“Pairing men with femininity is seen as like an insult, like you’re lowering yourself. Yet women doing masculinity - not an insult to women. I think it’s safe to say that there might even be some fear of the feminine. I’ve heard this phenomenon referred to in some circles as femmephobia. So this aversion to the feminine in marketing and products is one of the outcomes of femmephobia. Another outcome is that anytime someone who is perceived as a man is aligning with anything feminine-y - it is perceived as a direct threat to Mr. Manly Man’s masculinity. You can be aggressive, you can be intolerant, you can be hateful; but don’t dare wear a dress. Or so comes, ‘you’re a fag,’ ‘you’re a pussy,’ and the violence.” - Laci Green
Pakistani activist gets US’ International Women of Courage Award
WASHINGTON: A Pakistani woman activist from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has been conferred with the International Women of Courage award by the US.
Shad Begum was presented the award by US First Lady Michelle Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at a ceremony on Thursday, which was also attended by Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US Sherry Rehman.
Shad hails from Lower Dir district of Malakand division, which was briefly under militant rule before the Pakistan Army launched an operation in May 2009. She has been recognised for her contribution to the improvement in the lives of women in conservative communities.
Shad is among 10 women who were given the award from as many countries, which are Afghanistan, Pakistan, Burma, Sudan, Cambodia, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Maldives, Turkey and Brazil.
Born in 1974, Shad founded the Anjuman Behbud-e-Khawateen Talash (ABKT) in Lower Dir in 1994 to work on women rights and development. The organisation has now been renamed as the Association for Behaviour and Knowledge Transformation (ABKT).
Last year, a Pakistani woman named Ghulam Sughra, was given the award.
“We let Willow cut her hair. When you have a little girl, it’s like how can you teach her that you’re in control of her body? If I teach her that I’m in charge of whether or not she can touch her hair, she’s going to replace me with some other man when she goes out in the world. She can’t cut my hair but that’s her hair. She has got to have command of her body. So when she goes out into the world, she’s going out with a command that it is hers. She is used to making those decisions herself. We try to keep giving them those decisions until they can hold the full weight of their lives.” (via Why Will And Jada Pinkett Smith Let Daughter Willow Cut Her Hair - The Frisky)
Reposting this again, just thought I should post for people who don’t know/would like to know more
JCPenney is featuring a same-sex couple in its Fathers’ Day ad, following One Million Moms’ failed boycott of the store for bringing on Ellen DeGeneres.
What’s that, article?
http://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1234&context=jgspl
You say Iranian women are forced into submission by oppressive Muslim rule? You hold an Orientalist view that Middle Eastern women are forced to live in the home, being oppressed by wearing the veil/hijab/burka while churning out babies and being beaten by their husbands or honor killed by their male family?
I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you over our massive Iranian female police force armed with sub-machine guns, scaling walls, wielding swords, and shooting out of car windows.
"It comes down to who is the patient. Is the woman the patient, or is the fetus the patient? One or other is the patient. I’ve never heard a fetus talk to me. I’ve heard thousands and thousands of women share their pain, their desperation, and their hopelessness."
— Dr. George Tiller, an abortion provider from Wichita, Kansas, who was murdered on May 31, 2009. (via iamdrtiller)
My Jewish Abortion
“Hypothetically speaking, what if someone doesn’t have enough money?” I asked.
The social worker looked at me, her eyes alighting on the silver Jewish star necklace I was wearing.
“Are you Jewish?”
I nodded. My face flushed, and I looked down at my shaking hands. I taughtHebrew school at my synagogue. I received the Rabbi’s Scholarship for Outstanding Work in the Jewish Community. I kept kosher. And I was 19 and pregnant.
“Ok that’s good, because there is a philanthropic Jewish women’s group that offers a scholarship of $250 to help cover costs. Would you be interested in that sort of thing?”
I wondered if I would have to write an essay or give them my SAT scores or show them my Bat Mitzvah certificate.
“How would I qualify?”
“By being pregnant, and by not wanting to be pregnant. And by being Jewish,” she replied. “Look, I’ll contact the president of the organization, and I can have a check made out to you by the end of the week. Sound good?”
It sounded great. And not because I had found a way to finance my abortion. But because for the first time since I found out I was pregnant, I realized that I wasn’t the first–nor would I be the last–knocked up Nice Jewish Girl.
h/t to my friend, SS, who sent me this link last week
[NB: More people than just cis women need and want access to abortion care.]
This story gives me all the warm and fuzzies.
Brian Banks has rape and kidnapping convictions overturned
Ten years ago, Brian Banks was a promising high school linebacker at Long Beach Poly, hoping to play for Southern California.
Thursday, he walked out of a courtroom, his football dreams rekindled, after a Los Angeles Superior Courtjudge reversed Banks’ 2002 rape and kidnapping conviction.
“At first, my mind actually went blank,” Banks said. “I was overwhelmed and extremely happy, but at the same time, I was very sad that I had to go through what I went through.”
As a junior, Banks had played on Poly’s CIF Southern Section Division I championship team in 2001 and was looking to be a leader on the team’s defense in 2002 after spending much of his career playing behind Pago Togafu, who is now in the NFL with the Arizona Cardinals.
“Brian was one of our top linebackers that year,” said Poly football coach Raul Lara. “He was a pretty good football player with good size (6-4, 225), especially for high school. I know Southern Cal had shown some interest, and the rest of what was then the Pac-10 would follow if he played well.”
This still pisses me the fuck off. The lack of Tumblr coverage is deplorable but that’s another post for another day.
finafidnfiawfienbfai so fucking depressing.
"This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals—sounds that say listen to this, it is important."
— Gary Provost (via berriespie)
[Flash 10 is required to watch video]
TRANS RAPPER MYKKI BLANCO FREESTYLES IN HARLEM
This is a must see. As one of the best gay rappers in the game (and soon to be the first to cross over to mainstream success), Mykki Blanco is a sick enigmatic gem that is here to stay! In a recent mini-documentary with Glasnost NY, Mykki hits the streets of Harlem and the subway’s of NYC freestyling like the beast that she is. You just have to see for yourself.
p.s. Look out for Mykki in Issue 5 of WeTheUrban Magazine on newsstands this summer!
