Fourth Wave

I took offense. Good thing my BF is too lazy to d...

2011-10-11T16:10:57.101-04:00

I took offense. Good thing my BF is too lazy to do grocery shopping... Never ever will I buy Dr Pepper again.

I saw this for the first time on TV about 10 minut...

2011-10-10T17:07:57.689-04:00

I saw this for the first time on TV about 10 minutes ago. I had to look it up online to be absolutely sure my mind wasn't playing tricks on me. I can't believe in 2011, a company's advertising staff thinks it's a good idea to stereotype like this. I'm a female who thoroughly enjoys action movies (Live Free or Die Hard being one of my top 3), I get unbelievably bored watching a predictable romantic comedy, I prefer the taste of a cold beer to a tequila sunrise anyday, and I USED to claim Dr. Pepper as my favorite soda. Never again will my money go to funding such feeble opinions on women.

You make valid points. Tonight was the first time...

2011-10-06T22:55:05.214-04:00

You make valid points. Tonight was the first time I had seen the commercial--during a football game, if that means anything. I, too, was trying to determine whether or not I lacked a sense of humor. They tried to make it ironic, but it fell flat. The commercial could have been funny, if it was not so blatantly offensive.

I just wanted to ask if you think the youth should...

2011-05-01T07:42:32.600-04:00

I just wanted to ask if you think the youth should vote on Clinton because she's female, regardless of who they think would make the better president?

Crazy. You are off your rocker. All MODERN stats...

2011-04-22T20:36:03.028-04:00

Crazy.

You are off your rocker.

All MODERN stats point to troubled males in society.....and a collapsing society as well.

And you are busy rounding up stories to gloat about women's superiority?

You live in the misandry bubble.

Some men are finally starting to show up on that decades empty battlfield of the sexes. Make sure your bra is nice and tight.

UTP

This article is very good, I like it very much,and...

2011-04-18T21:37:58.073-04:00

This article is very good, I like it very much,and I also like Nike Zoom sports series, hope we can share the fun of Nike Outlet Stores. thank you.

Thank you for posting my call for essays. I made a...

2011-04-08T13:24:00.084-04:00

Thank you for posting my call for essays. I made a couple small changes to the project description, including reducing the word count and adding some questions for thought. If anyone is interested in reading these revisions, they can find them at breadwinningbroads.blogspot.com.

Thanks again!

I couldn't agree with you more. This is probab...

2011-03-10T12:36:48.556-05:00

I couldn't agree with you more. This is probably the most stereotypical and offensive ad campaign I can remember. If Dr. Pepper doesn't want my "lady" money, they won't be getting it anymore.

The way that men use alcohol as a way to gain acce...

2011-02-28T16:20:46.194-05:00

The way that men use alcohol as a way to gain access to women is disheartening. Something needs to be done to show men that it is not acceptable to take advantage of women and that real men treat women with respect

I don't think you have a problem taking a joke...

2011-02-22T23:37:48.004-05:00

I don't think you have a problem taking a joke. I didn't find that funny either. I'm really tired of advertisers trying to make money at women's expense.

Thanks, Tammy! I'm so glad you stopped by.

2011-02-22T20:40:31.482-05:00

Thanks, Tammy! I'm so glad you stopped by.

Aviva, I am so happy to have found this blog. I a...

2011-02-22T13:26:07.900-05:00

Aviva,

I am so happy to have found this blog. I absolutely agree that it's up to us as a community to orchestrate change. I think this blog is a fabulous place to gather knowledge and discuss topics from politics to pop culture, from a woman's perspective.

Thanks for following your passion and creating a space for women to gather and empower one another.

Tabby Biddle

@seashellontheshore: We certainly can't assume...

2011-02-17T23:23:12.788-05:00

@seashellontheshore: We certainly can't assume or label people as feminists against their will, but I think it's important for people (especially women's studies students) to understand that the most basic definition of feminism is, quite simply, "the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men" (and that's the dictionary definition. By the definition, a lot people who wouldn't say "I'm a feminist" would still probably consider themselves feminism. It's worth considering that disconnect.

@Leila: Yeah, that's not really what being pro-choice means to me. Nor was my student expressing the idea that abortion is a "great choice." Pro-choice doesn't necessarily equate to pro-abortion, and what he was saying is that it's not his business to choose what a woman should do with her body.

I think women deserve to have a choice.

My theory is that abortion is the best thing that ...

2011-02-12T00:56:49.796-05:00

My theory is that abortion is the best thing that ever happened to irresponsible men who like to use women. Not hard to guess why a young college guy would think abortion is a great choice. Do you think he'd be so quick to support her if her "choice" was that he marry her and raise the child together? Unlikely.

Women deserve better than abortion.

I do think that today's society does lend itse...

2011-02-10T18:34:29.195-05:00

I do think that today's society does lend itself to take the term "feminism" in a negative light. Many a time, after telling people "I am a feminist", I am met with uncomfortable silences or "Oh, well, uh... does this mean you hate men?" Particularly since feminists online tend to be very vocal about their opinions on certain issues without any wiggle room, there is the worry that we may lash out and attack.

However, I don't think that just because someone associates themselves with the idea of supporting the equality of women or the idea that women should have control over their own bodies automatically makes them a feminist. It is only if they decide to consciously label themselves as such can we say that they are. It's not our decision, as a community, to say what is and is not feminism and what, indeed, makes a feminist.

Nic...

2011-01-26T21:09:04.031-05:00

Nice read,thanks for information.

Hello, came across your page here whilst googling:...

2010-12-01T02:45:14.999-05:00

Hello, came across your page here whilst googling: "male band with female vocalist dynamic" mostly with disappointing results. I was looking for how they are able to tour while keeping it professional.

But anyway, my random thought on the topic you've raised is this: assuming the population were split 50/50 male/female listeners of music, 50% of the listeners are men. I have a theory that men think that it takes (metaphorical) balls to play hard core rock. Of course the female lack of literal balls means they also lack the metaphorical ones as well, so their music must not be as good. The female vocalist is pretty and sounds good, so the men don't mind lusting after her while they merely admire the male musicians. In an all girl band the lust is there, but they either will think the music must suck because it's girls playing, or are afraid they will be shown up by a bunch of girls who play better than they, so they bash it just to play it safe. The problem herein is that if a male vocalist were backed by a female band, he had better sound really good, because the assumption will be that the music itself will suck, and most guys don't sound "pretty" like girls, who can get away with sounding pretty in a macho society without being construed as gay.

It's almost 2 in the morning so if that didn't make sense, i apologize.

God bless.

I loved everything he said in this video-- literal...

2010-11-08T23:43:22.493-05:00

I loved everything he said in this video-- literally brought a tear to my eye. Thanks for sharing

Somewhere i heard the awesome term 'envelopmen...

2010-09-15T16:26:12.509-04:00

Somewhere i heard the awesome term 'envelopment'. While it's also one-sided, the agency is with the body typically gendered in a far-too passive way. Am quite sure plenty of dudes & penis-possessing individuals might even find the new outlook sexy ... i do!

I can only presume that Cohen lives in California,...

2010-08-15T01:24:03.782-04:00

I can only presume that Cohen lives in California, because, otherwise, he's making a very strange argument, since Judge Walker's decision, if it's upheld by the Supremes, wouldn't just affect California, since, if banning gay marriage is unconstitutional in one state, it's unconstitutional in all 50. Or is he saying that, by repealing Prop. 8 at the ballot box, California voters could actually, conceivably prevent that from happening? If so, would that mean the national anti-gay marriage groups could end up supporting a repeal?

what i find kind of shocking is that you managed t...

2010-07-11T02:31:06.077-04:00

what i find kind of shocking is that you managed to review the negative stereotypes on Avenue Q and not once mention Christmas Eve, who was the most offensive of all - racially as well as gender-wise. did you miss that part?

I'm glad I ran into your website, because I ju...

2010-07-10T19:53:27.062-04:00

I'm glad I ran into your website, because I just wrote a blog about my own questions on feminism. It'a a short piece, so I do hope you can comment on what you think. Thanks!

http://ervinang.blogspot.com/2010/07/tight-situation-for-vagina.html

Thanks for helping us get the word out about our f...

2010-06-15T11:07:52.123-04:00

Thanks for helping us get the word out about our fundraiser! We have 16 days left to meet our $10,000 goal.

If we don't meet our goal, no money changes hands. If readers have a spare $10, it would help us get there!

Interesting thoughts here...I might point you in t...

2010-06-05T17:40:58.003-04:00

Interesting thoughts here...I might point you in the direction of Ann Fausto-Sterling (a biologist from Brown University) who wrote "Sexing the Body."
Some other food for thought:

In the recent case of Caster Semenya, sex testing of women (and only women) was brought into the spotlight once again. Initially Semenya failed her sex test with the apparent presence of a Y gene.

She had internal testes.

Of course this didn't matter; the doctors still ruled her to be a female because it doesn't matter if testosterone floats around in your system -- it's whether or not your body uses it! This is how we get a variation on the masculinity of men and women who seem to show more masculine characteristics (I even have a friend on hormones to neutralize the amount of testosterone her body makes). Since her body never used the testosterone those testes produced they ceased to produce testosterone and instead produced more estrogen (which testes, yes gentlemen, also secrete) givng her a period/breats/higher voice/[insert socially acceptable female trait].

As far as sports is concerned, if you look at the right races you'll see women are gaining ground on men's times, especially in the marathon. Women are getting faster faster than men are getting faster. While they have not caught up yet, it seems to be a possibility. While the top times and scores in events still have a gap, they are outliers, or as my coach used to say, freaks of nature.

Of course it also cannot be ignored that our "tests of strength", speed, and flexibility were culturally determined. Bench press is a popular method to test strength, a test men would very often succeed in without a problem given their testosterone levels. Given women's past cultural restrictions they tend to do better with flexibility, or leaning down to touch your toes (!!!). But change the test and the results might change. For instance, if strength tested by headstand pushups women, with better coordination and flexibility, might be considered the stronger of the two sexes.

And of course, all of these results are put up by people labelled as either male or female. An effeminate man is not allowed to be put in the ranks of women, while a more masculine woman is not allowed to bring down the scores of men. We still assume a dichotomy when comparing men a women, a dichotomy that has a high significance, but also divisive implications.

GROSS! I admit, I was quite obsessed with "S...

2010-06-05T16:20:56.191-04:00

GROSS! I admit, I was quite obsessed with "Sex and the City" as a teenager, as was my little sister...we went to see the first film together, and we were disgusted.
During seasons 5 and 6 of the show, it became much less realistic. Then came the movie - all of a sudden these women were multimillionaires, projecting absolutely unrealistic femininities to young women.
Now belly dancing in the U.A.E.? Where women wear head scarfs, and people are arrested for making out on the beach? I'm guessing some of that goes on in the new film too...pure speculation, as I will NOT be seeing it, and I never anticipated there being a second film after the first was such trash. The first few seasons of the show were liberating...after that the franchise sold out, and it was all downhill from there.