tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80071162024-03-07T11:05:01.989-08:00des femmesdes femmes, defamed...Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger60125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007116.post-1169831328212724832007-01-26T08:58:00.000-08:002007-01-26T09:08:48.223-08:00How do you think of yourself?“Ella’s unexpectedly witty <a href="http://ella-studio.com/ExpressionsNotecardsMain.htm">notecards</a>” are embossed with delightful sayings like <i>bitch</i>, <i>slut</i>, and <i>whore</i>.
Witty.
The self-hatred makes me want to cry.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007116.post-1147971775091802692006-05-18T09:57:00.000-07:002006-05-18T10:02:55.163-07:00No she is NOT<p>Laura Bush is no more a feminist than are Phyllis Schlafly or the shills of the IWF.</p>
<p>For the second time that I know of--how many other young women have been duped?--someone has marvelled on their blog about Laura Bush.</p>
<p>You've been had. Forget what comes out of the mouth; <i>watch the hands.</i></p>
<p>Who is Laura Bush married to? I'm not going to cite the reasons I think George Bush is despicable. If you think he isn't, you might as well click away right now.</p>
<p>Could *you* look yourself in the eye if you were married to him? Don't say what a man does for a living has nothing to do with his personal life. By staying married to someone like that, you're condoning his actions. Lie down with dogs...</p>
<p>There <i>are</i> lots of reasons why women stay with contemptible shits like George Bush:</p>
<ul>
<li>She's afraid he'll come after her.</li>
<li>She doesn't know where to go.</li>
<li>She's afraid of losing her kids.</li>
<li>She's afraid he'll hurt the kids.</li>
<li>Her pastor tells her it's her Christian duty.</li>
<li>She has no money.</li>
<li>Her "friends" tell her she'd be crazy to give up her nice house and social position.</li>
<li>She thinks his behavior is all her fault.</li>
<li>She's been beaten down so long she can't even imagine the possibility of leaving.</li>
</ul>
<p>Tell me which of those reasons apply to Laura Bush. I've looked at her and read about her, and the only one I can even imagine being correct is that she'd lose her social position. Her social position. She wouldn't be out on the street. She wouldn't have to beg anyone to help her pay off her divorce.</p>
<p>Feminist my ass.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007116.post-1147799525566713352006-05-16T09:57:00.000-07:002006-05-17T09:25:33.696-07:00Annual post<p>No, I haven't started or joined a feminist blog elsewhere.</p>
<p>I haven't blogged because it takes so long for me to write something comprehensible, and other projects have been taking up my time.</p>
<p>It's hard to keep up the fury, too, even though it simmers underneath all the time.</p>
<p>Then there's this horrible "Am I the only one who sees the problem here?" feeling. I do not understand the glee of calling oneself a slut or a whore or a pimp, of joking about porn.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007116.post-1121828200272725192005-07-19T16:56:00.000-07:002005-07-19T19:56:40.316-07:00This post is not about you<p>It's kind of hard to have a discussion with someone who pops in for a few minutes and then takes off for weeks at a time, isn't it? No tone of levity is intended; read frustration and embarrassment instead.</p>
<p>(But I am reducing my backlog of newspapers. I've got to June 28 already.) </p>
<p>I could abandon this blog and go over to <a href="http://www.livejournal.com/community/feminist_rage/">Feminist Rage</a> and rant when my wrath overflows, but my territory is *here*. (If I were a cat, I'd be rubbing my head all over this page.) And in my own spot I don't have to try to adjust my thinking to fit in with the norm, assuming it were possible.</p>
<p>Sort of related story: I used to work at a federal equipment repair installation. Every fiscal year we'd have a work slowdown; we'd have widgets to repair, but we couldn't work on them till the funding came through. The old-timers were used to it, and they'd milk whatever work orders were open, sitting around a table in the clean room talking pretty much all day. Fool me, I was new there, bored to death with nothing to do but read a tech manual over and over, and I asked the supervisor when we were going to get some work in. He found some; he had us scraping and sanding the shipping barrels for the equipment.</p>
<p>Looks like I haven't learned my lesson yet.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007116.post-1120011697051368352005-06-28T19:17:00.000-07:002005-06-28T19:23:38.956-07:00Blind loyalty<p>And <a href="http://www.mediagirl.org/">media girl</a> too...</p>
<blockquote>"<a href="http://www.haloscan.com/comments/desfemmes/111922817042071142/">If BBA weren't started by Shakespeare's Sister, I'd agree with you.</a>"</blockquote>
<p>NO ONE gets a free pass. That special privileges shit is an earmark of bullies and people who think they're better than anyone else.</p>
<p>Doesn't every living person deserve the right to be considered as a rational creature and not a body part?</p>
<p>What the hell is someone who professes feminism doing equating fortitude with testicles? At my most charitable I might call it short-sighted and foolhardy. I like the words traitorous and cowardly better.</p>
<p>To follow along with this "balls" mindset, we women will bargain away all our rights to control pregnancy, too, because we have to do whatever it takes to get the chimp out of the White House. And if it means giving up hope, well... It's not like we were ever considered more than walking pleasure boxes.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007116.post-1120011155093965912005-06-28T19:08:00.000-07:002005-06-28T19:12:35.100-07:00Blonde disloyalty<p>Perhaps I was unclear in my earlier post. Certainly <a href="http://www.haloscan.com/comments/desfemmes/111920490758671475/">Teresa</a> didn't seem to understand my meaning, that the hostile language in the blogs of people supposedly on the side of truth and justice drove me away from reading blogs for several months.</p>
<blockquote>"First, I was pissed off at the time."</blockquote>
<p>So being angry excuses certain language. It's okay--if I'm pissed off--to call people names, even people who aren't the object of my anger, and even though using that name continues a vicious stereotype.</p>
<blockquote>"Second, I'm a blonde"</blockquote>
<p>Lack of self-respect isn't permission to slander others.</p>
<blockquote>"Third, if you think that's 'ugliness,' and that it's aimed at you ... sheesh."</blockquote>
<p>Fucking believe it's aimed at me, large and multitudinous.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/">Teresa</a> must know she's in the wrong--I just don't buy that she's not perceptive enough to see how insulting her "blonde" remark was--but she refuses to admit it. Down goes another icon.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007116.post-1119999812092349232005-06-28T16:00:00.000-07:002007-03-29T11:19:18.043-07:00Roses, rings, and balls<p>That others take time not only to read this blog but also to respond amazes me. I prefer listening to talking; and too much attention makes me feel uncomfortable. And *obligated*. <grin></p>
<p>It's painfully clear that many women who profess to be feminist haven't been able to free themselves from the sexism embedded in our culture; they don't really know themselves to be the equal of men; they haven't taken feminism into their heart.</p>
<p>Blog talk earlier about engagement rings and Valentine's Day flowers is an example. Is the ring a token of affection or a mark of ownership? If it's a token of affection, then surely the gift should be mutual--rings or some other item for both. How can it be right for only one person in the relationship to be *expected* to gift the other? Same thing with that trumped-up holiday, Valentine's Day.</p>
<p>Another example is some women's acceptance and adoption of sexist language. What I see is women posturing about being equal to or better than any man, and then being validated by being accepted as one of the guys. Pfft.</p>
<p>It don't work like that. At the end of the day, you're still a woman, and you're still second class, and you're leaving this mess for your daughters and sons.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007116.post-1119228170420711422005-06-19T17:31:00.000-07:002005-06-19T17:42:50.430-07:00So much for reframing<p>No soft cushy penis hats for the so-called progressives, uh-uh. With their shiny rock-hard brass balls, these progressives one-up the Republicans and show them how a real man stacks up.</p>
<p>Amazing how women will promote this sexist language and call themselves progressive, and other women will accede so readily.</p>
<p>On the positive side, all those BBA logos sure made trimming my blogroll easy.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007116.post-1119206827293391312005-06-19T11:21:00.000-07:002005-06-19T12:14:26.046-07:00Not just blogs<p>Newspapers have also lost their interest for me. For the last 25 years I've read my local paper, even the back issues when I return from vacation.</p>
<p>Ha! I'm on vacation all the time now. For weeks the papers stack up until I can bring myself to skim them. The largest stack held seven weeks of papers.</p>
<p><a href="http://bodyandsoul.typepad.com/blog/2005/01/who_are_we.html">Jeanne</a> captured the feeling I used to have:</p>
<blockquote>"The article took me hours to read, because I couldn't take more than a short bit at I time, but felt obligated to know what was in it, and to let each horror sink in. It was the only news I managed to read yesterday, not only because it was hard to take, but because after reading that, there didn't seem to be anything else in the world worth knowing about."</blockquote>
<p>I guess I'm more cynical, or too selfish, or better numbed, than Jeanne. I can't even stir myself to be interested in much besides the comics.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007116.post-1119204907586714752005-06-19T10:28:00.000-07:002005-06-19T11:49:10.160-07:00Tomorrow becomes never<p>For months I've been thinking about updating this blog. I'll get to it as soon as I finish this, and then this, and then this other thing. But...</p>
<p>The blogs that used to irritate me so much--I can't stand to read them any more. Ignorant little twerps, pompous blowhards, shills. Lost causes, and their cause isn't mine. They--and of course I'm speaking in general--want to be the ones on top, and we women get to remain on the bottom.</p>
<p>Here's this comment from the charming <a href="http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/2004/11/heal-this.html">Orcinus</a>:</p>
<blockquote>"Well, that didn't take long. I figured it was only a matter of time before the conservative facade of civility crumbled, but this time it came off faster than the pancake on a ten-dollar hooker."</blockquote>
<p>Teresa Nielsen Hayden wrote a beautiful <a href="mailto:http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/005736.html#005736">summary of postelection reaction</a>:</p>
<blockquote>"You know what's really happening? They're seeing our reactions, and they're scared. It's like that moment where someone tells you what they've done, and it's disastrously wrong, a complete catastrophe; only they haven't understood that until now, when they see you stagger and turn pale at the news. And as you're standing there steadying yourself, feeling your heart pounding and a terrible weight descending on your shoulders ... you realize that the other person is preemptively yelling at you. They still don't quite know what's happened, but they can tell they've screwed up big time, so they're screaming that they certainly hope you aren't going to pretend that this could somehow have been their fault, because ..."</blockquote>
<p>But then in the comments she <a href="http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/005736.html#64184">said</a>,</p>
<blockquote>"To have voted for Nader in 2000 required only error. To have done so in 2004 required that one vote for someone one knew was a shamelessly manipulative and irresponsible liar. I respect democracy, and I respect the voting process. I just don't respect that choice. I'll also defend to the death your or anyone else's continuing right to make stupid choices -- which, as Groucho Marx once said to a blonde, is more than you've been doing lately."</blockquote>
<p>A blonde. Now what is "blonde" shorthand for, I wonder?</p>
<p>If this ugliness directed at <i>me</i> is the best I can hope for from the supposedly liberal side, I don't want anything to do with it. I can be insulted without having to go out and look for it.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007116.post-1102625540780905202004-12-09T13:50:00.000-08:002004-12-09T12:52:20.780-08:00Eye candy for the fiber artists<p>I happened upon these sites and thought some of the people who knit and embroider might appreciate some gorgeous examples of textile arts.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.flameweaver.com/weblog/fiblog.html">Fiber Fantasies</a></li>
<li><a href="http://wildwomen.typepad.com/">Sundancers, Wild Women and DreamWeavers</a></li>
</ul>
<p>And here's an article about fabrics found at archeological sites:<br >
<a href="http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/science/20041208-9999-lz1c8textiles.html">Discovery and study of ancient fabrics provide clues to life in ages past</a>
<br />
[via <a href="http://www.faziarizvi.net/blog.pl/day/">Fusion Reaction</a>]</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007116.post-1102625428593288962004-12-09T13:36:00.000-08:002004-12-09T12:50:28.593-08:00Links pruned, links grafted<p>Cleaning up my blogroll, I noticed a lot of people haven't posted since just after the U.S. election. Guess I wasn't alone in wanting to just not think about the impending annihilation of the world as we know it. [grin]</p>
<p>Some links I removed because their mix changed; I want the links to focus on women, and male contributors disturb the balance. Other links were removed because the page didn't display properly in my browser or the flashing graphics hurt my eyes.</p>
<p>I added a few more links, too. Not all are progressive or liberal or feminist; I like to be reminded now and then that other people may have different views.</p>
<p>And I learned something new about LiveJournal: <a href="http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=149">All journals on LiveJournal have both an RSS and an Atom feed.</a></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007116.post-1100148694915202132004-11-10T20:45:00.000-08:002004-11-10T20:51:34.916-08:00What if...<p>A smart kitty would be lapping the floor clean, not crying over spilled milk.</p>
<p>Still, I have to wonder what would have happened if Clinton had upheld his promise to complete the integration of the Armed Forces. Could the country have been any more divided than it is now?</p>
<p>And what if just one of the 45 Democratic senators in the <a href="http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/106_pictorial/senators_r11_99.html">106th Congress</a> had stood up for universal suffrage? Even if the House of Representatives would have confirmed Bush anyway, shouldn't the Democrats have united in condemnation of voter intimidation?</p>
<p>Expediency is a lousy platform.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007116.post-1100147894247377412004-11-10T20:33:00.000-08:002004-11-10T20:38:14.246-08:00Women are veterans too<p>A reminder...</p>
<p>Women comprise 15 percent of the total military (Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force).</p>
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tr>
<td colspan="3"><b><a href="http://web1.whs.osd.mil/mmid/military/miltop.htm">Military Personnel Statistics</a> as of Sept. 30, 2003:</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Total military</td>
<td align="right">1,434,377</td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Total women in military</td>
<td align="right">215,243</td>
<td align="right">15.00%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="3"> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Total officers</td>
<td align="right">227,851</td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Female officers</td>
<td align="right">34,796</td>
<td align="right">15.27%</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p>Captain Barbara A. Wilson, USAF (Ret) has gathered a boatload of information about <a href="http://userpages.aug.com/captbarb/">Military Women Veterans</a>.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007116.post-1100091300014903702004-11-10T04:48:00.000-08:002004-11-10T04:55:00.016-08:00How can we live together?<p>I've squinted and tried to see with the eyes of the people who voted for Bush, and I cannot see whatever they thought they were seeing.</p>
<p>Falsification of scientific data. Corrupt business practices. Disregard of civil rights. Condoned torture. Squelching of dissent. Mocking our veterans. The budget deficit.</p>
<p>Shockingly plain to my eyes.</p>
<p>Invisible to millions of people--educated people, intelligent people, people who "researched" the issues and still decided for Bush.</p>
<p>People who were <a href="http://www.bopnews.com/archives/001431.html">angst-ridden, scared, tolerant, cynical, distrusting, and want[ed] and <b>fear[ed] change</b></a> so much that they clung to the candidate who had been milking their fears ever since his incompetence gave the terrorists their opportunity.</p>
<p>Deluded people, who believed that there wasn't much difference between Bush and Kerry, and at least Bush has a sense of humor. People who just didn't think Kerry could fight terrorism, and that Bush's environmental record isn't as bad as it was made out to be.</p>
<p>These people don't understand, refuse to understand, that the widespread grief at Kerry's loss came from fear for America's future, and the mass gasp of <i>O Canada</i> arose from revulsion at being forced to live with people who care nothing for decency and justice, and whose susceptivity to propaganda may cause them to turn on their fellow citizens at any second.</p>
<p>The phrase "drinking the Kool-Aid" is painfully cynical; over 900 people died in Jonestown, nearly a third of them children. But it sure seems like half the country has been guzzling it down.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007116.post-1098110422633321342004-10-18T07:35:00.000-07:002004-10-18T07:40:22.633-07:00Reasons for picking X for president<p>Whatever we believe about the candidates, we still have to live together after November. Maybe understanding how the other half thinks will ease the divisions.</p>
<p>Why people are voting...</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.bopnews.com/archives/001911.html#1911">for Bush</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.bopnews.com/archives/001920.html#001920">against Bush</a></li>
<li><a href="http://wizbangblog.com/archives/003938.php">for Kerry</a> (a)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.bopnews.com/archives/001919.html#1919">for Kerry</a> (b)</li>
</ul>
<p><i>via <a href="http://tsuredzuregusa.blogspot.com/2004/10/bridging-great-divide.html">Shaula at tsuredzuregusa</a></i></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007116.post-1098109798048448262004-10-18T07:28:00.000-07:002004-10-18T07:29:58.046-07:00Valium in Iraq<p>The question of whether Valium use is a problem in Iraq came up on <a href="http://trishwilson.typepad.com/blog/2004/10/oprah_iraqi_wom.html">Trish Wilson's blog</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/archives/2004_10_01_riverbendblog_archive.html#109761755496972438">Riverbend</a> discusses Valium use in Iraq.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007116.post-1098109504570841852004-10-18T06:56:00.000-07:002004-12-08T21:04:32.406-08:00Fascism and pseudo fascism<p>Shameless Agitator <a href="http://www.shamelessagitator.com/archives/2004_09_28_shamelessagitator_archive.html#109637794322328106">lists</a> the fourteen common characteristics of fascist regimes:</p>
<blockquote>"5. <b>Rampant sexism</b>. Beyond the simple fact that the political elite and the national culture were male-dominated, these regimes inevitably viewed women as second-class citizens. They were adamantly anti-abortion and also <b>homophobic</b>. These attitudes were usually codified in Draconian laws that enjoyed strong support by the orthodox religion of the country, thus lending the regime cover for its abuses." [my emphasis]</blockquote>
<p>Orcinus has written a series on "The Rise of Pseudo Fascism": <span style="color:#990033;">[December 8, 2004: Links to final articles added]</span></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/2004_09_19_dneiwert_archive.html#109028353137888956">Part 1</a></li>
<li><a href="http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/2004_09_26_dneiwert_archive.html#109563628314780505">Part 2</a></li>
<li><a href="http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/2004_10_03_dneiwert_archive.html#109596147171278590">Part 3</a></li>
<li><a href="http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/2004_10_10_dneiwert_archive.html#109694976530359103">Part 4</a></li>
<li><a href="http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/2004_10_17_dneiwert_archive.html#109755467135245579">Part 5</a> new(er)</li>
<li><a href="http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/2004_10_24_dneiwert_archive.html#109858062597237163">Part 6</a> new(er)</li>
<li><a href="http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/2004_10_31_dneiwert_archive.html#109902109250035295">Part 7</a> new(er)</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Sexist</b></p>
<p><a href="http://www.aclu.org/WomensRights/WomensRights.cfm?ID=16762&c=173">The New York Police Department refused to investigate a police officer who wore a motorcycle helmet with the words "Loud Wives Lose Lives" on it during the GOP convention.</a></p>
<p>Under current HMIS guidelines, that cop would have access to the addresses of domestic violence shelters.</p>
<p>Many domestic violence shelters in this country rely on HUD funding and will be required to participate in the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), a computerized database to track people who are homeless. Within any given state there could be literally thousands of people who have access to this information. Early in the process of developing HMIS standards, domestic violence organizations raised concerns about client safety, explaining that there was a need for domestic violence victims' identities and temporary residences to remain confidential so that their abusers can't locate them. The exemptions for domestic violence shelters and domestic violence victims have been removed from the final standards. Go <a href="http://www.stopfamilyviolence.org/sfvo/HMIS.html">here</a> to complain about these standards.</p>
<p><b>Sexist and homophobic</b></p>
<p>Katherine R at Obsidian Wings <a href="http://obsidianwings.blogs.com/obsidian_wings/2004/10/wha.html">writes</a>:</p>
<blockquote>"All of this [Coburn's lesbian epidemic and Keyes' accusing lesbians of selfish hedonism] becomes a lot less funny when you read stories like <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49856-2004Sep25.html">these</a> <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52563-2004Sep26.html">two</a>. But note that it's not just a red state thing--the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2626-2004Oct2.html">two</a> <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4512-2004Oct3.html">follow-ups</a> are about a girl from Newark:
<blockquote>'Survival is a part of everyday Newark, but for Felicia it intensified in May 2003 with the killing of her friend, a 15-year-old lesbian named Sakia Gunn, who was at a bus stop downtown when she rejected a man's pickup attempt with the declaration that she was gay. A fight followed and Sakia was stabbed to death.' "</blockquote></blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007116.post-1098107282228053672004-10-18T06:39:00.000-07:002004-10-18T06:48:02.230-07:00A few comments<p>I read all the advice columnists in the newspaper--childrearing, physical fitness, automobile repair, it doesn't matter. The columnist that grates on me is the younger Dear Abby. She has to put in her opinion after every single letter, even when the letter stands alone, nothing needed but a thank you for writing in.</p>
<p>Most of the comments here don't need any response from me, like <a href="http://desfemmes.blogspot.com/2004/09/making-it-simple.html">these two</a>:</p>
<blockquote>"How do we insult upper-class, white, heterosexual men?" (<a href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/kiwi_grrl/">Sarah</a>)</blockquote>
<blockquote>"We become equal to them." (<a href="http://www.bitcheswithglitches.com/nwn/">Hanna</a>)</blockquote>
<p>Here's a <a href="http://desfemmes.blogspot.com/2004/10/oops-missed-some.html">question</a> that does need an answer:</p>
<blockquote>"I have a generic question about your blog: is the name a conscious tribute to Les éditions des femmes, the historic French feminist publishing house?" (<a href="http://zhengming.blogspot.com/">Jimmy Ho</a>)</blockquote>
<p>No. Embarrassingly, I don't think I ever heard of it or <a href="http://www.wic.org/bio/afouque.htm">Antoinette Fouque</a> before. Thank you for asking and making me learn something new.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007116.post-1098106567188446342004-10-18T06:11:00.000-07:002004-10-18T06:36:07.190-07:00Words, homophobic and otherwise<p><a href="http://anabaptist.lifewithchrist.org">Graham</a> <a href="http://desfemmes.blogspot.com/2004/09/making-it-simple.html">asked</a>:</p>
<blockquote>"Is 'ass-kisser' homophobic?"</blockquote>
<p>And Greg <a href="http://desfemmes.blogspot.com/2004/09/making-it-simple.html">said</a>:</p>
<blockquote>"Brown-noser and ass-kisser strike me as strongly homophobic."</blockquote>
<p>Wow, that's a reaction I never anticipated. I was thinking of someone making obeisance, instead of kissing the ground kissing the foulest part of someone's body, which in our culture would be the anus. Think "put it where the sun don't shine," "eat shit," "asshole," "got their heads up their asses," and so on.</p>
<p>Maybe I'm just out of touch--how do others feel? Is ass-kisser homophobic?</p>
<p><a href="http://anabaptist.lifewithchrist.org">Graham</a> <a href="http://desfemmes.blogspot.com/2004/09/making-it-simple.html">continued</a>:</p>
<blockquote>"I would actually find 'spunkless' incredibly insulting. It suggets that I cannot impregnant a woman and am therefore less than a man."</blockquote>
<p>It sounds like we're looking at different meanings for "spunk." My dictionaries say <i>spirit, pluck, mettle.</i> Spunk is also slang for semen?</p>
<p>In any case, your being insulted by the word "spunkless" is amazing. Can any man seriously consider that his worth as a human being depends on what squirts out of his penis? To judge a man by his ability to impregnate a woman implies that men are nothing more than baby-makers, worthless for anything else. That standard demeans all men, and specifically insults those who are physically unable to or who for any reason choose not to procreate.</p>
<p><a href="http://ilyily.blogspot.com/">James D</a> <a href="http://desfemmes.blogspot.com/2004/09/whole-raft-of-men-refuse-to-get-it.html">said</a>:</p>
<blockquote>"I'm curious about how you feel about 'suck' -- i.e.; he/she/that 'sucks.' Obviously referencing oral sex with the implication that it's a bad thing (to be giving, of course, not receiving), which leads back to being a whore..."</blockquote>
<p>I didn't comprehend how insulting "suck" could be, not just to gay men but also to nursing mothers. I'm trying to weed "suck" out of my vocabulary, and alsis38's suggested <a href="http://desfemmes.blogspot.com/2004/09/whole-raft-of-men-refuse-to-get-it.html">substitutions</a>--reeks, stinks, rots--are a big help; these words have the same strong emphatic sound. Alsis38 also said, "Good suffixes to add empahsis are things like '...on ice,' 'on toast,' 'on stilts,' etc."</p>
<p><a href="http://www.repubanon.com/repubanon">RepubAnon</a> <a href="http://desfemmes.blogspot.com/2004/09/making-it-simple.html">proposed</a> these terms:</p>
<blockquote>"ashcroft (v) wanton destruction - as in 'They've done a real ashcroft on the Bill of Rights.'</blockquote>
<blockquote>cheney (v) as in 'go cheney yourself'</blockquote>
<blockquote>Powell (n) powerless toady, as in my manager sure is being a powell after the CEO called.</blockquote>
<blockquote>Rumsfeld (n) insane, as in 'crazy as a rumsfeld'"</blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007116.post-1097855419111934102004-10-15T08:50:00.000-07:002004-10-15T08:53:54.900-07:00The politics of economics<p>The Blogosphere's invisible women explain the Ownership Society, presented in suggested reading order.</p>
<blockquote><a href="http://pinkofeministhellcat.typepad.com/pinko_feminist_hellcat/2004/09/how_to_disenfra.html">How to disenfranchise people without even trying</a><br />
(Pinko Feminist Hellcat)</blockquote>
<blockquote><a href="http://blondesense.blogspot.com/2004/10/maybe-people-dont-care-because-they.html">Maybe people don't care because they don't have time to think</a><br />(BlondeSense)</blockquote>
<blockquote><a href="http://tsuredzuregusa.blogspot.com/2004/10/faces-behind-numbers.html">The faces behind the numbers</a><br />(tsuredzuregusa)</blockquote>
<blockquote><a href="http://www.utopianhell.com/index.php?p=110">Jobs (or jorbs, if you're the coach)</a><br />(Utopian Hell)</blockquote>
<blockquote><a href="http://suburbanguerrilla.blogspot.com/2004/10/life-on-edgeboy-do-i-relate-to-this_11.html">Life on the edge</a><br />(Suburban Guerrilla)</blockquote>
<blockquote><a href="http://www.node707.com/archives/002048.shtml">Work hard for the money</a><br /><a href="http://www.node707.com/archives/002053.shtml">Strong and getting stronger for the multi-millionaires</a><br />(Just a Bump in the Beltway)</blockquote>
<blockquote><a href="http://www.democraticwings.com/democraticwings/archives/economy/001052.php">Hello Bush, bye bye jobs</a><br />(Democratic Wings)</blockquote>
<blockquote><a href="http://echidneofthesnakes.blogspot.com/2004_09_01_echidneofthesnakes_archive.html#109652131585824128">Self-Made Billionaires</a><br />(echidne of the snakes)</blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007116.post-1097854456457421462004-10-15T08:32:00.000-07:002004-10-15T08:34:16.456-07:00What's wrong with saying Ann Coulter dresses like a skank?<p>John Aravosis of AMERICAblog <a href="http://americablog.blogspot.com/archives/2004_10_03_americablog_archive.html#109717107585270163">says</a>:</p>
<blockquote>"Ann Coulter, Miss Conservative, always dresses in public like she wants to get fucked, right then and there. As someone who makes her living off of launching personal attacks on others, it's fair game to ask why Coulter panders to her conservative fan base by dressing like such a skank? She appeals to them with sex, when I thought that was a big no-no on their side of the aisle. Not to mention, for someone so highly critical of others for being supposed intellectual fakes, you have to wonder about a chick who relies on T&A to sell her ideas."</blockquote>
<p>Chiming in with insults would be so easy. Why on earth should I care what anyone says about Ann Coulter? She sure as hell would never stand up for me, a <a href="http://www.anncoulter.org/columns/2004/072604.htm">corn-fed, no make-up, natural fiber, no-bra needing, sandal-wearing, hirsute, somewhat fragrant hippie chick pie wagon</a>.</p>
<p>I care because too many people take these underlying assumptions as truth:</p>
<ul>
<li>She has only her looks to sell.<br />
<i>Coulter sells the same thing Rush Limbaugh does. If he doesn't have to rely on his looks, why think that she must?</i></li>
</ul>
<p>and</p>
<ul>
<li>A woman never wears certain styles just because they're fashionable or comfortable.</li>
<li>A woman should never wear clothing that reveals her sexuality unless she wants sex.</li>
<li>A woman wearing clothing that shows she wants sex can't complain when someone gives it to her.</li>
<li>Specifically, women who wear leather, miniskirts, or high heels are skanks; they're sexually promiscuous--immoral, lewd, whorish--and panting for sex with anyone.<br />
<i>Do I need to explain how offensive these beliefs are? Women don't plan every single thing they do just for men, and a short skirt isn't an automatic invitation.</i></li>
</ul>
<p>You know what's amazing? Those guys with half their cracks showing, their nipples poking out through holes in their T-shirts, and their bellies hanging out over their pants--no one ever thinks they're sexually promiscuous just because they show a little skin when they go out in public.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007116.post-1097854304962348272004-10-15T08:29:00.000-07:002004-10-15T08:31:44.963-07:00Women, looks count louder than actions<p>Shaula Evans posted at <a href="http://www.bopnews.com/archives/001791.html#001791">Blogging of the President</a> about Sarah McLachlan's video, World On Fire. After reading a story on the <a href="http://www.ewb.ca/content/en/news/sarahmclachlan.shtml">Engineers Without Borders Web site</a>, McLachlan and her production company donated the $150,000 production budget to projects like <a href="http://www.worldonfire.ca/donations.html">running a street children's hospital in India for a year, schooling for 100 street children in Tanzania, and education for 200 students in Ethiopia</a>. <a href="http://mx.us.biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041005/nytu215_1.html">"The only production expense was $15, the cost of a Sony mini DV tape."</a></p>
<p>What kind of comments did <strike>people</strike> men <a href="http://www.bopnews.com/archives/001791.html#001791">post</a>? "The amount of money wasted on ephermeral crap is astounding." ... "This is a very nice video, but it's consumer politics." ... "So instead of feeding the children of her postproduction company's office manager's secretary, she fed somebody somewhere else." ... <b>"I think the $15 is on poor Sarah's face, though. Man."</b></p>
<p>And then there's the man who, seeing the poster of the three girls who say yes to boys who say no, <a href="http://www.bopnews.com/archives/001918.html#1918">said</a>: <b>"Yuck. Between those gals and the Army, I'd pick the Army."</b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007116.post-1097853958209150662004-10-15T08:24:00.000-07:002004-10-15T08:25:58.210-07:00Women, the spoils of war<p><a href="http://www.stolaf.edu/depts/womens-studies/ws399/ws399_03/Projects/dabneyproject/figures-images.html">Girls say yes.</a><br />
A Vietnam-era antiwar poster promises: "Girls say yes to boys who say no."<br />
<i>via Matt Stoller at <a href="http://www.bopnews.com/archives/001918.html#1918">
Blogging of the President</a></i></p>
<p><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/10/10/wirq110.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/10/10/ixworld.html">Their fathers say yes for them.</a><br />
Women in northern Iraq are being forced to marry foreign fighters.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.freechoicesaveslives.org/campaign/military/explanation">Women who said yes now told no by the government.</a><br />
U.S. soldiers cannot obtain abortions through their military medical care, even if they're raped. Women serving in countries where abortion is illegal, like Iraq, not only have to pay for their medical care but also travel outside the country to get it.<br />
<a href="http://www.freechoicesaveslives.org/campaign/military?source=blogs">Sign a petition asking Congress to lift the ban.</a><br />
<i>via Jeanne at <a href="http://bodyandsoul.typepad.com/blog/2004/10/just_wondering.html">Body and Soul</a> and Willow at <a href="http://blackfeminism.org/index.php/2004/10/08/stop-mistreating-women-in-the-military/">blackfeminism.org</a></i></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007116.post-1097853632157439622004-10-15T08:20:00.000-07:002004-10-15T08:23:11.166-07:00Friday phallus blogging<p>I thought every English major knew baseball bats are <a href="http://conservativegradstudent.blogspot.com/2004_09_01_conservativegradstudent_archive.html#109485337966365222">obvious phallic symbols</a>.<br />
<i>via <a href="http://majikthise.typepad.com/majikthise_/">Majikthise</a></i></p>
<p><a href="http://www.primate.or.kr/gallery/funny/Monkey%20Holding%20A%20Baseball%20Bat.jpg">Batter up!</a></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0