Posts Written by goddessjaz
By goddessjaz • 12 years ago

Resisting violence and practicing what we preach

As I was leaving “Preventing Violence, Promoting Justice,” the first ever summit organized by Sakhi for South Asian Women (an anti-domestic violence organization based in New York City that focuses on South Asian communities), I witnessed a young couple (both were people of color) arguing in the street. The young man was in the woman’s face aggressively yelling and cussing at her. This was not a mere lover’s quarrel. I remember what that’s like and my body tensed. The day’s discussions about structural oppression, supporting abuse survivors, and detaching from outcomes flashed through my mind as I figured out how to respond.

I stood back and watched the couple’s interaction, and looked around at passersby who would stare but kept walking. Though I wanted to ask the sister if she was okay, I was afraid…and then I felt ashamed for being scared. It’s New York City and people are unpredictable. I’m 5’3 and not very large in stature but I started to size up the dude to see if I could take him just in case something popped off (I swear I’m 6’2 and 250 lbs in my head). I only saw another man of color stop and watch; we locked eyes in an eerie unspoken solidarity.
By goddessjaz • 12 years ago

Jay-Z’s undercover feminism

Let me confess: I talk hella shit about Jay-Z. Not because I don’t respect his long career and enjoy his music (I genuinely do) but because it seems everyone, especially in New York, is a Jiggaman “Stan” and sometimes I like to be contrary. Folks love his swagger arrogance and egoism, and even though it gets on my nerves I can’t knock his hustle. However, Jay-Z is letting us see some of his hidden feminist stripes.

First, Jay (and even cray Kanye too) won me over with the track “New Day” from Watch The Throne in which they ponder what life will/would be like raising sons. Hearing two hip-hop heavyweights talk about their real anxieties and worries about fatherhood, and ...

Let me confess: I talk hella shit about Jay-Z. Not because I don’t respect his long career and enjoy his music (I genuinely do) but because it seems everyone, especially in New York, is a Jiggaman “Stan” ...
By goddessjaz • 13 years ago

Sex-obsessed Super Bowl

Super Bowl XLV is going down this Sunday, the sporting event of the year in which the majority of the nation comes together to overindulge in fried foods, and other artery-clogging snacks and dips, and drink beer while watching the best in the NFL battle it out for football supremacy (at least until September when the new season starts). I’m not mad at this at all; I enjoy good ol’ fashioned sports rivalry and copious amounts of onion dip.

However, the Super Bowl is as synonymous with overindulgence of food as it is with the overindulgence of sex. There’s the annual Lingerie Bowl, the salacious sexist GoDaddy ads, repeated uproar over sex-trafficking for players and tourists, and even now there ...

Super Bowl XLV is going down this Sunday, the sporting event of the year in which the majority of the nation comes together to overindulge in fried foods, and other artery-clogging snacks and dips, and drink beer ...
By goddessjaz • 13 years ago

Social Media and the End of Gender?

In my other life, I work as a social media consultant and spend ridiculous amounts of time consuming information about how social media transforms the way we communicate with others. It’s undeniably a powerful tool, has become one of our international grassroots eyes and ears (see: Egypt and Iran) and allows many of us to find new friends around the corner.

So I was pretty psyched to see this TED talk by media researcher and expert, Johanna Blakley, about the end of gender and social media. While I think she makes idealistic points, I’m not convinced by her argument that social media currently signifies (or will in the future) the irrelevance of gender in online spaces.

In my other life, I work as a social media consultant and spend ridiculous amounts of time consuming information about how social media transforms the way we communicate with others. It’s undeniably a powerful tool, has become ...
By goddessjaz • 13 years ago

What do second graders know about oral sex?

Parents and community members in Oakland, California are outraged about two incidents in the same elementary school classroom in which second graders ran around partially disrobed and two students performed oral sex on each other.

The story came to light when one of the second-grade students reported the incident. The district spokesman, Troy Flint, says that they think this event “evolved from curiosity.” Okay, kids are definitely curious about their bodies, but how do these children know about oral sex? This story challenges my ideas about children and sexuality. I think children should not be shamed for exploration because it’s natural for kids to experiment with their bodies and with their peers. However there is a fine line between natural ...

Parents and community members in Oakland, California are outraged about two incidents in the same elementary school classroom in which second graders ran around partially disrobed and two students performed oral sex on each other.

The story came ...
By goddessjaz • 13 years ago

Rockin’ Out for Roe in New York

Saturday, January 22 marked the 38th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court case, Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in the United States. As this new Congress aims to steadily chip away at women’s legal rights to choice and to access all of their reproductive health options, it will take a community of concerned citizens to ensure that that women can safely make informed decisions about their bodies and their future.

To celebrate the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Feministing joined the New York Abortion Access Fund (NYAAF) for a fundraiser and social bringing together our pro-choice friends and supporters from around the tri-state area. The event was hosted by awesome ladies: feminist activist Shelby Knox and ...

Saturday, January 22 marked the 38th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court case, Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in the United States. As this new Congress aims to steadily chip away at women’s legal ...
By goddessjaz • 13 years ago

Glenn Beck Promotes Compassion?

Representative Gabrielle Giffords is incredible; she is supposed to be released from the hospital on Friday, less than 2 weeks after suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. Then she is going to Houston’s Institute for Rehabilitation and Research at Memorial Hermann hospital which specializes in brain injuries to continue to heal.

As time passes and the media mania slows down around the Tucson shootings, we are still left with this idea of “civility” in political discourse which reminds of the whole “post-racial America” that we are supposed to be experiencing in the age of Obama (more theory than practice). In this sense we are stuck with those who cant admit their own part in violent discourse. We ...

Representative Gabrielle Giffords is incredible; she is supposed to be released from the hospital on Friday, less than 2 weeks after suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. Then she is going to Houston’s ...
By goddessjaz • 13 years ago

Today’s Health Care Battle in Congress Directly Affects Women’s Health

Today in Congress the GOP is working overtime to repeal health care reform policies that directly impact women. The “Affordable Care Act” creates jobs, provides affordable services to millions of women currently without care, and lowers service costs to the consumer. Seems like a no-brainer, those are good things, right?

Apparently not to the Republicans . The House and Senate are set to vote today, and while the repeal is expected to go through in the Republican majority House, the Democratic Senate majority has pledged to block it.

Health care reform as it stands has a lot of direct and concrete benefits for women and young people. For one, it allows people to stay on their parent’s health insurance up to age ...

Today in Congress the GOP is working overtime to repeal health care reform policies that directly impact women. The “Affordable Care Act” creates jobs, provides affordable services to millions of women currently without care, and lowers service ...

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