Telling women to smile is a societal issue that goes far beyond the service industry, and women all over the world are taking a stand. Tatyana Fazlalizadeh of Brooklyn, New York, began a traveling street-art project in 2012, “Stop Telling Women to Smile.” It addresses gender-based street harassment in mural form — in public, where women are often the most vulnerable to physical and emotional harassment. I asked some of my male friends if they’d been told to smile at bus stops, walking down the street or while lifting weights at the gym? Few answered yes, while my lady friends are victim to such behavior daily — even multiple times per day. A girlfriend picking out tomatoes at Kroger was told, “Smile, it can’t be that bad!” Should she have taken this as a compliment, or a public accosting with a smile? I hope I can speak for my lady bartender brethren when I say: I am not complaining about my job. I adore my job and the relationships I’m able to cultivate daily. Believe it or not, this bitchy bartender actually strikes up great conversations with her guests! I’m simply speaking out for progress in hopes that most men (and women) who tell us to smile will reconsider their desire to emotionally project. The evolution and growth needed for a more progressive society takes place in all workplaces, even bars, and you can be an ally by understanding that women are humans and are allowed to experience the spectrum of natural human emotions, even behind the bar. And, at the end of the day, we’re the ones who decide when and if you get another drink. Don’t worry, you can order it with whatever facial expression you please. Cheers!
Category Archives: Feminism
Sounding Exactly Like an Onion Article, Sanders Campaign Attacks Clinton’s Ambition
As Rebecca Traister explains at The Cut, Weaver’s comment was a throwaway one, but this narrative — casting Clinton as a Tracy Flick-like character, a “woman who tries too hard, who competes with too much intensity, who applies too much focus to her own advancement” — is one that the Sanders campaign seems to be increasingly turning to in recent weeks. Hopefully they’ll cut that shit out and remain committed to running on the issues, instead of invoking the tired stereotype of the overly ambitious woman and counting on our deep-seated double-standards around power and gender to kick in. As for Weaver’s broader point — that even as the race between the Democratic nominees heats up in the final stretch, we should “not denigrate other people’s supporters” because “we want to have a party at the end of this we can unify” — I personally agree wholeheartedly. A poll out yesterday, however, suggests that there are more people feeling the Bern who could stand to hear that reminder: 25 percent of Sanders’ supporters, compared to 14 percent of Clinton’s, say they wouldn’t vote for the other one if their candidate doesn’t get the nomination.
Source: Sounding Exactly Like an Onion Article, Sanders Campaign Attacks Clinton’s Ambition
Danish politician has work computer confiscated in Israel – The Local
“Leila Stockmarr and I have just come out of a two-hour security check at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel. Why were you in Bethlehem? Why did you run in Palestine [they ran a 10k race supporting Palestinian independence, ed.] ? Which Palestinians do you know? Why have you been in Jordan? Who do you know in Jordan?” she wrote. “It ended with the confiscation of Leila’s computer for ‘security reasons’. Leila wrote her PhD on the Israeli weapons industry. Pure harassment. And simply so outrageous,” Schmidt-Nielsen concluded.
Source: Danish politician has work computer confiscated in Israel – The Local
Jane Goodall – Page – Interview Magazine
I remember I told the story about the chimp named Old Man who was rescued from medical research and lived with three females on an island with Marc [Cusano], who was looking after them. Marc gradually got to be friends with Old Man, although he had been told he’d kill him, that he hated people. Then, one day, Marc frightened the baby accidentally—he slipped and fell, and the baby screamed, and the mother raced over and bit deeply into his neck. The other two females rushed to help their friend. So here is Marc, thinking, “I’m going to die.” But actually, Old Man, who was so protective of the baby, pulled those three females off and kept them away while Marc dragged himself to safety. You know, if a chimp who has been abused horribly by humans can help a human friend in a time of need, how much more should we help the animals—and other people for that matter—in their time of need?
Racism And The Invisibility Of White Privilege. | Rebelle Society
I thought I might share a few things as a white mama of black boys. I actually have three sons — two black and one white. My white son is 29, and my black boys are 14 and 15. Here are some of the privileges I never realized I experienced raising my white son: Not once… … did I ever have to explain to my white son that people might be mean to him, and even hurt or kill him, simply because of his skin color. … did I ever have to tell him to keep his hands out of his pockets while in a store. … did I ever have to go into a store or a school with him to assert myself as his mother so that people would treat him fairly… so they’d think, “Oh, his mom’s white, so he’s okay.” … did I ever have to tell him not to wear the hood up on his hoodie.
Source: Racism And The Invisibility Of White Privilege. | Rebelle Society
Femen earn victory in right to protest topless – The Local
Three Femen activists were acquitted of exhibitionism on Wednesday for a topless protest staged as former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn arrived at his trial for “aggravated pimping” in February 2015. “It’s the first acquittal in a trial against Femen on the charge of sexual exhibition,” their lawyer Valentine Reberioux told AFP. “A political demonstration should not be confused with sexual aggression,” she said. “These are political acts using the nude torso as a mode of expression and it ends there.”
Source: Femen earn victory in right to protest topless – The Local
By Jane Fonda Written for Lenny: My Convoluted Journey to Feminism | Jane Fonda
this is not about replacing one “-archy” with another, it’s about transforming social and cultural norms and institutions so that power, violence, and greed are not the primary operating principles. It’s not about moving from patriarchy to matriarchy, but from patriarchy to democracy. Feminism means real democracy. There’s no road map to get there. It hasn’t happened yet. Women and men of conscience have never had a chance thus far to make our revolution. The journey is both external and internal, political and personal. For me, the personal meant becoming a single woman, no longer silencing my voice, slowly becoming the subject of my own life. My friendships with women grew deeper and more fulfilling. I read books I’d read before, by Carol Gilligan, Gloria Steinem, Robin Morgan, Gerda Lerner, bell hooks, and Jean Baker Miller, among others, but I understood them in a new way. In the process, I discovered that what I’d thought were just my issues were, in fact, shared by other women. I was not alone. The personal became political, and I became an embodied feminist. I had gone from believing that women’s issues were a distraction, mere ancillary problems to be addressed after everything else had been taken care of, to the realization that women are the issue, the core issue. We will fail to solve any problem — poverty, peace, sustainable development, environment, health — unless we look at it through a gender lens and make sure the solution will be good for women. It took me 30 years to get it, but it’s OK to be a late bloomer as long as you don’t miss the flower show.
Source: By Jane Fonda Written for Lenny: My Convoluted Journey to Feminism | Jane Fonda
no veil ,no testimony | nadiaharhash
My point was as simple as it still remains … There is a whole system of degrading women. The sharia law as applied under the name of God, and as a student of law and Islamic philosophy with modest knowledge on Islamic jurisdictions n accordance with Qur’an and pioneer jurists has nothing to do with this applied law of sharia. It is a collection of laws that are a mixture of Turkish, Arabic, and Israeli man enforced law for political gains in overpowering who ever or whatever, and the women seem to be the easiest scapegoats. In a patriarchal structure as such, it is no wonder that the laws are all designed to maintain men power over women, and make sure that a man is always given the just treatment he is entitled to have due his supremacy. After all he is the family “god”. There is something in the system that we women allowed. Whether voluntarily or by force I really don’t know. Changing it is not by condemning an act or two or some. It is by changing it all from the core. And this change can only happen if women are sitting on the same table with men defining and articulating that law. Objecting to a woman’s testimony with a veil or not is not a surprise. Veil is becoming a code dress to societies in the Middle East. A woman can be prostitute and still wearing a veil. Veil is actually becoming a veil to women’s restricted movement. A veiled woman has more access to freedom than that who is not. The controversy and the paradox in describing or comparing veiled with unveiled is also an extreme one. There is no middle way in the comparison. Wearing a veil makes a woman part of the social wanted structure. Not wearing it makes her an infidel. Or as close to one. This should take me to different level of the story … But I will leave it here for now …
#FreeIsabel – Isabel Mejia
In as little as two weeks, Isabel Mejia, a mother, survivor of horrific domestic violence, and long-time Los Angeles resident, may be deported to Mexico where she is afraid her ex-husband will kill her. Please, sign this petition demanding that ICE release her from detention and close her deportation case immediately!Isabel is a Los Angeles mother of three U.S. citizen children (3, 5 and 9) and a 13-year-old daughter. LAPD raided a party on November 14, 2015 and arrested Isabel and dozens of others. She was not charged and it appears that most were quickly released; however, Isabel was transferred to ICE after her fingerprint scan showed a decade-old deportation order from when she fled for her and her daughter’s life. Isabel has a single DUI conviction for which she was taking classes as part of a diversion program prior to her detention.
Source: #FreeIsabel
Martina Navratilova: female tennis players could boycott Indian Wells | Sport | The Guardian
Navratilova, a winner of 18 grand slam singles titles, said: “It is really disheartening to see Ray Moore offer the extremely prejudiced and very old-fashioned statements regarding women tennis players. We have made it this far on our own, without help from male players, and will continue to do so. It would be hard to imagine any women wanting to go and play at Indian Wells if Moore stays as the tournament director.” The chorus of condemnation had been led by Serena Williams, the winner of 21 grand slam singles titles who, after playing in the final at Indian Wells, called Moore’s comments a disservice to tennis legends such as Billie Jean King, as well as every woman on the planet that had ever tried to stand up for what they believed in.
Source: Martina Navratilova: female tennis players could boycott Indian Wells | Sport | The Guardian








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