Here's a little something I found on Feminist Gamers: Best Buy held an event on March 30 called Wii for Women during which they gave away spa certificates as prizes.
I don't know about anyone else, but I didn't need spa prizes and pretty little giveaways to go get a Wii. All I needed was a Target ad that said "we have Wiis in stock" to get me to the store.
Women play video games. We don't need pedicures and facials and pretty little things to get us there.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Roses Are Red, Nintendo Wii's Are Blue?
The Government Oversteps Its Boundaries...I Know, What A Shocker
POPLINE, a government reproductive health database/search engine, has censored the word "abortion." The search engine turned the word into a stop word. Stop words are words that are excluded in a search engine. Usually words like "and," "it," and "the" are excluded from searches because they would yield pretty much every website out there.
Want to hear something ironic? If you were trying to use the database to argue against abortion, it still wouldn't yield any results. So whoever it was who decided that we shouldn't be reading about the process didn't realize they were also taking away resources for the anti-choice side too.
WAYS TO TAKE QUICK ACTION:
1. Drop a quick comment on their webpage.
2. Call/E-mail the INFO Project P.I. and Project Director:
Professor Jane Bertrand, Principal Investigator
The INFO Project
(410) 659-6300
Earle Lawrence, Project Director
The INFO Project
(410) 659-6300
3. call the Hopkins/Bloomberg School of Public Health, Director of public affairs, Tim Parsons, at 410-955-7619 or email him at tmparson@jhsph.edu.
Tell him that blocking abortion information through POPLINE constitutes political censorship, and is a stain on Johns Hopkins.
Really, this isn't about whether you think abortion is right or wrong. This is an insult to free speech, to net neutrality, and to education, as POPLINE is an educational database.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
I Hate Florida, And It's Not Just Because The Gators Suck
In an attempt thinly veiled as "safe health care," Florida legislature has voted to require a woman to have an ultrasound before having an abortion. This is terrible on so many levels.
Uno, this implies that women don't think about what pregnancy and abortion mean and that we need to have a medical test to teach us about our own bodies.
B, any responsible doctor or clinic will perform an ultrasound before an abortion for several (legitimate) reasons. They need to confirm that the woman is, in fact, pregnant and that her pregnancy is not ectopic (occurring outside the uterus). I know that at PP-NYC they will perform an ultrasound and if your pregnancy is ectopic they will escort you to the emergency room right away.
Three, we know their reasoning behind this isn't really promoting quality medical care, it's encouraging doctors to show women the ultrasound and point out the embryo in an appeal to them not to terminate. Which as we all know is a disgusting invasion of a woman's agency over her own body.
Oh, and apparently this bill also adds that causing a miscarriage through violence against a pregnant woman will result in a murder charge, no matter how far along the pregnancy is. It defines life as beginning at conception for criminal proceedings.
Now, if a woman is pregnant and you commit a violent act against her, yes, there is something wrong with you. But the crime is against the woman, and that is where we should focus our energy.
Defining life at conception is a serious attack on our right to make decisions over our own bodies. This is a step in a slippery slope toward completely taking away our freedom of choice. They have disguised it as only taking place during a violent act, but all this bill does is get it into the law that life is at conception, which means the anti-choice woman-hating right wing can point at that in the future and say "see, it says here life is at conception, so we should take away abortions!" They are sneaky and crafty like that.
Celebrity Moms and Body Image
Denise Richards told Shape magazine she will never talk about weight with her two young daughters. Fortunately for them, body is largely genetic, so they will probably never have weight problems. But I do hope she can stick to this as her daughters grow up, especially if either of them does end up gaining weight. I also hope other mothers out there follow this example and leave the body comments behind when they talk to their daughters. Plus, Richards has said she won't say "I look fat" in front of her girls because she doesn't want them to emulate any insecurities. Which is another thing all moms should think about. I am 24 years old and still when I hear my mom say she is fat I wonder what I am, being a few clothing sizes larger than her.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
No Schwartzenegger Jokes, Please, Let's Be Adults
This is really interesting. There's an article on The Advocate about a transgendered man who is pregnant. He talks about how people act towards him, especially doctors who treated him differently or wouldn't treat him at all. His wife had a hysterectomy due to endometriosis many years ago so she couldn't carry a baby. Oh yeah, he became officially registered as male so he is legally married.
It's a really interesting article and apparently he is going to be on Oprah tomorrow. I hope she handles it well.
The "Things That Make Me Stabby" File Sure Is Thick Today
Apparently, marital rape is no reason for a restraining order. The court is saying Amy Castillo "continued to have sex with [her husband Mark]" even when she knew he was cuckoo and dangerous and that means she shouldn't get a restraining order against him.
Mark Castillo is the man that drowned his three children. Just FYI.
Shall we mention that she testified to the fact that she only continued sleeping with him so he wouldn't suspect anything was wrong? And that he had mentioned he knew the strongest way to hurt her would be to kill the kids and leave her alive so she would have to live with the loss? Does this not sound like a man scary enough that you would do whatever he asked so he wouldn't be suspicious?
*stab*
File Under "Things That Make Me Stabby"
These places are sick and need to be stopped. If you ever find yourself in one of these places by accident GET OUT. Do not stop to explain yourself, don't attempt to argue with them, don't attempt to get them to tell you anything truthful. Just leave. Find your nearest Planned Parenthood or other legitimate clinic and get accurate information so you can make an informed decision. And be sure to mention the fake clinic to them, tell them its name, location, and what false information they fed you. This way the clinic workers can be prepared knowing that place is there (if they didn't already) and they can give you the correct versions of the lies you were told.
No, the legitimate clinic isn't going to try and convince you to have an abortion if you don't want one. That's another lie told by the anti-choicers to get you to avoid legitimate clinics. All the clinics will do is give you accurate information so you can make the decision that is right for you.
You Say I Only Hear What I Want To
I found this on Feministing (I know, shocker).
A video from the Feminist Majority Foundation basically using celebrities to promote the universality of feminism.
In case you didn't figure it out/have been under a rock since 1995, the title is a reference to the fact that Lisa Loeb is in the video and, well, I can't even hear her name or see her without "Stay" running through my head in its entirety. On a side note, I really wish I could find awesome cat-eye glasses.
WAM Recap, Or I Love Feminists, Journalism, And Structurally Unsound Convention Centers
Consider thyself forewarned, this is a ridiculously long post.
As I already mentioned, I spent this past weekend at the Women, Action, and the Media (WAM) conference in Boston. It was awesome. I promised a recap, so here it is.
Friday afternoon I arrived on a smelly bus from Port Authority (OK, it really wasn't that smelly, but you know me, I love my hyperbolic adjectives). It was a pretty uneventful trip, actually, and I got to add Connecticut to my list of states I've driven through but never actually visited. Woot. When I got to Boston, I checked into the hostel (not hotel, hostel, I'm cheap like that), stashed my bag (in a locker, so you know it must be a classy place), and maneuvered my way to Cambridge to check out the Stata Center at MIT. I got all checked in and had some time to kill before I had to meet up with the Duck Tour group (yeah, that's right, Duck Tour...apparently it's a WW2 vehicle and "Duck" represents some kind of Army-style acronym...crazy military and its acronyms) so I sat like a nerd and read through all of my WAM material and picked out the sessions I wanted to attend. I'm super cool like that.
I had signed up for a WAM buddy (meaning they pair you with someone so you don't have to attend everything alone), but she wasn't taking the tour, so I figured we'd meet later. But I ran into her in the bathroom before the tour. So random. She is really cool and we got along incredibly well. Hooray for new friends.
The tour was cool. Ducks travel on both land and water, which is fun. It was freezing though. On the tour I saw the first church in Boston to perform same-sex marriages. Among other sites.
Friday night was the keynote speech by none other than the fantastic Helen Thomas, who has been reporting on Washington through eight Presidents and is one of the few reporters today with the stones to ask really tough questions. In her introduction, Feministing's Ann Friedman referred to Thomas as "the patron saint of not shutting up" for her determination to ask the tough, important questions no one wants to be asked and not listening when told to be quiet or act like a lady.
By the way, I met her (Thomas I mean, not Friedman) and had a book signed. Squee.
That was basically it for Friday. There was a screening of the film Itty Bitty Titty Committee that I had planned to go to, but there was a huge line to meet Helen Thomas and she took priority. I can rent the movie, I can't rent the patron saint of not shutting up.
Saturday morning began the concurrent sessions. The first one I attended was "Networking for Newbies," which was interesting but not quite as informative as I had hoped. We talked about networking but I had hoped for more practice of skills.
We broke for lunch after session A, and I attended a lunch caucus on starting a feminist writing group. Apparently we're going to start a virtual one for the people who attended the caucus, since everyone was scattered all over the country. Hopefully that will work out and be worthwhile.
Still reading? Kudos.
The second session I went to was "Blogging 101" which was really informative and taught me some skills I have already applied here and some I plan to ASAP. Par example, I need to register this site with Technorati.
For the third session, I attended one about investigative journalism. I thought it was the most sensible option and would have the most relevance and aid to my impending career. To be honest, I don't feel like I actually learned anything from it. One of the panelists was friends with Daniel Pearl and is now teaching a multi-semester class at Georgetown dedicated to researching his murder. That was the most interesting part of the session. Which is unfortunate, because I passed on two other sessions at the same time that sounded a lot more fun to go to this one. Plus, this subject could have potentially been really helpful and informative. Now I know not to listen to my sensible side.
After that we broke for dinner then returned for a fun WAM party. We drank WAM-tinis and danced all night (or...until 11:00 when the DJ left). It was a great way to blow off steam and have a feminist-y good time. As I like to call it, "feminists gone wild." Most of the people there would probably hate me for calling it that.
Sunday morning brought more sessions. I first attended one about writing Op-Eds, which was really informative and I hope to put it to use. The people in charge have an organization dedicated to getting women published on Op-Ed pages across the country. I intend to use them ASAP.
The second session of the day (and last of the conference...sniff...) that I attended was about women and video games. I had intended to be sensible again and attend one about communicating with editors, but after the investigative journalism disappointment, I told my sensible side to shut up and went for funsies instead. I am so glad I did. This one was by far my favorite session. I learned a lot, including a new way to look at games and gaming culture, plus the session was just enjoyable and entertaining. It really played to my inner geek.
After the sessions were over there was a farewell lunch and everyone left. I had a few hours to kill before my bus back to New York (on which I had a pair of seats to myself - rock on!) so I checked out Newbury St. It was only a few blocks from the hostel and right around the corner from the subway station I needed.
Wow, did you really make it to the end?
By the way, Boston's trains are weird. They name each line by color and THEN letter. When I first looked at the map I was like "there's more than one B train, WTF is happening here" before I realized the crazy Bostonians had their own bizarre setup going on. When will other cities learn that they should emulate New York because it's clearly better than they are? haha.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
If Only.
*sigh* I am too gullible sometimes. I signed onto MySpace just now and one of the videos listed on the home page said "Legend of Zelda movie trailer." Which I of course watched. Then I Googled it and looked for it on IMDb. I've been Punk'd. It's a fake. Curse you and your ways, April Fool's Day!!!!
Anyhoo, here's the video I found on YouTube, which I watched after I realized the movie wasn't real:
Link's wig is incredibly bad and the fighting is unbelievably fake. Even if I had still thought this was a real movie this trailer would have taken care of that.
I would love to see a Legend of Zelda movie done in the epic, beautiful, outrageously expensive and worth every penny, shot in New Zealand because everywhere else is too ugly style of Peter Jackson. I mean Lord of the Rings Peter Jackson, not King Kong remake Peter Jackson. I don't know what he was smoking when he agreed to that monstrosity.
For now, this is the only Zelda I need in my life:
(I will resist posting any more pictures of my dog, I promise)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
