feminist blogs

Thursday, March 4, a group of UC Davis students marching through campus began to approach a freeway on-ramp for the purposes of occupation, and Yolo County Sheriff's Department officers blocked the route. They shot pepper balls at students' feet as the marchers continued to approach the on-ramp. Abruptly, the police pulled Laura Mitchell, a student and queer leader at UC Davis, from the front of the crowd, dragging her along the ground, ripping her shirt off, and holding her hostage until protesters agreed to dissipate. Police alleged no injuries were sustained by any in the crowd. The video clearly demonstrates otherwise.

Below is a video account of the afternoon ordeal. **Trigger Warning: Police violence at 6:43**

Additionally, more than 100 Bay Area protesters shut down the 880 and 980 freeways for hours on Thursday afternoon, creating gridlock. All were eventually arrested, including the student journalists among them. Many were beaten (video).

Mainstream portrayals of student activism tend toward stereotyping movements based on their place of origin. Berkeley, still widely known as "Berserkeley," or "The People's Republic Of Berkeley," lacks some agency on the national stage because of assumptions that all students are politically active. Along with Berkeley's legacy of activism around the Free Speech Movement is the legacy of administrative overreactions to protests. In fact, the administrative building on campus which hosts the offices of Vice Chancellors, California Hall, has "protest-proof" doors with two essential anti-protest features: first, they lack door handles so as to prevent any protester from chaining anything to the doors. Second, a backup pair of doors automatically swing shut and lock in case of protest or political activity outside.

The harder a campus works to shed its stereotype of activism, by repressing protest movements and student voices, the more radically students push back to gain press and attention from an administration. This builds a longer legacy of activism. The campus of UC Davis lacks that legacy of activism-- their mascot is the Aggies, short for the "Agriculturalists." But just as a generation of UC Berkeley students first witnessed police brutality on November 20, 2009, a generation of UC Davis students witnessed police brutality Thursday.

Hate Update:

UC San Diego Student Satire Publication goes too far

The Koala, which will receive more press for this hate than it deserves, published a joke issue entirely themed around mocking the Black Student Union and opponents of the Compton Cookout.

The Koala's newest issue satirizes the demands issued by the BSU in the recent weeks, by introducing a mock program-the Coalition of Outreach and Opportunity for Negro Students, or C.O.O.N.S for short. The "program" proposes such things as "Special All Black Housing" and "Special Classes Just 4 U!" including "SOC20N: Blame it on Whitey" and "Swimming 101: It's not actually that deep!"

Story and full issue available here.

by Amanda Marcotte

My first question upon reading about how non-nutbar home schoolers are having trouble getting decent science books for their kids is this: Why are you giving a single dime to the Christian right?  How could you not know that when you buy a science textbook from a “Christian” publisher, it’s going to be a diatribe against the theory of evolution? 

That a whole market for home schooling textbooks exists isn’t surprising in the slightest, of course.  83% of home schoolers report that they pulled their kids out of school to give them “religious or moral” instruction, i.e. that they’re fanatical Christians who want to exert firm control over their children until they’re sure that they’re brainwashed enough that they won’t stray from the path.  (That this system ensures that wives have no interests or time outside of the family is just a bonus.) What’s going on with the other 17% is probably a grab bag of stuff---bad school districts (or the perception of that), resentment towards the training-you-to-be-compliant aspects of public education, general hippiness---but what I find interesting and sometimes amusing about the other home schoolers is that they seem, to outsiders, way too interested in looking at the religious wackos with a forgiving eye.  Is it just that fundies so dominate home schooling that the everyone else home schoolers feel they either create those alliances or languish in loneliness? 

I’m surprised they found a woman who was willing to go on the record with a story about how she bought a biology textbook from Bob Jones University, and was shocked and appalled that it denied the reality of evolution.  And in a proper twee flourish, gave her small child all the credit for catching the error, as if the child was somehow so brilliant she was born knowing the theory of evolution.  I’m surprised, because I’d be too humiliated by this mistake to talk about it, especially if I was interested in selling the idea that I was all my child needs in terms of pre-university instruction, since admitting to that kind of mistake really undermines your credibility.  Adding the detail that implies that you might have missed it if it weren’t for your child’s intervention doesn’t help matters.  I realize the woman is just participating in that common but annoying cultural trope of, “Me? I’m just a mom, nothing special.  Except that I produced these brilliant offspring!”, but still.  It’s a little over the top. 

Part of me wishes that fundie home schoolers found that raising children to deny basic reality will have a long-term detriment to those kids’ futures, but unfortunately, going to public school is no guard against believing that everything out of your limited understanding must be magic.  And so having one more magical belief doesn’t really make much difference in our society.  We are all swirling down the drain of ignorance about science.  Take for instance, the appallingly magical view a lot of young people have about contraception.  Honestly, estimating that the pill fails half the time is straight up magical thinking, assuming that the pill works like wishes and superstitions, which probably work out half the time on average because most wishes and superstitions are addressing a binary situation that involves chance.  (Like what team is going to win in tonight’s big game.) It may not feel like magical thinking---I’m sure there’s a haphazard line of made-up reasoning to explain where they got this idea---but that’s what it is.  Even a rudimentary understanding of human biology would go a long way to helping people understand things like how contraception works.  (I’m not trying to dog on anyone here; I know a lot of smart people who haven’t managed to get past the incorrect idea that the pill “tricks” your body into thinking it’s pregnant.  It actually just maintains your hormones at a level that isn’t the one required to ovulate.) Fundies are just pushing us further down the path we were already on, where scientific ignorance is normal and practically expected.

So I guess I shouldn’t be too hard on home schoolers who get duped by these textbooks.  I think a lot of people defend evolutionary theory for the wrong reasons---not because they understand it, but because they (correctly) perceive the pro-ignorance, patriarchal bent of fundamentalists who oppose evolutionary theory.  But you definitely see really smart people buy into incorrect tropes about science that are ones that the fundies are promoting.  For instance, the concept of “Darwinism”, as if Darwin created a religion or ideology that people “believe” in.  But that’s not how scientific theories work.  Darwin is an interesting historical figure, but the theory itself has morphed and expanded and diversified and dare I say evolved.  But most people struggle with understanding how a scientist criticizing one aspect of natural selection as an all-encompassing theory isn’t actually trying to bring down the whole thing like a house of cards.  As such, we’re in a poor position to defend ourselves and science, even if we mean well. 

This is the second post using material borrowed from the essay, “Facts and Fictions About an Aging America.”  Our online host, Contexts magazine, is offering some free content, including this essay, now through March 15th.  See yesterday’s post here.

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While people in industrialized countries live longer and healthier lives than ever, more educated people enjoy even less morbidity than less educated people.  The figure below illustrates the decline in mental and physical function over time for people with a college degree, a high school degree, and no degree at all:

The figure shows that more educated people experience “excellent health” than less educated at every age, except perhaps 85 and above.  Why might this be?

Well, higher educated people may come from wealthier families who were able to provide their children with health care, good nutrition, and exercise.  Having degrees may also correlate with jobs that are less harmful to the body and offer both health insurance and more free time to exercise.  Lower educational attainment is likely correlated with economic insecurity; a lifetime of struggling to make ends meet could create the kind of bad stress that interferes with both mental and physical health.

Other theories?  Thoughts on these?

(View original at http://contexts.org/socimages)

Well this is messed up. A UMass Amherst student allegedly raped an alumna of the school back in October. The alumna reported the rape to campus authorities, and apparently opted to go through the university’s disciplinary process instead of filing a formal complaint with the police. The dude confessed to the rape, and “was found responsible for sexual assault.” Which is a pretty serious crime.

His punishment: Deferred suspension. Meaning that he is allowed to continue living on campus, and he’ll graduate on time.

This is especially troubling when we know that campus rapists are often serial offenders, and when the university disciplinary process is supposed to be a way for sexual assault survivors to avoid the stress of going to court. Instead, it seems like too often the university is trying to cover its own ass and avoid a public relations nightmare instead of advocating for its students.

Utah did not pass the bill to criminalize miscarriages! Some common sense and the public backlash definitely helped, I think. Good job talking about it and getting the word out, people! This is a nice sized triumph. : )

When someone calls you out for a privileged comment, it can be hard to realize that you were in the wrong. After all, everyone you know uses that word/you didn’t know it meant that/you didn’t mean it THAT way/you weren’t doing it on purpose/other people are too sensitive, right?

Wrong.

This has come up lately with the word “gypped” in my experience. Gypped is a racist term against Roma. When we use the term, we further the prejudice against the Roma and the stereotype that institutionalized the word and made it part of our vocabulary. So let’s imagine a dialogue right now:

Mary Sue: “That vendor gypped me!”

Becky Jean: “Mary Sue, gypped is sort of a racist term. Do you mean he cheated you?”

Mary Sue: “I’m not a racist! How dare you! Everyone uses that term, it’s not about black people or anything!!! Why are you attacking me, you’re not perfect!!!”

Becky Jean: “I know you don’t consider yourself a racist, but the language you use can betray your actual beliefs, so you need to be careful. I’m not attacking you, I’m informing you so that you can look into the term and eliminate racism from your vocabulary, so your words match up with the lifestyle you want to lead. The term refers to a stereotype of the Roma people, often referred to as Gypsies, and they suffer a lot of discrimination and hate, so we need to not further that with our words.I’m sorry if you felt attacked, that was not my intention.”

Now ideally, this is where Mary Sue calms down a little and says…

“Oh, I’m sorry I got so upset. Racist is such a scary term, and I immediately jump to my own defense. I was scared of my beliefs and words not matching up. Thanks for telling me. I know you don’t mean that I hate others, just that we live in a racist world and need to be conscious of our speech. Are there any other terms like that I should be aware of? We can help educate each other.”

Or…

“It isn’t racist!! I don’t even know any gypsies, and everyone uses the word!! You’re oversensitive, and you can’t save the world!!! I didn’t MEAN it, so it shouldn’t matter!!”

And here is where you want to cry, or start poking them very hard in the eye, right?

Well, violence is never the answer, and though crying might help you feel a bit better, it should probably be saved for when you can hug a puppydog and rant about the injustices of the world to your stuffed animals and significant other.  And since right now, Becky Jean wants to come away from this conversations positively affecting Mary Sue, we’ll skip the crying.

Ganieda, one of our lovely commenters, linked me to this http://community.livejournal.com/fight_derailing/9867.html

It’s an excellent post entitled, “How to Discuss Race and Racism without Being a Jerk.” My favorite part is the part she quoted to me, during yet another of my epic rants about NOT BEING ABLE TO GET THROUGH TO PEOPLE AND GETTING FRUSTRATED

“Intentions aren’t the only thing that matters.

(Last one, and it’s short.) Suppose I step on someone’s foot. They say, “hey, ouch, you stepped on my foot.”

My proper response is, “Gosh, I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful.” Depending on the situation, I might add something like, “I was looking for my kid’s sneaker that she always kicks off,” or “I’ve got something in my contact,” etc.

My proper response is not, “Well, I didn’t mean to step on your foot, so why are you angry?!” “

This is a great example to point out to Mary Sue. You can explain yourself, you can ask for reassurance that the person calling you out isn’t considering you a Bad Person, but you have to show that you realize that your intention is not the be all and end all of the term and that it has a greater affect than “just being a word.”

Which is why Mary Sue’s explanation of not knowing the term’s severity and feeling attacked is a lot more valid and provides a lot more discussion than “well I didn’t know!!! you’re oversensitive!!!”

Another great example is a few posts earlier, in my Yay Spain! post. A commenter called me out on the image of Spain I’d put out. I apologized, agreed with her that my words did not get across my intentions, and explained what I exactly meant. Voila! Did it feel good being called out? No, I felt bad about unintentionally perpetuating a harmful stereotype by not using my words in a clear manner. But I drank some lemonade, felt sad for a minute, then sucked it up and responded. And I learned from it.

Now, if you’re wondering why I have a very long post on racism, the answer is intersectionality, and because the following tips can be used with sexists as well! Along with ableists and homophobes and sizeists and…..

More about intersectionality this time. Off to eat pizza bagels!

Hey people, did you know the UN’s Commission on Women is meeting to review the Beijing Platform for Action, which occurred in 1995,  and the Commission on the Status of Women, which happened in 2000? I’d heard it was happening but didn’t think of writing it up until a lovely commenter brought it up in my last post. So thank you! I’d forgotten how little attention some events I think everyone is aware of  actually get.

Here’s the text of the Beijing Platform

http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/beijingdeclaration.html

Some of my favorite parts are

32. Intensify efforts to ensure equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all women and girls who face multiple barriers to their empowerment and advancement because of such factors as their race, age, language, ethnicity, culture, religion, or disability, or because they are indigenous people;

Yay, intersectionality!!!

34. Develop the fullest potential of girls and women of all ages, ensure their full and equal participation in building a better world for all and enhance their role in the development process.

Woohoo!!!

I’m gonna say it here: I’m not the hugest fan of bodies like the UN. I mean, that’s a lot of lofty goals right there, you know? And the radical in this blog title isn’t a joke, I’m a big fan of direct action and advocacy. I’m not against the UN’s Commission on Women by any means. It just isn’t enough. Giving a set of vaguely unattainable goals to governments saturated in the patriarchy can only do so much. It isn’t enough. But it is something, and I look forward to seeing how it turns out and what conclusions are drawn from the evaluation.

And, Happy International Women’s Day!

The image below shows who has broadband internet (as opposed to dial up or no internet at all). It was sent in by Dmitrity T.M., who sees no surprises here. Do you?

(View original at http://contexts.org/socimages)

That’s what Hillary Clinton called Nujood Ali, a twelve year old Yemeni girl who recently published “I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced.”

Married to a 30 year old man at age nine by her father, Nujood was beaten and raped by her “husband” for two months before visiting her family home to see her sister. Her father’s second wife advised her to seek a divorce, and Nujood made her way to the courthouse. After sitting there for half a day, a kindly judge recognized her. Her father and “husband” were taken into custody, and the original judge housed Nujood for the trial. After refusing a judge’s original suggestion of taking a break for up to five years, then returning to the “husband,” Nujood was granted a divorce. Her memoir is now being published in nearly twenty languages, and she is enrolled in elementary school full-time.

There’s another great woman in this story: Shada Nasser, Nujood’s lawyer. The first female lawyer in Yemen, Shada started her career by offering legal services to incarcerated women.

Both women have been honored with multiple awards, though they were barred from attending a ceremony in Vienna, Austria, by the Yemeni government. Follow up stories indicate that Nujood may not be treated well by her family, and suffers from the stigma of divorce and reaching out to Western media.

More about the situation for Yemeni women: there is no minimum marriage age, though husbands are encouraged to wait until the wife is “ready.” Over 65% of women are illiterate, and kidnapping and rape are constant threats. Once married, women must obtain spousal permission for actions that involve leaving their house.

Educate someone on women’s situations in other countries today, please! We have a long way to go in so many countries, including my own.

On January 1, 2010, I began a three-year service on the Board of Directors of Planned Parenthood of San Diego and Riverside Counties.  Last week, I experienced my first event as an official board member by attending the President’s Council Speaker Series at one of our local affiliates.  I was one of the first to arrive, and since I am new to the board, I only knew a handful of people.  However, I eventually found myself speaking with Dawn and Connie, two members of the community who feel incredibly committed to serving Planned Parenthood and its mission.  They recounted how they worked as volunteers for Planned Parenthood when they were in college in the 70’s and now that they are retired, they are feeling an urge to volunteer again.  These women were lovely to speak with; they were funny, intelligent, and passionate.  And then Dawn said, “Now tell me, Jenn.  Why are you the youngest person in this room?  Why aren’t more people your age here?”  I turned around and noticed that the reception area had filled with more than a hundred people in the time I had spent getting to know my new acquaintances . . . and they were right.  Aside from the Planned Parenthood staff, I was the youngest guest in attendance—it was easy to tell that everyone else was from a completely different generation.  And then it really hit me—why am I the only 20-something in this room?  Why aren’t my peers more represented?  Why aren’t more law students here? Aren’t law students interested in protecting “people’s rights”?

            Law students are busy.*  There’s no denying that.  And it can be difficult to motivate students to attend an event where there may not be many lawyers present.  But women (and men) worked hard to gain the rights my generation often takes for granted.  We forget that there was a time when our mothers and grandmothers couldn’t walk into their nearest health clinic and walk out with a year supply of birth control, no questions asked.  Many of us may enjoy certain rights today, but that doesn’t mean those rights aren’t limited for many people out there or can be taken away from the rest of us.  There are people out there actively opposing us and trying to limit our rights . . . especially our right to control our reproductive freedom.  I shouldn’t be the only 20-something in a room full of reproductive rights advocates and supporters.  I urge those of you who want to get more involved but haven’t been able to find the time, to make the time. 

 

*I realize that people may read this who are not law students.  However, this is the lens I am applying since I am a law student, surrounded on a daily basis by other law students.

 

Jenn Kish