Bathroom reading

I was at the WAM Conference at MIT’s Stata Center today and yesterday, which was one of the most illuminating and inspiring experiences of my life.   While I went to the bathroom, in my stall I saw a poster that looked like an anti-sexual violence poster that said:

Have you had sex when you didn’t want to?

MIT can help you out.

That text was crossed out and scrawled under it was:

No, Trust me it won’t!  MIT will only make things worse for you!

Two things that came to mind for me as I read this were:

1.  This is a subtlety in the language but by framing it as “have you had sex when you didn’t want to?”, emphasis is once again placed on the survivor instead of the perpetrator.  A better wording would be “did someone have sex with you when you didn’t want to have sex?”  Even though the poster looked like an anti-sexual violence poster it did not mention the word “rape” or “sexual assault”, which is understandable because some people may not identify their experience as rape or sexual assault.  After all, it is up to the survivor to name their experience.  However, I think that it’s still important for people to not be afraid to say the word rape or sexual assault.

2.  The cross-out of the original text and the scrawl underneath it is unfortunately reflective of something seen in many colleges and universities: the lack of institutional/administrative support for survivors.  Many schools do not do all that they can do to prevent or address sexual violence on campus.  And many students and administrators at whichever school they’re at tend to believe that they are the exception, that sexual violence just doesn’t happen here.

Black Mayoral Candidate Tries to Bring Back the Noose as Punishment…Say WHAT?

I just saw this story on The New Black Woman, and I am completely outraged.

In Jackson, Mississippi, a 65-year-old Black Republican mayoral candidate is hoping to bring back the hanging noose as a form of punishment for crime.  The candidate has been met with outrage on his position by many, but still insists that his stand is welcomed in some especially crime-filled areas of Jackson.  

Candidate George Lambus has been hanging flyers around Jackson with statements such as: ”Crime can only be alleviated by a noose and a stout tree limb.  I will provide the noose and when the economy improves, I will get the jobs here.”  

Lambus said in an interview with the Associated Press:

Look at recent history, like in South Africa, when apartheid was abolished.  Blacks went on a crime spree. Other blacks got tired of it … and they formed vigilantes and they killed people. It brought the crime down.

Citing the Bible as a model, Lambus claims that executions are the only way to control crime.

The Mississippi Republican Party is not supporting Lambus, and he is very much a long-shot in the election.  But since Lambus is the only GOP candidate, he is expected to automatically advance as the Republican candidate.

I’m hoping that Lambus’ outrageously offensive stance will cause people to ignore him in the election.  However, the sheer idea that he could promote this movement is frightening.  In the 2000 census, Jackson was found to be 70.6% African American or Black as opposed to 27.8% white.  The Jackson, Mississippi public school system in 2005-2006 was 97.25% African American.  (These are the most recent statistics I was able to find.  If you know of any more recent statistics, let me know.)  Knowing the historical connotations that the noose has for African Americans, and the inequities in the legal system, I can’t believe that Lambus would even attempt to use the noose as a punishment.  And “controlling” crime with vigilante violence is absolutely ridiculous.  Adding violence to violence does not equal peace.  Lambus’ platform is simply appalling.

Newsflash: there is a NEW feminism!

Newsflash feminists: THERE IS A NEW FEMINISM!  It’s called YES FEMINISM!, as defined by Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino, the President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, speaking at the recent 1st International Conference on Woman and Human Rights.  The conference was themed “Life, Family, Development: The Role of Women in the Promotion of Human Rights,” and occurred last Friday and Saturday in Rome. It was organized by the Pontifical Council, the World Women’s Alliance for Life and Family, and the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organization.  Out with the old, in with the new.  “Old” feminism is no longer in:

The old feminism was based on egocentric individualism, often egotistical. The new feminism must be interlaced with love for life, for the family, for others; a feminism regulated by charity, the queen of the virtues.

Hear that ladies and gentleman?  The “old” feminism really did not value life, the family, others, and social work.  In fact, it hates life, motherhood, marriage, the family, etc, and it did nothing for charity or social justice causes.

Goodbye egocentricism and hello “yes” feminism!  Apparently this “new” feminism unites the best intuitions from the process of female emancipation while denying all that is contrary to the true dignity of a person.  Mind you, “the true dignity of a person” includes absolutely no abortion and no to pro-choice activism.  After all, cells that have yet to form a fetus are persons too!

The Cardinal also stated, “There will be no new feminism without God, especially if God is not discovered as Love.”  Okay, got that?  So from now on feminists must all believe in God.  Because God is Love.  And if you don’t get that then you’re not a feminist.  Away with you atheists and agnostics!  How dare you call yourselves feminists when you have not discovered God and the Love He represents and shares?

What exactly is yes feminism though?  Hear it from the wise one:

Cardinal Martino explained that it must promote a “yes feminism,” that encompasses a “yes” to God, Father of the whole of humanity and Creator of man and woman in his image and likeness, a “yes” to life, to all life and to everyone’s life, always, a “yes” to the family founded on marriage, a unitive and fruitful love between a man and a woman, and a “yes” to women and to their genius.

Get it?  Yes feminism means yes organized religion, yes heterosexism, yes heterosexual marriage, yes patriarchy!  Yes! to all the women who geniusly comply with patriarchy!  If you support the diversification of households/family structures instead of solely recognizing heterosexual marriages and a woman’s rights to her body and her body autonomy, then it seems that new feminism is unfortunately not for you.  Oppose patriarchy?  You’re in the wrong place.  What a bummer, right?

Furthermore, the Cardinal says:

To deny nature, that is, to deny that the human person is above all a project loved and accomplished by God the Creator, which it is not good to subvert arbitrarily, is the focal point that must be made very clear. When nature is denied, the human person is no longer a project, but becomes inexorably a product either of culture or of technology.

Ahh…reducing women to their bodies?  The right thing to do, of course.  Because women are just “nature”, they are confined to their biology and their reproductive functions.  So don’t dare use birth control or even consider abortion because it’s only natural for women to be mothers and caretakers, y’know.  Don’t forget, feminism = the heterosexual, nuclear family.  Don’t you dare refute that!

Alrighty, Cardinal and all others who support him, all this talk about this so-called “new” feminism is just a mask for “have we killed feminism yet?”  Want the answer?  NO you haven’t killed feminism!  Sorry, feminism is not about bowing down to patriarchy.  “New” feminism = patriarchy, which is so NOT the case!  No thanks Cardinal, but I think that I”m content with plain “old” feminism.  New feminism, a.k.a patriarchy, just isn’t my style.

The Guy’s Manual-Powered by Grape Nuts

Post Cereal’s Grape Nuts has recently released a new ad campaign specifically targeting men.  The main part of the design is a 50-episode web series entitled “The Guy’s Manual.”  The campaign features Kenny Mayne, the host from ESPN’s “Mayne Street.”  The website is debuting with 14 episodes, but will be expanded to include 50 episodes in the next eight months.  The campaign will also include post, radio, and banner ads.

The tagline for the ad campaign is “..because when you tackle something tough at home, at work, or at play…that doesn’t just take know-how.  That takes Grape Nuts.”  Episodes include “Landing a Date with the Cute Girl at the Office,” “Taking Apart Your ’65 GTO to Teach Your Son how an Engine Works,” “Throwing Back the Biggest One You’ve Ever Caught,” “Taking Your Fiancee’s Poodle for a Morning Jog,” “Looking Cool Driving a Minivan,” and “Going Bald Like a Man.”  

The series is co-produced by MSN, OgilvyEntertainment, and Reveille.  ”We are excited to collaborate with Post and Ogilvy on a fun and innovative new show that connects with guys where they live—online,” said Howard T. Owens, managing director of Reveille (an independent TV studio) as quoted on EarthTimes.org.

Sexism in advertising is extremely prevalent, not only against women but against men as well.  Men are expected to be “manly:” to be physically strong, unemotional, heterosexual, tech savvy, risk-taking, and sexually confident.  Here’s why “The Guy’s Manual” is problematic.  Much in the same way that the Frito-Lay “A Woman’s World” campaign discussed in feminist2′s previous post reinforces cultural definitions of ideal femininity, “The Guy’s Manual” reinforces stereotypes of heterocentric “tough” masculinity.

The website includes a great deal of information on subjects such as camping, sports, exercise, relationships, automobiles, and technology.  Most of the tips are catered to men who are stereotypically “masculine.”  All of the men appear to be heterosexual, and thus the relationship tips are geared towards heterosexual relationships.  The women pictured in these scenarios are stereotypically feminine and often annoyingly high maintenance.  And the men are often desperate to prove their manhood, even in potentially “emasculating” situations such as walking a girlfriend’s poodle.

There are some things I like about the site.  The tips include advice about families and fathering, and the marketing strategy pretty effectively makes use of the internet to educate and engage viewers.  The site is fun to visit and provides a ton of episodes and articles.  And even though the site has little to do with Grape Nuts cereal besides asserting over and over that tackling anything tough somehow requires Grape Nuts, the purple background and constant references to Grape Nuts Cereal actually did make me really crave Grape Nuts.  And I’m a woman…go figure.

But men shouldn’t have cultural ideals of masculinity shoved at them any more than women should be constantly told to conform to the feminine ideal.  So…is Grape Nuts’ new ad campaign savvy advertising or an insultingly narrow definition of what it means to be a man?  Maybe it’s a little bit of both.  What do you think?