feminism

Death of a Revolutionary: Shulamith Firestone

Susan Faludi in The New Yorker writes about the death of radical feminist Shulamith Firestone and what it means in the context of contemporary feminism.

In the late nineteen-sixties, Firestone and a small cadre of her “sisters” were at the radical edge of a movement that profoundly changed American society. At the time, women held almost no major elected positions, nearly every prestigious profession was a male preserve, homemaking was women’s highest calling, abortion was virtually illegal, and rape was a stigma to be borne in silence. Feminism had been in the doldrums ever since the first wave of the American women’s movement won the vote, in 1920, and lost the struggle for greater emancipation. Feminist energy was first co-opted by Jazz Age consumerism, then buried in decades of economic depression and war, until the dissatisfactions of postwar women, famously described by Betty Friedan in “The Feminine Mystique” (1963), gave rise to a “second wave” of feminism. The radical feminists emerged alongside a more moderate women’s movement, forged by such groups as the National Organization for Women, founded in 1966 by Friedan, Aileen Hernandez, and others, and championed by such publications as Ms., founded in 1972 by Gloria Steinem and Letty Cottin Pogrebin. That movement sought, as now’s statement of purpose put it, “to bring women into full participation in the mainstream of American society,” largely by means of equal pay and equal representation. The radical feminists, by contrast, wanted to reconceive public life and private life entirely.

Few were as radical, or as audacious, as Shulamith Firestone. Just over five feet tall, with a mane of black hair down to her waist, and piercing dark eyes behind Yoko Ono glasses, Firestone was referred to within the movement as “the firebrand” and “the fireball.” “She was aflame, incandescent,” Ann Snitow, the director of the gender-studies program at the New School and a member of the early radical cadre, told me. “It was thrilling to be in her company.”

A very long article with lots of great background on the feminist movement. I’m nsure I would not be happy living in the complete upend of society that Shulamith Firestone envisioned, but looking at her background and how she arrived at the radical notions she did – I can see, given the open sexism they were fighting against even on the supposedly progressive left, how she arrived in that place. I wonder if I would have had a similar trajectory if I had been her age in that time period.

This bit… “That intensity emerged in Firestone early, and it was a source of antagonism within her family. She was the second child and the oldest daughter of six children—three girls and three boys…” emphasis mine. Interesting.

Continue ReadingDeath of a Revolutionary: Shulamith Firestone

How Movies Teach Manhood: Colin Stokes

More about this TED Talk:

When Colin Stokes’ 3-year-old son caught a glimpse of Star Wars, he was instantly obsessed. But what messages did he absorb from the sci-fi classic? Stokes asks for more movies that send positive messages to boys: that cooperation is heroic, and respecting women is as manly as defeating the villain.

Why you should listen to him:
Colin Stokes divides his time between parenting and building the brand of Citizen Schools, a non-profit that reimagines the school day for middle school students in low-income communities in eight states. As Managing Director of Brand & Communications, Colin helps people within the organization find the ideas, words and stories that will connect with more and more people. He believes that understanding the human mind is a force that can be used for good and seeks to take advantage of our innate and learned tendencies to bring out the best in each other and our culture.

Before starting a family, Colin was an actor and graphic designer in New York City. He starred in the long-running off-Broadway musical I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, as well is in several musicals and Shakespeare stagings. But he jokes that he seems to have achieved more renown (and considerably more revenue) for his brief appearances on two Law & Order episodes.

Continue ReadingHow Movies Teach Manhood: Colin Stokes

Women in technology and harassment

Almost 6 years ago, in March of 2007, technologist and public speaker Kathy Sierra shuttered her online site and declined her speaking engagement at O’Reilly ETech because she had been threatened and harassed online and feared personal attacks in real life. [Geek Feminism Wiki: Kathy Sierra Incident] At the time, it generated an outpouring of discussion about the abuse that women who speak in public, especially women in the technology field, face on the basis of their sex. I had attended her keynote address at SXSW that year, and was shocked that such a competent and engaging speaker was being terrorized online, and felt she needed to step out of the limelight for her own safety.

There’s been an ongoing discussion about the lack of women speakers at Tech conferences in the intervening years, with some of the best and the brightest tech conferences making an engaged and active commitment to gender diversity.

But as designer and tech speaker Sarah Parmenter discovered after speaking publicly at several public events this past year, female tech speakers are still the targets of harassment from men in the tech field. [Speaking Up] After Sarah spoke out about her experience, others have come forward: Relly Annett-Baker [Also Speaking Up].

If your wondering why there is such a climate of hostility towards women in the tech field, Milo Yiannopoulos’s incredibly sexist post on Kernel [Put A Sock In It, You Dickless Wonders] will go a long way towards shining a light on it:

For this is the technology industry: there are more men in it because the male mind is, in general, better primed with the sorts of skills the industry values; men are simply better suited to most technology jobs.

Women therefore tend to work in roles that require finesse and communicative skills, where they pop up in this world at all. What is hard to understand about this, or offensive about pointing it out? The sexes are wired differently, and that’s perfectly fine.

There will be exceptions. Women who succeed should be celebrated – though on their merits, not because they have a vagina (hello, Evening Standard). But there will always be more men. It’s a biological inevitability.

It’s certainly nothing to feel crippling guilt about.

Obviously a load of pure hogwash; there’s no evidence that men and women are wired differently or that such sweeping generalizations are even remotely true. [Susan Fisk, Is the female brain innately inferior? subject: Josef Parvizi, Clayman Institute fellow and assistant professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences at Stanford University]

But that this attitude is published on a tech blog is very telling about what men in the tech industry think as they listen to women speak. It’s not surprising that women would be reluctant to step up to a podium, given this sort of a climate. The experiences that Kathy Sierra, Sarah Parmenter, Relly Annett-Baker faced were not meant merely to silence them, but also to silence women in general in the tech industry.

Ada Lovelace
Ada Lovelace
It goes beyond just women speaking in tech to working every day in tech fields. There are times I’ve felt at my own tech job that I was in a climate I felt wasn’t welcoming or respectful towards female employees. If this kind of harassment is aimed at women who step up and speak out, what can those of us working every day in the industry expect to do about it? It’s disheartening to say the least.

Fortunately, there are some organizations like the The Ada Initiative working actively to change things for women in technology, by providing guidelines for tech conferences on how to handle harassment of women speakers and attendees, conducting research and surveys about women in the industry, holding their own conferences and a half dozen other great programs design to make things better. Support them if you can, and promote their work.

Continue ReadingWomen in technology and harassment

useful feminist and online conversational references

The Tone Argument
“A tone argument is an argument used in discussions, sometimes by Concern trolls and sometimes as a Derailment, in which it is suggested that feminists would be more successful if only they expressed themselves in a more pleasant tone. This is also sometimes described as catching more flies with honey than with vinegar, a particular variant of the tone argument.”

Splaining
“Splaining or ‘Splaining is a form of condescension in which a member of a privileged group explains something to a member of a marginalised group — most particularly, explains about their marginalisation — as if the privileged person knows more about it. Examples include (but are not limited to) a man explaining sexism to a woman, or a white person explaining racism to a black person.”

(Steph’s note – I’d critique this definition; sometimes it the subject is the marginalization, but often the subject is just something the privileged person thinks they know more about – as in the article that started it all — Men who explain things by Rebecca Solnit — in which she discusses a party host who explained to her in detail the very important book on a particular subject – a book that she herself had written.)

White Knighting
“White Knighting is an attempt at being a feminist ally that assumes that men are better feminists than women are.”

Slut shaming
“Slut shaming is the act of criticising a woman for her real or presumed sexual activity, or for behaving in ways that someone thinks are associated with her real or presumed sexual activity.”

Toes of Conduct
“If you witness someone stepping on someone else’s toes; do not harangue the person with the bruised toes for being hurt, simply because you did not feel the crush. If you step on someone’s toes; apologise for stepping on their toes. Resist the urge to point to an inconsiderate witness, or people whose toes you have not yet stepped on, as excuses for not apologising.” Also, this great explanation from a comment on a metafilter thread:

‘If you step on my foot, you need to get off my foot.

If you step on my foot without meaning to, you need to get off my foot.

If you step on my foot without realizing it, you need to get off my foot.

If everyone in your culture steps on feet, your culture is horrible, and you need to get off my foot.

If you have foot-stepping disease, and it makes you unaware you’re stepping on feet, you need to get off my foot. If an event has rules designed to keep people from stepping on feet, you need to follow them. If you think that even with the rules, you won’t be able to avoid stepping on people’s feet, absent yourself from the event until you work something out.

If you’re a serial foot-stepper, and you feel you’re entitled to step on people’s feet because you’re just that awesome and they’re not really people anyway, you’re a bad person and you don’t get to use any of those excuses, limited as they are. And moreover, you need to get off my foot.

See, that’s why I don’t get the focus on classifying harassers and figuring out their motives. The victims are just as harassed either way.’”

An Incomplete Guide to Not Creeping
By John Scalzi. This is so good and even funny. Just read it.

The Privilege of Politeness
“One item that comes up over and over in discussions of racism is that of tone/attitude. People of Color (POC) are very often called on their tone when they bring up racism, the idea being that if POC were just more polite about the whole thing the offending person would have listened and apologized right away. This not only derails the discussion but also tries to turn the insults/race issues into the fault of POC and their tone. Many POC have come to the realization that the expectation of politeness when saying something insulting is a form of privilege. At the core of this expectation of politeness is the idea that the POC in question should teach the offender what was wrong with their statement. Because in my experience what is meant by “be polite” is “teach me”, teach me why you’re offended by this, teach me how to be racially sensitive and the bottom line is that it is no one’s responsibility to teach anyone else.”

Nice Guy Syndrome: What it is and why you should kill it with fire
“Basically a “Nice Guy” is someone who wonders why if they are so nice and good to women, why they won’t reciprocate (sleep with them)? The reason is: because they don’t have to, and no force in the world can change that.”

Nice Guys (TM) Finish Last–For Good Reason
“If you are a guy, and if you are angry that women aren’t receptive to you when you see yourself as a “nice” guy, and you believe these women are instead receptive to abusive guys, then maybe it would be productive to consider that you’re harboring attitudes about women (and men, for that matter) that aren’t really “nice” at all.”

Five Geek Social Fallacies
“Within the constellation of allied hobbies and subcultures collectively known as geekdom, one finds many social groups bent under a crushing burden of dysfunction, social drama, and general interpersonal wack-ness. It is my opinion that many of these never-ending crises are sparked off by an assortment of pernicious social fallacies — ideas about human interaction which spur their holders to do terrible and stupid things to themselves and to each other.”

The C-Word (Creeper)
A demolishment of the notion that “Creepy guys are just awkward.” Deconstructing all of the assumptions. Great stuff here.

Don’t Be A Creeper – Dr. Nerdlove
Also good stuff. Lots on Male Privilege and Creeper behavior.

Meet The Predators
“These look to me to be the best available data on who the rapists are who have not been caught and incarcerated — which is the vast, vast majority. They are, however, limited, so that in talking about them it constrains the discussion of rape into a narrow range around a modal form of men raping women.*”

Predator Redux
talks about the kinds of behaviors which are not overtly threatening but which still creep women out because they’re precursors to predatory behavior even if they wouldn’t register as predatory not on the receiving end.

Great places to read about these terms:

Yes Means Yes Blog
Dissent of a Woman
Geek Feminism Wiki

Continue Readinguseful feminist and online conversational references

You Belong With Me, deconstructed

Or, why Taylor Swift is a Nice Guy(tm). Courtesy of NinjaCate on Jezebel, this analysis of Taylor Swift’s song as a demo for why she’s problematic when it comes to women’s issues.

You’re on the phone with your girlfriend, she’s upset
She’s going off about something that you said
‘Cause she doesn’t get your humor like I do

Or perhaps his girlfriend has a legitimate concern that she is trying to have addressed. You have no idea. You are not actually privy to the discussion.

I’m in the room, it’s a typical Tuesday night
I’m listening to the kind of music she doesn’t like
And she’ll never know your story like I do

I’m so different from her! We’re meant to be!

But she wears short skirts, I wear T-shirts

Slut shaming much?

She’s Cheer Captain and I’m on the bleachers

I mean everyone knows cheerleaders (jocks, sexy guys anyone who is not a “Nice Guy”) are total bitches

Dreaming about the day when you wake up and find
That what you’re looking for has been here the whole time

This is literally every Nice Guy’s argument

If you could see that I’m the one who understands you
Been here all along, so why can’t you see?
You, you belong with me, you belong with me

Again, typical Nice Guy shit. Just because you are a nice person in general, does not mean that he is obligated to reciprocate your feelings….

Walking the streets with you and your worn-out jeans
I can’t help thinking this is how it ought to be
Laughing on a park bench, thinking to myself
Hey, isn’t this easy?

Don’t take much issue with this other than to say, maybe tell him how you feel?

And you’ve got a smile that could light up this whole town
I haven’t seen it in a while since she brought you down
You say you’re fine, I know you better than that
Hey, what ya doing with a girl like that?

Yes, because this GF who you are clearly trying to replace is the be all and end all of his problems. And that’s not to say that a friend cannot clearly see that another friend might be in a relationship that makes them unhappy, and saying so. But that’s entirely different from having the ulterior motive of stepping into the current SO’s shoes.

She wears high heels, I wear sneakers

Again. Slut shaming

She’s Cheer Captain and I’m on the bleachers
Dreaming about the day when you wake up and find
That what you’re looking for has been here the whole time

If you could see that I’m the one who understands you
Been here all along, so why can’t you see?
You belong with me

Same as above

Standing by and waiting at your back door
All this time how could you not know?
Baby, you belong with me, you belong with me

Why are you creeping at his back door :/

Oh, I remember you driving to my house in the middle of the night
I’m the one who makes you laugh when you know you’re ’bout to cry
And I know your favorite songs and you tell me ’bout your dreams
Think I know where you belong, think I know it’s with me

This is the entitlement that Nice Guys have. Just because YOU like HIM, doesn’t mean that he HAS to like you. For all you know, he may have very solid reasons for not pursuing a romantic relationship. Which is another reason you should TELL HIM HOW YOU FEEL instead of pining like an idiot.

Can’t you see that I’m the one who understands you?
Been here all along, so why can’t you see?
You belong with me

Same as above

Standing by and waiting at your back door
All this time, how could you not know?
Baby, you belong with me, you belong with me

Same as above

You belong with me
Have you ever thought just maybe
You belong with me?
You belong with me

No, but clearly you have, so maybe suggest it instead of bashing his GF?

And that doesn’t even touch on the very heavy-handed Madonna-Whore shit she does in the video.

/End
*curtsies*

Continue ReadingYou Belong With Me, deconstructed

I am a feminist and I’m not afraid to say so

Everyone’s afraid of the stigma of calling themselves a feminist, but they want to say things that are empowering to women. I feel like I’m back in the 1980s, when I came out as gay, and everyone else came out as bisexual first and then came out as gay five years later. The problem is that every time you do this, you reinforce the untrue stereotypes about what a feminist is by suggesting that those bigot-created stereotypes are true. So no matter what your message of empowerment actually is, you’ve undermined that by suggesting that the anti-feminist crowd has some sort of point when they tar and feather women standing up for basic civil rights.

It sucked when gay people did this shit back in the 1980s, and it sucks when you do it today. If you truly do believe that women and men should have equality, suck it up and own the word “feminist” – it’s a badge of honor that some truly extraordinary women have claimed for themselves over the years, and it’s one that you’ll wish you wore much earlier than you did.

Roxane Gay catalogs a list of women who’ve lately claimed that they are “not a feminist, but…” : You Can Stop Saying “I’m Not a Feminist But” Now..

Former French First Lady Carla Bruni said, “There are pioneers who paved the way for us. I am not a feminist activist at all. On the contrary I am a true bourgeoise. I love family life and doing the same thing every day,” and “In my generation we don’t need to be feminist.”

Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo said, “I don’t think that I would consider myself a feminist. I think that I certainly believe in equal rights, I believe that women are just as capable, if not more so in a lot of different dimensions, but I don’t, I think, have, sort of, the militant drive and the sort of, the chip on the shoulder that sometimes comes with that. And I think it’s too bad, but I do think that feminism has become in many ways a more negative word. You know, there are amazing opportunities all over the world for women, and I think that there is more good that comes out of positive energy around that than negative energy.”

Lady Gaga said, “I am not a feminist. I hail men. I love men. I celebrate American male culture.”

Katy Perry said, “I am not a feminist, but I do believe in the strength of women.”

Taylor Swift is not a feminist. Instead, she thinks, “I don’t really think about things as guys versus girls. I never have. I was raised by parents who brought me up to think if you work as hard as guys, you can go far in life.”

Artist Marina Abramovic is not a feminist nor is actress Melissa Leo.

Designer Vivienne Westwood is not a feminist but that’s just because she’s rich. She said, explaining why she’s not a feminist, “Another reason is because I live in the privileged world and I would never accept the idea that somehow I am a victim of society. Just by being born a woman.”

Madonna is not a feminist, she’s a humanist.

Demi Moore is not a feminist. She said, “I am a great supporter of women, but I have never really thought of myself as a feminist, probably more of a humanist because I feel like that’s really where we need to be.”

Dame Stephanie Shirley, a British philanthropist, said, “I am not a feminist but I have always fought for women.”

Fuck that noise.

Continue ReadingI am a feminist and I’m not afraid to say so

Todd Akins triggers some good writing, at least

You’ve heard about Todd Akins, the Republican nominee for Senate in Missouri, right? The guy who actually said:

“First of all, from what I understand from doctors [pregnancy from rape] is really rare,” Akin told KTVI-TV. “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

Obviously there’s been a big reaction to that douchebaggery all over the internet, and dude has since tried to walk back his comments, so I don’t need to go into that noise.

Here’s some cool writing that has come out of this “discussion” about rape, though.

Eve Ensler: Dear Mr. Akin, I Want You to Imagine…

Jessica Valenti: The Seven Stages of Feminist Grief (Todd Akin edition)

Mallory Ortberg at The Awl: Other Things Missouri Representative Todd Akin Believes To Be True About The Uterus, Besides Its Ability To “Shut Down” A Legitimate Rape

Anne Gerhart, Washington Post: Rep. Akin’s comments just the latest attempt to define rape — and women

Mary Elizabeth Williams, Salon.com: A guide to “legitimate” rape — This is a nice spelling out of what rape laws around the country are for the uninformed.

Continue ReadingTodd Akins triggers some good writing, at least

Is This Feminist?

Sweet Jesus is this funny….

via Is This Feminist?.

This woman is doing laundry. IS THIS FEMINIST?

No. As much as we admire the expression of real and legitimate anger, stemming from an unequal and sexist burden of housework based upon normative gender roles, we still can’t endorse just shoving the camera guy into the machine. PROBLEMATIC.

Continue ReadingIs This Feminist?

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.

Continue ReadingLosing my religion for equality

Dear Men in Congress: If we knit you a uterus, will you stay out of ours?

If they have their own, they can leave ours alone!

via Government Free VJJ | Dear Men in Congress: If we knit you a uterus, will you stay out of ours?.

  • Knit or crochet a vagina or uterus
  • Print a message to enclose
  • Mail it to your male Senator or Congressional Representative
  • We’re in the process of arranging hand delivery to congressional offices in Washington, until then, go ahead and mail yours in!
  • Record your items in this spreadsheet so we can track which representatives still need to receive a “gift”!
  • Don’t forget to thank your representative if he respects women and supports our rights.
Continue ReadingDear Men in Congress: If we knit you a uterus, will you stay out of ours?