Quote: "To create a more “attractive presentation,” the Badminton World Federation has decreed that women must wear skirts or dresses to play at the elite level, beginning Wednesday. Many now compete in shorts or tracksuit pants. The dress code would make female players appear more feminine and appealing to fans and corporate sponsors, officials said."
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Again, the insanity! When I went to JR High & HS back east, girls still had to wear dresses to school! This is unbelievable! The more women have freedoms that we fought so hard to achieve & yes, I was an early member of NOW & marched in demonstrations for Womens Liberation: the more the conservatives are trying to turn back the hands of time!

What's next? I shudder to think, truly. To think we are still more than 50% of the population...

http://www.india-server.com/news-ima...e-lin-7918.jpg

fuck.a.skirt.

Forced Pelvic Exams on Polish Women Or NO Work For You!
 

Protest against compulsory medical exams of Polish women workers

*as many have pointed out in comments, where are the mandatory prostate exams for men?


http://www.global-sisterhood-network.../view/2600/59/ <--petition and other info

This is all the GOP/Tea Party wing has done since winning the House in 2010. They were not really about jobs and the economy- they only want to push their anti-woman, religious fanaticism agendas.

Since the House is controlled by Republicans this is what you get. However since the Senate cannot get a 60% majority, nothing is going to happen. Federal law is relatively safe right now. The 50 states are another story.

Act locally (city, county, state), think globally (everyone). City, County, State elections are critical and always have been.

Student paper publishes article advocating rape

Two male students have been forced into hiding after writing an article in a British university newspaper about the violent rape of women.

The ‘Agony Uncles’ at the Beaver, the student newspaper of the London School of Economics (LSE), responded to the concerns of an imaginary reader about his girlfriend’s fidelity by suggesting he subject her to various violent sexual acts.

They also recommended punching women in the back of the head during sex and listed a series of illegal sex acts, concluding: ‘It’s not rape if you shout “surprise’.

The university’s Women’s Society and The Feminist Society have both petitioned for the resignation of the paper’s executive editor Nicola Alexander.

The strength of anger is so extreme the paper has refused to reveal the writers’ names over ‘concerns about their safety’. And the university has been criticised for refusing to discipline the students.

The offending column appeared on November 1, with a header that boasted:

‘This week, our Agony Uncles answer your questions on fornicating with faculty, keeping your girl in check and dealing with less attractive females.’
The ‘advice’ alluded to performing a violent sexual act on a woman to ‘keep your hands full’. Much of the content was too offensive for the Daily Mail to print.

WVoN comment: Sadly there seems to be a culture of male students trying to outdo each other with more and more offensive jokes. I recently read an article in a student paper suggesting that a female comedian should be beaten with her microphone for not being funny enough; and that men should only get back with an ex-girlfriend if she agreed to a boob job.

Glad they are covering this. It's not a totally uncommon opinion in the trans community. Personally, that's one of the issues I've always had with Chaz and with his documentary, Becoming Chaz. The fact that he displays quite a few misogynist and cissexist ideas. I don't think he's a good representative for the trans community, either.

I absolutely agree with you. Chaz is not a good representative for the trans community yet he has stepped into the role. I read the blogs Stephen Ira wrote and do agree with him, not only that Stephen Ira is obviously more educated and his blogs are very well written. I also heard Chaz on Howard Stern this week. I don't know what it is, the dude just expresses things so poorly, doesn't seem to get it. I don't agree with anything much he says at all.

I really don't think he does "get it." I think that for him being a trans activist solely consists of getting the world to "accept" trans people as the same as cis people but born defectively, in much the same way that society once thought that there was only one sex and that women were just defective men rather than an entirely different sex. It seems like trans activism as embracing diversity and new ways of thinking about sex/gender aren't even on the radar for him. He essentially wants the world to pity trans people instead of hate trans people.

Not to mention his treatment of women. It seems his version of "missing out on all the things little boys got to do" consists of treating women like crap. I'm not sure he sees his own hypocrisy as a self-proclaimed LGBT activist. He seems caught in between wanting to be socially conscious and wanting to be a stereotypical guy so that American males will accept him as "normal guy." Through some of his interviews it seems he's made perfectly clear that he doesn't want to be associated with women, anyway.

Thanks for posting this. I hope more transpeople point out that he is not a great trans rep at all. And he keeps getting a lot of press as such. It is also difficult to talk about this as a non-trans person because what usually happens is that this is viewed as transphobic.

There are so many other trans men and women that have so much more substance that make far better trans activists.

I think a lot of trans people do speak out against him as a rep, especially trans people who are involved in activism. I know that quite a few of us here have mentioned it a few times. It was one of the reasons for my rather disgruntled replies in the Dancing With the Stars thread, Becoming Chaz thread and pretty much anything involving Chaz. I know some others like Corkey and Dapper I think have mentioned it as well. So hopefully this isn't coming as a surprise to people that some in the trans community aren't ok with what Chaz says/Chaz as the celebrity face of trans people.

Irl, the problem is that the media really doesn't pay much attention to trans activists who aren't the children of celebrities. I guess they have no reason to. Trying to find a media source that will accept entries from people who don't think having Chaz as a trans rep. in the mainstream isn't some wonderful advancement in trans rights is difficult. Not that that means people shouldn't try. I think it is important to, but there's still that barrier of there being little demand to hear about trans rights issues in the mainstream.

I agree with you guys. As I said in another thread, I saw him speak at a trans conference soon after "Becoming Chaz" came out. Several transguys confronted him pretty harshly about presenting as a representative of the trans community and his misogynistic statements.

Chaz truly seemed to not really "get" how his statements came across and genuinely seemed to not want the media to think that he was speaking for anyone but himself when talking about being trans. No disrespect to Chaz, but in watching the dialogue with the audience I deduced that maybe the guy just doesn't have the critical thinking skills necessary to really get it. Again, truly no disrespect to him, that is just my assessment.

P.S. I have not read/seen Chaz in any venue since the above, so I do not know what he may have said since that time (May 2011?).

Oh yes, I did see your and dapper's and Corkey's comments in other threads and was glad to you speak up. There were other posts I recall about the documentary and his treatment of his partner. I also thought a lot about transguys that I know in real-time that thought he was a very bad rep for ever speaking about the challenges of taking T. There have been many tranguys on this site as well the old one that speak frankly about some of the "excuses" around this as well as just plain sexist behavior. No discussion of the work one does on these issues as they transition- or even before making the decision to.

I think you have a really good point about how the mainstream is fixated on celeb transpeople and the fact that they would get a much more realistic idea of not only transgenderism, but gender in being exposed to organizations that represent "just people" that are trans.

I want Chaz to have a good and fulfilling life, but have to honest, even prior to transitioning as a LGBT "activist," I have never viewed him as all that enlightened just as a human being. He has never been an inspirational speaker and I don't see him as all that well read. There are quite a few trans people right here that have much more knowledge and evolvement than he does. And organizations that I feel fortunate to have in close proximity such as Colage (but there are others), could do so much positive work if they could get the kind of financial support that would enable chapters in many more states and cities. Also, there is a great need for educational curriculum development in education around gender identity.

Yes, I think many of our trans members speak out and up and certainly don't just follow the "crowd" concerning spokespeople!! Thank you all!

Have to add something-

As a non-trans person I am not unaffected by the very real need for as much research and development of gender identities and issues in order to understand myself as well. Taking into account what is now available in this field as compared to what was when I was a kid brings me a lot of satisfaction just a butch. We are finally able to see the binary and how restrictive it is for everyone. No way do I, or have I ever fit neatly into it. I see so many new horizons for future generations unlocking with what is now finally being studied and understood about gender. My hope is that kids will be able to grow up without so much of the self-loathing and shame that past generations have. I am really joyful that my 77 year old inter-gendered cousin lived long enough to be able to experience the world much differently- that is a true gift of the universe!

You're completely right, AtLast. Trans rights, development of new understandings of gender identity (and here I would add sex identities and sexual identities as well) benefits everyone in the long run. Just as women's rights, lgb/queer rights and ethnic/racial equality benefit everyone in the long run. I know I can get bogged down on how shitty things still are, that I don't always talk about the positives. But there are certainly many positives to talk about, and rights issues has certainly come along way and especially within the lgbtqi community.

I guess part of my worry is that our progress only echoes slightly in mainstream society compared with how loudly it resonates within the lgbtq community. So many people even defending Chaz against what Stephen has said, don't even seem to "get" trans rights or what being trans is. I wish that Pride and mainstream media representations of our diverse communities would display more of our diversity. Would display how we view gender and sex and sexuality. I guess it's just frustrating and it's partially my own fault in being frustrated. I just wish there was a way of entering even the research that has been conducted in the sciences into the mainstream perspective. So that people like Chaz would stop talking about being trans as though it were a "birth defect," or people like Chaz will stop talking about how he has little tolerance for women and what they have to say. So that that won't be what the mainstream preaches as gospel, cause "hey, he's a transguy/lgbtq activist and his bigoted views support our bigoted views, so let's use his ignorance to preach our own discriminatory practices!" It feels like the age old practice of using one marginalized person's limited understanding of their community's marginalization against the community as a whole. Like if one black/African American person spoke out against the civil rights movement, then that would have somehow "justified" the racist practices of the day for white Americans who opposed it. Or when one queer person speaks out against the queer rights movement, then that somehow "justifies" homophobic practices in society. Like, "oh hey one of them agrees with us, so therefore we must be right! Forget the majority who don't!"

I guess on the one hand I want to give Chaz a break because he's a transguy. On the other hand, he's an extremely privileged transguy who's words have really negative reprecussions for the trans community that doesn't have his social privilege. Would I be giving him a break if he were a cissexed male? No, I wouldn't. So while on the one hand I feel badly for him because he doesn't seem to "get it," but is also a transguy who has to deal with transphobia, on the other hand being trans doesn't exempt him from being transphobic or misogynist. And it's just as serious coming from his as from a cissexed person.

And I'm aware that I'm probably preaching to the choir here...but well...I guess I'm a bit of a natural ranter or something, lol.