their own preconceptions about the filmmaker.

If you want to argue that Coppola is a bad filmmaker, that’s fine. If you think her art is shallow, that’s your opinion. If you want to say that she’s a bad filmmaker and her art is shallow because she had a privileged upbringing, there’s a lot of classism there. And claiming that she’s representative of “Sofia Coppola Feminism” because you don’t like her art is heading towards crazytown.

I think we’re back at that old bugaboo of “If that liberal/feminist doesn’t talk about the exact thing that’s important to me, they’re not just uninteresting or a bad artist, s/he is a bad person, too.”
# 45 Mnemosyne Mar 20th, 2007 at 11:31 pm

Sorry, I meant to link: “Sofia Coppola Feminism”.

It’s the naming a movement after someone who doesn’t pretend to represent feminism that bugs me. It’s like calling it “Tom Cruise Feminism” or “Brad Pitt Feminism.” It’s meaningless, except in what you’re assuming the person must be like from having read articles about them in Vogue.


I don't believe that reverse classism exists. I mean, would I rather have people think I don't deserve food or healthcare or have people think I'm not a good feminist film maker, and yea, I'm saying the latter. And when did she say she was a feminist anyway.

Kai tries to get us back on the matter at hand:


Just to be clear here, none of the posts that Ilyka linked to were about filmmakers or filmmaking. I happen to like Ms. Coppola’s flicks but I can’t see the relevance. We were trying to focus on illegal raids and human rights violations against women and children of color taking place right now in the US. Oh well. As usual, different priorities prevail.


Mnem whines for like three more posts:




Mnem, I have to say that it is extremely annoying that almost all film directors come from wealthy, privileged backgrounds.

It is annoying. The only person I know who got a writing job right out of film school (master’s program) was someone who was living at home with her parents in Brentwood, which meant that she was able to intern for free for an entire year for the TV show that eventually hired her. (Plus she also married a very successful musician from a band I know you’ve heard of.) Hell, some famous directors have stooped to accepting bribes from aspiring filmmakers.

I would have liked to do that kind of internship, but I needed a day job, which means I probably will never sell a screenplay because I can’t devote the amount of time to selling it that I would need to do. (I don’t mean writing it — I mean taking meetings, meeting people, etc.) My husband also graduated from film school, but getting a film job would have meant having his own car (with his own insurance) to drive at a minimum wage job for two years until they decided he was trustworthy and could maybe start doing small film-related jobs and get him in the union two years after that. And he just didn’t have the money for that — he needed to start working right away so he could pay back his loans.

And, frankly, I think it’s bad for film and TV that such a small class of people is doing all of the writing and making all of the films. Some people do at least try to examine their class privilege, but a lot of them don’t even try.

But, again, I don’t understand why all of this is Sofia Coppola’s fault and not, say, Penny Marshall’s fault. I think she’s become a convenient symbol for people who want to deny that she has talent (she’s overhyped, but she does have talent) so they can make their own points about the problems with the class system in Hollywood.

Which means that, once again, a woman is getting blamed for taking advantage of something that men take advantage of hundreds of times more and never get blamed for even once.

Are you starting to see why it annoys me so much?
# 50 Mnemosyne Mar 21st, 2007 at 1:24 am

Just to be clear here, none of the posts that Ilyka linked to were about filmmakers or filmmaking.

No, but Donna (who was linked to) referenced “Sofia Coppola Feminism” in her very first sentence and talked about how Coppola represents particular feminist type, which irritated me. That’s how we got on the subject.

Yes, it’s not very important in the grand scheme of saving the world, but that’s kinda how comments go sometimes.
# 51 Mnemosyne Mar 21st, 2007 at 1:30 am

I should say, my ginormous comment that will probably be in moderation until tomorrow is all about the class privilege inherent in the entertainment industry that people don’t even think about. So it’s kinda-sorta on topic, if the topic is the class stratification that’s invisible to most people.



Uh..I think that the class stratification in having your human rights violated is different from how I don't get to drive a BMW, I just have to drive dad's old Nissan.

Ilyka works hard to get us back on track:

Gotcha. Concerns about Blackamazon’s use of the term “Sofia Coppola feminism,” however, should be addressed to Blackamazon. Or, if your problem is more with Donna’s endorsement of BA’s use of the term, with Donna. Or with both.

But I have to side with Kai here: This is going into “I get what you’re saying but I hate how you said it” territory, which nearly universally guarantees a derail. It’d be different if “Sofia Coppola feminism” constituted some sort of hate speech; I don’t mind derails into how-you-said-it land when hate speech is involved, but I don’t think it is here.

I’m not entirely sorry we got on this track. It was interesting to know more about Coppola’s filmmaking, which I admit I’m not familiar with (I think I tried to watch Lost in Translation once, but it put me to sleep), and I also had no idea whether she identified as a feminist or not. If she doesn’t, then I agree “David Lynch feminism” makes about as much sense. But you can’t know for sure why Blackamazon chose Sophia Coppola instead of David Lynch without asking her for clarification, so that’s probably your best bet.


Mnem continues to whine.
I mean racism and classism? Just random tearing women down!


But you can’t know for sure why Blackamazon chose Sophia Coppola instead of David Lynch without asking her for clarification, so that’s probably your best bet.

From her post, she seems to have chosen her because Sofia Coppola is a privileged white woman who makes movies about privileged white women, which sets off all kinds of red flags about the concerns of white women being set up as more important than those of minority and lower-class women.

It struck me as yet another example of women tearing each other down because they’re not “pure” enough feminists, which is why it came to mind in this particular thread. It came across along the lines of, “If she isn’t making movies that talk about my particular concerns, she shouldn’t be making movies at all.”

But, yes, sorry for the threadjack. Ranting is done.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Ewaey drama on PSU. There should be a ecommerence drama LJ.
White feminist Sheezlebub learns an important lesson. My opinion? On one hand, if you can, it's nice to take some individual action. The stone is worn away by the water after all. On the other hand, just doing that isn't enough. It's necessary, but not sufficient. Do I make any sense?
On a lighter note, in TN, that whole man hugging man thing is considered a sign of the gay.

Also, on the lighter side, talk about freecycle goes from zero to your mom is a dirty dirty slut in 23 seconds. I'm reminded of a weird story my career teacher said in which he said that if you say certain words in Honduras, you can expect physical violence. Thanks, Peace Corps!
It seems that piny is going through a hard time, so maybe ze needs support? Don't say anything stupid or rude.
Serious jewelry allows me to seriously procrastinate.

Is etsy too hard for new users?


Etsy Plus Street Team Forming.

Sunday, March 18, 2007

The pleasureseeker's blog may be NSFW for several days.
Adult art I was flipping through the time machine 2 and I think this (NSFW)was posted at 7 pm. I have to admit my first thought was "is this a pendant?!" Should parents pay for babysitting services if we are to protect their little lovelies on etsy? Also, the item I wanted to post before I got distracted- kitty bra.

Also, what's your most expensive item? Do I need to censor this?
I tried to study, so now it's time for the rules of rad fem!

1) No one gets a get out of patriarchy free card(also known as you're not a special snowflake)

On feministe, Vanessa wore green lipstick when she was a teenager, so she's special~!


I think that it's important to look at systems rather than individuals as the font of feminism. Everyone thinks they are special. But when you start putting patterns together, you notice that in the US, 99% of makeup wearer(green lipstick or otherwise) are women, most folks randomly choosing to stay home with the kids at the expense of a massive paycut and having to be on call 24/7 are women, and so on and so forth, and you start noting that all the special little snowflakes in the world can't advert this blizzard of sexism.

2)Just because sex is involved doesn't mean that you need to toss your brain and common sense out the window.

Just because something involves sex doesn't mean it can't also be oppressive. Note this shitty comic art. I'm sure someone has a fetish for horrible anatomy, but that doesn't make bad comic art any better.

3)Everyone had a childhood.

Childhood is defined as the time when you were smaller, and your brain was less developed. Brain plasticity is also a component of childhood. Everyone had one, no matter how special they think they are.

4)Everyone lives in a culture.

This is a corralary to #3. We are also all affected by the culture. For example, thanks to a mixture of #3 and #4, I find the idea of tossing money away to be a shocking thing.

5)The dominant culture affects all of us.

Now black people have had a long tradition of explaining #5. We all know that nobody woke up one morning and decided that straight hair was the standard of beauty just for no reason at all. But I may have to explain to members of other cultures. You see, in childhood, often you are exposed to the dominant society, well, a lot, and tend to have a lot of your views of the world set in childhood. So if you learn that hair on women is the devil, you may have to unlearn that when evidence to the contrary is presented.
I didn't study, so it is slightly wrong for me, but it's illegal immigration post! First, brownfemi round up! Video: Children seperated from parents. New Bethel Immigrant Raid. Pro immigrant rallies.
Other items:
Lack of preventative health care, contraceptives and prenatal care are what are raising the costs of immigrant health care. Human rights challenges for Central American immigrants in Mexico. Know Nothings are upset that the local police didn't randomly start arresting people who wanted ID cards. Racist white lady is mad that immigrants could open bank accounts and get credit cards.

Friday, March 16, 2007

Jill gets into an argument about prostitution. I have to admit I tend to side with her- there's a huge difference between me taking out an ad saying 'discreet encounters! call 555-5555!" and some lady who has some guy hanging their 'debt' for being smuggled into the country over their heads and can't speak the language. We need to recognize that, just as we recognize the difference between me making 50$ necklaces in my free time, all profits going to my lazy shannon fund and some third world person making pennies in a necklace factory.
Can the rest of you watch these episodes of Little Mosque on the Prairie?
Even as queen prude, I don't get the big deal about occasionally someone sees a few naughty bits on etsy. Now, if it was hard core furry porn, I'd be like wtf?! but the most I've seen on etsy is some lady's titays, and I have those already.
But you guys! She sacrificed the laser hair removal she needed to do for HERSELF! Bridezilla on a rampage.
*boggle* *bogggle* The dumbest thing I've seen in some time. I don't support women's choices to randomly suggest giving oneself a miscarriage when another woman asks for adoption info. If she doesn't want an abortion, then she doesn't want one!

Thursday, March 15, 2007

I'm glad that Amanda is able to be honest and admit that doing beauty rituals is work.

Yet we don’t go there enough. One aspect that tends to go missing in these nefarious internet housework debates is the blatant admission that what women expect to gain by having their husbands share in the housework and childcare is not just fairness, but leisure time. It’s implied, but rarely outright stated that women’s lack of leisure time is troubling in a country where the “pursuit of happiness” is posited as a national value. I know working women who never see a movie, watch a TV show, or read anything because they go to work and then come home and do housework, all while their husbands have the leisure time to learn reams of information about various popular sports. To say that women deserve leisure time is taboo, though. Naomi Wolf’s argument in The Beauty Myth, if I recall correctly, was not that the endless beauty rituals cut into women’s sitting around time, but that they cripple us to Save The World. Otherwise, it was an interesting book, even if the rest of her career caused me to strain myself rolling my eyes. But I know that the reason I blow off doing my hair and make-up is often because I’m sitting around enjoying my leisure time.

I've had to drop down to being a casual gamer since I've been in grad school, but I really have a hard time justifying sitting for hours at the beauty shop.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

A strange Memphis FAQ:

Q: What is the cost for a certified copy of Elvis Presley's
Will?
A: $11.50



I'm not joking.
Etsy Thread for the Day: Oh God No! Not Shiny Fucking Leggings.


White people boggle the mind.


I have to admit I saved all the Nana Hachi ones.
Nana is super cool, but Nana Hachi is more my style. I guess I like cute..
Kactus is thinking about giving Ashanti the talk. But let's talk about porn! Quote below:

A couple of years ago, when she was 7 or 8, she was on the internet and got porn-bombed. I don't know if she went looking for something out of curiosity, or just typed in the wrong word or went in the wrong direction. At any rate, she found herself on a porn site, and then that site opened up a zillion windows of hardcore porn and here is my little daughter suddenly confronted with ugly, ugly, ugly.

I've seen enough porn to be bored by it. It does nothing for me. But if I step back from it I think it's mostly just ugly and unrealistic (the male-identified stuff at least) and I especially don't want my young daughter suddenly looking at a bunch of dicks and fucking.

Well, it happened, I can't make it unhappen. I explained to her at the time that those sites make sex look ugly and violent (I can't imagine what was going through her head when she saw it) and that real sex, between real adults, isn't like that.


That's why I don't like porn(ok, 99.9999% of porn. The first rule of rad fem is that the exception makes the rule) It takes a nice fun afternoon and makes it into womanhating shite! The truth of the matter is that folks are getting exposed to this crap as their first or sometimes only exposure to sexuality. American culture is so fucked up that you get this weird bipolar divide. You got the Jesus wants you for a sunbeam folks who are all obsessed with Jebus and no gays and stuff, and then you've got this shitty pornified Maxim, Steak and BJ day, rape macros
shit! I'm totally not for the latter, because I don't like that sort of girl who tries to get in good with the guys by being all like "I love BJs! Men deserve them for being alive! and ha ha! women who think rape macros aren't funny are too sensitive!"

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

His wife? A horse.
Southern belles are such whiners! Nobody made her go to a big city new york college. We have perfectly fine colleges down South. Sure, people would continue to have different ideas, but I've never been graded on how well I argued in class or whether I agreed with the professor or not down here. They just want you to talk, and they grade you based on tests and papers is what I think they grade you on. I recommended that a churchmember* go to Emory for her theology school because it was so good, so it's not like we hate religion. Now, if you just say "well, you gay bastards are all going to Hell" it might not go down well, but that's just what happens. I think they probably grade you based on your actual work up North, even if you're an annoying bastard that nobody likes.

In other news, the first spring rain has some of the bradford pear blossoms off the tree. And Disney weddings are just wrong.
I don't support women's choices to get married dressed as farking Cinderella.
*I don't go to church, but I'm still considered a member of a church...
Poor people who live in FEMA trailers are being displaced it seems. This may have a bad effect on the children's schooling as being moved around can be difficult.

Monday, March 12, 2007

Childfreers are racist against Mexicans. We have a lot of Mexican families at garage sales, and it's hard for small children to not bounce around, but then again, the black and white folks also bring their kids and it's hard for them not to bounce around. I think maybe the Mexicans in Texas are just poor, and that's why they don't leave their kid at the babysitter for every errand ever. Also if you never take your kid out in public, they'll be untrained as to how to act.

Yesterday at the Peabody, some white girls were running around in the area where brunch was served. We didn't take the tons of kids we have(except for my mother who is moaning about her lack of grandchildren) because it costs a lot of money to go to brunch, but it's still better to let your kids go someplace and mess up a few times than wait til they are like 12 and nobody makes any allowance for any sort of bad behavior anymore.

I was supposed to make a point about how it's all save the Mexican women from the eeeeeviiil Mexican men, but I lost my train of thought.

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Article excerpts:

If U.S. 61 could sing a lullaby, it would whisper of the babies who were born too soon or weighed too little. The children who rarely live out their first few months, let alone their first birthdays.

Most of these babies are black. Most are poor. Many are born to teen mothers.


A large number of the deaths occur in the Delta communities clustered along U.S. 61 just south of DeSoto County, Tunica and Memphis. In 2005, nine out of the 10 babies who died in Coahoma County were black.

They are the children born to the women who travel four hours round trip by bus to mop floors and empty ash trays in Tunica casinos or use Medicaid to pay for 30-minute taxi rides to the health care clinic in Clarksdale.


n the meantime, physicians in places like Tutwiler, Clarksdale and across the Delta said infant mortality should be one of the state's No. 1 priorities.

"I haven't seen anything like it in Mississippi in all my years of practice," said Cris Glick, a neonatologist based in Jackson. "If we continue to ignore this, we'll face a big problem -- and that is that more black babies are dying than white babies."
No one cares that you just had kinky sex.
Pictures of Memphis.

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Random rants! Belledame thinks this may be connected to the weird phenomena we have seen lately. (nsfw pic on blog)

I also have some theories to unload unto you peeps. Theory 1 is remember that sort of sexual brinkmanship you saw in old advice books, like in Pink Think, where the man was seen as trying to get the woman to open her legs, and the women was seen as trying to keep her goodies pure? Well, my theory is that if any guy tries to tell me I should do anal/shave my pubes/deep throat because someone else did/it looked hot in porn/women should just do whatever I'll punch their teeth down their throats.

Theory 2 is is it me or does every single thing a woman does seem to define her? Then again I guess this is sort of a really basic term problem I have. To me, for something to be who you are, you have to be it 24/7/365. Or at least be the sort of thing you would have carved on your tombstone.
Veronica draws a boundary. This is why I tend to be suspicious of folks with big personal blog vendettas. I can't say anything that makes sense, so I'll try to express this in some way that may not make actual sense. People like this have bad auras. I feel like get away you icky disease carrier! But I think Veronica may be dealing with a classic borderline. A neophyte counselor like myself would not be able to deal with one of those folks without supervision and even actual PhDs and stuff have trouble with them. If you see someone who is all your best friend one day, and you're the evil bitch of the west the next day, run. It's like from Midnight Robber, where when you pick up Dry Bone, you pick up trouble.

Next: People I avoid. A checklist.
Today's etsy post comes with how to take etsy admin seriously. I would have rather had vintage out, but hey whatever. My train of thought was broken because I was distracted by the fact we had a dead duck near our house. Don't touch dead animals, let the people in charge of dead animal pickup handle it people.

Also, diets are dumb. Somebody has a dream. admin quotes thread.

Friday, March 09, 2007

I apologize for posting so much, but it's the 3rd version of the etsy constitution..
Thin Black Duke quotes a stupid college editorial.

As Angell Hall first grants me escape from the harsh Ann Arbor wind, I am immediately subjected to a barrage of flyers that are extreme even by collegiate standards of political correctness. They read:

“If you do one or more of the following things:

� use words like ‘pimp’ and ‘player’ to praise sexually exploitative men

� blame women who have experienced sexual assault for indecency, stupidity, for ‘asking for it’

� think ‘no’ means ‘yes’

� excuse sexual violence because ‘men can’t control themselves’

YOU ARE CONTRIBUTING TO RAPE CULTURE.”

The F-Word is the campus group responsible for these green flyers that have violated our vision. Its motto - “Feminism: don’t be afraid to use it!” - tells you all need to know about its world view. From its extreme rhetoric consisting of strawman arguments to its willingness to place women in a victim role, the group really hasn’t accomplished anything exceptional or revolutionary.


The college experience really shaped my feeling that you have to be ready for feminism to really get it. I mean seriously, it's pretty difficult to pander enough to satisfy people who think that sort of flyer is extreme rhetoric. Sooner or later you're going to have to cut the crap. That's why I stand firm and say you're not entitled to women's bodies. We do with our own bodies what we will.
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Personal testimony: Jay Sennett seems to be a very reliable person to me.
Furries are good for a nice WTF on a Friday afternoon.

Link to worst tattoo artist ever.

Also, today I was procrastinating using two issues of ShoujoBeat(my usual place in the library was too crowded, so I retreated to the YA section) and I noticed that vivcore had some ads in there. I also learned that viv had a new line. Kimono Momo should probably put her stuff in Shoujo Beat. Yes, I mostly looked at the ads, because I don't want spoilers for the shoujo beat GNs I buy- like Nana and Crimson Hero.

I got a free issue of BUST from the Sampler. While it's nice to learn that I don't have to give strange men blowjobs in alleys- thank you, Susan Sarandon, I think the young kids need my old mags more than me. Can you donate your old mags to the library?

Geek social fallacies.
I love it when they get meta. [tl;dr* about how fat people are all killing themselves, and how only my internet postings will save them] also [Skinny people are oh so oppressed! Once...somebody called me anorexic!!]

Also, the diet study is explained in science friday. Apparently for 2 months, the subjects had a dietitian to help them out, but for ten other months, the women, all randomly assigned to different diets, had to figure the diets out themselves. Aktins won with 10 pounds lost. This is not enough pounds lost to prevent sizism, I think?
*too long; didn't read.
The Special White Woman Award is created. Shannon is happy, and awards herself a special shiny star of bravery for looking upon the sexybits of white men who think that living in places where it snows in March makes any sense, whatsoever.
Disney may have a black 'princess' I like how she doesn't have long straight hair.

Children need to be disciplined so they know not to experiment with sex in class when they are supposed to be learning.

Thursday, March 08, 2007

I blame the patriarchy for folks 5'4' and 90 pounds thinking they need to lose weight. Either that or serious mental illness. 4' 11' 110- need to gain muscle=me who has an unhealthy compulsion to post my height and weight on the internet. Also, only rich people should have sex. I don't support women's choices to be total classist douchebags.
New etsy mini. What is mass production? What isn't handmade? It's been decided you can't sell a cow on etsy. This bib arrived today, and it is much better than it looks in the picture. And the seams are nice and tight- overlocked with a serger I think, but I don't do sewing. It even has velcro so it's semi adjustable. I think my cousin will be satisfied that we didn't just give her any old thing. Knickers!!! Forum therapy.
An old debt is settled, despite my ashy feet and unkempt toenails. My feet are still winterized.

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


Email from logo about noah's arc season 2:

No release date yet, but it will be available later this year. Think mid-summer.

All the best,
Your Friends at Logo

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

The term priority troll has been invented. We can now build the smack the troll with a bag of cocks improvement in our cities.


One thing I like about radical feminism is that I get to say stuff that is really obvious! Like this post is all like "if being half naked gives you power, how come big CEOs don't do it?" I get to ask the questions that are taboo, like why do most women not choose to shave off their arm hair? Why are there so many female identified submissives? Why do A cup bras have underwire on them? I want to know.

Also, I did feel suspicious of that womanspace chracter, because Heart always signs her posts, and plus, Heart's vibe is very distinctive. So I felt suspcious. I hope this isn't like those folks who pretended to be JackGoff a while back? Or did I mix it up?
Noah's Arc cancelled? I love that show. *had to netflix the dvds* I liked Noah's Arc as it was- a silly soap opera about four guys and the crazy situations they got themselves into. Apparently it was very expensive to air though. Movie rumors swirl.. It's funny that I'm getting all my info about this from blogs and myspace...
Ren Ev takes on Asian American identity and white privilege. Warning: Her header is slightly not safe for work. I mean, the nipples are blanked out, but you might not want to risk it.
The etsy frontpage is all zines. Maybe if I get my ass in gear I should put mini comics up. Supplies Update. I love commercial supplies as a seperate section. More on drop shipping. Brand protection on etsy. Is etsy for starving artists? More on handmade supplies.

Monday, March 05, 2007

At feministe, the folks are breaking down that dumbass choice rhetoric. Note that just because the Pussycat Dolls chose to dance around singing about women using their sexuality to compete with other women- that doesn't make them feminist. Yes, it's their free choice- but it's not really liberating women in general. It's my free choice to watch Noah's Arc, and fantisize about having hot commitment loving men chasing after me, but nobody is freer because of that action, you see?

Also, campus sex magazines are predictably stupid. Not related to feministe, why don't we have a law against this? I got androgyne on this funny quiz.
I argue with vera

If women are free to chose what they want, then what difference does it make if they chose to shave their legs? Is someone who avoids shaving her legs solely on the basis that patriarchy says she should a better feminist? Or, is she too making her choices based on patriarchy rather than her own preference?

Because the truth is that one of the things that the patriarchy demands is that women lie about their beauty choices. We're supposed to pretend that we woke up one day and 'chose' to shave our legs apart from society. That's a lie. If we want to shave our legs, we need to be honest about it. We need to admit that we didn't wake up and decide that hairy legs are wrong and gross by ourselves. We need to admit that men's legs are considered acceptable with their hair on them.

For example: How many times have we heard that women can’t be strippers and feminists because the sex industry objectifies, commodifies and demeans women for male pleasure. Whether or not she enjoys such work and chose it because she likes it, isn’t discussed. Just like in patriarchy, her choice, her preference, her autonomy, is ignored. But, who decided that stripping is demeaning? Patriarchy. What made stripping “unseemly” for “good” women? Patriarchy. What gave objectification and commodification their titillation factor? Patriarchy. What conflates male sexual pleasure with violence, humiliation, and degradation of women? Patriarchy.

We’re not fighting patriarchy when we shame a woman for choosing sex work, choosing high heels or choosing to view porn (as other examples). We’re not fighting the preconceived notion from patriarchy that women exist only to be used for male pleasure. We’re not fighting for a woman’s right to chose. We are simply doing precisely what patriarchy would have us do - fight each other instead of the actual enemy.


In Memphis, most of our strippers and prostitutes aren't rich white women just
'choosing' this line of work. Our strippers and prostitutes have been failed by our educational system, fucked over by racism, shat on by classism. I think another problem with patriarchy is that we're supposed to pretend that it's just a coinkydink that it's women and marginalized men- the trans, the homeless gay men, populate this work. We hear ad nausem about how great about empowering it is to be a stripper or a whore, but the truth of the matter is- around the globe, for most women and men in this position, it's more getting the best out of a bad situation forced on you by colonalism(I think that going to foreign countries to have sex with brown children is some form of imperalism.), by sexism, by poverty. It's not a life path choosen freely. We lie when we ignore this.

Also, while I'm ranting, I'm sure sex rots your brain. Nobody ever goes around saying that the strawberry pickers of this world are grown adults and choose to pick strawberries, nobody talks about how the Miccy D's workers of the world choose to work at Miccy D's, but put sex in, and all the sudden, it's choice,choice,choice.

I work with a lesbian couple who routinely refer to each other as “dykes” and by other well-known slurs. If asked why they do it, they say that by using these words in a different context- i.e. as a joke, rather than an insult - it lessens the sting if the word is used against them by some random bigot on the street. By disempowering the slurs, they disempower the bigot - and empower themselves.

Feminists need something similar.

As one example (and to include other points of contention than just beauty practices):

How about instead of agreeing with patriarchy that sex work is “bad” and only for poor/victimized women with no other alternatives, or for “bad” women who carry water for the patriarchy, we put the word out that sex workers are also - GASP! - adult women capable of making their own choices*. That being such, they deserve the same respect and consideration afforded to non-sex workers. How about we mention that because a woman makes a living with sex work it doesn’t make her less than others, that it doesn’t make her available for abuse from others, and doesn’t have to be humiliated, or demeaned by it.


We do this already. We defend the strippers that are spat on, and raped by the powerful men of the world. But we still need to be honest. The truth of the matter is that you can't de-power those oppressive systems by doing the same thing and putting a new label on it. We've been trying that for years. It. Hasn't. Been. Working. We can put on all the roller derbys and burlesque shows we like, but you know what? That hasn't moved this shit an inch!
I love my huge mislabeled pants. They say 4, but they really are huge, almost a 7 I think. *happy* Also my website is back up!
This day's etsy posts start with admins do what's right for etsy. Etsy bashing shop announcements are unprofessional. Drop Shipping on etsy.

Saturday, March 03, 2007

Mr Piny talks about some crazy white lady. It reminded me of this hateful but funny image.
Why do I think race is exclusive while gender is all inclusive? Because gender being all inclusive doesn't affect me to be honest. If some dude wants to be a chick, who cares? Transwomen don't have a whole industry devoted to denigrating and making fun of born women, so I'm cool with that. I don't have to hear them saying bad things about born women, either. But white people are rude, so I'm like, hey, you can't be black, I don't want another 'black' person spouting that nonsense, especially a black person who gets to be treated better than me!
There's no Memphis bathrooms in safe2pee. Ok, there's one now, because I added it, but really! Any current Emory students, do list the bathrooms at Emory. I'm 90% sure there are genderfree bathrooms.