This Week in Ladybits
Jill Filipovic had a chilling piece on how the “pro life” movement works to stir up murderous impulses.
Quick quiz: Guess what happens when you make it harder and harder for women to get birth control? Unintended pregnancy rates go way up.
And Supreme Court Justice (and all-around bad-ass) Ruth Bader Ginsburg gave an interview at the National Constitution Center and had this to say about Roe v. Wade. I’m glad she’s there, because there is an abortion case heading for the Supreme Court. (Which doesn’t necessarily mean that the Supremes will hear it.) The case centers on how doctors use the abortion pill — and by extension the different, much stricter standards that abortion providers are held to compared to other doctors. ThinkProgress ran a good breakdown of the case.
This Week in Thinky
Bluewater Productions is continuing its Female Force series with a comic about the life of Gloria Steinem. Reembody ran a feature on irresponsible fitspiration photos.
On The Talk, Julie Chen revealed that she had plastic surgery to get around the racist barriers to her career. What do you think of her solution? Were the ends worth it?
This Week in I Am Just Going to Put This Down and Leave it Right Here Without Comment and Then Walk Briskly Away
Meghan McCain has her very own talk show! Here’s a promo in which she and Ana Kasparian“discuss” feminism. Alrighty then.
This Week in Blerg
Hey! The future is here! A whole new world of equality and enlightenment and… Oh, blerg.
The TechCrunch Disrupt startup conference gave stage time to a couple of dudebros with an app called titstare. Nope, not a slang issue.
And Riddick came out this week and I was kind of excited to see it because I am a multidirectional geek about movies and I have a genuine doofusy appreciation for the ones in which stuff blows up, and also because Katee Sackhoff. …But the reviews are out, and a movie set in the freaking we-can-get-to-other-planets future decides to go the lazy route with — you’ll never guess — garden-variety misogyny instead of developing an interesting plot and characters and (yawn) a lead that all the ladies want to bone even though he’s a dick to them. (Check out our own Dara Nai‘s review.)
Here’s the thing, Hollywood dudes and developer dudes: I know a lot of you grew up with Alex P. Keaton or Mel Gibson before anybody realized what a foul pigbeast he is or any of a kazillion action and romantic comedy heroes since then who taught you that sexism is somehow boyishly charming or, god help us all, sexy. Or that it makes you a bad boy — You know all those Super Bowl and Axe commercials that tell you you ought to conform to marketing executives’ expectations and be a naughty, rebellious, makes-his-own-rules bad boy? — who, if he isn’t constantly getting laid from all that sexy sexism, is at least getting those ladies real mad.
And that’s part of the goal, right? Any woman who doesn’t snigger along must be getting so mad and ha, ha, they can’t tell you what to do even though your mom could once, but you are a man now, and the ladies are getting so frustrated with you, which is so gratifying because you are the kind of outspoken freethinker who shows his uniqueness by using the exact same garden-variety sexism that the last 3,000 guys before him did, and you must be effective at something, because those women are just getting furious!
Well here’s the thing, dudes, and I hate to be the one to break it to you, but most women don’t get all that mad about this kind of stuff. I know, I know — that’s disappointing, and maybe not something you’re ready to hear: Whenever I hear or read dudes talking about women’s objections to sexism, there’s always this undercurrent of half-boner glee about how hopping mad those feminists must be getting.
But the truth is, it’s just sort of fatiguing. And it’s not a fighting-the-good-fight sort of tired. More like the kind of tired you get when you have to get up in the morning but you forgot to do laundry and now the dryer won’t muster any heat. The kind of tired you get in heavy freeway traffic when you just want to get home, or when that boomerang project comes back to your desk with yet more stakeholder comments.
I’m sorry, sexist dudebros. I know you would like to think you are charming, hilarious or daring when you do this, but what you are is tedious. Because women see this sexist bullshit — and all the bad-boy posturing around it — in nearly the exact same form you have just decided is so bold and original every single damn day of our lives. It is not enraging, it is tiresome. Just another drop in the bucket of tiresome.
You have every right in the world to have sexist thoughts, bad boys. But if you’re going to spend the money and impose on people’s time by doing it in public, at least stop being so boring about it.
Valleywag, by the way, has been doing some great work on the epidemic sexism and racism in current tech culture.
This Week in Awful
Fix the Family wants you to know why you shouldn’t let your uterus get all confused with book-learning. Not that you should make that decision for yourselves, ladies. Let your dads take care of it. Just take pride of being a thermostat of morality. Also no dancing. And no sports. Maybe consider putting on a modest dress and getting frozen in carbonite like Han Solo. No provocative posing when you do. (Via Jezebel)
The mayor of Osaka, Japan stated that the estimated 200,000 women who were kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery to “comfort” Japanese soldiers during World War II were “necessary” and that the practice was understandable. I don’t even have words. Other politicians in Japan have distanced themselves from the statement.
An eight-year old Yemeni girl died of internal injuries after her wedding night. Her husband is 40. Yemen once had a law that girls had to be 17 to get married, but that was repealed by conservative lawmakers. Gosh, I’m glad we don’t have any backwards hard-right conservatives over here passing laws that hurt women and girls based on narrow interpretations of a religion. Oh, wait.
This Week in Joy
This is just a bit of silliness. This Russian tampon commercial does not get bogged down in party dresses and demonstrations with blue liquid.
Hell yeah, Nancy Pelosi.
Hopefully, when Pres. #Putin says “we must not forget that God created us equal” he includes gays and lesbians in Russia.Iran’s first female triathlete, Shirin Gerami, will race in the World Triathlon Final in London.– Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) September 12, 2013
Are you in the mood for Belle with pants on? How could you not be? (Via The Mary Sue) Remember that mom who wrote an open to letter to teenage girls that she considered slutty on Facebook? Awesome teenager Tuesday Cain has a terrific response. I hope Ms. Cain keeps up with her writing and general bad-assery.
Have a great weekend! Get out there and speak your own mind.
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