But how can we stand in his way if he's aborted?

(Privilege to Make the Rules, Part 1)

I have come to expect the anti-choice movement (and fundamentalists in general) to be reprehensibly vicious, unsympathetic, and disdainful of women. I have also come to expect a frequent dose of whitewashing from their leadership. However, I underestimated just how quickly anti-choicers could revise history:




When the feminists have their way, a mother who decides to carry her pregnancy to term can indeed raise that child to become the first African-American president!

But if the Catholics had their way, an African-American would never become president!

Secularism:
Imagine the Potential!


While we're on the subject of bigoted anti-choicers, do you think the Catholics would have run one of these ads or for an African-American fetus if Obama hadn't become president? I looked around for a Martin Luther King or Tiger Woods fetus ad, but found bupkis!

For that matter, do you think the anti-choicers would ever run this kind of ad for Hillary Rodham Clinton? Or for any female fetuses? [1]

This just proves that the bigoted anti-choicers only want your fetus when it will produce bouncing baby Arian men. The Panzer Pope has struck again!



[1] Here's a challenge for you: send me the link to any anti-choice or TV ad that promotes a female fetus (or a minority fetus prior to Obama's election) and I will post it on this blog entry. Find me an anti-choicer TV ad that promotes not "aborting" Hillary Rodham Clinton and I will send you $20!




Copyright January 2009 by F*ck M*sculinity

Male Privilege #8 - Privilege to Make the Rules

In Short:
Rulers write the laws and the history books, and so men write laws and revise history to benefit themselves at the expense of women.

Derived From:
#2 - Ownership of Women's Bodies
#4 - Privilege of Violence
#11 - Privilege to Define Everything
#15 - Privilege of Unquestioned Majority
#16 - Privilege of Women's Invisibility
#20 - Privilege to Speak

Exclusive to Men Because:
Rules are created by the ruling class, and historical revisionism is a privilege of the dominant culture.

Laws and the legal system benefit men over women. Laws that would grant women equality as full human beings and protect their basic human right are rarely enacted by governments. When they are, they are typically toothless, watered down by judges, unenforced, or chipped away at and repealed by lawmakers.

Women are completely shot down when they partake in any historical revisionism that does not line up with the desires of the dominant culture.

Harms:
Historical revisionism erases the actual experiences of women from history, and is used to cover-up the global humanitarian crisis engulfing women around the globe today.

When laws protecting the equality of women (such as the ERA and CEDAW) are not enacted or enforced, women status as full human beings is not maintained. Unprotected women remain in a less-than-human status in society, even when that society professes otherwise.

The current legal structures that legitimize pornography, minimize the penalties for rape and domestic violence, criminalize prostitution while letting johns go, and ignore the global slave trade of women force all women into the Sex Class.

By erasing female heroes from history, society's collective vision is stunted.

If You are a Good Guy:
You will never use "but I never broke any laws" as an excuse to wrongdoing on your part. You will not stand silently alongside sympathetic cops, judges, or juries when you know that the gains that you make through their actions are unfair. You will also fight for the passage of the ERA, CEDAW, and other laws designed to grant women equality as full human beings.

You will also listen and give credence to women's stories and takes on history, even if they are not included in the canon of literature or your history book from high school.

Part 1 - But how can we stand in his way if he's aborted?

Copyright January 2009 by F*ck M*sculinity

They'll Do Anything to Get in the Way of a Feminist

Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas, has been actively blocking Hillary Rodham Clinton's nomination as Secretary of State, citing "concerns" over foreign donations to Bill Clinton's charity foundation, and calling for more transparency. This despite the fact that Bill Clinton had already agreed to limits on foreign donations and full disclosure of all new donors to his private foundation, and regardless of the fact that Hillary already received near-unanimous approval from house Republicans, and has strong support from the majority of Cornyn's fellow Republican senators (including John McCain).

• A die-hard conservative Republican demanding that a private business give unprecedented monthly disclosures to the government?


• A Jack Abramoff co-conspirator and Vegas Casino toadie calling for more accountability?


• A longtime pro-bully pulpit Bush administration crony calling for transparency?

Methinks the douchebag is simply partaking in feminist bashing: the most tried-and-true method [1] for scoring cheap political points in a Patriarchy.


Update: Yup, Cornyn is definitely pandering to the pro-putz demographic by being a-- what's that cutesy term that the media uses to condone white male haters? Right! He's a scrapper!



[1] Of the multitude of minority groups that rulers have scapegoated [2] and oppressed over the millennia, women as a class have endured oppression the longest. Remember the story of Jezebel? The Pandora myth is centuries older, and misogyny goes back even further.
[2] Ironically, confronting actually dangerous minority groups, like Nazis and the KKK, is typically avoided by politicians. Instead, they search for weaker groups that can be easily scapegoated and oppressed in place of the more dangerous ones; such as substituting peace activists for terrorists, or aging communist college professors for Vladimir Putin.




Copyright January 2009 by F*ck M*sculinity

One Hideous Election Sign Gone, One To Go

(Privilege of Having Potential, Part 1)

"1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex."
"2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article."
"3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification."
~The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in its entirety.

First off, let me just say that I am always happy to see the bigots get screwed. (Hey KKK! Once you're done digesting SPLC's latest successful lawsuit against you for beating up a child, get a taste of THIS!) I am also happy to see President Obama [1] shatter yet another barrier of hierarchy around the most powerful job in the world.

And while I am a card-carrying political cynic, in the spirit of the day, I will join the crowd in addressing my blog to the new President: [2]

Dear President Obama, [1]

As you savor your inauguration day, and take in the view from above the color ceiling, please don't forget the other half of humanity. Women, of any color, have never reached that place where you are now. Please stretch a hand behind you and help them climb to the heights that you have reached.

And if you think you are high now, you should see the heights at which the American people have placed you. Many a feminist has already placed an astronomical amount of hope in you:


I wish I could share in their optimism, but already I see things that trouble me.

I see the political gains that women made alongside your own being all but erased by your administration. The election of 2008 was a groundbreaking for both African-Americans and women, yet Hillary Rodham Clinton's White House bio ignores her historic run as the first major-party female candidate for President. Despite her massive campaign debt, Hillary has already dedicated herself to your administration as Secretary of State. Your presidency will not be weakened by acknowledging the existence of Hillary's political capabilities. Give Hillary the dignity of acknowledging her historic run, and promote her as a role model to women who wish to engage in public service at a higher level than wife or canvasser.

With the mantra of change surrounding your presidency, I was dismayed to see the same old (mis)treatment of first ladies in your administration. Michelle Obama, the love of your life, spent the day next to you freezing and in heels, while all of her lifetime accomplishments (save the Patriarchally-acceptable ones of wife and mother) were marginalized [3] on the White House website. Michelle Obama should be allowed shine next to you. You must fight back against the handlers who say that the only place for a first lady is in your shadow. Hillary Rodham Clinton charted a new path for first ladies, and that path should be open to Michelle Obama as well.

Speaking of charting new courses, please call the fashion dogs off of Michelle Obama. The sadistic fashion industry has mandated that women must wear miniskirts and too-small-to-close coats this winter season. You and Michelle Obama must resist this awful fashion 'trend', for the sake of all women and for the sake your daughters. No parent wants to see their children frostbitten [4], so please stop the rabid fashion designers now before they get to Malia and Sasha in a few years.

Despite all that I see, I hope that Ms. Magazine is right: having just broken through your own oppressive ceiling, perhaps you will remember the glass ceiling that still hangs over women. Fortunately, you are in an excellent position to help women right now. The Equal Rights Amendment lies just three states shy of ratification, and it has not yet been ratified by your own state of Illinois. In 2003, the Illinois House (but not the Senate) ratified the ERA. With your leadership, perhaps women can come one state closer to enjoying the same legal rights that you do.

There was a time when women were ridiculed for wanting to ratify the 19th Amendment which guaranteed them the right to vote. Women were stoned, imprisoned in rat-infested jails, and force-fed for going on hunger strikes. It took decades for women to win the right to vote, and only last year did the White House become an actual possibility for a woman.

Sound familiar?

So stretch your hand back, and help the rest of humanity climb with you.


Sincerely,
F.M.

[1] It feels pretty good to say, doesn't it? I wish it was "President Hillary Rhodham Clinton", but "President Obama" is pretty good. And both are orders of magnitude better than, "Mon Feurer Bush".
[2] Being a cynic, of course, I am only addressing President Obama [1] rhetorically. No one from any administration of any importance would bother to read the rantings of a small-time radical feminist blogger. Most politicians in our Grand Ol' Patriarchy won't even take the political risk of being seen next to a feminist. For a politician to associate with a radical feminist is tantamount to political suicide.
[3] Compare Michelle's bio to that of Hillary: Half of Michelle's bio is spent talking about the kids or Michelle's parents. In comparison, Hillary's bio actually talks about Hillary! Her bio spends only one sentence on their fully-grown child, Chelsea. How many sentences in the bios for Bill Clinton or Barak Obama are spent on the kids? One.
[4] I live in Boston, so believe me when I tell you that women are losing skin to the cold in pursuit of "beauty".




Copyright January 2009 by F*ck M*sculinity

Male Privilege #36 - Privilege of Having Potential

In Short:
Men's work is valued. Men are given many more chances than women to be successful, and are praised more when they succeed.


Derived From:
#8 - Privilege to Make the Rules
#11 - Privilege to Define Everything
#15 - Privilege of Unquestioned Majority
#16 - Privilege of Women's Invisibility
#20 - Privilege to Speak
#25 - Privilege of Space
#27 - Only Male Attributes are Valued
#28 - Privilege to Network
#30 - Privilege of Failure
#31 - Praise for Mediocrity
#34 - Privilege of Control
#39 - Privilege of Women's Labor
#42 - Privilege of Career
#64 - Privilege of Mobility


Exclusive to Men Because:
Men are held in much higher regard by their peers, and their work is valued more by society. Thus, they are given many more opportunities to apply their skills and reap the benefits. Women, on the other hand, routinely have their work overlooked, co-opted, or ridiculed, and thus do not have the same chances as men for success.

Jobs in traditionally female fields are typically underpaid and much maligned. Women who work outside of these traditionally female fields are reviled and demonized, while men who work in traditionally female fields are more likely to hold the high-profile, higher paying leadership positions in those fields.


Harms:
Prosperity results in power and security. In denying women prosperity, women become more vulnerable to the violence that society has already directed against them.

Denying women opportunities withholds from them the ability to share fully in the fruits of existence. When you deny women access to part of our shared humanity, you deny women's full humanity.

In denying women the ability to participate fully in society, society is also deprived of the ideas and productivity of billions of human minds.


If You are a Good Guy:
You will recognize, hire, promote, and work with women as often as you do men. If you cannot find enough women who can hold their own in your field, then either your company is intentionally avoiding capable women, or you are in the Army.

You will support all legislation, such as the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the ERA, that attempt to give women the same access to a full and successful life that you have. Since women are still unfairly burdened with the vast majority of child rearing responsibilities, you will support all legislation (such as flex time, paid parental leave, and actually good daycare) that works to alleviate the conflicts between parenting and career. While you are at it, you can also take advantage of said legislation to do your half of the child rearing.

Part 1 - One Hideous Election Sign Gone, One To Go

Copyright January 2009 by F*ck M*sculinity