gdp's Comments

Ms Magazine Blog : Seder Time: An Orange, A Tambourine ... Guacamole?

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 22:57:27 +0000

I'm not Jewish, but attended a Seder on the first night of Passover. I noticed an orange on the Seder plate and asked why it was there. Apparently, someone espousing feminist rhetoric was told, "That makes about as much sense as an orange on a Seder plate."

Ms Magazine Blog : She Drinks, She Flirts, She Passes Out ... Is It Rape?

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 23:02:17 +0000

You didn't understand what I meant, probably because I screwed up and said "defense" when I meant plaintiff. The tools used don't detect vomit, so saying the tools didn't pick it up means nothing. Here's a quote from the San Jose Mercury News: "Spector told the jury of six men and six women that defense attorneys Jeff Nevin and Bruce Funk tried to trick them Wednesday in closing arguments by challenging irrelevant evidence, leaving out key evidence and setting up and refuting "straw man" arguments that misrepresent the young woman's position. "Take the debate over whether the teen vomited, for instance, Spector said. The defense has made much of the fact that the Sexual Assault Response Team nurse at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center didn't find any vomit on her. Spector pointed out that vomit doesn't show up under the special light the nurse used and that the teen's mother and the soccer girls testified they wiped off the vomit." http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_177542...

Ms Magazine Blog : She Drinks, She Flirts, She Passes Out ... Is It Rape?

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 19:31:22 +0000

The defense argued that this was a straw man (straw woman?) because the tools used do not detect vomit. The soccer girls also said they wiped the vomit off her face. I know I wouldn't leave it there if I were helping her and driving her to the hospital.

Ms Magazine Blog : Click! My Church Is Against Battered Women's Shelters?!

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 16:58:41 +0000

Thanks for your comment. I will take a read of your book and get in touch! Sounds interesting.

Ms Magazine Blog : One Feminist Asks, 'Is Polygamy Inherently Bad for Women?'

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 08:48:43 +0000

I grew up Mormon and was taught that polygamy had been removed from earth for now, but was the way of Heaven. Which sounded more like Hell to me. Women seem to make all the sacrifices so men can have unlimited pleasure. “Soul mate” seems impossible. In polygyny men have more power, and in polyandry women do. I see that as a problem. But prohibiting polygamy isolates and stigmatizes, leaving practitioners without alternate voices to consider options. I’ve written a bit about this in my blog. http://broadblogs.com/2010/12/09/are-polygamist-w...

Ms Magazine Blog : An Open Letter to Wired Magazine

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 18:27:28 +0000

Many comments have reiterated “sex sells.” Like that makes it okay. Is money the only, or most important, value? http://broadblogs.com/

Ms Magazine Blog : Why Decriminalizing Sex Work is Good for All Women

Fri, 5 Nov 2010 16:39:56 +0000

Really, it’s best to combine decriminalization of sex work with criminalizing the purchase of sex. Otherwise, a cheaper underground alternative, based on trafficking, tends to crop up. Sweden has combined these two measures and been very successful at reducing trafficking, unlike Amsterdam, where trafficking is strong with decriminalization. http://broadblogs.com/

Ms Magazine Blog : No Comment: Opposing Domestic Violence With Homophobia

Fri, 5 Nov 2010 16:36:27 +0000

Ironic to use homophobia to counter domestic violence since both are grounded in sexism. In cultures where women are devalued there is more violence against them, as well as more gay bashing (because gay men are seen to be woman-like). Value women and lose both problems! http://broadblogs.com/

Ms Magazine Blog : 10 Ways to Girls' Healthy Sexuality

Fri, 5 Nov 2010 16:29:38 +0000

Surprisingly, sexualization/objectification can also harm women’s bedroom enjoyment. If a woman feels she looks good, she may just focus on how good she looks, and be distracted from the sexual experience. If she doesn’t think she looks good – doesn’t fit the cultural ideal – this is also distracting. She can be thinking about that, and feel discomfort instead of sexual enjoyment. Men, OD’d on porn, may also be disappointed by how real women look. If he’s less turned on, her sexual enjoyment is likely to be affected. Or, maybe he only cares about her as an object, and doesn’t take the time to suit her sexual needs and provide the emotional connection that so many women want. http://broadblogs.com/

Ms Magazine Blog : ‘Whose Streets?’ Asks New York City Council

Thu, 4 Nov 2010 17:51:03 +0000

The notion that street harassment is no big deal comes from a place of seeing the world, and understanding it, through the eyes of men: Men aren’t harassed, they don’t have to deal with it, so what’s the big deal? Women are secondary, and so are their concerns. The public space is male. Women: good luck making your way through it. But now I’m glad to see that some men are beginning to see harassment through the eyes of women. http://broadblogs.com/

Ms Magazine Blog : Cheerleader Required to Cheer for Man Who Assaulted Her

Thu, 21 Oct 2010 19:39:22 +0000

Who’s Punished? Well, Who’s Powerful? When it comes to punishment, the powerful don’t have to worry as the powerless suffer. A raped cheerleader is less powerful than the football star who attacked her. So the school forces her to cheer for him, and she loses in the courts, who see the world more through the eyes of High School officials than a raped girl. District Attorney, Kenneth Kratz, was not fired despite texting a “hot, young” violence victim. (Public pressure did finally get him to resign.) New York University purchased the archives of artist, Larry Rivers, which was created in part by forcing his daughters to strip naked and discuss their sexuality. One daughter wants to destroy the tapes, but last I heard, she officially had no control. And a statutory rape victim becomes a felon when she’s pimped out. No one arrests the pimps or johns. What a sad state of affairs. http://broadblogs.com/

Ms Magazine Blog : (Self)Love is a Battlefield

Thu, 21 Oct 2010 19:28:22 +0000

Ask a guy why he looks at porn and he’ll likely say men are just naturally attracted to women. But the images in porn don’t look too natural. Neither do the fashion mags women read. I think it’s pretty sad that we’ve created a culture in which men feel naturally attracted to unnatural women, leaving women starving and mutilating themselves to fit some crazy ideal – and often left still frustrated. http://broadblogs.com/

Ms Magazine Blog : Gay Bashing is About Masculinity

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 20:49:13 +0000

In the last four years the level of homophobia among men has gone down drastically. Today men are no more homophobic than women. Part of the reason is that women’s status has risen. If women and men are equal, then men acting like women (sexually, stereotypically) isn’t the big threat it had once been. Of course, gays coming out helps (who knew they were our friends and family!) Interestingly, many men are starting to see that spouting homophobia can hint at their own insecurity and even be a front for the gay man inside. http://broadblogs.com/

Ms Magazine Blog : The Men, And Women, Of Yale

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 19:56:09 +0000

I wonder why women don't ostracize the frat. Why do women continue to have friendships and sexual relations with these guys? Do they just dismiss the behavior, thinking the men couldn't really be THAT bad? Are Yale frat-boys looked upon so highly that really, they can do no wrong -- or too much wrong? Or is the frat so prestigious that women choose an alliance with them regardless of their behavior? When I was in college and saw how frats behaved, I wanted absolutely nothing to do with them. Automatic turn off. And, thanks Mr. Kimmel. Love your work!

Ms Magazine Blog : Zulu Tradition Fuels Virginity Myths in South Africa

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 16:33:38 +0000

We are so concerned to respect other's cultures, even when women are exploited, and didn't have equal power to create those cultures in the first place. Meanwhile, men warn women that they are rejecting their culture (one that weakens them) when they protest. So everyone backs down. http://broadblogs.com/

Ms Magazine Blog : It's Not Abortion That Drives You Mad, It's the Law

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 16:14:00 +0000

Studies I've seen say relief is the most common emotion after an abortion. Women often feel they'll be better mothers later, when they're better prepared to take on that responsibility. Still, I have a student (I teach women's studies) who came in crying after a discussion on abortion. She was upset because she had been pressured by her boyfriend to abort. Women who are pressured are more likely to be upset – feeling that their agency has been taken away from them. http://broadblogs.com/

Ms Magazine Blog : Newsflash: Canadian Court Strikes Down Anti-Sex-Work Laws

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 16:00:56 +0000

The downside to decriminalizing prostitution is that human trafficking (aka slavery) increases. Only way found to keep human trafficking down (so far) is to criminalize buying sex at the same time that prostitution is decriminalized. Maybe some province’s increased policing to protect young sex workers will help. I guess we’ll see. http://broadblogs.com/

Ms Magazine Blog : Newsflash: Colorado Prisons' 'Labia Lift' Policy

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 17:28:32 +0000

Before the new "x-ray" airport screenings I thought it was odd that women's breasts were fondled for contraband, but men’s crotches were left untouched (okay, women’s too). But even then the idea of underpants bombers seemed as likely as bra bombers. http://broadblogs.com/

Ms Magazine Blog : Is Pornography Racist?

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 16:10:26 +0000

This makes sense to me. In "Guyland," Michael Kimmel says that men of color are less likely to consume porn, partly because they don’t like how women of their race are portrayed. http://broadblogs.com/

Ms Magazine Blog : Porn: Pleasure or Profit? Ms. Interviews Gail Dines, Part III

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 20:54:05 +0000

You must not have read much research on pornography and how the industry has changed over time. Or interviews with men who say that they had once been very aroused by female nudity, but with overexposure, now need more extreme porn to get aroused. They also talk of having more difficulty becoming erect with real women. Some men decided to quit for a while because it was so negatively affecting their sex lives. See, for example, Pornified, by Pamela Paul. http://broadblogs.com/