Petition to Scottish Government to Prevent Cuts to Charities Supporting Rape Victims

This is a link to a petition to the Scottish Government  concerning cuts to services for victims of abuse and rape in Northern Scotland. The text below is taken directly from the petition.PETITIONScottish Government is cutting 50% of the funding to the only charities that support abuse and raped women from Aberdeen to the northest point of Scotland.The only available abuse and rape charities up north, which provide a vital and important service...

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The Vicky Bliss Mysteries: Great Feminist Books; Unfortunate Use of the word Misandry

I loved these books. They totally inspired my inner history nerd especially as I know *nothing* about art or art history. I love museums and art galleries but my retention of who did what and when is appalling. I have fairly plebian tastes about art and am firmly convinced that all outdoor art installations are meant to be climbed on by small children. There is no point in art existing if we all just stand around staring at it. Art should be engaged...

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FFS: School Uniforms DON'T improve children's learning or behaviour.

It doesn't matter if you stick a bunch of preschoolers in ties or teenagers in bright orange prison jumpsuits, dressing children the same doesn't make them better learners. It doesn't make them behave better. Children learn best in safe environments where they are respected and where the staff and management respect one another. I know I've ranted about this before [and all over MN] but I have NEVER seen any research-based evidence that says uniform...

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Edinburgh Book Festival: Cultural Femicide at its Finest

The Edinburgh Book Festival catalogue has, once again, arrived by post. As ever, it's dominated by male authors. Lots and lots of men writing books and speaking about books and having important thoughts and questions about books. Granted, there are a number of women authors represented in photos but that's clearly an advertising fudge. At least, I think its a fudge. I haven't actually bothered to count the number of male and female authors attending...

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Women Power: Family Planning Saves Lives

The lack of access women, all over the world, have to birth control and abortion directly impacts on family and community structures. Where there is little or no access, there is an increase in maternal and infant mortality with the practise of unsafe abortions, occasionally infanticide, or the birth of unwanted children [particularly due to economics] causing untold problems in communities. There are cultural prohibitions against some forms of...

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So Saudi Arabia is Sending 1 Female Athlete to the Olympics

Clearly, Feminism is no longer needed if intense international pressure and lots of media speculation are all that's needed to convince a misogynistic government that, yes, in fact, they do have to have women on their team. Since, the freaking Olympic guidelines require all teams to field male AND female players. Yep, we can all hang up our banners, put down our tambourines and stop singing "I'm a Feminist. A Mighty, Mighty Feminist" because Saudi Arabia is sending a woman to the Olympics. This is clearly the heralding of The Dawn of Post-Feminism.Course,...

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Misogynistic Advertising Walk of Shame: Compeed Blister Pads

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Loving the NHS: Why Privatisation Kills

Someone on Twitter linked to this document Dying for Coverage: The Deadly Consequences of Being Uninsured by Families USA. And, I read it. And, I was horrified. One of the statistics quoted is that more people in California in 2010 died because of a lack of health insurance than in car accidents. Now, I'm not unfamiliar with the shite which passes as the US healthcare system. You can't grow up in Canada in a place which only had American TV channels accessible or attend uni in a border town without getting at least a passing understanding of its...

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Apparently, Angela Merkel has a vagina.

I know this because @IndiaKnight, and others, are gleefully insulting her "camel toe" on Twitter. Now, this could be some of my weird-arse feminist principles coming into play, but Angela Merkel's vagina or vulva or whatever genitalia is currently being belittled is possibly the least interesting thing about her. [Unless she has a corn on her toe. I don't actually care about that either.] The important thing here is that she's the Chancellor of Germany;...

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Girls In Science: How to Patronise and Offend in 45 Seconds.

This is an EU Initiative to encourage girls into science. Its' a video involving 18 year old models in skintight clothing, wearing ridiculous shoes, crawling about on their bellies for a tube of lipstick. Because nothing says science more than sexualising a bunch of teenagers and making them look desperate for lipstick: the one thing guaranteed to bring them wealth, success and happiness.It's just all kinds of awful. It's the kind of campaign one would expect from 14 year old boys who have never had a date. Or, a stupid misogynist who actively...

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FemFresh: Got to love a Feminist Smackdown

I do love a Feminst smackdown. There is nothing like a full on Feminist smackdown of Patriarchal arse-hattery. And, the Feminist smackdown of Femfresh is just genius. And, do they deserve it. Not just for selling a product which labels women's bodies disgusting and smelly for being real but for the total inability to use the actual NAME for those body parts. Because vagina and vulva are such horribly dirty things that even their name is tainted...

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Misogynistic Advertising Walk of Shame: Perrier Water

Perrier has outdone themselves with the 'women are nothing more than wankfodder for men' with this particularly stupid piece of misogyny. Basically, it's a female 'astronaut' (and I use that term loosely) in a gold 'spacesuit' prancing about in sexualised poses doing the faux blowjob-licking-her-lips schtick. Do males over the age of 14 actually find this attractive? And, seriously, thanks ever so fecking much Perrier for using what could have been...

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Father's Day: The Patriarchal Whiny Prize.

My feelings on the capitalist-patriarchal conspiracy which is Mother's Day are quite clear. It was a fob-off for women who do most of the work most of the time. So they get one insipid little day a year to go home to visit their Mummies (and all the work that goes into it). It is patriarchal obfuscation at its finest: one day a year. Despite doing all the shit work. And, that's without getting into the issue of whose responsible for mothers-in-law. Here's a hint: not usually the person with a penis they gave birth too.Father's Day, on the other...

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Loving Aurora Teagarden [and Looking For Recommendations of Series Featuring Strong Women]

I've been boring Twitter senseless with my updates on loving the Aurora Teagarden books by Charlaine Harris. They are Harris' first series and aren't her best books but she does touch on the themes which make the True Blood so fascinating: feminism, racism, manners, homophobia and constraining social structures which punish those who don't fit. The character of Aurora Teagarden isn't quite as fun or feminist as Sookie Stackhouse who, above all...

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Misogynistic Advertising Walk of Shame: Tampax Pearl's Mother Nature Twaddle

There's a whole stack of these stupid, misogynistic ads where "Mother Nature" tries to punish women with their periods for DARING to have a social life. Thankfully, Tampax, the Great Feminist Hero, is on hand to humiliate Mother Nature with their "pearls". Because, obviously, without Tampax no woman could possibly ever go out in public for fear of accidentally spilling some menstrual blood and possibly poisoning every man in their vicinity. I can't...

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Louis Theroux Utterly Stupid View of Porn

WARNING: TRIGGERINGTo be clear, I am anti-porn. I think its harmful, reductive and destructive. It destroys women's bodies through abuse and objectification. It reinforces rape culture by perpetuating the myth that women are ALWAYS in a constant state of consent. It destroys sexuality by delineating and prescribing "acceptable" sexual practises which, inevitably, privilege the male orgasm at the expense of a woman's bodily autonomy [never mind their desire to orgasm]. I agree with the radical feminist philosophy that: Porn is the Theory and Rape...

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Misogynistic Advertising Walk of Shame: Always and their Seriously Stupid "Have a Happy Period" Shite

The Always ads are stupid. They have always been stupid. They will always be stupid. And, they are so clearly designed by men because no women would think up "Have a Happy Period" as a slogan. I don't care about their dry-weave or pretty patterns on something designed to collect my blood. I'm not planning on displaying my used pads on youtube. I just want something practical to deal with the blood. Periods may be natural but they ain't...

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Misogynistic Advertising Walk of Shame: Pepsi Max's End of the World Pro-Rape Bullshit

This is an old advertising campaign for Pepsi Max and one that I complained to the ASA about. Needless to say, the ASA didn't see the misogyny inherent in "tricking" a woman into a sexual relationship by "pretending" the world is about to be destroyed by a giant meteor. But, then, the ASA isn't exactly renown for understanding or spotting misogyny even when its handed to them on a platter. I think Pepsi Max crossed the line with this ad. Simply put,...

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Misogynistic Advertising Walk of Shame: Durex uses Sexual Violence to Sell Condoms

A dear friend tweeted me to suggest that Durex needed to be added to the Misogynistic Advertising Walk of Shame because of an image of sexual violence they used on their FB page. Since I started writing this blog post for its usual Monday morning slot, it appears that Durex has realised the massive PR mistake it made in allowing the photo to be used in the first place. Whilst this is a positive response to the massive criticism they received, its...

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Scholastic: Reinforcing Harmful Gender Roles for Profit

I loved Scholastic book fairs as a child. The monthly catalogue full of crappy books you just HAD to have [and the chance to buy great books at discounted prices]. I still have lots of the books I bought via Scholastic: the complete Judy Blumes and Beverly Cleary books; The Chronicles of Narnia; Lord of the Rings; Laura Ingalls Wilder; Roald Dahl;  and Jean Little. We have many Junie B. Jones and irritating books about unicorns collected by...

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