A Solemn Farewell to Savage Death Island

Boner-killing, like other forms of patriarchy-smashing, can make a feminist feel weary. As a feminist, I get that, but the news of the discontinuation of I Blame the Patriarchy is still heartbreaking. 

Twisty Faster aka. The Spinster Aunt aka. the woman whose blog changed my life, has decided to step away from I Blame the Patriarchy and move into a new place in cyberspace. The Dreadful Acres: Cottonmouth County Confidential is the name of the new digs. Here, Twisty writes about her experiences and encounters living in rural Texas.

IBTP will remain accessible indefinitely, which is a relief, as it is a truly valuable feminist resource. Nevertheless, this boner killer will miss the frequent trips to Savage Death Island. While my thirst for Twisty's words will still be quenched by The Dreadful Acres, I will always be hankering for her stink eye and heartwarming nature crap. 

Everything written over at IBTP was incredibly candid and potent and told with such eloquence. Patriarchy was smashed, gender was challenged, sexploitation was critiqued and often, laughter was induced. And so, this phallic-flaccidity facilitator will be sad for a few days.

In the meantime, please keep on blamin' on. 

Heartbreak: The Political Memoir of a Feminist Militant

Yes, my copy of Andrea's memoir has finally arrived! I am considering a formal post, for my thoughts after the book is completed, but so far this book has been raw, honest and sometimes, surprising. This book, like her others, is incredibly inspiring to read - her writing is beautiful.

 Unfortunately, this book cannot be found in most mega-book stores like Indigo, but yet are purchasable as "used and rare" on their website. 

Thus far the book has been difficult to put down and in reading it, I have learned so much about Andrea's life that I would have never imagined or assumed. So many have  taken to distorting Andrea Dworkin's character  her ideas, but this memoir tears those misrepresentations to shreds. 

So, read it! 

(also, found a free copy of Susan Faludi's Backlash...!!)

Written Off

Wow, I guess when you speak out against people being called terrible names like "shemale" and "trannie" and you get removed from blog rolls and link lists - this is truly telling, considering we get pretty disgusted when other groups of people are called degrading names.

It is baffling though, how speaking out against such name calling gets me virtually "kicked out" of the club (not that I was ever consciously affiliated with or represented by a particular organization or group) -- but, if that is how it is, then that is how it will be. However, it is better to speak up than to remain silent. But it does shock me to think of how few women wanted to discuss the actual name-calling that was the central theme of my last post. Instead, many decided to focus on their critiques rather than the actual issue presented in my post, which was regarding the way trans people are being talked about in some radical feminist spaces online.

People who disagree should not be treated like this, at least, it seems contradictory and unproductive as disagreement is a natural part of life and a natural part of growth. To claim that I am simply a "traitor" because I believe that trans people should be treated like humans and should not be called names is just absurd. How are we getting to the point now, in our ideas and politics, where any dissent from any other woman ultimately makes her a "write-off" and deserving of being virtually shit on?

I wonder how united such a movement can be if it is willing to shit on anyone who questions anything that is proposed or discussed within that movement?

Comments are disabled for this post as I am frankly sick of the links to random trans-related posts (by the way, I have read many of these posts throughout the year) and assaults on my character. This post is a reflective of my thoughts surrounding the aftermath of my last post, it is not here for discussion. If you want to actually have a discussion that does involve the central theme of that last post (the name-calling), the post is still open for comments.

Links - October 24 2011

Links for October 24, 2011


- Feminist Media Collective: On 'sex positivity' and misunderstandings 


- IBTP: Spinster Aunt was Once Adored by Dude Nation

- No Excuses No Mercy: Hate from Reddit: MRAs in Action

- K Miriam: Branding Feminism

- Z. Bediako:  BLACK OUT! At Occupy Philadelphia


- Almost Clever: Where "Feminisms" Collide


- BallBuster: #occupybaltimore discourages police involvement in sexual assault cases


- Anti-Porn Men: What is Gay Sex? Pornography Tries to Give us the Answer and Fails


- Feminist Media Collective: A lesson in how *not* to be an ally


- Elkballet: Porn Users Explain why Porn is Healthy Part 2

Links - July 6, 2011

Links for July 6, 2011

Against All Evidence "Clinging to Gender"


Anti-Porn Men "Anti-Capitalism as Base for Anti-Porn"


Jezebel "Six Ways to Look at the Global Status of Women"


Mama Vision "Casey Anthony Incest 'Excuse'" 


I Blame the Patriarchy "Same Shit, Different Day: Part the Second"


Natasha Moonilall "American Corporation Sweatshops: The Five Worst Offenders" 


The Guardian "Outrage as Obedient Wives Club spreads across south-east Asia"

A Place for Everywomon "On Improving the Status of Radical Feminism"






notes: photograph is my own and is not for redistribution.

Check out "A Place for Everywomon"

A new feminist blogger has emerged, and I want to give her a warm welcome - check out  "A Place for Everywomon" 

and because this post is far too bare, i'll had some entertaining photographs!

why can't this be on my wall?

soon, i will build an epic fort in my living room. 

nom nom!

nom nom nom!

cute cute cute!

all photos are from weheartit.org

WATCH THIS, seriously.

This video reflects a lot of what has been on my mind lately. My good friend made this, so I don't think she would mind if I shared it here. This video is incredibly important because it touches on single-issue feminism and challenging the institutions that work together to create oppression.

Links

Here's another dump of links that you should give a click. 



Nine Deuce "Get on the fucking ball, janitors."


Bolshevik Chick on Rape Threats


Bolshevik Chick on Agency


Lishra on #MooreandMe Twitter Campaign targetted at Michael Moore and Keith Olbermann over the Assange case. 


Radical Profeminist on Sex Work and Anarchism


Radical Profeminist "Moving Out from BelowThe Belt: Theory-Q and Julian Real Discuss Radical Activism and Academic Liberalism"



Laurie Penny "How Twitter changed the face of dissent"



Michael Moore Tweets about Violence against Women after Maddow Interview

Netherlands Hate Women? and Andrea Dworkin Book

So the Netherlands is apparently the next country to ban the burqa. This is disgusting and upsetting, but not surprising. I mean, look at the Netherlands track record for women hating. They legalize sexual slavery, torture and reinforce patriarchy. Fuck that place.

In other news, I finally found a book of Andrea Dworkin's in my university library. I checked out "Pornography: Men Possessing Women" today. I read the first few pages before class and love it so far. I was quite bothered, however, by how little radical feminist literature is available. I can never find dworkin or jeffreys in bookstores around my city, for example. I hate it! Also, the dworkin book had no cover, it looked as though someone ripped it off...so it probably doesn't get noticed very often and thus not read very often...that just makes me sad.

Anyway, not too much exciting news...more or less just an update. I've been quite busy, but hopefully will be able to post something interesting this weekend.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!