Femme Flâneur.

I am referring to the letter under the headline, “A Helicopter Mom Is Alienating My Kid’s Sports Team.” The mom in question displays gender-inappropriate behavior (she is opinionated, overly-emotional, and competitive), but the advice columnist Linda Rosenfield helpfully explains how to re-socialize her friend. She notes that often, kids have to step in to regulate their parents; if this has any identity investments in being a “good mom,” a lesson from her child would be particularly memorable (if she doesn’t care about being perceived as a “good mom,” all bets are off).

It looks like Rophie was wrong; American women do see sexual harassment as a Real Problem, and are willing to use more than clever words to address their concerns.

Re-signification may not be an adequate response to power, but apparently revolutions are more appealing if you can dance in them (they are to me, anyways). Rion Sabean took the photo I’ve posted here; apparently the idea was to photograph men in stereotypical “pin-up” poses (according to Michael Zhang, who wrote a short article about the set: http://www.petapixel.com/2011/10/04/men-photographed-in-stereotypically-female-poses/). IMHO, the images subvert stereotypes/norms re: feminine appearance, as well as the “dumb/silly guy” trope, and other masculine stereotypes. Clicking on the image leads to the artist’s Flickr page.

Gender stereotypes for visual learners (originally posted on George Takei’s Facebook page, which one can access if one is logged in).

It seems as though feminists might be on to something after all.

From pro-sex columnist Violet Blue’s blog:

“The act of fisting, like many so-called “outsider” sex acts, has been widely misunderstood and misrepresented in mainstream porn – which is no surprise, as mainstream porn has long seen itself as a dated guardian (of sorts) of “normal” heterosexual sex practices and heteronormative enforcement. One example is fisting’s inclusion in Big Porn’s forbidden sex act list,  The Cambria List, which also forbade the depiction of female ejaculation and simultaneous sex with bondage.

As Big Porn no longer controls porn distribution, they can no longer control its content, and so sex acts like fisting have come out of the closet to slowly become more visible in both mainstream and LGBT and BDSM porn. It’s what people were already doing for fun and pleasure – Big Porn just never showed it, just like they never depicted many sex acts that lots of regular people with a level of sex interest above mish-doggie-cowgirl-facial actually enjoy in real life. Oh – and lots and lots of straight people enjoy fisting, too.”

Referring to a study they co-authored, Bigler and Eliot argue that single-sex schools only succeed in perpetuating sexist attitudes and leave girls and boys unprepared to negotiate egalitarian relationships. Any apparent gains girls seem to make in these schools disappear when one controls for “entering characteristics” such as students’ economic background, selection effects, and the extra resources these programs these provide. Apparently some of the groups who argue for these schools claim that boys and girls have different brain structures that cause them to learn differently; we saw similar claims in the behavioral ecologists’ arguments (and according to the authors of this article and the study to which this refers, the bulk of neuroloscientific evidence doesn’t lend support to such claims). It would seem that these programs only perpetuate the two-sex/two-gender system.

Blogger and porn actress Sinnamon Love comments on the story of Amber Cole, a 14-year old girl who was filmed performing oral sex on an ex-boyfriend. The video was posted online, and the girl was berated by others for her “lack of discrimination.” According to Love, it is rumoured that the girl killed herself. She argues that the poor sex education and adults’ unwillingness to talk openly about sex (which is exacerbated/encouraged by conservative religious groups) leaves teen girls vulnerable to sexual exploitation (she says that the system failed all of the kids involved, but focuses on the sexual socialization of young black women in particular). She notes:

“It angers me that somewhere along the line, all 4 of these children involved have been failed – not just by their parents and their schools, but their communities at large. It seems no one sat this young lady down and explained to her that sometimes guys (and girls) will try to take advantage of her sexuality and to be cautious of who you give you heart to. I’m angry because I see Amber Cole – yet another young woman that was under the mistaken belief that sex and love are synonymous – was willing to do anything for the “man” she loves. I wish that we would stop limiting sex education to bible verses and disease and start giving these young women back their power.”

extrawiggleroom:

I’ve owed everyone THE blog post about my trip to American Apparel for quite awhile now. Honestly, I haven’t been entirely sure what to say. The trip was incredible, with or without the tour. I got to see a ton of interesting people- models, designers, old friends- and do a lot of fun things….

This is the blog for What She Said, Calgary’s weekly feminist radio program on CJSW (I wish I could say I listened more often, but who has time for the radio these days?).