Wednesday Link Round Up!

So this is the last Wednesday round up of the semester! I really hope that round ups have been beneficial in some way, and anyone has suggestions for improvement or anything, just leave a comment!

Aliasmitch was tickled to know: “that the Genderbread Person is still around, and is now new and improved. If you don’t know about the Gingerbread Person, check it out! It’s a pretty neat activity that breaks down the binaries we place on gender and sexual identity. Fun for the whole family!”

Eszenyme shared: “This article gives a great (and snarky) account of just how much money (and time and obsession) families are spending on prom these days. According to Jezebel, the average family spends over $1000 on one prom for one person alone. Outrageous!”

Femistorian rolled her eyes at this story: “As if we needed further proof that our education system is failing, here’s this wonderful article from Jezebel. Apparently poor Texanna was banned from attending her prom because all she wanted to do was wear a dress fashioned to look like the Confederate flag. Because of course that isn’t racist or historically inaccurate. That poor, poor girl.”

Internationalcupcakebandit is fed up with Florida Governor Rick Scott: “Feministing features an article about Florida’s governor who has apparently used a line item veto to defund the Florida’s legislatures proposal of 1.5 million to rape crisis centers… in the middle of Sexual Assault Awareness Month.. Disgusting.”

Kaycorbs444 stumbled upon: “this article from The Huffington Post about the war on women. The author discusses positive effects from the recent publicity of modern feminism. She observes that activity and involvement on college campuses has shown a dramatic increase and postulates a proactive future for our generation in gender equality.”

Katie O. loves “this campaign called 4000 years of choice. The intention is to show that women have been using birth control and having abortions for thousands of years (you know, as long as women have been getting pregnant). In a world where these rights are constantly under attack, it’s amazing to see such positive, affirming language about abortion, not negative, misleading, harmful jargon we usually hear.”

 Parklena couldn’t believe: “Another issue with “fetal rights” in Tennessee where a bill is being passed regarding the idea of miscarriage as murder. It is truly unfair and ridiculous that someone could be charged for murder for what usually is a terrible accident and could cause undue stress on expectant mothers.”

Wednesday Links Round Up

Eszenyme thinks: “This link is great! It features a discussion of what is patriarchy by Ashley Judd. I think it’s great that she takes a more general definition of patriarchy instead of just labeling it men v. women.”

Femistorian uncovered: (TW: Discussion of rape and sexual violence) “quite possibly the best article I have found regarding The Hunger Games. Not only does it discuss the realistic portrayals of female strength in the novels, it also tackles the debate about whether or not young adult novels should contain dark themes such as death and violence. As a fellow rape survivor, this article truly resonated with me, and also helped me understand even further why I am so in love with Suzanne Collins’ best-selling trilogy.”

Internationalcupcakebandit discovered this: “Shocking break through! (Found through feministing.com) Apparently Michelle Bachaman is pro-choice now?? HAH.. NOT. She just wants to crap all over Obamacare.”

Katie O. loves “Busty Girl Comics, a series of comics about issues that busty girls (like myself) deal with. Big boobs are idealized in our cultural standard of beauty, but most people have a seriously unrealistic idea of what (natural) big boobs are like. (Hint: they’re not super round and perky). The comics do a great job of actually talking about issues related to big boobs — back aches, impaired vision, exorbitantly expensive bras (more so than bras for smaller breasts), and difficulty finding clothes.”

Kaycorbs444 found “this article in the LA Times as a follow up to the Romney campaign’s struggle with women’s issues. This segment discusses the larger conflict for the Republican’s election prospects as the author analyzes his wife Ann Romney’s credibility as a feminine voice for working American women.”

Parklena “completely agrees with the writer of this post. Students need to be given a more comprehensive sex education or issues such as teen pregnancy and the rates of STIs will get so much worse. Abstinence-only education does nothing to teach teens about the dangers and protecting oneself from those dangers.”

Quick Hit: Dominion Lecture is Canceled

Hey readers! Unfortunately the Dominion Lecture that was scheduled for tomorrow has been canceled because Joan C. Williams suffered an accident. The Madison Caucus for Gender Equality is looking to reschedule the lecture for Fall of 2012.

Mythbusting Monday: Being Anti-Porn Means You’re Anti-Sex

[Trigger warning: discussion of violence against women, racism, pornography]

On the whole, being anti-porn is a pretty unpopular position to take. In feminist circles, the anti-porn movement has a pretty bad rap, in no small part due to anti-porn activist Andrea Dworkin’s collusion with the religious right. Her strange bed-fellows and desire to ban porn made her pretty unpopular with some feminists, for good reason (reasons I agree with). This is also part of the reason why I want to refute what I consider to be the myth that to be anti-pornography is to be anti-sex. Sex-positive feminism was born, in part, out of the resistance to anti-porn activism, but I think they are in no way mutually exclusive. I say this because I am 100% pro-sex, but I am also anti-porn. Also, I’m not really sure why most feminists are okay with critiquing every other type of mass media—music videos, movies, the news, T.V. shows, art, music, you name it—but porn is always off limits. And to not discuss the effects porn has on culture is unacceptable. Porn might not be the cause of misogyny, it’s not the cause of rape culture, but it certainly contributes its fair share.

Quick Hit: Annual Dominion Lecture is on Wednesday, April 18

Hey JMU readers! The Dominion Lecture, hosted by the Madison Caucus for Gender Equality, is coming up on April 18 at 7 p.m. in Transitions. Hosted annually since 1975, the Dominion Lecture is an incredible event where a notable woman comes to campus to give a talk on important issues that pertain to women and women’s equality. (Last year’s speaker was the very interesting and engaging Susan J. Douglas, whose work has focused on “enlightened sexism”).

This year’s speaker is Joan C. Williams, professor of law at University of California, Hastings College of the Law. The press release follows:

Award-Winning Author to Discuss Gender Bias in the Workplace

Joan C. Williams will present the annual Dominion Lecture, sponsored by the Madison Caucus for Gender Equality, in the Transitions room of Warren Hall, James Madison University, April 18, 2012, at 7:00 P.M. Nationally renowned for her expertise on work/life balance and law, Williams will speak on “Successful Career Tips from Savvy Career Women: The Four Patterns of Gender Bias.

Research demonstrates that women often encounter pushback when they do the same things men do. This talk will describe the patterns of bias documented by social science, and will share strategies successful women have used to navigate the unique challenges professional women face.

Because it needs to be said again, feminism really is for everybody

So the title of this post is inspired by bell hooks’s Feminism is For Everybody: Passionate Politics. The thesis of hooks’s book is pretty simple really — it’s an excellent introduction to feminist politics that demonstrates feminism is for everybody. Feminism benefits all people, despite what anti-feminists would have people believe. I discovered a new feminist campaign from Duke via tumblr today — it’s called “Who Needs Feminism?” and the point is incredibly similar to hook’s point. Despite the serious oppressions and inequities of the world in which we live — where we have to debate funding for contraceptives, 1 in 3 women are the victims of violence worldwide, women are not paid equally to men, it took a month for charges to be brought against George Zimmerman – we still need to prove the merits of feminism. And this campaign is doing just that, in an amazing way.

Wednesday Link Round-Up

Happy Wednesday, everyone! First of all, in excellent news for all of us, internationalcupcakebandit linked to the news that Rick Santorum has bowed out of the presidential campaign. Those of us who shuddered in fear and disgust at the phrase “President Santorum” can all breathe a little bit easier now. But just because (one of) the worst contenders is out, doesn’t mean we should get complacent in this presidential race.

Eszenyme thinks “this blog is amazing! This post is one of many that discuss what it’s like to be a woman in grad school, specifically a woman in philosophy. As a philosophy major, it is super refreshing to hear about someone else’s experiences in the field.”

Femistorian was “thrilled that the New York Times did a profile of Chilean activist Camilla Vallejo, but I’m extremely disappointed (though not surprised) that they chose to focus on her looks. The title describes her as ‘The World’s Most Glamorous Revolutionary’ and within the first 2 paragraphs, she’s described as ‘hot’ and a ‘Boticelli beauty.’ Personally, I’d rather hear her activism described as the most attractive thing about her.”

FemOnFire really enjoyed this article, which reminds us that even though many popular figures are laying claim to feminism, being a feminist simply but unequivocally requires one basic belief. Merle Hoffman explains it wonderfully.

Katie O. learned more about African-American women’s hair in this piece, All Locked Up, by Jamia Wilson. She chronicles her journey from loving her hair to hating it, and from chemically straightening to transitioning to dreads. It’s a fascinating read about how our culture constructs beauty (the whiter looking the better) and about African-American women’s hair, a topic many white people are ignorant about.

Kaycorbs444 found this article from blogger Jason Stanford at the Huffington Post about the war on women in relation to the prospects for Obama and prospective Republican candidates for the 2012 election. Stanford provides a sense of humor as he analyzes the necessary measures Republicans will have to take to win the battle, paying particular attention to Obamacare and birth control.

Parklena discovered a blog article about how men’s reassurances to women insecure about their bodies does not help. It, in fact, makes things worse because they are still seeing women’s bodies as something to be judged and saying things like, “I prefer small boobs” objectifies us, reducing us to our body parts. We also shouldn’t care whether men love our bodies but whetherwe love our bodies.

And, to close, I’d like to include Hillary Rodham Clinton’s great contribution to the blog textsfromhillary.tumblr.com. Apparently the Secretary of State found out about the blog (which is hilarious) and loved it. 

Image via.

Quick Hit: Remembering Yeardley Love

Hello readers! Due to some technical and internet difficulties, aliasmitch was not able to schedule an 8 a.m. post. The full version of his next installment of “In Search of Our Queer Gardens” should be posted sometime later today. Our sincerest apologies to all of our readers, and the post will be up as soon as possible. In the meantime, you all should check out this event that is tonight, at 6:30 p.m. in ISAT 136:

The event Remembering Yearley Love’s Story—A Discussion About Dating Violence seeks to educate the JMU student population about the prevalence, severity and preventability of dating and intimate partner violence on college campuses. Speakers Candy Phillips and Melissa Waite will share experiences working at First Step, Harrisonburg’s battered women’s shelter and Dr. Jenelle Boo and Patricia Crocker will inform students about counseling services for survivors and victims. This event aims to educate males and females about violence and will take place in ISAT/CS 136 at 6:30 pm on Tuesday April 10th.

If you don’t remember, the murder of Yeardley Love was a high-profile case of intimate partner violence. Love was a UVa women’s lacrosse player who was killed by her ex-boyfriend, also a lacrosse player, George Huguley. Following their brief relationship, police found evidence that Huguley had sent Love threatening text messages and emails, and uncovered stories of other violent episodes in which Love had been threatened. Huguley was given a 26 year sentence for second degree murder and grand larceny. I definitely recommend attending this very worthwhile event which is taking on a topic that is not often talked about and needs to be brought to light. The organizer also said, “I will also be showing segments of the “Bro Code” about how American culture breeds misogynistic and patriarchal men.”

[Trigger warning: graphic description of intimate partner violence]

The above video describes the brutality of the violence Huguley enacted on Love. The reporter in the video also notes that, at the time, Huguley’s lawyers were attempting to get a lesser sentence, arguing that Love’s death was an accident. These are words that are often thrown around in intimate partner violence cases – it was an accident, an act of passion, whatever. But the previous instances of physical abuse, and the consistent threats, indicate that there was no accident. Huguely intended to hurt Love. And in intimate partner abuse cases, the most violent acts tend to be when the abused partner leaves or attempts to leave. Women are eight times more likely than men to be killed by their partner. Yet the average prison sentence for a man who kills his partner is tw0 to six years, while the average sentence for a woman who kill their male partners is 15 years, despite the fact that most women who kill their partners did so in self defense. Clearly, there are serious issues in the way we, as a society, handle intimate partner violence.

Also, check out this trailer for the “Bro Code”:

Moving Away from Women’s Misrepresentation

(I originally gave this post a super long boring title, so to save ya’ll from that, here’s a subhead: A Review of Miss Representation and the Panel Discussion the Followed).

On Thursday evening, blogger BlondeRedhead hosted a screening of the film Miss Representation, followed by a panel discussion that included myself, Aliasmitch, Carrie Robinson from SisterSpeak, and Drs. Mary Thompson and Melissa Aleman. The documentary itself challenges media constructions of femininity and the idea that women’s only value lie in our physical appearance. That for a woman, the only way to have any worth is to be beautiful all the time. The documentary was very interesting, and well put together, although I think it does have a few flaws, which I would like to address. But what I also want to talk about in this post is the amazing discussion afterward, where about 30 audience members stayed 70 minutes after the film ended to have a productive, in-depth discussion about women, how to talk about these issues, media literacy, rape culture, and how to move away from women’s misrepresentation.

Wednesday Links Round-Up

Aliasmitch found himself awestruck after “attending SEWSA this weekend, particularly because the closing keynote speaker was Merri Lisa Johnson, an amazing and brave feminist who, as the outgoing president of SEWSA, was able to perform her own pieces about living with Borderline Personality Disorder. Most memorable to me was her assertation that “we begin to see disability as difference and not deficit.” Make sure to check out her website, her blog and also this post (not written by her) about the stigma and erasure of mental illness in our culture.”

Eszenyme was looking for blogs and found some bad news: “In my search for new and interesting blogs, I came across this article about the closure of a feminist blog called Broadsheet. Upon reading the article (and not having read the blog), I have to say I’m upset that the blog shut down because of heated discussions. Isn’t the point of blogs to raise consciousness and foster discussions? I understand/have seen the impact of negative comments but I think that’s what moderation is for. What do you think?”

Femistorian discovered: “this awesome documentary,  ”How to Lose Your Virginity,”  brought to my attention by Feministing the other day. But it needs more money to get made! Even if you don’t have a few bucks to spare, check out the fantastic trailer at Kickstarter. I think we’d all love to see a film that debunks the myth that losing your virginity isn’t such a life-changing moment, or the only thing that gives a woman value. And, bonus, it features Jessica Valenti!”

FemOnFire found: this post “that describes ‘red flags’ one woman learned to spot to weed out undesirable online dating prospects. It also offers commentary that praises online dating as a way to ‘even the playing field’ between men and women, as the author explains it, allowing all parties to only engage in a conversation if they are interested, not out of social obligation.”

Internationalcupcakebandit “came across this video from the feminist blog, Feministing. It was the featured video as the “Feminist F*ck Yeah!” and I thought it was pretty simple and pretty great too. It features men criticizing the sexual harassment many women face when they are simply walking down the street. It’s important to know that there are people who stand firmly with us against heterosexist intimidation.”

Katie O. was enraged by the information in this Jezebel article about Arizona’s proposed abortion ban at 20 weeks. You see, according to the details of the bill, women will be considered pregnant two weeks before conception. Meaning, that the ban is actually at 18 weeks, and that these lawmakers really have NO idea how the female body functions.

Kaycorbs444 found “this link that discusses the recent issue of transgendered acceptance & equality efforts. It was interesting to learn about the scientific dichotomy of the “debate” and encouraging to see medical advances advocate the movement as a benefit to one’s health.”

Parklena was intrigued by “this post about the inequality of the work force where parents cannot get paid leave, especially those who are lower-class or less educated. One way in which America is deficient when compared to other developed countries – many European countries offer paid leave to new parents. Despite this, people are still encouraged to have children without any real benefits.”