A Bullet Ensuring The Right To Life

Some forced-birth nutbar shot and killed Dr. George Tiller in Wichita, Kansas this morning. This was the second time this doctor has been shot for providing needed medical care to women. This is a man who is dead now because there are petty, small people who just can't live unless they are in control of this mythical moral universe where women sit down, shut up and pop out piddlers for their entire adult lives, and who think their right to control my life and my body justifies KILLING A BORN HUMAN BEING!

There is no such thing as pro-life that is anti-choice. The only pro-life stance is a pro-choice stance. Anyone who thinks otherwise is fucking delusional and/or lying to themselves.

In my perfect world, they could have their opinions as long as no one gets hurt. In their perfect world, we don't exist. We live with the threat of terrorism every day from people who think that their need to control is worth more than my life.

Fuck you assholes and your fetus fetish. Fuck you, and fuck off.

This is a toast to all the nurses and doctors out there, who daily provide women a choice. Who stand down a threat the size of Oklahoma City just to listen to a young woman's voice.

Thank you Doctor Tiller, for doing what needed to be done.

Because I'm lazy

I am just gonna post a ton of Jay Smooth videos.

I Got A Delivery From The DUH Truck!

Poll finds that American woman are more concerned with weight than health.

Well, no shit Sherlock.

We live in a culture that treats any woman above a size zero as disgusting, unlovable, unfuckable, and damaged. We live in a culture that conflates skinny with healthy and fat with moral failure and death. A woman who is fat is treated like a second class citizen who is failing in her womanly duties to sexually titillate every d00d who looks her way. A woman who is comfortable or, FSM forbid, HAPPY with her fat is treated as deranged.

So lets just say that this comes as no surprise to those of us who are paying attention and using Earth-logic.

MSM, Why Do You Wish Me Pain?

Okay, so there was this trolley crash in Boston, about 50 people were injured. I only noticed it because the stated reason for the crash was that the trolley operator was texting his girlfriend while driving. Your standard tale of human stupidity in a Western, industrialized nation, yes? Certainly sounds like it to me.

Then I checked my Google Alerts.

Apparently, the driver in question identifies himself as transgendered, and this is somehow considered relevant news. In an article that is almost completely about the accident, that talks extensively about the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's policies and actions regarding their employees behavior, it is somehow relevant to title the article: "Texting Trolley Driver Is Transgendered Male" and make frequent references to Mr. Quinn being hired because of his minority status.

Okay, this has gone from a story about how sad our culture is with being so interconnected that someone can't be away from their toys long enough to not crash a trolley, to something that leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I would give ABC News credit for proper pronouns and gendering (with the exception of including Mr. Quinn's birth name which is fucking skeezy) if this entire article didn't have that subtext of "See what happens when we hire those minorities? Affirmative action is bad, mm'kay?" and if that subtext wasn't so goddamn subtle. Its the kind of thing that someone who is not the most progressive, or who doesn't think to look for things like this, will see, will skim over and will assimilate without even realizing it.

If someone gets a job they are not qualified for because whoever hired them was afraid of being "offensive" then blame the person who hired them, but this subtle "See what happens when we try to level the playing field? See? White, het, cis doods really are just better at everything!" shit is disgusting.

Note to media: Someone's gender identity, no matter how open with it they are, is COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY IRRELEVANT to whether they are going to do stupid shit and there is no reason to bring it up except to put this person and vicariously the community they are part of, on display for those who have access to privileges that people like Mr. Quinn are denied.

More plainly, y'all are being privileges assholes. Fucking stop it.

Ordinary Scars

This is another one of those posts...you know those posts. The ones where I stare at my navel and ramble on about the shit that no one really wants to hear, but it is shit that so many people I know have been through and can understand.

It all started with Liss' post for Blog Against Disablism Day. Praticularly this:

I see myself in the mirror, later, and I feel ashamed. I'm so fucked up. No, you've got a chronic mental illness. I'm so fucking weak. No, you're sick. I'm a piece of shit. No, you're a survivor.

Then how come I don't feel like one?

Her piece hit me like a gut punch. I have a good gut instinct for the most part, so when I feel like something has hit me there, I listen. This one made me uncomfortable though.

I don't want to claim certain labels. I feel that to do so is appropriative. I identify as female-presenting genderqueer but I never talk about it. I am a survivor of sexual assault, intimate partner violence and mental abuse, and these things all have changed my ability to interact with the world in the expected "normal" way, possibly forever, but I will not claim the label of "victim" or "disabled." I'm not disabled because my issues are ones that I should just buck up and get over, right? I mean, I'm only a raped and abused woman in America. I'm a statistic. I'm just like a huge portion of women, or any marginalized group really. And to be a "good" survivor, I just need to "be strong" and "overcome adversity" and "learn to heal." I refuse to go to therapy, mainly because I should just get over this shit. That's what I'm supposed to do, right?

That worked for a while, or so I thought.

I had a moment early in my marriage when I was not feeling well, and my spouse asked me if I was interested in having sex that night. I didn't want to but I was clearly feeling torn about saying no, and zie looked me in the eye and said "It's okay to say 'no,' baby. I don't want you to say yes unless you really want to." I almost broke down crying, I was so relieved. I could say no, and be listened to. I could say no and still be loved and respected. Later I got angry...really, really angry. Angry that being allowed to say no almost reduced me to tears, that I lived in a world where even someone as aware of this shit as I am could get drawn so deeply into this thinking that I felt like I was drowning. Angry that what should be basic human decency felt like undeserved Utopia. Angry that I still hadn't healed enough to be able to trust my partner who had never given me a reason to do otherwise.

That's just the thing, I don't think I will ever "heal", at least not in the way survivors are expected to. These things that have been done to me have changed me. I cannot go back to being who and what I was before. These things cannot be undone and the best I can expect is to figure out how to manage my damage.

Raise that double standard high!

I really don't get it. (trigger warning for that link) I don't. What does it take to rationalize wishing an entire group of people dead simply because of their political ideology? And how much nerve do you have to have to say this and then claim that you don't hate them?
How insecure are you that you can only see the loss of privileges as a form of oppression? How far is your head up your own ass that you really think that anyone in the world has it better than you?

For the record, mass murderers like Marc Lepine are not "folk heroes" and if you idolize what he did in any way, then I would like to suggest that you may be a danger to others. It is not rational to react with violence unless you are in direct and immediate danger and I have yet to find any evidence that white guys are in physical danger from feminists as a whole. Why is it that if a feminist even has a fictional character call all men rapists, anything else she says is considered polemic and invalid at best, and "hysterical," "shrill," "dangerous," or "misandrist" at worst, but a man actively calling for the death of all "Western Feminists" (don't get me started on the racist, sexist and colonialist notions behind tacking "western" on to that) is considered reasonable criticism? Oh, but he doesn't mean it literally! Well, that certainly makes me feel better. I can fucking sleep like a baby tonight.

You know who else pulled that trigger, Mr. Flashman? An entire world that thinks that men deserve to control everything and women deserve to serve men. Marc Lepine's actions were not transgressive, rebellious or radical. They were one more example of the same bullshit that women have been facing for most of human history, and that is the chance that they will be killed simply for daring to exist while female.

White Penis= +6 advantage on a logic roll

Oh this is fun :D


Apparently SCOTUS has been dealing with a case of white guys being all oppressed by racism and shit.

Chief Justice Roberts plays the privileged fool at best, and the privileged concern troll at worst. Recognizing systemic inequality as it has presented through history and as it presents today is totes the same as "racism."

I'm leaning toward troll personally, cause we have: "You're racist for talking about race!" and the "our department is colorblind!" fuckery.

I really can't think of much more to say except to express my total lack of shock at this debacle and my actual shock that none of the other justices smacked Roberts in the back of the head, Gibbs-style, for saying something so terribly foolish.

The War is not won

There was a bittersweetness to hearing that Allen Andrade, the murderer of Angie Zapata will be receiving an additional sentence of 60 years to his life-sentence. It's an echo of the sadness tinged with...not joy...relief, maybe? that I felt when I first heard that he was found guilty. Even now, weeks later, the memory of my roommate telling me the verdict makes me tear up.

We are starting to see a shift in how these crimes are addressed in a larger social context. The jury's complete rejection of Andrade's "trans-panic" defense is proof of that.

But as I said, the war isn't won. We need to shift focus to the trial of Dwight DeLee for the murder of Lateisha Green. His defense is poised to make the same bigoted arguments and is counting on the fact that a jury who has lived their lives soaking in a culture of cis-supremacy, homophobia and misogyny will buy the idea that murder is a rational response to gender non-conformity.

The local media in this case is being spectacularly unhelpful
by constantly misgendering Lateisha and referring to her as a man. Both of the above links contain contct information for the local media outlets who have engaged in this transphobic behavior. Please contact them and let them know that doing this not only displays a bigoted attitude, it is also directly counter to the guidelines for reporting on trans and gender variant people as laid out in the APA style book.

I don't pray because to me it is the functional equivalent of shouting into the void, and because I would rather encourage myself to do something about whatever hurdle I'm facing than wishing for the help of some mystical force that may or may not exist.

All that being said, I am praying now. I pray that the fate of Allen Andrade shows a shift in how trans people are regarded socially. I want to see the legitimacy of the "trans panic" defense go down in a blaze of burning bullshit. As Jill @ Feministe said, we only accept defenses for murder built on panic, temporary insanity and passion because there is a social agreement that the actions of the murdered person are morally unacceptable to the point that a reasonable person might react with deadly force.

I am ready for the end of the social agreement that hetero men are justified in reacting with deadly force when someone has genitals that these men don't expect. I am ready for the end of the idea that threatened masculinity and a transphobic implication of homosexuality is a justified reason to kill someone.

Privilege Privilege Everywhere...but not a drop to drink

There was one lesson I learned at an early age, life ain't fair. As I got older I learned another part of that lesson, that life ain't fair because for the most part, what one person thinks is fair is really subjective. I got even older and realized that for someone with any kind of privilege, (like me) what seemed fair to me was almost definitely going to be unfair to someone who was not granted the societal privilege I am. It all leads back to my basic premise though, namely that life is not fair.

If you are a middle class, white American dude, life is more than fair to you on a couple of counts, so being a whiny-ass titty baby because you like to dress up like this romanticized idea of a pirate and those impoverished Somali teenagers with guns are taking away your fun by committing actual acts of piracy makes you look like a tremendous asshole.

Just sayin'

Alyx Vance Fucking

What we seem to have here is a failure to communicate. As much as I hate repeating myself it is apparently necessary.

Dear anyone and everyone that has arrived here thanks to these or similar search terms:

-alyx vance nude patch

-"Alyx Vance" fuck

-alyx vance fucking


Women do not exist to tingle your peen. Tough, but true. Is it at all possible that yo can try and see a woman in a video game as something other than wank material? Especially when that particular character manages to SAVE YOUR ASS on multiple occasions?

Or you could grow the fuck up and learn how to talk to real girls. Just a thought.

Edited to add: and to the person (and any subsequent people) who got here by searching for "Alyx Vance rape"? Go fuck yourself, because that is the only fucking you deserve, motherfucker.

Edited for Neil in the comments:

Neil, I'm not mad. I'm just sick and tired of entitled man-children who think women exist as fuck holes. If you want something to fuck, well...you have yourself, so why don't you just run along and do that now. And take your "lol" with you. You'll need it.

ETA The Third: I also want to thank you sexist motherfuckers for driving up my stats with your sophmoric fantasies. Lemme know how that all works out for you, why don't ya?

See That On My Arm? That's Wool, Because I Am Morphing Into Sheep

MMMMMM, yummy meta-blogging. Besides Twitter, blogging about blogging is quite possibly one of the most navel-gazing things you can do. I avoid it usually because hey, I like having belly-button lint, thankyouverymuch.

However, I am consistently fascinated by the details of blog traffic. Obsessively I look at where people have come from, where they are from, where they looked and for how long.

My favorite is the search terms, because they always make me wonder about the person who searched for that, why they did and what else they found. I wonder if we managed to serve their needs. For some, I know we did (example: "societies that require veiling") and for some, it was just touching that they remembered us so specifically (examples: "witchiebunny blog," several variations of the blog name and quotes from posts.) If I didn't manage to do so, I intend to rectify that...right now :D

So, for your reading amusement, I present ::drumroll:: THE HALL OF WTF!

1) "hijap fucking": First of all, I am going to assume that they meant "hijab." The logical assumption is that zie is looking for pictures or footage of hibajis (veiled women) fucking. Well, that's original. No really, the whole "forbidden fruit" thing combined with the exoticization of Muslimahs, as well as the assumption that females bodies and sexualities exist to pleasure men...no one has ever managed this combination before! Congrats Skippy, on re-inventing the colonial, sexist, Orientalist wheel! In a similar vein we had someone looking for "sex.hijab.com". Brb, I need to beat a dent into the nearest brick wall with my forehead.

2) "Websites that ahve cocky and funny exmaples that can be used to women"
My question for the person who asked this is "cocky and funny examples of what?" Can we at least finish our sentences people? Give me a fighting chance here, willya?

3) "alyx vance fucking"
Witchiebunny's exact reaction to seeing this in our search terms: "Just...no" ::frowny face::
Once again, for those of you in the back of the room, women do not exist purely for your pleasure! No, not even video game women. I suggest some Crisco and a shotglass if you are in such need of stimulation.

4) "to ease my trouble man"
I recommend pot...or coffee...man.

Stand for the Lives of Women! Urgent Action Needed

Hello there Gentle Readers!

From Frau Sally Benz:

I wanted to write a more thorough follow-up post about the Dominican Republic's recent right-to-life change in their constitution, but I have zero time, so I'll just post some links and info for now:

I learned from Dacia over at Akimbo (the blog for International Women's Health Collective) that there is a protest today, May 6, in D.R. and these groups are asking us to support them by putting pressure on the Dominican Republic Embassy:

In light of this serious situation, Colectiva is requesting support and a show of solidarity on May 6. Please write to the Dominican Republic embassy in your country and let them know that women’s health and rights will be compromised if the language of Article 30 is approved as it is now written.

For the D.R. embassy in the U.S., email embassy@us.serex.gov.do. For those not in the U.S., you can search for "Dominican Republic embassy in [insert name of your country here]" to find the appropriate email address. I've searched for Canada and the U.K. because I have a lot of readers there:

In Canada, email larias@drembassy.org and copy ygutierrez@drembassy.org.
In the U.K. (and Australia apparently??), email embassy@dominicanembassy.org.uk.

You can read more about this current action over at Akimbo, and here is the sample letter they have posted there:

Dear Mr. President of the Dominican Republic, Dr. Leonel Fernández Reyna; Mr. President of the Parliamentary Assembly for Constitutional Review, Senator Reynaldo Pared Pérez; Mr. Vice-President of the Parliamentary Assembly for Constitutional Review, Deputy Julio César Valentín:

On April 21, 2009, Article 30, which amends the current Constitution of the Dominican Republic by establishing the right to life “from conception to death,” was approved under pressure and threats from the Catholic hierarchy and right-wing extremists.

This article will severely and negatively impact public policies, medical practice, scientific development and women’s lives, especially poor women. It also violates international agreements signed and ratified by the Dominican Republic, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the American Convention on Human Rights and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

Article 30 limits women’s autonomy, and denies them their human rights. In light of the significant step backwards that the approval of Article 30 would represent for the human rights of Dominican women, I ask that during the second reading, when Article 30 must be discussed and is once again subject to approval, you reject the proposed language and maintain the current language of the Constitution.

Sincerely,
[NAME]

TAKE ACTION NOW! We need to support our colleagues around the world whenever they need our help. A few minutes of your time is all you need to give.

Your Tears Taste Like Yummy Candy

So today, in "News that makes Dori lol," we find our dear friend and purveyor of sugary evil energy drinks, Michael Savage, has been banned from entering the UK. He has threatened to sue Home Secretary Jaqui Smith for defamation of character.

To which I respond, what character are you referring to Mr. Savage? The character that called autistic children fakers and their parents failures as disciplinarians? Or maybe the character that feels his peen shrivel at the idea of women who consider themselves people? OH! I KNOW! You mean the character that manages to engage in xenophobic and homophobic rhetoric at the same time!

In response to Mr. Savage, Jaqui Smith had this to say:

"Coming to this country is a privilege," she said. "If you can't live by the rules that we live by, the standards and the values that we live by, we should exclude you from this country and, what's more, now we will make public those people that we have excluded."

What Mr. Savage is missing in this whole debacle is one key concept that has been beautifully articulated by the British Government. He is not owed access to their space. They can decide who to let in and who not to let in (for all his screaming about immigration and restricting it I would think he would understand that basic fact) and that access to another country is a privilege that they grant to you, not an obligation that you are owed.

One final note Mr. Savage, if you don't like being compared to hateful, dangerous bigots then stop acting like one and encouraging them, because like it or not, there are consequences for being an asshole.

Quick, Steamed Hit

White House Eliminated Pledge To Repeal Defense Of Marriage Act From Website

This plus the wishy-washy way that Don't Ask, Don't Tell has been handled, but not handled, is making me start to feel annoyed as hell. Seriously, do any other queers and allies out there feel like we are being brushed under the rug again in hopes of gaining support from people who will never support this administration?