random babble…

Part three in an apparently ongoing series.

After my initial reactions and snark aimed at the FFS application, one of my friends made a little jab at me on Facebook…and then responded w/ this letter to me this morning.  I enjoy the relationship I have w/ my friend (whom I will call Da Guai Shou) b/c we are able to talk about things like this and lay it out on the table frankly.  I was glad that he made a response apart from the snarky “status update”.  With Da Guai’s Permission, I have posted his letter here, w/ my response in hopes of perpetuating some discussion.  I want to see the thought processes go here. Read more »

Because, like I have said before, now more than once, we are dealing not only w/ words and their meanings, which are big and heavy all on their own merits, but b/c we are dealing w/ actual people.  Real fucking human beings.

I am sick and fanfuckingtastically tired of the “it’s just a game”, “lighten up”, or “it’s all in fun” being arguments for why the shit like I talked about yesterday is acceptable as a form of entertainment.  I am more than tempted to just say “hey, asshat, your privilege is showing” to people who think that as long as it’s just a game and they personally are not causing anyone harm (a fact which i believe is still up for debate), but this time it is coming from people whom I respect, and some of them I love, and w/ some of them I have forged bonds.  

And that makes it harder to just point at brilliant posts by incredible writers better than me and tell them to educate themselves.  It also makes me realize that the people I know IRL may not have all of the background and enlightenment that I have found via my online community of friends (as I experienced w/ a friend of mine on Myspace yesterday.  For some reason it still surprises me when people are unwittingly blind to sexism and misogyny).  I will give these people one free pass, and I will point to the wealth of knowledge on Al Gore’s internet *throws poppy petals*. Read more »

no, my roommate doesn’t give that kind of massage, you sick fuck.

she will not “help you out” if you get an erection during the massage.

the fact that she is giving you a massage does not, in any way, give you the right to put your fucking hands on her.  at.  all.

that is assault, FYI, and she assures me you have been notated as not allowed to receive services at that school any longer.

if you really need to get off that badly i suggest you find a nice quiet bathroom and get personal w/ someone who is willing to have sex w/ you.

yourself. 

sincerely,

ouyang dan 

 “Rape, ladies and gentlemen, is not today what rape was.  Rape, when I was learning about these things, was the violation of a chaste woman, against her will, by some party not her spouse.  Today it’s simply, ‘Let’s don’t go forward with this act.’”

Read more »

i read this on bbc last night before going to bed, planning to blog about it today, only to find that basically everyone else has blogged about it first…wev…i was still impressed.

i was a little irritated at how they pointed out that this gulabi gang (calling them a sorority) is “not exactly a group of male bashing feminists”

, i still really love reading about women taking a stance and fighting back against injustice.

so check out these women w/ the pussies to fight back, and read samhita’

s take on it too.

yesterday marked the kickoff of the 16 days of action against gender violence, beginning 25 november on international day for the ending of violence against women, and ending of 10 december w/ national human rights day.  this is a great chance to get involved.  the first step is following these links, from here, or any other feminist site you frequent, to educate yourself on these issues, and to find ways you can help.  this is my first year since sucking it up and identifying as a feminist, and already i have learned a lot about violence against women.  while blogging is a far cry from good activism, i really believe that it is a great place to start.  information and education are our greatest weapons against things like gender violence, and realizing that gender issues are human rights issues.

this year’s theme is demanding implementation, challenging obstacles: end violence against women.

as i educate myself on a more broad spectrum of issues, i encourage you all to do the same.  if you run a blog, or otherwise try to get involved in any way, please, give this some spotlight time.  i am going to (try to) post daily on a different issue…and i am open to suggestion…to spread what i learn, and to do my (albeit small) part in getting word out that violence against women, and gender violence in general, is a human rights issue, and not just something in the corner of feminists.

so w/ all this argument and debate over whether halloween is slutty or for teh littlest babies, and not forgetting to squish your boobs, i forgot something that has been going on for two decades this october.

october is also violence against women awareness month.

and i totally forgot.

and that makes me a little more than ashamed of myself, especially given my upbringing.

see, native american women, especially those living on reservations, are almost twice as likely to be abused than any other race or ethnicity.

and a staggering number go unreported and unpunished.

i was glad to see that the office on violence against women have a whole branch devoted to tribal affairs.

it’s a start.

part of the painful truth is that noone seemed for a long time sure who was supposed to take care of this problem.  reservations are sovereign nations, over 500 of them nationally recognized, w/ their own governments and law enforcement and language.  fine when the victims and assailants are both native…unless of course the local police don’t feel like following up on a report, or they use their cell phones to call, and the abuser answers, stating everything is ok.

and then, if the assailant isn’t native?  or the victim?  whose jurisdiction is this?  tribal laws don’t cover non tribal persons.  but, local, non tribal authorities have no jurisdiction over tribal land…so if the dispute happens on a res, who is responsible?

usually, noone steps in.

there are steps being taken to fix this.  in 2004 a bill was presented to give tribal authorities jurisdiction over non indian attackers on tribal land.  full faith and credit, you see.  but then there was the little issue of indian tribes setting up statutes to extend full faith and credit to foreign protection orders.

all any of this means is that w/ all the hype over anything else that happens in october, something this huge should not be overlooked.  shame on me for forgetting.