Comments for THE FWORD

Comment on Things I Love by Burqa

Burqa — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 14:11:58 +0000

[...] Nussbaum has been writing about why it should not be acceptable for liberal democracies to ban the burqa. I particularly liked this comment from a [...]

Comment on What is Female? by Anne

Anne — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 03:37:51 +0000

Resolved: http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/07/06/female-runner-allowed-to-compete-as-a-female/

Comment on Love Drugs. by Anne

Anne — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 23:04:41 +0000

Furthermore, by calling athleticism “sterile” and narrow hips “desexualized,” Paglia assumes an essentialist view of the body image a woman ought to aspire to in order to be considered attractive. By denigrating the femininity of certain body types, she denies the validity of varied ideals of sexual attractiveness produced under different cultural and economic conditions. Even something like (artificially) blackened teeth was once considered attractive in Elizabethan England, because they made a person appear to be wealthy enough to be able to consume sugar excessively. Plumper body types were valued in dynastic China because they similarly suggested greater wealth and ability to afford food.

Moreover, it’s not like a woman who naturally has narrow hips is inherently androgynous. By calling those think otherwise confused, Paglia privileges body types that might occur in greater frequencies among some populations than others.

Comment on Love Drugs. by Anne

Anne — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 01:57:05 +0000

*she being camille paglia

Comment on Love Drugs. by Anne

Anne — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 01:52:00 +0000

Aside from the dichotomy between genders, what I find most insidious is the dichotomy she creates between a “racy,” “healthy” lower-middle class minorities that generates “electrifying sexual imagery,” and the “efficient” and “drained” middle-class. She’s noble-savage-izing and objectifying what she mischaracterizes as the more “raw” sexual expressions of those minority and class groups. The premise of her argument is both reductive and culturally insensitive. We already have enough problems with unfavorable stereotypes that make associations between race and lasciviousness.

Comment on Stuff Feminists Like #1 Women that ROCK their hair by Koré

Koré — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:50:04 +0000

I spent a year studying abroad and living au-pair with a family with two children, aged 3 and 5. I had short hair then and was starting to grow it, wearing some days a headband (that had a flower). The youngest child in this family used to tell me daily “today you’re a boy” or “today you’re a girl” depending on the absence or presence of said headband. His older brother mostly agreed. One day I wore a skirt and no headband, and they doubted a little, but finally decided I was a boy wearing a skirt
I recently read that identifying masculinity or feminity with the social symbols of it is what little children do in that phase where it seems so important for them determine whose team are you on.
The facebook comments on this post reminded me of all this. Maybe he/she’s a child at heart

Comment on Stumbled on this… by Mae

Mae — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 03:07:06 +0000

There’s an interesting one in the same series as a reaction against the modernity discourse of the 70s -

‘Feminists using modernity discourse speak on behalf of others who are, implicitly, unable to see for themselves how bad such media texts as women’s magazines are. They need to be enlightened; they need good feminist texts in order to be saved from their false consciousnesses and to live a life free of false depictions as mediated by women’s’ magazines, of where a woman might find happiness.’ – Joke Hermes

There’s the saying – feminism is the radical notion that women are people. Someone has produced this image with the caption – Feminism is the radical notion that women should be treated as oversized children.

They have a point…

but the image you found, it epitomises the reason feminism needs to exist. You can hear the voice of patriachy!

Comment on IMPERATIVE FLING REMINDERS!!!1!!eleven!! by Jared

Jared — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 04:33:39 +0000

Well i guess feminine and feline do share 5 letters, 7 if you double count the i’s and n’s.

Comment on Stumbled on this… by Jared

Jared — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 04:12:02 +0000

Yeah cause all strong, smart and independent people never break down and need someone to lean on when things get rough. Good point, whoever made this poster. You sure captured the hypocrisy of feminism here.

Comment on IMPERATIVE FLING REMINDERS!!!1!!eleven!! by Rachel

Rachel — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 03:06:13 +0000

Hey Jared,

I posted this because our blog is a collection of feminist voices–voices that are just as often funny and unassuming as they are thought-provoking and critical. As I explained above, Snoop has been weighing heavy on our minds for the past few weeks, so I wanted to lighten our (and our readers’!) mood a bit with this small moment of feline delight.

Rachel