You Go Girlfriends

The Times Herald-Record today is reporting a sweep for banned backpacks at Tri-Valley High School in Sullivan County last week has caused protest from parents and the student body.

According to the Record, the security guard conducting the sweep was asking female students with purses “Do you have your period?”

Students are only allowed to carry backpacks or purses if they are having their menstrual period.

In response, the Record says: “Girls have worn tampons on their clothes in protest, and purses made out of tampon boxes. Some boys wore maxi-pads stuck to their shirts in support.”

The best part of this form of protest is that it sends another message: stop making young women ashamed of menstruating! I’m so tired of the planning that has to go into a friggin bathroom trip if I’ve got my period. Once you haul your backpack/briefcase/purse to the bathroom, everyone knows you’ve got it. But both they and you have to pretend you don’t, and that’s why you can’t just take a tampon/pad out of your bag and walk through the halls with it. It’s such a stupid, Victorian taboo. And corporations are hard at work enforcing it, or rather, trying to get rid of menstruation altogether.

Of course, regardless of whether the question is embarrassing the women at this high school, it is sexual discrimination. It’s not as if they’re asking boys, “Are you wearing jeans with large pockets because you’re expecting to have a seminal discharge today?” That and the boys aren’t permitted to carry purses, of course. And finally, how the hell does a woman saying she’s got her period verify in any way that she is not carrying a handgun in her Louis Vuitton? Real smart, Sullivan County.

Anyway, have a happy period!

Study Confirms Living In Sin Means Fairer Housework Distribution

Not-so-new news, but I’ve failed to mention it earlier: this 27 August 2007 press release from George Mason University brings to attention a study which confirms the sad truth: married men do less housework than live-in boyfriends.

The study, published in the Journal of Family Issues, looked at over 17,000 people in 28 countries.

The issue at hand isn’t as simple as married men just not doing the work. The problem, this study suggests, is that the institution of marriage changes division of labor. Even if an egalitarian viewpoint is present in a married relationship, those men still reported doing less housework than their wives.

The study of more than 17,000 people in 28 countries found that married men report doing less housework than men who are live-in boyfriends.

According to Davis, the key finding of the study is that it suggests the institution of marriage changes the division of labor. Couples with an egalitarian view on gender—seeing men and women as equal—are more likely to divide the household chores equally. However, in married relationships, even if an egalitarian viewpoint is present, men still report doing less housework than their wives. According to Shannon Davis, one of the co-authors, “Marriage as an institution seems to have a traditionalizing effect on couples—even couples who see men and women as equal.”

The research does leave room for hope, though: the study did not follow cohabitating couples to see if the distribution of housework changed from before to after marriage. It may be that those who are most concerned with traditional ideas of gender may voluntarily choose to forgo marriage due to its role in prescribing roles and duties to the sexes (particularly in modern times).

Bill O’Reilly to America: “OMG! Black People are Like White People!”

A new winning statement from America’s favorite Fox News pundit, Bill O’Reilly!

Apparently, O’Reilly spoke on his 19 September The Radio Factor broadcast that he met Al Sharpton for dinner at Sylvia’s, the famous soul food establishment in Harlem. It seems he had an eye-opening experience of some sort, because he stated:

“I couldn’t get over the fact that there was no difference between Sylvia’s restaurant and any other restaurant in New York City. I mean, it was exactly the same, even though it’s run by blacks, primarily black patronship.”

He continued to praise them for their “civility” throughout the program. When engaged in a discussion about the effects of rap culture, he noted, “There wasn’t one person in Sylvia’s who was screaming, ‘M-Fer, I want more iced tea.’” He then continued on, comparing Sylvia’s atmosphere to that of an Italian restaurant in an all-white suburb, with no “craziness.” (Yes, he said “craziness”).

Clearly, O’Reilly experienced a great deal of culture shock, by the way he kept bringing it up every time he could. It almost sounds like he had a life-changing experience.

However, don’t go thinking he’s changed all that much. His understanding of black culture?

“I think black Americans are starting to think more and more for themselves. They’re getting away from the Sharptons and the [Rev. Jesse] Jacksons and the people trying to lead them into a race-based culture. They’re just trying to figure it out. ‘Look, I can make it. If I work hard and get educated, I can make it.”

My very favorite part of that statement was my recognition that he went to the oh-so-”civilized” Sylvia’s with one of the “Sharptons” (in fact, The Sharpton!) I’m not sure how he explains how someone who is so reoccupied by race could enjoy such an environment.

There’s more on http://mediamatters.org, including a recounting of O’Reilly’s past comments on race and ethnicity, and a more complete transcript of his comments from the broadcast (with the video).

M-Fer, I want more iced tea evolved understanding of racial politics by Bill O’Reilly!

Busy Nothings

It’s necessary that I comment on the whole Ahmadinejad thing, not because it matters, but because it’s taking place at my lovely Alma Mater, the Acrapolis.

Why, I’ve been wondering, does anyone care?  What are they so afraid that he’ll say?  Because if you listened to the 60 Minutes interview with Ahmadinejad (I’m starting to learn how to spell his name!) that aired yesterday, you know that this guy rocks at the intricate art of answer-evasion.  Ask him any question, any question at all, and he will invariably respond with – nothing.

“It is an established fact now that Iranian bombs and Iranian know-how are killing Americans in Iraq. You have American blood on your hands. Why?” Pelley asked.

“Well, this is what the American officials are saying. Again, American officials wherever around the world that they encounter a problem which they fail to resolve, instead of accepting that, they prefer to accuse others,” the president replied. “I’m very sorry that because of the wrong decisions taken by American officials, Iraqi people are being killed and also American soldiers. It’s very regrettable.”

…

Screw The Free Elections, Free Computers for Everyone!

There’s a new president in Freetown, Sierra Leone – and he’s pulling out all the stops to celebrate.

Hours after the swearing-in ceremony, hundreds of looters descended on the headquarters of the former president’s party. They carried out desks and chairs, computer monitors and printers, posters and coat racks before police blanketed the neighborhood with tear gas.

Police also fired bullets into the air and arrested numerous people while regaining control of the area. At least one person was killed, according to footage taken by an Associated Press Television News cameraman at the scene.

Yep, free elections, bringing riots to a neighborhood near you. Not that I’m against them. I’m just skeptical of this whole ’spreading democracy’ propaganda we like to believe. It’s harder than we might think. I’m also skeptical of President Koroma’s claim that he’ll end government corruption. Are there any governments that aren’t corrupt in some way? And it’s been such a vicious cycle in Africa. Just read Ayi Kwei Armah’s The Beautiful Ones are Not Yet Born.

So, to conclude, I have no idea how to fix the world, but we need to do something different soon. That said, I wish our forefathers had thought of post-election looting. Think of the cuts in government spending!

Female of Legal Age Has Private Sex Life, Has Stood Naked… Holy %#@&!

I’m sure if you marginally follow popular culture/mainstream media, you’ve heard that Vanessa Hudgens – otherwise known to me as “that girl from yet another crappy Disney production; this one happens to be called High School Musical” has been facing the music due to a leaked photo of her standing in her all-together in her bedroom, smiling.

Reuters is reporting that Disney, vehicle for Cold-War-era anti-communist propaganda and enforcer of the status quo, is standing behind their star. As much as I hate Disney and all that it stands for, I’m happy for her that she didn’t get totally screwed by the whole thing.

What I’m not happy about is how people (ie. mostly parents who swear by Disney “wholesomeness”) are reacting.

Look at this gem of a quote, from that Reuter’s article, describing some parents’ reactions (emphasis mine):

“She’s damaged,” Renee Rollins-Greenberg, a Los Angeles mother of two, told Reuters. “She’s got this teeny-bop audience, young preteens and younger, who are admiring her and thinking she’s this wonderful, pure innocent person. Eighteen is awfully young for this kind of display.“

An Open Letter to the Leerers and Cat-Callers of NYC (And Elsewhere)…

Dear ::ahem:: “Sirs”,

Last Thursday, I was not, as they say, “asking for it” in anyway. That is to say, I was not wearing:

• a tube top
• a tank top
• anything showing an inch of my “breast-eges”
• short shorts
• hot shorts
• shorts with words on the buttocks
• low-ride anything with my thong hanging out
• low ride anything with my absence-of-underwear hanging out
• high-hemlined anything with my panties showing
• high-hemlined anything with my “va-jay-jay” showing
• a shirt that bared my shoulders
• a shirt that bared my elbows or wrists
• a bottom with any skin above the ankle, nay, even up to and including the ankle, showing

To put it simply, unless my wearing a suit with pants that flatter me and a button-down shirt underneath that doesn’t have a button at the collar (yet nonetheless showed almost no skin past my collar bone) is “asking for it”, I strongly believe that I safely skirted this categorization.

However, this did not seem to stop you.

Whoop-dee-doo

If you need any proof that third-wave feminism, or at least, the TV kind, is a mess, just check out this very hilarious column by Lisa de Moraes about Whoopi’s View Debut.

Shut up, Babs! Knock it off, Joy! Put a sock in it, Elisabeth!

Whoopi Goldberg, the Oscar-winning comedy queen, tried to debut on the syndicated talker “The View” this morning, but she barely got a word in edgeways, what with evil stepsisters Barbara Walters, Joy Behar and Elisabeth “LookatmeI’mpreggersagain” Hasselbeck hogging the microphone and mugging for the camera.

…

“There is nothing that you can do that is not on YouTube, MyFace,” Babs said, which is perhaps the funniest line of the whole show.

Yep, they’ve got woman power.

No Nails Were Harmed in the Typing of This Post

Sorry to pull out this bit of very old news to blog about, especially since it is once again from the New York Times (I really need to get a subscription to the Post), but y’ know what? It’s still bothering me. A lot.

I’m a woman who works in and knows mucho about technology. And lately, there are more and more of us invading. We don’t necessarily walk around covered in gadgets (unless the cell phone, the laptop, the camera, and the mp3 player count), but we know a lot about them and we don’t need a manual to use them. So when someone writes an article about how spiffy it is that companies are dumbing down electronics for women, it tends to rub us the wrong way.

The article does make one good point: “Women are busier than men.” This is a sad cultural reflection of the fact that the feminist revolution didn’t rid us of our child-growing and house-cleaning duties. But it’s the truth, and it’s why mom isn’t playing with the new scanner. Unless you make a point of it (and goodness knows that society has discouraged that one), you don’t have time to know your tech specs.

That being said, the solution is to change the situation and shake off the “gadgety girl” taboo, not make electronics that reinforce the stereotypical “computer guy.” But that’s exactly the “revolution” that this article is celebrating:

Darfur? Again?

Apparently, things have gotten even kinkier in the world’s latest pot o’ genocide.

The Times reports that now not only are Arabs assaulting non-Arabs, but they’re also fighting tribal wars with other Arabs. But don’t panic – the wali’s got it all under control.

The wali, Ali Mahamoud Mohammed, said in an interview that such clashes were “just a natural part of the life of the tribes” and something he had witnessed growing up in Darfur in the 1970s.

Ah yes, the good old days. So good to have a chance to reminisce. Of course, the government did not step in when these tribes were massacring non-Arabs. But now that everything is in “chaos” and beginning to “resemble Somalia” – well shit! Maybe they should do something!

I’m sure that “something” won’t extend to actually ending the genocide, considering the government started that “phase” of their great plan (to dye the water red, presumably?). I hope it ends all the same, considering that every day of any conflict in that country hits women and children the hardest. It’s hard getting up in the morning sometimes, realizing that in another part of the world, you’re property to be brutally and nearly always sexually conquered. The story that’s always hit me hardest about Darfur is the tale of the refugee women who can’t visit the well for water because crossing the open plain is equivalent to asking for sexual assault.

We think we’re so modern, but we live there, too.