Real men, real women

Apparently North Carolina has a new provocative billboard:

The NPR story focuses on the issue of gender roles inherent in this billboard. But let's not forget the key word here: Real. North Carolina is leading the country in anti-trans hatred and bigotry. This billboard is a direct FU to trans-individuals.

The saddest part of the short article was the quote from one woman: "And no one has shown how our following patriarchy has hurt society." I just died on the inside.

The Myth of Female Privilege

Here is a great article from Everyday Feminism on the myths of female privilege.

As the author points out, just because something is a disadvantage of being male, doesn't mean that it is automatically a privilege of being female. In fact, the disadvantages males experience come from the same patriarchal forces that give them privilege. And in fact, many of the disadvantages men experience are the result of the narrow constraints of masculinity.

Social Media Bingo

This is awesome! Check out the book: Feminist Activity Book.

There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé

Check out the review of "There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé". This book is definitely worth picking up!

Nope nope nope

There are many sexist products out there in our world, but I think I want to nominate this one to take the top spot.

Mensez is a lipstick that will glue your labia shut while you have your period. Then when you pee, it will unglue and everything will fall clean away into the toilet.

Yes, that's right... GLUE. GLUE your labia together.

Do you want to guess who invented this?? A chiropractor. Not a gynecologist, a chiropractor. And it gets better? No woman would create this product, it was of course created by a man. A man who thinks, "a woman should have come up with a better solution than diapers and plugs, but you didn’t. Reason being women are focused on and distracted by your period 25% of the time, making them far less productive than they could be. Women tend to be far more creative than men, but their periods that [sic] stifle them and play with their heads."

WTF?!?!

Do you want more? He also said in an interview: “It makes more sense than putting the plug up there,” he told Forbes. “We’re using the vagina like a bladder just like tampons do.”

Yes, ladies. Your vagina should function like a bladder. It should hold all of your period blood until you're ready to empty it. Gross.

Periods are a natural bodily function and not gross. This man's ideas are gross. Women have many awesome period options these days that make dealing with menstruation easier. The vagina is not a storage device, it is a passageway. 

If you can stomach it, read more about the product from Bust.com.

Things to Read and Watch

• From last year, Sam Bee talks about the redo of the $20 bill.

• TV's first gender non-binary character!
• Fighting back against anti-abortion legislation with anti-Viagra bills. While these type of bills don't end up getting very far, they help to highlight the ridiculousness of legislating women's bodies.
• A great piece on how "Take Back the Country" just incites violence and hatred.
• Equal pay is bad for families? Maybe equal pay is bad for GOP members in Utah.
• Free tampons in NYC schools, jails, and shelters!

Racism and Infant Mortality

What's Killing America's Black Infants? is a fascinating and distress read. As the author writes:

White, educated American women lose their infants at rates similar to mothers in America’s peer countries. Most of the burden of the higher mortality rate here is borne by poorer, less-educated families, particularly those headed by unmarried or black women. Across the United States, black infants die at a rate that’s more than twice as high as that of white infants. 

What is causing this disparity in outcomes? Why are black infants dying more frequently? The author reviews the common reasons (poor maternal healthcare, poor nutrition, just poverty generally), but finds that the constant stress of racial prejudice and discrimination may be at the root:

Chronic stress raises amounts of cortisone, a hormone that at elevated levels triggers labor. It can also cause an inflammatory response that restricts blood flow to the placenta, stunting infant growth. But it’s not just stress during pregnancy that matters: Health experts now think that stress throughout the span of a woman’s life can prompt biological changes that affect the health of her future children. Stress can disrupt immune, vascular, metabolic, and endocrine systems, and cause cells to age more quickly. 

Some cities are working to decrease infant mortality with a specific focus on black infants. This article, however, reminds us that experiences of discrimination may go well beyond the immediate pain and when repeated throughout one's life may result in negative generational outcomes.

A piece of history...

Ever wonder about consciousness raising? Want to know more about second-wave feminism?

TRYING TO MAKE THE PERSONAL POLITICAL: FEMINISM AND CONSCIOUSNESS-RAISING

This is an update and reprint of the 1975 pamphlet on consciousness raising. This is an important and interesting piece of history that may help as we move forward in fighting for women's rights. The website contains scanned images of the pamphlet as well as links to purchase your own copy.

Book Review: Asking For It

I just finished the novel Asking For It by Louise O'Neill. I came across a recommendation for the book somewhere that eludes me now. The recommendation was strong enough that I ordered the book shortly after adding it to my wishlist. I wish I had read it immediately. It may have made the list of books for our class to read and discuss.

The story takes place in Ireland and follows an teen girl, Emma. The book only gives us a brief window into Emma's life - 4-5 day period when she's 18, and then a year later for 4-5 days. As the title suggests, Emma's life is changed by a night of partying that she can't recall.

Emma in the beginning of the story is not a sympathetic character. She's obsessed with her appearance, treats her friends poorly, and seems entirely self-absorbed. Emma finds value in her looks and ability to attract and seduce boys and men. Stereotypically, she is attracted to the bad boys and the boys that she shouldn't have (her friend's boyfriend), and basically ignores the boy next door who genuinely cares for her. Emma presents an interesting character is discuss and analyze in terms of cultural pressures on women (and especially teens) to be pretty, sexual, and competitive. It is easy to see that Emma has absorbed all of the terrible messages that modern Western society throws at girls.

In the second half of the book, Emma struggles with the aftermath of her rape and failure to remember what happened. In the age of Facebook, social media, and quick spreading internet stories, she becomes an international spectacle eliciting hatred and support from around the globe. The book presents the real struggle that Emma faces in dealing with her shattered life and the shattered lives of her family. The constant doubt, self-hatred, and despair give insight to the experience of rape victims. It underscores why so many victims keep quiet and refuse to acknowledge they've been raped.

The book is a gripping and insightful read. The author keeps the emotions real and raw. O'Neill doesn't sugarcoat the situation and doesn't give the reader a happy ending just for reaching the end of the novel. The book can be an uncomfortable read at times, but well worth it.

Psychology's Noberini Colloquium Event This Week!

As part of the Noberini Colloquium series, the departments of Psychology, Government, History, and Sociology, the International and Peace Studies Programs, the Holocaust, Genocide and Interfaith Education Center, and the School of Liberal Arts, in association with the local non-governmental organization, Mekong NYC, are co-organizing a panel discussion on "Trauma in the Bronx Cambodian-American Community" on Thursday, Feb. 16th from 4-6pm in Kelly Commons 5B. 

The event will focus on the struggles of a refugee population - namely the Cambodian-American community in the Bronx.  Given the attention paid to the United States' refugee policy over the last week or so, we believe this event is perfectly timed so that both Manhattan College students and members of the community can learn more about life as a refugee in this country.  

The event will feature a panel discussion with Joyce Wong, LCSW, coordinator of the Indochinese Mental Health Program at Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY; Khamarin Nhann, campaign coordinator at Mekong NYC, an organization that aims to improve the quality of life of the Southeast Asian community in New York City by achieving equity through community organizing and healing, promoting arts, culture, and language, and improving access to essential social services; and Nuwan Jayawickreme, Ph.D. (i.e., myself), an assistant professor of psychology at Manhattan College whose research focuses on the psychological consequences of war trauma.

More info can be found here.

“She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.”

Who's voice is silenced? Who's allowed to speak? Intersectionality allows us to see more clearly the institutional barriers to equality.

Yesterday, senator Elizabeth Warren attempted to read a letter written in 1986 by Coretta Scott King regarding Jeff Sessions. At the time, Sessions was nominated for federal judgeship. King wrote about Sessions record and stance on race. She wrote that "I believe his confirmation would have a devastating effect on not only the judicial system in Alabama, but also on the progress we have made toward fulfilling my husband’s [Martin Luther King's] dream." Sessions (now a senator) is nominated for the position of attorney general. Warren started to read the letter written by King as additional evidence of Sessions lack of fitness and qualification for the position of attorney general.


As she was reading, Warren was interrupted by senator Mitch McConnell, who accused her of violating rules against speaking poorly about a fellow senator. Warren was rebuked by being silenced for the remainder of the debate on Sessions nomination. A white woman was silenced by white men for giving voice to the words of a black woman. "As writer Broderick Greer tweeted out: “Tonight we saw that folk will go to great lengths to silence black women, even after they’ve died.”" (Valenti, 2017).


Sexism. check!
Racism. check!

Oh, but the story gets worse.

In a show of support, senator Tom Udall read King's letter in its entirety and was not silenced or rebuked. On the one hand, hooray for the letter being read and its words submitted into the official record. On the other hand, what the fuck?!?!

A white man is allowed to do what a white woman is not. The words of a black woman become legitimized and acceptable only when voiced by a white man.

Sexism. check!
Racism. check!
Mansplaining. check! check!

“She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.”

We must persist. We must resist.

#DressLikeAWoman

Women in the Trump administration were advised by their boss to "dress like a woman." While the reports suggest the dress code includes men wearing ties at all times, the code for women seems more vague. What does dress like a woman even mean?

Fortunately the internet was happy to help. There were many great responses to this edict to dress like a woman. My favorite is currently to sport my "nasty woman" t-shirt.

Nails

After all that talk on Friday about nail salons, I decided to get my nails done. 

While quite adorable, this nail technician needs some more practice with her technique. ;)

Event Alert!

Here's an event to check out for your feminist praxis paper.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie will be speaking at Cooper Union and signing her new book on March 7th.

Androgyny

The comic shared on Everyday Feminism is well timed for our class tomorrow and our discussion of gender stereotypes.