feminist blogs

The lovely Campbell Brown gives us the low-down on a Massachusetts woman and her husband who were pulled over for speeding, given a ticket, and then asked by the state trooper to prove her pregnancy by showing her belly.

Read transcript here.

Nothing gets me more heated than law enforcement officials and the like who feel the need to expose and humiliate women, probably because I've had a couple of encounters myself. One was when I was in the airport last year going through security check-in - the security person told me to take my scarf off, which I did. Then he told me to take my thin cardigan off (I only had a small tank underneath), which I refused - you know, considering the woman who was already in the clear in front of me wasn't asked to take her scarf or jacket off. So he "allowed" me to proceed. Fucking jerk.

I'm sure some of you have had your own experiences...

Last week I wrote about an article run by Salon about "upskirting" and "downblousing" using a quote from John Morris at the Center for Democracy and Technology that certainly set off some alarm bells.

From my post,

Unfortunately, the debate that ensues is a question of whether or not your privacy is being violated since you are on the street and as a public place is free to be photographed with all participants or as John Morris, from the Center for Democracy & Technology, says in the article, "If you don't want to be photographed walking the street, don't walk down the street -- it's a public street."

I have a friend that works at CDT and felt this was a bad characterization of the goals and values of their organization and brought it to the attention of the Director and CEO Leslie Harris, who has released this statement.

The recent Salon article, "Porn in a Flash," contains a quote from our General Council John Morris that was taken out of context. John's quote: "If you don't want to be photographed walking the street, don't walk down the street -- it's a public street," spoke to the broader, general question of whether someone has an expectation of privacy in a public place. Placement of the quote, however, made John sound unsympathetic toward "upskirting" and "downblousing." Of course these practices are wrong, and of course there is a difference between a snapshot on the street and this sort of invasive voyeurism.

CDT is a strong advocate of personal privacy and commends the steps states have taken to criminalize these nefarious practices. Federal privacy laws were passed before the majority of today's portable technologies existed outside of Dick Tracy comic books. That's why CDT is pressing Congress to rewrite the privacy laws and bring them up-to-date with today's technology and provide the sorely needed protections missing from the law as it stands today. We fully believe that state invasion of privacy laws can, if carefully drafted, adequately address these upskirting and downblousing practices.

Leslie Harris
President & CEO
Center for Democracy & Technology

Tracy Clark-Flory at Salon has an informative piece up about the increase of creepy upskirt photography. What is upskirt photography? When someone stands behind you or below you and snaps a pic on their camera phone up your skirt when you don't realize it. Then shares it with other upskirt fetishists on the internets. It is gross, offensive, violating, and a very popular form of pornography.

When it comes to voyeurs who photograph or videotape up a woman's skirt (known as "upskirting") or snap a photo down a woman's shirt ("downblousing"), though, "there are not many practical, legal remedies available to people who find themselves the victim," says Anita Allen, a privacy expert and professor at Penn Law. That's if the woman even realizes she is a victim in the first place, which is unlikely, as the voyeur typically manages to go undetected. If the photo or video is published online -- which, increasingly, it is -- it would be difficult for the subject to ever come across the material. Even if she did, how could she recognize one underwear-clad rear as her own?

Unfortunately, the debate that ensues is a question of whether or not your privacy is being violated since you are on the street and as a public place is free to be photographed with all participants or as John Morris, from the Center for Democracy & Technology, says in the article, "If you don't want to be photographed walking the street, don't walk down the street -- it's a public street."

But as Clark argues and I agree, there is a big difference taking a picture of someone on the street and strategically placing a camera between a woman's legs or down her shirt for kicks and jerk off material. Suggesting if a woman doesn't want to be upskirted, she shouldn't be on the street or shouldn't wear a skirt-well that just sounds like a "blame the victim" line of defense to actually be a legitimate excuse for a blatant violation of privacy.

Thoughts?

Newsweek recently posted a Q&A with Jean-Claude Van Damme conducted by Sarah Ball, a female reporter in her early 20s. I know that women are sexually harassed at work every day. But not all of those women have got a tape-recorder on them...

There's a monologue in the film about being a washed-up action star. Did you improvise that?
I like structure--like driving: go past the school on the street, stay on the right side, no hitting the car, go in right, you'll see a big church, stop and take a left, and you'll have it. By doing this I'm giving a structure of life, a path of light, and showing what happens between me and me, which is something very beautiful.

Beautiful? Why?
I really opened myself up in "JCVD." I peeled back the skin of the fruit, cut the pulp and then took that very hard seed. In this film I cut that hard seed, and inside that seed was a kind of liquid cream substance of the man I am, or the woman you are.

OK --
It was like being naked--I would love to be naked in front of you.

Well, I --
Not being naked being naked. I say such things in Hong Kong and they thought I was being a crazy Frenchman. Being naked of protection.

So you've no regrets at all?
Believe me--I've done very good stuff and very crazy stuff, and I don't regret the crazy stuff. So are you in New York?

Yes, I am.
And are you 27, or 32?

I'm 22.
Oh, f---. That is very young. Will you come to the premiere?

I don ' t know. When is it?
I don't know. You will wear all black, a black dress and high heels?

Uh --
You can come find me, I will be the one with the very broad shoulders, dark hair and a simple suit. We can have some champagne, you and me.

Props to Newsweek for actually publishing this. Almost every female journalist I know has a story about being harassed while trying to conduct a serious interview with a male source. Van Damme illustrates this phenomenon so perfectly. What a fucking creep.

Just two months after we found out that the New York City MTA had agreed to post anti-harassment ads in the subway, I was thrilled to see them up and just had to share. Big ups to MTA and, once again, to the organizations who helped make this happen.

It is no secret that women in the male entertainment industry are often subject to harsh conditions, violence, lack of pay and sometimes murdered. But I think the abuses faced by women that have recently immigrated are harsher, especially when they may not have networks developed yet, they may not understand the legal system or aren't sure who they can turn to or if they are still waiting on papers, oftentimes fear will keep them silent.

Most of the time the women are paid next to nothing, $2 for a dance, $10 for a set and $40 for an hour.

via AP.

The scene plays out in immigrant neighborhoods across New York, providing a key source of employment for immigrant women and a haven for men seeking to stave off the loneliness of being far from home. It is a perfectly legal form of entertainment -- there is no stripping, but plenty of hand-holding.

But some of the women say the clubs have a darker side. They complain about exploitative management, sexual advances from clients and even violence. A dancer was recently shot and killed in Queens, and one of the city's largest dollar-dance venues is now the target of a federal lawsuit.

They have yet to find a gunman for the young woman that was killed. They didn't mention her name in the article. Ultimately, the dancers have been coerced to put up signs saying they are treated fairly, but frankly they don't have much of a choice.

Furthermore, the article discusses how this is an old form of entertainment for lonely men and became popular during the depression. Since the economy is tanking, I wonder if there has been an increase in violence faced by women working in all facets of the male entertainment industry. Finally, suggesting that this is the old form of work, one wonders why dancers aren't treated better, even with benefits and stock options. Sometimes the obvious seems ridiculous because sexism is so ingrained in how we look at exotic dancing.

Being from this neck of the woods, I had to post on this hogwash. Apparently a Wyoming police officer shamed young women in a high school assembly by analyzing their MySpace profiles as "slutty" and fodder for inmates' masturbation sessions.

The officer, John F. Gay III of the Cheyenne Police Department, picked out six or seven Windsor High School students' MySpace page and began to criticize photos, comments and other content until one student left the room crying

"He told the entire student body that he had shared her info with a sexual predator in prison," said Ty Nordic, whose daughter Shaylah Nordic's MySpace page was put on display.

I imagine Officer Asshole thought he was utilizing one of those scared straight approaches. Instead he demonstrated what an insensitive and sexist person he really is. When the adult who is both in a position of authority and charged with "protecting" teenagers manages to blame them for their own vulnerability, sexually harass them, and, even more, elicit (or at least pretend to) sexual predators...well, it just seems like grounds for firing and a major re-education effort among fellow police officers.

Has anyone seen non-sexist interventions that educate teenagers about online safety? I imagine a lot of the current curriculum on this stuff tends towards the "blame the victim" mentality.

Thanks to Erin for the heads up.

Cake Wrecks features this mess of an anti-sexual harassment cake (or a bad joke?). I don't really have anything to say about it - it was just too bizarre not to post.

Thanks to Mo in Germany for the link!

I published an op-ed in metro yesterday about the anti-sexual harassment ads set to run on the New York City subways. See Vanessa's awesome take on it here.

In any case, I got an email from someone in response and it sent me into a thought spiral. I try to answer mail as often as possible, especially when it's from those that have thoughtfully considered my argument and made me think in a new/different way with theirs. I consider it part of my role, as someone involved in public debate, to handle criticism, different points of view etc. But when I get mail like that below, I usually end up feeling really powerless and pissed off.

Which sucks, especially when it mirrors exactly what I'm trying to write about. When I'm walking down the street, and some dude leans out of his car and screams, "I'd like to tap that ass!", there's nothing I can do about it. Hollaback has provided an awesome method in public space, and I love them for it, but it's not always the easiest power retrieval to pull off during a rush hour day in NYC.

And what about online? These emails often make me feel as if some dude has just busted into my inbox and shouted. And what do I do about it? Erase it? Try to write back and explain how offensive he is? Or...

Use my awesome feminist powers to publicize his ignorance? Now that sounds more like it.

So, dear readers, I share the email (published here just as I received it) with you:

Dear Courtney,

Chance Noble

I wanted you to know his name and his email address--snhca@exit3.com--in case you'd like to chat with him about this idea, and/or avoid ever dating/hiring him.

We were thrilled when Ann thought up of the brilliant idea to switch up our Friday Feminist Fuck Yous once in a while to a Friday Feminist Fuck Yeah; after all, it is Friday and it's nice to start off the weekend with some happy feelings.

So considering the good news us New Yorkers have had this week about the MTA putting up anti-harassment ads up in the subways, this is our first Friday Feminist Fuck Yeah to Holla Back NYC, Girls for Gender Equity, Right Rides and all of the other advocacy groups and organizations that are fighting subway (and street) harassment.

Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel!

Transcript below the jump.

Fuck yeah Holla Back and friends who helped to push the New York City MTA to put anti-harassment ads up in their subways. The ads are going to be going up in September in their trains and subways that say, "Sexual harassment is a crime in the subway too" urging those who are harassed to come forward and report it as well. This is quite a victory for us, considering the scary regularity of harassment that many of us have to experience in the subway. And this Friday Feminist Fuck Yeah - our first one ever - is for groups like HollaBack NYC, Girls for Gender Equity and Right Rides who acknowledge and support our right to simply transport ourselves from one place to another without being catcalled or grabbed.

Hollaback NYC urges women to snap pictures of their harassers and post it on their blog - under their header on the site is says, "Holla Back NYC empowers New Yorkers to Holla Back at street harassers. Whether you're commuting, lunching, partying, dancing, walking, chilling, drinking, or sunning, you have the right to feel safe, confident, and sexy, without being the object of some turd's fantasy." Which is why I said this because I thought that it was hilarious they used the word "turd." Awesome. And Girls for Gender Equity also had a hand in this - this is actually my old feminist stomping grounds - and they do so, so much for the girls in Brooklyn and other parts of New York City, there's too many programs to list. But related to this issue, they actually made an anti-harassment film with their Sisters in Strength program called "War Zone" and spreading the message about the importance of stopping street harassment throughout the media, which is great. And then there's Right Rides for Women's Safety, which is a New York-based organization, it's been around for a long time, and they literally provide car rides for women, transpeople and gender queer individuals to ensure their safe trip home, or through high-risk areas, their motto being "Because getting home safely shouldn't be a luxury."

And there are so many other organizations that have been working against street and subway harassment, like the Street Harassment Project and INCITE Women of Color Against Violence, which is actually - I went to my first street harassment workshop given by them way back when. But there's also a lot more to be done. While I think that it is so great that they're putting up this ad because one of the problems with harassment is that many people don't recognize what harassment is or don't know what qualifies as harassment or don't pay attention to it because it's so common and consider it the "norm." So this ad is really calling it for what it is, which is a crime, so it's really great. But these groups need supporters, and we need more groups like this in other areas, not just cities. But in the meantime, a big, fat feminist fuck yeah to all of these amazing groups who are working to fight for women's right to be and feel safe in public.