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“I can never read all the books I want; I can never be all the people I want and live all the lives I want. I can never train myself in all the skills I want. And why do I want? I want to live and feel all the shades, tones and variations of mental and physical experience possible in life. And I am horribly limited.”
Sylvia Plath, via Anna at Trouble is Everywhere.
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“I don’t fear death; I fear remaining silent in the face of injustice. I am young and I want to live. But I say to those who would eliminate my voice: I am ready, wherever and whenever you might strike. You can cut down the flower, but nothing can stop the coming of the spring.”
Malalai Joya, who sounds kind of incredible. Do click through. Via Melissa McEwan.
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“Throughout my development, I have felt that pressure, to conform or assimilate to a population more visible, more respected, more feared and envied than mine. And in the past, I have. I dissed my own communities for my own gain, and dealt with the immense wells of self-loathing I harbored for myself and my people. And that temptation, to submit, still exists in me, because really, who wants to be hated for bringing up that loathsome specter called race? Especially for a group of people who are continually told that we have no right to complain, that we should be thankful for what we have?
“A friend of mine just emailed me about this strange phenomenon we face, that we are intensely scrutinized while remaining completely invisible. People talk about us, hate us, and we aren’t expected to ever talk back, fight back. We belong nowhere. We have no rights to anything. Our bodies are not ours, and we have no voices.”
Bao Phi, on being Asian in Minnesota. Read more at Racialicious.
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“All this was much simpler when I only looked up. I looked above me, at those that are oppressing me, and boy was I good at pointing fingers at others and pointing out their privilege. The other day, I royally shoved my cissexist foot into my privileged mouth. And for the first time I looked down, at those below me, those I was oppressing.”
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“For me, being an activist is a way of thinking and engaging in the world. It is not a list of activities. It is a personal decision not to accept things as they are. It is a decision to challenge oppressive ideas and actions – within oneself and in the world around us – in whatever way we are able. And there is NO hierarchy in the different ways in which people do that.”
Turtle, of The Turtle and the Wren, in comments at Raising My Boychick, in response to my post This is what an activist looks like.
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“I’ll only be someone’s inspiration for a speaking fee with 4-5 figures. Inspiration doesn’t come cheap.”
Kaitlyn of Oh Monkey Trumpets in comments on Avendya’s To Whom It May Concern.
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“We’re not martyrs and we’re not saints – we are people. More than that, we are – we exist, and no matter how many times our needs are disregarded, our stories are erased, we refuse to let you define us.”
From To Whom It May Concern itself. Check out Avendya’s DW, I have just found her but she seems to be all kinds of fabulous. (Teenage! Disabled! Feminist! Squeeeeee!)
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“[...] some things are not well defined and these things tend to be the things we consider to be fundamental. It’s much easier to define smaller things at the edges; it’s easy to define a fingernail. It’s harder to point to where blood stops flowing away from the heart and starts flowing back towards it.”
kaninchenzero, writing about intelligence.
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“[...]a trans what? A transformer? Far be it for me to stand against robot-human love.”
Queen Emily, in response to a commenter who said ‘Is it transphobic if a cis person will not date a trans?’ at Feministe.
With a little bit of being parented, too.
Spilt Milk offers Thoughts before Father’s Day, a tribute to her dad I find very moving.
Blue Milk wants you to play gender stereotypes with her. It’s a fun game in which statistics, expectations and observations perform a merry dance in order to fit children in a box. Fabulous takedown of something that often leaves me speechless.
Arwyn of Raising My Boychick goes for gold with The misogyny of denying milk-making moms mental-health medication: ‘This “I don’t want to give you anything until you wean”? That’s not a careful critique of the pharmacological industry, that’s not an intersectionalist examination of the role kyriarchy plays in the creation of women’s mental health issues, and it’s not a sober weighing of the balance of “greatest goods” when faced with exposing a child to an ill mother or minute quantities of probably-safe substances. No, that’s nothing more than an ignorant, authoritarian, fucked up, misogynistic ultimatum.’
At Feministing we find Raising a Feminist/Raised a Feminist: A Mother’s and Daughter’s Perspective. It’s by Sil and Eliza Reynolds and on their relationships with themselves and each other as feminists.
My Kid Loves a Kyriarch is by Ruth Moss, posted as part of Arwyn’s Womanist/Feminist Parenting Primer series, which you should also check out. Ruth’s piece is on her struggles to raise her kid in a feminist way by herself and how this interacts with her ex-partner’s parenting.
You must read Pain as Discipline by Ouyang Dan of random babble. She tells us why hitting children as a means of “discipline” doesn’t work and the range of impacts it can have.
Next we have It’s Not About Me by Jay, guest posting at Feministe. Because a child’s choices and safety are vastly more important than a parent’s control over them.
Over at Hoyden is “How Can Feminist Mums Avoid Being Humourless Childhood-Ruiners?” Seems to me that a good part of feminist parenting is doing exactly that: giving children beautiful childhoods and helping them become strong people. Well, as long as we’re asking, Lauredhel and commenters count the ways.
Veronica of Viva La Feminista writes Be still my feminist mama heart…My daughter and the Emmys. ‘I affirmed her voice. And I think that is one of the most feminist things I can do for her as I help her find her way in this world.’ Thanks to Arwyn for suggesting this post.
Kate of Rebel Raising speaks truth in Is that child crazy? ‘How much of the time are children behaving in the way an adult would if their life were like a child’s life?’ Absolutely brilliant. Thank you to Ruth Moss for suggesting this post.
And this is from back in March, but the cutest thing: Melissa McEwan of Shakesville posts a fatherhood PSA in which a father helps his daughter with cheerleading practice.
By the way, if you haven’t seen blue milk’s 10 feminist motherhood questions series, do have a look.
I’m thinking about bodies, body image, how we value our bodies/selves and how we are valued. Come take a trip with me. Some links are from the last few days, some are from earlier this year.
a mandate is a mandate is a mandate by tor of adrift and awake: ‘…these dudes still want a conventionally hot chick. Just one that is naturally so. Which is an even more unattainable standard than the artificial, makeup and fake tits standard.’
Against Modelling by Pilgrim Soul of The Pursuit of Harpyness: ‘What I am saying is that in my ideal world, we would not so much have a diversity of bodies in modelling as we would have a resistance to the very notion that anyone needs a model of what to look like.’
Transgender Body Image by genderkid, from which I can’t bring myself to take just a quote!
Why good curves and bad curves? by Ruth Moss of Look left of the pleiades: ‘But if curvy means soft, strokeable curves made from fat, why are the “right places” so limiting?’
your body as a listening tool by cripchick: ’so much listening to be done. . .’
How do I love thee, genitalia? by FilthyGrandeur: ‘Our bodies are beautiful, and are deserving of praise, even the parts we keep hidden.’
Also from FilthyGrandeur, Book Covers: fragmented women?: ‘Fragmenting the female form creates an object out of what should be a person–her facelessness creates anonymity of the object which is her body.’
More on Performance and Physically Integrated Dance by Wheelchair Dancer: ‘It is one thing to give a gift and relinquish all control over it. That’s what performance is about. But it is another to give a gift and to be imprisoned by how an audience member understands it.’
I ♥ Vogue Evolution on America’s Best Dance Crew by Jos of Feministing: really, really good dancing from trans and gay people of colour, go have a look.
Devaluing the Disabled Body by meloukhia of this ain’t livin’: ‘This is a society in which the lives of people with disabilities are not highly valued.’
Owning My Thin Privilege by Laura of Adventures of a Young Feminist: ‘That was really the first time that I thought of myself as having thin privilege and it made me kind of uncomfortable. And I want to explore that uncomfortableness here.’
BOO! Here is the first themed linksplosion, readers, the theme being that all the writers are from New Zealand and Australia.
Here’s a selection of ten of the posts I thought have really stood out so far this August (there are more, but I had to impose a limit!).
QoT didn’t write an International Blogging Against Racism Week post. The non-post is about centring voices of colour and it’s clear and powerful.
Lauredhel writes Christian Rossiter’s right-to-die “win” is a complete fail. And I’m looking at you, and you and you. Shiny responds with about rights and choice: a commitment.
Two more from Lauredhel. We are dying is on the Australian scooter users being blamed for their own deaths. But really. And of course there’s absolutely no way that a national electronic health & social record could go wrong… right?
QoT and Fuck Politeness have both written on George Sodini and links to cultural dynamics. That’s Why chicks dig “jerks” and “Cry me a river dickface” respectively. Jumping off from the same topic, new blogger tor from adrift and awake has Yes, we hate Nice Guys. Here’s why.
Spilt Milk is apparently blogging from the 1950s. Or so some of the attitudes she’s been encountering lately regarding gender roles would suggest.
Jo Tamar writes Boy or girl?. I’m sure you can guess what that’s about! I have been missing Jo’s gorgeous, committed thoughtfulness and expression.
Bonus July post from Hexy guesting at Feministe: The Australian Response to HIV.
Now, readers, I have an ulterior motive with this post. Namely, I am promoting the Down Under Feminists Carnival. Every month, a volunteer host gathers the best of down under feminist blogging (broadly defined) and displays it for all to see. However, this is hard work, and I know from experience. So I think you should help out! You should do this by reading downunderan blogs and submitting posts to the carnival. This is a thing you should do because:
- You get to read lots of wonderful writing.
- If you’re not from these parts, you get educated about our concerns! If you are, well, also that!
- This way the host for any given edition doesn’t have to work so hard to put together the carnival.
Now you are wondering, where do I find these mysterious Aussie/Kiwi blogs? This is a good question. The answer is, here are those from my blogroll:
2 B Sophora, A.E.Brain, A shiny new coin, Blogger on the Cast Iron Balcony, blue milk, Crimitism, Fuck Politeness, HellOnHairyLegs, Hexpletive, Hoyden About Town, I Am Not Cake, Ideologically Impure, In a strange land, Mim’s Muddle, Penguin unearthed, Sophie’s Secret LJ, Spilt Milk, The Dawn Chorus, The Hand Mirror, The Radical Radish, Wallaby, Whyimbitter’s Weblog and Wildly Parenthetical.
I will also take this opportunity to add some new Australian and New Zealand fem-friendly blogs to my blogroll:
- adrift and awake by tor is a blog newly begun and it looks to be a ripper.
- Ariane’s little world, written by my Twitter buddy Ariane, is about all sorts of things including parenting and politics.
- Fifty Two Acts is sajbrfem’s blog documenting her 52 acts of cyberfeminist activism. Now with cookies!
- SAHM Feminist is azlemed’s (Demelza’s) blog, at which she writes about life as a married mother of three.
- Still Life with Cat is by Pavlov’s Cat, who I serendipitously met a couple of weeks ago. She blogs all sorts of things, including literature and daily life.
So get cracking!
We’ll be back to normal next month, once DUFC’s over. Don’t forget to send in your pieces! I’ve recieved a lot of excellent nominations already.
Just the headlines. They speak for themselves.
TR Xands: You don’t have to mean it to hate
Anonymous Shaker Couple: Separate and Not Equal
Liss: This is What a Feminist Secretary of State Sounds Like,
Feel the Homomentum, Why Use a Teaspoon When You’ve Got a Tablespoon? and
We’re So Winning
Pilgrim Soul: On Thinking of Human Beings as Trash, And Other Tragedies of Resources
Jo Tamar: Blogging Against Disablism Day – and generally blogging in support of other groups
Sarah MC: Pain-Free is a Privilege
The April round-up strikes again! It will come when you least suspect it! It will come in the depths of the night… um, sorry. Once more, this month’s round-up is coming in stages as I’ll be busy with DUFC at the start of May. Just the links today.
Featured writer for this edition is Elle.
More than Words
Water
A Timely Video…
“Whites Only”
Lighter is Better
Erica: The Narrative
SarahMC: Orientalism 2.0
TR: Ally failitudes and *sadness*
Important things you should know about but I’m too unwell to write about:
The District of Columbia now recognises same-sex marriages performed in other states.
Same-sex marriage is now legal in Vermont.
Light a Candle for Angie
Because I’m hosting the Down Under Feminists Carnival next month, I won’t have time to do my regular monthly feminist blogging round-up. As such, you’ll be getting round-ups through the month when the mood strikes me. It could come at any time, any place (well, not really, just here)! It shall creep up on you unexpectedly. And here’s the first lot.
First up, something I missed from last month. queenemily at Questioning Transphobia wrote Trans youth and schools about the pretty awful findings of a survey of trans youth in American high schools. It explores the transphobic treatment of these students at the hands of both classmates and staff. I’m keeping this one on file.
bellereve at the rack and the screw wrote In defense of the second wave. No pull quote as the title says it all!
Lurleen at Pam’s House Blend wrote Sweden Votes for Marriage Equality! Voting went 261-22 with 66 abstentions. This is on the back of 71% of the country supporting marriage equality.
On the same theme, Ann at Feministing wrote Same-sex couples can now marry in Iowa! This follows a supreme court decision and makes Iowa the third US state allowing same sex marriage, if we don’t count California. Ann has a round-up of posts on the subject.
Still in the US, but moving onto the economy, Sarah Jaffe guest posted Unions, Women and Fair Labor Practices: Why the Employee Free Choice Act is a Feminist Issue at Feministe.
Sally at Jump off the Bridge wrote I Hear It’s Immigration Awareness Month… . It touches on a number of issues, including the Binghamton shooting, and is rather moving.
More from Sally with Lessons Learned from WAM!09 Sounds like a great conference!
Lastly, but not leastly, Jo Tamar of Wallaby wrote the fantastic Scholarships and support for indigenous students. ‘The rectitude of supporting Alice and those like her (through scholarships and otherwise) lies in the attempt to rectify those wrongs. It is not diminished by her own achievements.’
April may end up being quite as fabulous for blogging as March!
In what I no longer hope is chronological order, here’s my feminist blogging March round-up.
Helen G at Bird of Paradox writes Is Amnesty UK excluding transsexual women from its “1 in 10″ campaign?. She writes that Amnesty UK in contributing ‘to the erasure and invisibilisation of transsexual women in the critical area of violence against us.’
I bookmarked a lot of stuff from Liss at Shakesville, so I’ll write it all in one go, shall I?
- Liss affixes a trigger warning to her post Corrective Rape (with Action Item). It’s on ‘the prevalence of “corrective rape” in South Africa, where gangs of men are raping lesbians to “cure” them’.
- She writes Serious DOMA Challenge Under Way in MA. ‘Opponents of marriage equality just need to give the fuck up already. This is like the losingest battle in the history of battles, and it’s looking more losery every day.’
- Another trigger warning on Good Morning! The World Sucks. It’s about rape culture. It’s probably one of the best posts I’ve read for a while.
- A trigger warning on this post about women and gay men as Natural Allies. The second paragraph in particular is gold.
- From just yesterday, and with one last trigger warning, Afghanistan Law Effectively Legalizes Rape.
- Go, Vermont! because they’re almost, almost there in legalising same-sex marriage!
- Another excellent post is What’s Wrong with the Girls? Last but far from least.
KaterTot, guesting at Shakesville, writes Not Assvertising! about a trans-inclusive ad that I’m personally a bit fond of.
Lauredhel at Hoyden About Town writes Some women are afraid of being mummy-tracked; others are afraid of being fired. ‘Women should not be forced to drastically alter their bodily functions in order to hold down a job.’ I’ve got to tell you, Lauredhel writes a lot of good posts about breastfeeding and related issues which you should all direct your attention to if possible.
Deborah at In a strange land writes On rape and consent. No pull quote. It’s good.
frau sally benz at Jump Off the Bridge writes What If We Need a New Movement? ‘What if there’s another framework that we can start using, moving forward, that leaves all of the baggage behind and works on this one common goal? If we do that, do we need a label?”
Blue Milk writes We must not walk away from this fight. ‘The sad truth is that the working-outside-the-home mothers least likely to have paid parental leave are the ones with insecure, low-income jobs (ie. only 10% of women on low incomes have paid parental leave versus 80% of those on high incomes). [...] Australia is one of only two developed countries left without paid parental leave.’
Latoya Peterson at Racialicious writes Open Thread: Of Racism, “Satire,” and Humor. She has to be one of my favourite writers in the blogosphere.
Scott Madin at Fineness & Accuracy writes The Myth of the Individual. It is pretty win.
More from Lauredhel with Happy dance: Australian “Global Gag Rule” overturned. Happy dance indeed.
Ann at Feministing writes Justice in Sudan? It’s both a step forward and very sad.
Cara at The Curvature writes Rape Culture and Its Incredible Prevalence: A Strangely Optimistic Analysis. I think she’s onto something.
A trigger warning on Rosemary Okello’s post at The WIP, Cultural Stigma and Myth: Disabled Women in Kenya are Vulnerable to Sexual Violence. I found it very upsetting, but if you feel you can have a go at reading, do.
InfamousQBert guest blogs at Shakesville about the best shirt eva in For the Self-Rescuing Princess.
More from Cara with When a Man is the Victim: A Second Study in Rape Apology. ‘That’s the thing about rape apologism. Strangely enough, for a philosophy that relies entirely on lies and prejudice, it’s actually incredibly nuanced. That’s why it can be so convincing to some people. And it’s why it needs to be analyzed and picked apart.’
You should also check out two fabulous series that ran in March: frau sally benz of Jump off the Bridge wrote Legendary Latinas and Renee of Womanist Musings conducted a series of interviews with fellow bloggers for International Women’s Day.
That’s all! (That was quite a lot.) I can’t wait for all the April goodness, can you?
Happy March, everyone. I’m going to have a go of posting a monthly round-up featuring a selection of the feminist blogging I’ve found of interest. There’s quite a variety in the links below.
Cara wrote Female Heart Patients Experience More Emergency Room Delays at Feministe on 2 Feb.
Samhita wrote 4000 women run for office in Iraq on 3 Feb at Feministing. ‘In an effort for women to regain footing in Iraqi government and decision-making, it has become a requirement for every 3rd elected seat in Iraq to be held by a woman.’
Faith wrote A Look at Women in Iran 30 years after the Islamic Revolution on 11 Feb at MMW.
nojojojo wrote Return of the revenge of the daughter of the welfare queen at The Angry Black Woman on 13 Feb. It concerns the hatred directed at Nadya Suleman, who recently had gave birth to octuplets.
amandaw wrote My life. at Three Rivers Fog on Feb 16. It’s about the high place paid work has long held in feminism and the problems with this.
Samhita wrote Post-Valentine’s Day Reflections. on Feb 17 at Feministing. She addresses love, singlehood and social limitations.
Melissa wrote Current, My Ass on Feb 17 at Shakesville. It’s a gorgeous takedown of language regarding the “threat” of powerful women to men.
Cara wrote Sexual Violence in Italy Used to Support Racist Immigration Policies on 21 Feb at The Curvature. Again writing with a title that says it all.
Marissa wrote Unfair Burdens at Shakesville, guest blogging on 23 Feb. It’s on ‘children and teenagers who are the primary caretakers of family members’ and you should read it.
Pilgrim Soul wrote And She Writes (Just Like a Woman) on 24 Feb at The Pursuit of Harpyness. It’s about reading and writing as a woman.
Have fun reading!
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