April 22, 2012
Rad Fem Reboot: 2012
March 9, 2012
Southern Poverty Law Center Names Men’s Rights Activists (MRAs) as Hate Group
– Cross-posted with permission from Radfem News Service –
In its latest quarterly publication “The Year in Hate and Extremism” (Issue 45, Spring 2012) the Southern Poverty Law Center, or SPLC, names Men’s Rights Activists as a hate group, citing the MRAs’ — alternately known as “Father’s Rights Activists” — virulent misogyny, spreading of false anti-woman propaganda and applauding and even encouraging acts of domestic terrorism and extreme violence against women and children, up to and including murder. In the same issue, the SPLC reports on the activities of other hate groups with headlines such as Georgia Militia Members to be Tried Later this Year in Movement’s Latest Murder Plot; Son of Holocaust Memorial Shooter Discusses Family History of Racial Hate; and Animal Rights Extremist Camille Marino Calls for Violence.
February 8, 2012
Ron Paul blows the misogynist dog whistle, liberal doodbro responds
According to A.J. Dellinger, writing at Salon, “Ron Paul’s popularity has doubled in the past four years for one simple reason.” Wait for it.
It’s because Dellinger and his liberal doodbro cohort are “the screwed generation.” They’re mad as hell, they’re stamping the feet for attention, and they’re not going to take it anymore! Dellinger tells us how badly used and abused his “generation” has been:
“We are the generation that continues to pay into Social Security with every paycheck but suspects we may never see the benefits of it.”
It’s completely lost on Dellinger and all the doods like him that he belongs to the class of people that has reaped the vast majority of the economic goodies for a long, long time. But, oh no, that might have come to an end!
February 4, 2012
Debate over fetal ‘viability’ reignited as technology advances
An American law professor and former federal prosecutor writes in an Op/Ed for CNN that advances in technology, specifically the increasing ability of modern medicine to keep pre-term fetuses alive outside the womb, should spur corresponding changes in abortion law that would criminalize abortions earlier and earlier, based on the technology available at the time. While he doesn’t suggest how far he is willing to take his argument, specifically, whether women are just expected to sit back and watch as abortion rights shrink more and more as men’s technology and the male medical machine advance, he does make sure to mention that he’s “pro-choice” and a “progressive” about a dozen times.
January 27, 2012
Rape is worse when it happens to men, reports the New York Times
Recently, the New York Times reported that rape is worse when it happens to men than when it happens to women.
“There is no arena in which rape takes place between men and women that it does not take place between men and men[.]“
Like women, men who are raped feel violated and ashamed and may become severely depressed or suicidal. They are at increased risk for substance abuse, problems with interpersonal relationships, physical impairments, chronic pain, insomnia and other health problems.
But men also face a challenge to their sense of masculinity. Many feel they should have done more to fight off their attackers. Since they may believe that men are never raped, they may feel isolated and reluctant to confide in anyone. Male rape victims may become confused about their sexual orientation or, if gay and raped by a man, blame their sexual orientation for the rape.
See what they did there? Rape is “X” when it happens to women; rape is “X+1″ when it happens to men. Of course, the Times would probably deny that’s what they said if they were ever asked about it, but look, folks: the math doesn’t lie.
January 20, 2012
Malawian women protest after attacks for wearing pants, miniskirts
Today, Malawian women protested after several women were brutally beaten and stripped naked by male street vendors for the offense of not-wearing-dresses in public.
Street vendors accused women of defying cultural norms and attacked them this week in Lilongwe and Blantyre, two of the nation’s largest cosmopolitan centers.
“They beat them up and stripped them naked, claiming they did not follow the tradition,” said Seodi White, a rights activist and protest organizer. “Attacking women in trousers is an outrage. We are a democracy, they’re taking us back to the dark ages.”
Protesters wore pants, miniskirts and leggings in a show of solidarity as they gathered to condemn the attacks.
While this protest may (or may not) evoke familiar imagery from last summer’s “SlutWalk” protests, unlike SlutWalk, this protest sticks to the issues, and makes it clear what they are getting at. Importantly, these women actually name the agent of harm: men, attacking women, out of contempt for women.
January 6, 2012
UK Home Office Announces Transgender Action Plan
The UK’s Home Office recently announced a new strategy to “drive out transgender prejudice”:
The Transgender action plan addresses some of the obstacles faced by transgender people in every aspect of public life, as well as identifying wider cultural issues. It provides a framework for communities to work with the government to challenge and overcome persisting inequalities.
The plan commits to reform Health services to ensure greater consistency in commissioning gender identity services; publish a clear and concise guide for health practitioners, including GPs and Primary Care Trusts, on the treatment and care available; [and] amend the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill to raise the starting point for murders motivated by hostility towards a transgender person from 15 to 30 years.
The announcement follows extensive engagement by the government with the transgender community, public bodies, practitioners and the voluntary sector.
Extensive engagement? Perhaps, but interestingly, they haven’t seemed to bother engaging with wimmin’s or lesbian health groups, child health and education groups, or even with a wide range of the transgender community. In other words, those who may’ve been critical of their Plan and those charged with advocating for girls and wimmin as a sexual class, around the world.
