A Good Patriarchy September 13, 2009

I know that the common perception of feminists is that they’re histrionic, hysterical, humorless women who enjoy “playing victim politics” because viewing themselves as martyrs is the only way to bring meaning to their empty, loveless, joyless lives.We eagerly hunt down or completely fabricate instances of psuedo-discrimination, (because nothing gets you more power than saying you don’t have any), and by “playing the gender card” and getting people to feel sorry for us, we hope to take over the world (and kill all the men lolz).

Shockingly, I don’t agree with this viewpoint (spoiler!). Obviously, I don’t agree with any of it, but one point in particular that I want to discuss is the “enjoying” bit. The whole idea that we “look” for things to get pissed about is excellently debunked by Liss at Shakesville here, and I heartily concur. I do not spend my days combing through websites and books, eavesdropping on people’s conversations, watching films frame by frame, in order to catch any minute instance of someone not being “P.C.” so that I may pounce and say “ah-ha!”. And if/when I find something, it doesn’t make me happy.

On Credibility

Okay, so here’s the thing: I am a huge nerd.

No really, I am totally that person who, at the slightest provocation, will start to go about social insects or childbirth in America or the history of syphilis, because I think it’s just that cool. Thanks to a rabid curiosity about the world, a fairly good memory, and nearly constant Internet access, I have become a veritable well of quasi-useless factoids. I’ve always been a voracious reader, and in elementary school a good portion of my interactions with classmates were them asking me for homework help.

I’ve met a lot of people, in a lot of different contexts: different jobs, different schools, different social events, and as would any person, I’ve made a variety of impressions. It would be grossly misleading to imply that everyone I’ve ever met has liked me; I’m obviously not an impartial judge but can imagine that some of my negative traits include a grating sense of self-righteousness, over-prurient sense of humor and a not insubstantial amount of social awkwardness. However, there’ve been very few interactions with people where I felt that the other person saw me as too stupid. Yes – obnoxious, annoying, boring, lazy, inconsiderate – but not slow-witted or unintelligent. Whatever people’s other feelings about me have been, I’ve managed to go through my life having my intelligence relatively unassailed by would-be doubters (or if I haven’t, I’ve obviously been too dense to notice a lot of it).

I can assert that yellow jackets are wasps rather than bees, that tetanus doesn’t actually come from rust, or that rabies is the only disease that can be prevented after its transmission without people batting an eye (except perhaps in disgust). There is, however, one thing I can do that can completely change the way a person is interacting and speaking with me, so that in a moment I go from “pleasant, acceptably well-informed person talking to me about ______” to “OMG HOW DID I EVER LISTEN TO THIS PERSON AS SHE’S CLEARLY NUTS.” That thing, of course, is to say something feminist.

Attention: Blogroll Updated January 7, 2009

I have just updated the blogroll at the ride sight side of the page – not only did I add lots of links to blogs that I’ve discovered since originally creating the list, but I reshuffled some of the preexisting links. Originally, one of the caategories was “Feminism” and another was “Miscellaneous Awesomeness”; thus, lots of blogs on other aspects of working for social equality/resisting discrimination for example, on LGBT rights or anti-racism) didn’t really fit in. I had just put them in “M.A.” but it seemed inappropriate and a tad disrespectful to put such illustrious and respected (with good reason) blogs such as Racialicious and Pam’s House Blend in the same category as, say, Cake Wrecks (which is equally wonderful, but in a different way). So now the former category is “Feminism/Social Justice”, which is more inclusive and more accurately reflects my personal reading habits, which focus on feminism but touch a lot on other aspects of anti-bigotry (if not intersecting with them directly). So…yay for linkage!

Sarah Haskins For The Masses (and The Win!) October 25, 2008

It has recently come to my attention that several of my readers don’t know who Sarah Haskins is. I decided that this should be rectified post-haste and forthwith. Or something.

Who is Sarah Haskins, you ask? She is a comedy writer and actor on the TV channel Current. She’s on a weekly 30-minute show called Infomania. The reason that she’s become so popular, particularly in the feminist blogsophere, is because of a recurring segment on Infomania called “Target Women”, in which Sarah (hilariously) analyses and mocks advertisers’ attempts to sell products to women. There is, of course, lots of fodder for this endeavor; as she puts it:

I think they’re trying to toe a very fine line between seeming “with it” in terms of modern female roles and responsibilities while trying to do the tricky dance of selling us products that are related to much more traditional things: cleaning, cooking for your family, being a wifey… Hard to do both and not seem insane or ridiculous.

The above quote, by the way, comes from a recent interview Jezebel did with her. I know a lot of my friends, as well as I, have been craving info on Sarah – there is precious little of it on the Interwebs (Wikipedia seems to think she’s some Olympic triathlete). So for all of you out there dying to know her alma mater or hometown, go to this interview at The Bastion, or this one at Jezebel.

For the unitiated out there – I know I could offer some lengthy, boring explanation of why precisely Sarah Haskins is so awesome, complete with references to the patriarchy and societal privilege. But I think it be more effective (and more fun) to just show you why her clips still make me laugh out loud, after having watched them at least 5 or 6 times each. Below is one of my favorites, on birth control:

Links Round-Up! October 23, 2008

I don’t feel like typing a lot today, as I have a midterm to study for and a mouse bite on my finger to nurse (yes, for serious. Yes, it hurt quite a bit. Yes, I’m milking it for all it’s worth). So, here’s some recommendations on some of the topics being bandied about the blogosphere today:

• The incomparable David Sedaris on the election:
  

  To put [undecided voters] in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. “Can I interest you in the chicken?” she asks. “Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it?”

  To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked.

If McCain loses, will it have been my fault? He seems to think so. October 21, 2008

Why thank you, Senator!

McCain blamed the “feminist left” for criticizing Sarah Palin since he announced his choice for a running mate.

Again, interesting choice of words for the senator, there. I wonder if he thinks that everyone on the left is feminist. Because while they certainly should be [<— Liss’s classic “Important Announcement” post – a must read] – I think I can say, fairly definitively, that they are not. Not when I’ve seen “Drill, Baby, Drill” shirts with Palin on them that were not talking about oil. Not when I heard about the new Sarah Palin porno (and no, I will not link to it. It’s not even good). And absolutely not during the primaries, when I got to listen to Obama and (to a lesser extent) Edwards supporters be every bit as misogynistic and narrow-minded and hateful as Rush Limbaugh, only it was okay because they hated him too! Gag me.

McCain admits Palin selection was anti-Feminist October 20, 2008

No, really. He totally did (via Feministing). In an interview with…idk, some dude, he said, and I quote, “she is a direct counterpoint to the liberal feminist agenda for America” to justify picking her to be his running mate. Watch it.

Which is rather rich, of course, as one of Palin’s major selling points (at least nominally) has been how she gives hope to women that we can be powerful too, and she isn’t afraid to stand up for what she believes in, and oh yeah – she explicitly calls herself a feminist (about 0:20 in the video below).

Feminist Book Review: The Mismeasure of Woman October 5, 2008

So, I just finished this book I’ve been reading for a while: The Mismeasure of Woman: Why Women Are Not The Better Sex, The Inferior Sex, Or The Opposite Sex, by Carol Tavris.

The title is, I believe, a play on words as Stephen Jay Gould published a book called “The Mismeasure of Man”, a critique of the belief that all differences in society between different classes, races, sexes, etc. arose from purely biological factors. The allusion is apt, as Tavris’ book is largely concerned with debunking the biologically deterministic view that men are from Mars, and women are from Venus, or that women are gentle nurturers and men are fierce warriors, or [insert outdated and reductionist stereotype here].

Shameless Linkage October 2, 2008

So, this week’s crunch is over, to be followed by a slightly smaller crunch in the beginning of next week. But for now, I am scot-free! So expect bloggage out the wazoo – most notably tonight, where as last week Experience will debate The Fresh Face of Change.  Only this time, it’s reversed. It promises to be awesome.

Of course, while I have been neglecting my no-doubt faithful readers, many others in the blogosphere have not, so with your indulgence, I’d like to link to a bunch of posts from the past week or so that I’ve found very illuminating, insightful, surprising, or worthwhile, for your general edification. I realize that this is somewhat lazy on my part, and I will start writing my own things momentarily, but I really want to give props to some of the bloggers out there, and also point out these posts that some people will undoubtedly not have read.

Drumroll, please…