When my peers find out that I am a feminist blogger, I am generally faced with a few questions. “So you’re a lesbian?” is a pretty common one. “What’s a feminist?” is another. I have honed answering these questions into an art form, where I am able to answer both educationally and with a snippet of snark. It’s statements like, “We don’t need feminism anymore,” that truly give me pause.
Of course we still need feminism — but the reasons aren’t so simple anymore. We still don’t have equal pay, it’s true, but there are women who have truly impressive and powerful careers. Women don’t sit at home while men bring home the bacon anymore; in fact they’re 50%…
Just in case you haven’t seen this chart yet (via Jezebel and Feministing) it depicts the percentage of women who believe that their partner would be justified in hitting or beating them.
I know that the argument of “men are abused, too” always comes up when I bring up domestic violence. And it’s true, men are abused as well, and it’s a very serious problem.
But here’s the difference: what would this chart look like if men were asked the same question? How many men would think having their wife beat them would be okay?
Of course I can’t know the answer to that, and I could be proven wrong. Maybe men also think that it’s okay for women to abuse…
Happy Thursday! Here are some cool links I’ve deemed worthy of sharing:
The Good
Nikol Hasler
Nikol Hasler from the Midwest Teen Sex Show apparently now writes an advice column for Milwaukee Magazine. I know what you’re thinking: Milwaukee Magazine has an advice column focused on issues of teen sex? MILWAUKEE is the progressive one who recognizes the sexual problems of teenagers, and all people for that matter, as truly important? WTF? Well, not quite. It’s pretty general advice for the most part, but it’s Nikol Hasler, so it’s awesome. Good job, Milwaukee, good job.
Here is one column focused on sex and here is the most recent one about forgetfulness. Archives here.
Also SARAH HASKINS HAS A NEW TARGET WOMEN. yayyayayayayyayay!!!! And apparently it was recently…
So, I’m going on a road trip this weekend. While this does mean my Mom will let me eat whatever junk food I want (a rarity in our whole-wheat, non-fat household) and we will listen to trashy and insulting books on tape (”two sexy, young women in the big, bad city try to find love…”) it also means I will have zero access to the internet.
So, to tide you over for the weekend here is a really great documentary for your viewing pleasure.
“In the uplifting and multiple award-winning documentary, Searching for Angela Shelton, filmmaker Angela Shelton drives around the United States surveying other Angela Sheltons. She discovers that 24 out of the 40 Angela Sheltons she speaks to are survivors of rape, childhood sexual abuse and/or domestic violence. (The number jumped to 28 out of 40 when 4 more Angelas broke their silence after the movie was completed). On her journey the filmmaker meets an Angela Shelton who tracks sexual predators and lives in the same town as the filmmaker’s father, who sexually abused her and her siblings for years.
Angela Shelton’s survey of women becomes a journey of self discovery during which she decides to finally confront her own past and her abusive father – on Father’s Day. The Angela Sheltons complete the journey by teaching the filmmaker about healing, faith and the power of the human spirit, no matter what your name is. “
It’s a really great film. If you like it, please consider buying a copy here to support Angela and her work.
Also, Snagfilms, the website the documentary is listed at, is worth checking out. They have a ton of documentaries you can view for free, and have a whole section on documentaries about women’s issues.
The Obama administration recently created a new policy that allows foreign women who are the victims of severe domestic violence to receive asylum in the United States.
The policy outlines that to receive asylum, women must show that they are:
“treated by their abuser as subordinates and little better than property…and that domestic abuse is widely tolerated in their country. They must show that they could not find protection from institutions at home or by moving to another place within their own country.”
One such moving story is that of L.R. (identity protected), a Mexican woman who, according to San Francisco court documents, had an abusive partner who:
“made her live with him, and forced her to have sex with him by putting a gun or a…
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