History, HERstory, our story

(Originally posted to the Community section of MyMedia)
(added some stuff here, probably barely coherent musings,
that is not appropriate for that forum)

I have many feels about many things right now–among them, the nomination of a white woman for the presidency of the US by a major political party. Hate her, love her, be indifferent to her, the mere fact that she was nominated is breathtaking.

But since talking too much about the candidate herself would immediately veer into verboten territory (though, there is a forum for that), let’s celebrate feminism and race, by checking this twitter trending hashtag:  BlackWomenDidThat.

And lets ponder how few of them we, as a society, are familiar with. How many names of minority women have been erased from history. Their sin? Being female first, being non-white second. (See Lenora Fulani)

Equality has many facets–lets make them all shine.

Gender representation in the US (and, really, the world)

(Originally posted to the Community section of MyMedia–first link edited to this blog)

On the first post of this thread, I stated that I am a feminist, and I expanded on that by repeating something often lost in the acrimony that word evokes: I want women–and people who do not reflect a strict gender binary, and people belonging to minorities of all types–not to be second class human beings.

Because the reality around the world is that, no matter what the laws on the books may say,¹ people are treated differently by society, based on factors which are beyond their control (sex, gender identity, color, ethnicity), and which have no proven bearing on their actual capacity, skills, talent, professionalism, or performance in any area.

There are many reasons groups of people treat other groups of people as ‘less than,’ but those are not static factors. We can change this toxic environment.

The first step? Acknowledge there is a problem.

Madonna and (man)whore

(Originally posted to the Community section of MyMedia–edited first link, and added content at the end.)

Previously, I touched on the incredible gender bias in healthcare.

Among other things, I mentioned that often, when women are in pain, we are told that ‘it’s all in our heads.’ Unsurprisingly, insurance companies are also happy to tell us that sexual issues–from low libido to vaginal dryness–are also in our heads. Men with low testosterone and/or erectile dysfunction just have to watch tv or go online to find multitude of options for treatment–most, if not all, of which, are fully covered by their insurance.

Women? No, little lady, first you have to go get your head shrunk; then…We’ll see.

Or, you know, live with it.

~ * ~

A good fifth of the times I look at a news piece that includes video, there’s an advertisement for Viagra, or some other sex help drug for males. In contrast, the constant barrage of conservative ‘pro-life’ and ‘anti erosion of family values’ and rape apologist headlines is…breathtaking.

Men’s needs, men’s perceptions, men’s opinions–always oh so much more important than anyone else’s.

Fuck that noise.

Celebrating Independence Day: exercise your right to vote.

(Originally posted to MyPolitics)

If you belong to ANY minority, meaning:

• You are female, no matter your race, ethnicity, or religion.
• If you are transgender, queer, questioning, lesbian, gay.
• If you are not Protestant (preferably from a traditionally white denomination), meaning if you are Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, Wicca, Sikh, atheist, or, really, anything else.
• If you are a person of color, regardless of geographic origin–Latino, African, Asian.

If you are in any way different from the white, cis, hetero Protestant ‘majority,’ think long and hard about voting for any conservative party or candidate.

The powerful are always resistant to treat anyone else as equals.

“Straight white dudes 18 to 49 are the default mode for life”

Originally posted to the Community section at MyMedia

As I’ve said before in this thread, I am a genre romance reader.

For many years, this was not something I said out loud–and to this day, when people become aware of this, the response is a smirking, condescending smile, often followed by a variant of “aren’t you smarter than that? why do you waste your time on that trash? oh, you like mommy/soft porn?”

I am more than a bit tired of that bullshit. It says a lot more about my interlocutor in those exchanges, than about me, frankly. So, online or IRL, my response tends to be the equivalent of a blank stare; I’m done defending my reading choices, and genre romance brings in enough money that it should need no defense.

One would think…

At any rate, that’s a rant for another day.

Today’s rant is brought to you courtesy of yet another intersection of various interests.

Too many women? Not even close.

Originally posted to the Community section of MyMedia

A while back there was some discussion on the lit general discussion forum about whether or not women (and not-straight, not-white people) were fairly represented in literature, specifically science fiction.

Some of the responses were, “well, women have won these many awards in the past decade, so yeah, they are more than fairly represented.” I am not convinced, and I certainly hope that someone with more energy and time than me will go to the trouble of finding the truth, backed up by actual numbers, soon.

In the meantime, I continue to hear that women are now ‘over-represented’ all over the place. For example…

The male gaze: how pervasive is it really?

Originally posted to the Community section at MyMedia

Once again, my interests intersect.

Let’s look at this short paragraph, parse it a bit, and see whether those reading can guess what type of book it comes from:

Every person in the room—from the preppy-looking thirty-something-year-old with spiked hair, taking notes in Chinese, and the young blonde with the tight blouse and the too-short skirt, to the jogger in baggy running shorts and damp T-shirt, and the rheumy-eyed octogenarian with herringbone coat stained by decades of chalk dust—knew that they were potentially witnessing a monumental milestone in a three-thousand-year-old legacy.

First off, can we guess the gender of any of the people mentioned? Considering the descriptions, I’m going to say that three are male, and there’s one female.

Easy, right? The female is wearing a tight blouse and a too-short skirt–because of course the only female mentioned must be objectified and judged, and sexualized.

Anyone willing to guess what type of writing requires the use of such a sexist stereotype to make its point?