Wow. A national poll in Ireland reveals that an absurd amount of people believe that a rape victim is partially (or totally) to blame for being attacked.
ONE in THREE people believe a woman who wears revealing clothes are either partly or fully responsible if they are sexually assaulted.
What the fuck.
Contrary to popular belief, women do not do everything they do to get men to grope them. Actually, women OFTEN wear things because its what appeals to them, not because they are "begging for it". I know, it's shocking.
Can't a woman be proud of her body without it being for man's pleasure? When I wear a short skirt, I do it because I LIKE IT. Women should be allowed to show off their body without fearing ramifications. It sounds so medieval:
Man: "Well, Yeah I raped her, but she was luring me with her shedevil powers!! I couldn't resist!! I'm only a helpless man, woe is me."
Fuck that. Men need to take responsibility for their actions instead of trying to blame the victim.
It's funny that our culture puts so much emphasis on forcing women to look like porn stars to feel pretty, and then blame them when it "makes men do evil things". Newsflash: men rape because they have terrible issues- NOT because of a mini-skirt.
Read more about this at the amazing Feministing blog www.feministing.com
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Monday, March 3, 2008
Ariel Levy on Playboy and Sexuality
Ariel is able to describe the use of sexuality as a commodity and the homogeneity of sex in our culture. check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i780bzPyD6U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i780bzPyD6U
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Empower
- This blog is from my trip in Thailand over winter break and we met with the group "Empower"...
We visited Empower at its Can Do bar in the scenic Chiang Mai red light district. We arrived, checked the place out, and ordered some drinks.
The history of Empower fascinated me. It was informally started when a group of sex workers, aided by an educated activist, and meeting for study sessions around the local bars. Sex workers could not only learn--the Burmese sex workers, for instance, would learn English or Thai so they could get around the city without being frightened. They could also relax with friends, celebrate birthdays and holidays, and support each other in their work.
Liz, the manager of the joint, was a quick-witted Australian woman who knew how to keep an audience. I was very impressed by Empower's gift of benefits to the sex workers, along with handing out condoms and being a safe place to pick up and check out customers. I am so happy that people are working with sex workers instead of pretending they didn't exist. So far, so good.
Then I found out that that was the end. No more movement ahead to end gender discrimination. The organization feels that women are taking control of their sexuality and their finances, empowering themselves through prostitution and enabling them to support themselves and their families. (Sex workers, Liz said, support on average five people).
This, in my eyes, is completely backwards. Empower is not making great steps for women by selling their bodies for men's pleasure. They are merely uncle-tomming the patriarchal system that our society continually accepts.
Liz believes sex work is just the same as paying for a doctor's services. But there’s a significant difference: a woman is selling her actual self while a doctor is selling the intellect and skills he received through education. And when you pay a doctor, you are not putting the doctor's life at risk. You do not expect the doctor to pleasure you in exotic ways, at your command, just because you aren't capable of meeting your needs through a normal, healthy relationship. I don't care how professional a sex workers can be--our host described how the sex workers can negotiate for using condoms, or slip on condoms with their mouth so the customer doesn't know. Sex cannot be cut off from a woman's entire self. The mere idea of women using sex for profit only perpetuates the belief that sex is purely a man's sport for women to sell their parts--not for their enjoyment.
How are we as women ever going to be equal in power to men if we think selling ourselves is empowering? Do you ever see men sell their penises to gain respect and power in our society? Women are being fooled if they think the power of obtaining money for pleasuring men is the same power as earning money for your intellect and skills. Men are receiving all the substantial power while women willingly fall behind. While men continue to move up the ladder of success, women are too busy dancing on the ladder's poles to notice a problem.I don't like to see women fooled.
The best part is that they think the women who disagree with their logic are conservative, prissy, "suicide bomber" feminists who are afraid of sexuality. The fact is, they are the ones supporting the status quo. I want to make a change. I don't want women to have fake power. It is no wonder many government officials support brothels under the table: Brothels and sex work keep women in their place. Without sex work, women might rise up in man's world. Oh no!!! I am sick of men (and women) chauvinist pigs.
We visited Empower at its Can Do bar in the scenic Chiang Mai red light district. We arrived, checked the place out, and ordered some drinks.
The history of Empower fascinated me. It was informally started when a group of sex workers, aided by an educated activist, and meeting for study sessions around the local bars. Sex workers could not only learn--the Burmese sex workers, for instance, would learn English or Thai so they could get around the city without being frightened. They could also relax with friends, celebrate birthdays and holidays, and support each other in their work.
Liz, the manager of the joint, was a quick-witted Australian woman who knew how to keep an audience. I was very impressed by Empower's gift of benefits to the sex workers, along with handing out condoms and being a safe place to pick up and check out customers. I am so happy that people are working with sex workers instead of pretending they didn't exist. So far, so good.
Then I found out that that was the end. No more movement ahead to end gender discrimination. The organization feels that women are taking control of their sexuality and their finances, empowering themselves through prostitution and enabling them to support themselves and their families. (Sex workers, Liz said, support on average five people).
This, in my eyes, is completely backwards. Empower is not making great steps for women by selling their bodies for men's pleasure. They are merely uncle-tomming the patriarchal system that our society continually accepts.
Liz believes sex work is just the same as paying for a doctor's services. But there’s a significant difference: a woman is selling her actual self while a doctor is selling the intellect and skills he received through education. And when you pay a doctor, you are not putting the doctor's life at risk. You do not expect the doctor to pleasure you in exotic ways, at your command, just because you aren't capable of meeting your needs through a normal, healthy relationship. I don't care how professional a sex workers can be--our host described how the sex workers can negotiate for using condoms, or slip on condoms with their mouth so the customer doesn't know. Sex cannot be cut off from a woman's entire self. The mere idea of women using sex for profit only perpetuates the belief that sex is purely a man's sport for women to sell their parts--not for their enjoyment.
How are we as women ever going to be equal in power to men if we think selling ourselves is empowering? Do you ever see men sell their penises to gain respect and power in our society? Women are being fooled if they think the power of obtaining money for pleasuring men is the same power as earning money for your intellect and skills. Men are receiving all the substantial power while women willingly fall behind. While men continue to move up the ladder of success, women are too busy dancing on the ladder's poles to notice a problem.I don't like to see women fooled.
The best part is that they think the women who disagree with their logic are conservative, prissy, "suicide bomber" feminists who are afraid of sexuality. The fact is, they are the ones supporting the status quo. I want to make a change. I don't want women to have fake power. It is no wonder many government officials support brothels under the table: Brothels and sex work keep women in their place. Without sex work, women might rise up in man's world. Oh no!!! I am sick of men (and women) chauvinist pigs.
Typical
I went home from college a couple weeks ago to visit friends and family, and a graphic image has stayed with me the past couple weeks. Someone I know, lets call him Jake, had a desktop background of the head of his friend’s sister placed on a naked woman, and all his friends’ faces on stick figures jacking off to this pornographic image. I tried shrugging this disgusting picture off, you know, “boys will be boys” kind of thing. Only not.
As time went on I realized how typical this behavior was. In order to make fun of his friend, Jake decided to violate a woman in his friend’s life. How many times does this happen in a day? An army officer demoralizes a man by raping his wife. In the movie Crash, a police officer infuriates a man by molesting his wife. Jake obviously didn’t think about how the image would hurt his friend’s sister. Don’t you think these acts affect those violated 10 TIMES more than “their men”? People don’t think of her feelings because she is an object. It’s like an unwritten rule - you attack men by vandalizing their “possessions”… their car, their house, and their women, right? Using women as a revenge tactic is only solidifying the subconscious (or in many places conscious) thought of woman as property. Why directly attack a man when you can filthy and devalue his property?
I would feel personally violated if that was my face in the background. Wouldn’t anybody? Men are able to laugh at this violence because they are never the ones being hurt through this “humor”. Acceptance of images like Jake’s background makes actual gang rapes seem like less of a gruesome human rights violation then it most definitely is.
The sad thing is the fact that Jake has no idea what impact he is having on our society’s outlook on women. He sees this art as a careless joke. What’s even sadder is I didn’t tell him. We need to stand up against these acts in order to protect those women who have no voice to say it’s wrong. For those women who are continually violated in conflict zones with no one to reinsure their worth as a HUMAN BEING. Don’t let people treat women like this and think it is harmless. STAND UP!
As time went on I realized how typical this behavior was. In order to make fun of his friend, Jake decided to violate a woman in his friend’s life. How many times does this happen in a day? An army officer demoralizes a man by raping his wife. In the movie Crash, a police officer infuriates a man by molesting his wife. Jake obviously didn’t think about how the image would hurt his friend’s sister. Don’t you think these acts affect those violated 10 TIMES more than “their men”? People don’t think of her feelings because she is an object. It’s like an unwritten rule - you attack men by vandalizing their “possessions”… their car, their house, and their women, right? Using women as a revenge tactic is only solidifying the subconscious (or in many places conscious) thought of woman as property. Why directly attack a man when you can filthy and devalue his property?
I would feel personally violated if that was my face in the background. Wouldn’t anybody? Men are able to laugh at this violence because they are never the ones being hurt through this “humor”. Acceptance of images like Jake’s background makes actual gang rapes seem like less of a gruesome human rights violation then it most definitely is.
The sad thing is the fact that Jake has no idea what impact he is having on our society’s outlook on women. He sees this art as a careless joke. What’s even sadder is I didn’t tell him. We need to stand up against these acts in order to protect those women who have no voice to say it’s wrong. For those women who are continually violated in conflict zones with no one to reinsure their worth as a HUMAN BEING. Don’t let people treat women like this and think it is harmless. STAND UP!
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