Maine and Maryland approve same-sex marriage by popular vote

The president of the USA is still on the job today, but that isn't what I want to talk about. There are also lots of other votes going on during an election day in the USA, including electing the Senate, the House of Representatives and lastly various laws that need to be approved in state by state votes.

For example:

Maine and Maryland has approved same-sex marriage by popular vote.

Maine and Maryland have become the seventh and eighth states to allow same-sex couples to marry. Some states also allow "civil unions" but it just isn't the same as being "married".

In another gay-rights victory, Minnesota voters defeated a proposed constitutional amendment that would banned same-sex marriage in the state. So that isn't happening, thankfully, which basically means that gay marriage is still legal in Minnesota.

Washington state also voted on a measure to legalize same-sex marriage, though results were not expected until later today.

The outcomes of the marriage votes could influence the U.S. Supreme Court, which will soon consider whether to take up cases challenging the law that denies federal recognition to same-sex marriages, which means the USA could end up allowing same-sex marriages on a federal level (which it already de facto does, because people can just go and get married in a state which allows gay marriages, and that marriage will be recognized when it comes time to pay federal taxes).

Below is a map I found and modified to represent the new changes thanks to last night's historic votes.

RADICAL WOMEN

The following is a guest post by Margaret Viggiani

Poor and criminalized: a feminist scholar exposes the welfare-to-prison pipeline

By Margaret Viggiani
Freedom Socialist newspaper, Vol. 33, No. 5, October-September 2012 www.socialism.com

Talking to Rebecca Castner, one is instantly drawn to her intensity. A Ph.D. graduate from Women Studies at the University of Washington, Castner has researched how poor mothers, in particular women of color, are criminalized by the welfare system. As a single mom who supported her family on low-wage jobs, Castner knows firsthand the trials of the women she studied.

The myth.

Ronald Reagan emblazoned the stereotype of the Welfare Queen — young, Black, with too many kids — onto the American consciousness. This inaccurate and racist portrayal helped pave the way for George H. W. Bush's and later Bill Clinton’s devastating revamping of the welfare system. Welfare “reform” has forced millions of women and children off TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) by imposing time limits, family caps and sanctions. Castner argues that Clinton’s policies not only drastically shrank social services but also resulted in massive expansion of the U.S. penal system.

According to the Census Bureau, the poverty rate among women in 2011 was 14.6 percent, or almost 18 million females. Rates of poverty were higher for women of color — 25 percent for Blacks and 23 percent for Latinas. One in five children live in poverty and the majority of poor children live in female-headed families.

Making poverty a crime.

Given that the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) is charged with both helping families and conducting criminal investigations against them, Castner believes the frequent downward spiral from welfare to prison is not mere coincidence.

In fact, she hypothesizes that asking for assistance puts the needy at risk of being criminalized. Welfare doesn’t provide enough to survive, leaving its recipients in desperation. Following the mind-boggling and intrusive rules is nearly impossible. Breaking the rules can lead to criminal charges.

Castner reached her conclusions by reviewing in depth 13 cases of welfare fraud from the 103 files provided by King County. The cases occurred between 2000 and 2005.

One of her subjects, Lisa Bandy (a pseudonym assigned by Castner), was a mother of four living in Renton, Wash. To adequately survive without additional assistance, a family of two in that town needed an income of $2,862. But Bandy only received $1,018 a month in assistance.

Unable to afford housing, Bandy and her four children moved at least seven times and endured stretches of homelessness over a 31-month period. To gain welfare benefits, Bandy completed over 22 pages of questions. She had to provide additional documents including her car title, wage and bank statements, birth certificates and proof of who fathered her children. This paperwork is more invasive than alleged criminals are subject to. Castner aptly calls it “getting booked” into welfare.

In 39 months, Bandy was subjected to 45 additional requests for verification, on top of the routine paperwork she was regularly submitting. Failure or inability to provide requested information caused her benefits to be withheld or denied. This happened time and again.

Crime and punishment.

When signing up for food stamps, a recipient is warned that those who knowingly break a rule can be prosecuted and fined up to $250,000, imprisoned up to 20 years, or both. As Castner puts it, “using food stamps may lead to life in prison.”

Comparing the high penalty for food stamp “fraud” with leniency toward bank CEOs who stole billions and nearly collapsed the economy, Castner observes that being poor is about the worst crime there is in the eyes of capitalism.

In 2001, Lisa Bandy was convicted of a felony — Theft in the First Degree — for inaccurately reporting the date she started working and her earnings. She was found guilty of defrauding the state of $8,112 over the course of 13 months. Her punishment: 240 hours of community service, 12 months of probation and restitution of over $8,500. In 2002, she was given another 12 months probation because she had not paid any of her financial obligation. After four years, her case was still open.

During Castner’s years of research, only two of the 13 cases she followed were closed. She calls it “indefinite servitude to the penal system.” Since the debt will not go away until it’s paid, each of these desperately poor mothers live under the threat of imprisonment for failure to make restitution.

It’s no surprise the system is also rife with racial disparity. The majority of those convicted of welfare fraud in Castner’s study were women of color. They received more felony convictions and spent more time in jail. In fact, two Black women convicted of “stealing” the least amount of money spent the most time in jail.

The real cost.

Washington state spent countless hours to prosecute the cases Castner followed. The court files averaged 108 pages. At least 183 attorneys were involved. Three State Patrol officers were assigned to stake out a woman’s house to see if the father of her children was spending the night. Dozens of DSHS personnel were subpoenaed to build the cases. Despite DSHS claims that only major offenders are prosecuted, two of Castner’s cases involved sums of less than $500.

The dehumanizing effects of the welfare bureaucracy shaped the system’s view of these women long before they got caught up in the criminal justice juggernaut. In the 1,400 pages of documents reviewed by Castner, not one word originated from the women themselves. She says they were invisible, removed from humanity and reduced to a series of numbers (height, weight, age), characteristics (ethnicity, hair color, eye color, tattoos) and the negative opinions of others. Their lives were reshaped and retold by a mountain of paperwork in which others spoke for and defined them. They were no longer people, but constructs of a hostile system.

Castner decries the enormous costs to the women, their children (the unseen victims), and to society. They suffered severe long-term financial repercussions and profound emotional, physical and mental tolls. It would have been far more productive and effective for society to assist them with childcare, shelter, food and other necessary essentials, than to lock them up.

Instead her subjects, as felons, found additional doors closed to them: they were denied voting rights and access to public housing, tuition aid, and future public benefits. They were ground deeper into poverty and further away from obtaining jobs that paid a livable wage.

Why would any system permit such an expensive, pointless waste of human potential? As capitalism struggles to stay afloat, it drives down the living standards of the entire working class. Millions of women and men of color are specially targeted by the “new” Jim Crow, which uses the prison-industrial complex and the welfare system to try to crush those who historically have been the most militant fighters for economic and social justice. History also shows, however, that resistance to injustice is a human instinct that cannot be crushed. The day of reckoning is not far off!

Send your comments to vig37@hotmail.com.

Ketchup on Ice Cream is a Matter of Taste

Feel free to share this. :)

"If someone asks you "Do you like ketchup on your ice cream?" and you say "No." are you basing that negative reaction on experience, morality or taste? You haven't tried ketchup on your ice cream, so you can't claim its a matter of experience. You don't have any moral reasons against someone else having ketchup on their ice cream, so it isn't morality. So it really comes down to taste. The same thing goes with homosexuality. Its a matter of taste. There is nothing immoral about it."

- Suzanne MacNevin

Kathrine Switzer - Historic Icon

It was a historic moment for female athletes.

In 1967, Kathrine Switzer entered and completed the Boston Marathon in 1967, five years before women were officially allowed to compete in it. She was the first woman to run the Boston marathon and was registered in the race. (The first unregistered person was Bobbi Gibb in 1966.) She registered, collected her numbers, put them on and started the race.

After realizing that a woman had somehow registered and was running, race organizer Jock Semple chased after Switzer shouting: "Get the hell out of my race and give me those numbers."

Switzer’s boyfriend and other male runners provided a protective shield during the entire marathon and she was able to outpace Semple. The photograph above was taken during the incident and made world headlines.

Her finishing time of approximately 4 hours and 20 minutes.

Kathrine later won the 1974 NYC marathon (women's category) with a time of 3:07:29.

Her personal best time for the marathon distance is 2:51:37, at Boston in 1975, where she took 2nd place.

She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 2011 for creating a social revolution by empowering women around the world through running.

In 1997 Kathrine wrote Running and Walking for Women over 40. She released her memoir, Marathon Woman in April 2007 on the 40th anniversary of her first running the Boston Marathon.

Using Women to Sell Guns

FEMINIST - Nothing sells guns and ammo faster than women with guns.

Not to women of course!

To men who apparently have nothing better to do than blow their wad (literally and figuratively) on buying a bigger, more powerful gun.

The reason is obvious. Men are the ones with penis envy.

On the right female Russian soldiers ready their Kalashnikov rifles (also known as AK-47s) at a shooting range during the "Beauty in Epaulets" contest outside Moscow in 2003.

The Beauty in Epaulets is a beauty contest for women in the Russian armed forces. It is really just advertising for the military and to some extent advertising for Russia's most famous gun, the Kalashnikov assault rifle.

On a side topic the Kalashnikov assault rifle is going to be getting a modern redesign. The new model, dubbed the AK-12, will feature a sight and lamp and other detachable features and is part of a nearly $700 billion modernization of Russia’s armed forces.

However the original design by Mikhail Kalashnikov is the most popular assault rifle in history, and has been popular since 1947 (hence the name AK-47). Kalashnikov’s 1947 rifle is easy to use and cheap to manufacture, making it popular with mercenaries and freedom fighters alike. It has been copied many times too, making it the most copied gun in existence. It is estimated that millions of variants have been manufactured in numerous countries.

The AK-47 has become widely used by militias, armed gangs and rebels, and based on the number of deaths it has caused, it’s also known as the world’s most dangerous weapon. The gun can fire 400 rounds per minute and was the weapon of choice for gunmen in the 1972 Munich Olympic massacre, in Rwanda and in the former Yugoslavia.

In 2002 Mikhail Kalashnikov said that he is proud of his development. But he wished he could have invented something that makes life easier for farmers and regular people. “A lawn mower, for example.”

Now back to my original topic... selling guns using women as sex objects.

It is really no different than other advertising which uses female sexuality as the bait... the only real difference is that guns won't make you lose weight like exercise equipment, won't feed your sugar addiction like junk food, and won't keep you warm like clothing. The only purpose of guns is to kill something.

So the Russian military (or anyone else) using women to sell AK-47s, Colt Carbines, Desert Eagles or any other kind of weapon is really just using sex to sell violence.

Its exploitation of two of mankind's most animalistic emotions: Sex and Violence.

It is also metaphorical. Guns are very phallic based on their shape and design. There is no shortage of innuendos either.

I imagine (just a hunch) there is no shortage of men out there who like to strut around half naked with a gun in their hand. It becomes an extension of their penis envy and their ego.

And you can pretty much guarantee that the bigger the gun fanatic the more likely they are trying to compensate for something.

Ergo, most men who buy guns have small penises... therefore women in gun advertising is really like shooting fish in a barrel. Pun intended.

Men have basically just fallen prey to the most basic principle of pop psychology: Sex Sells.

Especially to men with small penises.

Native Girl in Wisconsin singled out in Catholic School

By Suzanne MacNevin - Chemistry Teacher.

RELIGION - Catholic schools are not exactly known for their tolerance and understanding, especially with respect to women and other cultures. As someone who has taught previously at Catholic schools I have a voice on this topic.

In January Grade 7 student Miranda Washinawatok, who will turn 13 at the end of March, was teaching her friends how to say several phrases in her native tongue Menominee. Miranda lives in Shawno in northeastern Wisconsin, just south of the Menominee Indian Reservation. (You would think people there would be used to hearing the language.)

Three little phrases in particular: I love you, hello, and thank you.

Nothing complex and completely innocent.

She spoke the words in Menominee and then translated for her friends.

However Miranda Washinawatok was reprimanded for speaking in Menominee by her teacher, Julie Gurta, who slammed her hands down on her desk and said she wasn’t supposed to be speaking Menominee because how would she know if Miranda was saying something bad.

Julie Gurta then reportedly asked Miranda: How would you like it if I spoke Polish and you didn’t understand?

During the next class Miranda was singled out and intimidated by the teacher who had apparently heard of the incident. Later the same day Miranda was benched rather than playing in that night’s parent recognition basketball game. When her mother picked her up after practice, Miranda told her mother she had been benched “for attitude issues.”

But when her mother, Tanaes Washinawatok, investigated school officials would not explain why her daughter wasn’t allowed to play in the game. None of them would give a straight answer and kept passing the buck.

The head coach claims he didn’t know anything about the decision to bench Miranda, and he should know, he is the coach. Neither did the assistant coach, the teacher and the principal would say who made the decision to punish the student.

“I was disappointed the faculty wouldn’t give me clear answers and kept passing the blame back and forth,” says Tanaes Washinawatok.

After the incident Washinawatok and a family elder, Richie Plass, who works across the United States on issues of racism, stereotyping and intolerance, met with school officials and representatives from the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay.

Plass well knows the sting of racism and is a veritable expert on the topic. In 1968 he was president of the senior class at his high school in 1968 when the principal asked him to be the mascot for the Shawno Indians basketball team. The memory of being a mascot still haunts him. “There is no honour at being laughed at, having food thrown at you and spat at,” he says.

“What’s become apparent to a lot of people in the diocese and the decision-makers especially is how much their staff and people flat-out don’t know when it comes to our culture. With this issue — and we don’t know what happened before now — to me I don’t think it was racist. I think it was ignorance. It’s ignorance and a form of intolerance,” says Plass.

The Diocese of Green Bay is now in full blown damage control and claims it now plans to begin a cultural and educational sensitivity training program about the native nations within the diocese later in 2012.

Julie Gurta, director of education Dr. Joseph Bound, assistant girls’ basketball coach Billie Jo DeQuaine and principal Dan Minter were all asked to write letters of apology.

The letters from the coach, principal and director were deeply apologetic, asking for the family’s forgiveness.

But Julie Gurta's letter wasn't really an apology, but instead blamed everything on Miranda and tried to justify her actions.

Gurta wrote: “In an academic setting, a student must be respectful of all of the other students — language and behaviour that creates a possibility of elitism, or simply excludes other students, can create or increase racial and cultural tensions ... My firm reactions to the behaviours of Miranda and the other two girls were not to single out Miranda or her Native language. Rather, disciplinary actions were taken in response to the disrespectful comments and behaviours exhibited by Miranda over the course of the entire day. Unfortunately, the actions of your daughter were not brought to your attention as quickly as they should have been, and for this I apologize.”

See what I mean? She claims it wasn't brought to her attention? Julie Gurta was the one who did the misdeed! There is nothing wrong with speaking in other languages. Elitism? Pfff. It was cultural elitism which led Julie Gurta to be such an ignorant b*tch in the first place.

Tanaes Washinawatok is now demanding that Julie Gurta be fired for her lack of a sincere and real apology and is asking the director not to renew her contract.

“The teacher’s letter is totally unacceptable,” says Tanaes. “It places blame on Miranda, saying there were several occasions of disrespectfulness and rude behaviour. This was all new to me. She had ample opportunity to notify me that this happened. I feel in this 11th hour, when we’re bringing closure to the incident, she wants to take away from the seriousness of her own actions.”

Claiming bad behaviour on the part of the student after the fact when its the teacher who has been caught doing something wrong just sounds like lies and hogwash to me.

As a chemistry teacher I've been teaching students in Britain and Canada for almost 10 years. If myself or a colleague did something like that our *ss would be out the door so fast it wouldn't be funny.

Principal Minter is refusing to speak to the media on the topic of whether Julie Gurta will be fired.

When I was younger we had a problem with an English teacher once. She slapped a student for misbehaviour.

And by misbehaviour I mean he basically told her to take a hike.

The teacher later tried to apologize for her act and keep her job, but she was gone the very next day. Never to return.

But here is the thing. The student she slapped was Metis (half Native Canadian).

Now does it really matter whether the student was caucasian, Metis, Indian, African, Asian or mixed? No. It doesn't.

Doesn't matter whether the student was male or female either.

The short answer is YOU NEVER HIT A STUDENT.

And what is also true is YOU NEVER TAUNT, BELITTLE OR UNDULY PUNISH A STUDENT.

It is basically an unwritten code and Julie Gurta should know better.

And trying to lie and claim it was the student's fault? Especially when the teachers and staff were running around, passing the buck and changing their stories? That just proves that something wrong went down and they all know it.

Julie Gurta deserves to be fired and never allowed to teach again. End of story.

Feminist Quotes about Truth and Justice

"The truth will set you free. But first, it will piss you off." - Gloria Steinem.

"Law and justice are not always the same. When they aren't, destroying the law may be the first step toward changing it." - Gloria Steinem.

"We ask justice, we ask equality, we ask that all the civil and political rights that belong to citizens of the United States, be guaranteed to us and our daughters forever." — Susan B. Anthony, Declaration of Rights for Women, July 1876

"My address is like my shoes. It travels with me. I abide where there is a fight against wrong." — Mother Jones.

I also want to include this one just because its funny:

"If women are supposed to be less rational and more emotional at the beginning of our menstrual cycle when the female hormone is at its lowest level, then why isn't it logical to say that, in those few days, women behave the most like the way men behave all month long?" - Gloria Steinem.

See 1001 Feminist Quotes for more.

Are White Women more Selfish?

RELATIONSHIPS & SEX - Today is Valentines... but I want to talk about an interesting trend I've noticed.

White men who prefer non-white women, because (according to them) non-white women are less selfish, more forgiving, more tolerant, more giving, more loyal, more patient, more diligent, more understanding and kinder.

Notice anything?

They're basically listing all of the Seven Virtues except for chastity. (And lets face it, men really don't care about chastity, they only care about loyalty.)

Now that is very interesting to me because it narrows down to the idea that white women are somehow less virtuous, that they are more selfish, less tolerant, etc.

And there really is no way to prove this theory, but I think we can narrow it down to several options.

Option #1. White Women really are more selfish.

If so, then why? Is it because white women have a greater sense of entitlement, not due to racism, but because white women see themselves as the standard and that men should be fighting over them. This concept gives white women more arrogance (the opposite of humility), and arrogance is said to be the root of all other vices (and humility is the root of all virtues).

Part of it may be due to the Golddigger Phenomenon, wherein white women expect to find the man of their dreams and won't settle for anything less. They've set such high standards for themselves that no man will ever fulfill. (This does disappear with age and humility however.)

Speaking for myself, in my activities as a lesbian with bisexual leanings, I've discovered that non-white women are more affectionate and caring. So perhaps non-white women really are more humble.

Option #2. Its just a stereotype.

Call it the result of a limited test sample. White men go out with white women. They conclude that all white women are selfish based on the source information and then have a wonderful loving relationship with a non-white woman. This then conclude must mean that all non-white women are less arrogant, less selfish and more virtuous.

Option #3. Both.

Sometimes the stereotype can also be accurate.

Ahem.

Perhaps the thing I want to say here is that while women are now equals under the law in most countries, we haven't really succeeded much in how to behave like equals. We've been told we have rights and that has certainly helped, but a good woman (regardless of her sense of equality) is also a virtuous woman.

What I've also noticed is that most white feminists don't care much about what goes on outside of the Americas and Europe. They know comparatively little about what social movements are going on in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Part of that is just lack of information, but I think that is going to change with time and rapidly increasing globalization of technology.

In 50 years we could see a world where all women are united under the common cause of equality for all. And hopefully we learn some virtues along the way.

Arrogance is only going to piss people off. Humility and Self Respect is key, but arrogance is overdoing it.

Real Men Don't Buy Girls

This is a human rights issue. This is a family issue. This is a feminist issue.

#1. An estimated one million children are forced to work in the global sex industry every year.

#2. The global sex slavery market generates a $39 billion profit annually.

#3. Selling young girls is more profitable than trafficking drugs or weapons.

Celebrities are taking part in the Real Men Don't Buy Girls campaign. Be part of this campaign and spread awareness.

The Truth about Double Standards

FEMINIST - There are quite a few women out there who are expecting a double standard from their relationships.

ie. They want a man who treats them with respect and equality, but at the same time expects the man to be the sole breadwinner.

ie. I think it is ridiculous some women out there still expect the man to pay for their dinner/etc on a date.

#1. It makes you look like a gold digger.

#2. Its impolite.

#3. You should be independent and not dependent on the male for anything. If the male insists on paying, fine, let him have his ego trip, but don't expect him to pay all the time.

Applying this double standard of desiring equality and yet expecting the old treatment is backfiring and just creating more inequality. It backfires because the male either grows to resent your dependency or they expect sexual favours in exchange for your dependency. Its one or the other sadly. The male who can just give, not worry about it, and not expect anything in return is one in a billion.

Lets say you got on a date with a guy and he pays for the taxi, the meal, the movie tickets and drinks afterwards. In other words he pays for everything. He is EXPECTING SEX after the date.

Same goes with a marriage where the man is the sole breadwinner. If the woman is at home all the time what he is expecting is:

Food on the table.

A clean home to come home to.

Clean clothes.

Lots of sex regularly.

Essentially the housewife is a slave because in theory she has no life outside of the home. If she isn't performing her "wifely duties" in the bedroom then the man starts looking elsewhere for sex... secretaries, co-workers, affairs on the side. (And this is equally true for women sitting at home, bored and craving romance and sex on the side.)

Now it is true that at certain ages children can be a handful and it is wiser to have one parent stay at home to take care of the kids. But this task should be split equally between both parents so they have equal time to bond with their children. Its only blatant traditionalism that dictates the woman is the only one who can stay home and take care of the children.

Stay at Home Dads is a relatively new idea, but its a growing idea and one I feel deserves applause.

For women its simply not practical to be dependent on someone else for your finances. If the man ditches you and leaves you with nothing, what do you have to fall back on if you don't have any money of your own? It is far more practical to have your own career, your own money and be able to stand on your own two feet if the need ever arises.

"If you're going to wear the pants you have to pay for them yourself."

The Truth About Women And Disability

Almost daily I hear friends and family tell me: “don’t stress”, don’t worry”, family will help you figure it out”. One thing that my friends can’t fully grasp is the effects of the socially imposed barriers that arise as a result of being a woman living with a disability. They find it difficult to relate to the very real circumstances we differently abled women face. These include feelings of isolation, unemployment, lack of easy access to available government services and more. It’s these manufactured societal attitudes which serve as a means of lowering ones’ self-worth thus disregarding the true essence of a female with a disability. In my opinion these truths are directly linked to the feminist notions around human rights, equality, low income standards and unemployment.

Being a young, university educated woman I too had aspirations of a successful career in Media and Communications. After five years of hard work like many women my age I attended a graduation ceremony where I received my diploma. Yet nothing prepared me for what was to come; years of struggling to find that job, countless interviews followed by rejection. One thing I was never told while in university was that my disability would dramatically lessen my chances for employment. However this is not simply about disability, these and other everyday barriers are being overcome by women who are perceived as visible minorities. More often than not this results in failure to access proper health care, controlled government assistance, social exclusion with minimal to no room for growth or self-advancement; which brings me to the idea of the invisible woman and the need to bridge the gap brought on by the social perception of the “acceptable norm” or normalcy.

The common societal argument is that any deviation from the “norm” should be medically or otherwise monitored, questioned or collectively frowned upon. Women (disabled women included), who do not fit the standard image of a professional, capable and independent individual should automatically be perceived as incapable, unable, and dependant; like the feminist movement, the disability movement as it relates to women, should focus on breaking down the many societal walls that create unfounded feelings of inferiority in us. It is this fear of being “socially perceived” or rather misperceived that prevents us, women in particular, from achieving our full potential. These misled ideas of dis-ability and the female embodiment are nothing but superficially levied social constraints that stand in the way of discovering the real the possibilities behind acceptance.

About two months ago I got married; I am a wife now, but also a dependant according to societal norms. I no longer receive financial support based on disability. My husband is my “primary” caregiver and although I now run a copywriting business; I am a dependant. My unstable income is seen as not enough to grant me the financial independence I crave. Despite my go-getter nature and an eagerness to get ahead, I know that in societal eyes, I will perhaps always be seen as someone who “needs help” from others, I will keep hearing words like: “you are not quite what we’re looking for”. There is a chance that my future children will be seen as children of a parent with a disability and the stigma that comes along with it.

The fact is, in this fast-paced world filled with constant societal pressures, perception is everything; more than anything else it is about that image of the perfect woman, the perfect, wife the perfect mother. Women like myself who have felt that pressure of knowing they will never fit the mold, also know this has to change. We all need to tell ourselves that we acknowledge that these societal norms are nothing but a way for others to shield themselves from that which they cannot explain. As women we need to stand up and let our voices be heard. Working towards a common norm where our collective differences are celebrated rather than judged is the key to personal and emotional freedom.

For more information on disability and feminism visit: http://disabledfeminists.com/blogroll

Also be sure to check out: http://www.feministezine.com/feminist/

The Truth about Anti Feminist Hate Speech

FEMINIST - If you've ever read someone's blog post, misogynistic essay or YouTube rant supporting anti-feminism or violence against women you know how annoying and infuriating it can be to think there is very little you can do to prevent such horrific hate speech from being spread over the internet.



And the saddest part is that such hate speech is really just a bunch of lies and misinformation, often depicting feminism as some kind of female supremacy movement. ie. http://bit.ly/oo5paM



Well I am here today to tell you there is a way to fight back against such websites. Here is some useful tips on:



HOW TO FIGHT ANTI-FEMINISM



#1. Blogspot and similar free websites have Terms of Service which prohibit the posting and promotion of hate and/or violence. In the case of Blospot all you have to do is click the "Report Abuse" link at the top of the page, follow the instructions and submit the website where you saw hate speech. (You can also report nudity, exploitation of minors, illegal activity, copyright violations, etc. Do not submit false claims however, it won't help.)



#2. YouTube (and similar video websites) also have the option to report videos for hate speech. On YouTube you need to click Share, and then click "report this video as inappropriate". ie. Today I reported a video on YouTube which compared feminists to the KKK.



#3. Independent websites (the server is owned by the user)... there isn't much we can do about them. Its their own website and their own server so we can't do much about it, can we. Or is there? If you visit Alexa.com you can visit the entry for that website and place a negative review. If the website in question is also a company (or the person who owns it works for a specific company) you can also post negative reviews via Google Maps / Google Places.



#4. NEVER, EVER link directly to the website you are trying to get rid of. Linking to the website is just free promotion for that website. Refer to the site by name only or use a bitly.com shortened version of their URL, and even then I recommend only posting it like "http://bit.ly/oo5paM" and not as a clickable URL.



#5. Post responses to that website or video. Fight back against their argument using reason, logic, facts, statistics with references (don't make up false statistics), quotes by famous personages. Refute their claims. ie. If they are saying things like "feminists hate porn", inform them that this is inaccurate. There are way more pro-sex feminists than there are anti-sex feminists.



#6. Don't bother emailing or responding to emails from anti-feminists. They won't listen to reason and will talk until they are blue in the face out of sheer stubbornness. Don't waste your time on people who have already gone down the road of hate.



#7. Don't fight fight hate with hate. You have to be better than them. Speak and write things calmly, avoid using caps or bold text (use italics instead) and explain things logically and honestly. Anyone who can read between the lines and isn't narrow minded will be won over by your calm and logical argument. Anyone who is thinking with hate on their mind is a waste of time. Its the people who are open minded you need to win over to the side of truth, justice and equality.



The truth is there are many way you can fight back against anti-feminist hate speech. It just takes calm and affirmative action.



See also Dealing with Anti-Feminism







NOTE: Normally I am against censorship, but when it comes to hate speech we have to stand up for truth, justice and equality.

The Truth about Vietnamese Girls

By Ai Lung Nguyen - July 2011.

I am a globe trotting Vietnamese girl... I've been all over Asia, North America and Europe... so many places to go, so many things to do, so many men to leave disappointed.

And that is the truth of it.

Western men (no thanks to Hollywood movies about the Vietnam War) have got it in their minds that all Vietnamese women are "Me love you long time". And that is really all they know about Vietnam and its women.

So when they meet women like me and discover that Vietnamese women have brains and brawn, wow, they have to stop and rethink what they've been brainwashed to believe.

So here is some FACTS for you!

#1. Vietnamese women outnumber the men. Vietnamese men often die before the age of 65. There is a lot of Vietnamese women out there who are in their 70s or older and lonely. (The ratio of men to women older than 65 is less than 2 men for every 3 women.)

#2. Prostitution is actually pretty low in Vietnam. Quite a few Vietnamese women are very traditional and would never stoop to such a degrading occupation. (Las Vegas on the other hand...)

#3. Vietnamese women are not "dragon ladies". Although some of the feminists might enjoy describing themselves that way... it does not in any way mean that Vietnamese women are "cold blooded reptiles". We're like any other women. We have feelings, if you prick us do we not get pissed off?

#4. Vietnam does have a feminist movement. Feminist groups in Vietnam started appearing during the 1960s and have been growing stronger ever since.

#5. The birth rate in Vietnam is low compared to the rest of the world. 17.07 births/1,000 population. 1.91 children born / woman. For comparison purposes the USA has 2.06 children born / woman.

#6. The literacy rate for women in Vietnam is 92%. The average for the country is 94%. (Mostly its the older generation which is illiterate.) Note: Literacy in the USA is 99.1%.

#7. Historically Vietnamese girls stay in school less than boys. Boys usually quit after 11 years of schooling whereas the average for Vietnamese girls is 10 years. The numbers are due to the fact that older generation of women often weren't schooled as much, but these numbers are improving rapidly as the younger generation realizes the importance of a good education. (In the USA the averages is 15 years for boys and 17 years for girls.)

#8. Vietnamese women have surprisingly lower breast cancer rates than women in North America. Why? We live and eat healthier. Less smoking, less carcinogens in our food. Our life expectancy is going up. In the USA life expectancy is going down due to skyrocketing obesity rates.

#9. Most women in Vietnam ride motorcycles, scooters or bicycles to work. Although this is equally true of the men. Motorcycles/etc are EXTREMELY popular in Vietnam.

#10. Vietnamese women rock! Okay technically its more pop music, but Vietnamese girl bands are an ever growing phenomenon. (Spice Girls eat your heart out.)

[Sources: CIA World Factbook and other sources.]

Vietnam is a modern Asian country and it is changing rapidly. The country is currently in a stage of massive industrial expansionism and these means lots of jobs for both men and women in Vietnam. There is a problem with 'sweatshop' labour of uneducated women, often immigrants not even from Vietnam, but this problem is gradually going to disappear as the government cracks down on illegal operations.

Vietnam does have some government corruption issues, but this is the same everywhere in the world. The difference is that in Vietnam everyone knows the government is corrupt, in comparison Americans are often blinded by their own biases and don't care that they're being swindled by men in Wall Street.

So to all the Asiaphile men out there you guys need a reality check. If you guys are so easily swindled by Wall Street what makes you think your opinion of Asian women is as accurate as the stock market? Apples and Oranges, but the point is made.

Some people just can't see the lies when they're surrounded by them.

The Truth about Being One of the Guys

FEMINIST - I opened an email earlier today forwarded from a friend in Canada and it started off like so...

"I think they're trying to contact you guys."

What I thought was amusing was that it was an email being forwarded to two women, and yet he had chosen to refer to us as "guys".

Not gals.

Not chicks.

Not Utero-Americans.

Guys.

And I think this is a positive thing, because what it implies is that guys is now an unisex word which means a group of females or males, and there doesn't have to be 1 male in the group.

Unlike French/Francais, in which if there is 1 male in a group its automatically upgraded to the masculine form of the word. We should be so fortunate that in English we don't worry about masculine and feminine words on a constant basis.

But we do pay attention to specific instances, and being referred to as a guy is a positive sign feminism is headed in the right direction.

So now that we femmes are "one of the guys" what should we do next?

Should we also become dudes? (As opposed to dudettes, a word I find annoying.)

Or how about man? As in "Hey man, wazzup?"

I think I shall start calling all my female homies "man" from now on. If I stick with it maybe we can start a trend that spans the globe.

Which begs the question if men and man becomes an unisex term, should we use a strictly masculine word for people with penises? Perhaps 'heman' or 'He-Man'?

Repeat after me...

"Hey He-Man, wazzup?" (Masculine only.)

"Hey man, wazzup?" (Unisex, singular.)

"Hey guys, wazzup?" (Unisex, plural.)

Leslie J. Sacks' Ten Commandments

FEMINISM - We received the following list from Leslie J. Sacks in an email. The ideas are certainly worth a read. Editor's Note: I've edited some of the wording of the commandments to make them more palatable.

"In these uncertain and consequential times, I humbly suggest that we put aside our penchant for iPods and immediate gratification and consider my 10 new commandments [below]." - Leslie J. Sacks, L.A. California.

1) Men should learn to think more with their brains and not their genitals.

2) Women should focus more on their intellects and temper their hearts.

3) Never use violence and intolerance except to defend liberty.

4) Morality exists only in behavior and actions. Preaching morality doesn't make it so.

5) Women are ALWAYS equal.

6) Freedom and democracy are both rights and irrevocable responsibilities that must be protected.

7) Each individual has the inalienable right to their political and religious beliefs.

8) No institution or belief should take precedence over any one person.

9) No path to happiness is exclusive or worthy of domination over any other.

10) People who seek to dominate, control, subvert or destroy the freedom of other people do not deserve the respect of the free world.

The Truth about Human Trafficker Peter Nygard

Have you heard the recent news about Peter Nygard, a fashion guru from Canada?

Let me give you the summary... Peter Nygard is a 67-year-old millionaire fashion designer. He has a net worth of $800 million USD. He owns his own island in the Bahamas, a tropical Fort Knox with swimming pools and shark tanks that would make a James Bond villain jealous.

On Peter Nygard's island his employees aren't allowed to leave and they are docked so much pay they're basically his slaves. If they don't do what he tells them to he physically, emotionally and even SEXUALLY abuses them.

One of his sex abuse victims was a 16-year-old girl from the Dominican Republic and she has since gone missing. Peter Nygard's lawyers claim she is perfectly fine and have even shown members of the media letters claiming she thinks Peter Nygard is nothing but a "perfect gentlemen"...

In reality the poor girl was probably fed to one of Peter Nygard's sharks. Its just a theory, but its entirely possible when you realize how many bodyguards and lawyers work for Peter Nygard and get an insight on his intimidation tactics. Watch the CBC documentary about Peter Nygard.

The only reason Peter Nygard hasn't been caught is because he has an army of bodyguards, lawyers and all his workers have to sign confidentiality agreements. Those ex-employees who go against him (like those in the CBC documentary) are sued for breach of contract and intimidated until they agree to a settlement.

But wait there's more... Since the airing of that documentary 5 days ago its since come out that one Peter Nygard's pants factories in Jordan is using 1,200 slaves workers from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India.

Here's what happens... the company imports the women, 75% of them just teenagers desperate for work, from their home country. They are stripped of their passports and all of their belongings, then forced to work 110 work weeks where they are constantly docked pay for "sloppy work" and help captive to pay off their indentured servitude.

But they never do. Many of the women in these sweatshops simply go missing when they've outlived their usefulness.

Peter Nygard's clothes is sold to a variety of stores including his own Nygard outlets. Other stores that sell his clothes include: Dillard's, J.C. Penney and Wal-Mart

The women are forced to work 16-hour shifts, from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week.

"There are also mandatory, all-night 23-hour shifts, from 7 a.m. to 6 a.m. at least once a week," says Charles Kernaghan, director of the U.S.-based National Labor Committee (NLC). "The exhausted workers are at the factory over 110 hours a week, while being cheated of over half the legal wages due them. Instead of earning the 74.5-cent-an-hour minimum wage in Jordan, they are paid just 35 cents an hour."

Because the workers aren't allowed to leave the factory they must buy their food from the people running the factory. The end up in an endless cycle of wage slavery.

"When workers ask for the return of their passports and to be paid correctly, they are slapped and threatened with forcible deportation," said Kernaghan "There are also serious allegations of sexual harassment, even rape, and of workers being overworked to death."

The 1,200 slave workers are housed in filthy primitive dormitories without heat and with only sporadic access to water for two hours, three or four days a week. The dorms are infested with bed bugs and, shown photographs of the insects, entomologist Dr. Susan C. Jones of Ohio State University confirmed the bed bugs were engorged with blood.

"All labour laws in Jordan, not to mention the International Labour Organization's (ILO) internationally-recognized workers' rights standards, are being blatantly violated at the IBG factory," said Kernaghan. "In fact, the Jordanian Ministry of Labour has placed the abusive IBG plant on their "Golden List" of best factories."

In a single week, from January 28 to February 17, 2010, Peter Nygard imported more than 280,000 women's pants made at the IBG factory, worth $2.5 million. Many of the pants retail for $38 USD. The workers were paid approx. 9 cents for each pair of pants they sewed and make only 3.9 pairs of pants per hour.

Peter Nygard is famous for his alcoholism, his temper, his lechery and now he will be known as several more things: A rapist, a murderer and a human trafficker who deals in slavery.

See Also:
Peter Nygard's empire reeling from CBC expose
Fashion Salon: Boycotting Peter Nygard
In My Hair: Peter Nygard: 21st Century Slaveowner
Facebook: Boycotting Peter Nygard

UPDATE! THE OLD BOYCOTT PAGE WAS DELETED NO THANKS TO NYGARD'S LAWYERS: Please join the new group at Boycott Nygard's Brands

Erykah Badu goes nude at JFK assassination site

ENTERTAINMENT - On March 17th 2010 singer-songwriter Erykah Badu stripped down to nothing at the site of JFK's 1963 assassination while making a music video entitled "Window Seat", perhaps a reference to the convertible Kennedy was shot in. The video was finally released today.

In the video in Dallas, Texas, Badu walks along the sidewalk shedding clothing until she is nude and then falls down (as if dead) on the actual location JFK was shot. Shot "guerrilla style" with only a single cameraman the R&B singer has drawn both praise and criticism for her courageous and controversial video.

Badu says she was making a statement against "groupthink" which she says is an "unwritten rule" that "i will not express my true opinion if it opposes those i love and fear."

Dallas police are currently contemplating pressing charges against both Badu and the cameraman, for public indecency and not obtaining a permit before filming.



In related news...

Sarah McLachlan her renewed "Lilith Fair" tours featuring music by Sarah McLachlan, Mary J. Blige, Sheryl Crow, Kelly Clarkson, Erykah Badu, Sugarland, Heart, Norah Jones, Ke$ha, Corinne Bailey Rae, Loretta Lynn, Emmylou Harris, and Tegan and Sara.

Lilith Fair promotes women in music and feminist issues. Earlier today the Lilith Fair website crashed due to sheer popularity.

Fans who pre-order Sarah McLachlan's new album "The Laws of Illusion" at sarahmclachlan.com will have the chance to buy tickets to the revived Lilith Fair tour before anyone else. The Lilith Fair tour will be visiting 32 cities in North America.

The Truth about Female Tokenism

FEMINISM - Imagine a TV show or cartoon. It doesn't have to be a new one, an older cartoon or TV show will work. Is it balanced in terms of male and female roles?

Lets take Star Trek, The Original Series as an example. How many women are part of the main cast? Two if you count Nurse Chapel (who later leaves but continues doing the voice for the computer) and Lieutenant Commander Uhura (played by actor Nichelle Nichols).

Now its important not to understress the role Nichelle Nichols played at the time (1966-1969). She was one of the first African-American women in a major TV role and also shares the first interracial kiss on television with William Shatner.

Nichols had originally planned to leave Star Trek in 1967 after its first season, but a conversation with Martin Luther King, Jr. persuaded her to stay, stating that she was a role model for the black community.

But what about the female community? We can only assume she played a role for women too... although we must remember Uhura's role was largely that of a secretary.

Dr. Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman to become an astronaut and actor Whoopi Goldberg (who later played Guinan on Star Trek: The Next Generation) both pay tribute to Uhura the character. Because Star Trek is such a widespread cultural phenomenon Uhura's token role was actually a major role and a huge positive influence.

Now lets talk about the negative influence of tokenism.

And for this example I am going to use He-Man... or more specifically the only female heroine in the cartoon, Teela. The thing about Teela however is that while she is warrior in the show, she is often depicted as a damsel in distress so He-Man can rescue her (which happens a bit too often). He-Man ran from 1983-1985 and was later relaunched in 2002-2004 for two seasons.

For the purposes of discussion below we will be speaking about the original 1983-85 series.

The storyline also includes the Sorceress (who is essentially a guide / damsel-in-distress) and a twin sister "Evil-Lyn". The duality of Teela and Evil-Lyn cannot be ignored. The two characters are identical with the exception of clothing and personality... the message however is obvious: Teela is good and Evil-Lyn is evil, and their actions are likewise good/evil. Its very black and white and leaves no room for grey. Evil-Lyn isn't just "bad", she can't help being evil. Even if she tried to do a good deed her evilness would cause her to pervert it into something evil... or at least that is what the show suggests.

As token characters Teela and Evil-lyn thus form a metaphor/message for all women. Some women are goodie two shoes and other women are just plain evil. Its a 50/50 split. It also says several other things:

#1. Female warriors are good, female magic-users are evil.
#2. There are very few females in the roles of heroines or villainesses.
#3. Females are weak, easily captured and need to be rescued by He-Man.

This isn't exactly inspiring young women to enter male-dominated careers. What its saying instead is that women are a rarity in such roles and are essentially a liability.

And its the same for many other TV shows, especially cartoons with a token female character. In the case of He-Man the show was reasonably popular with young girls and ended up with the spin-off series She-Ra... which was essentially a whole world populated by amazon women warriors (both good and evil). Oh and the character "Bow" is basically a male version of Teela, a token male amongst amazons. She-Ra basically uses the same formula as He-Man, but in reverse.

The trick about She-Ra however is that her story starts her off as an evil character with a spell on her and was raised as a baby by the villain Hordak. She-Ra only becomes good after He-Man breaks the spell on her / convinces her that her "father" is evil.

You can watch the whole thing here: He-Man & She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword

She-Ra also has quite a few female villains like the aptly named Shadow Weaver (whom you never see her face) and also Scorpia, Catra, Octavia, Entrapta, etc... its battle royale of the evil amazons vs the good amazons.

And then there's the metaphor... She-Ra is a leader of the Rebellion, which fights against the mostly-male Horde which dominates her world. Its a crude metaphor for patriarchy vs feminism and I am not so sure it works so well.

The whole She-Ra world (Etheria) is basically an overcompensation to botching the He-Man world (Eternia) and an attempt to appease a mostly female audience with parents who are worried about what their kids are watching... hence why feminism is portrayed as a metaphor and the Rebellion are essentially freedom fighters. (FEMINIST = FREEDOM FIGHTER, I really like that definition.) If they had been overly blatant about the metaphor the more conservative parents might have become upset.

Remember the Hercules: Legendary Journeys TV series starring Kevin Sorbo? It lasted 111 episodes and spawned an even bigger spinoff... Xena: Warrior Princess, starring Lucy Lawless with 134 episodes.

Not surprisingly Xena has some remarkable similarities to She-Ra. She starts off as evil and then Hercules manages to convince her to become good. Sounds familiar right?

However the similarities soon disappear as Xena is obviously a post-feminist with a healthy sexual libido. The show is just as much for men as it is for women, although the plot does become rather complex in later episodes and the show becomes a bit soap-opera-ish... Xena also has a somewhat ambiguous sexuality, judging from one scene where she kisses her sidekick Gabrielle leading to a whole argument that Xena is bisexual or lesbian... Does it really matter? It struck a blow for lesbians/bisexuals, just be happy about it.

Conclusions

Female tokenism in television is essentially a bad idea. While some good can come from tokenism, its far better to have roughly a 50/50 split. Star Trek: The Next Generation is a good example of this, as the first season starts off with Tasha Yar, Deanna Troi and Beverly Crusher... three characters with specific roles as warrior, romantic-love-interest/shrink and doctor. The success of Star Trek: TNG shows a balance between male and female roles is not a detriment.

Furthermore when tokenism becomes too overt, especially in a popular show, you can expect a backlash or female-dominated spinoff show as a result. Smart writers would be wiser to create a balanced show from the beginning and save themselves the trouble of having to create a spinoff show later on.

The Truth about Feminism in the United States

UNITED STATES - Remember Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin? Both were criticized for their looks, their clothing, their voices, their husbands and their children. It wasn't exactly "fair game", but it was certainly sexist. (Please note Sarah Palin is NOT a feminist.)

American women are getting "bitch slapped" back down where 'they belong' on a regular basis in the United States. For all their beliefs about equality Americans still can't accept women as leaders or equals.

The Oklahoma legislature recently approved a move that would compel doctors to fill out 10-page forms on each abortion they perform, including questions about the woman's relationship with the "sperminator"... worse, all these details would then be posted on a public website.

The idea is being pushed by the religious right-wing in an effort to discourage women from having abortions by fear-mongering them and exposing them publicly.

This is just one example of how women's rights are under attack.

If you read Maria Shriver's report "A Woman's Nation Changes Everything" or "When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present" by Gail Collins you will get a better idea of just how much women's rights is under attack by the religious right-wing.

Gail Collins' book has lots of little stories like the woman who couldn't get a lease unless it was signed by her institutionalized mental patient husband or the woman who was shouted out of traffic court by the judge for wearing slacks instead of a skirt.

Collins also writes "Back then, if you wanted a career that involved travel, you'd have to have become a flight attendant..."

"Coffee, tea ... or me?"

The Great Pink North (Canada) meanwhile has free health care and maternity leaves, greater numbers in the workforce and halls of academia, but Canadian women still fall behind in government jobs and executive positions compared to the USA. So we're not much better if you we are realistic about it.

There's also the wage gap, both for wages and pensions. Women in particular suffer in their old age after their husband dies (or leaves in divorce) because they have little or no access to their husband's pension despite serving as homemaker and mother for decades.

Worse, feminism has been so attacked over the years by men and the religious right-wing that young women now associate the F-word with hairy-legs and man-hating Feminazis. So regardless of whether you live in the USA or Canada, the truth is feminism has yet to be accepted as what it really is: Equality.

"Feminism needs to rebrand." - Cristina Simonetto, ad copywriter.

Pregnant Woman Wins Court Battle

FEMINISM/HEALTH - In 2008 Ontario woman Jessica Maciel was 20 years old, single and was accidentally pregnant. She chose to keep it. A year later she has a bouncing baby boy.

What she wasn't expecting was to be fired over it. The Nino D'Arena beauty salon in Mississauga apparently didn't want a pregnant woman working in their salon.

Two days ago on Wednesday the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario awarded Maciel $35,000 is damages and lost wages, to be paid for by the salon. The Nino D'Arena salon has also been ordered to implement a policy that will protect women in the future from being fired over a pregnancy.

Maciel was already 4 months pregnant when she first started working at the salon in August 2008. There is no requirement under the Ontario's Human Rights Code to advise possible employers about a pregnancy.

After telling her boss Cinzia Conforti about the pregnancy however she was asked 15 minutes later to leave. It was blatant discrimination.

The court decision to punish the salon and award Maciel "really sends the message that excluding new mothers from the workplace is not an option for employers," says Maciel's lawyer Kate Sellars. Ontario's Human Rights Legal Support Centre receives about 40 calls / week from women facing discrimination.

Other legal support groups are out there all across Canada and the United States. You just have to look for them. Here is the links for other non-Ontario groups.

Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commissions
British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal
British Columbia Human Rights Coalition
Canadian Human Rights Commission
Canadian Association of Statutory Human Rights Agencies
Manitoba Human Rights Commission
New Brunswick Human Rights Commission
Newfoundland Human Rights Commission
Northwest Territories Human Rights Commission
Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission
Prince Edward Island Human Rights Commission
Quebec – Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse
Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission
Yukon Human Rights Commission

Word to the Wise: Don't trample on people's Human Rights, because they can sue you and win.