blog carnival   Take Me Nowhere   link directory

Feminism at its Finest: February 2008

February 29, 2008 · Filed Under Feminism at its Finest

feminism at its finest blog carnival The February 2008 edition of Feminism at its Finest is here! Since changing this carnival from a once a week roundup to once a month, the carnival has obviously taken some form and submissions have been trickling in to form an actual list. It has also given many people the opportunity to promote the carnival, as there is now more time to make people aware of the carnival in advance.

And on to the posts…

Beth Terry presents Plastic-free sex, part 2: “Pedro offers you his protection”, saying:

“Fake Plastic Fish is an eco-blog about one woman’s campaign to significantly reduce her plastic waste and plastic consumption. This particular post deviates a bit, as it is about how using birth control, plastic or otherwise, can be the most environmentally-friendly step that heterosexuals can take. Pro-choice with an environmental slant.”

This post is at Fake Plastic Fish.

Gloria Pan presents Breast Implants: If a Woman Gives Consent, Does It Mean She’s Informed?, a post on the many, many dangers of breast augmentation, posted at Beauty and the Breast.

Hops, one of my personal favorite bloggers, presents Wherefore the hot wife?, saying:

“Revisiting the sitcom standard of “fat husband, hot wife.”

This post is at Be a Good Human.

Jenn Bazar presents A history of women and the mind doctors, saying:

“An interview with novelist Lisa Appignanesi, on her recent book “Mad, Bad and Sad: A History of Women and the Mind Doctors from 1800 to the Present.”

This post is at Advances in the History of Psychology.

Madeleine Begun Kane presents Obama’s Words - A Textbook Case Of Subtle Sexism, posted at Mad Kane’s Political Madness.

Veronica Dr. Susan Wicklund at Women & Children First, posted at posted at Viva La Feminista.

As for a few I’ve taken the liberty of throwing in myself just because 1.) I can and 2.) Who doesn’t like some free website promotion?

Cara, who runs another one of my personal favorite feminist blogs has a great post up, LA Times: Women Should Stop Bitching About the Rape that Doesn’t Actually Happen. The LA Times, rape and misogyny; good times! Check it out at The Curvature.

Courtney has a great post, The Ol’ F-Word Debate, which covers feminism, how women react to being introduced to the feminist movement and other intriguing and informative tidbits. A must-read for all feminists or those who want a little more insight into the movement. That post is at Feministing.

Debs, who is always teaching me something new, has a post of a few, different stories all depicting woman-hating. Check it out! Sometimes the misogyny becomes too much…, posted at The Burning Times.

And that’s it for this month. Thanks to everyone who submitted and be sure to submit your feminist posts for next month!

Alison’s Cycle

February 28, 2008 · Filed Under Art & Creativity

I received an email from filmmaker Dany Nieves this morning telling me about a new, (nearly) five minute short film called Alison’s Cycle. Alison’s Cycle is a series of five poems that tell a story of heartbreak, past abuse and overcoming tribulations in order to become a woman that she loves being and in the process, urging others to embrace themselves as they are and nothing less.

“Alison’s Cycle” is a reading of poetry from inside of the soul that reflects 5 days in a woman’s cycle. Emotional outpouring from past memories and childish doubts. Expressions of emotions bottled inside released in an artistic film. Alison Floersch opens her thoughts of past hates and coping with tormenting memories [and] child abuse issues.”

Check it out!



But I Never Raped Anyone…

February 27, 2008 · Filed Under Art & Creativity, Violence Against Women

Dedicated to every man who believes that because he never sexually assaulted a woman he shouldn’t be educated or care about violence against women.



Carnival of Radical Feminists

February 27, 2008 · Filed Under Activism

feminist I am extremely honored to be hosting the Carnival of Radical Feminists this month. Thanks to everyone who submitted their posts.

Allecto presents The Blood of Women, a story posted at Spinning Spinsters.

Anji presents The War On Women posted at Shut Up, Sit Down.

Cheryl Lindsey Seelhoff presents La! I’m back. And with an essay. Don’t worry, hon, it’s under 1000 words. posted at Demonista.

Cheryl Lindsey Seelhoff also presents Pornography, stripping and violence in contemporary ‘lesbian’ culture and Erasure of lesbian/female-centred sexuality/ancient representations of female erotic autonomy posted at Gorgon Poisons.

Cheryl Lindsey Seelhoff also presents In the Tradition of the Wickedary by Dissenter posted at Spinning Spinsters

Christine presents High School, Hair Color and Choices posted at Me, My Kid and Life: An American Single Mom Living in France. She says:

“Conformity does not breed brilliance! Allowing a child the dignity to express herself as long as her choices do not hurt herself or others.”

Christine also presents Is Moving Abroad Right for You? posted at Me, My Kid and Life: An American Single Mom Living in France.

Debs presents I hate men who hate women, as well as Rape and Street Harassment, Privilege, and Lies, posted at Feminist Fire.

Lauredhel presents Gestation Anxiety: the othering of intentional single motherhood posted at Hoyden About Town.

Maggie Jochild presents Blog for Choice 2008: On the 35th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade, SUPER BULLSHIT and Ten Letters Toward an Alphabet of Presidential Choice posted at Meta Watershed.

Phemisaurus presents They thought we were extinct posted at They thought we were extinct.

Sam presents The Secret Ballot posted at Reclusive Leftist. Saying:

“woman-centered woman, even if it isn’t acceptable to publicly be so”

Tali presents Who Cares if a Few Dykes Get Banned from Digg? posted at BlogHer. She says:

“Is the right to free speech irrelevant, at Digg?”

Tracee Sioux presents Caroline’s Name posted at So Sioux Me. She says:

“I’m regretting not passing my name to my daughter. She’s my only daughter so there’s a feeling of lost opportunity. I attempted to bring up the subject of changing her name to incorporate my sur name . . . but, it didn’t exactly go like I had imagined.”

And that’s it for this month! Be sure to submit your Radical Feminist posts for the next carnival!

McCain Doesn’t Know if He Supports Contraception

February 26, 2008 · Filed Under Politics

condoms I bring up John McCain on here quite a bit; the reason for that is because the more I read about him, the more I’m convinced that he just cannot be the Republican candidate for president. The more this man speaks, the more he makes even extreme right wingers look like peace-loving hippies. He makes Ann Coulter look liberal!

I am convinced that John McCain has absolutely no thoughts of his own and is simply taking the ideals of other people and of the current president and thinks to himself “Well it worked for them and so I think I feel that way, too!” His thought process depicts more of how a 13 year old teenage girl thinks and acts when trying to fit in with the cool crowd at school. Example A: McCain isn’t sure if he supports condoms.

We know that McCain supports abstinence-only sex education, as does the current president although it has been statistically proven to be ineffective. However, his case gets even worse when he was recently asked if he believes that US taxpayer’s money should go to fund contraception to prevent AIDS in Africa. This was his response:

“Well I think it’s a combination. The guy I really respect on this is Dr. Coburn. He believes — and I was just reading the thing he wrote — that you should do what you can to encourage abstinence where there is going to be sexual activity. Where that doesn’t succeed, then he thinks that we should employ contraceptives as well. But I agree with him that the first priority is on abstinence. I look to people like Dr. Coburn. I’m not very wise on it.”

Coburn, whom John McCain speaks of is the Republican Senator of Oklahoma; he has also been said to support death sentences for abortion providers so it is no surprise that McCain would be such a fan of his.

In the first part of McCain’s response he says that we need to encourage abstinence where there is going to be sexual activity. This is an insanely broad statement because it brings up the question of consenting adults. If two, consenting adults were to engage in sexual activity, does he believe they shouldn’t and that they should abstain? In all cases of sexual activity whatsoever, McCain believes that we must not give into temptation!

The last section of his response is a bit odd…How can you not be educated when it comes to contraception? While he may be cleverly trying to back up his broad abstinence remark and make us believe that he waited until marriage until engaging in sexual activity, which I believe to be highly unlikely; or that he is still a virgin, which again, is even more unlikely, how can you sincerely not have an opinion on funding contraception in Africa?

When asked about grants for sex education in the US and if they should include information on contraceptives, or if it should strictly be Bush’s policy, which is abstinence education and nothing more, McCain answered that “he thinks he supports the president’s policy.”

He thinks he supports the president’s policy. How can a grown, 71 year old man not know if he supports contraception? In the first question, he stated that when abstinence is not possible, we should then employ contraceptives. In this response, he takes that statement back by saying that we shouldn’t even educate people about contraception. Does he know what contraception is? Is he aware of what condoms are? If we took him to a store and asked him to point out a box of condoms, would he know where to go or what they look like?

When asked if he would agree that condoms stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, McCain refuses to answer, yet asks for Coburn’s paper regarding the subject so he knows what stance he has on it:

(Twelve-second pause) “Get me Coburn’s thing, ask Weaver to get me Coburn’s paper that he just gave me in the last couple of days. I’ve never gotten into these issues before.”

I still cannot wrap my mind around the fact that he claims that he has never gotten into issues of contraception and sex education before and in the process, admits that he has no real opinion on it and relies on the thoughts of other extreme Republicans for his thoughts on issues. I guess when it comes to these issues he was betting on just being able to say “pro-life” about a thousand times and he would be in the clear. Is he aware that abortion has to do with sex, which then has to do with the option of contraception? I can see him counseling women out of abortion now–”Well you should have just abstained from having sex in the first place. What do you mean ‘the condom broke,’ they can do that?”

Sorry John, we want answers this time and how about a presidential candidate with their own damn thoughts, would that be too hard?

Next Page »