Miscellaneous

Farewell, Advocate

Posted on August 28, 2009
I'm not generally one to glorify people after they have died. I think that we have this odd tendency to deify famous deceased human beings. Besides, if I had my way, we would all show more appreciation for each other when we're here, as opposed to when we're not...

Reading, Writing, and Male Privilege

Posted on August 27, 2009
When I read fiction for pleasure, I tend to read fiction written by female authors. This isn't a conscious thing. It is just, I suppose, my preference. I spent decades of my life, in school, reading books written by men and, well, now I know what I like...

Odds 'N Ends

Posted on August 26, 2009
1) Cultural MisogynyI was pleased to read this opinion piece in The New York Times. In it, Bob Herbert discusses George Sodini's recent murderous rampage in the context of a larger society that encourages the hatred of women. He writes:"We have become so accustomed to living in a society saturated with misogyny that the barbaric treatment of women and girls has come to be more or less expected...

Story Review: The Matter of Seggrei

Posted on August 25, 2009
In reading fiction, I have been on a bit of an Ursula Le Guin kick as of late. I have always appreciated science fiction and fantasy writing, and what I particularly like about her stories are her creative explorations of gender, sex, and sexuality. (I previously wrote about her novel The Left Hand of Darkness, here, about the planet Gethen, whose inhabitants are androgynous beings)...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

On Male and Female, Again

Posted on August 24, 2009
Perhaps you've read about about South African runner Caster Semenya. To summarize, Semenya is an 18-year-old woman who recently won a gold medal in a race at the World Championships in Berlin. Almost immediately after she won, other contestants began questioning her biological sex, some of them even outright calling her "a man...

Newsflash: Disliking Rape Jokes = Hating Men!

Posted on August 21, 2009
The other day, a commenter here, Sarah, relayed her experience of requesting someone in another internet forum to stop gratuitously throwing around the word "rape." Some people, you see, overuse the word "rape" to refer to all sorts circumstances that don't actually involve sexual assault...

Department of Justice Files Another DOMA Brief

Posted on August 20, 2009
Earlier this week, the Obama Department of Justice (DOJ) filed another brief in the case that is challenging the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the law that prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages for purposes of federal benefits, protections, and privileges...

Human Rights Watch Report Documents Violence Against Gay Men in Iraq

Posted on August 19, 2009
The Human Rights Watch has issued a report on the murder and torture of gay men in Iraq. Within this report are graphic descriptions of horrific violence. To sum it up, for at least the past 5 years several militias have been "exterminating" men who have sex with other men, men who are believed to have sex with other men, or men who are insufficiently "masculine...

A Pharmacy For Womyn- Just In Time For Michfest!

Posted on August 18, 2009
A women's pharmacy in Vancouver has a woman-born-woman policy that excludes transgender women. Many bloggers have been writing about this, so I will link to Questioning Transphobia, which provides a fairly comprehensive roundup of summaries and reactions around the web...

Odds 'N Ends

Posted on August 17, 2009
1. Feminists Like Men More than Non-Feminists DoNo matter how untrue, some memes never die. I'm referring to, of course, asinine stereotypes about feminists. Anti-feminists like to perpetuate the idea that all feminists are ugly, man-hating, lesbian bull-dykes...

Visit to the Creation "Museum"

Posted on August 14, 2009
As someone who will perhaps forever be intrigued by reality-deniers, I would love, love, love to visit the Creation Museum. This "Museum," according to Wikipedia (you can easily find its website via the Google if you so wish), "presents an account of the origins of the universe, life, mankind, and man's early history according to a literal reading of the Book of Genesis...

Odds 'N Ends

Posted on August 12, 2009
1) Frenetic Swine Flu Article of the WeekFrom the current Time magazine, in big, bold type that takes up half of an entire page in the print version (the online version I've linked to is different):"More than 2 billion people worldwide could get it. Hundreds of schools may shut down...

Book Review: The Gospel of Inclusion

Posted on August 12, 2009
I first heard about Bishop Carlton Pearson on a This American Life segment entitled "Heretics." Within this segment, Pearson, a former Pentecostal Bishop, recounted his moving experience of coming to the "heretical" (to Pentecostals anyway) conclusions that (a) Hell does not exist and (b) all people are saved, even those who are not Christians...

(Not So) Breaking News: Some Dudez Really Do Hate Women!

Posted on August 10, 2009
Perhaps you've heard by now that last week a man, George Sodini, walked into a gym, opened fire on an aerobics class, murdered 3 women, and injured 9 before killing himself. Because of rants in his online diary and other evidence, police believe that he hated women and was targeting them specifically...

A Long Way to Go, Part II

Posted on August 07, 2009
This post is a continuation of yesterday's post examining how some of those with very strong negative opinions about LGBT people demonstrate an ignorance of the other side's arguments, an inability to concede that the other side has good reasons of its own for believing what it believes, and how so few anti-gay individuals condemn the overt anti-gay animus of those on their own side...

A Long Way To Go, Part I

Posted on August 06, 2009
In perusing some anti-gay blogs recently, I was reminded as to why I so often find the marriage equality debate to be tiresome. Namely, I have encountered so many people who hold very strong negative opinions about LGBT people and who also demonstrate an utter ignorance of the other side's arguments, an inability to concede that the other side has good reasons of its own for believing what it believes, an unwillingness to engage in dialogue, an inability to engage in dialogue without acting like a petty paranoid psychopath, and the failure to condemn or even acknowledge the overt anti-gay animus of those on their own side...

APA Says Reparative Therapy Unlike to Work, Anti-Gays Fail to Care

Posted on August 06, 2009
The American Psychological Association (APA), recently issued a report entitled "Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation," (PDF) which is a "systematic review of the peer-reviewed journal literature on sexual orientation change efforts...

American Bar Association Opposes (Part of) the Defense of Marriage Act

Posted on August 05, 2009
The American Bar Association House of Delegates recently passed a resolution calling for the repeal of Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Section 3 prohibits same-sex couples who have legal marriages under state law from receiving any of the federal benefits of marriage...

Odds 'N Ends

Posted on August 04, 2009
1) Why I'm a "Socialist"An awesome take on our wonderful private health care system2) Women Get Aroused Sometimes Too!Oh my gawdess, you guys, women have sexual desires too! My favorite part of this article from CNN regarding the Surprisingly High numbers of women who enjoy porn was this:"Even more compelling were the results of a 2004 study at Northwestern University that also assessed the effect of porn on genital arousal...

WNBA: Still Scared of the Lavendar Menace?

Posted on August 03, 2009
WNBA team Washington Mystics have refused to allow a KissCam. For those not familiar with this bizarre sports-watching practice, the KissCam is a Jumbotron screen that scans the audience in search of couples that the crowd then encourages to kiss. Responding to why the Mystics do not have this feature at home games, managing partner Sheila Johnson answered: "We got a lot of kids here...

Odds 'N Ends

Posted on July 31, 2009
1. "The area from which you pass urine" is not a medical termVia Feminist Law Professors, Ann Bartow posted amusing(ly annoying) real-life photos of male and female versions of instructions on how to collect urine samples. Bartow notes the contrasts in the directions to women versus the instructions to men...

Superstars and Sexual Assault

Posted on July 30, 2009
Back when football star Michael Vick was all over the news for his involvement in an illegal dogfighting operation, I had a conversation with a male friend about the preponderance of media coverage of this crime and the outrage that many sports fans were expressing...

Explaining Traditional Marriage

Posted on July 29, 2009
"America's Best Christian" Betty Bowers provides a funny look at Traditional Marriage as observed in the Bible. While I'm sure some Christians will look at this video as yet further proof as to how Everybody Is Mean To Them, I don't think they should overlook the overarching message of the video...

Ohio Bill 252: No Abortion For Sluts?

Posted on July 28, 2009
Ohio Representative John Adams has introduced House Bill 252 in the state of Ohio. To summarize this bill, it requires all pregnant women seeking abortions to identify, in writing, the father of the fetus. It then prohibits abortions, whether the fetus is viable or not, that do not have the written, informed consent of the father of the fetus...

In Which Carrie Prejean Somehow Finds the Courage To Go On Living

Posted on July 27, 2009
For good reason, I have mostly refrained from participating in discussions surrounding former Miss California Carrie Prejean, of "opposite-marriage" fame. One, I don't think talking about her breast implants and similar drama is all that relevant to much of anything...

Odds 'N Ends

Posted on July 24, 2009
1) It Depends On What the Meaning of "Choice" IsVia The Box Turtle Bulletin, I read of a young man (aged 23) whose parents allegedly economically coerced him into ex-gay therapy. How did they do so? "His friends have said he had no choice as his parents took away his phone, his car and his money...

The Anti-Gay Human Rights Professor

Posted on July 23, 2009
Via Feminist Law Professors, New York University School of Law has just, ironically, hired a new visiting professor of human rights who is a vehement supporter of laws criminalizing sex between two consenting adult men. The professor, Li-Ann Thio of Singapore, previously testified before her country's Parliament in favor of retaining one such law...

Still Seeking a Genderless God

Posted on July 22, 2009
This post is longer than usual folks, but it's an important topic so I hope you'll bear with me.I have written before of the alienation that I felt as a young girl growing up within a male-centric Protestant Christian religion. This religion, and the idea that our savior, "god," and pastors could only be men was somewhat traumatic to me and, without a doubt, led to my rejection of Christianity and subsequent atheist phase...

On Dialogue

Posted on July 21, 2009
"I am not trying to create dialogue."Coming from someone who holds very negative strong opinions about LGBT people, I cannot think of anything more sad to hear than someone's admission that his blog does not exist for the exchange of ideas and opinions...

More Strawfeminism

Posted on July 20, 2009
You can always count on "news" source WorldNetDaily to keep the fun in fundamentlist. You know, practically every day I learn more and more about what feminism is and what it means to be a feminist from those experts on feminism, People Opposed to Feminism...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.