2010 August Archive | Feministing

Marry a man, man

As you may know, my homeland of Australia (from which I am thrilled to be writing this very blog post!) had an election over the weekend. It ended in a hung parliament, since neither party won enough seats to claim a majority. This has left us all feeling rather confused and annoyed, and hopefully it will be resolved soon. But to be honest, no matter who ends up on top, I’ll be disappointed, because both parties have made it clear that they will not support marriage equality for Australians (also because, according to Women on Boards, the percentage of women in this new parliament will be 24%, down four percent from before the election). On the issue of marriage ...

By Courtney • 13 years ago

Rockin’ out for the girls

I don’t know if you’ve heard the news, but a couple of weeks ago, I officially became a rock star. That’s right–little ol’ blogging, no musical skills having me joined a bonafide band, wrote an original song, and sang my ass off in front of a crowd at the Knitting Factory in super hip Williamsburg.

This is the Willie Mae Rock Camp experience. You enter a mortal and leave a bad ass.

The Camp’s mission is actually focused on empowering girls to rock out, but they do two camps for adult women every year as a fundraiser for scholarships for the little rockers. After a week of disappointing work stuff, I jumped on board last minute to take my place as ...

By Courtney • 13 years ago

What We Missed

Um, do we believe this? ABC News is reporting that 1 in 4 men travels with a stuffed animal.

CNN reports: Dozens of schoolgirls and teachers were sickened Wednesday by poison gas in Afghanistan, medical and government officials said.

Alaska became the 35th state to require some kind of parental notification or consent for a minor to obtain an abortion.

Please tell me Barbara Walters can’t find a male-version of Elizabeth Hasselbeck.

The New York Times on women tennis badassery.

Um, do we believe this? ABC News is reporting that 1 in 4 men travels with a stuffed animal.

CNN reports: Dozens of schoolgirls and teachers were sickened Wednesday by poison gas in Afghanistan, medical ...

By Chloe Angyal • 13 years ago

And by “student,” we mean “conventionally beautiful woman”

Sydney radio station Nova 96.9 is holding a contest to find, “Sydney’s hottest university student,” its radio ad informs me. Awesome, a mixed-gender beauty pageant, I think to myself. How very progressive!
Silly Chloe.

By Chloe Angyal • 13 years ago

Quick hit: Do you have a penis? You are not allowed to drink this delicious beverage.

At Sociological Images, Lisa takes a look at a man’s guide to which certain drinks (actually, all drinks except beer and scotch with ice) are unacceptable for them to drink in public.

File this under “patriarchy hurts men too,” because whatever this whipped cream garnished drink is, it looks delicious.

At Sociological Images, Lisa takes a look at a man’s guide to which certain drinks (actually, all drinks except beer and scotch with ice) are unacceptable for them to drink in public.

File this under “patriarchy hurts ...

By Courtney • 13 years ago

Feminist mothering advice

I have a bunch of amazing friends getting pregnant and giving birth these days (Jess!). I’ve never been a mother, so I feel at a bit of a loss of how to support my friends as they embark on this new stage, so I decided to ask a group of my favorite feminist moms the following question: What is the one thing no one ever told you about mothering that you wish they had?

Here are just a few of the awesome answers I received:

That you have an excuse to reprise the daily dance contests you had as a child (Beat It!) and get to watch Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Goonies again.

I wish I had done this: In advance of ...

I have a bunch of amazing friends getting pregnant and giving birth these days (Jess!). I’ve never been a mother, so I feel at a bit of a loss of how to support my friends as they ...

By Chloe Angyal • 13 years ago

Fear Factor: Mansplaining edition

So, I’m dating a feminist. It’s a relatively new experience for me; I’ve dated guys who were “not feminists, but” and guys who called themselves feminists but who, when push came to shove, had pretty traditional beliefs about gender. This is the first time I’ve dated a feminist who rightly calls himself one, and who actually thinks – worries, even – about how to be a better feminist. His greatest worry? Mansplaining.

He loves to talk and debate and think aloud about how issues and ideas are interconnected. But he is really afraid that one of these days, as he is talking or debating or thinking aloud, he is going to accidentally mansplain and be called out on it and ...

By Courtney • 13 years ago

Will Bangladesh acknowledge its rape history?

The NYT reports: “As the 40th anniversary of the 1971 war approaches, the Bangladeshi government has set up an International Crimes Tribunal to investigate the atrocities of that era. But human rights advocates and lawyers fear that the mass rapes and killings of women will not be adequately addressed.”

This particular site and time of rape being used rampantly as a war crime was first brought to many Western feminists’ attention through Susan Brownmiller’s 1975 book Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape, in which she wrote that 200,000 women–at the least–and more likely up to 400,000 women had been raped during the 1971 war.

There are many events planned for the 40th anniversary commemoration, but it’s still unclear if ...