Misogyny and Sexism in the News

[Kobi]

Massachusetts’ highest court has ruled that a man accused of secretly snapping photos up a woman’s skirt on an MBTA train did not break the law.

So-called Peeping Tom laws protect people from being photographed in dressing rooms and bathrooms when nude or partially nude, but the way the law is written, it does not protect clothed people in public areas, the court said. The SJC ruling went on to suggest that the act in this case should be illegal, noting other states including New York and Florida have explicit laws criminalizing public upskirting.

Under the law, the state has to prove five criteria:

That the defendant willfully photographed, videotaped, or electronically surveilled; the subject was another person who was nude or partially nude; the defendant did so with the intent to secretly conduct or hide his photographing activity; the defendant conducted such activity when the other person was in a place and circumstance where the person would have a reasonable expectation of privacy in not being “so photographed”; and the defendant did so without the other person’s knowledge or consent.

The SJC decision says a woman on the MBTA “wearing a skirt, dress, or the like covering these parts of her body is not a person who is ‘partially nude,’ no matter what is or is not underneath the skirt by way of underwear or other clothing.”

Prosecutors argued that a person has a right to privacy beneath his or her own clothes. But justices ruled that because the alleged incident occurred on a public trolley, there is not a reasonable expectation of privacy. They noted that while the prosecution’s “proposition is eminently reasonable,” the current writing of the law that Robertson was charged under does not cover that particular circumstance.

“Because the MBTA is a public transit system operating in a public place and uses cameras, the two alleged victims here were not in a place and circumstance where they reasonably would or could have had an expectation of privacy,” a draft of the ruling stated.

Prosecutors said after the ruling that they planed to take the matter to the Legislature and request a re-write to the current state law.

“Every person, male or female, has a right to privacy beneath his or her own clothing,” Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley said. “If the the statute as written doesn’t protect that privacy, then I’m urging the Legislature to act rapidly and adjust it so it does.”

The ruling of the Supreme Judicial Court is contrary to the spirit of the current law,” DeLeo said. “The House will begin work on updating our statutes to conform with today’s technology immediately.”

Senate President Therese Murray says she is “stunned and disappointed” and the Senate “will act swiftly.”

Women riding the MBTA say they are outraged by the decision.

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2014/03/0...not-illegal/2/

[Kobi]

Tens of thousands of Americans are pressuring Dartmouth College to strengthen its sexual assault policies, citing the fact that a student was sexually assaulted on campus after her name appeared in a “rape guide” published on a student-run website.

Nearly 50,000 people have signed onto a petition spearheaded by the women’s advocacy group UltraViolet asking the prestigious school to “take action immediately to curb the sexual assault crisis” on campus.

“Student groups have asked the school to list expulsion as the punishment for rape in the student handbook and to block access to the ‘rape guide’ website on campus. But school authorities haven’t taken any of these recommendations seriously,” UltraViolet’s petition notes. “Usually, stories like this get little attention from the news media. But if all of us speak up, Dartmouth won’t be able to hide.”

Dartmouth is currently under federal investigation for potential violations of Title IX, the federal gender equity law that requires universities to ensure a safe learning environment for students. A group of Dartmouth students and alumni have also filed a Clery Act complaint alleging that administrators have failed to accurately report incidences of sexual violence and hazing on campus.

More recently, the college made national headlines after an anonymous individual posted a “rape guide” on the student site Bored at Baker, which is not technically affiliated with the college but which requires a Dartmouth email address to participate. The post gave explicit instructions for how to find and rape a particular female student — tips like “just casually drink with her now and then,” “prove you’re not a dangerous person,” and “she’s easily persuaded; keep on going.” The subject, who was referred to as a “whore,” was identified by name. At the end of February, just weeks after the post was first published on Bored at Baker, the female student said she was raped at a fraternity party at Dartmouth.

And this isn’t the first time that Bored at Baker has been the subject of controversy. Last spring, Dartmouth canceled classes after several students received rape and death threats on the student site. Those students were targeted on Bored at Baker because they interrupted a campus event to protest their administration’s lackluster response to incidences of rape, racism, and homophobia. Afterward, they told ThinkProgress that Dartmouth officials chose to punish them for creating a disruption rather than working to crack down on rapists.

Karin Roland, the campaign director for UltraViolet, told ThinkProgress that the situation at Dartmouth has reached a boiling point — and it’s now possible to harness that frustration to push for real policy reform.

“Dartmouth has had a problem with rape and sexual assault for decades. They have a long history with this issue, and student groups on campus are finally fed up and are leading the charge,” Roland said. “With the help of an online network of members at Ultraviolet to capture the grassroots outrage, we can really make change on this right now.”

This isn’t the first time that UltraViolet has used its online network to leverage change in this area. The group has been working with student activists to combat rape culture for the past year, supporting campus-led efforts to reform the way the U.S. Department of Education handles Title IX enforcement. When President Obama decided to convene a task force on sexual violence on college campuses, UltraViolet gathered stories and suggestions from their members, particularly sexual assault survivors, to help inform that work.

These issues certainly aren’t new, but the power to organize online is giving a louder voice to feminist activists who want to hold public officials accountable for their actions.

“Women are really fed up with rape being excused. I think that’s true on campuses, I think that’s true in our justice system, I think that’s true at the high school level, and I think that’s just becoming true across the country. The ability to connect over online networks has really empowered women to stand up and do something,” Roland pointed out. “If you look at everything from the reaction to Todd Akin’s legitimate rape comment, to Steubenville, to Dartmouth, you can see that women aren’t putting up with it anymore.”

Dartmouth has refuted UltraViolet’s allegations that the administration doesn’t take rape seriously, maintaining that the college has worked to increase the support and prevention resources for issues of sexual assault.

“It is important to note the anonymous author of the post on a privately hosted website referred to in the petition was identified and faces Dartmouth’s disciplinary process,” the school’s Assistant Vice President for Media Relations, Justin Anderson, said in a statement. “Further, we investigate every instance of sexual assault that is brought to our attention and offer multiple levels of support and resources to every survivor. Every day we work to make our community better and safer.”

That’s not good enough for the student activists on the ground who are driving UltraViolet’s activism.

“Survivors and students are speaking out on the ground, in addition to 500,000 UltraViolet members who have their backs,” Roland told ThinkProgress. “As Dartmouth has been dragging their feet to respond, more women have been assaulted. We’re still not seeing action, and we’re not going to stop speaking out until we do.”

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014...ure-petition/#

[Happy_Go_Lucky]

Skymark Airlines came under fire from the cabin crew’s labor union, which said the super-short skirt—with a distinctively swinging ‘60s look—barely covers wearers’ thighs.

“We’re concerned that the design of this uniform may cause problems,” including sexual harassment, the Japan Federation of Cabin Attendants said in a statement.

“The airline is saying the uniform is meant to attract more customers, but this shows the company is treating women like a commodity,” it added.

Comments posted on the union’s website said attendants would not be able to carry out their duties effectively owing to fears about leering stares or customers shooting pictures up their skirts with a mobile phone.

The airline, which disputes the union claims, plans to introduce the uniform as a temporary promotion for the launch of domestic routes its Airbus A330 planes in the spring.

The carrier could not be immediately reached on Tuesday.

But last week, Skymark president Shinichi Nishikubo told reporters: “We won’t impose the uniform on any of the cabin attendants who refuse to wear it.”

“It is disappointing that the outfit designed in part for the ad campaign is being seen in a distorted way,” he added.

© 2014 AFP


http://www.japantoday.com/category/n...ymark-airlines

[Happy_Go_Lucky]

http://www.dailydot.com/lol/naked-le...mom-blackmail/


As you can guess, dating apps require a certain amount of finesse. But while the nuances of app-based dating culture might be a little tricky to understand, one thing seems pretty clear: Don’t send someone a picture of your junk unless she explicitly asks for one.

One female Let’s Date user found a quick and easy solution to the unwanted dick-pic problem. Tumblr user aheartbeatchanged was chatting with a guy about the weather when this appeared:




“F**k no,” she replied. “I don't need to be disrespected by someone I don't even know."

“Relax,” he wrote back. “It’s only my c**k.”

Things escalated quickly, and, well... see for yourself:






At this point, the smartest thing would’ve been for Trevor to apologize and vanish forever. Especially since he’d just given someone a naked photo that could potentially be, you know, posted on Tumblr for 60,000 people to laugh at and reblog.






Oh yeah. She went there.

As of Sunday night, aheartbeatchanged hasn’t heard back from Trevor’s mom. What she has received is more than a hundred messages from Tumblr users, ranging from supportive to... more poorly worded insults: “If you had/get some good dick (which you obviously haven't/don't) you wouldn't be such a grammar nazi and prude.”

He and Trevor would probably make great friends.

Update: Let's Date writes to clarify that "while the users may have met on Let's Date, the inappropriate photo was not sent via Let's Date as the app's messaging platform does not allow users to send pictures to each other, they are only able to send text."

Photo via Guys With iPhones

[Happy_Go_Lucky]

Recently, the news and the Internet have been abuzz with stories about Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg and pop star Beyoncé Knowles and their mission to ban the word “bossy” as it applies to girls and women. Their campaign makes sense. It’s no secret that in America, attributes praised in men are often vilified in women. Where a man is bold, confident, daring and a real “go-getter”, a woman is aggressive, bitchy, cocky or a “ball-breaker”. In other words, assertive girls and women get called “bossy”.

Little girls who emerge as natural leaders on the playground are discouraged from being “bossy”. Where little boys might be encouraged to seize the reins of whatever game or activity in which they’re engaged, little girls are scolded to “share”, and “let so-and-so take control, now”. It’s as if being a natural leader is a bad thing, a threat to their femininity. Or worse, a girl’s assertiveness emasculates the boys around her.

Labelling anyone with a negative description like “bossy” damages their self-esteem. And it just isn’t fair. It isn’t fair to squash a girl’s natural leadership skills so that she isn’t labelled as aggressive. Yet while I agree with the thesis behind Ms. Sandberg’s and Ms. Knowles’ campaign, I believe that another term should be eliminated as well. I want to destroy, once and for all, the myth of the “Angry Black Woman”.

Just like the “bossy” label, the Angry Black Woman (ABW) label diminishes and trivializes the experiences and feelings of Black women. If every time a Black woman asserts her rights she gets pigeon-holed as an ABW, her voice is silenced. No one hears her.

The exception, of course, is when Black women speak out for issues that affect men, too. Our outrage is fine as long as we’re marching for civil rights or protesting new voting laws which seek to disenfranchise minorities. Our wrath is justified when we decry the modern day lynching of our young Black men under the Stand Your Ground laws. When we’re rallying against these injustices, our tears are celebrated, held up as emblems of the struggle: grieving mothers, clutching the photographs of our slain sons. But the moment we speak up for ourselves, we become the Angry Black Woman.

http://www.forharriet.com/2014/03/ba...y-we-must.html

[*Anya*]

Originally Posted by Happy_Go_Lucky

Recently, the news and the Internet have been abuzz with stories about Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg and pop star Beyoncé Knowles and their mission to ban the word “bossy” as it applies to girls and women. Their campaign makes sense. It’s no secret that in America, attributes praised in men are often vilified in women. Where a man is bold, confident, daring and a real “go-getter”, a woman is aggressive, bitchy, cocky or a “ball-breaker”. In other words, assertive girls and women get called “bossy”.

Little girls who emerge as natural leaders on the playground are discouraged from being “bossy”. Where little boys might be encouraged to seize the reins of whatever game or activity in which they’re engaged, little girls are scolded to “share”, and “let so-and-so take control, now”. It’s as if being a natural leader is a bad thing, a threat to their femininity. Or worse, a girl’s assertiveness emasculates the boys around her.

Labelling anyone with a negative description like “bossy” damages their self-esteem. And it just isn’t fair. It isn’t fair to squash a girl’s natural leadership skills so that she isn’t labelled as aggressive. Yet while I agree with the thesis behind Ms. Sandberg’s and Ms. Knowles’ campaign, I believe that another term should be eliminated as well. I want to destroy, once and for all, the myth of the “Angry Black Woman”.

Just like the “bossy” label, the Angry Black Woman (ABW) label diminishes and trivializes the experiences and feelings of Black women. If every time a Black woman asserts her rights she gets pigeon-holed as an ABW, her voice is silenced. No one hears her.

The exception, of course, is when Black women speak out for issues that affect men, too. Our outrage is fine as long as we’re marching for civil rights or protesting new voting laws which seek to disenfranchise minorities. Our wrath is justified when we decry the modern day lynching of our young Black men under the Stand Your Ground laws. When we’re rallying against these injustices, our tears are celebrated, held up as emblems of the struggle: grieving mothers, clutching the photographs of our slain sons. But the moment we speak up for ourselves, we become the Angry Black Woman.

http://www.forharriet.com/2014/03/ba...y-we-must.html

We saw Brandi Chastain on Chopped last week. I had the same reaction when she spoke about her non-profit: Bay Area Women's Sports Initiative (BAWSI). She said, "We call it BAWSI".

She laughed and clearly pronounced it "bossy". Really bothered me.

[Happy_Go_Lucky]

A disagreement over the discovery of the cause of Down’s syndrome has resurfaced in France more than 50 years after the findings were published.

The dispute erupted again at the French Federation of Human Genetics' (FFGH) seventh biennial congress on human and medical genetics in Bordeaux at the end of last month.

Paediatric cardiologist Marthe Gautier, who was involved in the experiments that led to the identification of the extra copy of chromosome 21 — the cause of the syndrome — was due to relate her role in the discovery when two bailiffs arrived with a court authorization to record the session. The FFGH then decided at the last minute to cancel Gautier's presentation

http://www.nature.com/news/down-s-sy...france-1.14690

Speaking of men stealing women's work product.....