Category Archives: gender

Why We Shouldn’t Care About the Intersex

Posted on March 6, 2017 by | 1 comment

“The Case for Unisex Bathrooms.”

Faithful followers of this blog may recall that was a post we ran back in November of 2015, dealing with the push for equal bathroom access for transgendered folks. Yours truly made some pretty compelling arguments, and you’d expect the universe to comply with my effervescent fountain of wisdom, yet on February 22nd, the Trump administration announced it would repeal transgendered bathroom protections established by Obama.

So here we are again.

And that’s a little strange, because other than a couple incidents, I don’t recall a sudden wave of sexual assaults taking place after the Obama administration instituted its protections. Maybe it’s like how gay marriage was supposed to bring about the downfall of society, and it just takes a suuuuuuper long time to get started.

Or maybe it’s just a gut reaction to some of the more stupid elements out there. The folks who’d argue that the world should respect their choice to identify as a bottle of mayonnaise:

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Given painfully unironic martyrs like that, it’s not completely baffling why some people would push back against any unusual gender identity. Continue reading →

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Posted in bizarreness, Christianity, fashion, gender, morality, news, politics, science

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The 2017 Women’s March: A Q&A Guide for Dummies

Posted on January 23, 2017 by | Leave a comment

What rights have been taken away during Trump’s first 24 hours in office?

The ACA is presently being dismantled, meaning millions of Americans will be deprived of health insurance. Of this number, women are uniquely affected. As explained in The New York Times:

Until now, it has been perfectly legal in most states for companies selling individual health policies — for people who do not have group coverage through employers — to engage in “gender rating,” that is, charging women more than men for the same coverage, even for policies that do not include maternity care.

As deeply flawed a system as the ACA is, outright elimination will result in a sudden and fundamentally arbitrary penalization of women on the basis of their sex. The added cost will be especially detrimental to women in or near poverty (besides sucking for everyone in general).

So this is about Obamacare?

Not necessarily. The dismantling of the ACA is merely one of the many issues being protested by the millions of women marching in the US and around the world. Points include (but are not limited to):

  • Gay Rights – As the vice president has openly stated that gay marriage signal “societal collapse“, and has actively legislated the exclusion of gays from the military and a number of other civil rights issues.
  • Public Services – Which have been threatened with reduced funding, if not complete elimination, by high ranking members of the administration.
  • Defense of Racial and Religious Minorities – particularly people of color and Muslims, who have received ample disparagement and hostility from almost everyone within the administration.
  • Environmental Issues – The very existence of which Trump has denied, claiming global warming to be a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese.
  • And easily a dozen more…

Bah! These protesters should be grateful for how easy they have it. Now women living in the third world, they experience real oppression. Why isn’t anyone speaking up for them?

imxzs1v Continue reading →

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Posted in America, bizarreness, Economy, environmentalism, feminism, gender, government, health, history, Islam, lgbt, media, morality, news, politics

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Our Fascist Overlords (So Far…)

Posted on November 28, 2016 by | 1 comment

There’s an old Arab quote that roughly translates to “Don’t tell me about a man, tell me about his friends.” i.e, you are the company you keep. In spite of the present efforts for a recount in certain key states, we are still very much bracing for a Trump presidency, and perhaps worse yet, a Trump cabinet. Let’s get to meet our new fascist overlords:

2Ambassador to the United Nations: Nikki Haley

Born to Sikh Indian parents, Governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley earned acclaim for her decision to remove the Confederate flag from state grounds. While maintaining a number of hardline positions- especially in terms of immigration- Haley again made headlines with her early criticism of then-candidate Trump. Criticism that earned her calls to be deported.

Deported to exactly where remains a mystery, as Haley was born in America. But as plenty of Trump supporters imagine America to be an inherently white country, they showed no qualms about reminding Haley (and people of color) that their presence in this nation is merely tolerated…

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Image retrieved via Policy.Mic

Which makes Trump’s decision to offer her UN ambassadorship surprising, and Haley’s acceptance even more so. But perhaps that’s just to show how much the Republican party has chugged the Kool-Aid. A woman who, simply because of her first name and her skin tone, received calls for her “deportation” is now the international face of the same “siren call of the angriest voices.” Certainly it’s a chilling picture of what’s to come, and enough to silence anyone claiming that the house and senate will somehow act as a counterbalance to Trump’s Fourth Reich. Continue reading →

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Posted in bizarreness, feminism, gender, government, Islam, lgbt, military, morality, politics, race, religion

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Miley Cyrus Bashing Supergirl Justifies Exactly Why We Need It

Posted on October 15, 2016 by | Leave a comment

mileysupergirl

I’ll be the first to admit that I could broaden my scope regarding how I engage with current events. It’s much to my chagrin that my primary news sources are Facebook’s trending sidebar and whenever my grandfather changes the channel to CP24, in that order. That said, every now and then one of the comic book news sites I visit daily will offer me a glimpse of what’s happening outside that bubble.

In the case of this topic, I was informed not of what actually happened but of the response to it, days after the fact. The “event” in question took place during Miley Cyrus’s interview with Variety, which as the title would suggest was largely focused on her role on The Voice, Donald Trump, and coming out. To be more specific, it was the following question and answer [and yes, it is in fact related to comics]:

Why do you think inequality still exists for women in Hollywood?

A lot of it could be changed if we had a female president. That would give us a subconscious boost. I think people will have to realize they’re looking really dated. For example, there’s a show called “Supergirl.” I think having a show with a gender attached to it is weird. One, it’s a woman on that fucking billboard — it’s not a little girl. Two, what if you’re a little boy who wants to be a girl so bad that this makes you feel bad? I think having a title like “Supergirl” doesn’t give the power that people think it does.

Continue reading →

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Posted in comics, feminism, gender, lgbt, media, television

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The French War On Religious Freedom

Posted on August 29, 2016 by | 1 comment

France has long held a ban on overt expressions of religion in public, being one of the first European countries to have banned full face covering in public in 2010. While similar laws have gained traction in neighboring countries, following the tragic Bastille Day massacre in Cannes a number of French coastal towns have passed ordinances banning the “burkini”, a swimsuit for conservative Muslim women.

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No, not that one. That’s a wet suit.

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No, that’s also a wet suit.

Muslim Lifesavers Unveil The 'Burqini'

There we go.

But I’m guessing you can see the problem already. Continue reading →

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Posted in bizarreness, Europe, fashion, feminism, gender, government, Islam, morality, news, politics, religion

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Covering the Hijab at the Rio Olympics

Posted on August 15, 2016 by | Leave a comment

Past weeks have seen the internet come to blows over pictures from a women’s volleyball game between Germany and Egypt. This picture:

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Now where most sane folks would see a simple game of beach volleyball, the denizens of the interwebs have managed to read in some fantasy about a clash of cultures- “the free and civilized West against the superstitious, primitive savages of the East.” Comment sections have been flooded with everything from sarcastic half-jokes…

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…to open propaganda.

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“Because I, from the comfort of my armchair, know this athlete’s situation better than she does.” -Idiot Commentor

There’s been snide comment after comment directed not at Doaa Elghobashy’s performance in the game, not towards her assertion that what she wears is her own damn business, not towards her teammate (Nada Meawad) who doesn’t wear a hijab…

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And I think it’s because people aren’t actually angry about any of that.

For all the sanctimony, the issue at hand seems not to be with mandates or even just pressure to wear the hijab. It has nothing to do with standing up for women- on the contrary. I do think that the extreme contrast between Elghobashy and her German counterparts hit a nerve that most people didn’t realize they had. I think it does forced folks to ask themselves some truly uncomfortable questions about why they actually watch the sport.

I’m talking about this:

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Now I seriously debated putting that picture up, but as cringingly uncomfortable as it is, I think it speaks volumes about our culture. Continue reading →

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Posted in America, bizarreness, Europe, fashion, feminism, games, gender, Islam, media, morality, news, pornography, religion, sports

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Sorry, Clinton- These Are The First Women To Have Run For President

Posted on August 8, 2016 by | Leave a comment

“Here’s the thing about Hilary- you don’t have to like her, but you do have to admit…”

If I had a nickel every time I heard those words I’d probably be rich enough to pay Clinton’s speaking fees. And that was before her official coronation nomination on July 26th. Now the news, the papers, and the internet is awash in varying degrees of jubilation and grudging respect.

“You don’t have to be happy about her, but you do got to admit that it’s pretty historic that there’s a woman running for president.”

I don’t.

In spite of the Democrats’ latest attempt to rewrite history in their favor, Clinton is not the first woman to have run for president. Hell, she wasn’t even the first female candidate to be nominated this year.

So again, I don’t need to admit ****.

There are scores of women who have boldly run for president, have done so before Clinton, and have done so on infinitely more admirable platforms and causes. It is these women who should receive our recognition- and of the 30+ or so candidates in American history, here are just a few of the highlights:

cynthiamckinneyCynthia McKinney

Presidential Bids: 2008

Party: Green (Formerly Democrat)

Notable Achievements:

Introduced legislation against the Iraq War (the one that Clinton voted for), as well as the impeachment of George Bush and several high ranking members of the administration. McKinney additionally attempted to introduce bills to halt the transfer of arms to countries with poor records on human rights (another dissimilarity with Clinton). Perhaps most impressively, McKinney managed to get herself arrested during a humanitarian mission to Gaza in 2009, after the aid ship Spirit of Humanity was boarded by Israeli forces (this being, of course, the same apartheid regime that Clinton has pledged her unconditional support to). Continue reading →

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