Getting ready to watch the State of the Union. Let’s see what our fearless leader has to say…

‘You lie’

I saw most of the speech last night, but not all.  I did catch Rep. Joe Wilson completely berate our President by shouting out “You Lie!” while he was explaining that illegal immigrants would not receive free healthcare under this reform.

Now, I have to wonder how much of this might be racially based.  Coming from South Carolina – and excuse me for generalizing an entire state here – but South Carolina is known for being a hot bed of racial tension.  A white man from the south just called our black president a liar, in public, on camera while he was addressing Congress, and this is an outburst that has never been done before.

“CNN: Never has any member of Congress shown such disrespect for the president during a speech,” Fowler wrote. “One would think that as a member of the military, Joe Wilson would have more respect and patriotism than he displayed tonight. When Congressman Wilson insulted President Obama, he also insulted the American public. Joe Wilson is a poor example of a statesman and an American. He owes an apology to the president and the American people.”

This to me screams “White Privilege”.  Of course, I could be making a big deal out of nothing, but I have to wonder…

Quick Hit: Please read this great article on why the term “illegal alien” brings images of very bad things to the more conservative minded Americans and those whose families have been in America for so long that they forgot their families actually came from other places of the world (unless you’re Native).  Here’s a quick quote of why it’s actually a very negative term:

If you can classify a whole group of people with a pejorative –alien –and then group them as “illegal,” you have carried out a neat trick: you have stripped a whole group of people of their humanity. Once dehumanized, any ill-treatment is judged by lesser standards, perhaps less moral than ones we apply to animals.

Just a quick something to think about.

The “Public Option”

There has been way to much media hype, and in all honesty, a whole ‘lotta crap going around about healthcare reformation and how it’s going to lead to everyone’s ultimate demise — which I think is a ploy by the insurance industry to try to salvage their ass and continue making big money of the back, sweat, and labor of poor, sick people, who just happen to be the ones that need them the most.  So, while scanning through my Facebook today, I saw that Jaclyn Friedman – of “Yes Means Yes” fame – posted this amazing  You Tube video explaining why the “Public health” option is a good idea, in easy to follow language.

Dr. Tiller’s murder

I am so completely disgusted with this man’s murder because I can not understand the mindset of the deranged lunatics who say that having an abortion is murder, yet actually murdering a life that has been sustained for years is a-ok.  As I was at the gym today, C-SPAN was on the t.v. and they were discussing the murder, along with Judge Sotomayor’s nomination (and her stance on abortion) and the comments that were coming in from the public were mostly on the side of “this guy was murdered and the murderer should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law”, but of course there were the typical Fundamentalist wack jobs who fully supported this man’s murder.  One woman in particular came out and said that she felt sorry for his family, not him but his family, and that if we look at the statistics, there’s only been 7 abortion providers murdered as opposed to the millions of babies that have been killed by them.

*blink*

Are you seriously telling me, that as a Christian, you support someone going out and murdering others?  I thought it wasn’t our job to judge nor seek vengence because God’s vengence is mightier than mans?  Seriously, what is wrong with people?  Would they be ok with the woman who was getting the abortion to die along with the baby she was trying to abort because she could not obtain the abortion and her life was at risk?  Oh wait, she might just be martyred.

Would you like  to pay more money in taxes because that woman who can’t afford to have children got preganat (becuase we all know that abstinance only education works so well) and was forced to have it, forcing her to go on welfare to provide for herself and her newborn?  What about helping this woman out with any financial, mental, emotion, and child care support instead of just forcing her to have a child?

In my opinion, forced pregnancy is just as bad as forced sterilization.  There is no difference between the two, because in the end it is not the woman’s choice about what she wants for her future, instead the choice is placed with the religious minority wing-nuts who believe it is their right to force their morality on a woman who may not share the same views.

/rant.

Here’s a good article regarding all this regarding Francis Kissling.

See what others are saying: Pandagon, Feministing, Andrew Sullivan, Bitch Ph.D., Hoyden About Town, Shapely Prose, Feministe, Pro-Science

Here is a heartbreaking story of someone who had to use his services, and a list of stories, explaining the reasons why women would seek out such a procedure.

American Apparels Dov Charney’s latest Ad.

This text reads:

“Women initiate most domestic violence, yet out of a thousand cases of domestic violence, maybe one is involving a man.  And this has made a victim of culture out of women.”

Nice!  Stay Class Dov!

Of course, this man is no stranger to media attention for his sexist dribble, his sexual harassment, his discriminatory hiring of employees, and I’m not even bringing up his advertisements!

Here’s what Womanist Musings has to say about this:

Charney is using his position as a male of privilege to reinforce this destructive message.   There has been ample evidence of his hatred of women and the only question that remains is what we are going to do about it.   Obviously we cannot hope to change his mind, such misogynists  men rarely come to an understanding of the ways in which their behaviour is not only reductive but dangerous.  If he cannot be taught to respect women, he can still be brought to heel by a boycott of his stores.  What human decency he did not learn in socialization can be force fed through economic sanctions.

We often see something sexist, rail against it and then move on.  It is time as women that we begin to recognize that even though we earn so much less than men, we are still responsible for a great deal of the economy.  We need not spend our hard earned dollars to enrich a man that clearly hates women. Often times when we are confronted by sexism, negative reprisals forestall any form of active protest however in cases like this, it is well within our power to let this asshat know that there is a penalty for displaying such naked hatred of women. He should not profit from our labour and demean us with his MRA style misogynist lies.   So now that you know, spread the word and remind people that sometimes refusing to purchase something can also be a positive form of protest.

I have exactly two items from American Apparel, and those are these last two I will ever own.  I hope you will all join me, Womanist Musings, and Rage Against the Man-Chine in boycotting this company.  As a woman, buying from them is the equivalent of paying someone to spit on you.

(H/T Womanist Musings, Rage Against the Man-Chine)

Edit: Here are other places where this appears:

Hexodus
Adrants
Feministe

Now, there is some discussion regarding whether or not this ad is real or a fake, but I have to ask, does it really matter?  Dov Charney really did make this statement and the picture in and of itself is a real image, so someone took the image and put over it a statement he really said, does that negate the fact that he said it?

**Update 1/30/2009**

Bitch magazine received a letter from a Ryan Holiday from American Apparel regarding their blog post on this same issue.  It reads like this:

Annalee,
I thought I would email you this morning after seeing your post. First, it
might be weird but thank you for correcting that the ad isn’t real. Some
writers know that but are saying otherwise. American Apparel would never,
ever run an ad like that.
As for the quote, it’s not exactly genuine either. It’s sourced to an
interview that was done by the McGill Daily, a student newspaper in Canada.
Dov and the interviewer were discussing the book, Not Guilty: The Case in
Defense of Men. Not even the merits of the book…because there probably
aren’t any…but what the book said. The kid attributed that to Dov,
wrongly. The reason it wasn’t corrected is because it all happened 5 years
ago in another country.
I totally get that Dov Charney and American Apparel have a controversial
reputation. I also get that it’s your job to hold people responsible for
sexism and stupid quotes like the one above. But nobody at American Apparel
agrees with what that says. It’s just wrong. The assumption there is that a
ceo of a company that employes thousands of women went on record, on
purpose, to accuse them of causing the majority of domestic violence.
Jumping to conclusions is one thing, but this happens to be completely
untrue.
Again, that’s where this all comes from and we wanted to explain. You
don’t have to print our side of the story but I thought you should know it.
Ryan Holiday
American Apparel

Now let me explain what I find interesting about this letter.  Firstly, who is the Mr. Holiday that he didn’t write his title to make it “official sounding”?  Who gave him the authority to write it?  Why was it written so matter of factly?  Why didn’t he out right debunk the quote, except to mention that it was a mis-quote?

Seems a bit fishy and uncaring if you ask me.  I’m still sticking by my position though: I’m not shopping there ever again.

Peta at it again

So I found this interesting video by Peta, that was aparently supposed to run during the Super Bowl and was not allowed, for obvious reasons.  These people will walk all over whomever to get their point across, and it’s really pathetic.  Let’s objectify women to promote our cause.  Nice work guys!  Women the world over thank you for not being able to walk down the street without experiencing the male gaze because of commercials like this that do nothing but portray women as sexual objects to be possessed.

This is not the first time Peta has done this, and I’m sure it won’t be the last.

I understand what they’re trying to do – really I do – but where do you draw the line between trying to end the inhumane killing of animals for the food and clothing (and whatever else) industries, and exploiting women to get the message across?  Is this really their best option?  I really think they need to rethink their advertising campaigns, because what they’re doing is parading women around as if they’re the meat and not the animals they’re purporting to protect.

OBAMA ENDS GLOBAL GAG RULE!

It’s Official!  Here’s what Choice USA says:

It’s a beautiful day in the history of reproductive justice. There’s been a lot of speculation and now it’s actually happening: President Obama is lifting the global gag rule.

When the ban was in place, no U.S. government funding for family planning services could be given to clinics or groups that offer abortion services or counseling in other countries even if the funds for those activities come from non-U.S. government sources.

In the time I have been involved in the reproductive justice movement I have never before known what a major victory feels like. I know this is an experience shared by many in my generation of reproductive justice organizers and activists. I am so excited to be involved in this movement at a time when we can make real positive change.

Other Articles regarding this:
CNN
Yahoo! News

There’s Still Work To Be Done!

Although we’ve come a long way, Jay Smooth reminds us that it’s not over yet.  There’s still plenty of work to be done, so long as we’re imperfect humans, we still need to work towards all the things that will make our society a more livable and better equitable place.  Check out his message.

Big Week!

This is where I was when President Obama was inaugurated.  I watched in awe with hundreds of fellow classmates as our country made history.  I feel as if it’s a new day now.  I feel as if the weight of the world has been taken off my shoulders as I watched Former President George W. Bush along with Laura Bush get on that helipoter to take them away from Washington.

Watching the news yesterday has reassured me that Obama is going to do what’s right for this country.  He’s already signed to have Guantanamo closed, he’s going to repeal the Global Gag Rule, and doing so with sensitively.  He’s going to do right by our country, and I’m proud for the first time in a long time of what America is and what it stands for.  I lost my faith in my country during the past 8 years, especially 8 years ago when Bush stole the election.  But you get past it and move on and hope the country will correct the mistakes of the past, and it has now.

Yesterday also marked the day that 36 years ago Roe v. Wade was passed by the Supreme Court.  This is a momentous day, because the ruling states that a woman has a right to bodily privacy, to make whatever decisions she feels is right for her to make, not her father, not her husband, not the government.  I feel people forget this.  I feel that certain groups in our society feel that women are incapable of making educated decisions regarding their body and that they, the government, or someone else who is not a woman knows what’s best for them.  The truth is that nobody knows what’s best for someone except that person.

Because of this anniversary, there was a March in front of the Supreme Court in D.C., and man tried to ram his SUV into an abortion clinic in St. Paul.  What I find most interesting though is the fact that most of the people who are against abortions and whom are violent toward abortion clinics and patients are men.  It’s patriarchy doing it’s thing.  It reminds me a lot of the movie I saw about the Suffragettes, Iron Jawed Angels on HBO and all the men who were against them getting their voting privileges. Here’s a photo clip of the violence I’m talking about that was portrayed in the movie.

I’m completely convinced that this violence has everything to do with loss of power and control, just like it did back then, 100 years ago.  With every little freedom a woman is given towards the right to form her own decisions regarding her life, her body, and her well-being, certain men simply freak out, and I don’t seem to understand this.  I’ve always been priviledged to have my independence, and I was raised to speak my mind and take care of myself, because nobody was going to do that for me, so here I am, taking care of myself, forming my own opinions, and speaking my mind.

Another momentous thing happened in D.C. yesterday: The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act passed the Senate!  Here’s what Planned Parenthood had to say about it:

Tonight the Senate passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act by a bipartisan vote of 61 to 36, vindicating Lilly Ledbetter’s long search for redress after 19 years of pay discrimination.

“This is an important first step in our efforts to undo years of backsliding on the right to be paid a fair and equitable wage,” said National Organization for Women President Kim Gandy. “The Ledbetter bill will allow redress for workers with the energy and willpower to seek redress in the courts, but we have a long way to go before we have fair pay for women, and laws with real teeth.”

While it is too late for her to receive the compensation she deserved from Goodyear and was denied by the Supreme Court, Lilly’s determined quest for equal rights for women in the workplace led to today’s Senate passage of the legislation introduced in her name. President Obama is expected to sign the legislation next week after an expected concurrence from the House.

The Ledbetter Act, which was blocked in the Republican-led Senate last year, will essentially reverse the 2007 Supreme Court decision that required workers to file charges on a pay discrimination claim within six months after receiving their first discriminatory paycheck. The Court’s decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber, which reversed the jury’s compensation award to Ledbetter, essentially gave employers the go-ahead to discriminate in pay, as long as they weren’t caught in the first six months after the onset of their illegal actions.

Earlier this month the House passed the Ledbetter Act with a companion bill, the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would close loopholes that allow employers to pay men and women discriminatorily and provides consequences for that discrimination. The Senate today acted only on the Ledbetter Act, so work on passage of the companion bill begins tomorrow.

But tonight NOW salutes Lilly Ledbetter and promises to continue working for passage of fair pay legislation with real teeth, so that her long journey through the courts and the halls of Congress will not have been in vain, and all workers will be able enjoy a fair, safe and equitable workplace where they can do their jobs and support their families.

Little by litte we are working our way to equality.  Little by little women are being freed from the oppressions they face that hold them back from achieving the great things we all know they’re capable of.

I also just got word that Obama overturned the Global Gag Rule this morning via Twitter (thanks Veronica!).  More on that as the info comes in.

It’s been a big week indeed!

Agnes Scott College Opens Its Doors to Road Trip II

Insulting the Intellect, Agnes Scott College Opens Its Doors to Road Trip II: Beer Pong | Bitch Magazine.

I had to repost this article because I can’t believe that Agnes Scott College would allow something like this to happen on their college.  I can not understand why they would open their students up to this kind of harassement, ridicule, and objectification.  As if it isn’t hard enough to get away form the social stigmas of just being a woman, but these intelligent women decided to attend a woman’s college probably to have a safe space where they don’t have to deal with the types of social issues you get at co-ed institutions, like the sexism, the objectification, etc.  Instead, now it’s being thrown in their face and they’re basically being forced into situations they probably don’t want to be a part of.  This part of the article really just gets under my skin:

The students were also subject to horrendous stereotyping as the film crew shot the “Lesbians Until Graduation” scene which only eroticizes lesbianism as nothing more than an experimental “choice” made in the absence of men and, in the movie industry, sells women and their sexual identity as a heteronormative gift for men.

…the scene involved the male protagonists
stumbling upon the room full of these “making-out lesbians” (to
presumably “convert” them?). When we expressed offense, the recruiter
said she was warned about encountering uncooperative students who were
“really into being women” (versus into being objects?).

Other incidents of objectifying the students at Agnes Scott were documented, including reckless behavior of extras working in the movie.  One student reported being told that she was so attractive, she should be careful of being raped.  Another student, carrying a cup of coffee, was asked by an extra to get him one as well. [emphasis mine]

I find that bolded portion to be absolutely disgusting and would consider that a threat that should be brought up to the school, and if the school doesn’t listen, the authorities.  These people should not be allowed this open door policy at this institution especially in light of this nasty behavior they’ve displayed towards the students.  The students are there to learn, not to be harassed and told what they should or should not be doing, be objectified and forced to watch things that are demeaning.  This is misogyny at it’s worst.