Category Archives: Feminism

You Can’t Fight Rape With Nail Polish | Dame Magazine

You Can’t Fight Rape With Nail Polish | Dame Magazine.

Criminals hear that all women have rape fantasies, and that most will make up stories about rape for the flimsiest of reasons—to avoid anyone finding out they had consensual sex, or to punish a man for not calling, say—even though the actual incidence of false reporting is between 2 and 8 percent, similar to other crimes. They hear that there’s no way to know who’s telling the truth in a “he said/she said” situation, and if you can’t prove a man guilty, then he’s innocent.

They hear about their peers being accused of rape and still allowed to graduate from college, while the alleged victims drop out of school. They hear that most rapes are never reported, and of those, very few are prosecuted. About those, they usually hear “not guilty.”

Criminals do listen to what we, as a society, tell them—and what we tell rapists, time and again, is that we don’t take their crime seriously, so they can probably get away with it. If other young men out there earnestly want to prevent rape, they’d be better off talking to their peers about consent, calling out other guys who dehumanize women, and intervening when they see something that makes them uncomfortable. Unfortunately, there’s no prize money for being an engaged and compassionate person. Maybe if there were, we’d have a society where a woman could order a beer in public without feeling the need to perform a chemistry experiment for her own safety.

– See more at: http://www.damemagazine.com/2014/08/25/you-cant-fight-rape-nail-polish#sthash.DbFrlrqS.dpuf

Let There Be Peace – Donna Summer – YouTube

Let There Be Peace – Donna Summer – YouTube.

Let There Be Peace

Someone let communication out the door
Someone decided it’s worth fighting for
Why haven’t we learned by what we’ve done before?
Don’t you know history’s keeping score?
For every boy and every girl
Let there be love
All over the world
For everyone
Under the sun…
Let there be peace on earth
Let every voice be heard
Let there be peace on earth
Brother to brother
‘Til it’s felt around the world
There’s only one world in which we all must live
Heaven show us how to forgive
And on that marble wall which holds a million names
Generations of dreams gone down in flames
Isn’t, isn’t it a shame?
For every boy and every girl
Under the sun…
Let there be peace on earth
(Why don’t you try just a little harder?)
Let every voice be heard
(My brother)
Let there be peace on earth
(Oh, if we could just get it together)
‘Til it’s felt around the world
We’re running out of time
As our leaders roll the dice
The human spirit cries
It’s a precious, precious sacrifice
Let there be peace on earth
Let every voice be heard
Let there be peace on earth
‘Til it’s felt around the world 

Witness in Gaza: Daughter of Leveled Building’s Owner Tells Us Her Story · Global Voices

“They never gave any reason. The IDF is saying that there was a Hamas operations room in the building. That is a lie. There is a resident on the rooftop who is pro-Hamas, but the building did not host any Hamas Operations Room. In fact, most of the residents that lived in the building are from Fatah.

And even if we accepted their story that there was an apartment used by Hamas, why would they bomb and bring down the whole building? The IDF never brought down civilian buildings simply because it hosted Hamas members. We thought that the IDF only targeted specific targets rather than whole buildings. Whatever reason they made up or will make up would never justify destroying a building housing 44 families. They are now all homeless.”

via Witness in Gaza: Daughter of Leveled Building’s Owner Tells Us Her Story · Global Voices.

Do the Taco or Beer Challenge

“You find yourself a fucking taco, or a fucking beer, or a fucking taco and a beer, then you eat the fucking taco or drink the fucking beer or eat and drink both the fucking taco and the beer, and then you donate some money to an abortion fund. You fucking film yourself doing this shit and then you send us the fucking video and we put it on the fucking internet.”

Andrea Grimes started the challenge as a bit of a joke, after seeing the “ice bucket challenge” take off. Tacos and beers have about as much to do with abortion as ice buckets have to do with ALS — but they’re much, much more enjoyable.

And actually, you can make the challenge even more simple. You can skip the filming part and even the eating/drinking part (although I can’t imagine why you’d want to pass on that) and just donate to an abortion fund. As Grimes writes, “The Taco or Beer Challenge is about doing what’s right for your own taco and beverage needs, just like having an abortion—or not—is about doing what’s right for yourself and your family.”

As we remind you pretty regularly around these parts, access to abortion in this country is treated as a privilege, not a right — and abortion funds play a critical role in filling that gap and helping to ensure that everyone who needs an abortion can afford to get one.

You can find an abortion fund serving your community here.

via Do the Taco or Beer Challenge.

AFA Jumps the Shark: ‘ALS Challenge Kills Babies’ | Hatewatch

AFA spokesperson Bryan Fischer has been leading the way. In recent weeks on his radio program, Fischer has:

Declared it will be “the end of America” if Congress does not impeach President Obama.

Denounced anyone who uses the word “racist,” then insisted that Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder are “racists.”

Sided with radical Islamists in Iraq in calling Obama a “devil worshiper.”

Suggested on Twitter that accepting homosexuality leads to people to commit acts of necrophilia.

Said that LGBT people are inherently disqualified from holding public office.

Written an article in which he wonders if Robin Williams will go to heaven and insults Williams’s mother’s belief system (she was a Christian Scientist, Fischer says, and that is “a counterfeit form of religion that is neither Christian nor scientific”)

via AFA Jumps the Shark: ‘ALS Challenge Kills Babies’ | Hatewatch.

Ireland denies suicidal rape survivor an abortion and forces her to undergo a C-section

As Jessica notes, the horrific ordeal shows how inadequate even this small exemption to the country’s strict anti-choice law really is. A member of Ireland’s Doctors for Choice said, “We predicted it would be a bad law, that it was going to be trouble and quickly that’s been proven.” Part of the problem is that the law requires examination of the pregnant person’s mental state by up to seven different doctors, a process which will “not only be overly invasive, confusing and distressing emotionally, it will also be time-consuming.”

It’s also probably no coincidence that this young women, like Halappanavar, is an immigrant. While middle-class Irish citizens can often go to England to end their pregnancies, poor women — who lack the funds — and immigrant women — who lack the papers to easily travel — are often out of luck. The young woman might have been able to get authorization to travel to England under the law and advocates are demanding to know if she was informed of her rights.

As Sarah McCarthy, a spokesperson for Galway Pro-Choice, says, the case “illustrates quite clearly that women are treated as little more than incubators under Irish law.”

via Ireland denies suicidal rape survivor an abortion and forces her to undergo a C-section.

Quote of the Day: “My past is littered with the bones of men…”

Meet the new head of the NBA players union, Michele A. Roberts. A former public defender, Roberts will be the first female leader of a major North American professional sports union. But, she says, “I don’t live my life saying, ‘What ceiling am I going to crack tomorrow?’” Instead, her advice “is not to worry about whether you’re the only one, but worry about whether you’re the best one.”

via Quote of the Day: “My past is littered with the bones of men…”.

Serena Williams blows away Ana Ivanovic to win in Cincinnati | Sport | The Guardian

Serena Williams is back. She did not so much cruise in the final of the Western & Southern Open here on Sunday as hobble distractedly but rediscovered her zest to blow Ana Ivanovic off the court in little over an hour. The American will be desperately hard to stop in the US Open next week if she can sustain this level of concentration and power.

via Serena Williams blows away Ana Ivanovic to win in Cincinnati | Sport | The Guardian.