Only he can’t remember what they are.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
EU withdraws its own film on Afghan women prisoners
Nov 10th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHalf of Afghanistan’s women prisoners are there for being victims of rape or forced marriage or violence or all three.… Read the rest
Not just making it up
Nov 9th, 2011 3:41 pm | By Ophelia BensonChris Bertram at Crooked Timber was on the trail of internet misogyny last week too.
Anyone who blogs regularly gets annoyed by commenters. We do our best to screen out the worst here at Crooked Timber, but inevitably some get through, and, just as inevitably, they can sometimes upset us. But though I’ve had my intelligence, good judgement and moral character questioned many times, I’ve never had to cope with the kind of abuse female bloggers sometimes get. And the women at CT have had that too, from behind the protective shield of anonymity (though I did work out who on one occasion and warned a fairly prominent academic about what would happen if he came back).
Many interesting comments. … Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Photographing domestic violence
Nov 9th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe work of Donna Ferrato.… Read the rest
Unconvincing claims of exercising free speech
Nov 9th, 2011 12:43 pm | By Ophelia BensonA week ago the Paris correspondent of Time, Bruce Crumley, wrote an article on the firebombing of Charlie Hebdo, saying…that we journalists and beneficiaries of free speech stand shoulder to shoulder with Charlie Hebdo?
No actually. Not that. Something different.
… Read the restOkay, so can we finally stop with the idiotic, divisive, and destructive efforts
by “majority sections” of Western nations to bait Muslim members with petulant, futile demonstrations that “they” aren’t going to tell “us” what can and can’t be done in free societies? Because not only are such Islamophobic antics futile and childish, but they also openly beg for the very violent responses from extremists their authors claim to proudly defy in the name of common good. What common
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Jesus and Mo speak up for global blasphemy law
Nov 9th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonBarmaid’s response is redacted.… Read the rest
Mississippi “personhood” measure failed resoundingly
Nov 9th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonPersonhood Florida views the fight for the rights of zygotes as a historically significant civil rights struggle on par with the fight against slavery.… Read the rest
Monks should not run school with history of sex abuse
Nov 9th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIn 2009 Father David Pearce, the former head of St Benedict’s School in Ealing, was jailed for eight years for abusing five students.… Read the rest
In France, solidarity with Charlie Hebdo
Nov 9th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonPoliticos from every quarter of the French establishment are rushing to defend Charlie, including some who have threatened the magazine with defamation suits.… Read the rest
It’s the victim’s fault so be quiet
Nov 9th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIt’s the misogynist men who make the comments in the first place. They have inflamed the situation, not the women who are fighting back.… Read the rest
L’amour plus fort que la haine
Nov 9th, 2011 9:18 am | By Ophelia BensonVia Maryam - Charlie Hebdo says love is stronger than hate. C’est vrai!
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Guardian scolds Charlie Hebdo for “provoking”
Nov 9th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAnd for taking “pot shots” at radical Islam.… Read the rest
Quiverful Duggars to have child # 20
Nov 8th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonQuiverful wants to raise up a cultural army to roll back modernity, and transform the US into a conservative Christian theocracy.… Read the rest
18, 19, 20!
Nov 8th, 2011 4:33 pm | By Ophelia BensonOh hey, what exciting news, the Duggars are going to have child # 20 – that is, Michelle Duggar is pregnant with child # 20. Quiverfull strikes another blow for theocracy.
… Read the restThe Quiverfull movement places emphasis on the importance of women submitting to their husbands and fathers, and is often recognized as a backlash to the gains made in women’s rights by the feminist movement. It is an anti-feminist backlash that holds that gender equality is contrary to God’s law and that women’s highest calling is as wives and “prolific” mothers. In line with other fundamentalist Christians, they believe a woman’s place is in the home, breeding children and serving her husband.
The movement embraces misogyny as God’s law. Women
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Brave contrarian Brendan O’Neill
Nov 8th, 2011 4:11 pm | By Ophelia BensonBrendan O’Neill is happy to characterize feminists as stupidly and feebly delicate and hyper-sensitive, and to use (or to allow the Telegraph to use) a 19th century illustration of a vapid woman tipping over to underline his sneer.
Would he be equally happy to see other people characterize Irish people as stupid and otherwise contemptible and use a 19th century cartoon to illustrate the sneer? Like this one maybe?
There are more where that came from. Does Brendan O’Neill of Spiked really want major media returning to the good old days of publishing insulting caricatures of Other racial and ethnic groups? Or is it just women, or just feminists, who are fair game for that kind of thing.
#mencallmethings… Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Anti-misogyny campaign goes viral
Nov 8th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe standard policy of ignoring trolls is now being superseded by proposals that their comments be exposed to ridicule and rejection online to raise awareness of the issue.
… Read the rest
Brendan O’Neill wins the sneering prize
Nov 8th, 2011 12:51 pm | By Ophelia BensonBrendan O’Neill sneers again – this time at women resisting misogynist silencing campaigns.
… Read the restOne of the great curiosities of modern feminism is that the more radical the feminist is, the more likely she is to suffer fits of Victorian-style vapours upon hearing men use coarse language. Andrea Dworkin dedicated her life to stamping out what she called “hate speech” aimed at women. The Slutwalks women campaigned against everything from “verbal degradation” to “come ons”. And now, in another hilarious echo of the 19th-century notion that women need protecting from vulgar and foul speech, a collective of feminist bloggers has decided to “Stamp Out Misogyny Online”. Their deceptively edgy demeanour, their use of the word “stamp”, cannot disguise the fact
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Brendan O’Neill sneers at the campaign against misogyny
Nov 8th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia Benson“The more radical the feminist is, the more likely she is to suffer fits of Victorian-style vapours upon hearing men use coarse language.”… Read the rest
Not as easy as you might think
Nov 8th, 2011 11:59 am | By Ophelia BensonYou may think it’s a cinch getting rid of misogyny. Turns out it’s not. Sady at Tigerbeatdown started out thinking it was (or more like assuming it was without noticing she was assuming it – we all know how that goes), and then she realized it’s not.
… Read the restIn 2009, I genuinely believed people were going to change their minds about being sexist, because they read my blog.
I know, right? If only someone had come up with this plan before! All I had to do was register a WordPress domain, compose some charmingly ironic yet pointed analyses of Ye Aulde Patriarchy, cite some academics so they knew I wasn’t stupid, throw a lot of jokes and references to oral sex
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
What should we do about sexist abuse online?
Nov 8th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHelen Lewis-Hasteley, Zoe Williams, Bella Mackie and Catherine Redfern offer suggestions.… Read the rest