Feminist Monday--July 11th

Good morning, and Happy Monday! Here's hoping that this week is much, much better than last week. (Wow. That was a rough one for humanity.) So...here we go...

Today's video is Bell Hooks and Laverne Cox discussing the definition of Feminism:

bell hooks is right. You can't call yourself a Feminist and deny other women the right to control their bodies. You just can't. You can be a Feminist and choose to never have an abortion. There's a distinction. Also watch bell hooks with Gloria Steinem. I think the reason whites have a problem with black anger has more to do with the system of oppression rather than white guilt. Anger is powerful and can be chaotic. Anger provides the energy for change. Therefore, only those in power are permitted anger. (So, my recommendation is that if you are white and your reaction to the righteous anger PoCs display is to become defensive? Take a good hard look at why before you react. Are the emotions you're having truly yours? Or do they belong to the system of oppression that you've absorbed through being a living part of that system? Choose not to further oppression's goals. Rebel. Keep your damned mouth shut until you can trust that your words are yours and not the system's programming. Shut the fuck up. Listen to what you're being told.) Watch the whole series, if you can. Fascinating stuff. The more I discover about bell hooks, the more I admire her.

Literary/Entertainment: Introduction to disability terminology. At least they got [redacted]'s funeral right. There are all sorts of changes going in in Marvel-land. See this too. These are good things. They may be problematic in places--and they are. But always remember that education is expensive in one way or another. I wish that that change would come more in the form of Marvel employing more writers who happen to be PoCs and/or women. I can't help feeling the learning process would be less painful. But there you are. More on Kameron Hurley and Geek Feminism. Why is Hollywood ignoring this incredible black SF writer?

General: 'I have my anger back.' Virginia introduces law to stop 12 year old girls getting married. Black Lives Matter activist arrested, then released in Baton Rouge. That arrest was some bullshit. Period. Deray was not walking in the street. Playboy's guide to catcalling is spot on. I'm a little bit stunned. I'm also happy. I've a mixed response to porn. For one thing: sexual desire is a human need. People may have that need to varying degrees (from none to a lot,) that change over the span of one's lifetime, and have various expressions that suit them. Sexuality is normal. Therefore, porn has a legitimate purpose. However, the details of how porn is produced as well as its end product are regrettably far too often infected and even overwhelmed with misogyny--heterosexual porn in particular. Therefore, heterosexual porn contributes to the problem. It's nice to see the beginnings of a huge change for the better in Playboy-world. Police shootings won't stop until we stop shaking down black people. And no, as bad as police shootings are--and they are horrible--they are not a hate crime. How protestors actually helped the Dallas police. I don't know what to do with good white people. Whites, stop flinching from the word 'racist.' Men, stop flinching from the word 'sexist.' You can't change a behavior until you admit you indulge in that behavior. And be clear, those words are about behavior and thought. They are not a condemnation/dismissal of a whole person.