radfem rage

Go you!

I've been getting increasingly angry about even subtle sexist stuff lately, and occasionally I feel like, "oh, that will put people off..." but then I wonder why the fuck I'm worried about THAT when so many worse things happen to women all over the place, every single day?

I'm working on opening my mouth when I see/hear something that upsets me. Most of my silence is because I'm not all that confident in my ability to debate, but I'm speaking up more.

That is SO AWESOME that you're working on speaking up more. We're growing more bold at the same time, yay! ;-)

Not shrug it off completely, but shrug it off in comparison to the reaction if the sexes were reversed.

It's truly unimaginable the atrocities that happen to women. And it's truly unimaginable how desensitized society has become regarding abuse (of all forms) to women.

But I'm damn grateful that there are people like you in the world, Bel. Hopefully all you do and all others do will someday make a difference in this crazy world. ♥

thank you! *hugs* that's so encouraging ♥

I'm certainly reading and listening, because it is quite horrifying!

♥

The dehumanizing of women is so deep in human culture that we don't even know what it means.

That was such a poignant phrase; it just completely philosophized the honestly true status of humanity. That was an inspiring way to word that. I really enjoyed reading this and you're so right; this happens everywhere all the time and it makes no sense that there isn't outrage. Female genital mutilation is something that I find to be so horrifying, and then am so shocked when people are able to shrug it off.

yeah! it really is... it's hard to know how to even proceed when people refuse to see men and women as humans rather than men and knock-off-brand-men.

I totally feel the same way you do. A lot of my radicalness came out in high school when I had to work on a paper on honor killings. The treatment of women worldwide just upsets me.

Hearing any of what men and women in this country have to say about women also upsets me.

I almost punched out a cousin of mine because he said it was a woman's job to take care of the kids and all the dad was supposed to do was bring home the bacon.

Hearing any of what men and women in this country have to say about women also upsets me.

YES. Because it is that belief in "separate but equal" that leads to all the rest. As if there can be any equality when people are treated differently. We learned it with racism -- why can't we learn it with sexism?

I love that you're the way you are. You're the most interesting person on my friends list. I might not agree with everything you write about, but that's everyone.

I do agree that burying women alive over some shit like that is FUCKED up.

You're the most interesting person on my friends list.

haha, yay! thanks ;-D

wow, that was some of the most racist shit ive ever read.

"Every day, so-called "honor killings" of girls and women -- often by members of their own families, and even when they are victims of rape -- are unpunished, and even lauded, in Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern nations."

whatever the west calls 'honor killings' theyre illegal in iran and the last case of one was ... when? i dont know. want to find it for me? because ive only ever heard of maybe one? and from the khuzestani arabs in the south of iran and it was quite a while ago. arabs make up 3% of the iranian population, and besides that 'honor killings' are a problem amongst rural communities, which means much less than 3% since khuzestan is highly industrialized. if an 'honor killing' was to occur the punishment for the one whos committed it is death in addition to blood money paid to the victims family in iran. 'honor killings' are more common in turkey than iran, but even there have incredibly low numbers, and again occur in very rural areas. im not justifying it, im saying the way western media grabs shit likes this an exaggerates it is disgusting. pakistan, sure its an issue that needs to be dealt with, that the government hasnt really cared about, but throwing in turkey and iran for the hell of it isnt okay.

"In Africa and parts of Southeast Asia and the Middle East, each year an estimated 2 million girls are genitally mutilated -- another "moral" tradition that not only kills but exacts a terrible lifelong toll of disease and sexual dysfunction from those who survive."

the 'middle east' is first of all a really eurocentric term that means nothing. there is NOTHING the countries within the 'middle east' have in common. they dont share a common culture, history or even language. even IF an argument can be made for the arab countries being similar, iran fits nowhere in that, and neither does turkey. even geographically, why is it the middle of the east? why is does the world revolve around europe and its perspective ? its not the middle of the east when youre sitting in iran, its only the middle east when youre in the uk. female genital cutting is not a problem in iran.. but i guess thats not important, we're all the same anyway, right?

"In China and India, millions of baby girls have been killed or abandoned.

Indeed, female infanticide, selective female malnutrition and medical neglect of girls, common in many world regions, can be so severe that, according to a U.N. Human Development Report, girls ages 2 to 4 die at nearly twice the rate of boys in India's Punjab state."

why? how is it acceptable to make such a statement without explaining why? in india access to birth control is difficult and oftentimes families have more children then they are able to support. oftentimes MOTHERS, not fathers, not brothers, not the men in the family, but MOTHERS will starve or kill their young children in other ways when they were not able to successfully abort because to them its better that they die now than live a few years and see how miserable life is and how little they have and die later from starvation or disease. and yes they target girls more because girls have less of a chance of surviving unless theyre married off young or sold as domestic workers. again im not saying its acceptable, but you have to look at why these problems occur. if indias economy wasnt shit, if 28% of the population didnt live under the poverty line, if access to birth control was better, you wouldnt have these problems. now whos fault is it that indias economy is shit ? THATS the problem that middle to upper class white feminists in america need to be addressing if they want to criticize stuff going on in the world. i feel so alienated from this awful movement because theyre so incredibly reactionary. address the root of the problem, not a side effect.

"According to a World Health Organization report, 20 percent of women have suffered sexual abuse as children."

and in the blessed united states someone is sexually assaulted every two minutes.. 1 in 6 women will be sexually assaulted in her lifetime here.

"According to another U.N. report, thousands of girl children are enslaved -- often offered for sale by members of their own families -- in the global sex industry."

again why? maybe if the IMF and world bank (that are backed by which countries again?) werent fiddling around in the economies of developing nations, families wouldnt be so desperate as to sell their daughters. many MANY families believe they are giving their daughters an opportunity to leave the hell theyre in, many are told their daughters will be domestic workers in other countries when in reality yes theyre used as sex slaves. whats one of the major destinations for women whove been trafficked ? where are they actually raped and abused and forced into prostitution? hum the us and western europe.. not at home.

white feminists, and i say it with no shame as theyve claim to be THE feminist movement here, and so ill respsect that, need to focus more on the shit going on in their own communities and country before poking their noses into other areas of the world. have you ever read spivak? haha, white men saving brown women from brown men.. well it seems like white women have taken up the practice too. we can handle ourselves. we have our own movements. we have our own thoughts. we have our own ways of dealing with problems. we dont need big smart white feminists coming in and telling us how to live our lives, and we dont need their racist crap published in academic journals and on sites like this claiming to give factual news.

yeah, I see what you mean, and thank you for pointing that out. I went looking for an actual 'news' site but couldn't find any (!!!) so I just grabbed an article without really thinking of the other content.

I consider it all to be rooted in the same thing... I mean, we have different countries and different cultures, but the abuse of women is everywhere, and if we reacted to every time NOT with blame or pity but with trying to figure out how to stop it from happening again, I think we'd actually get somewhere. The thing I wanted to point out was that we're just like "oh, more abuse of women outside my little world, how sad" and that's it. Not everyone is like that of course, but the general attitude of Americans I know (not on my flist) is that abuse 1) happens elsewhere, do to problems we don't have 2) doesn't affect anyone but the victim zirself. I think we need to realize that we have the same root issues (not thinking of women as human beings), we just hide our abuses more, and anytime anyone is harmed, it affects everything.

Yeah, I agree that we need to focus more on the issues around us. The problem with that is that it IS so hidden that it is hard to point out. It's not 'obvious' like abuse that causes death. How do you call out abuse when everyone says "oh, that's not real abuse, you're invalidating the REAL victims"? I dunno, but I want to find the answers.

People don't care if it's not directly affecting them. There are people aware of honor killings in the Middle East, child soldiers in Africa, and child prostitutes in Southeast Asia. No one gives a shit until it hits home you know? The apathy and/or sense of hopelessness is disgusting and frustrating. The idea that humans don't even feel a remote responsibility to their fellow human beings pisses me off. And I don't mean we have to feel obligated to carry strangers on our backs, but a little help here and there does go along way. It's time that US citizens stop depending on the government to do everything for them, and start doing for each other. Wow... going on a tangent! heh

Anyway, back to you... I'm glad you feel strongly about an issue. You've always had, but I'm glad you finally feel firm in your stance. Making a change starts with opening your mouth. So go and start pissing people off! ;)

It's time that US citizens stop depending on the government to do everything for them, and start doing for each other.

HELL YEAH IT IS. I loved your tangent, very true!

hee hee, thanks for the support! ;-)

oh, that made me cry and cry... :-( thanks for sharing it though, I appreciate knowing that there are others who feel as I do.

That article was depressing. As were the comments and arguments that came after it. :(

*nods*

Just out of curiosity...

I come from a different mindset from you. I believe that there are two genders. I think society imposes a lot of the differences, but I also believe that beyond anatomy, there are some fundamental differences. I don't know that I could lay out exactly what they are, but it's my belief that the difference in physicalities points to other differences as well. If just for the fact that males and females have different hormones that affect them differently.

I'm just curious how you feel about this viewpoint. I'm not trying to provoke...just honestly curious! Do people with this viewpoint make you angry or do you just disagree?

oh and just so you know...

even though I use gender-specific pronouns and believe in a fundamental difference in men and women, I CERTAINLY see abuse and suppression of women as a grave evil. Women should be allowed all the same opportunities to thrive and grow as they please that men have--and vice versa.

I'm listening.

I hate all sorts of prejudice and I especially despise the way that things like sexism and racism have become so acceptable.

I recently wrote an article which will be published in the next issue of Platinum Love about sexism and the phallologocentrism of language.

I am glad to know that. ♥

wow. i dont know what to think, but i'm certainly not surprised what with "honor" killings and such. it pisses me off.

yeah!