4 posts tagged “feminism”

This article is great for many reasons:

I'm not going to say who's playing top or bottom in that statement, but feminism and porn have been like Crisco and condoms for decades, and feminist positions (ahem) on porn are diverse. They often boil down to the notions that porn is degrading to women, abusive, encourages rape and violence against women, and reinforces sexual domination, coercion and humiliation of women. ... Except for all the cool-headed women currently identifying as feminist and doing sex work and loving porn, like Young, Nina Hartley (nina.com), Carol Queen, Susie Bright (susiebright.blogs.com/), all the women behind Spread magazine, plus oodles more.

...The whole notion that a girl can get off watching porn, be in it, make it, and view sex work as positive — and be feminist — remains confusing for many. Women like Young have their politics about women and sex down pat; meanwhile ever-increasing thousands of women watch and enjoy all kinds of porn for personal gratification. Not because their boyfriends read an article in Maxim that gave them 10 easy steps to convince her to watch "I've Never Done This Before No. 48." Because women get off on explicit sexual imagery, and there's not only data and studies to back that statement, but hoards of girls with vibrators in one hand and a mouse in the other voting with each click on RedTube.com or Fleshbot.com. The privacy of the Internet has changed how we women enjoy and consume our sex toys — and porn is one of those toys, thank you very much. And we totally know who we're exploiting when we watch gay male porn. Um, the gay male feminists, of course.

...Let's not forget: Most mainstream porn is generally racist and sexist; it's full of sex acts people don't actually do when they really get off, and crazy-unsafe behavior. It's supposed to be fantasy, but much of mainstream porn plays on viewer's assumptions that sex is bad and shameful — the male "raincoater" slinking into porn stores is actually, sadly, the target consumer for mainstream porn. The attitudes are prevalent, but just as dated as Jay Leno making fun of gay people.

Seeing these porno-geezers headed to die off like the dinosaurs and the DVD, the Feminist Porn Awards wanted to participate in the growing popularity of sex-positive, non-formula porn. ... But "sex-positive" and "feminist" are catchphrases that might make it seem like a shy, soft-focus film fest. Quite the opposite, ma'am: Take one look at edgy, hardcore winners like "Bondage Boob Tube," local dyke and trans flick "In Search of the Wild Kingdom" and mainstream winners like Vivid Video's "Jenna Jameson is the Masseuse" and Tristan Taormino's "Chemistry" (also Vivid Video), and it's a range of diversity in sex acts from the extreme to the whimsical, explicit and sublime.

Death of the father: British scientists discover how to turn women's bone marrow into sperm
By FIONA MACRAE - More by this author » Last updated at 09:28am on 31st January 2008

British scientists are ready to turn female bone marrow into sperm, cutting men out of the process of creating life.

The breakthrough paves the way for lesbian couples to have children that are biologically their own.

Gay men could follow suit by using the technique to make eggs from male bone marrow.

Researchers at Newcastle upon Tyne University say their technique will help lead to new treatments for infertility.

But critics warn that it sidelines men and raises the prospect of babies being born through entirely artificial means.

The research centres around stem cells - the body's 'mother' cells which can turn into any other type of cell. 

Source

For those of you unfamiliar, Eliza Skinner is the comedian who created the recently popular internet video Amy at the Club.

To make it perfectly clear, I have not yet personally endorsed any candidate yet for the 2008 presidential election. The only candidate that I feel speaks my views is Mike Gravel, but he is the absolute least popular contender for the Democratic nomination. Being a Democrat myself, I've been trying to figure out whom I'd rather have in office -- Barak or Hillary -- but haven't devoted myself to either yet. I find it exciting that the top two contenders for the nom represent minority demographics that many people believe will never hold office in the United States. I find it even more interesting that, although black men constantly portrayed by the media as gang members and uneducated lowlifes, Obama undoubtedly gets the better press over Clinton.

Why do people hate Hillary so much? I've been trying to wrap my brain around it for months now, and, despite her supposed flaws, I have to believe that the bad press is 90% due to the media and society's interpretations of  something, not purely policy.

In a recent speech, Obama mentioned something that I think might contribute a lot to the media's distrust of Hillary: "I know it is tempting — after another presidency by a man named George Bush — to simply turn back the clock, and to build a bridge back to the 20th century,"

But perhaps this is exactly it. It's no debate that G. W. is unpopular, and it's not much of a question of whether or not he would have a career in politics were it not for daddy. And now that Obama mentions it, Hillary is much in the same position. Although she had a career and aspirations separate from her husband's (in fact, that is how they met), I also have little question as to whether or not she would have become senator were she not first First Lady. Much like Bush, her popularity without a doubt hinges on someone else's career.

Would she have accomplished much without her marriage to provide her with such connections? Who knows. But the point is that she definitely, undoubtedly has a career today because of it.

Maybe the idea of the family dynasty is what is subconsciously playing into many Democrats' lack of support for Hillary. After all, seeing as how our current president is in office largely due to his father, it doesn't seem out-of-line to question someone's experience if a former president is legally related to them.

But Bush still got into office with not nearly as much bad press as Hillary. I don't think it's unfair to cite sexism as a contributed to Hillary's poor media image. Women who pursue high positions are often dismissed as bitchy and power-hungry, and you'd have to be kidding if you said the negative media surrounding Hillary wasn't making her out to be just that.

But there is opposition to this: Well, if the media is being blatantly sexist, where's the racism against Obama?

This is where my point comes in -- perhaps Hillary is more succeptible to being labeled as power-hungry because of the similarity between the Bush dynasty and the Clinton dynasty. Both let two terms pass before the family re-entered the presidential scene. It's also easy to call a woman power-hungry when she's running for office as the wife of a former very successful president.

Would I vote for Hillary? I have no idea. I'm merely trying to differentiate bad press from sexist press and still waiting for Obama to say something to make me believe he has the experience necessary for being a president. The fact is, I like neither Clinton nor Obama, and am greatly disheartened to learn that the other, safer looking hopefuls Kucinich and Edwards have both dropped out. My lack of certainty with either of the candidates has led me to even start considering those on the Republican bench -- McCain has some solid ideas, I hear.

Since Michigan fucked itself out of the primaries, I didn't vote, and now I suppose I resign for the rest of the public to make the decision for me. Hopefully I'll have waded through this all by election day.