We got Lame?, Jaded Hippy looks at ableist language in Bitch.
Gang Rape: Is it a race issue? if anyone missed/didn't want to watch this episode of Dispatches, this article from Dispatches reporter Sorious Samura covers everything he discovered.
The Guardian is doing 'important feminist issues' again, we've had Jessica Valenti discussing her feminist wedding and Julie Bindel wearing make up. Now we have taking your partners surname after marriage, good or bad?
In the 'good' corner Becky Sheaves states;
But my marriage was a huge life change and acquiring a new surname seemed somehow right. Like so many modern couples, I wasn't just teaming up with John by marrying him. I had my son, then called Luke Morris, who was two and John had four older children. We were creating a happy stepfamily. So not only did I change my name, I also changed my son's name too. And now we're all known as the Sheaves family and, yes, it has helped to unify us. That's S-H-E-A-V-E-S, as we're all only too happy to tell you.
Which is nice, she feels it's brought her family closer together, good for her. I don't agree it is that way or anyone else should feel that a name change is the only way to unify a family but that is how she felt and she made that choice.
In the 'bad' corner Michelle Hanson discusses Rebekah Wade's decision to take her new husband's surname;
What a shock to find that Rebekah Wade - smasher of glass ceilings, ruler of men, first woman to edit the Sun and soon to become chief executive of News International - is really a fluffy at heart.
she'll be letting down all those thousands of women, from 1850s Massachusetts suffragette Lucy Stone onwards, who have fought for women to retain their own names and independence
she can go ahead and be plain Mrs Brooks.
She's the last sort of woman you'd expect to opt to take the back seat, yet here she is, giving up her own name like an ordinary little wife
What a pity that not even the new Empress of Wapping has the strength to go against the grain.
So, in favour of changing the surname is a woman's personal opinion of how she felt it unified her own family. Against changing the surname is a critical attack on another woman who has decided to change her surname after marriage, you see even though Hanson acknowledges that Wade is a 'smasher of glass cielings' taking her husbands surname makes her nothing more than a plain, ordinary little wife who is letting down the suffragettes because she doesn't have the strength to keep her own surname even though she did keep her surname when she was married to Ross Kemp but we'll gloss over that or actually, we can use that to attack the bitch too!
Perhaps she felt that Kemp, her previous husband of nearly seven years, was more famous, and didn't want to be overshadowed (or have her editorial integrity challenged) by his fame as a star of EastEnders. But now she is so fabulously grand herself that no amount of name changing can put her in the shade
Hmmm....I'm confused, are we mad because she's playing wifey and taking her husbands name or are we mad because she thinks she's famous enough that a name change isn't going to confuse people as to her identity? Because she's letting down the side or because she's egotistical? (or possibly because you personally dislike her which isn't exactly hard but kinda negates the whole 'feminism' side of the argument if you're just using feminism as a stick to beat another woman with)
If Hanson's only daughter chooses to take her husbands name after marriage she feels that;
All my family's history will be more easily forgotten. Like many other families, they made a tremendous effort to get this far - escaping the Russian pogroms at the turn of the century, building up a new life, surviving two world wars, and then, pouff! It all evaporates because women's names don't matter.
Really? All that will disappear because of a simple name change? Who knew a name change had the power of erasing a persons memories (well, women's memories because we're so silly and frivolous we'll be too busy trying to remember our new names) and a families history.
My surname is that of a man my mum was briefly married to at 17, she kept his name after they divorced and that is the name I was given when I was born several years later. It's not my mum's name, it's not my biological dad's name (I don't see him), it's the name of a man I don't even know. I don't care for my name, it means absolutely nothing to me and, even though I have no plans to marry, I wouldn't feel an amazing desire to keep the name of a man I have absolutely no connection to over a man I love and trust enough to marry.
So, a surname is important to some people and completely unimportant to others, why the hell do we have to make such a big deal out of that, why is the simple changing of a name such a terrible threat to feminism? A threat so great that it seems perfectly acceptable to rip another woman to shreds using various dated 'wife' stereotypes (they're all fluffy, pathetic nobodies!) rather than just accept that it's just a fucking name! I'm perfectly happy with the fact that we can be critical of other women and their actions without being anti feminist but Hanson's article just smacks of petty name calling of a woman who isn't fitting her ideal, it's not constructive in any way and seems like pathetic attempt to bully all other women into believing the same.
As for my name I might change it to Jaime Mckickingmanassscamp, it'll be bastard to spell but I think it lets people know that I'm not one of those pathetic, fluffy women that likes men or anything.
Does this sort of advertising appeal to anyone? I know it's supposed to appeal to men in a 'look submissive blow up doll female type thing is gonna get a 7 incher in her mouth, eat BK, yeah' porno ad way but I'm not entirely convinced it would actually be any more successful than just showing the burger on it's own. Is this sort of blatant misogyny in advertising a way to create conversation amongst feminists, who will obviously de construct it in a negative way, so that the product involved then becomes appealing as a sort of anti feminist rebellion? I can't decide if that's just a stupid conspiracy theory fermenting in my mind or an actual possibility.
The 'What Ethnicity Should You Be Dating?' Facebook application was in my feed today. I had to take it 'cos you know, it looks like awful racist shit and I can't quite fathom it's existence, enjoyment or the questions that determine how an entire ethnicity may be my ideal match and also, so that nobody else has to.
The questions;
The Results;
'Chocolate love' & 'Soul flavour'?
'Spicy'?
'Chicken chow yummy'? WTF!?!
Ok. I get it, ask a few questions that can be applied to a stereotype and voilà! We have found ourselves a soulmate off of the Facebook ethnicity menu. I tried several times as I assumed there would be a 'caucasian' in there somewhere, possibly described as a 'roast chicken dinner', but to no avail. I still don't understand the part where it's fun or what compelled someone to create it, any ideas?
I've just watched a dreadful episode of Law & Order: SVU (I know, you probably think all L&O is dreadful but I love it) featuring a bizarre story of an animal smuggling ring, Big Boi from Outkast being eaten by hyenas and possibly the death of a major character (he lives, it was a 2 minute advert break cliffhanger) who was under the impression he was about to steal a gibbon rather than get shot.
The dramatic climax seems to be an exotic animal auction with said gibbon hidden in a basketball and rescued by Commander Cragen from those evil smugglers. (I'm not making this up, watch the video)
The episode, featuring vicious African hyenas, foreign smugglers and the rescue of the rare white gibbon, was so awful I immediately thought of the Daily Mail.
The story is basically an advertisement for Operation INFRA (Crimestoppers & Crimestoppers International) with the catchy hook of 'OHMIGAWD Foreign criminals are everywhere'! My favourite comment;
The dumping ground and criminal hideout of Europe. And with the UK's Human Rights bill these people will be untouchable.
- Gary, Barcelona, 1/6/2009 12:45 Click to rate Rating 224
I don't think Gary from Barcelona read the whole article, amusingly he missed;
'Crimestoppers has enjoyed notable success in helping UK law enforcement track down UK fugitives hiding in Spain, so we are confident that the public will yet again help us to locate this new set of internationally wanted criminals.'
Hmm....Gary, ex pat are we? What would you class your 'occupation' as eh? I joke, I ouldn't go accusing someone of being a criminal because of where he lives.....
check the council housing and benefits list , they are sure to be on that
- clive, london, 1/6/2009 12:44 Click to rate Rating 247
Ofcourse Clive is implying that all these foreign criminals are also stealing from the taxpayers purse but then anyone living in a council house or on benefits is a criminal right?
'I spent 30 years living next to a travellers' site and unfortunately in my personal experience it was hell.
'I had lots of my farming equipment stolen over that period. If my property wasn't bolted down it would disappear overnight.
'Also the place was a complete tip with rubbish everywhere. I also witnessed some very aggressive and unpleasant behaviour.'
He added: 'I wasn't suggesting all travellers acted in this way - of course they don't. I was simply pointing out what happened in my personal experience.
You can't argue with those cold hard scientific facts now can you? Not if you're a commenter on the Mail you can't and you can also come up with these little gems;
My next door neighbour is a Sri Lankan Hindu. If he proposed to turn his semi detached house into a temple, could my local council ignore my objections and threaten me with prosecution for objecting to his plans on the grounds that I was being racist? Frightening!
- Mike Gibbs, Kingston, England, 1/6/2009 14:33 Click to rate Rating 258
Wow, now that's a bit of a leap, Mike mustn't be able to sleep at night thinking about this, he's desperate to share his fears and the Daily Mail comments board is a place where everyone can share their absurd prejudiced scaremongering fears in a big group hug.
