Feminism in News and Popular Media

[Cin]

Why I Won’t Call Myself a 'Slut'

I am black, I am a woman and I am a feminist. In private, I often refer to this trifecta as the holy trinity. My biological, social and chosen identities shape how I move, how I am perceived and how much space I am allowed to take up in a white-male-dominated world. In trying to put my feminism into practice, I do not always stand behind every so-called feminist issue that is mandated by mainstream white feminists. For example, feminists have made a big push to critique what is termed “slut-shaming” and to reclaim the word “slut.” They have organized nationwide marches and written hundreds of blog posts in an effort to take back the term and subvert it.

“Slut-shaming,” the act of negatively judging and policing women who take full control of their sexual agency, is an act deeply rooted in sexism and misogyny, all things feminists should be against. It seeks to demean women who carry their own condoms, who initiate conversations about sex, or who negotiate their sexual wants and desires openly. The mere act of seeing oneself as a sexual being and being proud of it makes you a target for being “slut-shamed.” All the things that society commends men for doing and measures their masculinity against, society also condemns in women.

I am all for marginalized groups reclaiming words that were once used to shame and dehumanize them. I stand firmly behind the reclaiming of the term “queer,” especially as a verb. Queering languages, queering spaces, and queering understanding is something that I am politically committed to doing in my life, but as a black woman I have no desire to reclaim the term “slut.” My act of resistance in not wanting to reclaim the word “slut” does not mean that I advocate for “slut-shaming.” I do not agree with the sexual policing of women no matter their race, class, gender presentation, body size or ability. But one of the major flaws of mainstream feminism is the propensity to generalize about the lives of women, treating women as though they all face the same threats, and therefore can only be liberated through a one-size-fits-all model.

Racism is ubiquitous and I am keenly aware of how race and class impact different women differently. If we are going to advocate against “slut-shaming,” and for owning the word “slut,” we cannot do so without paying attention to the facts. We must ask, who are the women being defended against “slut-shaming,” and who are the women being left to defend themselves? Only white women have the privilege of reclaiming the word “slut” without facing any real social penalty. Miley Cyrus, for instance, is being hailed as a woman who is in control and liberated, unlike her black counterpart Rihanna. Rihanna does not get worshiped for owning her sexuality or her agency. Rihanna gets pity, scathing criticism, and popular feminist magazines wanting to “save” her from exercising choices they do not agree with. Many mainstream feminists feel entitled to police Rihanna’s black female body; evenLena Dunham could not resist. However, if you look closely you can see that Miley has been feverishly studying and has been influenced by the Rihanna’s bad girl playbook.

White women may also be allowed to transcend their “sluttiness” when they feel the need to do so. Both Angelina Jolie and Madonna have been able to shed their past bad girl images seamlessly. Whiteness affords white women the ability to try on different identities while their racial privilege remains intact. Because in a society that values whiteness over all else, to be white is to be human and all non-white persons must audition for their humanity.

The bodies of black women are highly politicized and critiqued no matter who they belong to, from the first lady to “the help.” The physical movements and choices of black women are always viewed through a filter of suspicion. In order for me to claim my right to be a “slut,” I first must win the battle to be able to fully claim my humanity.

Black women have always been labeled as hypersexual beings unworthy of respect, love and justice. “Slut” is the default position of black women, so attempting to subvert the word or own it would only further root the false stereotype in place. “Slut-shaming” black women has not just been common practice — it’s been entrenched in public policy. Members of the Tea Party are still looking for the nefarious “welfare queen” that President Reagan created 30-plus years ago. Compulsory state sterilizations of black women, unequal incarceration rates and even the way we decide who receives welfare benefits are all rooted in “slut-shaming.”

The majority of white feminists who advocate for reclaiming the word “slut” also fail to defend all women against “slut-shaming.” When Rush Limbaugh “slut-shamed” Sandra Fluke swaths of white feminists came to her defense, and rightfully so. But I question whether the feminist infantry would have been so zealous if Sandra Fluke looked like Rachel Jeantel. Trans* women of color are frequently stopped and frisked and arrested for having a condom on their person. They are wrongly imprisoned for standing their ground and placed in prison with men, and murdered for daring to be seen in public. These injustices happen constantly, without any marches or much fanfare from the mainstream feminist establishment.

The social and political ramifications of policing black women cannot be solved by simply taking back the word “slut.” If there are no real policies put in place to protect and defend women of color and trans* women from compulsory “slut-shaming,” then once again I must ask: Who are mainstream feminists truly invested in protecting from “slut-shaming”? Policymakers and media must stop pathologizing the behaviors and relationships of black and trans* women of color. Trans* women must be given full rights and recognition on par with cisgendered women. White feminists who have large platforms and access to large platforms must make a real effort to include women of color and trans* women, and allow them to speak for themselves. As a black woman, I won’t be concerned with reclaiming my inner “slut” until white women show more interest in being in solidarity with me.

http://www.alternet.org/gender/why-i...age=1#bookmark

[Allison W]

This may not have quite the... well... cachet(?) of some of the articles in this thread, and I won't pretend I don't find the construction worker to be attractive, but oh well. If men can do it women should be allowed to do it, too. The whole thing about women's chests being legally regarded in so many jurisdictions as inherently sexual in ways that men's chests aren't is a crock.

Uncovered
Posted by Vera on 19 Oct 2013

Many people don’t know this, but it is completely legal for women to go topless in New York! Great news for advocates of equal rights and women who just want to know what that kind of liberation feels like!

Photographer Jordan Matter has based his project and book titled “Uncovered“ to document women’s exploration of the New York law. Inspired by the ‘Nipplegate’ scandal of 2009 involving Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake, “Uncovered” is a collection of over 100 women who have posed topless on New York City streets.

“There was so much hoopla around it and I got to thinking about our culture of covering up. In New York, it’s legal for a woman to be topless in public — so I decided to document what happens when a woman bares her breasts.”

At first, Jordan felt the project would be making an important political statement, however it became more about the individual women he was photographing as time went on. Jordan’s subjects, all volunteers of different ages, body types and socio-economic backgrounds, were asked to confront their feelings about their bodies in order to pose in public. Shame and inadequacy were common themes among the women, but eventually Jordan describes that the women felt “euphoric” being photographed.

“The photo subjects found the option of not covering up to be incredibly liberating.”

Article link (all of these include pictures, by the way; the article links are "safer" content-wise than the book site, but I would still recommend the book site): http://www.beautyexists.net/art/unco...shirts-in-nyc/

Another article link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...k-streets.html

Book site link: http://www.uncoveredbook.com/index.php

[Soon]

The 24 Pieces That Should Be Required Reading For Women From 2013

[Allison W]

(my apologies if someone else already posted this in another thread)



In 2013, Failing the Bechdel Test Was Bad for Your Movie’s Bottom Line

by Susana Polo | 11:21 am, January 2nd, 2014

Ahh, it’s good to see The Bechdel Test used where it is most applicable: as a lens through which to expose a misrepresentational trend in modern film overall rather than specifically. Vocativ took nearly fifty of this year’s top grossing blockbusters, sorted them by whether they failed or passed the test. Turns out movies that passed were significantly more financially successful than not.

This is merely correlation between having movies make sure that their female characters, even the secondary ones, are shown to have thoughts and feelings that revolve around something other than male characters. What’s much more likely to be the causation, though, is that effective writing means you get good female characters, and effective writing produces successful movies.

http://www.themarysue.com/2013-bechd...t-infographic/

[Kätzchen]

RE: The Bechdel Test


In a graduate level class on Film Studies, we had a spirited discussion among grads and undergrads about the so-called percieved litmus test of applying The Bechdel Test. Our professor interjected with the idea the test itself is a limited means of detecting gender bias. Moreso, the creator of "Dykes To Watch Out For" - Alison Bechdel - said herself that she created The Bechdel Test as "a tigger to a punchline in her comic strip" and that she has "always felt ambivalent that the test is associated with her name" (See Link provided at the end of this post).

I think I am more likely to appreciate film critic Robbie Collins (author of the article in The Telegraph) take on The Bechdel Test:

"I suspect that many critics and bloggers are happy to overlook the test’s flaws because the conclusion it seems to lead us to is one that they want to hear: cinema is perilously lacking in well-drawn female characters. Well, if that’s true – and it obviously is – can’t we just forget about the test and talk about that?"

Link to article found ~~>>> Here.

[Kobi]

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama shone a light Wednesday on a college sexual assault epidemic that is often shrouded in secrecy, with victims fearing stigma, police poorly trained to investigate and universities reluctant to disclose the violence.

A White House report highlights a stunning prevalence of rape on college campuses, with 1 in 5 female students assaulted while only 1 in 8 student victims report it.

‘‘No one is more at risk of being raped or sexually assaulted than women at our nation’s colleges and universities,’’ said the report by the White House Council on Women and Girls.

Nearly 22 million American women and 1.6 million men have been raped in their lifetimes, according to the report. It chronicled the devastating effects, including depression, substance abuse and a wide range of physical ailments such as chronic pain and diabetes.

The report said campus sexual assaults are fueled by drinking and drug use that can incapacitate victims, often at student parties at the hands of someone they know.

Perpetrators often are serial offenders. One study cited by the report found that 7 percent of college men admitted to attempting rape, and 63 percent of those men admitted to multiple offenses, averaging six rapes each.

Obama, who has overseen a military that has grappled with its own crisis of sexual assaults, spoke out against the crime as ‘‘an affront on our basic decency and humanity.’’ He then signed a memorandum creating a task force to respond to campus rapes.

Obama said he was speaking out as president and a father of two daughters, and that men must express outrage to stop the crime.

‘‘We need to encourage young people, men and women, to realize that sexual assault is simply unacceptable,’’ Obama said. ‘‘And they’re going to have to summon the bravery to stand up and say so, especially when the social pressure to keep quiet or to go along can be very intense.’’

Obama gave the task force, comprised of administration officials, 90 days to come up with recommendations for colleges to prevent and respond to the crime, increase public awareness of each school’s track record and enhance coordination among federal agencies to hold schools accountable if they don’t confront the problem.

Records obtained by The Associated Press under the federal Freedom of Information Act illustrate a continuing problem for colleges in investigating crime. The documents include anonymous complaints sent to the Education Department, often alleging universities haven’t accurately reported on-campus crime or appropriately punished assailants as required under federal law.

A former Amherst College student, Angie Epifano, has accused the school of trivializing her report of being raped in a dorm room in 2011 by an acquaintance. She said school counselors questioned whether she was really raped, refused her request to change dorms, discouraged her from pressing charges and had police take her to a psychiatric ward. She withdrew from Amherst while her alleged attacker graduated.

Among the federal laws requiring colleges to address sexual assault are: Title IX, which prohibits gender discrimination in education; the renewed Violence Against Women Act, which was signed into law last year with new provisions on college sexual assault; and the Clery Act, which requires colleges and universities to publicly report their crime statistics every year.

The Education Department has investigated and fined several schools for not accurately reporting crimes. Most notably was a 2006 case at Eastern Michigan University, in which the government eventually fined the school a then-record $357,000 for not revealing a student had been sexual assaulted and murdered in her dorm room.

Violent crime can be underreported on college campuses, advocates say, because of a university’s public-image incentive to keep figures low, or because crimes can occur off campus and instead investigated by local police. Other times, schools put such suspects before a campus court whose proceedings are largely secret and not subjected to judicial review.

Students Active for Ending Rape, a nonprofit group that works with student activists to push for sexual assault policy changes on their campuses, said in a report last year that schools often do not fully address the problem. The report gave more than 80 percent of college policies a grade C or below, an F to nearly one-quarter and said one-third don’t fully comply with the Clery Act.

The White House report also declares that the criminal justice response to sexual assault broadly is too often inadequate and lays out a goal of increasing arrest, prosecution and conviction rates without any specific targets.

The report blames police bias and a lack of training to investigate and prosecute sex crimes for low arrest rates and says the federal government should promote training and help police increase testing of DNA evidence collected from victims.

The report mentions sexual assaults in the military — Obama last month directed the Pentagon to better prevent and respond to the crime within its ranks or face further reforms. White House officials say they want to set the example by turning around the sexual assault problem in the military. ‘‘I've made it clear I expect significant progress in the year ahead,’’ Obama said.


http://www.boston.com/news/education...vMO/story.html

[Kobi]

Janet Louise Yellen (born August 13, 1946) is an American economist. She is the Chairman-designate of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and current Vice-Chairman.

Previously, she was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers under President Bill Clinton, and Professor Emerita at the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business. On January 6, 2014, the United States Senate confirmed Yellen's nomination to be Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Yellen is slated to be the first woman to hold the position, taking office February 1, 2014.