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ismnotwasm
ismnotwasm's Journal
ismnotwasm's Journal
February 19, 2014
http://hoydenabouttown.com/20140219.16104/the-attempts-to-shut-women-down-continue/
The attempts to shut women down continue
This short article is a bit confusing, but is have interesting stats and is a great blog
Two women who have been the subject of floods of contemptuous and dismissive abuse as part of their public life write about their experiences and point out that their experience is the cultural norm, not any outlier experience.
British academic Mary Beard in the London Review Of Books: The Public Voice of Women (summary by Caroline Davies in The Guardian)
SF writer (and past SFWA vice-president) Mary Robinette Kowal: Me, as a useful representative example
Tangentially I am reminded of many pieces I’ve been reading lately referencing the datum that once any group contains 17% or so women proportionally, men tend to perceive the gender distribution as equal, and once the proportion of women reaches more than 33% then the perception is that women are dominant in that group. According to further datapoints, the voices we hear and faces we see in public (politics, academia, the professions, the trades, entertainment etc) tend to be 17-25% female too, and this is what we are continually told is proof of a new egalitarian post-feminist status quo.
p.s.
Data! What Data Analytics Says About Gender Inequality in the Workplace
Case in point – 2008 Ms. article on gender inequity in a college athletics department.
Tangentium secundus: I can’t find the exact link now but in several articles I read last week there was mention of yet another case of a drug being recalled from sale because usage by women led to higher risks of side-effects that were not known earlier because research had only been done on male subjects. Apparently hardly anything has changed with regard to testing requirements since this article was written in 2001 – not only are drugs rarely tested on women, they are also rarely tested on children, and even more rarely tested on ethnic groupings outside the mixed-northern-European “norm”. It also jumped out at me that (according to consultant anaesthetic Anita Holdcroft) a UK Medical Research Council-funded study found that only 16 per cent of people who take part in statins trials are women.
Tangentium tertius: general interest article on R&D in pharmaceutical companies and investment hype thereof.
British academic Mary Beard in the London Review Of Books: The Public Voice of Women (summary by Caroline Davies in The Guardian)
SF writer (and past SFWA vice-president) Mary Robinette Kowal: Me, as a useful representative example
Tangentially I am reminded of many pieces I’ve been reading lately referencing the datum that once any group contains 17% or so women proportionally, men tend to perceive the gender distribution as equal, and once the proportion of women reaches more than 33% then the perception is that women are dominant in that group. According to further datapoints, the voices we hear and faces we see in public (politics, academia, the professions, the trades, entertainment etc) tend to be 17-25% female too, and this is what we are continually told is proof of a new egalitarian post-feminist status quo.
p.s.
Data! What Data Analytics Says About Gender Inequality in the Workplace
Case in point – 2008 Ms. article on gender inequity in a college athletics department.
Tangentium secundus: I can’t find the exact link now but in several articles I read last week there was mention of yet another case of a drug being recalled from sale because usage by women led to higher risks of side-effects that were not known earlier because research had only been done on male subjects. Apparently hardly anything has changed with regard to testing requirements since this article was written in 2001 – not only are drugs rarely tested on women, they are also rarely tested on children, and even more rarely tested on ethnic groupings outside the mixed-northern-European “norm”. It also jumped out at me that (according to consultant anaesthetic Anita Holdcroft) a UK Medical Research Council-funded study found that only 16 per cent of people who take part in statins trials are women.
Tangentium tertius: general interest article on R&D in pharmaceutical companies and investment hype thereof.
http://hoydenabouttown.com/20140219.16104/the-attempts-to-shut-women-down-continue/
February 19, 2014
http://www.rolereboot.org/culture-and-politics/details/2014-02-why-are-some-men-turned-off-by-funny-women
Why Are Some Men Turned Off By Funny Women?
This is a no- holds--barred opinion piece I found very interesting
Women can be funny. Why is this obvious fact still controversial?
We're at the beginning of what's looking like a new age of female comedy. A brigade of female comics—women like Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Sasheer Zamata, and the great Tina Fey—has stormed the cultural landscape.
Adweek reports that of the 44 comedy pilots ordered by the networks in anticipation of the 2012-'13 season, 18 were conceived and/or written by women. At NBC and ABC, exactly half their combined sitcom orders were female-driven comedies. The hilarious women-centered comedy-drama "Orange Is the New Black," soon to begin its second season on Netflix, is a runaway hit. Comedien Amy Poehler debuted in her first romantic comedy, They Came Together at this year's Sundance, an event that buzzed with the success of funny women.
Yet the women-aren’t-funny camp clings to its beliefs like cave dwellers afraid of the sunlight. He-man comedian Adam Corolla complained that unfunny women get preferential treatment in Hollywood due to political correctness. Jerry Seinfeld recently grumbled that he didn't care about diversity in comedy. Some men see humor as their special provenance, an echo of the primal cry-of-triumph over the enemy—something far too potent for ladies. They don't like encroachment.
We're at the beginning of what's looking like a new age of female comedy. A brigade of female comics—women like Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Sasheer Zamata, and the great Tina Fey—has stormed the cultural landscape.
Adweek reports that of the 44 comedy pilots ordered by the networks in anticipation of the 2012-'13 season, 18 were conceived and/or written by women. At NBC and ABC, exactly half their combined sitcom orders were female-driven comedies. The hilarious women-centered comedy-drama "Orange Is the New Black," soon to begin its second season on Netflix, is a runaway hit. Comedien Amy Poehler debuted in her first romantic comedy, They Came Together at this year's Sundance, an event that buzzed with the success of funny women.
Yet the women-aren’t-funny camp clings to its beliefs like cave dwellers afraid of the sunlight. He-man comedian Adam Corolla complained that unfunny women get preferential treatment in Hollywood due to political correctness. Jerry Seinfeld recently grumbled that he didn't care about diversity in comedy. Some men see humor as their special provenance, an echo of the primal cry-of-triumph over the enemy—something far too potent for ladies. They don't like encroachment.
The funny female is not only too bold and brainy, she may be too sexually powerful for the ego-challenged male. Going all the way back to Greek courtesans, men have associated humor in women with sexual subversiveness and potency. Think of Mae West, whose remark, “Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?” is the kind of repartee that can be either exciting or emasculating, depending on your confidence level. Bawdiness isn’t nice—it might be unclean, or downright scary. A smiling, laughing woman is taboo, disruptive. She might want to eat you, blast you with her crazy, or snap at your with her toothed vagina.
It's true that some women try not to let their humor out of the bag as a survival technique. When we are funny, we can quickly become construed as a threat, so sometimes we figure it’s better to keep our heads down and pretend to be serious so we don’t become a target of outrage. This is a technique common to all oppressed groups, and it’s one reason that, I would argue, women and minorities are often much funnier than white men. They just keep it on the qt.
It's true that some women try not to let their humor out of the bag as a survival technique. When we are funny, we can quickly become construed as a threat, so sometimes we figure it’s better to keep our heads down and pretend to be serious so we don’t become a target of outrage. This is a technique common to all oppressed groups, and it’s one reason that, I would argue, women and minorities are often much funnier than white men. They just keep it on the qt.
http://www.rolereboot.org/culture-and-politics/details/2014-02-why-are-some-men-turned-off-by-funny-women
February 19, 2014
http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/society/womensend/article5706158.ece
I will be visiting that website post-haste
Womensend!
The writer finds a website where women exchange notes about food, fashion, hobbies and life
As a girl, Aparna had not heard about feminism. But, she would blow her top every time her uncle told her that a woman could not argue against a man for he had certain liberties that she did not. “Doesn’t that mean the woman needs more powers?” Aparna would question.
The thought stuck with her as she went to college, studied journalism and later entered the world of business, working as marketing professional for corporate groups. She also worked as a communication consultant in small firms. While gender was rarely a barrier for her to get a job, she did observe how deep rooted prejudices existed in subtle forms. “I came across bosses who believed that women deserved wages lower than men,” says Aparna Vedapuri Singh. After she worked for others for a while, Aparna decided to be her own boss. A passion for words and the desire to capture the life of the urban Indian woman motivated her to launch an online magazine, Women’s Web, in June 2010.
The magazine is a mix of stories about women entrepreneurs and activists. There are book reviews and home décor suggestions that are shared widely on social networking sites. There are also articles about women’s rights and sexual harassment at work space. “If you go to an office full of women, the first thing they do is warn you against the ‘office lech’. There are so many women who are still not aware of the legal framework that protects us from sexual harassment at workspace,” says Aparna. Tips for mothers, travelogues and women’s health issues are popular with the readers of this website. In the Book Review section, Aparna says works that have reinterpreted female characters from Indian epics such as Draupadi and Sita have often turned viral.
Eve-teasing related articles are also well received, says Aparna. “We published the story of the Thasni Banu case in Kerala. Thasni was harassed by the local men for walking on the streets with a male friend, late at night. These are day to day problems, which many of us face in this country. Sharing these stories will help us realise we are not alone.”
As a girl, Aparna had not heard about feminism. But, she would blow her top every time her uncle told her that a woman could not argue against a man for he had certain liberties that she did not. “Doesn’t that mean the woman needs more powers?” Aparna would question.
The thought stuck with her as she went to college, studied journalism and later entered the world of business, working as marketing professional for corporate groups. She also worked as a communication consultant in small firms. While gender was rarely a barrier for her to get a job, she did observe how deep rooted prejudices existed in subtle forms. “I came across bosses who believed that women deserved wages lower than men,” says Aparna Vedapuri Singh. After she worked for others for a while, Aparna decided to be her own boss. A passion for words and the desire to capture the life of the urban Indian woman motivated her to launch an online magazine, Women’s Web, in June 2010.
The magazine is a mix of stories about women entrepreneurs and activists. There are book reviews and home décor suggestions that are shared widely on social networking sites. There are also articles about women’s rights and sexual harassment at work space. “If you go to an office full of women, the first thing they do is warn you against the ‘office lech’. There are so many women who are still not aware of the legal framework that protects us from sexual harassment at workspace,” says Aparna. Tips for mothers, travelogues and women’s health issues are popular with the readers of this website. In the Book Review section, Aparna says works that have reinterpreted female characters from Indian epics such as Draupadi and Sita have often turned viral.
Eve-teasing related articles are also well received, says Aparna. “We published the story of the Thasni Banu case in Kerala. Thasni was harassed by the local men for walking on the streets with a male friend, late at night. These are day to day problems, which many of us face in this country. Sharing these stories will help us realise we are not alone.”
http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/society/womensend/article5706158.ece
I will be visiting that website post-haste
February 19, 2014
http://matadornetwork.com/change/piss-feminist/
How to piss off a feminist
(Note; this is by no means a comprehensive list, but it gets a few highlights; now there are jokes about this-- even the title sounds like the beginning of some assholes joke, but it's a decent little article just the same)
My favorite anti- feminist joke-- one I learned from a feminist;
"how many feminists does it take to change a lightbulb?"
"That's not funny!" Bodabing!
WITH ALL KINDS of strong women in the news (Hillary 2016!), feminism has come a long way. In the past couple of years alone, things from feminist digital campaigns to an increase in anti-harassment policies at conferences have made women feel safer and stronger about speaking out. And yet, as if the patriarchy wasn’t enough to be mad about already — I’m still making 78 cents on your dollar, white men! — here’s a list of things that can infuriate anyone interested in equal rights and reducing sexism.
Please note: None of these things are done exclusively by men towards women; sometimes other people do them to women too. Also, I believe anyone can be a feminist. Feminism just means believing that the current system is not very equal and tends to minimize the lives of women (and “girly” men, under the assumption that acting like a lady is bad). If you believe this, you are a feminist. No matter what your sex or gender. (Some people believe men calling themselves “feminists” is another co-opting of women’s space, so please be aware that you might get negative reactions from some feminists if you identify as male and call yourself a feminist.)
Use the word “Feminazi.”
Yes, because equating people who are interested in overthrowing a male-dominated global standard, to the benefit of men, women, and everyone in between, with the perpetrators of a heinous genocide makes SO much sense. Feminazi is a way to belittle women for speaking up too loudly — you don’t want to be one of those strident irritating feminists that talks too much, do you? Yes, actually. I do.
“It’s just a joke! God!”
Ha ha ha, yes, I certainly feel a sweeping sense of relief that you clarified your statement about me getting to the kitchen to make you a sandwich was a joke. I wasn’t laughing because it wasn’t funny. Not because I have no sense of humour.
Sexist jokes, just like racist jokes, are based on belittling and debasing a minority group…which, hey, I thought was classified as hate speech! So, ha ha, thank you for identifying yourself as someone who will engage in hate speech for the sake of making someone laugh. I will make sure to stay very far away from you in the future.
Please note: None of these things are done exclusively by men towards women; sometimes other people do them to women too. Also, I believe anyone can be a feminist. Feminism just means believing that the current system is not very equal and tends to minimize the lives of women (and “girly” men, under the assumption that acting like a lady is bad). If you believe this, you are a feminist. No matter what your sex or gender. (Some people believe men calling themselves “feminists” is another co-opting of women’s space, so please be aware that you might get negative reactions from some feminists if you identify as male and call yourself a feminist.)
Use the word “Feminazi.”
Yes, because equating people who are interested in overthrowing a male-dominated global standard, to the benefit of men, women, and everyone in between, with the perpetrators of a heinous genocide makes SO much sense. Feminazi is a way to belittle women for speaking up too loudly — you don’t want to be one of those strident irritating feminists that talks too much, do you? Yes, actually. I do.
“It’s just a joke! God!”
Ha ha ha, yes, I certainly feel a sweeping sense of relief that you clarified your statement about me getting to the kitchen to make you a sandwich was a joke. I wasn’t laughing because it wasn’t funny. Not because I have no sense of humour.
Sexist jokes, just like racist jokes, are based on belittling and debasing a minority group…which, hey, I thought was classified as hate speech! So, ha ha, thank you for identifying yourself as someone who will engage in hate speech for the sake of making someone laugh. I will make sure to stay very far away from you in the future.
http://matadornetwork.com/change/piss-feminist/
February 19, 2014
Don’t Be A Creeper
I found his little gem from "Dr. Nerdlove" (note, I haven't examined the entire site) but he actually gets it. Smart guy using simple, non- threatening phrases
So it’s time to take a look at your behavior and make sure you aren’t being a creeper.
On Male Privilege and Being Creepy
As I said last time, part of male privilege is all of the things that guys take for granted, like personal safety. Women, on the whole, don’t pose a physical threat to men; while there will always be individual exceptions, the average male is larger, stronger and heavier than the average woman. In practical terms, this means that the average man is fully capable of overpowering the average woman with relative ease… and women are very aware of this fact. Women have to gauge every interaction with men, especially men they don’t know, on whether or not he presents a threat to her. This is the unspoken subtext for every time a guy talks to a girl, sends a Facebook friend request or asks her out.
Just about every woman out there knows somebody -a friend, a family member, someone – in their immediate circle who has been threatened, taken advantage of or assaulted… if they haven’t been themselves. Think about that for a second.
Because women live in a state of near-constant threat awareness, they are far more cued in to the slight clues that hint at potential danger than guys are. Because the stakes are much higher for women than they are for men, women are more sensitized to these little hints, which can lead to false-positives. That guy who stares too hard and lingers around her long after he’s worn out his welcome may not actually intend to make her uncomfortable, but she has no way of knowing this; it’s far safer to allow for the wrong impression than it is to ignore the signs when someone actually does mean her harm.
"Ssssssso, do you want to come back to my car with me? Wait, put down the pepper ssssspray!"
Guys – who don’t have to do this mental calculus on an almost hourly basis – are frequently unaware of this issue. They’re often ignorant of just what it is they’re doing that sends all the wrong signals. In fact, because they don’t live with the same omnipresent threat that women do, they’re frequently offended by the idea that it’s their behavior that creeps girls out. Because they don’t (or won’t) address the issue, the behavior continues.
http://www.doctornerdlove.com/2011/12/dont-be-a-creeper/all/1/
On Male Privilege and Being Creepy
As I said last time, part of male privilege is all of the things that guys take for granted, like personal safety. Women, on the whole, don’t pose a physical threat to men; while there will always be individual exceptions, the average male is larger, stronger and heavier than the average woman. In practical terms, this means that the average man is fully capable of overpowering the average woman with relative ease… and women are very aware of this fact. Women have to gauge every interaction with men, especially men they don’t know, on whether or not he presents a threat to her. This is the unspoken subtext for every time a guy talks to a girl, sends a Facebook friend request or asks her out.
Just about every woman out there knows somebody -a friend, a family member, someone – in their immediate circle who has been threatened, taken advantage of or assaulted… if they haven’t been themselves. Think about that for a second.
Because women live in a state of near-constant threat awareness, they are far more cued in to the slight clues that hint at potential danger than guys are. Because the stakes are much higher for women than they are for men, women are more sensitized to these little hints, which can lead to false-positives. That guy who stares too hard and lingers around her long after he’s worn out his welcome may not actually intend to make her uncomfortable, but she has no way of knowing this; it’s far safer to allow for the wrong impression than it is to ignore the signs when someone actually does mean her harm.
"Ssssssso, do you want to come back to my car with me? Wait, put down the pepper ssssspray!"
Guys – who don’t have to do this mental calculus on an almost hourly basis – are frequently unaware of this issue. They’re often ignorant of just what it is they’re doing that sends all the wrong signals. In fact, because they don’t live with the same omnipresent threat that women do, they’re frequently offended by the idea that it’s their behavior that creeps girls out. Because they don’t (or won’t) address the issue, the behavior continues.
http://www.doctornerdlove.com/2011/12/dont-be-a-creeper/all/1/
February 18, 2014
Beyoncé's Feminist Icon Chimamanda Adichie on Equality and Chocolate (interview)
Thanks to Beyoncé's song "Flawless," a feminist trojan horse of sorts, Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is getting tons of attention right now. In addition to penning novels like Americanah and Half of a Yellow Sun (the latter has been made into an upcoming film), she's amazing speaker who is vocal about gender equality. But even while talking politics and literature, Adichie’s just like us: She loves shoes and clothes; and when her work isn’t going so well, she retreats to her bed to eat chocolate. I can respect that.
Elle interviewed Adichie about her creative process, Beyoncé sampling her famous TED talk and how she loves to cook but hates the corresponding stereotype:
When you’re working on a novel, what does a typical day look like for you?
When the writing is going well, I’m obsessive. I don’t shower, I don’t take phone calls, I hardly respond to text messages, I don’t do email. I take breaks only to read, and usually I read poetry. When it’s not going well, I just lie in bed and eat chocolate. …
Beyoncé sampled part of your TED Talk, “Everyone Should Be A Feminist,” in her recent song “***Flawless” (watch it below). In the talk, you said that the first time someone called you a feminist, you didn’t know what it meant. So what does it mean to you now?
It means that I am present in the world, and that I realize that there is a problem with the way we’ve constructed gender. The expectations on women that most of the world subscribes to—I don’t think we are born with them. I think we create them. I want a world where men and women have equal opportunities. I want a world in which the idea of a man being with man, and a woman being with a woman, doesn’t cause a form of obstruction to anything that they want to achieve in their life
http://jezebel.com/beyonces-feminist-icon-chimamanda-adichie-on-equality-1524641609
Elle interviewed Adichie about her creative process, Beyoncé sampling her famous TED talk and how she loves to cook but hates the corresponding stereotype:
When you’re working on a novel, what does a typical day look like for you?
When the writing is going well, I’m obsessive. I don’t shower, I don’t take phone calls, I hardly respond to text messages, I don’t do email. I take breaks only to read, and usually I read poetry. When it’s not going well, I just lie in bed and eat chocolate. …
Beyoncé sampled part of your TED Talk, “Everyone Should Be A Feminist,” in her recent song “***Flawless” (watch it below). In the talk, you said that the first time someone called you a feminist, you didn’t know what it meant. So what does it mean to you now?
It means that I am present in the world, and that I realize that there is a problem with the way we’ve constructed gender. The expectations on women that most of the world subscribes to—I don’t think we are born with them. I think we create them. I want a world where men and women have equal opportunities. I want a world in which the idea of a man being with man, and a woman being with a woman, doesn’t cause a form of obstruction to anything that they want to achieve in their life
http://jezebel.com/beyonces-feminist-icon-chimamanda-adichie-on-equality-1524641609
February 18, 2014
More: http://manboobz.com/2014/02/17/happy-women-who-really-run-the-country-day/
Alter this just a bit and Voilà-- with have the attitude of our most egregious posters at DU. No really.
Happy Women-Who-Really-Run-the-Country Day
While the rest of America wastes its time celebrating “President’s Day,” we here at Man Boobz celebrate those who truly run this great nation of ours: Evil, selfish women.
Wait, you were thinking, I thought it was men who mostly ran the world? No. It just looks that way. Oh, sure, all the presidents have been men. The overwhelming majority of elected officials are men. The rich people who seem to have the most influence over politicians tend to be men — it’s the Koch brothers, not the Koch sisters.
But to judge who has power in this world by looking at those who have power in this world is a giant mistake, according to our eminently logical friends in the Men’s Rights movement. That’s the APEX FALLACY.
Nope. Really, it’s ladies that run everything. And run it into the ground! Let’s hear what some of the fine gentlemen from The Spearhead have to say about this. CitymanMichael invokes the sacred power of BIOTRUTH to explain why male politicians are little more than the slaves of women:
Wait, you were thinking, I thought it was men who mostly ran the world? No. It just looks that way. Oh, sure, all the presidents have been men. The overwhelming majority of elected officials are men. The rich people who seem to have the most influence over politicians tend to be men — it’s the Koch brothers, not the Koch sisters.
But to judge who has power in this world by looking at those who have power in this world is a giant mistake, according to our eminently logical friends in the Men’s Rights movement. That’s the APEX FALLACY.
Nope. Really, it’s ladies that run everything. And run it into the ground! Let’s hear what some of the fine gentlemen from The Spearhead have to say about this. CitymanMichael invokes the sacred power of BIOTRUTH to explain why male politicians are little more than the slaves of women:
More: http://manboobz.com/2014/02/17/happy-women-who-really-run-the-country-day/
Alter this just a bit and Voilà-- with have the attitude of our most egregious posters at DU. No really.
February 18, 2014
5 Books by Audre Lorde Everyone Should Read
Audre Lorde deemed herself a "black feminist lesbian mother poet." Years before Professor Kimberle Crenshaw coined the term "intersectionality," Lorde's poetry and prose embody the theory. Lorde uses her story of personal survival to reveal inconvenient truths about the marginalization of oppressed people.
Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches
The classic collection of 15 essays and speeches by the prominent black lesbian feminist writer should be required reading not only for those in cultural theory, literary criticism, gay/lesbian studies, and women's studies but for anyone who seeks to better understand how intersecting oppressions mediate women's lived experiences. The book includes landmark essays such as "Uses of the Erotic" and "Poetry Is Not a Luxury" and a seminal dialogue between Lorde and poet Adrienne Rich.
Zami: A New Spelling of My Name: A Biomythography
ZAMI is a fast-moving chronicle. From the author’s vivid childhood memories in Harlem to her coming of age in the late 1950s, the nature of Audre Lorde’s work is cyclical. It especially relates the linkage of women who have shaped her. Lorde brings into play her craft of lush description and characterization. It keeps unfolding page after page
Collected Poems of Audre Lorde
This is the definitive and complete Audre Lorde collection, including original and revised versions of Lorde's previously unavailable early poems and her later work, which Robin Morgan calls "sinewy, lyrical, celebratory even in the face of death." Lorde was able to write indignantly about political matters ("jessehelms," her excoriation of the right-wing icon, is outrageously funny and angry), and her eloquence from the margins made her an inspiration to many readers. Lorde's writings about family, erotic love, and quiet, beautiful moments of reflection also leave a deep impression.
The Cancer Journals
Originally published in 1980, Audre Lorde's The Cancer Journals offers a profoundly feminist analysis of her experience with breast cancer and a modified radical mastectomy. Moving between journal entry, memoir, and exposition, Lorde fuses the personal and political and refuses the silencing and invisibility that she experienced both as a woman facing her own death and as a woman coping with the loss of her breast. After Lorde died in 1992, women from all over the U.S. and beyond paid tribute to her in essays and poems. Aunt Lute's special edition of The Cancer Journals gathers together twelve such tributes as well as a series of six photographs taken of Lorde by photographer Jean Weisinger. Tributes by: Margaret E. Cronin, Linda Cue, Elliot, Ayofemi Folayan, Jewelle Gomez, Margaret Randall, Adrienne Rich, Kate Rushin, Elizabeth Sargent, Ann Allen Shockley, Barbara Smith, and Evelyn White.
I Am Your Sister: Collected and Unpublished Writings of Audre Lorde
I Am Your Sister is a collection of Lorde's non-fiction prose, written between 1976 and 1990, and it introduces new perspectives on the depth and range of Lorde's intellectual interests and her commitments to progressive social change.
http://www.forharriet.com/2014/02/5-books-by-audre-lorde-everyone-should.html
February 18, 2014
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/116623/sexual-assault-patrick-henry-college-gods-harvard
Sexual Assault at God's Harvard (trigger warning)
The security guards were bored. It was the first weekend of May 2010—a time when students at other universities were partying before finals. This, however, was Patrick Henry College (PHC), the elite evangelical school better known as “God’s Harvard.” Here, in sleepy Purcellville, Virginia, instead of police officers or rent-a-cops, the security guards were all upperclassmen. On a good Friday or Saturday night, they’d catch freshmen trying to sneak back onto campus after an evening visiting the monuments in nearby Washington, D.C. Mostly, though, they just double-checked that all the doors were locked.
Patrick Henry College was founded in 2000, but you won’t find any bold, modern architecture on campus: Its buildings were designed in the federalist style to evoke an Ivy League school. Dress code is business casual during the week. Daily chapel is mandatory. Drinking, smoking, gambling, and dancing (outside of dance classes) aren’t allowed on campus—only wholesome, school-sanctioned hijinks, like the tradition of tossing newly engaged young men in the central retention pond known as Lake Bob: a “Bobtism.” The security guards saw quite a few Bobtisms.
That May night, Adam Fisher and another guard watched the security monitors from their post. It was long past the 1 a.m. weekend curfew, a time when campus had the still and quiet feel of a small town hours after everyone has gone to bed. It seemed like any other night, but then Fisher’s colleague called out in excitement. He’d caught something on the monitors: the dim glow of brake lights, out there in the darkness. A car was pulling up to the campus entrance.
Fisher and his partner headed out past the dorms, to the fields near the entry. By the time they arrived, the car was gone, and Claire Spear was lying in a field. There was grass in her long, red hair, and she was crying.
Fisher could tell something was very wrong. “Claire, we need to go find your R.A.,” Adam said. “I’m going to take you. Is that OK with you?” She couldn’t answer. She was panicking and having trouble breathing.
Patrick Henry College was founded in 2000, but you won’t find any bold, modern architecture on campus: Its buildings were designed in the federalist style to evoke an Ivy League school. Dress code is business casual during the week. Daily chapel is mandatory. Drinking, smoking, gambling, and dancing (outside of dance classes) aren’t allowed on campus—only wholesome, school-sanctioned hijinks, like the tradition of tossing newly engaged young men in the central retention pond known as Lake Bob: a “Bobtism.” The security guards saw quite a few Bobtisms.
That May night, Adam Fisher and another guard watched the security monitors from their post. It was long past the 1 a.m. weekend curfew, a time when campus had the still and quiet feel of a small town hours after everyone has gone to bed. It seemed like any other night, but then Fisher’s colleague called out in excitement. He’d caught something on the monitors: the dim glow of brake lights, out there in the darkness. A car was pulling up to the campus entrance.
Fisher and his partner headed out past the dorms, to the fields near the entry. By the time they arrived, the car was gone, and Claire Spear was lying in a field. There was grass in her long, red hair, and she was crying.
Fisher could tell something was very wrong. “Claire, we need to go find your R.A.,” Adam said. “I’m going to take you. Is that OK with you?” She couldn’t answer. She was panicking and having trouble breathing.
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/116623/sexual-assault-patrick-henry-college-gods-harvard
February 17, 2014
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/climate_desk/2014/02/internet_troll_personality_study_machiavellianism_narcissism_psychopathy.html
Cross- post; Internet Trolls Really Are Horrible People
I believe DU has a troll or two I'm not talking about people who disagree with feminism, or even this group in particular, although that would be my primary concern. 
but I've noted how often topics get derailed in general, and thought this find by GreatAuntOfTriplets,Was a great read and worth sharing.
In the past few years, the science of Internet trollology has made some strides. Last year, for instance, we learned that by hurling insults and inciting discord in online comment sections, so-called Internet trolls (who are frequently anonymous) have a polarizing effect on audiences, leading to politicization, rather than deeper understanding of scientific topics.
That’s bad, but it’s nothing compared with what a new psychology paper has to say about the personalities of trolls themselves. The research, conducted by Erin Buckels of the University of Manitoba and two colleagues, sought to directly investigate whether people who engage in trolling are characterized by personality traits that fall in the so-called Dark Tetrad: Machiavellianism (willingness to manipulate and deceive others), narcissism (egotism and self-obsession), psychopathy (the lack of remorse and empathy), and sadism (pleasure in the suffering of others).
It is hard to underplay the results: The study found correlations, sometimes quite significant, between these traits and trolling behavior. What’s more, it also found a relationship between all Dark Tetrad traits (except for narcissism) and the overall time that an individual spent, per day, commenting on the Internet.
In the study, trolls were identified in a variety of ways. One was by simply asking survey participants what they “enjoyed doing most” when on online comment sites, offering five options: “debating issues that are important to you,” “chatting with others,” “making new friends,” “trolling others,” and “other.” Here’s how different responses about these Internet commenting preferences matched up with responses to questions designed to identify Dark Tetrad traits:
That’s bad, but it’s nothing compared with what a new psychology paper has to say about the personalities of trolls themselves. The research, conducted by Erin Buckels of the University of Manitoba and two colleagues, sought to directly investigate whether people who engage in trolling are characterized by personality traits that fall in the so-called Dark Tetrad: Machiavellianism (willingness to manipulate and deceive others), narcissism (egotism and self-obsession), psychopathy (the lack of remorse and empathy), and sadism (pleasure in the suffering of others).
It is hard to underplay the results: The study found correlations, sometimes quite significant, between these traits and trolling behavior. What’s more, it also found a relationship between all Dark Tetrad traits (except for narcissism) and the overall time that an individual spent, per day, commenting on the Internet.
In the study, trolls were identified in a variety of ways. One was by simply asking survey participants what they “enjoyed doing most” when on online comment sites, offering five options: “debating issues that are important to you,” “chatting with others,” “making new friends,” “trolling others,” and “other.” Here’s how different responses about these Internet commenting preferences matched up with responses to questions designed to identify Dark Tetrad traits:
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/climate_desk/2014/02/internet_troll_personality_study_machiavellianism_narcissism_psychopathy.html
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