Female Superheroes – No, It’s Not Equal

Kelly Thompson takes a really close look at female superheroes and body type portrayals, and the vast difference between male and female superheroes in an article called No, It’s Not Equal on Comic Book Resources.

When I look at the way characters are rendered in superhero comics for more academic purposes, I look at four primary categories: Body Type, Clothing, Beauty, and Posing….

Both men and women are given crazy nearly unattainable idealized bodies in comics, we can all agree on this. But that is where the equality ends. Men are generally portrayed with idealized ATHLETE body types. While women are generally portrayed with idealized PORN STAR and SUPERMODEL body types. Which would make sense if the women were not actually superheroes. But they are, and so making them porn stars and supermodels doesn’t make a lot of sense. If women, like men, were rendered like gymnasts, swimmers, runners, boxers, tennis pros, and body builders, you’d see far fewer objections, because that would make things quite balanced. An idealized athletic form that few of us can achieve but many of us would admire or like to have, is imminently reasonable for a superhero form, but that’s not what we get, instead we get idealized (and wholly unrealistic) supermodel and porn star types.

It’s funny that in comics, the term “brokeback” means something quite different than the gay cowboy movie. It’s a description of the pose that many female superheroes are drawn in, where they twist in a way that is physically impossible in real life to show both their breasts and ass in the image.

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The 5 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating

From Livestrong.com: The 5 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating | LIVESTRONG.COM.

Read the whole article for why they’re healthy.

NUTRITIONAL YEAST
HOW TO EAT IT: Stir 1-2 tablespoons into sauces, soups, or stir-fries to add rich flavor and a protein boost without a lot of extra calories (2 tablespoons has about 60 calories).

Chia Seeds
HOW TO EAT THEM: Sprinkle chia seeds on cereal, yogurt, salads… really anything! The seeds form a gel when mixed with liquid, so they’re great for thickening smoothies, salad dressings, and soups.

Kefir
HOW TO EAT IT: Pour a glass for a light breakfast or a sweet snack. Just be careful: Since kefir is so packed with healthy probiotics, you may need to build a tolerance to it. Start with a small glass (about half a cup) and increase the amount every few days.

Hemp
HOW TO EAT IT: Toss two tablespoons of hemp seeds into your oatmeal or stir-fry. Or add them to a smoothie for an extra dose of protein.

Black Garlic
HOW TO EAT IT: The gentle, sweet flavor of black garlic makes it a versatile superfood—add it into any recipe in which you’d use fresh garlic, from pasta dishes to soups and stews. The best part? No garlic breath.

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Indiana Tops Nation For Sex Assaults Of High School-Age Girls

Via Shakesville a report on sexual violence against high-school age girls from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention puts Indiana at the high the highest percentage of crimes at 17.3 percent of girls in grades 9 through 12 have been raped. I’m trying to find a link to the original report from the CDCP. But here is a CBS news story on it. Shakesville also points out the correlating information that Indiana leads the nation on abortion restrictions, so those young women who become pregnant as a result of rape will have a difficult time dealing with the aftermath.

UPDATE: I didn’t find the info under sexual violence on the CDC site, but I did find it under data sources on this page on Youth Violence. There is a PDF file on that page called Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance — United States, 2009 that contains a summary of statistics on page 6, and a table of more detailed statistics broken down by state on page 50 that matches the information in this story. If you’re concerned about the date of 2009, note that this survey was completed then, but there was subsequent analysis, and the report on the survey itself was more recently published.

Indiana Tops Nation For Sex Assaults Of High School-Age Girls « CBS Chicago.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (CBS) — In Indiana, girls have a higher chance of becoming the victim of sexual assault than almost any other place in the country.

As WBBM Newsradio’s Michele Fiore reports, 10.5 percent of all American high school-age girls have been forced into sexual intercourse, according to a report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But the rate vastly exceeds the national average in Indiana, where 17.3 percent of girls in grades 9 through 12 have been raped.

Kinsey Institute Director for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction Julie Heiman told the Bloomington, Ind., Herald-Times that she was “shocked” at the statistics.

The Herald-Times also pointed out that researching the issue is a challenge, given that up to 50 percent of sexual assaults against women are never reported, and Indiana is one of three states – along with Mississippi and New Mexico – where law enforcement is not required to report sexual violence to the FBI.

Researchers also emphasized that 80 percent or more of rape and sexual assault involves people who know each other, not strangers, the newspaper reported.

Following the release of the CDC report, Indiana University researchers are now calling for more sex education and assault prevention efforts.

The Indy Star has a report on the same study, with some additional quotes. Still no link to the original study.

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Losing my religion for equality

President Jimmy Carter chooses to leave his church rather than support inequality for women. His explanation here: Losing my religion for equality.

Excerpts from his piece:

Women and girls have been discriminated against for too long in a twisted interpretation of the word of God.

I HAVE been a practising Christian all my life and a deacon and Bible teacher for many years. My faith is a source of strength and comfort to me, as religious beliefs are to hundreds of millions of people around the world. So my decision to sever my ties with the Southern Baptist Convention, after six decades, was painful and difficult. It was, however, an unavoidable decision when the convention’s leaders, quoting a few carefully selected Bible verses and claiming that Eve was created second to Adam and was responsible for original sin, ordained that women must be “subservient” to their husbands and prohibited from serving as deacons, pastors or chaplains in the military service.

This view that women are somehow inferior to men is not restricted to one religion or belief. Women are prevented from playing a full and equal role in many faiths. Nor, tragically, does its influence stop at the walls of the church, mosque, synagogue or temple. This discrimination, unjustifiably attributed to a Higher Authority, has provided a reason or excuse for the deprivation of women’s equal rights across the world for centuries.

At its most repugnant, the belief that women must be subjugated to the wishes of men excuses slavery, violence, forced prostitution, genital mutilation and national laws that omit rape as a crime. But it also costs many millions of girls and women control over their own bodies and lives, and continues to deny them fair access to education, health, employment and influence within their own communities.

Read the whole piece.

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Christians Fight for Their Children’s God-Given Right to Bully Gay Kids

Jezebel on:Christians Fight for Their Children’s God-Given Right to Bully Gay Kids.

“Bullying children is wrong and bad” may sound like the most basic tenet of human decency, but if you ask conservative lobbying groups like Concerned Women for America and Focus on the Family, making it a crime to taunt someone until they kill themselves is akin to interfering with religious freedom. According to AlterNet’s Katherine Stewart, conservative groups across the country have opposed various anti-bullying measures because they say outlawing bullying is akin to state endorsement of the homosexual lifestyle. You know, Madonna and glitter and buttsex and all-women’s softball teams all that. The homosexual lifestyle.

In Michigan, lawmakers attempted to insert a provision into an anti-bullying bill that would have allowed bullying only on the grounds that it was being done based on a “sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction” (As in, “I sincerely and morally believe that Mandy has a nutsack” or “God told me I should write “FAG” on your locker?”). That effort was killed after national outcry against it, but in Tennessee, lawmakers are now attempting to make it legal for jerkhole kids to bully other kids based on their religious preference — or lack thereof. And in Washington, 70 education and civil rights groups have backed a measure that would make it illegal for sexual orientation or gender identity to be used as basis for student discrimination. Christian groups have claimed this law would contribute to the “homosexualization” of students, notes Stewart.

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