Just To Be Sure We Are Clear On Propositions, California...

NO on Props 4, 6, 8 & 9, YES on 2, 5 & 12, YES on OO, VV & WW.

This was well researched, only props N and NN are leaving us kinda going either way, but we gravitated towards Yes for N, and No for NN.

here are some resources so you can make your own decisions, though i know you trust me just fine :) See you in Obamaland next week!

http://www.cagreens.org/

http://www.sfbg.com/

http://igs.berkeley.edu/library/hot_topics/2008/Nov2008Election/index.html

http://oaklandea.com/

Finally, A Comprehensive Online Resource For TransYouth!

For real! When I started this blog, I was amazed at how few online resources there were for transfolk. This website seems to really make up for it though. Its called TransYouth.com. Thanks to the lovely people blogging over at Good Vibrations, I am now able to bring this to you... I think me and GV are starting a blog love affair, posting articles from each others blogs :) They are awesome, and reminding me that i should be putting more sex positive posts out there too.

Wanda Sykes On Gay Marriage

**CONTAINS ADULT LANGUAGE/PROFANITY. IF UNDER 18, PLEASE CHECK OUT ONE OF THE OTHER POSTS. There's good stuff, truss me

Whooo! I didn't know that Wanda Sykes was this awesome! this is hilarious, and deals with the psychology around this issue with brilliance. Humor is definitely the way to get these kinda points across, kudos to her. I am also amped to see a prominent sista in the entertainment world take this on.

One of my favorite quotes that just says it all with undeniable simplicity: "if you don't believe in same-sex marriage... then DON'T MARRY SOMEONE OF THE SAME SEX!" You know?

Tribe 8: Vote NO on Proposition 8

I am proud to feature this PSA on my blog, featuring my multi-talented and kick-ass friend Leslie Mah (who is also my tattoo artist). Leslie Mah and Lynn Breedlove of the hard rockin Tribe 8 band deliver an important message. Its up to us to help ensure that archaic ideas that would deny millions of loving, consenting adults the right to get married do NOT get written into law.

This is a moment in time not too dissimilar from when social movements were galvanizing to topple oppressive miscegenation laws in this country, pushing the idea of illegal interracial marriage further into cultural obsolescence. Lets continue to evolve, shall we?

Also help out by donating to make sure that this and other messages get out to voters who have been deluged with lies (that if the discriminating Prop 8 doesn't pass then churches will be taxed, it will affect education... bald faced, desperate lies!!). See the Equality California site and the No On Prop 8 site for details.

Also be sure to vote No on 4, 6 & 9!!

The Best of fem.men.ist: A 6 Month Retrospective.

Happy 6 month anniversary to fem.men.ist! :)

Wow. its already been 6 months since i decided to try out this "blogging thing". It actually started as an idea to create a social networking page for women (bio or trans) who wanted to meet feminist men, but it gradually turned into the discourse you see here.

Over the 6 months, It has made me really happy to see that my relatively new blog has been getting thousands of hits comprised of people from every continent on the planet, much less to see that college websites and a campus safety website are listing fem.men.ist as a resource. I have also been really grateful to all the other progressive bloggers who have put me in their blogroll. And of course, I am very grateful to anyone who has commented here, or in person, and to all the lurkers who come back time and time again. :)

SO! Fave posts. Your faves, my faves. I got a couple categories, here goes:


Most Popular "101" Posts.
These posts consistently got a lot of hits, and dealt with fundamental definitions and strategies.

The Male Privilege Checklist (gets many many hits every week!)
Five Ways To Be A Trans Ally (A serious post, very helpful)
The Roots Of Xicanisma (Xicanisma, or Chicana Feminism, defined)


Signature fem.men.ist posts:
These deal with issues that are close to my heart & culture, and pertain mostly to issues of sexuality and masculinity.

Thoughts On Jamaica, Masculinity, Performing Gender, Orishas & House Music (i LOVE this post! This is stuff I have thought about for awhile, which intersects personal identities as a Jamaican, a dj, a man, a follower of Orisha, etc)

Homophobia In Jamaica: Thoughts Intersecting Current Politics, Dancehall, Colonialism, Religion, Slavery & Jamaican Patriarchy. (My signature post on homophobia in Jamaica.)

Nostalgia For The Gender Fluid 80's (Could Ready For The World drop now? Earth Wind And Fire? Or can black men only embody a 50 Cent kind of masculinity in the media? This still gets a lot of hits too)


other fem.men.ist faves

Upstream : Prosem About Being An Ally. (This was my first to take on a more creative poetic structure. Also see the post i did last month which was a haiku tribute to Nanny Of The Maroons and Harriet Tubman.)

Report Back From The SFWAR Walk Against Rape (This was a very special and inspiring day. Spirit willing, I want to do this walk every year. Hopefully will have some other men of color down to walk with me too, but i wanna walk regardless)

What Is One Sexist Thing You Are Trying To Unlearn? (Was really trying to create dialogue with this one! It caused some good discussions, on and offline.)

Not So Nice Outside: Street Harassment Is The Rage This Season. (Did this post during the summer. A VERY surprising comment dialogue came from this one!)


MOST CONTROVERSIAL POST!
Whew. Hands down:

Bob Marley's "Kinky Reggae": A Coded Song Preaching Tolerance For Homosexuality And Jamaican Sexual Taboos? (This also holds the record for most commented post. [56 comments at last count!!] And the comments range from agreement, to drawing anger from Rastas, to somehow becoming delvings into erotica written in patois... and much more. This was an intense one, watch di ride!)


So yes, enjoy clicking and reading and commenting and bookmarking and forwarding! There is of course, much more going on in the archives, and perhaps you will find other posts that are your "hands down" favorites. Already, even the post right below this one is getting a crazy amount of hits (Heterosexuality Is A House Of Cards That Can Collapse Anytime! Too. Frikkin. Hilarious).

Thanks again for helping to make this a successful blog. If this has helped make just one male bodied person change their perspective around their privilege, sexism and heterosexism, i feel like i have done my job. No On Props 4, 6, 8 and 9, Go Obama, all power to the people. Bless up!

with love and solidarity,
richard

Heterosexuality Is A House Of Cards That Can Collapse At Any Time!

An instructional video for men on how to maintain ones heterosexuality. Hilarious!

41st Radical Women Conference, Oct 3-6, SF: The Persistent Power Of Socialist Feminism.

Radical Women's 41st Anniversary Conference
The Women's Building, 3543 18th St.
October 3-6, 2008, San Francisco

Theme: The Persistent Power of Socialist Feminism.

Speakers: Civil rights attorney Lynne Stewart and activists and scholars from Central America, China, Australia and the U.S.

Key topics: Multi-racial organizing; the dynamic leadership of youth and queers; women of color and immigrant women spark a labor revival; declaring independence from the twin parties of war.

Workshops: Skills building for women organizers; political theory; movement strategy and much, much more.

Radical Women’s 41st Anniversary Conference occurs at a very important time. Around the world, women are part of a bold resistance to reactionary social and political forces. In Latin America, women and indigenous people are providing vibrant workingclass leadership against crippling neoliberal trade agreements. In Mexico, “Adelita” brigades shut down congress to oppose privatization of the nationalized oil industry. These movements provide a powerful stimulus to the entire hemisphere.

In the U.S., women are both targets and opponents of repression. In the anti-war, racial equality, immigrant, labor, student and queer movements, organizing is sparked and driven by women, especially women of color. They demand justice for Sean Bell and Black youth in Jena as well as funding for services in New Orleans. They oppose racist shock-jocks and lead unionization campaigns. They have stopped shipments of Iraq war supplies on the streets of Washington State. They defend civil liberties and continue the fight for affirmative action, childcare, and an end to sexual violence. They infuse the immigrant rights movement with militancy inspired by anti-imperialist upsurges in Latin America and fueled by the fight against U.S. xenophobia.

U.S. women are fighting tooth and nail to keep gains won by past generations, as well as to advance women’s cause. But feminist reformists and NGOs hold back the movement by diverting organizing into single-issue and Democratic Party politics. Radical Women looks for inspiration and strategies to our revolutionary socialist foremothers, and to the civil rights militants, students, lesbians, and unionists who spearheaded the Second Wave women’s liberation movement. Such women today are the sparkplugs for radical change and, by working in coalition with supportive men who have their own stake in achieving human liberation, they can truly shake the status quo.

For more information or to register, go to www.RadicalWomen.org
or contact the Conference Organizing Center at
radicalwomenus@gmail.com or 206-722-6057 or 206-722-2453.