3:05 PM
BREAKING: Obama Embraces Marriage Equality
President Obama has come out in support of marriage equality for gay and lesbian people in an interview with ABC News’ Robin Roberts this afternoon:
OBAMA: I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married.
His endorsement comes less than a week after Vice President Joe Biden embraced the issue during an appearance on Meet The Press and a day after North Carolina banned marriage equality and civil unions in its state constitution.
The president last made news on the freedom to marry 560 days ago, when he told progressive journalists at the White House that he is evolving towards greater acceptance.
Obama’s remarks today bring him full circle to his position in 1996, when he was running for the Illinois state Senate. In response to a questionnaire from Chicago’s Outlines gay newspaper, he proclaimed, “I favor legalizing same-sex marriages, and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages.”
3:45 PM
[Trigger warning: Abortion, Medical Waste] [Images: First image, top row: Chalk on brick that says, “We will NOT go back,” with a drawing of a crossed out wire coat-hanger. Second image, top row says, “I <3 Planned Parenthood.” Second row: A picture of the brick forum, covered in pro-choice and reproductive justice chalk slogans, including “Your body, your choice,” “Abortion is not shameful,” and “Pro-Woman, Pro-Choice.” Third row, first image: Three anti-choice signs on stands. The chalk below reads “Citation Needed” and “Stop the war on women.” Third row, second and third images: Wide view of the brick forum covered in pro-choice, reproductive justice related chalk.
As promised, here are the photos from this morning! Hope you enjoy them. We handed out over a 100 condoms!
[Images: Top image is a chalking on brick of the “all” meme. it reads, “Support ALL the choices!” The first image in the second row is a chalking of the “me gusta” meme that reads, “Reproductive Justice. Me gusta.” The second image in the second row is the “we got a badass over here” meme, that just says “Watch out!” The first image in the third row says “End the War on Women.” The second image in the third row says, “Queers 4 Reproductive Justice.” And the last image of the set says, “Abortion is not shameful.”]
So the anti-choice group, the center for bioethical reform was on campus today, teaming up with our resident anti-choice group, spiders for life. They had their giant, triggering, inaccurate, shaming photos.You can see them here [Trigger warning for abortion, medical waste]. So naturally all the concerned activists on campus formed an ad-hoc coalition to chalk the entire forum where the anti-choice display would be (More pictures coming later). Here are a few of the finest. I thought you all would enjoy. We also stood in the forum all day, talking with people, handing out ribbons for students to show their support for reproductive justice, and of course, FREE CONDOMS.
I knew I was changing when people began to gawk at me again.
My body was blending gender characteristics, and I wasn’t the only one who noticed. I remembered what it was like to walk a gauntlet of strangers who stare — their eyes angry, confused, intrigued. Woman or man: they are outraged that I confuse them. The punishment will follow. The only recognition I can find in their eyes is that I am “other.” I am different. I will always be different. I will never be able to nestle my skin against the comfort of sameness.
— Stone Butch Blues, Leslie Feinberg
[Image: Four screen caps of a facebook group called “Vixens for Veterans.” The first image shows the timeline cover photo of five presumably white women in black underwear, fishnets, and stilettos. The page has close to 2,500 likes. The second image is the actual time line of the page. On the left hand side is a picture of a white woman in a white top. She has black hair and is making a heart with her fingers. On the right hand side is a list of other pages this page has liked, including one called “Booties for the Troops,” which has been circled in red. The third image is further down the timeline and there is a blond, white woman in the left hand column. She is wearing a blue top over a black bra and has a thick, studded leather choker on. The caption above her asks the viewer whether they would “Like or pass?” on her. The right hand column is a photo of a redheaded, white woman with her back towards the camera. She is wearing white underwear and a white bra. The forth image is a screen shot of the group’s photo section. It is filled with white women taking pictures of themselves in the seductive poses. All of the captions ask the viewer to “Like or pass?” on each woman.]
So I was casually browsing my facebook newsfeed this afternoon when I saw that a guy I went to elementary-high school with had liked this page… Out of curiosity, I clicked it and instantly started a feminist critique of it. Here’s what I have so far:
- The page showcases female bodies for male consumption; however, women are invited to submit pictures of themselves, so they are consenting to the objectification of their bodies which is consistant with feminist principles
- Casts men as the societal and sexual actors and women as passive receivers
- Assumes that veteran = male and vixen = female, upholding heteronormative foundations and traditional ideas of gender at the same time
- Defines female worth through physical appearance
- The overwhelming majority of pictures on the site are of white women, all of whom fit into a very narrow definition of “female” or “woman”
Feel free to add more. Charming society we live in, isn’t it?
Poet Adrienne Rich, 82, has died
Adrienne Rich, a pioneering feminist poet and essayist who challenged what she considered to be the myths of the American dream, has died. She was 82.
Read more here.
[TW: Anorexia/Bulimia/Body Shaming] Call to ban skinny models as Ireland tops anorexia poll
IRELAND has the highest rates of anorexia in Europe along with Italy and Austria, the first ever economic analysis of the condition has found.
Anorexia is a socially transmitted disorder and is more prevalent in countries where women are thinner than average, according to research from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
The research by LSE economist Dr Joan Costa-Font and Professor Mireia Jofre-Bonet of City University, showed that it is becoming increasingly apparent that standards of physical appearance are important and powerful motivators of human behavior, especially regarding health and food.
Banning skinny models from the catwalk and pictures of underweight models from magazines may prevent the epidemic of the disease, they said. [Emphasis mine]
I’m finding this solution to be somewhat problematic… It seems to me that this is just another form of body shamming. I think the language of the regulation is crucial: they want to ban “underweight models from magazines.” There was obviously no consideration given to models who are naturally underweight. In addition, instead of punishing models who actually have eating disorders, they should be helping them recover, if that is what the model wants to do. BMI is no longer held as an accurate marker of “healthy weight” and would be ineffective in weeding out super skinny models — for example, I can run 4miles in 40mins and am in good shape, but my BMI registers as “overweight.” (I understand that this example goes in the opposite direction; however, it still proves that BMI is bullshit.) Perhaps instead of banning seemingly underweight models, we should be aiming for a more diverse model group to begin with — and not just in terms of weight, but racial diversity, gender identity diversity (more than simply “men” and “women”), gender expression diversity, etc.
Watching a feather fall from the sky
And spending all day praying that the bird who lost it could still fly.
When we were nine,
We spent half the year on our backs
Begging the stars not to fall anywhere close to our heads
Because we knew we weren’t the ones who need them most.
Do you remember when you said,
“We’ll carry icicles to Mexico and melt them during droughts!”
Yeah we didn’t know shit, but we had something figured out back then.
Where did we go?
When did we lose ourselves?
Hell is a nation that doesn’t know how to exhale.
The heart is a muscle, without use it will fail."
8:16 PM
![[Image: Picture of Karen (played by Amanda Seyfried) from the movie Mean Girls, under the text, “Oh my god Karen, you can’t just not ask someone what their preferred gender pronoun is.”]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzczjrMuZT1qg117qo1_500.png)
[Image: Picture of Karen (played by Amanda Seyfried) from the movie Mean Girls, under the text, “Oh my god Karen, you can’t just not ask someone what their preferred gender pronoun is.”]
