Linkety-Linkety (feminism and body politics)

[moominmuppet]

CLEAN PURE SOFT FRESH: A Whole New World of Vagina Spray -- I'm having trouble making it all the way through the article; my eyes keep rolling.

It has always been fashionable, in pushing back against LGBT rights and against the women’s movement, to invoke “nature.” These arguments often apply highly contestable interpretations of nature, but I don’t want to engage with that. I want to attack the major premise: that “nature” is immutable, or correct, or in some other way is an authority that lays dispute to rest. -- Excellent and lengthy essay on the topic.

Terrorism that’s personal
This links to a series of photographs of women attacked by acid or burning. They are deeply upsetting to see, and will be hard to forget. They should be hard to forget.

Inside India’s Rent-A-Womb Business -- I'm not entirely anti-surrogacy; I seriously considered being a surrogate for a close friend, back when my health was less problematic. However, the power imbalance here squicks me in a massive, massive way.
From the article: it's a setup fraught with all the ambiguities of the global labor market: When you buy sweatshop sneakers it allows someone's family to eat. But you also know you're getting a bargain only because the people making the shoes are poor. -- Yes. That's exactly the ethical struggle for me.

The Importance of Consent in Everyday Situations

The Rape of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” -- It’s rare that a film centers on a feminist hero, and even more rare for such a film to meet with rave reviews. But the decidedly feminist Swedish film The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (based on the internationally bestselling book) drew critical acclaim when it premiered in the U.S. last month, unrated and under limited release. However, the rave reviews, with their lingering emphasis on the heroine’s tough-girl look and “inexplicable” beauty, didn’t prepare me for the film’s disquieting articulation of intense sexual violence.

Not Just Boys: Catholic Church Abuse of Women + Girls

What Was So Great About the 1950s?

Research into Media Portrayal of People Who are Obese

The Zaftig Thespian
A spunky, fat actress, I've created this for an inside look at fatness (and feminism) in the entertainment industry--mainly theatre with a sprinkling of film & TV.

"FAT" - the feature documentary. COMING SOON IN 2010.

If fat is the new normal why is fat discrimination on the rise? Follow the lives of three women struggling with fat and fat hatred. Learn the hidden facts about fat, food and health. Experience straight and gay fat folks happy and healthy in their own skin. Meet fat-but-formerly-thin Linnea and witness her transformation. See Jennifer Jonassen, a 350-pound professional dancer on her way to love and self-acceptance.

Love Your Body: 2010 Poster Contest Winners

Comments

[forestfire.livejournal.com]

I managed to look at 5 of the photos before I had to shut the link. What the fuck is wrong with people? Why is it so hard to just let women be people, too?

[moominmuppet.livejournal.com]

*sigh* I know. It's so far beyond horrifying.

[jajy1979.livejournal.com]

*Is very confused by the top link.* Vaginas have natural chemical balances we seem to insist on telling people to screw up.

Honestly hadn't run into the term Vajazzle before, and frankly now I rather want my 30 seconds of googled time back. Unfortunately glitter and sequins just screams 10 year old mentality to me, and that's a major turn off. Maybe some really artfully done other forms might work (I know several very well done public tattoos). But this is something I've never understood, I like the look of cunts sans modification but that's a personal preference.

[moominmuppet.livejournal.com]

Vaginas have natural chemical balances we seem to insist on telling people to screw up.

And this makes you more sensible and well-educated about vaginas than entirely too many of the people who actually have them.

Unfortunately glitter and sequins just screams 10 year old mentality to me, and that's a major turn off.

*snerk*

[jajy1979.livejournal.com]

Oh and that 1950's article reminded me of a book or two I need to purchase:

The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap by Stephanie Coontz

alternatively a similarly written book

The Way Things Never Were: The Truth About the "Good Old Days" by Norman Finkelstein

Either covers the topic suitably, but Coontz has a sequel on the more modern family.

[moominmuppet.livejournal.com]

*nod* The whole nostalgia thing makes me crazy. The books look interesting, though.

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

[tasharowan.livejournal.com]

Umm... feminist hero???

There are days when I think I read a totally different book than the one everyone keeps talking about.

The title character is not the main character nor the hero of the story. The main character is a damn Marty Sue. The female character is too fucked up to be functional in real life. In the book she only exists to be lusted after and abused with the perk of her practically magic computer skills to give the male character reason to include her with his research.

If they don't completely wipe out most of the sexual violence, this story could easily hit an NC-17 rating, if I recall correctly.

Re: Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

[moominmuppet.livejournal.com]

I haven't read it yet, so I can't comment intelligently, unfortunately.

[ineffabelle]

The arguments in the "against nature" article are similar to those I've used in support of being trans. Almost invariably, an anti-trans person will bring up the "nature" argument, even when they don't do so directly. This is because without the nature argument, there's not really much reason to be anti-trans.

[moominmuppet.livejournal.com]

*nod* I refuse to use the nature/"I can't help it" argument about being queer, too, so I tend to use arguments similar to these myself.

(I hate the implied apologism of "I can't help it" -- it implies that if we could, we should, and they should just get right on that "cure for teh gay" project. It also fails to protect bi people in any substantial way, let alone any of the many other choices we make about sexuality. Biology may well be a factor, but I'm not going to base my defense on it.)