Thursday, September 18, 2008

So much for weekly updates huh?

I try, I fail. Whaddya want, I'm human :(

"(...) At the end of the war, Japanese women couldn't just stay behind as housewives, looking after their children anymore. They felt they had to work to raise the country back up, and have an equal stake in maintaining their families."
-Riyoko Ikeda, manga artist and musician, author of The Rose of Versailles (aka Lady Oscar).


Honor your Radical Ancestors (@ The Portly Dyke) - In this personal account, Portlydyke presents why it's important to give credit where credit's due for second wave feminism.

"Real dads not lesbo dads" Says New Fathers 4 Justice (@ The F Word blog) - Milly reports on New Fathers 4 Justice protesting the rights of lesbian parents. Apparently, NF4J is an offshoot of people who were banned from the original group.

Framing Reproductive Rights (@ RH Reality Check thru Vimeo) - Amanda Marcotte dissects how the anti-choice movement utilise language to distribute disinformation about reproductive rights. See the rest of the series here.

Oh, not the Carnival for Sexual Freedom and Autonomy (@ Questioning Transphobia) - Lisa reports how another Feminist carnival gets bogged down in transphobia.

Whose feminism is it? (@ The F Word features) - Annika poses an important question: does Feminism reach women from ethnic minorities, teenagers and those who haven't attended university?

Trans-homosexuality (@ Black Looks) - A guest blogger for Black Looks tells her story about being a trans lesbian in Africa.

Nepal Formally Recognizes "Third Gender" (@ The F Word Blog) - Laura reports on an interesting development in the fight for recognition of alternative genders.

Target Women series (@ Current) - I know I'm late to the party, but here it is... This fantastic video series presents how ridiculous and blatantly sexist advertisement of 'female' products is. Nothing from Chick Flicks to Contraception, escapes host Sarah Haskins.

Genocide and Julie Bindel (@ Taking Up Too Much Space) - Cedar discusses Stonewall UK's nomination of Julie Bindel for journalist of the year, and how this is extremely damaging to the trans community.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Femilinks, We're Not Dead Edition!

"Whoops, I am a lady on the Internet. My bad."
-Kate Beaton, Cartoonist, Troublemaker


If you're reading this, there's a good chance we didn't die when they activated the Large Hadron Collider. Presumably, as I write this a large rift in time and space is not opening, thus preventing a host of alien creatures from propagating in Earth's soil. If that were not the case, I pray for a few MIT-trained physicists with crowbars to save us.

Also, Femilinking isn't dead! Don't be silly, o readers. All five of you. I've just been away for a while. Onwards!

Radical Masculinity
- A feminist-informed blog about re-evaluating masculinity. It's trans-friendly, sex positive and anti-oppression. A great resource and I hope it keeps going for a long time!

Femmes of Power Review (@ The F Word reviews) - Milly reviews Femmes of Power: Exploding Queer Femininities. In this book, Lagrace Volcano and Ulrika Dahl mix photographs of femme queer people with third-wave discussions of gender and queerness.

Ewww! You got your other issues in my Feminism! (@ Feministe) - Latoya fields the common complaint "How is this a feminist issue?", with examples from her experience. She lays out why this is very silencing and disempowering to people whose oppression isn't just gender-based, but rather, works on an intersectional basis.

So, we all talk about "feminism" an awful lot... (@ I Shame the Matriarchy) - Antiprincess humorously tackles the quest for that elusive, 'pure' feminism.

Non-gendered recognition (@ The F Word blog) - Helen highlights Christie Elan-Cane's fight for the legal recognition of people who identify as neither gender. It's a call to action, so please read!

Shall we talk about Privilege? (@ Feministe) - Renee writes an insightful article on how to fruitfully acknowledge and challenge one's privilege, how it's not about guilt and shame but about hard work.

Cis Privilege Checklist (@ Taking Up Too Much Space) - Cedar presents a Cisgender/Cissexual privilege checklist. This follows the same format as the better-known White Privilege Checklist and Male Privilege Checklist, both of which are also worth a read. Incidentally, Cedar has written a stupendous essay called Beyond Inclusion, which is available for a small donation of 5 USD plus shipping. It deals with the debate about the inclusion of trans women in women-only spaces, and deconstructs it very skilfully. I thoroughly recommend it.

Transphobia and Medical Care
(@ Questioning Transphobia) - Queen Emily talks about transphobia she received when going for medical treatment, a frequent occurrence for trans people everywhere.

Stealth was a Mistake (@ TransGriot) - Monica debates the history of 'stealth' being pushed on trans people, and how this has not been beneficial to the community.