By Ann • 16 years ago

Day of Red

Today people around the country are wearing red to protest violence against women of color.
Aishah Shahidah Simmons on why she’s wearing red, and on an upcoming action:

I am wearing red because I am a survivor of incest and rape.
I am wearing red because I live in a City (Philadelphia) where a White Woman Judge Terri Carr Deni dropped all rape and assault charges in the case of a woman gang-raped at gunpoint. Because the woman was working as a prostitute, Judge Deni decided that she could not have been raped and changed the charge to “theft of services.� Deni later said that this case “minimizes true rape cases and demeans women who are really raped.�
On ...

Today people around the country are wearing red to protest violence against women of color.
Aishah Shahidah Simmons on why she’s wearing red, and on an upcoming action:

I am wearing red because I am a ...
By Jessica • 16 years ago

Vaginas are the new black (so long as you don’t call them ‘vaginas’)


The New York Times Style section had a cover story (!) this weekend on the term “vajayjay.” For reals.
I’m glad that the lack of non-sexist euphemisms for women’s genitals is being discussed, and I actually find ‘vajayjay’ kinda endearing. Though I’ve also been a fan of ‘vag’ for a while. (For example, when at a male-dominated party a couple of years back, me and all my girlfriends dubbed ourselves “Team Vag” for the ensuing beer pong games.)
So…what’s your favorite vagina-related pet name?

The New York Times Style section had a cover story (!) this weekend on the term “vajayjay.” For reals.
I’m glad that the lack of non-sexist euphemisms for women’s genitals is being discussed, and ...
By Jessica • 16 years ago

Horrifying report of the day

A report by the Gender Violence Recovery Centre (GVRC) in Kenya says that more than 600 women in the country are raped daily.

The report…indicates that the youngest rape survivor is five-months-old while the oldest is 86.
The statistics, which have been compiled in hospitals and community-based organisations where the victims go for treatment and counselling, approximate that there are at least 16,482 rape cases every year.
Reported cases of assault and battery in the country have also increased from 6,255 to 9,169 while a third of adolescent girls’ first sexual experience is coerced, Health Policy Initiative Kenya adds.

I feel ill. For more information on sexual assault in Kenya, click here.

A report by the Gender Violence Recovery Centre (GVRC) in Kenya says that more than 600 women in the country are raped daily.

The report…indicates that the youngest rape survivor is five-months-old while the oldest is ...
By Jessica • 16 years ago

A Feministing Contest!


Louise Sloan and her publisher have very generously donated five books to Feministing to give away to our readers. Fun!
To make things interesting, the first five people to email me with the correct answers to all three Feministing trivia questions will win a copy of Knock Yourself Up: A Tell-All Guide to Becoming a Single Mom:
What was the first feminist organization that we wrote about on the site?
How do Samhita and I know each other?
Name the two one of the co-founders of Feministing who no longer write for us…
Happy answering!


Louise Sloan and her publisher have very generously donated five books to Feministing to give away to our readers. Fun!
To make things interesting, the first five people to email me with the ...
By Jessica • 16 years ago

Happy Halloween!

Despite the creepy “Slut-o-ween” nastiness and costume racism, Halloween can be a good time. I mean hey, free candy right?
So, let’s celebrate: What’s the best costume you ever had? Mine was this great ballerina get-up my mom put together for me when I was in pre-school that I would later puke all over. Sicked-up-on tutus are some funny shit.

Despite the creepy “Slut-o-ween” nastiness and costume racism, Halloween can be a good time. I mean hey, free candy right?
So, let’s celebrate: What’s the best costume you ever had? Mine was this ...
By Samhita • 16 years ago

Can you even the score on housework?

I find the question of who keeps the house clean a fascinating one. Maybe because I am a total slob and I pretty much don’t know anyone my age that is married and stays at home or has the time to do most of the cleaning in the house. But there are couples that do, right? They have kids, they both work and the bulk of housework still falls on the shoulders of women. Obviously, this plays out really different based on your class background or the type of relationship you are in, but consistently, both in my experience, the experience of my peers and others, the majority of house work falls on the shoulders of women. It is the ...

I find the question of who keeps the house clean a fascinating one. Maybe because I am a total slob and I pretty much don’t know anyone my age that is married and stays at home or ...
By Samhita • 16 years ago

Isn’t Barbie scary enough whole?

Let alone dismembered and made into fashion accessories.

Ok, now repeat after me. Dismembered women’s body parts are not funny, or ironic, classy or a message for recycling (as in this case). They are gross and a reminder that women are continually objectified in compartmentalized ways, where they are judged for a piece or section of their body, not for the total being they are. Dismembered women’s body parts are so part of everyday life, you almost have to remind yourself that it is totally fucked up.
I guess, I would like this more if it was done in a way that highlights how scary dismembered women are, a different type of art. Not trying to make something pretty, ...

Let alone dismembered and made into fashion accessories.

Ok, now repeat after me. Dismembered women’s body parts are not funny, or ironic, classy or a message for recycling (as in this case). They are gross and ...

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