Sigh… come on… REALLY??

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.

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The Right Hijacks Feminism Part 2

Watching the most recent Katie Couric interview with Sarah Palin makes me sad. I do believe she is woefully unqualified, and it makes me cringe to see her doing badly. As much as I felt I could not fully support a Clinton candidacy (But then, will there ever be a candidate I can fully support? It was naive of me to think Obama would be any different on the issues I’m concerned about, or any Democrat for that matter.), I was never cheering for her loss as others were. The LAST thing I wanted to see was Clinton’s downfall due to how many were gleefully waiting for it. I feel like that’s gradually where my opinion is going in terms of Palin despite feeling that many of her policies are abhorrent and indeed a step back for women.

It seems that with the economic crisis, the Republican use of sexism as a tool to shut people up when talking about Sarah Palin has abated. And while I outlined the sexism I saw being leveled at Palin in a previous post and see more everyday (more to come, trust me) I was incredibly frustrated with the men and some women who began to use it in some cynical bid to women. The “gender and victim cards” of the Clinton campaign were all of a sudden welcomed talks of the sexism towards Palin! My stars! There are many issues that aren’t partisan. This is one.

So.. here is a run down I began in the midst of the furor after the Palin pick. It’s not great, but it’s been bugging me so I’m just going to post it already. It’s been holding up a backlog of other posts.

(more…)

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