Transgender Day Of Remembrance

Today is the Transgender Day Of Remembrance. This comes at a time when Duanna Johnson's murder should be present in our minds. Statistics tell that at least one transgendered person is murdered every month, often with no justice served. Duanna Johnson's death has also ignited the progressive people of color LGBT blogosphere, since the video taped police brutality leading up to the death of a black transwoman seems to be taking a back seat to the marriage equality agenda. Which in some ways, with no disrespect to Duanna Johnson, i feel is understandable considering the momentum and magnitude of these historical elections, and the millions of people disenfranchized by Prop 8. But issues of class, gender and most definitely race further embroil tensions, even as memes in the news still perpetuate the idea that black people magically voted in Prop 8 while being only 6 percent of the electorate (new studies show age to be a more predicatble factor in who voted yes on 8... lets not start hatin' on the grannies now people...). For some, it would seem that marriage equality is not the priority when people's lives are in danger. Which is also, very understandable.

Alameda County Joins Growing Lawsuit Against Prop 8

Good News!! reposted from Chris Metinko's article in the Oakand Tribune:

The Alameda County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday agreed to join San Francisco and Los Angeles counties in a lawsuit asking the state's high court to void Proposition 8 on the grounds that voters did not have the authority to make, what they claim, is a revision to the state's constitution.

Prop. 8, which passed with 52 percent of the vote earlier this month, overturned the state's Supreme Court's decision in the spring which legalized gay marriage. The measure changes the constitution to limit marriage to that only between a man and a woman.

The suit, which also has been joined by Santa Clara County, claims any measure is not merely an amendment to the state's constitution, but rather a major revision and should therefore have had to pass through the state Assembly and Senate before going to the voters this November.

Its going down y'all.

Reportback From The Oakland No On 8 Protest.

Wow. I'm just recovering from co-organizing this rally. I have to give mega-props to fellow organizers Monifa Porter, Lawrence Ellis, Maya Scott-Chung, Carrie Leiser-Williams, Jen-Mei Wu and special props to Natalee Kehaulani, Molly McKay, Michelle Rodriguez, Aimee Suzara, Xiaojing Wang, Chelsey Oda, Ruth Villasenor, Sapana Doshi and Tracey Osbourne for all the support, behind the scenes work, and documenting (awesome pics Natalee! check here to peep the beauty!). So much love and respect also going out to those who delivered an uplifting, essential performance. And much love to everyone who showed up, and all who support this cause in any way!

This was really difficult to get together, with zero time for outreach (i still have so many flyers leftover!!) so we are thankful that it actually had a really good turnout!! There was a point in the organizing process where we came up against a huge obstacle. The name of that obstacle was unconscious racism. Without naming anyone, i will say that two queer white men (not listed above) who did a lot of work to procure the permits, and get some high profile politicians to sign on... also then proceeded to feel a sense of ownership over the process, and was expressing their unconscious racism by not wanting to "allow" people of color from Oakland communities to represent on the mainstage. Yes, we are taking about Oakland! They felt that they "couldn't be racist" because they invited Congresswoman Barbara Lee & Mayor Ron Dellums (who didn't show unfortunately). As a straight ally, i didn't feel like i could get all up in their face about how effed up their politics were. This really could have turned into a protest of the mostly poc organizers against a whitewahed rally in Oakland, with a separate stage of people more represenative of Oakland. But in the end, we actually came to a compromise. And it became a micrcosm for the work that has to be done to move forward into positive Change. So despite differences of vision and consciousness, and across lines of race, privilege and sexuality... we worked it out, and shared the stage and had a beautiful program.

There was so much that happened. The Two Spirit-Drummers created sacred space by opening and closing the event with the sacred ceremonial drum Two Eagles, which had been made by Two-Spirit/LGBT Native elders. We heard from LGBTQ families of various backgrounds. We heard from recently married couples. We heard a maybe 8 year old boy speak simple yet immensely powerful words about the humanity of his two moms. There was an emotional testimony from City Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan. Aimee Suzara took the crowd by storm, debuting her poem "Dangerous" that was made for that moment in time (go to aimeesuzara.net to read it and see what else this amazing poet/educator/perfromer is up to!)). And there was much much more. I was proud to represent str8 black ally, and to evoke to power of the ally: Bio allies for Transfolks, Men and boy allies for girls and women, white allies for people of color (white allies that would intercept dialogue that would make people look at me and assume i voted yes on prop 8, etc). I also then presented a piece that was directed towards people of faith who interpret their sacred texts to disapprove of love between people of the same sex. I call it the Parable Of Empathy (forward liberally, but please ask permission before utilizing in a program or something):

.................................................

Parable Of Empathy

You, who love your God, Love your place of worship, love your community
Hear me.

Imagine that your religion, like all religions have been, is oppressed by a majority religion.

Imagine that this majority religion has a lot of power.

Imagine that the people of this majority religion very deeply believed that your ways were wrong, immoral, heathenlike. And though you love your ways and they are so right for you, it was wrong for them.

Imagine that they used their power to take away your places of worship that you so dearly love.

How would you feel?

How would you feel, knowing that instead of just loving their gods, they chose to take the time and energy to strike down how you love your God, strike down your place of worship, strike down your community?

How would you feel, knowing that the people of this powerful religion are people that you work with? Friends? Members of your family?

In your heart, you would know that not everyone in this powerful religion did this, but wouldn’t it be difficult to see the humanity of those who associate with people who assaulted your way of of living and loving?

Humanity
Is what we need to cultivate right now.
We all have a task up ahead.
And that is for everyone, on both sides
To figure out how to see the Humanness
In the other.


(c) rmw 2008
http://fem-men-ist.blogspot.com

...........................................................................

Yes yes y'all. The work towards affirming the humanity of all continues! And I have good feelings about these revolutionary baby steps we are making. Fight The H8! Liberate The Love!

Protest The H8. Historical Nationwide March This Saturday Coming To A City Hall Near You.

*This just in! Oakland is now on the map for the nationwide protest! This Saturday, 10:30am, Frank Ogawa Plaza! I proud to say I am one of the organizers, please hit me up with contacts for speakers, poets, conscious comedians, community leaders, etc at str8blackally@gmail.com! And for those who use Facebook, spread the word thru this link:
http://www.facebook.com/inbox/?ref=mb#/event.php?eid=43126081702
Coo? Lets do this!

The momentum of change continues people! This very well may be the largest protest in the history of the United States that was organized in **3 DAYS**. Protests have been rallied together to be occurring simultaneously in over 80 cities, all 50 states. And now its gone international, with allied protests in Canada, the UK, France, Puerto Rico, Japan, China...Wow. This is the next level right here people. The unfortunate passing of Prop 8 has sparked what might be one of the largest manifestations of the LGBTQ Civil Rights movement. I know I want to be a part of it. Go To Join The Impact (hosted by Wetpaint) to see where the protest nearest you is, and when it will happening to in order for it to be synchronized, all-city style.

Aw man, they took down the awesome timeline of response to JoinTheImpact.com... basically, how this movement happened! They are juggling servers with all the traffic they are getting, maybe it got lost. Luckily I left a window open with it on there, i cut and paste, check this out:

1. November 7^th – Launch (original Join The Impact blog)
   
2. 5 Hours post launch – First 10,000 visitors
3. Midnight on November 7^th – 20 cities organizing
4. November 8^th (Afternoon)– Thanks to the help of organizers, we made CNN’s iReport.
5. November 8^th (Evening) – Our site hit 35K visitors
6. November 9^th (Morning) – 30 cities organizing
7. November 9^th (Afternoon) – We got the attention of ParezHilton.com
8. November 9^th (Evening) – The tipping point – Traffic jumped to 50K visitors/hour. With the help of Hostdango.com, we immediately switched to a new webhost (Generously donated by Hostdango!)
9. November 10^th 8am PST – Our initiative goes international! Now there are protests being planned around the world for the exact same minute on November 15^th!
10. November 10^th 10am PST – Hostdango shows even more generousity by upgrading us to an amazingly robust server to ensure that we can handle the traffic! That server goes live the morning of November 11^th!
11. November 10^th 11am PST – WetPaint.com enters the mix of local Seattle based companies donating time and services. Thanks to WetPaint, we now have an amazing Wiki to upload contact information and protest locations for every single city! They created a social site just for us: http://jointheimpact.wetpaint.com.
12. November 10^th 11pm PST – All 50 states have local organizers in over 80 cities!!!
13. We have had almost 1million visitors to the site since launch!

Incredible. History being made right here folks. I'm just waiting for the next revolutionary movement to step up, whats next??

In the meantime... Say No To H8! And Liberate The Love!

URGENT CALL TO STRAIGHT-IDENTIFIED BLACK MEN / STRAIGHT ALLIES

My brothers, we need to TALK.

I know that we are glowing from the beautiful and historical triumph of Barack Obama becoming President Elect. But with the passing of Prop 8, we have left so many of our LGBTQ brothers and sisters behind.

With statistics that showed that 70% of black voters voted for prop 8, it becomes clear that there is urgent discussion and healing that needs to be done in our communities.

Now.

You don’t have to be a super activist or anything. Just a brotha with a conscience. I would love to hear from straight ally sistas too, but i really think at this is work that at least initially black men need to take on. If anyone wants to form a sister group, beautiful! Holla!! And for LGBTQ folks reading this (especially those of African descent), please feel free to let me know what your idea of a good straight ally is in this context, though you are not expected to educate me/us.

All who fit these criteria, please contact me at str8blackally@gmail.com or right here. And a way that everyone and anyone can help... start a dialogue here, and also please forward this on to others in the Bay Area (lets start local).

I can’t do this alone, and our LGBTQ family can’t wait. Humanity can’t wait. Let us harness the wave of change that is sweeping our nation. We need to act now. I look forward to hearing from you!

blessings,
richard
str8 black ally

ps to be CLEAR, black folks were NOT the majority of Yes On 8 voters. I believe we were like 6% of the vote. This is not about vilifying or targeting black people. It is an acknowledgment of deep work that has to be done in our communities, work that i strongly encourage others to do in their own communities as well.

pps i would ALSO like to emphasize that it should not be assumed that same-sex marriage is a priority in all LGBTQ lives. It is a choice. For some, there is a choice to invest energy in other issues where discrimination could actually be life threatening. Also, still others may see marriage as an archaic institution steeped in patriarchy and capitalism, a trope of heterosexual culture that some can do without. All very understandable. To me anyway. To be clear, I am allying with LGBTQ folks who are affected by Prop 8 passing. And i would like to see this heterosexual privilege topple. Blesss....

Envision... Two Little Black Girls Living And Playing In The White House!

Thank you Bea, for this most precious image! I am now holding it in my heart and mind with a smile that I will have when I cast my ballot. My good friend, Beandrea Davis CYT of JoyfullyBea.com always BRINGS IT in a most positive and insightful way. A magic weaver, helping others to weave magic too. I invite you to also hold this image, as you vote (if you haven't voted already!!) Beandrea goes on to say:

The image of two Black girls living in the White House, being tucked in at night by their parents – the President and First Lady of the United States of America – fills me with hope. I see them laughing, having sleepovers, playing. (I recently read their mother actually puts “play” on to-do lists for them!) Malia and Sasha Obama are ages 10 and 7, and they are Black. Two Black girls living in the White House. The sweetness of that picture!

Mmmm. Yes. I Vote For The New Sweetness!! Ashé! more>>

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.

Vote No On Prop 8: Marriage Equality For All. Fundraiser & Afterparty, Thursday October 2nd.

The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry present

For Faith, For Love, Forever:
In Support of Marriage Equality

A Fundraiser to defeat California Proposition 8 (Ban On Gay Marriage), featuring the cast of "Noah's Arc"

Thursday, October 2, 2008
7:00pm to 9:00pm

First Congregational Church of Oakland
2501 Harrison Street, Oakland, CA

Central to the debate on same-sex marriage in the African-American community is the institution of the black church. Despite media portrayals suggesting complete disapproval, African-American clergy have a variety of opinions on same-sex marriage. This event will highlight an inclusive vision among African-American pastors and ministers, including:

* Rev. Roland Stringfellow, director of the Bay Area Coalition of Welcoming Congregations
* Rev. Lynice Pinkard, pastor, First Congregational Church of Oakland
* Rev. Francine Brookins, pastor, Wright Chapel A.M.E. Church San Francisco
* Dr. Dorsey Blake, Dean of the Faculty Starr King School for the Ministry

Joining in the discussion will be the cast of the hit Logo network television series Noah's Arc. The cast will share their thoughts on making the first black gay love story for the big screen. Voter registration and "No on Prop 8" information will be available following this forum.

__________________________________________________________________________


Club Rimshot presents

The After Party @ The Vibe Lounge

2272 Telegraph Ave, Oakland
Thursday, October 2, 2008
9:30 pm - 2:00 am

$20 general admission / $40 dollars for VIP
Advance tickets are available at http://equalitytownhall.eventbrite.com/

100% of the proceeds from the door will be donated to the "No on Proposition 8" campaign.

The Invisible Woman

I saw someone post this on Facebook (shocker! i'm on Facebook :) and i watched it... the woman talks about being invisiblized in social/familial spaces... i was nodding, and kinda waited to hear the commentary grow around how women are invisiblized by sexist cultures and institutions... i really thought it was coming, then it took a turn that i wasn't expecting (is anyone else familiar with Nicole Johnson?). I really liked the cathedral metaphor, but umm, i was a bit disappointed with her final message to women around being invisiblized, which to me felt rather pacifying. That's just me though. But its funny that a 1940's movie, "The Invisible Woman" ended up being more radical around women being marginalized and invisibilized in the workplace. (below). In another blog around presidential politics, Sue Gordon makes a more poignant and personal commentary around being invisiblized as a black woman, which also refers to how Michelle Obama has been invisiblized.

MadCat 12 Women's International Film Festival Starts Today- AND only *9* days left to Frida Kahlo Exhibit at SFMOMA!

hello peoples, just a quick shout out on the bay area art scene, it is highly recommended to peep the MadCat 12 Women's International Film Festival. My friend Therese hipped me to this, it sounds very special. And you absolutely HAVE TO see the Frida Kahlo exhibit before it leaves the SFMOMA. You had a lot of time to peep it, time is running out! I saw it yesterday, i was very emotionally affected, overstimulated, inspired... and you just fall in love with her, and respect her strength, vulnerability, passion, vision and much more as you take in her beautifully visceral and sometimes downright anguished images. Not. To. Be. Missed.

"Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace And Humming Bird" -Frida Kahlo

More Feminist Organizations Are Backing Obama.

Oh this is good news, thank you Feministing. I've been deliberately trying not to just post about... someone else (one could blog about her alone and nothing else) so its good to be able to speak more to the constructive and positive news around Obama's campaign. Apparently there was a press conference of Women's Organizations who are supporting Obama. I am also glad to see that the National Organization for Women is backing Obama after backing Clinton. As well as the National Congress Of Black Women and several others.

I also like the quote that Miriam of Feministing culled from the conference: "We don't think it's much to break a glass ceiling for one woman and leave millions of women behind." See her article for more links.

Haiku Tribute To Ancestral Queens Of Liberation

Nanny of Maroons
Jamaica’s warrior queen
spirit of the hills

Harriet Tubman
forged freedom in the crossroads
mystic eyes guide souls

Just A Bit About Sarah Palin.

*and be sure to peep the Women Against Sarah Palin blog (Thanks for the heads up Sylvia!), and also Poplicks "A Good Progressive's Guide To Criticizing (And Not Criticizing) Sarah Palin".

.........................................................................................

hey everybody, hope you are having a great weekend- sorry about the lapse in time since my last post. But surely, it just gave you an opportunity to go through all the juicy archives :)

So yeah, yeah. Sarah Palin. The insane arrival of the anti-celebrity to Obama's meaningful message celebrity is here. A lot has already been said. About how insultingly transparent McCain's choice is. "Look! I nominated a woman! Some might even refer to her as a VPILF! (not my or McCain's quote, saw that somewhere random)" About how sad it would be if pro-Clinton people actually bought it went and voted for McCain so that a woman with worse conservative politics than anyone running could be elected VP. Shoo, if Condaleeza Rice was running, i wouldn't vote for her just cuz she is black. But something has been gnawing a bit at me... how the media seems to be protecting her around the issues of her pregnant 17 year old daughter. Of course, someone as young as that should be protected from the media. But lets put it this way... what would have happened if the Obamas had a pregnant 17 year old daughter? I think we all know the answer to that one.

The Daily Show did some stuff on "the gender card" in the Palin campaign, and shows so many double standards in the reporting, its funny. The same people who were roasting Hilary and being overtly sexist are now crying foul and wagging shame shame shame at all the criticism Palin is getting, because it obviously comes from "deep rooted sexism". Vomit! Of course, even just the phrase "gender card" is so loaded because, much like "race card", it is usually used by people with privilege who don't want to look at their own crap. But this is such a perversion of it, where people in power who don't actually give a flying @#$! about women's rights are using this as a political strategy to protect a woman who reflects their anti-feminist values.

You'll need to turn up the volume on the actual interface when you go to the Daily Show page. Enjoy!

...........................................................................................

oh JEEZ. i had to put another addendum to this. i try to not post too much about presidential politics cuz it seems to overshadow everything else. And i think everyone by now knows about the laundry list of why Palin is a very scary person. but DAMN. upon simply visiting Feministing, i see them further elucidating that new polls are showing more white women voting favoring McCain/Palin since her nomination; that not only are major news outlets like the Wall Street Journal, NPR and LA Times referring to Palin as a FEMINIST, but that she is also a Sexy SuperMom, Skirt Wearing Feminist that Hilary could have learned something from (like wearing more skirts). It is chilling to see the media laud this woman with terrifying values as so wonderful. Do newscasters have children? Or do they eat them? Sigh, i guess this is just one of the ways capitalisms screws us, paying people to say stuff that is actually bad for people. And oh yes, Feministing also schooled me that Sarah Palin as mayor made sure that rape survivors would have to pay $1200 to ensure that their rapist could be identified by a forensics rape kit. Ok, clearly, i need to start some grassroots Obama/Biden work very soon.