UPDATE: A Side of Personal Accomplishment

Be sure to glance at a copy of The Chicago Tribune tomorrow. A letter to the editor written by yours truly will be in the "Voice of the People" section! For those of you who might not know me personally, this will be my second editorial.
Admittedly, I deleted the file with my editorial on it, so I can't sneak you a peak and tell you what I said verbatim. I can tell you, however, that my piece was in response to a column which noted the lack of "nice" female political figures. In the editorial, I tell it like it is and share what I think makes a good president.
Tomorrow, the full text will be posted, as well as an analysis of my analysis.

"In "By ignoring slur, McCain said a lot," columnist Leonard Pitts suggests that niceness is an important trait in political candidates, a characteristic of which he claims all female politicians are devoid. Even if I were to ignore the blatant sexism and assume that Pitts is correct in his observation, one question still lingers: So what?

Our next president must be steadfast in opinion and articulate at the podium. America needs someone opinionated, firm and passionate to guide her through this time of international change and conflict. Of traits a leader needs to succeed, "nice" hardly makes the Top 20.

Will American voters elect a leader or a golfing buddy?"

(Click here to read my editorial on The Trib's page, and click here to read Pitts' original post.)

Will "niceness" be an important trait for you to consider when you vote in '08? Do you believe, that Pitts is being sexist, or just giving an honest opinion?

Stripping off Our Rights

You'd better put that sexy Mrs. Claus costume back in the closet because you better dress up in a burqa for your holiday office party unless you want your rights taken away.

I'm not a fan of Fox News, but in a recent interview Marc Rudov (anti-women swine extraordinaire) suggested that "between the EEOC rules and the Violence Against Women Act, the workplace has become a dangerous place for men." His opponent in the debate, Lis Wiehl, made a solid point in that the EEOC rules and Violence Against Women Act are there to ensure fairness in the workplace. Please watch the video before continuing.



The world that Rudov is proposing is one where the rights of women are stripped by the inch of skin that they reveal. It's a world where women are stripped of their rights to protect "Constitutional rights" (read: men). Correct me if I'm wrong, but last time I checked, the Constitution protected both sexes.

Columnist Marrin Hopes It's Reigning Men

Brit publication The Times is noted for it's frequently sexist articles on fashion, dating, and culture, but nothing takes the patriarchal self-serving cake like this little beauty, in which columnist Minette Marrin asks, "Are men really necessary?"

Marrin notes the "onslaught against masculinity," how women are becoming more in control of their financial, social, and emotional lives. Many women, Marrin writes with horror, are becoming, get this: independent! "It is hardly surprising," Marrin says, "that men increasingly feel dispensable."

Marrin goes on to say that single women and lesbians undermine a man's sense of his own masculinity, and produces a nice little rant about why we women need men: "Men have wonderful qualities which women often lack and need. Men are much more likely than women to be of exceptionally high – and exceptionally low – intelligence; they are on average stronger, funnier, and have a better three-dimensional sense and they are usually better at techy things."

The only quality a man has that women lack is a penis, and women only need that for purposes of procreation, which is purely optional and in no way a prerequisite for womanhood. (I ignore heterosexual intercourse, which I would only consider a nice perk, and only for some.)

And just in case our female readers thought their place was outside the kitchen or the bedroom, Marrin reminds us to keep churning out those babies. "Researchers warned that couples should beware of swapping traditional roles." (She does not cite this research.)

Marrin sums up her point by concluding, "What we need is the rehabilitation of real masculinity, because that is something most of us do need and like." She doesn't go on to describe "real masculinity," but if it's anything like her marginalized 50's-style real femininity, Marrin better leave the column-writing to the big boys and get back in the kitchen.

"Ho?" Oh no!

In Sydney, Australia, "Santas" are no longer permitted to say "Ho, ho, ho!" as this may "be offensive to women." Instead, they must replace the classic cry with "Ha, ha, ha!"

As silly as this seems, I'm not laughing.

I doubt any women worked to pass this restriction. This faux resolution claims to looks out for women, yet it's only purpose is to further the patriarchal stereotype of the frivolous women.

Movie Review: Enchanted

The story is that a sweet forest girl named Giselle (Amy Adams) meets her true love, Prince Edward (James Marsden), while he is taking down a giant. Edward's evil mother, in the form of an old hag, pushes Giselle down a well into "a place of no love and no happy endings." Once in New York City, Giselle is greeted by sarcasm and hate until Robert (Dr. McDreamy) allows her to stay in his house for a night. I'll end my summary here, so I don't spoil the predictable plot.

Enchanted is cleverly written and beautifully animated. Obnoxious songs pepper the film, but since the premise is "Disney making fun of Disney," the soundtrack works. Amy Adams plays the role of a ditzy and naive princess-to-be flawlessly and James Marsden executes the part of a dumber than dirt prince without a hitch. Patrick Dempsey...well he's gorgeous as always. It's from the feminist standpoint that this movie begins to fail.

Disney has a long tradition of giving twisted ideals of women. All the Disney Princesses have a waist size of about 4 inches and a cup size of D, D for Disney, and most Princesses were either trapped in some situation and could only be freed by a prince, loved to clean, or sewed in their free time. Their newest movie is no exception since the women are either entirely clueless or evil and ugly, while the men are all hunk-a-licious and brave. While Disney puts in a few clever pro-women twists (like having Giselle attempt to save Robert at the end, or making the heroic Prince Edwards have an IQ of 80), overall, Enchanted fails the feminist test, making Enchanted just another notch in Disney's patronizing belt.


Movie Rating: ♀♀♀
Feminist Rating: ♀

Silly liberals, human rights are for whites!

George Bush likes to pretend he's our friendly neighborhood champion of human rights. "...it is the policy of the United States," he says, "To seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world." And this, arguably like everything else Bush says, is a huge lie.

Recently, a 19-year-old Saudi woman was gang-raped. The seven men who raped her were sentenced to 1-5 years in prison each. For being with men she was not related to, the woman was punished as well, and her sentence was recently increased for speaking out against the injustice. As of now, her sentence is 200 lashes and six months in prison, a complete violation of her basic rights as a woman and as a human.

And yet, the Bush administration flat-out refuses to condemn the Saudi court's ruling. National sovereignty is a nonsense excuse to not intervene in this situation when human health, safety, and freedom are at stake.

When it comes to human rights, the Bush administration is clearly pick-and-chose. Only 423 more days of this madness, kiddies.

Living in a Material World, and I am a Feminist Girl

When we immerse ourselves in a mission, like ending sexism, we often forget that there other causes worth fighting for. Just look at PETA. Their valuable message is clouded by their sex-saturated ads and radical scare-tactics.

Anarchist values and feminism go hand in hand, even if we aren't passing out "Fight the Power!" buttons at Planned Parenthood rallies. Today in particular is the time to remember our roots.

As you probably know, today is Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving that promises mega-savings and mega-crowds at your local shopping mall. In protest, it's Adbuster's Buy Nothing Day, an informal day in which people are urged to shun consumerism and, in essence, buy nothing.

Even if you don't support the Adbuster's cause, and even if you did buy a sandwich today (I was hungry!), it's important to remember that as feminists, we have a certain responsibility. It's not enough to just fight sexism. That's only the first step. It is our duty to speak out against any atrocity, whether that be homophobia, genocide, or racism.

Just do what you feel is right, and protest what you feel is wrong. That's what feminism is all about.