March 2010

Say No to Rape as a Weapon

legacy/violence against women.jpg

When we think about rape in the United States, we often conjure images of date rape, rape on college campuses, and perhaps even spousal abuse. We screen our childcare providers with care, fearing what could happen to our children, and some of us even peer into our neighborhoods online, searching to see if we live next to sexual predators or not. But as much as we live in fear of rape—particularly women, who are often raised to be fearful of an attack—we usually don’t think it’ll be done by our own military.

The Primitive Stirrings of Motherhood

There were years when, as a young teen, I dreamed of having six children. I had their names all selected, and I knew I was going to raise them all to change the world and make a huge difference.

I also had to raise my two sisters, often alone with them all day except for an hour or two, while my parents worked. One was eight years younger than me, the other six. Sometimes they even called me “Mom.” I bathed them, taught them to read, cooked for them, and sometimes even posed as their mother for school phone calls, signatures, and enrollment periods when my parents simply couldn’t take time off work to do such things. I suppose this is why people often thought I was much older than I was.

Then, in college, I discovered the facts about how overpopulated the planet is—and how many children are left parentless, in dire need of adoption. I vowed to never produce my own child, and to simply adopt, foster, or do both with children when I got older.

Ada Lovelace Day: Jane McGonigal

legacy/mcgonigal.jpg

Okay, I'm a day late to the party!  Couldn't be helped.  Anyway, I decided to go with Jane McGonigal for my Ada Lovelace Day post.  This was a surprisingly difficult choice.  

At first I wanted to pick a historical example, to show that women have been instrumental in science learning since the very beginning (they have been, you know).  But then I decided it would look like I couldn't find any contemporary examples, or that they were somehow less worthy than a woman in ancient Greece.

Annie Oakley, Unlikely Feminist Icon

legacy/oakley.jpg

This morning a friend forwarded me a link to a scholarly article which was published in 1996 about Annie Oakley.  Before reading the article, I knew what you might call the public facts of the situation.  Annie Oakley was an outspoken and outstanding sharpshooter in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show.

 At the time, the women's suffrage movement was working hard to gain traction in the public's mind.  Annie Oakley, as an independent, spirited woman, was theoretically the perfect candidate to put that public face on the fledgling women's rights movement.  If anyone could convince people that women deserved to be allowed to vote, you would think it would be Annie Oakley.

The Abortion Scam: Why Pro-Choice is Really Anti-Woman- Why the Feminist Argument is Really Sexist.

It is hard to find a political debate in which the abortion issue does not get raised. It is easily the most heatedly argued issue in the United States and one in which most people are very passionate about and it has been heralded as the quintessential women's rights issue of the modern age; however, is abortion really a women's rights issue or is it in fact one of the most sexist, anti-woman ideas in history? Typically, the abortion issue centers around the baby in question, and while there are certainly some very valid and important arguments to be made there, I want to challenge you to step away from those arguments, regardless of which side of the fence you are on, and to look at the role between women's rights, societal views of women and abortion.

The Abortion Scam: Why Pro-Choice is Really Anti-Woman- The Physical Assault on Women

legacy/Sonogram_0.jpg

Almost daily we are bombarded with the Pro-Life vs Pro-Abortion debate and are unequivocally told that it is a matter of women's rights and that anyone who opposes abortion is trying to oppress women, but is that actually the case, or is it a smoke screen to cover up the real sexist agenda? That is the question I am going to tackle in this look at how abortion really effects women, and what the femnist arguments are. Are women really being informed, or sold a bag of goods?

Leg Lengthening In China: When Does It Go Too Far?

legacy/Leg Lenghtening.jpg

A few days ago, on Oprah, (yes, I'm male, and do on occasion watch Oprah), I watched an episode on beauty.  One of the segments brought to life a brutal beauty practice by some in China.  The process is called leg lengthening, and is done by sawing in half the leg bone below the knee cap.  The legs are then equipped with a metal device, that involves hammered in nails, which stretch the gap between the bones, and forces the body to regenerate bone to close the gap.  This results in the lengthening of the leg.  This horrific practice requires many surgeries, is beyond painful, and takes at least a year to recover.

First Female Director Wins Oscar

legacy/bigelow.jpg

As I'm sure you've heard by now, on Sunday night Kathryn Bigelow became the first female director to win the Academy Award for Best Director for "The Hurt Locker."

Doesn't it seem like in the year 2010, it should be pretty hard to find anything where someone could be the "first female"?  Something as high profile as the Oscar awards should certainly be ashamed to be cracking the "first female" label.  It's trite to point out that the Academy is an "old boy's club" to end all old boy's clubs, but still!  People!  IT IS THE FUTURE.  

Only three other female directors have been nominated for Best Director in the past.  According to the Los Angeles Times, the list is:

An Open Letter to the Female Gender

Dear Females, The complexity of your gender in the area of outward appearance is beyond any understanding. Likewise, I’m sure you would say the same for your male counterparts, but this is not the focus today. Many may try to assume or speculate conclusions with regard to your nature, but that usually leads to failed attempts of comprehension. This leads one into an area of complete confusion. An area that frustrates every bone in my body.

Assault on Faith and Women: Campus Group Exchanges Pornography for Bibles in Smut Campaign

legacy/symbols.jpg

While religion has been hotly debated among various groups in the United States over the past couple of decades, one group has taken things way too far on a college campus in Texas where their latest stunt has far surpassed a matter of intelligent debate, crossing the line into obscenity and exploitation by conducting a swap program distributing pornography in exchange for Bibles or any other religious text in their all out assault on faith in this nation.