Feminism at its Finest: March 2008

March 31, 2008 · Filed Under Feminism at its Finest ·

Welcome to Feminism at its Finest, March 2008 edition. This is by far the largest edition we have had to date and I am very excited for this carnival to keep building awareness and momentum. So let’s get to the submissions.

Blue presents Hotties On TV Sell Get Rich Scams, a post talking about an infomercial that I have seen on some lazy late nights that used women who are depicted as brainless and naive while objectifying women and using the “sex sells” mentality and sadly, they are selling to millions of people using this mentality. This post can be seen at Money Blue Book.

Carol presents What Kind of Feminist Am I? posted at Can’t Holder Tongue.

Christine presents Is Marriage Outdated?, which starts off with:

“The marriage ritual is Anglo-Saxon in nature and archaic in today’s society. Marriage for tax break reasons is not a very romantic notion nor should it be a reason for two people to stay together.”

Posted at Me, My Kid and Life: An American Single Mom Living in France.
She also presents Think Before You Vote,posted at Me, My Kid and Life.

Clever Elsie presents a few posts, first off we have “Marry Him” by Lori Gottlieb: A Singletude Response and How Single Men Make Women Settle, which is a followup on the “Marry Him” post about how Lori Gottlieb says that women settle, but men don’t have to and Commit to Yourself, a great post on a tongue in cheek idea of self-commitment parties, which I find to be a refreshing new look on being a happy single. All of these posts can be seen at Singletude: A Positive Blog for Singles.

Edith presents How to Succeed Without Being a Man, an interview with Kerrie Halmi, posted at Edith Yeung.

Greg Laden presents Board Room Gender Gap posted at Greg Laden’s Blog.

Katie presents Powerful Speech: Suggestions For Feminist Media, saying:

“This lets feminist media makers (like we bloggers!) one of the most useful things we can do right now (and, I suppose, forever?) to end sexual/gendered violence against a huge population of women.”

This post can be seen at Brown Femi Power.

Lori Jewett presents Ending Violence Against Women, saying:

“Strong, confident women everywhere are making themselves heard, but violence against women still threatens us. Learn more about women’s struggles against this plague of violence and what you can do to help.”

She also presents Coming Together for Change, saying:

“What the world needs now…is a woman in the White House. Rational, compassionate thinking, the ability to bring people together, the creation of consensus, real change…isn’t it about time?”

These posts can be seen over at Between Us Girls.

Madeleine Begun Kane presents Hysterical Lefty Bloggers Whine For Clinton To Leave Obama Alone, a great limerick, as well as Ode To Eliot Spitzer, posted at Mad Kane’s Political Madness.

Marcella Chester presents Socialization Which Sets Up Sex Predator/Passive Victim Model posted at abyss2hope.

Tina Su presents A Gift That Wows!, saying that the best gifts we can give another person are appreciation and open communication, posted at Think Simple. Be Decisive.

Tracee Sioux presents a few posts, Girl Characters and Geena Davis, saying:

“Girl characters are outnumbered 3 to 1. Geena Davis Institute on Gender in the Media is trying to change that. A look at some studies and what you can do to help.”

Posted at So Sioux Me.
She also presents Mood Shaper, a post on how a full-body girdle made her feel about herself, including adjectives such as angry, moody, irritable, cramped, shoved in, judged, restricted, oppressed, repressed, hostile, wrong, fat, unacceptable, picked apart, flawed, pinched, unworthy, squished and frustrated, as well as Stop Abortion Vote Healthcare!, saying:

“With healthcare for disenfranchised women on the table we have an unprecidented opportunity to drastically reduce the abortion rate without criminalizing women in poverty.”

These posts can be seen at Blog Fabulous.

And that’s it for this edition! Make sure to submit your feminist posts for next month, which will be up on Wednesday, April 30.

Tags: 2008 election, Barack Obama, blog carnival, body image, Eliot Spitzer, gender equality, Kerrie Halmi, marriage, Media, rape, relationships, sexual assault

The Psychology Behind Men and Prostitutes

March 28, 2008 · Filed Under Society ·

With cases such as Eliot Spitzer’s latest scandal, as well as other male politicians whose prostitution habits had been found out by the general public, many may be asking themselves–What drives these men to fornicate with prostitutes? Is it all men and we just happen to shed light on politicians and point fingers as if men all over the place aren’t doing the same thing? What is it about prostitutes, in particular, that drive these men crazy to the point of risking their careers and putting their families on the line?

What must first be understood is the psychological appeal of prostitutes, which is what Michael Bader of AlterNet, a person who has studied the dynamics of sexual arousal for almost 15 years, has spoken out about in order to create a sense of understanding.

When it comes to a regular relationship, it is said that men feel as if they must give a great deal to their partner in order to get a little something back. Our culture represents women as high maintenance individuals who must be cared for by a man and are otherwise helpless in life, always needing the attention and demanding the security of a man. While those exaggerations are often false, it is our society that has conditioned men to believe that this is true, making their intimate relationships suffer when it comes to a man who wishes to have his needs met and they begin to freak out and are said to be overwhelmed by what is expected of them.

It does not matter what type of prostitute a man is hiring, it can be a woman who charges over $5,000 for an hour or it can be a woman prostituting herself on the street for $50 a night, what it comes down to is that when payment is made, the man is getting his wishes tended to. It is said that while politicians, in particular, are used to wielding power and keeping people under him in check, no one is working for this man without getting something in return–and that is where the appeal of prostitutes comes in.

A prostitute serves as a slave to a man’s needs. She is an actress, although to the man, he does not care that what he is receiving for his money is a one-woman play and an act that he gets to be nothing but a prop in. This is the man’s time to shine and get whatever sexual kink he has attended to–No questions asked and no need to reciprocate. A prostitute is sought out when a man wishes to let go and selfishly indulge in his desires without having to give anything back to the woman who performs for him.

So basically, prostitution is sought out when men realize that they cannot handle what is expected of them as men and want to be entirely selfish in their actions even when what society depicts most women to be is false. Prostitutes are wanted by the men who don’t want to sexually please their wives or even care about her desires, but women can most definitely be counted on to be standing by their selfish, hypocritical and cheating men. Breaking wedding vows never needed many psychological explanations before, so here’s the Reader’s Digest version:

He does not want to be in a relationship; instead, he wants someone who will make him look like a “family man” who cares about and loves his family so he can get a few votes and make his way into office where even more stress will be put upon him. He wants this while he can also go behind his wife’s back and get his needs met while constantly complaining that his wife wants too much from him. My advice is to go out and find a man who can indulge in his kinky desires with you, while you are comfortable enough to know that he will do the same for you. Open and honest communication never hurt a relationship, either…Who knew?

Tags: Eliot Spitzer, infidelity, marriage, men, prostitutes, prostitution, psychology, sex industry, sex scandal