Lifetime to Remake "Steel Magnolias" With and All-Black Cast -"The Help" EffectOctober 12, 2011Are we seeing the first signs of "THE HELP" - Effect. Whereby Hollywood TEMPORARILY falls in love with southern Black women... or should I say, White women watching southern Black women on Lifetime. After this summer's sucess of "Mammie goes to Bloomingdales"... I mean, "The Help," suddenly Black women living in the south are all the rage in Hollywood. So much so that Lifetime has decided to remake Steel Magnolias with an all-Black cast.... because Black women in the south don't have their own stories and all. |
One Hour at the Women’s Prison in JubaOctober 12, 2011After two days of being transferred between offices, commanders and prison guards who all welcomed me with tea while making sure I did not become too comfortable, I finally met some of the silent and forgotten women of Juba. |
Childless By Choice and ProudOctober 12, 2011It does make sense that I’m childless, I am just getting started with my life, but I decided a long time ago that I don’t want children. Is this normal? A woman not wanting an offspring. How’s that possible? Well, you better believe it, baby. I don’t want kids. Not that I don’t love them or anything. I love children. I feel like a new me when I’m around them. It’s just the responsibility of children that I don’t want. I don’t want to have to take care of another human being. The decision of having children is a huge one, this choice changes your life forever in a big, big way. That’s why I don’t let anyone make the decision for me. |
On loving, and losing, little creaturesOctober 12, 2011This weekend, I put my cat to sleep. It was not expected, and I’m pretty heartbroken. I also feel silly. There are larger and more important tragedies every day. We had three great years together, and for that I should be grateful. I know I gave him a really good life. He was just a cat. I don’t even like cats. |
Topeka Officially Decriminalizes Misdemeanor Domestic BatteryOctober 12, 2011Earlier today, the Topeka City Council, by a vote of 7-3, repealed the local law that makes misdemeanor domestic battery a crime. |
Online harassment as a daily hazard: when trolls feed themselvesOctober 12, 2011Seen s.e. smith’s post on blogging and harassment yet? You’re about to see it everywhere (on the social justice blogs) because it’s very powerful and true: |
Research Resource: Gender Jurisprudence Collections at American UniversityOctober 11, 2011Earlier this semester, the War Crimes Research Office and the Women and International Law Program at American University Washington College of Law announced the launch of the Gender Jurisprudence Collections (GJC). Here is an excerpt from the school’s press release: |
SCOTUS Declines to Hear Same-Sex Adoption CaseOctober 11, 2011Reuters reports on the United States Supreme Court’s denial of cert today in Oren Adar v. Darlene Smith, No. 11-46: |
[Don't] shop an illegalOctober 11, 2011In a blatant attempt to divert attention from the disastrous NHS bill currently going through the Lords, David Cameron yesterday urged us all to shop an illegal immigrant. Not wealthy, well-educated immigrants, of course, just those who have the audacity to try and make a better life for themselves in a supposedly caring country. Exactly how we're meant to spot illegal immigrants I don't know, but I assume it will involve some kind of BNP-inspired check list steeped in prejudice, xenophobia and the kind of irrational fear embodied in Cameron's promise that "Together we will reclaim our borders and send illegal immigrants home". |
New feature: The politics of office dressOctober 11, 2011The spate of SlutWalks around the world have highlighted a powerful message: no matter what we wear, no matter how we present ourselves, we have the right not to be touched without our consent. For me that statement has a peculiar resonance because it is a much-needed, long overdue reaction to one small subset of a much bigger problem: that we are all, as women, judged every single day by what we wear. |
Kosher sex toysOctober 11, 2011 |
23 flavors of sexismOctober 11, 2011Writing about bullshit sexist advertising on a feminist blog can be tricky. On the one hand, bullshit sexism makes me mad. So I want to condemn it, shame it, and deconstruct it to take away whatever power it might have developed in the course of its million-dollar-ad-campaign life. |