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By katiechaos • 13 years ago

Breaking News!

Trigger Warning
Breaking News! I’ve been reading about the story of Susan Falls (Australia) over the last few weeks. Susan Falls was standing trial for killing her husband. She pleaded not guilty to the charges (murder, manslaughter) she was facing. Tonight I found out she got off. This is an incredible outcome as Susan was a victim of extreme violence for many, many years. Her defense was basically that the murder was self defense to the domestic violence she had experienced in her relationship with her husband. I was really worried and interested in watching this court case unfold. Generally, women who kill their abusers often get much higher sentences (and public shame and outcry) than abusive men who kill their partners. I believe the main reason for this is that when an abused woman kills her abuser she often has to plan to do this. In a relationship marked by fear, physical inferiority or other power differentials the partner who is ‘weaker’ and feels that they have no other way out of the relationship HAS to plan something like this. The control and abuse in the relationship means that it’s got to a stage where it’s me or my partner. Abusive partners however claim that it happened ‘in the heat of the moment’, that ‘things got out of control’ without people considering the systematic abuse, threats and potential murder attempts ...
By katiechaos • 13 years ago

My haircut and self shame

I love getting my hair cut in funky shapes with different lengths, weird angles, bright colours and asymmetrical fringes. My hairdresser and I like to experiment and see what artistic stuff we can do. However, I’ve always been conscious of keeping my hair length below my ears.
Yesterday, I was looking at the hair cuts of some of the very cool hairdressers at the salon and thought to myself how I’d love to try a gorgeous pixie cut or something short and stylised but that I’m too fat/ugly to carry it off. I was incredibly, shocked and disgusted at myself for thinking this. The thought seemed to come out of nowhere and isn’t something I’ve consciously ...

I love getting my hair cut in funky shapes with different lengths, weird angles, bright colours and asymmetrical fringes. My hairdresser and I like to experiment and see what artistic stuff we can do. However, ...
By katiechaos • 14 years ago

Community Leadership Program and Valuing ‘Women’s Work’

I was very excited to have recently been accepted into a Community Leadership Program in my local area. We had our first session this week and I really enjoyed hearing what other people had to say and learning about ‘leadership’. The material covered was great and really interesting. The group was fairly diverse in terms of ages and backgrounds (not cultural background though). Out of the 17 participants, 15 were women and 2 were men. I was quite surprised by this as traditionally leadership has been seen as a man’s role. I was talking with the facilitator after the first session about this observation and I asked about his other workshops. He said ...

I was very excited to have recently been accepted into a Community Leadership Program in my local area. We had our first session this week and I really enjoyed hearing what other people had to say ...
By katiechaos • 14 years ago

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo MOVIE EDITION

*SPOILER WARNING* *TRIGGER WARNING*
I’ve been on a bit of a winning streak lately and I won tickets to see a preview session of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I was really excited as I read the book and quite enjoyed it. I know the book has been debated particularly around the intent of the graphic violence in the book. I thought I’d write my thoughts on the movie and I’d love to hear what you thought about the movie too!
The violence on the screen wasn’t glamorous, funny or entertaining. It was gritty, confronting and disturbing. I felt really uncomfortable watching it – so much so that I looked away. I noticed ...

*SPOILER WARNING* *TRIGGER WARNING*
I’ve been on a bit of a winning streak lately and I won tickets to see a preview session of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I was really excited as I ...
By katiechaos • 14 years ago

Questions about Aspergers and Domestic Violence

This could be a long post as I have a fair to say/ask about this topic so you may want to get a cup of tea. If you read through it I’ll write a funny story at the end of the post about how awesome my little brother is. Firstly, I come from a family of 6 where 50% of the family (3 people) have some degree of aspergers. My youngest brother is the most obvious, but another of my brothers and my dad also have signs of mild aspergers. If you aren’t too sure about Aspergers, take a look at the Wikipedia site Aspergers Syndrome for a good overview.
In the last year, my mum ...

This could be a long post as I have a fair to say/ask about this topic so you may want to get a cup of tea. If you read through it I’ll write a funny story at ...
By katiechaos • 14 years ago

Standing up to a creepy uncle

I’m feeling a weird mixture of accomplishment, anger and pride. I’ve always had feminist ideas, but only recently realised that my beliefs and values were based on feminism. Over the past year I’ve been reading and educating myself further and learning why I thought things were right/wrong/confusing etc. One of the common things that seems to be underlying many issues is power and the way the party with the power uses or abuses that power (regardless of whether the holding of that power is real, perceived, just or unjust).
I can see through my own socialisation that I’ve had values and perceptions of power, eg. who could have power of me and what was acceptable, from birth. ...

I’m feeling a weird mixture of accomplishment, anger and pride. I’ve always had feminist ideas, but only recently realised that my beliefs and values were based on feminism. Over the past year I’ve been reading ...