September 2010
One day at school, a classmate showed me a video on his phone. I must have been 14 or 15. He thought it was hilarious, for no reason other than shock value. I refused to watch it but he continued, laughing each time, without regard for anything except his childish sense of humour.
In the video, women were being violently unclothed by a man.
And people think this is funny.
Recently, when a GIF of a similar attack that left a woman naked in the street, I was reminded of just how disgusting the video was. This despicable act supports one conclusion:
These men think they’re entitled to women’s bodies.
They think they’re entitled to buy pictures of women’s bodies. They think they’re entitled to expose women’s bodies and record them for fun. Ultimately, they’re not far from thinking they’re entitled to have sex with women’s bodies without their consent. All of these problems are connected with that sense of entitlement that society plays to on a daily basis. Women are likened to products in advertising, a sign of wealth in music videos and a silent object in pornography. Every aspect of our culture drips with the objectification that would lead to this video.
You cannot do anything to someone’s body as intimate as removing their goddamn clothing without their explicit consent. Without consent it’s sexual assault, and there is no doubt that this is sexual assault.
But consent is not the only issue here.
“Women, never wear tube tops or skirts without pantyhose/leggings.”
“Wear a fucking bra and some decent panties. Take a self defense class. Be aware of your surroundings. >_> No sympathy.”
“If you’re wearing a tube top like that, you might as well be asking for it. Or naked. You might as well be naked.”
Once women become objects, blame is placed on them for wearing clothes that men can attack them in, rather than the men who are so obviously to blame.
‘Rape culture’ is defined as when ‘prevalent attitudes, norms, practices, and media condone, normalize, excuse, or encourage sexualized violence.’ This video is condoned because it is hosted on a website and freely promoted. It is normalised because people find it funny. It is excused because we blame the women for their own assault.
And it is encouraged because men and women of the internet think sexual assault of women is a joke.
My writing does not incriminate all men, it incriminates a culture that allows these attitudes to thrive among men. Men assaulted these women, and men have laughed at them. There is a power dynamic by which these man think they can have a woman’s body and take her dignity from her. They believe she is property. They believes she is just a plaything of his fantasies, not a heart and soul encased in that dehumanised body.
Women have long been the slaves of men. NOT the other way around.
This did not happen in isolation of that hierarchy, because it has never happened with roles reversed. No woman has ever taken such a sense of entitlement to the other extreme with men, because it’s patriarchy in practice. Nor do women feel they can assault other women for the fun of exposing their bodies.
But men do. Rather than questioning why feminists generalise about misogyny, men should be questioning what grounds they have to do so. When rape occurs more in our countries than many others in Europe and Asia, we have to start questioning why these men think they have the right.
Men that do not rape and assault are not the problem, and are not discussed here.
Whether it is real or fake is irrelevant when you consider that it could happen. It takes every boundary of human decency and breaks it. It is rape, it is such a deeply damaging and dehumanising act. It tells her she is nothing but a joke, that her body is public property, and that as a woman she does not deserve to be left in privacy and dignity.
I never want to see this happen again. I never want another man to grow up thinking he can get away with this. That he should do this. That by doing this he is innocent, funny or anything but a sick excuse for a human being.
I never want another man to grow up thinking that he is entitled to a WOMAN’S FUCKING BODY.
But until that day we still have a hell of a lot more work to do.
Oh nothing, just making a chart of daily events in pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver to post on the house bulletin board.
Oh nothing, just hula-hooping in the backyard with my dog.
FAMILIARIZE YOURSELF WITH THE LEFT-HAND EVACUATION PROCEDURE
I am sick to fucking tears
thegirlsrepublic:askepticandafeminist:bear-bones:fight-war-not-wars:clitorisaurusrex:mister-sister:besttumblr:ladybambino:lovemelovely:
Of having to defend feminism to people, so I am going to relay an argument from my favorite professor. This particular professor proposes an approach to counter someone who is attacking feminism or your stance in favor of such. ”The next time you are face to face with someone who is going to argue against feminism and it’s goals, just respond with ‘You know what? As far as I’m concerned feminism is the default position, feminism is the norm, the ethical mandate, the position one MUST have. So, if you are going to argue against feminism, do you realize what you have to do? This is what you have to do, you have to mount an argument in support of injustice and inequality. Can you do that? I’m not the one who has to defend feminism. YOU are the one who has to defend injustice and inequality, so go right ahead and try.’”
Emphasis mine.
Alright so most of my classes this semester are discussion based
And in Spanish I pretty much don’t volunteer anything. In Linguistics I chime in sometimes on the big discussions. I shout out things in Psych occasionally. Mostly, though, I feel like I don’t have a whole lot to contribute so I just listen.
Today in my Principles of Dramatic Analysis (it’s a theatre class where we analyze plays, v exciting), we had a discussion of feminism in theatre.
So yeah, I actually contributed something today. Also I argued. A lot.
IT WAS AWESOME.
August 2010
“[T]he very ease of availability of every shade of porn brings with it inherent dangers that should have objectors up in arms. We have to ask serious questions about the manner in which pornography impacts on young adults and, in particular, young males; how it affects the composition and development of their sexuality. How do teenagers negotiate the parameters between reality and fantasy and to what extent are their expectations of their sexual relationships, good and bad, informed by cyber-porn?
A serious and candid response to such questions would need to engage parents, academics, teachers, psychologists, those in charge of writing and implementing sex-education policy and all manner of consumers, young and old, irrespective of their gender or political agenda. And it would take into account the possibilities that pornography opens up for pleasure, adventure and subversion as well as assessing its potential for lasting harm and damage.
Neither would this be a forum predicated around the assumption that “bloke = violator; female = violated”. It would accept that, ultimately, pornography can be as empowering and fascinating as it can be destructive and injurious and that whatever its message, it’s too complex for a neat slogan on a T-shirt.” —Helen Walsh (Pornography is far too complicated to distil into a smart T-shirt slogan | The Observer) (via sexisnottheenemy)
A serious and candid response to such questions would need to engage parents, academics, teachers, psychologists, those in charge of writing and implementing sex-education policy and all manner of consumers, young and old, irrespective of their gender or political agenda. And it would take into account the possibilities that pornography opens up for pleasure, adventure and subversion as well as assessing its potential for lasting harm and damage.
Neither would this be a forum predicated around the assumption that “bloke = violator; female = violated”. It would accept that, ultimately, pornography can be as empowering and fascinating as it can be destructive and injurious and that whatever its message, it’s too complex for a neat slogan on a T-shirt.” —Helen Walsh (Pornography is far too complicated to distil into a smart T-shirt slogan | The Observer) (via sexisnottheenemy)
Some information about the puppy killing girl
I found this on 4chan. I don’t know how accurate it is, but they are usually pretty good about this stuff:
The girl is 5ft 6in-5ft 8in, blonde, eye color unknown, Caucasian
Youtube account owner’s name is Martin.
They live in Bugojno, use googlemaps.
http://www.youtube.com/user/harmunikas22
This guy commented their youtube account and is a possible friend.
http://www.facebook.com/nani1711
mare-gaspar@hotmail.com
Possible facebook account of the youtube account’s owner
-> his mother: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=705393951&ref=sgm
*** VIDEO ***
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=bb4_1283184704
possible facebook of that bitch:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1063353133
some anon asked martin for it.
if not, second suspect:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1634112135
one of their friends:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1609024709
possible camera man:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000190085342
This is the Vrbas river the one from the video.
(Googleearth it)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8yWblxQToE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd2TiZxm3RM
Reuploaded video, make it famous so someone will recognize her
http://www.speedyshare.com/files/24038528/puppy_throwers.flv
http://www.mediafire.com/?04wn0xknaybbk38Here is the 4chan thread about it: http://boards.4chan.org/b/res/268233306
This only has 100 notes, and the ‘PLEASE FIND INFORMATION ABOUT’ has 11,000, so please, spread this information.
WHITE KNIGHT ONLINE B/C IM A LAZY FUQ IRL
Holy Shit 4chan. Good job.
wild child, full of grace: Debunking Popular Anti-Choice Myths →
sisterhoodispowerful.tumblr.com
Often times anti-choicers will use misinformation and biased sources to turn people onto their way of thinking. I wanted to take this opportunity to debunk a number of popular anti-choice myths using statistics and studies from non-biased sources.
Myth: Pro-choice really just means pro-abortion
Fact: Pro-choice activists fight for much more than just abortion rights. The basis of the pro-choice argument is that individual women should be able to make choices about their own bodies. In addition to abortion rights, we push for comprehensive sex education, easier and cheaper/free access to birth control, and the right of pregnant women to give birth the way they choose.
Myth: The fetus can feel pain
Fact: According to the UK Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, fetuses under 24 weeks do not have the capacity to feel pain. According to the RCOGIn reviewing the neuroanatomical and physiological evidence in the fetus, it was apparent that connections from the periphery to the cortex are not intact before 24 weeks of gestation and, as most neuroscientists believe that the cortex is necessary for pain perception, it can be concluded that the fetus cannot experience pain in any sense prior to this gestation.
The majority of abortions are done long before this. The roughly 1% of abortions performed after the 24th week are generally wanted pregnancies that are being terminated due to serious health problems or complications.
Myth: Adoption is an alternative to abortion
Fact: While adoption is an alternative to being a parent, abortion is the only alternative to being pregnant. There are multiple reasons a woman may not want to be pregnant for 9 months including mental health issues, rape, incest, physical or mental disabilities, health problems, monetary issues, and lack of healthcare.
Myth: Abortion causes breast cancer
Fact: According to the American Cancer Society research has shown no cause-and-effect relationship between abortion and breast cancer.
The largest, and probably the most reliable study on this topic was done during the 1990s in Denmark, a country with very detailed medical records on all its citizens. In that study, all Danish women born between 1935 and 1978 (a total of 1.5 million women) were linked with the National Registry of Induced Abortions and with the Danish Cancer Registry. So all information about their abortions and their breast cancer came from registries, was very complete, and was not influenced by recall bias.
After adjusting for known breast cancer risk factors, the researchers found that induced abortion(s) had no overall effect on the risk of breast cancer. The size of this study and the manner in which it was done provides good evidence that induced abortion does not affect a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer.Myth: If abortion is illegal, abortion rates will drop
Fact: According to this study done by the World Health Organization and the Guttmacher Institute, there is no connection between the legality of abortion and the number of abortions preformed. There is, however, a connection between the legality of abortion and the safety of the women seeking them, as is there a connection between the number of abortions performed and the availability of contraception.
Myth: Women who get abortions suffer from Post-Abortion Syndrome
Fact: Many anti-choice groups say women will suffer from depression after having an abortion, or as they call it, post-abortion syndrome. According to the Guttmacher Institute there is no proof that abortion is directly related to depression or trauma.
Nancy Adler, professor of psychology at the University of California, San Francisco, testified that “severe negative reactions are rare and are in line with those following other normal life stresses.” While acknowledging that there were flaws in much of the research, she testified nonetheless that the weight of the evidence persuasively showed that “abortion is usually psychologically benign.” Echoing Koop’s point about the public health implications, Adler said that given the millions of women who had had abortions, “if severe reaction were common, there would be an epidemic of women seeking treatment. There is no evidence of such an epidemic.”
Myth: Women who have abortions are selfish and just don’t want to be inconvenienced by having kids
Fact: According to the Guttmacher Institute 61% of abortions are obtained by women who have one or more children. Three-fourths of women cite concern for or responsibility to other individuals; three-fourths say they cannot afford a child; three-fourths say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or the ability to care for dependents.
Myth: Abortion is unsafe / causes infertility
Fact: Abortion is actually safer than continued pregnancy. According to the Guttmacher Institute fewer than 0.3% of abortion patients experience a complication that requires hospitalization. Abortions performed in the first trimester pose virtually no long-term risk of such problems as infertility, ectopic pregnancy, spontaneous abortion (miscarriage) or birth defect, and little or no risk of preterm or low-birth-weight deliveries.
Sources:
American Cancer Society
UK Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
Guttmacher Institute
World Health Organization
(via Abortion Gang)This is a great resource for people who might be on the fence of the abortion rights debate. It’s also just an overall AWESOME article that really addresses many of the lies about abortion and the pro-choice movement.
Love,
Rabble
