pol102:

From shortformblog:

Today In Bad Ideas: Some guy named Brad Paisley recorded a song, with LL Cool J, talking about how hard it is to be a white man who just wants to wear the Confederate flag in peace. It’s called “Accidental Racist”, and you can find the (completely problematic) lyrics here. source

Here’s the thing that you just need to understand. The Confederate flag is a symbol of the Confederacy and what it stood for, not the traditions and values (like hospitality) of the South. 

The Confederate flag was adopted only by the Confederacy. It doesn’t predate the Confederacy, and it stopped being used with the fall of the Confederacy. In fact, the flag was only rarely used in the Confederacy; it was the flag of the Army of Northern Virginia (Robert E. Lee’s army) and only later became associated with the entire confederacy. In fact, the “Confederate flag” you’re familiar with was never the official flag of the Confederacy.

The flag had a renaissance of sorts much later. Much later. The flag began appearing during WWII on units with Southern histories. The first use of the Confederate “stars and bars” on a Southern state flag was as early as 1894: no surprise, it was Mississippi. But that means that Mississippians didn’t mind revoking their heritage (the Magnolia flag, which was carried into battle during the Civil War by Mississippi regiments). Georgia’s controversial Confederate flag wasn’t introduced until 1956.

My problem with the “it’s part of our history” argument is two-fold: (1) The history of Southern states extends much further back than the Confederacy, so I’m left wondering why that pivotal (and controversial) moment has become identified as the historical juncture that should define what “the South” is about. (2) The history of the Confederacy was extremely brief: it lasted less than five years. (By contrast, the Third Reich lasted more than twice as long, giving the Nazi flag a stronger claim to historical tradition.)

So we’re left with an interesting historical juxtaposition. The Confederate flag was not widely used within the Confederacy, but is clearly identified with the Confederacy’s cause. And that flag had a boom in popularity starting in the 1950s. Coincidentally, the 1950s was the start of the modern US Civil Rights Movement. In other words, a symbol of the Confederacy (which will forever by identified with slavery) became popular in South at the same time as African-Americans began advocating for political and social equality.

Now you see why the Confederate flag is “controversial” (to say the least). It seems remarkable that people who want to defend their region’s rich cultural traditions and history (and they have many good reasons to do so, I should point out) have gravitated to a very particular symbol identified with racism. Attaching themselves to that symbol meant jettisoning historical state flags (where was the reverence for history then?) and doing so at the same time as Jim Crow and segregation was being challenged in the South.

Perhaps it’s because I’m just a “carpetbagger” (as I’m sure many of my students think), but I can’t for the life of me understand why anyone who—once confronted with the sheer historical narrative of that flag—would continue to embrace it. Waving a Confederate flag around is a clear sign that either (1) you don’t like black people very much, (2) you are in favor of violent overthrow of the US federal government, or (3) you really don’t care if people think you believe in the first two options or not. 

EDIT: And please don’t even get me started on people in northern states that embrace the Confederate flag. When I see the “stars and bars” in Indiana, I know exactly what it means.

Source: shortformblog

Q:do you like richard dawkins?

Anonymous

I do not personally know Richard Dawkins. I also do not know his published work and have only occasionally seen snippets of him speaking.

What I do know is that he has a way of erasing women and treating them as second class citizens. His Dear Muslima comment, in regards to Rebecca Watson asking that men listen when women ask them not to approach, was in poor taste to say the least.  His latest commentary on his twitter feed that sets a person who carries a fetus to the side is rather disturbing too.

I will say this much, I’m not a fan of Richard Dawkins when it comes to sexual harassment and abortion.  As for the rest, I don’t know enough to judge.

Let me get this out of the way: I don’t like Adria Richards. I think I have good reason to not like Adria Richards. So I should be feeling some major Schadenfreude right now. Instead, though, I think what’s unfolded in the developer community in recent days has been a tragedy.

Adria Richards, PyCon, and How We All Lost | Amanda Blum

Notice how almost all the comments, even those in favor of Adria Richards, many of them (as the one I am quoting here), from White women defending Richards are all about disciplining the uppity Black woman.

They don’t like her tone. Her vocal antics are improper. She didn’t deserve to be fired but… It always boils down to it: the misbehaved Black woman should have known better. Even ostensibly feminist blogs are giving space to such opinions. 

This is what happens when WoC do not play by the rules of patriarchal White Supremacy: the racist version of “slut had it coming”. If only she had not been so outspoken, if only she didn’t expose stuff she doesn’t like… if only she had been docile.

Anyone trying to unpack this disaster from the perspective of sexism in the tech industry, I’m afraid they are missing the point entirely; as usual, it is about the racist sexism in the tech (and non tech) world. Adria Richards is now its latest victim.

(via redlightpolitics)

(via redlightpolitics)

Steubenville’s Jane Doe asked people to do something…

createourownlight:

I’ve never asked anyone to reblog anything before, and I probably won’t again. But I am now - because this matters.

The Steubenville rape survivor, when offered money for her legal expenses or counselling, asked that people donated to a shelter for abused women and children in her county,  Madden House, instead.

Her attorney spoke in a local news article on why the family wanted this, and said they hope very much that “the attention … can help other people that have been victimized by this type of crime,” Fitzsimmons said, “and give them some strength and some assurance that people are there to help them when that happens.”

You can donate as little as $2 via your Paypal account to Madden House. (You can also navigate their website from that link, to be sure it’s a charity you can also believe in.) When I donated back in January, they had a message up that said, “Every single cent says, ‘We believe you, and we care.’” They had to remove it almost at once. I’m sure you can deduce the reasons why, in a case where even her status as “victim” was challenged before the trial.

Madden House and the Family Violence Project helps anyone, men included, but they have a strong focus on families, and on low-income women, especially those from the African-American population.

The best way to show you support Jane Doe is to make a donation, however small and leave a Paypal note when you do saying “In the name of Jane Doe, Steubenville.” They are telling her how many people donate in her name so it’s a direct way of letting her know. Even if all you can afford is a dollar, a thousand Tumblr users donating that is a thousand dollars for abuse victims. And it’s also a thousand people telling her directly that they, unlike the likes of CNN and her erstwhile “friends”, care about her, support her, and believe in her. It’s what she has actually asked people to do. In a case where she has been so effectively silenced and sidelined, I think acknowledging she’s been heard is particularly important.

There is a second charity, the Wheeling Sexual Assault Centre, which doesn’t have a Paypal-enabled donation option, so you’d need to be US based and able to send checks. However my understanding is that they’re operating on very limited funds due to budget cuts, so it’s definitely another really good cause.

I think it says so much about this girl and her parents, that when met with offers of serious money they immediately asked that it went to a charity that helps other victims of violence instead. They are extraordinary people in my opinion, and that’s why she had the strength to come forward. Jane Doe may well not have been speaking up only for herself. She has very possibly saved others with her courage. She deserves so much more respect than the mainstream media have given her.

If you can’t donate, I really do understand. I’ve been broke before too. But please, do reblog. Get the message out. There is a genuine, positive way to support the victim, in the way she has asked for, and this is it.

Sorry it’s so long. There are so many scams online that I wanted to provide ample links, so there can be no doubt this is legit. Please, if you can, donate/reblog. Show Jane Doe what you think of her.

EDITED: to remove a link, partly because it was very triggery, and partly as a (very graciously worded) asker said, it’s actually not good to post images of her that night now, when there’s no longer any need to do it to raise awareness. It’s not respectful of her.

inchoaterica:

so…

on top of all my freaking out about money, i took $20 out at the grocery store and promptly dropped it.

I’m so fucked i’m not sure what to do. That’s 10% of what i had left for the month. And yes, i am punishing myself for it, because there’s no fucking way to get it back and this proves very much that i am an awful person who does not deserve to continue on.

I’m not sure what other method to use to respond to this, so I hope you don’t mind that I’m reblogging. If so, let me know I’ll take it down.

You absolutely deserve to continue on and I hope that you do and that things improve. If I could help you in anyway I would but I don’t think I live near to you.

You have been such an inspiration to me as a cis white woman trying to learn to check her privilege, I’m grateful that I found you on the internet. Your presence is strong and passionate and wonderful.

I’m so sorry you’re having troubles right now. I donated via paypal with my real name. I’m anonymous about being an atheist due to rl issues with custody. It’s not much, but I hope it helps. I also tweeted your request for help, so I hope that helps too.  Hugs if you want them.

The history of white feminism and white feminists’ problems of inclusion when it comes to women of color, lesbians, trans* people, queer folk, fat people, people with disabilities, the poor and working class have been heavily documented. If privileged white feminists want those who have historically been left out of the movement to trust us ever again, we have to stop thinking that our reactions to attacks against those groups or people in those groups are obvious. That places the burden, once more, on the excluded and the oppressed to do the work. And, once more, we reinforce that this movement isn’t really about them. That is, in fact, what is obvious. If you had a completely different reaction to Quvenzhané Wallis being called a cunt than you did to Sandra Fluke being called a slut, you should probably be asking yourself why.

Jessica Luther (@scATX)

This quote is from her essay On Quvenzhané Wallis. In this essay, she lists many of the major essays primarily from Black women (and other people of colour) in defense of Quvenzhané (I read them all—excellent), and the muted or difference in support from White feminists versus feminists of colour. The piece itself is great—she calls her fellow White feminists to task. What’s interesting is how another person that I tweet often, @tressiemcphd, who is Black (and wrote one of the essays that @scATX mentioned in her post) received attacks for saying the same things that @scATX said, who is White. So amidst the problematic stances of White feminists on the issue of Quvenzhané, they’re still approaching messengers through the veil of White privilege? Further, I think the attacks on @tressiemcphd also differed since she took an empirical approach to examining the response to Quvenzhané from White feminists, and we all know that any methodology that involves any skill set that White men respect is held at a higher regard and thus opens the door for attacks on people of colour for stepping out of “our place” for using such a methodology, as I tweeted about yesterday.

White feminism needs to do better. No, really.

(via gradientlair)

'ANDERSON LIVE' INTERVIEW WITH TRANSGENDER PAGEANT CONTEST RELIES ON IRRELEVANT, OFFENSIVE QUESTIONS

projectqueer:

TW: misgendering, problematic discussion material/questions, cissexism, transmisogyny

image

Today, Anderson Cooper’s syndicated talk show Anderson Live featured Kylan Wenzel, a transgender woman competing this weekend in the Miss California USA pageant.  GLAAD is thrilled that our work, together with many transgender advocates, back in April resulted in the Miss Universe pageant making a rule change that allows transgender women like Kylan to participate.  And we are excited that Anderson Live chose to spotlight Kylan’s story. Unfortunately, comments made during and after the interview by co-host Robin Robinson were ill-informed, inappropriate and insulting.

After Kylan explained that she moved up the date of her sex reassignment surgery so she could participate in this year’s competition, Robinson asked, “How long ago did you complete the surgery, are you still in any kind of pain?”  This question exemplifies the type of personal and inappropriate questions people feel they can ask transgender people, and it’s just not relevant to the reason Kylan was asked to be on the show.

Robinson later says to Kylan, “But everybody isn’t in agreement with this.  Have you had any pushback from people who say, ‘Look, this is a female pageant, get in your own transgender pageant.’”  The underlying assumption is that Kylan isn’t female, and that transgender women should be segregated from “real women.”  To her credit, Kylan showed great poise in answering that she is a woman, and she hopes that by simply being herself she can educate people.

Finally, after saying goodbye to Kylan and wishing her the best, Robinson once again questioned Kylan’s womanhood, saying to Anderson, “I do wish her luck, but being devil’s advocate, that’s what some people say is not fair. A man working out a lot gets a  whole different result from a woman working out a lot.  You guys get that ab thing going quicker than we do.  Some people could say that’s an unfair advantage.”  Fortunately, Anderson responded that Kylan is a woman because she has undergone hormone therapy and had sex reassignment surgery.

Anderson Live received a GLAAD Media Award nomination for an episode that aired in 2011 featuring transgender youth and their families.  But in recent months the show has taken a turn toward the sensationalistic in its coverage of transgender issues.  Last fall, LGBT advocates condemned the show for booking a guest who claimed taking the drug Propecia caused her to become transgender.

Kylan has dreamed of competing in the Miss California USA pageant since she was 11 years old.  Ideally both hosts would have focused their questions on her dreams and aspirations, and on her courageous decision to be the first openly transgender woman to run for Miss California USA.  Instead, Robinson’s questions in particular focused on the tired old issues of surgery and whether or not Kylan is a “real woman.”  

As transgender stories become more and more common in mainstream media, GLAAD hopes that journalists and talk show hosts can move beyond questions about surgery and “when did you know.”  Transgender women and men know that our lives are more interesting and compelling than can be covered in “Trans 101.”

ProjectQueer: Everything about this article is problematic - not just the way in which the show hosts treated their guest, but also how GLAAD praises Cooper by saying shit like, “Fortunately, Anderson responded that Kylan is a woman because she has undergone hormone therapy and had sex reassignment surgery.” That does not deserve praise. For starters, hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgery do not make a woman. There are plenty of trans* women who have not undergone either. It does not make either or any more or less trans* than the other.

Secondly, if Anderson Cooper actually cared about trans* issues and educating his viewers, why would he allow such a cissexist/transmisogyntic guest host? Why would he not object to the questions being asked? Why would he allow any of this? This is horribly disappointing.

To allow this sort of shit to air without proper commentary only promotes harmful stereotypes about the trans* communities. It also encourages other shows (and it’s viewers) to ask similarly offensive questions in the future.

just shut up.

gyzym:

First, a story. 

So, my first semester of my freshman year of college, I took this Intro to Women’s Studies class. The class met for five hours a week, one two hour session and one three hour session, and the breakdown of students was what I eventually discovered to be the typical sampling in any Women’s Studies class with no pre-recs at my mid-sized, southern Ohio state school. There were a number of girls who would become, or were already part of, the feminist advocacy groups on campus; there were a number of girls who would prove themselves to be opposed to feminism in both concept and practice, one of whom I distinctly recall giving a presentation on the merits of the “Mrs. Degree,” while my professor’s eye twitched in muted horror; there were a handful of girls and at least one guy I’d come to know later through assorted campus queer groups; and there were, of course, the three to six dudebros, self-admittedly there to “meet chicks,” all but one or two of whom would drop the class after the first midterm. At eighteen, I was myself a feminist in name but not in practice—I believed in the idea behind feminism (which is, for the record, that people should be on equal footing regardless of gender, not that we should CRUSH ALL MEN BENEATH THE VICIOUS HEELS OF OUR DOC MARTENS GLORY HALLELUJAH), but I didn’t actually know anything about it. I could not identify the waves of feminism. Intersectionality and how the movement is crap at it were not things of which I was aware. Never had I ever encountered the writings of bell hooks. In a lucky break, you do not need to know about the waves of feminism, or know what intersectionality is, or have read bell hooks to read this essay! (But you should read bell hooks. Everyone should read bell hooks. bell hooks is FUCKING AWESOME.) 

The first couple of weeks of this class were about what you’d expect. The professor was fun and engaging, but she was not exactly pulling out the eye-opening stops on our wide-eyed freshman asses. There were handouts. There were selections of the textbook for reading. There was a very depressing class about domestic violence, abuse, and rape that was the typical rattling off of terms and horrific statistics that everyone winced at, but that nobody really internalized. The dudebros snickered in the back corner, grouped together like they would be infested by cooties if they spread out, occasionally chiming in with helpful comments like, “Dude, the lady on the back of this book is smoking,” and getting turned down by each girl in the class, on whom they were hitting in what I can only assume was a pre-determined descending order of hotness. The queer kids, myself included, huddled in the other corner making pithy comments. The up-and-coming active feminists glared at the bros, who leered back, and the Mrs. Degree-friendly crowd mostly texted under their desks and made it very clear that they were only there for humanities credit. Again, it was a fairly typical southern Ohio state school class full of fairly typical southern Ohio state school freshmen. Nobody was super engaged, is what I am saying here. Nobody, myself included, was really eating it up with a spoon. 

And then one day, my professor opened the class with, “So, who here has seen Beauty and the Beast?” 

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