Pointy Teeth| Tigers Sniffing Catnip

If you want to hate on famous people for shitty things they do, go ahead.

But don’t hate on them for how they look.

Talking about how a woman pop star is “99% plastic” in order to express that you don’t like her strikes me as misogynistic.

It’s similar to the “I like my women without makeup,” “women who like more bold fashion choices are insecure,” and the general shaming of women/people who dress/modify their bodies in a way that society views as lesser, tacky, or worthy of ridicule.

Here’s my response to it:

“Well, to say that’s she’s 99% plastic implies that she’s, well 99% plastic. Last I checked, that’s close to impossible to achieve. And in general, again, just because you aren’t into plastic surgery doesn’t mean you should shame people who choose to modify their bodies. It’s borderline misogynistic, since people usually refer to women when discussing plastic surgery, and namely, boob jobs. If you aren’t into plastic surgery, I’d look more into why people get plastic surgery. I daresay cosmetic plastic surgery would be less popular if we didn’t have such strict beauty ideals, that women especially are supposed to aspire to. Society (& dudes) tell women that big breasts are sexy. So why are we shaming those who get plastic surgery, instead of talking about how societal beauty ideals are harmful and silly? If you don’t like Nicki, that’s totally cool. She’s done some cultural appropriation that was shitty. But don’t bash her appearance as a way of expressing that—just reinforces the idea that appearance=worth as a human being, and that’s not okay. I dye my hair, just like she does. I’d wear a lot of her clothes. And I modify my body with tattoos and piercing. But somehow, my stuff is okay b/c it’s “classy,” and her’s is somehow “tacky.” Just something to think about. And hey, even if we didn’t have these beauty norms, people are still free to do what they wish with their bodies & expression. Lots of things we do are fake/not natural. That doesn’t mean it’s inherently bad. It can be really fun, empowering, etc—and that’s up to the individual doing it to decide—not the observer.”

I am the Feminist Friend, ready to call you out on problematic shit 24/7 unapologetically, no batteries needed, because I’m a bad-ass human being.

[I realize it’s not all-encompassing, but I was time-crunched and unsure of what to include.]

Trigger warning: I may touch on or link to discussions about potentially triggering subjects.

I’ll start by saying that we could easily have different threads on different aspects regarding intersectional feminism. Perhaps we will be able to have threads talking about specific topics: queer issues, gender, imperialism, colonialism, academia, race, Western ideologies, food, ableism, dichotomies, patriarchy, rape culture, sex work, bodies/beauty, stigma around mental illness, violence, the World Bank/SAPs, tourism, mainstream vs alternative media, etc…the possibilities are so exciting! Historically, Western feminism hasn’t been the best at being intersectional, but current feminist dialogues focus heavily on the need for intersectionality. There’s a common phrase that goes around feminist circles: “feminism without intersectionality is worthless.”

I also apologize if it seems like I’m doing some kind of 101 approach, or if this seems too basic. For accessibility reasons, I usually try to approach conversations in this kind of way.  And this post will be very link-heavy—videos are articles by other people can say things better than I, especially when I’d like to talk about an issue that I have privilege in, such as race. Regarding the articles, videos, etc that I link to—some of them I take issue with, but I do think they are all worth reading in some respect.

It’s hard for me to bring up the feminist lens in non-Women and Gender Studies (WGS)/non-feminist/non-queer space, because I really have no idea where everyone else is at regarding what they know. It’s also difficult, because I have internalized concepts regarding my own identities and the importance (or perceived lack of) discussing the issues of marginalized groups. So basically, it’s constantly questioning if I’m just “making a fuss.” And yes, most, at least in “progressive” circles, people would assure me that I was not. However, this is where those micro, day to day, systems of power and inequality come into play. Drew (not to put you on the spot) may be able to speak more on privilege, and when to listen thoughtfully in order to let voices be heard that usually are not. That’s why it’s important to question our own privilege, and how the personal is political.

However, I do know that generally, feminism is seen as a focus on just white women. This is incorrect regarding the feminism that currently exists and being created. This isn’t to say that there aren’t feminist who aren’t so great at viewing things complexly, but largely, the trend is toward intersectionality.  And this also isn’t to say that white Western feminists all “get” intersectionality. We still have a long way to go, especially regarding “othering” and emphasizing Western feminist priorities in non-Western countries/communities.

Here are the two documentaries that I think are good to start with: Taking Root is available on Youtube, and highlights the downright amazing activist Wangari Maathai. It’s done extremely well, and I will never stop spewing out my love for the film and her. The other documentary, Born Into Brothels, is not to my knowledge available online. If you are able to find it, it’s an interesting film, especially looking at the ethics of Westerns making a film about the children of prostitutes in India, and if their involvement helped or hurt the kid’s lives. The criticisms section on the wiki pages mentions this as well. A really good third film is Live and Debt.

There’s also a debate about humanism being a better term than feminism, but that’d take a lot of time to delve into. Although, I’ll say that when we try to go “label-less” or do the whole “we’re all people” argument, dominant ideologies and structures remain in place, and eventually the same voices get silenced doubly—once by the existing power/privilege hierarchies, and again by ignoring said differences through the “people are people” rhetoric (which is often used in arguments arguing for colorblindness.) Hence why I identify as bi & queer, and why I identify as a feminist instead of humanist.

This is getting lengthy, so I’ll end it with some links to some good foundation information. I know I didn’t really get into any deep analysis, but I could write pages and pages exploring intersectional feminism. I’d more like to see what y’all have questions about, and go from there. I’m also open to talking about more personal experiences, as sometimes those are easier to relate to or understand, but if that is the case we may need to talk about thoughtful listening and unlearning how we subconsciously give some people the authority to tell the stories of those less privileged, but fail to give the less privileged person the authority to speak on their own experiences and avoid playing devil’s advocate just for argument’s sake. (I realize I linked to a business article, but it’s the only one I could find in my quick search that was applicable.)  

So here are some links that I’ll attempt to organize by topic.

Privilege:

http://blog.shrub.com/archives/tekanji/2006-03-08_146

http://finallyfeminism101.wordpress.com/2007/03/11/faq-what-is-male-privilege/

http://takesupspace.wordpress.com/cis-privilege-checklist/

http://www.amptoons.com/blog/files/mcintosh.html  

http://grrrlpower.tumblr.com/post/7915660907/feminism-101-helpful-hints-for-dudes

Popular feminists:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0HZaPkF6qE  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Butler

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audre_Lorde

Readings:

http://www.care2.com/causes/the-feminist-summer-reading-list.html

http://shoreofmysoul.tumblr.com/post/14591414214/some-e-books-on-feminism-and-stuff-a-masterpost

Feminism & (pop)culture:

http://bechdeltest.com/

http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.html

Some foundational info/101’s:

http://finallyfeminism101.wordpress.com/the-faqs/faq-roundup

http://www.shakesville.com/2008/02/feminism-101-feminists-look-for-stuff.html’

http://queerfeminism.com/what-is-queer-feminism/

http://bitchmagazine.org/article/everything-about-feminism

http://blackfeministsmanchester.wordpress.com/2013/01/07/racism-within-white-feminist-spaces/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ableism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heteronormativity

(TW: rape) http://www.racialicious.com/2008/12/21/original-essay-the-not-rape-epidemic/ http://www.firsttheegg.com/have-i-ever-had-any-unwantedundesired-physical-or-sexual-contact/ http://www.shakesville.com/2009/10/rape-culture-101.html

http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Resources_for_men

http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Feminism_101_discussions

Western/white feminism: http://www.studentpulse.com/articles/395/western-feminism-in-a-global-perspective

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/06/2012625121653638998.html

http://feminars.wordpress.com/2012/10/28/feminism-and-islam-the-problems-with-applying-western-feminist-values-to-non-western-cultures/

http://transnationalfeminist.wordpress.com/2010/10/12/beyond-borders/ (transnational feminism intro)

http://lists.econ.utah.edu/pipermail/margins-to-centre/2006-March/000794.html (the famous “Master’s tools” from Audre Lorde).

Terms/glossaries:

http://www.erinhoudini.com/transgender-glossary.html

http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Feminism_101

http://finallyfeminism101.wordpress.com/2007/04/17/faq-what-do-you-mean-by-not-my-nigel-feminist-abbreviationsjargon/

I apologize for the massive information I just threw together. I in no way expect anyone to click on all of the links. I’d suggest just clicking on whatever looks interesting and going from there!

—Sara

bemusedlybespectacled:

hardcandychristmas:

scifigrl47:

I have these little spikes of female rage sometimes.

I have these little moments of, ‘really, we still have to listen to this, really?’  They’re usually quick.  They’re usually gone fast. 

I do wonder, however, why it seems like every single male I follow thinks that the “Hawkeye Initiative” has gone ‘too far.’  I don’t want to point out posts, because I respect every single one of these guys.  And honestly, I wouldn’t be following them if I didn’t want them to follow me.  I like their views, they’re definately entitled to their opinions.  I don’t think any of them are being made ‘uncomfortable’ by the intent of the redraws.

But when as a group a rational, intelligent, fandom savy group of guys goes, “well, it’s defeating the purpose if you sexualize men instead of sexualizing women,” I kind of wonder what they’re seeing that I’m not.

Read More

Can I just say:all of this right here.

Scifigrl47 is the fucking best.

hermitwithfriends:

It was late, it was dark, and I was fairly distracted by listening to 80’s music because it’s ridiculously catchy. 

Now, I rarely feel scared walking home in the dark. If that’s because I lack a self-preservation instinct or that I stubbornly chanted ‘strong independent woman’ to myself when I was 14, well, who knows?

Point is, I suddenly noticed a long shadow next to mine.

Surprised and unexpectedly terrified, I jump a little and turn around to see a buff guy walking close behind me. As my was simultaneously berating me for getting scared and planning exit routes, he simply stops, raises his hands and goes:

“I’m so sorry to scare you, I really didn’t mean to, excuse me.”

He then steps over to the other side of the road, gives me a quick smile, and keeps walking. I looked back a while later, only to see him crossing the road to step into a house on ‘my’ side.

So basically, this guy just stepped away and gave me space to make sure I felt safe, and waited long enough on the other side for me to have gotten far enough away not to be startled when he crossed again. It felt shockingly good to have a guy acknowledge that my fear response wasn’t ‘stupid’, because if he hadn’t I’d probably be bashing myself for the irrational fear that grabbed me. 

I’m not saying that all guys should do this or anything. I’m not even sure what I’m trying to say. It’s just been a while since I saw a guy outside tumblr who didn’t act like because they weren’t rapists, they had nothing to do with the issues of rape culture. Of course, I have no idea who this guy is, maybe he doesn’t know or care about these issues. But he cared enough to make an effort, and to not dismiss my response or blame me for it. To me, that’s something.

(via bemusedlybespectacled)