Misogyny and Sexism in the News

[Greyson]

This is an article I just read in the Washington Post. I am going to post it now and come back later to comment.
_____________________________________________

The Washington Post

For women in America, equality is still an illusion

By Jessica Valenti
Sunday, February 21, 2010; B02



Every day, we hear about the horrors women endure in other countries: rape in Darfur, genital mutilation in Egypt, sex trafficking in Eastern Europe. We shake our heads, forward e-mails and send money.

We have no problem condemning atrocities done to women abroad, yet too many of us in the United States ignore the oppression on our doorstep. We're suffering under the mass delusion that women in America have achieved equality.

And why not -- it's a feel-good illusion. We cry with Oprah and laugh with Tina Fey; we work and take care of our children; we watch Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice proudly and sigh with relief, believing we've come so far. But we're basking in a "girl power" moment that doesn't exist -- it's a mirage of equality that we've been duped into believing is the real thing.

Because despite the indisputable gains over the years, women are still being raped, trafficked, violated and discriminated against -- not just in the rest of the world, but here in the United States. And though feminists continue to fight gender injustices, most people seem to think that outside of a few lingering battles, the work of the women's movement is done.

It's time to stop fooling ourselves. For all our "empowered" rhetoric, women in this country aren't doing nearly as well as we'd like to think.

After all, women are being shot dead in the streets here, too. It was only last year that George Sodini opened fire in a gym outside Pittsburgh, killing three women and injuring nine others. Investigators learned from Sodini's blog that he specifically targeted women. In 2006, a gunman went into an Amish schoolhouse in Pennsylvania; he sent the boys outside and opened fire on almost a dozen girls, killing five. That same year in Colorado, a man sexually assaulted six female students he had taken hostage at a high school before killing one of them.

And it's not just strangers who are killing women; more than 1,000 women were killed by their partners in 2005, and of all the women murdered in the United States, about a third are killed by a husband or boyfriend. A leading cause of death for pregnant women? Murder by a partner.

In Iraq, women serving in the military are more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire.

Even the government underestimates the crisis American women are in. Last year the Justice Department reported that there were 182,000 sexual assaults committed against women in 2008, which would mean that the rate had decreased by 70 percent since 1993. But a study by the National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center showed that the Justice Department's methodology was flawed. Instead of behaviorally based questions, such as "Has anyone ever forced you to have sex?", women were asked if they had been subject to "rape, attempted or other type of sexual attack." Victims often don't label their experience as "rape," especially when someone they know attacked them. The center says the actual number of U.S. women raped in 2008 was more than 1 million.

The distressing statistics don't stop with violence: Women hold 17 percent of the seats in Congress; abortion is legal, but more than 85 percent of counties in the United States have no provider; women work outside the home, but they make about 76 cents to a man's dollar and make up the majority of Americans living in poverty.

This is a far cry from progress; it's an epidemic of sexism. So where's the outrage? When my co-bloggers and I write at Feministing.com about the hurdles American women face, a common criticism is that if we cared about women's rights, we'd focus on countries where women are actually oppressed -- that women here have it too good to complain. When I speak on college campuses, I'm sometimes asked the same question (generally by a male student): What are you complaining about? Women are doing terrific!

In her upcoming book, author Susan Douglas calls this "enlightened sexism." She writes that the appearance of equality -- from "girl power" to "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" -- is a dangerous distraction from the pervasiveness of sexism.

So why the blinders? Most women know that sexism exists. But between the glittery illusion Douglas refers to and the ongoing feminist backlash, it's not surprising that so many women don't realize how dire their situation is. Organizations such as the Independent Women's Forum, for example, exist to tell women that equality is actually bad for them. In a 2007 opinion article in The Washington Post headlined "A Bargain At 77 Cents to a Dollar," the forum's Carrie Lukas wrote that the wage gap is simply "a trade-off" for holding jobs with "personal fulfillment." The organization's campus program argues against Title IX, the law that prohibits sex discrimination at educational institutions. Between pop culture and politics, women are being taught that everything is fine and dandy -- and a lot of us are buying it.

Part of this unwillingness to see misogyny in America could be self-protection -- perhaps the truth is too scary to face. Or maybe American women are simply loath to view themselves as oppressed, and it's easier to look at women in other countries as the real victims. This isn't to say that international misogyny isn't a problem; of course it is. And many women in America do have it easier than women in other parts of the world. But this isn't a zero-sum game, and we can fight for our rights while fighting for women internationally as well.

In fact, our successes could help women abroad. The recent increase in the number of female ambassadors globally has been dubbed the "Hillary effect" -- the idea that our secretary of state's visibility has opened doors for women in other countries. And perhaps if the pay gap here were closed, women would have more money to spend on causes overseas. It's time to do away with the either-or mentality that surrounds domestic and international women's rights.

Fortunately, a vibrant feminist movement is still at large in the United States, taking on issues from reproductive justice and racism to pay equity and motherhood. But feminists cannot pick up the sexist slack on their own, and recent mainstream conversations -- such as when singer Rihanna was assaulted by her then-boyfriend Chris Brown, or when Clinton and Sarah Palin were the targets of sexism during the 2008 campaign -- have been far too civilized for the mess that we're in.

We act as if the hatred directed at women is something that can be dealt with by a stern talking to, as if the misogyny embedded in our culture is an unruly child rather than systematic oppression. Yes, women today fare better than our foremothers. But the benchmarks so often cited -- the right to vote, working outside the home, laws that make domestic violence illegal -- don't change the reality of women's lives. They don't prevent 1 million women from being raped, female troops from being assaulted or the continued legal discrimination against gay and transgender people. And seriously, are American women really supposed to be satisfied with the most basic rights of representation? Thrilled that our country has deigned to consider us fully human?

There is so much more work to be done. The truth is, most women don't have the privilege of being able to look at gender justice from a distance; they have no choice but to live it every day. Those of us who are lucky enough not to have to think about sexism, racism, poverty and homophobia on a daily basis -- those of us who have the privilege of sending money to an international cause via e-mail while ignoring the plight of women here at home -- have a responsibility to open our eyes to the misogyny right in front of us. And then to stop it.

Jessica Valenti is the author of "The Purity Myth: How America's Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women" and the founder of Feministing.com.

[BullDog]

Greyson thanks for posting this. I am not sure what to think of the basic premises and am pressed for time right now, but will say I personally have never ignored the oppression of women in this country, nor been under the mass delusion that women in the US have achieved equality. I wonder if this is a widespread assumption? Also I was struck by the phrase feminists can't pick up the sexist slack on their own. Anyone can be a feminist so this puzzles me.

I shall return later when I have more time. Thanks again.

[Apocalipstic]

Very interesting article Greyson!

I don't know that I agree that Clinton and Palin were targeted just for being women, but otherwise I agree with much of what is said.

Will be back to discuss!

[Greyson]

Okay, back. Blav and HSIN, thanks for bringing it to my attention that this was posted in another thread earlier. Sorry, I did not see it. Also, Admin, please can you correct the spelling in the title of this thread? I was in a rush and missed one of the y's in misogyny.

I found this article worthy of posting and timely. We have been discussing racism quite a bit. Sexism is also one of those embedded "isms". I do not think I am exempt from internalized sexism and flat out influenced by some masculine privilege.

I am not posting any of this to be provocative and just to stir it up. I am posting this and dedicating a thread specifically to Misogyny and Sexism because I believe this community is capable of looking at uneasy, difficult things and capable of self reflection and change.

It is true many woman around the world are suffering atrocities daily. I don't want to get into measuring the victim status. Subtle, blatant, physical, emotional abuse it's all not acceptable. Where do we begin to address this in our B-F/Trans/Gender Variant Community?

[AtLast]

Originally Posted by Greyson

Okay, back. Blav and HSIN, thanks for bringing it to my attention that this was posted in another thread earlier. Sorry, I did not see it. Also, Admin, please can you correct the spelling in the title of this thread? I was in a rush and missed one of the y's in misogyny.

I found this article worthy of posting and timely. We have been discussing racism quite a bit. Sexism is also one of those embedded "isms". I do not think I am exempt from internalized sexism and flat out influenced by some masculine privilege.

I am not posting any of this to be provocative and just to stir it up. I am posting this and dedicating a thread specifically to Misogyny and Sexism because I believe this community is capable of looking at uneasy, difficult things and capable of self reflection and change.

It is true many woman around the world are suffering atrocities daily. I don't want to get into measuring the victim status. Subtle, blatant, physical, emotional abuse it's all not acceptable. Where do we begin to address this in our B-F/Trans/Gender Variant Community?

Doesn't matter if this was posted elsewhere at all. That might be a good thing (re.: circulation). I did read it somewhere else and thought it to be a clear analysis that just lays out some facts but doesn't inflame, which all too often causes division and halts our ability to even attempt change.

I think having a thread dedicated as such could be a very good thing just as the new thread on white priviledge might prove to be in promoting self reflection and change. Thanks, good idea!

[Greyson]

This morning as I was partaking of my 90 minute commute to work, I was listening to the Local Talk Radio AM Station and then to NPR. Here are some stories that I heard that are directly impacted by misogyny and sexism.

• The Navy is going to allow women to now serve on submarines.

• Crime On College Campuses. The rape and assault of women.

Regarding the story about women serving on submarines, the radio host a heterosexual male spoke of how our laws, policy and practices are set up to serve the fears, concerns, behavior of heterosexual men. For example, DADT.

The second story, a young woman was raped while intoxicated by two male friends on a college campus in Wisconsin. She did not report the rape, initially. In fact it took her I believe over a year to report it.

Basically nothing came of the report and following investigation. One student had already graduated and the other denied it. He said it was consensual and he was allowed to remain on campus and finish his degree.

I am meandering a bit here because I am thinking out loud. Many of you know that I have been in the process of "transitioning" for a few years now. This transition, for me has begun my questioning my beliefs, values, and motives.

I do know that I want to consciously be a part of redefining masculinity. Masculinity does not exclude, nor elude women and/or femininity. I think this process of redefining masculinity must include looking at my life, my world, my actions, my beliefs through the lens of my entire life experience. In other words, my experience and history as a cisgendered woman, perpetrator and victim of patriarchy.

[Greyson]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/07/fa...07campus.html?




February 5, 2010
The New Math on Campus
By ALEX WILLIAMS
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.

ANOTHER ladies’ night, not by choice.

After midnight on a rainy night last week in Chapel Hill, N.C., a large group of sorority women at the University of North Carolina squeezed into the corner booth of a gritty basement bar. Bathed in a neon glow, they splashed beer from pitchers, traded jokes and belted out lyrics to a Taylor Swift heartache anthem thundering overhead. As a night out, it had everything — except guys.

“This is so typical, like all nights, 10 out of 10,” said Kate Andrew, a senior from Albemarle, N.C. The experience has grown tiresome: they slip on tight-fitting tops, hair sculpted, makeup just so, all for the benefit of one another, Ms. Andrew said, “because there are no guys.”

North Carolina, with a student body that is nearly 60 percent female, is just one of many large universities that at times feel eerily like women’s colleges. Women have represented about 57 percent of enrollments at American colleges since at least 2000, according to a recent report by the American Council on Education. Researchers there cite several reasons: women tend to have higher grades; men tend to drop out in disproportionate numbers; and female enrollment skews higher among older students, low-income students, and black and Hispanic students.

In terms of academic advancement, this is hardly the worst news for women — hoist a mug for female achievement. And certainly, women are primarily in college not because they are looking for men, but because they want to earn a degree.

But surrounded by so many other successful women, they often find it harder than expected to find a date on a Friday night.

“My parents think there is something wrong with me because I don’t have a boyfriend, and I don’t hang out with a lot of guys,” said Ms. Andrew, who had a large circle of male friends in high school.

Jayne Dallas, a senior studying advertising who was seated across the table, grumbled that the population of male undergraduates was even smaller when you looked at it as a dating pool. “Out of that 40 percent, there are maybe 20 percent that we would consider, and out of those 20, 10 have girlfriends, so all the girls are fighting over that other 10 percent,” she said.

Needless to say, this puts guys in a position to play the field, and tends to mean that even the ones willing to make a commitment come with storied romantic histories. Rachel Sasser, a senior history major at the table, said that before she and her boyfriend started dating, he had “hooked up with a least five of my friends in my sorority — that I know of.”

These sorts of romantic complications are hardly confined to North Carolina, an academically rigorous school where most students spend more time studying than socializing. The gender imbalance is also pronounced at some private colleges, such as New York University and Lewis & Clark in Portland, Ore., and large public universities in states like California, Florida and Georgia. The College of Charleston, a public liberal arts college in South Carolina, is 66 percent female. Some women at the University of Vermont, with an undergraduate body that is 55 percent female, sardonically refer to their college town, Burlington, as “Girlington.”

The gender gap is not universal. The Ivy League schools are largely equal in gender, and some still tilt male. But at some schools, efforts to balance the numbers have been met with complaints that less-qualified men are being admitted over more-qualified women. In December, the United States Commission on Civil Rights moved to subpoena admissions data from 19 public and private colleges to look at whether they were discriminating against qualified female applicants.

Leaving aside complaints about “affirmative action for boys,” less attention has been focused on the social ramifications.

Thanks to simple laws of supply and demand, it is often the women who must assert themselves romantically or be left alone on Valentine’s Day, staring down a George Clooney movie over a half-empty pizza box.

“I was talking to a friend at a bar, and this girl just came up out of nowhere, grabbed him by the wrist, spun him around and took him out to the dance floor and started grinding,” said Kelly Lynch, a junior at North Carolina, recalling a recent experience.

Students interviewed here said they believed their mating rituals reflected those of college students anywhere. But many of them — men and women alike — said that the lopsided population tends to skew behavior.

“A lot of my friends will meet someone and go home for the night and just hope for the best the next morning,” Ms. Lynch said. “They’ll text them and say: ‘I had a great time. Want to hang out next week?’ And they don’t respond.”

Even worse, “Girls feel pressured to do more than they’re comfortable with, to lock it down,” Ms. Lynch said.

As for a man's cheating, "that's a thing that girls let slide, because you have to," said Emily Kennard, a junior at North Carolina. "If you don't let it slide, you don't have a boyfriend." (Ms. Kennard, however, said that she does not personally tolerate cheating).

Faculty members and administrators are well aware of the situation. Stephen M. Farmer, North Carolina’s director of admissions, said that the university has a high female presence in part because it does not have an engineering school, which at most schools tend to be heavily male. Also, he said, more young men than women in the state opt to enter the military or the work force directly out of high school.

And the university feels obligated to admit the most qualified applicants, regardless of gender, Mr. Farmer said. “I wouldn’t want any young woman here to think that there’s somebody we’d rather have here than her,” he said.

The phenomenon has also been an area of academic inquiry, formally and informally. “On college campuses where there are far more women than men, men have all the power to control the intensity of sexual and romantic relationships,” Kathleen A. Bogle, a sociologist at La Salle University in Philadelphia, wrote in an e-mail message. Her book, “Hooking Up: Sex, Dating, and Relationships on Campus,” was published in 2008.

“Women do not want to get left out in the cold, so they are competing for men on men’s terms,” she wrote. “This results in more casual hook-up encounters that do not end up leading to more serious romantic relationships. Since college women say they generally want ‘something more’ than just a casual hook-up, women end up losing out.”

W. Keith Campbell, a psychology professor at the University of Georgia, which is 57 percent female, put it this way: “When men have the social power, they create a man’s ideal of relationships,” he said. Translation: more partners, more sex. Commitment? A good first step would be his returning a woman’s Facebook message.

Women on gender-imbalanced campuses are paying a social price for success and, to a degree, are being victimized by men precisely because they have outperformed them, Professor Campbell said. In this way, some colleges mirror retirement communities, where women often find that the reward for outliving their husbands is competing with other widows for the attentions of the few surviving bachelors.

“If a guy is not getting what he wants, he can quickly and abruptly go to the next one, because there are so many of us,” said Katie Deray, a senior at the University of Georgia, who said that it is common to see six provocatively clad women hovering around one or two guys at a party or a bar.

Since that is not her style, Ms. Deray said, she has still not had a long-term relationship in college. As a fashion merchandising major, she said, she can only hope the odds improve when she graduates and moves to New York.

At colleges in big cities, women do have more options. “By my sophomore year, I just had the feeling that there is nobody in this school that I could date,” said Ashley Crisostomo, a senior at Fordham University in New York, which is 55 percent female. She has tended to date older professionals in the city.

But in a classic college town, the social life is usually limited to fraternity parties, local bars or coffeehouses. And college men — not usually known for their debonair ways — can be particularly unmannerly when the numbers are in their favor.

“A lot of guys know that they can go out and put minimal effort into their appearance and not treat girls to drinks or flatter them, and girls will still flirt with them,” said Felicite Fallon, a senior at Florida State University, which is 56 percent female.

Several male students acknowledged that the math skewed pleasantly in their favor. “You don’t have to work that hard,” said Matt Garofalo, a senior at North Carolina. “You meet a girl at a late-night restaurant, she’s texting you the next day.”

But it’s not as if the imbalance leads to ceaseless bed-hopping, said Austin Ivey, who graduated from North Carolina last year but was hanging out in a bar near campus last week. “Guys tend to overshoot themselves and find a really beautiful girlfriend they couldn’t date otherwise, but can, thanks to the ratio,” he said.

Mr. Ivey himself said that his own college relationship lasted three years. “She didn’t think she would meet another guy, I didn’t think I would meet another girl as attractive as her,” he said.

Several male students from female-heavy schools took pains to note that they were not thrilled with the status quo.

“It’s awesome being a guy,” admitted Garret Jones, another North Carolina senior, but he also lamented a culture that fostered hook-ups over relationships. This year, he said, he finally found a serious girlfriend.

Indeed, there are a fair number of Mr. Lonelyhearts on campus. “Even though there’s this huge imbalance between the sexes, it still doesn’t change the fact of guys sitting around, bemoaning their single status,” said Patrick Hooper, a Georgia senior. “It’s the same as high school, but the women are even more enchanting and beautiful.”

And perhaps still elusive. Many women eagerly hit the library on Saturday night. And most would prefer to go out with friends, rather than date a campus brute.

But still. “It causes girls to overanalyze everything — text messages, sideways glances, conversations,” said Margaret Cheatham Williams, a junior at North Carolina. “Girls will sit there with their friends for 15 minutes trying to figure out what punctuation to use in a text message.”

The loneliness can be made all the more bitter by the knowledge that it wasn’t always this way.

“My roommate’s parents met here,” said Janitra Venkatesan, a student at North Carolina. “She has this nice little picture of them in their Carolina sweatshirts. Must be nice.”

An earlier version of this article may have left the impression that Emily Kennard might personally condone a boyfriend's cheating. As the article now states, it was her characterization of some other people's attitudes.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: February 14, 2010


An article last Sunday about dating on campuses where women outnumber men misattributed a quotation. It was Janitra Venkatesan, a student at the University of North Carolina — not Mitali Dayal, another student there — who said: “My roommate’s parents met here. She has this nice little picture of them in their Carolina sweatshirts. Must be nice.”

Apparently now universities in the USA are beginning to tilt toward a majority of female students. Is this the best that the gold standard for daily journalism in the States can do? The big story is it is hard to get a date?

Women go to university to snag a partner? How many stories do we read about men, boys, transmen, cisgendered men, white heterosexual men, queer men, POC men going to college and the big worry is dating?

[SuperFemme]

Anyone want to talk about the way the media markets feminine hygiene products to us? Like it is something we ought to be fearful of, irritated with and made to go away? Rather than what it really is?

I wonder how many little girls are freaked out when their first periods do not come out in the form of blue gel, like on the commercials?

[Soon]

Memo to all women: No half for you in Hollywood

OK, we’re not just imagining it.

Women may make up 51% of the population, but actresses nabbed only 29.9% of the 4,379 speaking parts in the 100 top-grossing films of 2007, or so says a new study released by University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, which was conducted by professor Stacy. L Smith.

According to Smith’s study, 83% of all directors, writers, and producers on those films were male. Not surprisingly, the number of female characters grew dramatically when a woman directed a film -- up to 44.6% from 29.3% if a man was behind the camera.

That number would probably be even lower if Smith and her team had to factor in "The Hurt Locker," from filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow, who many believe will be the first woman to win an Academy Award for directing come March 7. The number of parts for females in her movie? According to IMDB, only three of the 34 actors were women, which means they accounted around 9% of the characters on screen.

A few more numbers to consider: Smith said these statistics about women directors and female actors should be interpreted with caution -- only three of the top 100 films of 2007 had a female director.

-- Rachel Abramowitz

[UofMfan]

I have yet to get my head around this...

Utah's New Abortion Law Threatens to Punish Innocent Women for Miscarriages
by Ruth Fertig womensrights.change.org

Utah lawmakers have just passed a bill that would charge a woman with criminal homicide for obtaining an illegal abortion or inducing a miscarriage, whether intentionally or through "reckless" behavior.

There are a few narrowly defined exceptions, including failure to comply with medical advice, refusal to submit to a physician's recommended treatment, and negligence (which in legal terms is apparently a less serious crime than recklessness). Otherwise, the law holds women accountable for criminal homicide if they intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly "cause the death of another human being, including an unborn child at any stage of its development," outside the parameters of legal abortion.

The bill was ostensibly a response to a recent Utah case in which a 17-year-old, 7 months pregnant girl was protected from prosecution after she paid a man $150 to beat her in a failed attempt to induce miscarriage. At that time, Utah -- like most other states -- did not hold women criminally liable for seeking illegal abortion, but instead punished those who performed them. It seems Utah lawmakers found it unjust that this desperate girl was not sent to prison. Yet in their efforts to close the supposed loophole, they have now opened up a gaping hole, into which many women who had no desire for an abortion are liable to fall.

As various advocacy groups have pointed out, the terms of the bill are so subjective that a woman could theoretically be charged for criminal homicide if she: fails to wear a seat-belt, gets in a car accident and suffers a miscarriage; uses legal or illegal drugs and the baby is stillborn; carries multiples as a result of fertility treatment, and one or more of the babies die; or remains with a partner whom she knows to be abusive, and she suffers a miscarriage after he beats her particularly violently.

As Utah's ACLU wrote in a letter to Utah's governor in protest of the law, "If this bill is signed into law, women in this state will essentially be in the uncomfortable and unfortunate position of having to prove that the abortions they obtain (or miscarriages they suffer) are not unlawful." In effect, women suffering the trauma of losing a baby they desired could end up facing the double trauma of being charged with causing the baby's death.

Don't think it's possible that women could be held accountable for obviously unintentional harm to the fetuses they're carrying? As fellow blogger Roxy MtJoy made clear last week, you might want to think again.

Says the National Advocates for Pregnant Women: "Once the state has the power to decide what a women's "intent" is, it does not really matter what her intent actually is." Giving police and prosecutors such enormous discretion to decide who will and will not be arrested and charged under this law is an invitation for innocent women (and their families) to suffer.

As both the ACLU and National Advocates for Pregnant Women point out, most states give women immunity from prosecution for a reason -- it's in the interest of both maternal and fetal health. If women are fearful of prosecution for harmful behavior, they won't get the prenatal care they need (which is harmful behavior in itself). Likewise, if they know they will be charged for getting an illegal abortion, they won't seek medical help if the procedure goes wrong. And then there's the fact that prosecuting women for homicide for something that half the country believes should be perfectly legal is just not good policy.

So, yeah, this is a terrible law all around. Please ask the governor of Utah not to sign it into law.

According Lynn M. Paltrow, executive director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women, what makes Utah's proposed law unique is that it is specifically designed to be punitive toward pregnant women, not those who might assist or cause an illegal abortion or unintended miscarriage.

The bill passed by legislators amends Utah's criminal statute to allow the state to charge a woman with criminal homicide for inducing a miscarriage or obtaining an illegal abortion.

While the bill does not affect legally obtained abortions, it criminalizes any actions taken by women to induce a miscarriage or abortion outside of a doctor's care, with penalties including up to life in prison.

[UofMfan]

Posted by Tara Lohan at 12:41 pm
March 3, 2010
Alternet

Lesbians in South Africa Being Raped to “Cure” Them of Sexual Orientation

The group ActionAid released a report about the shocking rise in homophobic attacks and murders in South Africa, especially Johannesburg and Cape Town where lesbian women are being raped as a “corrective” punishment for being gay.

They report:

Rape is fast becoming the most widespread hate crime targeted against gay women in townships across South Africa. One lesbian and gay support group says it is dealing with 10 new cases of lesbian women being targeted for ‘corrective’ rape every week in Cape Town alone.

Laura Turquet, ActionAid’s women’s rights coordinator, said: “So-called ‘corrective’ rape is yet another grotesque manifestation of violence against women, the most widespread human rights violation in the world today. These crimes continue unabated and with impunity, while governments simply turn a blind eye.”

Since 1998 31 women have been reported murdered in homophobic attacks, they say, but the actual number is likely much higher. Of those 31, only 2 of their attackers have ever been to court and there has only been one conviction.

ActionAid reports that although South Africa has a progressive constitution that guarantees equal rights to gay and lesbian people, the legal system still lags far behind. “Hate crimes on the basis of sexual orientation are not recognised by South African law and the courts refuse to recognise that it plays any part in these cases,” says ActionAid. “The police are reluctant to investigate hate crimes against lesbian women and there is inadequate support for the survivors.”

The attacks against lesbians are also part of a larger culture of violence of against women — there is an estimated 500,000 rapes a year and only 1 in 25 men are ever convicted.

[Soon]

Originally Posted by UofMfan

I have yet to get my head around this...

Utah's New Abortion Law Threatens to Punish Innocent Women for Miscarriages


[/I]

Utah Governor Signs Law Charging Women and Girls With Murder for Miscarriages

[Soft*Silver]

deep hard sigh....

so much has not changed since I was a lesbian feminist activist in the 80's...

I look around and I DO see huge changes and real measures of progress that has been made...and then I read things like this thread bears.

it just means, I suppose, the work is not yet done...

[Corkey]

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/women...ry?id=10057074


On a better note....

[Corkey]

then there was this... makes me think men have lost their minds, oh wait they have.abcnews.go.com/Nightline/anti-homosexuality-bill-uganda-global-uproar/story?id=10045436&page=1

[Greyson]

I was unsure as to where to post this. I decided to put it here because I initiated the thread and yes there is misogyny and sexism in the history and experience of the Pachuca. There is also racism, homophobia, Transphobia, cultural politics, on and on.

Many times here on the site we find ourselves discussing the harder topics such as gender, race, sexism, class. Most of you know I am Mexican American and raised in Los Angeles. I think it would be an eye opener for many here to read this book, "The Woman In The Zoot Suit." It is written by Catherine S. Ramirez.

The Pachuca, Chola, Low Rider, she is a piece of recent history and yes, is still with us in some cultures. The Pachuca is female masculinity. The Pachuca is queer, the Pachuca is straight. She made and makes her own rules. Much like many of us in here.

Most of the time when discussing gender, masculinity we do it framed in a "white" framework. I am not saying that is necessarily a horrible thing. It's true there are white people but the fallacy is in believing that it is the superior or the only context in which to see our history, our gender, our sexuality, our world.

http://nsrc.sfsu.edu/article/zoot_su..._man_and_woman

http://feministreview.blogspot.com/2...tionalism.html

http://www.dukeupress.edu/books.php3...-0-8223-4303-5

[BullDog]

Thanks Greyson, that book looks very interesting. I will try to get a copy to read it.

[AtLast]

Originally Posted by Greyson

I was unsure as to where to post this. I decided to put it here because I initiated the thread and yes there is misogyny and sexism in the history and experience of the Pachuca. There is also racism, homophobia, Transphobia, cultural politics, on and on.

Many times here on the site we find ourselves discussing the harder topics such as gender, race, sexism, class. Most of you know I am Mexican American and raised in Los Angeles. I think it would be an eye opener for many here to read this book, "The Woman In The Zoot Suit." It is written by Catherine S. Ramirez.

The Pachuca, Chola, Low Rider, she is a piece of recent history and yes, is still with us in some cultures. The Pachuca is female masculinity. The Pachuca is queer, the Pachuca is straight. She made and makes her own rules. Much like many of us in here.

Most of the time when discussing gender, masculinity we do it framed in a "white" framework. I am not saying that is necessarily a horrible thing. It's true there are white people but the fallacy is in believing that it is the superior or the only context in which to see our history, our gender, our sexuality, our world.

http://nsrc.sfsu.edu/article/zoot_su..._man_and_woman

http://feministreview.blogspot.com/2...tionalism.html

http://www.dukeupress.edu/books.php3...-0-8223-4303-5

So glad to see info that speaks to this! The addition of our looking at cultural (including religious) and ethnic variables along with race in these matters is important. There is so much more to it all! Makes me think about two-spirit gender and the native American cultures, too.

[AtLast]

I watched the Susan Stanton interview on Larry King tonight (glad King was not the interviewer) and found her comments about now working as a woman (MtF) as a city manager (same position fired for a few years ago due to transition) was fascinating. She honed in on what experiencing male privilege from the other side is like. Her awareness of sexism from this perspective is obviously quite unique (although it was obvious that she has had this awareness all along, but is now on the other side and very aware of this fact).

She also talked about the fact that she most likely had an easier time with the costs of transitioning due to class (can throw race/white privilege in there, too) and that this is just not the case for most trans individuals. She talked a little about the fact that she did have the financial means to carry out her transition.

The CNN special - Her Name Was Steven airs Saturday night. Tonight’s interview was an hour long and quite detailed about her transition journey. And very open concerning surgical hair removal procedures. Something else that struck me was her very deep regard and sensitivity for what her teenage son and ex-wife were subjected to in this process. And that she really does not come from a political space about her lifelong struggle with knowing she is a woman and in a male body. This is true for a FtM that I have known for many years and long before ever being a member of the B-F community.

I have followed her case somewhat since her firing in Florida and consequent decision to not seek legal remedy against the city she was a city manager for (which she received a lot of criticism about from trans political & legal organizations for). I had a much better understanding of the fact that she made a very conscious choice not to as a means to not add more stress for her family. And, for her, it was about moving toward her personal human completion and living her life as a woman. Although difficult for her ex-wife, snippets from the documentary of her talking demonstrated that they both were very loving with each other through this, really and wanted to make it as easy as possible for their son.

But, her discussion of sexism in the workforce as a woman as compared to doing the exact same job as a man was quite interesting (hope there is more about this in the documentary). She seems to be doing well and strikes me as a very warm and caring woman, which she was as a man. She and her ex-wife remain close friends and her son is quite an awesome kid! I do want to catch the special.

[Soon]

Then + Now: The Disembodied Woman