Three Reasons to Smile
Posted by: J on: July 2, 2009
1) In online-activism news the disgustingly inconsiderate and downright dangerous hate site tranny-alter.com has been taken down as a result of an outpouring of bloggers mobilizing to make it happen. According to Courtney of Feministing:
Tranny-alert.com–an site aimed at alienating and attacking trans people–was taken down after a flurry of online activism this weekend. A highly effective Call to Action against Tranny Alert was started by a Livejournal user named gudbuytjane and circulated widely by GLAAD and a chorus of other blogs.
I love these types of situations where justice is both swift and easily measured – the site is gone, we’ve won. Now lets take these happy feelings and continue to fight transphobia in all of its forms – especially the ones that are harder to measure and do away with.
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2) This is more personal but I attended the most beautiful Civil Union last Sunday and, while my feet are still sore from all the dancing, the love and true happiness that I witnessed have lifted me so much – I wish I could somehow share that with all of you.
I think what struck me most about the whole night was what was said during the ceremony in reference to the question of – why now? Why have a Union Ceremony NOW after sixteen years of being together? I can’t remember the answer verbatim but the core of it was the idea that their relationships just kept growing, kept getting better, as they grew as individuals and as a couple; and they wanted to honor that with all of the people who have been witness to it over the last sixteen years – can there be a better reason for a ceremony like this?
Basically, what I really want to say is congratulations Ruth Anne and Marie!
In honor of their Union, please, remember to be grateful for the relationships in your life that keep growing and getting better every day – the world would be a better place if we could just slow down more often and focus on the love that surrounds us all every day.
Also, please, remember that, when we’re fighting for Marriage Equality, that this is really what we’re fighting for – the right for people, people who we know and love, to be able to express and celebrate their love in the same capacity that heterosexual individuals are allowed. I’m not dismissing or downplaying the legal rights that go along with marriage/civil unions, I’m just saying that the legal situation isn’t the whole picture – its about love too… and really, who can stand against love?
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3) I’m getting personal again (sorry!) but its worth it because I have the cutest little story to share. So I’m an art teacher at a Christian summer camp this year for a few weeks and today was my first day. So to set the scene – my project – the kids were each decorating a letter that then went together to spell out the seven sacraments, after they finished their letters I would call out a word and begin to spell it out, one letter at a time.
Each time I called out a letter the kids with that letter would raise their hand and I’d choose one to run over and line their letter up, eventually spelling out a sacrament. Then they’d choose ribbon and the words would be strung together by the kids/counselors to make a big banner. Amidst the chaos of trying to get the project together I messed up big time and, after all of the kids had been organized into words, ended up with a group of wordless kids with random extra letters and a completley blank mind - what the hell do I do now?
Thank God one of the mothers stepped up quickly with a suggestion – lets have the kids make a new word! So, as all of the others strung their banners together, I stood with this little group of eight kids and their random letters H- Y- L- I- O- R- A- I- T- and N… It was a tense few minutes until one of the kids realized we have holy! I was relieved, but we still had kids with letters that had yet to be used… then suddenly they made tan which lead one kid to realise they had the makings of train… Holy Train? Then they took away the T… Holy Rain.
Everyone seemed happy with this, well, except the kids who were left holding a carefully colored I- and T- with nowhere to put them. That is, until one little girl ran over to the table, grabbed another sheet of paper, and quickly designed an S-
Its Holy Rain! They declared triumphantly – they were proud of their sentence, and the fact that they got to be the “special” group who invented their own banner… and I was just relieved that no one had been left out, my first day had ended smoothly with smiles on everyone’s faces regardless of how much I had initially messed up.
I’m not sure if this story will amuse anyone but me, but I decided to write it anyway because it reminded me of something really important – no matter how hard you try (and believe me, I tried to make these letters match up just right) things will not always turn out how you plan. Yes, sometimes it sucks and things so wrong but other times you end up with something much better than you originally planned for… like Holy Rain.
Let me know why you’re smiling in the comments (:
Not Sure of This…
Posted by: J on: June 30, 2009
Here’s the first in my new promised series of posts featuring links to articles about issues that affect the communities I care about but don’t feel at this time I can effectively blog about… I really need to think of a good title for this series (any suggestions? Comment!) because that explanation is awfully wordy.
For starters: How Many Letter Does it Take to Kill a Movement?
“Many know the old tune sung by Ella Fitzgerald that goes “you say either, I say eye-ther, you say neither, I say n-eye-ther. Either, eye-ther, neither, n-eye-ther, let’s call the whole thing off.” That sums up my feeling about the struggle to name our community. You say GLBT, I say LGBT, you say LGBTQ, I say GLBTQA, gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual, let’s call the whole thing off.
I have been involved in “community” politics almost all of my adult life. I have watched our community go from being the gay community to the gay and lesbian community to the gay, lesbian and bisexual community to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community to the new variants which have added questioning (Q), allies (A) and pansexual (P). Unbelievably, there are several other initialisms that purport to represent “our” community. It is not only frustrating but politically damaging. Is it asking too much for us to agree on what we would like to be called?”
Also: “Five Axioms about Gender and Bodies” on Questioning Transphobia really got me thinking this week about the language I use on this blog and in life.*
“2. Genitals do not of themselves determine gender
A penis is not inherently male, a vagina is not inherently female. If she has one, a trans women’s penis is female. Similarly, if he has one, a trans man’s vagina is male. Therefore, “female genitals” do not automatically exclude a penis, and automatically include a vagina. Though penis = male, vagina = female are often codified into law which determine a whole host of things from access to shelters to housing in prison, this is the cause of much oppression of trans people, because cissexist meanings have material social effects.”
[...]
“I am a woman, therefore *every* part of me is female. My penis doesn’t get exempted from that.
Otherwise you begin with a process of splitting the body into “male” and “female” parts that negates trans identifications. Because any remainder in a cissexist world posits us as liars.
Besides, how would that work? Oh, my estrogen level’s closer to average cis levels, so uh.. my skin’s two-thirds female?”**
Obama Brushes off LBGTQ Folks from Deeply Problematic
“The White House is having a reception to commemorate the Stonewall riots 40 years ago. Awesome, right? Totes! Except that they’ve done nothing to promote or publicize the event, and it’s apparently a party? Is it appropriate to celebrate hate crimes when they haven’t been extinguished?”
WOC are not Welcome to Sell L’Oriel Products at Womanist Musings. I, for one, am done buying L’Oreal Products until meaningful change is made.
“L’Oreal has been careful to cultivate a multi-racial image to the public while participating in discrimination in its internal hiring process. When you consider the lightening of Beyoncee’s image, it is not hard to believe that they would engage in practices that exclude women of color.
SOS Racisme, an anti-racist campaign group in France filed the case against the cosmetic giant. L’Oreal used an all whites sales staff to promote its Fructis shampoo products.”
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I’m not quite sure yet how I feel about this list – it seems too arbitrary and dismissive to me to simply post links each week and call it inclusion, my aim of course is to eventually be able to write decent articles myself on these issues but, in the meantime, I’m not sure this is the best solution. Still, after the post I made last week I know I have to do something. Anyone have a better suggestion? Help!
Please don’t be hesitant to add your voice, in the comments or via guest post, to help me make this blog a more inclusive space!
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*I’ve regrettably been more quite about the trans movement than any other, not because I don’t care and don’t want to be an ally but because my privilege as a cisgendered individual is the one aspect of myself that I have only recently begun questioning and I don’t feel that I am at a point where I have learned enough 101-level information about the trans movement to really make any kind of insightful contribution to the dialouge. (Although if anyone is interested in a compilation of 101-level definitions and questions that all cisgendered allies should know I’d be more than happy to compile as I learn – that much I can contribute.)
** This second part is from the comments
The Bachelorette Ban
Posted by: J on: June 24, 2009
Crossposted @ Amplify
This Huffington Post article about a gay nightclub that has banned bachelorette parties really got me worked up. As I read the article I found myself 100% agreeing with bar owner Geno Zaharakis, who’s official statement regarding his decision is this: “Until same-sex marriage is legal everywhere and same-sex couples are allowed the rights as every heterosexual couple worldwide, we simply do not think it’s fair or just for a female bride-to-be to celebrate her upcoming nuptials here at Cocktail.”
What flustered me were the comments from those who disagreed with Zaharakis’ position by either claiming inclusiveness would help the gay rights movement more or claiming that, since the women don’t mean to be flaunting their privilege it should not matter. Its articles like these that make me wish more people would be aware of, and truly examine, their privilege before speaking.The general argument against Zaharakis’ decision is embodied pretty well in the following blog excerpt:
(Taken from an opinion piece on the issue that was randomly choosen off google)
This line of thinking reeks of privilege, in the sense that those making the argument are solely looking at how Zaharakis’ decision will effect the straight women. When I look at this situation I see a business owner trying to create a safe space for his patrons – one where they do not have to be reminded of the rights they have yet to be granted by our heterosexist society. This is not discrimination.
Read the rest of this entry »
Reconciling My Privilege
Posted by: J on: June 23, 2009
I’ve been reflecting on my blogging and my feminism a lot lately and, no matter how I frame it, I just keep coming up disappointed with myself and my blog.
While I’m proud of the posts I have written and (for the most part) still believe every word I have written, although some of the REALLY old posts make me cringe just a bit at how much I didn’t know, I have not done nearly enough to highlight the many intersections of oppression that exist within our culture and the feminist movement.
My personal definition of feminism believes that all oppressions are linked and need to be fought together. Politically and ideologically I am very concerned with GLBTIQ issues, class issues, and issues of race in addition to the gender issues and sexism I blog about so often… unfortunately, I don’t think my writing reflects this intersection nearly as well as it should.
I honestly hesitated to make this post for awhile because I don’t like the way in which it makes inclusiveness seem like some grand, abnormal gesture. To be clear: I am not looking for praise here, I don’t deserve praise, if anything I owe apologies for not being an effective ally in the past. I posted this because I wanted this statement to be public and recorded so that my readers know where I stand and will (hopefully) feel encouraged hold me to my promise to work towards being a better ally in my blogging.
Here’s where I promise to educate myself and start blogging more about GLBTIQ issues, race issues, class issues, and so on… I truly do plan to educate myself much more (starting with a whole stack of books from my Women’s Center’s library) and start taking a vocal stance on these issues; but this isn’t enough. I fear that as a straight white middle-class woman I simply do not have the depth of experience necessary to contribute much anything of value to these conversations… which is why I am making my second resolution: to link more.
As often as I can (at least once a week) I’m going to compile a list of posts here on important issues that I cannot personally speak to, by bloggers who I respect and admire a great deal. Practically this doesn’t serve much of a purpose – these posts would still get read without my linking them, their voices would still be heard… in all honesty these bloggers will be doing me a favor in allowing me to link their work. I view this decision as symbolic at best – an earnest attempt to reflect these issues on this blog in the capacity that they deserve, but I am incapable of doing justice to.
I’m going to reflect on this more in the days ahead as I try to shift the focus of this blog to a more inclusive one. If you have any suggestions I’d love to hear them in the comments and/or via e-mail (sunfollowers@gmail.com) Also, if you’ve written a post that you’d like linked here (or even posted in full here, with credit of course, and linked back to you) let me know via email – the more voices represented on here, the better!
- J
It All Comes Down to Trust
Posted by: J on: June 23, 2009
Crossposted @ Amplify
Recently I was struck by the decision of a Wyoming school to offer two sex education courses, one abstinence only and one comprehensive, in order to allow parents to choose which education their children will be receiving. On the surface this may seem like a slight step forward, progress in the sense that at least all of the information is now being offered. This is what I originally thought, and yet, there was a nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach that wouldn’t go away, a feeling that told the truth: nothing has changed.
The thing is, the whole sex-education debate boils down to trust in the end. Do we (society, parents, school administrators, etc.) trust teenagers enough to make wise decisions, once armed with all of the information? What this decision (and others) show us is that, obviously, we do not (at least not in this school district and others like it.)
While I find the idea of two separate classes completely ridiculous (teenagers who choose abstinence for now will still, most likely, need to know about contraceptives and safe sex later in life. Why not get them the education now?) I do think that this program could have seemed like progress to me – if it empowered the teens. If the school district were to allowed the students to decide which class they would like to attend then I could appreciate this program more because it would symbolize the school district, and the parents, trusting their teens enough to take license over their own sex education and, by extension, their own bodies.
Read the rest of this entry »
The Princesses May Have Fallen but their Myths Have Not
Posted by: J on: June 22, 2009
Recently Dina Goldstein’s Fallen Princesses project popped up in my internet browsing, probably as a result of one of the many posts questioning and critiquing this series on some of my favorite feminists blogs. I’ve been wanting to write this post for days but have found myself unable to – simply because, like many others, I’m not exactly sure how I feel about these images and what I want to say. These images are hard to comment on, probably because there are so many of them, and each one conveys a radically different message (a message that is highly open to the viewer’s determination, no less), but I’m going to try my best.
Let’s start with the one I found most offensive: Not So Little Red Riding Hood. At first (and second, and third) glance I found this picture to be horribly fatphobic, especially after the author explained her vision of this image in the comments as a, “personal comment on today’s fast food society.” As a personal comment on today’s ‘fast food society’ this image irks me at first in the sense that it perpetuates the myth that weight is inescapably tied to the quantity and quality of the food one eats (ignoring, of course, the wide range of genetic factors that go into one’s weight.) On a more base level the inclusion of this picture into a gallery of “Fallen Fairytales” attaches a value-judgment to being fat – to be fat is to have fallen, in some way, from the standards that one is meant to adhere to. To be quite honest conflating fat with bad is just as harmful of the old fairytale adage that tells us the women who are thin and beautiful are always good and moral, because along with that belief comes the inescapable conclusion that it’s opposite, fat and ugly, are evil or bad. Far from an attempt to undo fairytale stereotypes, Dina’s artwork seems to confirm them by adopting fairy-tale values to comment on a more modern situation.
To contrast Alix Olson offers an excellent body positive re-imagining of Little Red Ridinghood (and many other fairytales) in her poem Eve’s Mouth as she writes:
“Little Red Riding Hood was walking down the trail,
she was carrying the goodies,
thought “They’ll go stale”.
So, she ate ‘em all up and that was that.
Then, she threw them all up, fear of getting fat.
‘Cause even Red Riding Hood reads magazines,
the ones prescribing diets for pre-teens.”
I’m instantly more drawn to this fairytale re-imagining than the ones done by Dina Goldstien because the values that are expressed by Alix Olson fall more in line with my own – I’m not worried about the “fast food epidemic” so much as I am worried about the epidemic of eating disorders, depression, and unhealthy eating that seems prevalent in young girls who are infected by this thin culture (that holds the same values as our fairytales: thin and beautiful is good and fat and ugly is bad, and in addition fat can never be beautiful.) The funny thing is, ultimately, I think we’re worried about the same thing: people living unhealthy lifestyles due to cultural messages. Unfortunately fat-shaming is never going to be the best way to get people to make healthy choices (and as we learned yesterday fat =/= unhealthy all the time.) Read the rest of this entry »
Fat Acceptance Goes Mainstream
Posted by: J on: June 21, 2009
This video and accompanying article drive me more than a little bit crazy.
I’d like to start out by saying Marianne Kirby and Gabrielle Gregg, the women interviewed in this clip, are awesome. I’ve been reading Gabrielle’s Blog, Young Fat and Fabulous, for awhile now (I even linked to it in a January post on body-positive sites), its actually how I found the clip in the first place. As for Marianne’s blog, The Rotund, my first visit occurred as a result of this article – but I’ll definitely be going back!
My complaint here is not with these two fabulous women in the least, no, my issue is with ABC’s handling of this story… can someone please explain to me how, in a story on body acceptance, the anchors and producers found it acceptable to engage in fat shaming?
Most offensive to me were the stock-footage “headless fatty” clips. The Headless Fatty Phenomena is a term coined by Charlotte Cooper on her blog over two years ago to describe instances where articles or news stories on obesity are disrespectfully accompanied by footage or images of obese individuals shot from the neck down – indviduals who often have not given permission for their image to be used. In her own words Charlotte explains the awful effect of these images:
These images, taken from the clip on the Good Morning America website, are just two examples of the many headless fatty shots included in the segment.
These clips are, naturally, accompanied by a discussion of the health risks of being overweight – interrupted by a much briefer discussion of the risks that come with the yo-yo dieting necessary for many to be thin. GMA anchors are quick to point out that, “there are a number of common health concerns associated with obesity, including high blood pressure, heart problems, diabetes and some cancers.*” Even worse, after stating that “both women say their recent physicals have shown that they are in fine health, and that their cholesterol and blood pressure levels are normal” Diane Sawyer couldn’t help but question if those would go up over time – as if their fat just hadn’t caught up to these ladies yet health wise.
Now, I can’t really blame them for this – these facts seem to come up in every conversation about weight acceptance and understandably so considering our culture has brainwashed us all into thinking that overweight always equals unhealthy.
However, that may not be the case.
