A needed response

A short, simple Youtube video with a very powerful message.

Gulabi Gang

There is an organization in India made up of women in pink saris who wield bamboo sticks and fight for women and against injustice. This is awesome on so many different levels.

Sampat Pel Davi

To hell with neutral

I was listening to an NPR story on Egypt the other day which reported on the state of women's rights before and after Morsi. It talked about female genital mutilation and restrictions on women working, going to school, etc--what got to me was categorizing those who favored these things as "more conservative" on women's rights. Conservative? Really? Fuck conservative, and fuck using non-politically charged, neutral words with these people.

Hypocrite, PA

I was driving through Pennsylvania and saw three things that really pissed me off. My favorite little country store had a “save marriage” petition on the counter—which means I can never buy anything from there ever again. An adult store had a billboard placed outside of it by some family group—it had a picture of a sad, abused little girl and the words PORN CORRUPTS! And alongside the road, every 500 feet or so, were “abortion is murder you stupid whore” signs—ok, not quite that wording, but close enough. My poor son had to listen to me for a good thirty minutes as I made plans to get knocked up then head to Hypocrite, PA with my big dykey lover. She has to be really butch so the people have to stop and wonder if maybe, just maybe, she had the ability to get me pregnant. She would hold my hand during my abortion and we would prop a portable DVD player on my stomach during the procedure so we could watch all the porn we wanted. It would totally fuck with the protestor’s minds—they would condemn us for going through with the abortion, but they would also condemn us if we raised the child because our gayness might rub all over it and place a horrible black mark on its mortal soul. I think the resulting mental debate would cause at least one of them to spontaneously combust.

Your god, or gods, should not hurt people...period!

A friend on FaceBook posted this made-up little meme recently, and all I can really say is What The Fuck?? Someone doesn't believe in your god so it is okay to hit them, and, of course, pretend that god himself told you to do it?

Well, that just sums up thousands of years of history right there.

This is not okay!!!

A Call to Action

I bought this book both because of the subject matter and my admiration of what Jimmy Carter has done with his life since he left the presidency. This is from the introduction:

"There is a system of discrimination, extending far beyond any small geographical region to the entire globe; it touches every nation, perpetuating and expanding the trafficking of human slaves, body mutilation, and even legitimized murder on a massive scale. This system is based on the presumption that men and boys are superior to women and girls...This false premise provides a justification for sexual discrimination in almost every realm of secular and religious life."


A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power

Brazilian Women Bare All

Earlier this week, a study was released that said a startling 65.1 percent of Brazilianseither partially or wholly believe that "if dressed provocatively, women deserve to be attacked and raped." In addition, the study revealed a 58.5 percent complacency with the belief that "if women knew how to behave, there would be less rape."

The study, conducted by Brazil's Institute for Applied Economic Research (IPEA),showed that 66.5 percent of the surveyed pool were in fact, women. The institute interviewed a reflective sample of 3,810 Brazilians via questionnaire across 212 cities between May and June of 2013.

Brazilian women instantly reacted and took to social media and blogs to start a conversation about the study's revelations, keeping the story relevant and trending for more than 24 hours. In protest, Brazilian journalist Nana Queiroz created a Facebook event and hashtag to confront the outrage. The hashtag is appropriately titled #NãoMereçoSerEstuprada, which translates to '#IDon'tDeserveToBeRaped.'

Read the rest of the story...

I don't deserve to be raped