Jan
2
Sigh… come on… REALLY??
Filed Under Feminism | Leave a Comment
Apparently the point of the feminist revolution was so that women everywhere could “trail-blaze” for the sake of young girls regarding things such as…..
…posing for Maxim.
Olivia Munn talks about paving the way for young girls “like her 2 year old niece” in her rant regarding the backlash on her Maxim spread.
This is old.
The slut shaming is uncalled for, divide and conquer at its best. At the same time, don’t expect me to be glowing with happiness that yet another woman is buying this silly idea that doing a photo spread for the boys is empowered. Bullshit. Come back and talk to me when you’re doing something that doesn’t fit into the everyday paradigm of WOMAN=SEX. Not sure what in the hell is supposed to make me grateful about seeing this continuously upheld by women who think they’re doing something revolutionary, and HEY even better, let’s pass this fucked up structure onto our daughters without a shred of critical thought!
There’s this idea going around that being comfortable with one’s own sexuality, or working towards it, logically results in putting oneself out there as an oil-slicked commodity. It saddens me that in this day and age that’s the idea that women are buying into, and that they’ve been deluded enough to think that it somehow makes a difference. This is everyday misogyny, feminism hijacked, buy more shit/eat less/workout more/tweak, nip, tuck to the nines so you can properly fit into the role of woman.
And don’t paint me as someone who “just needs a good fuck” because I resent you for being just another woman to corner us all in this box. You’re not doing me any favors. Don’t act like it. Sure, pretend that your actions have no impact whatsoever, but acting like some sort of pioneer is far more insulting to my intelligence.
Ani DiFranco said it best:
Some chick says
Thank you for saying all the things I never do
I say you know, the thanks I get is to take all the shit for you
It’s nice that you listen
It would be nice if you joined in
As long as you play their game girl, you’re never gonna win
- Face up and Sing
ETA: I forgot my ever present disclaimer. This isn’t meant to criticize the ever day woman who does the things society sort of promotes as necessary to be a proper woman, etc. etc. Yeah, we all capitulate to some degree, I completely understand this and it’s a part of life. Her defense irked me in particular though, especially the whole trailblazer aspect.
Aug
12
To the Blindingly Stupid American
Filed Under Politics | Leave a Comment
Much of the time, I try to convince myself you’re not out there. That you’re only misguided, and with a little bit more education and understanding you would come to your senses. But really, I can only abide such willful, intentionally stubborn ignorance for so long.
- Michelle Malkin, your assertion that getting health insurance coverage is merely about “priorities” is ridiculously insulting. I will tell you about MY priorities. In prioritizing my mental health, I can not afford to pay for the care of possibly serious physical ailments. Those of your ilk have told me that if it were really so important, I’d get a second job….. Possibly aggravating said physical ailment further in order to PAY FOR TREATMENT.
- “Well, you shouldn’t be at the doctor so much” – Another ridiculously ignorant, flippant statement made by people who have health insurance and don’t want to see the system change…. Obviously you’ve never met numerous coworkers of mine who have serious physical ailments that require biweekly doctors visits and costly tests. “Priorities” will also get them nowhere, as insurance agencies refuse to cover them. Getting second jobs in their condition is NOT POSSIBLE.
- “Personal responsibility” doesn’t make a WHIT OF DIFFERENCE IF YOU SIMPLY CAN’T AFFORD TO PAY!!!
- Justifying the care you get and its quality based on your “worth to society” in terms of how much you make, and justifying others NOT receiving the quality care they need because they don’t make enough – you are scum.
- Your beloved “liberal media” is out there smearing the Canadian system and the idea of single payer health care because it has a vested, CORPORATE interest in the status quo. THIS IS NOT ABOUT LIBERAL OR CONSERVATIVE. It’s about seven corporations owning our news outlets, looking out for CORPORATE INTERESTS.
- I consider myself to be, at the very least, a SOCIALIST. Yes, I said a super scary word that Americans will forever live in fear of without educating themselves about what it TRULY IS. So while you spout your misinformed propaganda about the US “turning into Russia or China” please understand that systems like Canada’s are NOT SOCIALIST.
- While I advocate a system like Canada’s, I do believe 100% that the US government WILL fuck up this health care reform because the system is too compromised by lobbyists – insurance and pharmaceuticals who don’t give a shit about the human factor, and will count every profit making penny despite the person on the other end who needs medical care. As much as I’d like to think this will ease a huge burden for me in the future, I HIGHLY DOUBT IT.
- For a “Christian Nation”, as many of your ilk like to claim, the current system is certainly the embodiment of Jesus’ principles! But Socialism, and making sure people’s needs are met is godless….. quite a switch.
- For once, the advice to “get out if you don’t like it” sounds like a GREAT idea. It would be nice to go to a place that’s informed by policy and citizens that CARE ABOUT HUMAN BEINGS AND NOT ABOUT PROFITS.
I know it’s difficult to believe that the world is not always so neat and tidy, that it doesn’t fit into a view that uses buzzwords like “priorities” and “personal responsibility.” I am tired of the blinding stupidity and ignorance, the mulish refusal to think critically. I am also tired of the selfishness and the “fuck you, I’ve got mine” mentality that permeates America like rot. Fuck terrorists – we’re doing an amazing job of destroying this country on our own.
MYTHBUSTING CANADIAN HEALTHCARE
Oct
7
I guess they’re in a better position to do that now that there’s a brigade touring US soil.
Aug
25
Been slowwwwwwwwwly reading my way through Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky, a compilation of talks Noam Chomsky has given and came across this today…. feel like it really pertains to my last post:
Look, there isn’t any true capitalist society in the world, it couldn’t survive for ten minutes, but there are variations on capitalism, and the U.S. is towards the capitalist end of the world spectrum – not very far towards it, I should say, but towards it at least in values. And if you had a truly capitalist society, everything would be a commodity, including freedom: there would be as much of it as you can buy. Well, since the U.S. is towards that end of the spectrum, it means there’s an awful lot of freedom around if you can afford it. So, if you’re a black organizer in the ghetto, you don’t have much of it, and you’re in trouble – they can send the Chicago police in to murder you, like they did with Fred Hampton [a Black Panther assassinated by the F.B.I. in 1969]. But if you’re a white professional like me, you can buy a lot of freedom.
Jan
15
Job Search: Ideals versus Practical Realities
Filed Under General | 3 Comments
As some of you who read this blog already know, I’ve been pulling my hair out and worrying to bits about finding a new job now that I’ve graduated. It probably doesn’t help that I feel like I need to get out of my current job as bookselling plebe ASAP or I’ll be stuck there forever.
Today is designated “job hunting” day, since I did absolutely nothing productive with my weekend. Well, ok, I read 35 pages of Andrea Smith’s incredible book Conquest (by now I should be done with it already) and read some really incredible blog posts resulting from the current “Yes Means Yes” controversy in the feminist blogosphere. Post on that forthcoming.
So… what I don’t want, I am aware of.
This would be anything related to things like web design and development and outreach (Otherwise known as the dreadful fundraising and schmoozing department). Unfortunately, the strengths in my resume largely point to WEB DESIGN and technology related pursuits. I don’t doubt that it’s what got me my Human Rights Watch internship. (But hey, how can I complain, right?)
I’ve been reading a lot of ideas by people who seem to be saying that the reason nothing is changing is because we’re looking to gain power in the same system that is disenfranchising so many, as opposed to changing the system altogether.
I’ve felt that international development in the form of the World Bank, IMF and WTO is nothing more than neocolonialism, a scheme that speaks of “liberating” the poor while taking resources that are rightfully theirs for the purpose of providing amenities to a privileged few. This is what really gets me passionate.
So I’ll admit that in looking through the job listings at idealist.org, I can’t help but gag at the numerous listings that speak of “using markets for change,” encouraging “entrepreneurial spirit”, and garnering “investment portfolios for development.”
At the same time, that’s some incredibly fucked up shit. I’m sitting in a nice, warm house with enough food to eat and a supportive family. So where does my resistance of the status quo fit in when people are still living in poverty and dying around the world for a countless number of reasons that may be alleviated by these programs? I can refuse to take jobs based on the fact that I think they’ll be furthering capitalism, which I feel is an inherently oppressive system. But that doesn’t exactly help anyone either. And let me be clear that I don’t know the intentions or rates of success of these organizations in the way that I feel that the development schemes of the World Bank/IMF/WTO are largely detrimental and do much more harm than good.
As well, I’ll admit that as I continue to look at practical matters, I don’t want to have to watch every dime I spend the way I do now. I would like to be somewhat comfortable. (In which a little voice chimes in, if others aren’t comfortable then where is your right to be?) And again, stemming from the “Yes Means Yes” controversy, I came across a comment by Theriomorph that really struck a chord with me in light of what I’ve been thinking about:
I make choices to be sure the work I do for social justice is not *dictated* by my basic financial needs, because history shows me this is an ethical dead end. If my personal success and survival is contingent on appeasing and collaborating with the existing power structure, I will have to appease and collaborate. I make active choices, as we all do, about how I engage, what tools I choose to use, and how I use them. (Full comment here)
Perhaps I am making this much more complicated than it really is. I simply want to work against the neocolonialist policies of institutions like the World Bank and the IMF. I KNOW what I want to do, so you’d think half the battle is over. Now the “simple” task of finding the job that allows me to do that kind of thing.
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