feminist blogs

Regina McKnight at her post conviction hearing

Great news: Regina McKnight, a South Carolina woman who was sentenced to 12 years in prison for homicide by child abuse after she gave birth to a still-born baby, has had her conviction overturned.

McKnight is one of about 200 women who have been arrested for the crime of using drugs while pregnant. The women who are brought to trial are usually charged with either child abuse or drug trafficking — the “trafficking” act happening in utero. This is an issue of particular interest to me, and I’m tempted to write a long post about it, but a final paper calls. So, check out these old posts for background:

Help Pregnant Drug Addicts, Don’t Jail Them
Prosecuting Neo-Natal Drug Use: A Public Health Issue
Prosecuting Pregnant Drug-Addicted Mothers

And I would be remiss not to mention the fantastic work of National Advocates for Pregnant Women, who have worked tirelessly to put this issue in the spotlight. Check out this piece in particular about Ms. McKnight’s ordeal.

Bonnie Richardson was the only athlete from her high school to go to the state track competition — and she won the team title, alone.

Richardson’s title march began with field events on Friday when she won the high jump (5 feet, 5 inches), placed second in the long jump (18-7) and was third in the discus (121-0).

On Saturday, she won the 200 meters in 25.03 seconds and nearly pulled off a huge upset in the 100 before finishing second (12.19) to defending champion Kendra Coleman of Santa Anna. Richardson, a junior, earned a total of 42 team points to edge team runner-up Chilton (36).

Pretty awesome.

Thanks to Veronica for the link.

Today marks three years for me at Feministe.

And in three days, after I turn in this one last paper, I’ll be done with law school.

It has been a good run (law school and blogging — although I think blogging has been slightly more enjoyable). I officially graduate next week, and I’ll probably return to full-time blogging here after that.

It’s been an excellent three years, and I’m eternally grateful to Ms. Lauren for starting such a great community here and inviting me to join it. I’m also incredibly lucky to share this space with such great co-bloggers, past and present. I’m looking forward to coming back. And as soon as the rest of my life is settled, I’ll start planning all kinds of fun things for Feministe this summer — including a return of Project Guest Blogger so that we can highlight more voices and build a wider-reaching community.

So, happy anniversary! Here’s hoping this year is a good one.

Interesting how one can write an entire op/ed about the anniversary of Israel’s creation and not mention the word “Palestinian” once. “Palestine” gets one mention, in a quote from someone else — but there’s no indication that there were ever people who actually lived (or continue to live) in Palestine. They’re simply invisible.

The Nation does a better job in pointing out that this is indeed a somber anniversary, and that, like American society, the people of Israel remain deeply divided about their country’s leadership and the choices that leadership has made. They also remain deeply divided and conflicted about their own identities. There’s no question that the history (and ongoing reality) of persecution of and discrimination against Jews makes a strong moral case for the creation of a Jewish state. And the fact that Israel is home to 41 percent of the world’s Jews suggests that many Jewish people have themselves decided that such a state was needed.

But the creation of that state came at great expense, and its conservative leadership continues to place major roadblocks in the way of any sort of peace. The unwillingness to grapple with history — a history of moving onto someone else’s land, which Americans too share — leaves many wounds wide open. And the refusal to allow Palestinians to pick their own leadership and to define their own existence makes it impossible to accomplish anything. There are certainly huge numbers of extremists on both sides, and I’m often tempted to say “a pox on both their houses.” But there are enough people invested in some sort of equitable and human rights affirming solution that we shouldn’t give up hope quite yet — true justice may be impossible (and I’m not even sure what that would look like at this point), but an acceptable solution isn’t. Of course, that’s going to require some representations and voices other than the “Greater Israel” religious right-wingers and the Suicide Bomber stereotypes.

So I’m glad to see publications like The Nation highlighting the voices of people from the Palestinian diaspora. One thing Edward Said highlights in The Question of Palestine — and something that probably feels familiar to a lot of people in marginalized groups — is the media’s decisions to constantly talk about the Palestinian people instead of talking to them, or listening to them. So entire articles will be written about Israel/Palestine without a Palestinian voice. It’s nice to see The Nation countering that. Maybe one day the New York Times will follow suit.

I’m not posting much around these parts, but I am still working at AlterNet. A few noteworthy pieces from over there, in AlterNet’s Repro Justice and Gender Section:

“Pro-Lifers” Protest Contraception

Sex Work vs. Trafficking: Understanding the Difference

Anti-Feminist Backlash Out in Full Force

“Dykes, Whores or Bitches”: One in Three Military Women Experience Sexual Abuse

Anti-Choice Zealots Chase After Patients’ Private Medical Records

Misdiagnosis: Reproductive Health and Our Environment

Men of the Cloth: The Vatican Isn’t So Far From Fundamentalist Mormonism

More here.

And from AlterNet generally:

The Human Rights Crime in Gaza, by Jimmy Carter

Meet Gus Puryear: Bush’s Latest Villainous Nominee for a Lifetime Judgeship

The Violent Language of Right-Wing Pundits Poisons Our Democracy

An Atheist Goes Undercover to Join the Flock of Mad Pastor John Hagee. This article is written by Matt Taibbi, which gives it a whole lot of sneering elitism and progressive entitlement to mock fat people, gays, women, Christians, and basically anyone Matt deems not as cool as himself. The story itself, though, is a good one.

Are Immigration Authorities Going After School Children Now?

How Should States Deal with Polygamous Sects?

Enjoy. And in just three days, I will be done with finals and I’ll have time to read something other than AlterNet.

What did you write about this week? Leave a link and a short description in the comments.

And happy Mother’s Day!

Feministe founder Lauren has an excellent article up in the American Prospect. Go read.

I am a relatively active member of the message boards for my college newspaper, especially on stories about rape and sexual harassment. Recently, there was a very heated debate about a possible rape at a fraternity party. Most people rushed to the frat’s defense, saying the usual victim-blaming fodder. I, on the other hand, was defending the girl’s actions (which included going to get medically examined) and was trying to set the other posters straight on consent and alcohol. Anyway, when discussing rape and sexual assault, I have no problem with talking about my own experiences with rape, because I feel it personalizes the situation since many proponents of victim-blaming seem to imagine the rape happens in OTHER PLACES to OTHER PEOPLE. Also relevant to this, I always use my real name on the posts, since it is a school-based forum and I have no problem attaching my names to my ideas or writing.

Well, people must have run out of things to discuss about the case because they turned to personally attacking me. Now, this wouldn’t bug me so much, but the attacks are very hurtful regarding my experiences with rape. I worry that others who will read it will see my real name, may know me, and may start forming negative opinions about me.

I know I shouldn’t care what people say or think, but it’s hard when your personhood is under attack, even from strangers. My question is this: do I stop even trying? Do I stop using my name? Should I respond, and if so, how?

Thoughts? Do you blog/write/post under your real name? Do you switch to a psuedonym when you write about personal experiences? Do you not write about certain things if you’re writing under your real name? How do you balance sharing your experiences with maintaining your sanity in public, semi-anonymous spaces? Suggestions for this reader in particular?

I was reading a few articles you’ve linked to recently about children’s media, and a quick squiz through my little brother’s books has me kind of worried. He’s four, so this is about when that kind of stuff starts to really sink in. I’ve noticed before that his favourite series of books/cartoons, Thomas The Tank Engine, was… well, you know the drill. All the trains are male, a few coaches are female - it’s adapted from a pretty old series so that’s not surprising. Lately they’ve tried to add some girl trains but all two of them are pink and purple and the morals of their stories end up being weird riffs on the “woman enters male dominated workplace, thinks she’s all that, can be useful after all when she’s learned her place” theme. Which is really surreal in a childrens book. Then again, the (extremely unsubtle… unless you’re four, I guess) morals of all the male trains stories are basically of the training-corporate-drones genre (Really Useful is the highest accolade a train can hold - yeah, it’s REALLY REALLY blatant).

Anyway, I can’t do anything about what his favourites are, but I would like to make sure his choices include good books with more equality in them. He’s mostly being raised by my parents and grandparents but I babysit, and I can give him books for his birthdays, and I thought your readers might have some recommendations as to children’s books (preferably picture books as he can’t read yet) which have female characters and won’t make me stop halfway through reading them aloud to say things like “which is a little silly because I’m sure she could have caught the dinosaur by herself…” ALL THE TIME.

Thanks in advance

Any ideas for good children’s books that don’t tokenize girls, depend on stereotypes, or train kids to fulfill narrow gender roles (girls as “helpful” or dependent and boys as “useful”)? Or books that have characters from diverse backgrounds and family structures (i.e., not all white kids with two married heterosexual parents)?

Getting this up a little late, but promote away.