I didn’t bother posting links I liked last week (hi, alliteration!) because I figured everyone would be watching the Superbowl and not paying attention. Here are new links I’ve enjoyed.
Red Eye: A Contemporary Feminist Classic? – from Shameless. This blog post is several years old, but I’m re-posting it because I watched Red Eye this weekend. It’s a great thriller and one of the most feminist movies I’ve seen in a long time, and was going to write a review until I found this, which sums up everything I want to say about this exciting, challenging movie.
Radical feminism: What it Is and Why We’re Afraid of It – from The Guardian. Jonathan Dean writes about the prosecutor in the Julian Assange case, who was accused of being a “radical feminist” by a retired judge, and exactly what radical feminism is and why we need it. The article is interesting in of itself, but many of the comments prove why such an article is needed in the first place, as many readers are refusing to Get the Point. “Of course there are women who hate men as a group. Just as there are men who hate all women” – because institutional misogyny and the occasional misandry are totes the same thing, y’all! “I have no problem with feminism seeking equality of gender, but that has been mostly (if not entirely) achieved in this country and most western countries. Feminism is necessary in places where women continue to be oppressed.” – LOLLOLLOL. Oh, wow. Listen, I won’t deny that American and British women, as a whole, are better off than, say, Middle Eastern women or women in countries that support institutional genital mutilation, but saying gender equality has been “mostly (if not entirely) achieved in this country” is like saying that racism doesn’t exit anymore just because we have a black president.
Of Course – from Shakesville. Josh Jasper, director of the Riverview Center, which serves survivors of sexual and domestic violence, created a Superbowl ad that challenged the way we as a culture raise our male children. In response, he’s had a lot of death threats, in addition to more calls for help from survivors. What kind of a world do we live in when a person receives death threats for saying, “Rape is bad and we need to raise our male children differently?” But I thought “everyone” agreed that rape was bad, no?
I Used to be a Pro-Life Republican – from Hay Ladies! A woman describes her conversion from being pro-life to pro-choice. I don’t think everyone who is against abortion is necessarily anti-feminist – in fact, I find that an overly simplistic generalization – but I do strongly believe that the elected officials who keep trying to take our abortion rights away don’t really give a fairy’s fart about babies and are only afraid of female sexuality. That’s why I enjoyed this.
Hello, I Am Fat. A woman writes about the radical notion that she doesn’t have to be ashamed of her body just because she’s fat.
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Hmm, the last link is really interesting, a totally valid issue, and nicely written. I wish I thought the issue on a more nationwide (as opposed to a personal level) were that simple. Obviously, hatefully rhetoric and being shamed are horrible, I just think that the weight issue is tied not just to self image but to a huge national nutrition and eating issue that’s just totally out of control.
Also, I kind of reject the notion that she alludes to that women who are trying to be healthy are in some way denying themselves. Of course, this is just my personal experience, but healthy foods – fruits and veggies and whole grains and stuff? They taste kind of incredibly awesome. And they can make you feel awesome, too.
So my two cents….
I feel conflicted about this issue as well. The people of this nation do NOT approach food in a healthy way. I appreciate the author’s point about positive self-image, and I understand that “thin” does not necessarily mean “healthy,” nor does “fat” necessarily mean “unhealthy.” Some fat people are fat just because they’re fat.
BUT this country is insane with the processed food and sugars.
BUT I know people who are much heavier than I am whose diets are healthier than mine.
It’s a complicated issue.
Yes, it is definitely complicated!
I think the part that I find the most frustrating is the fact that it seems that a lot of people’s future diets, likes/dislikes, etc. are to a certain degree influenced by what they eat when growing up. This is just an observation, and not grounded in anything I’ve read, so perhaps I’m off base about this. But, it seems like it’s easy to feed kids food that is more processed, higher in sugars, etc, b/c it’s “simple” and quick and more innately “appealing” to a kid. And I feel like those types of foods have had a huge impact on childhood obesity – or even on a more mild level, just general food preference – which is then harder to combat when one gets older.
Hmm, not really sure where I’m actually going with that point…just another issue in the long list of nutrition problems that we seem to have in this country. It sucks that so many people have such a weird relationship with food – real food – here; it’s such a great thing!