Sometimes I forget I write for a blog (a mostly dead blog, but which I can resuscitate at will) where I can easily share ideas like this to a sizable audience…

We can generally agree that it is bad to say things like “I totally raped that test!” or “I raped that level in Angry Birds.” because that is not what rape means, and rape is a serious thing.

But one additional problem with the particular quotes above is that tests and video game levels are not sentient beings.  They do not have agency to ignore or consciousness to torment.  

Tests exist to be taken, and games exist to be played.  But people do not exist to be raped.  And “winning” is no great personal feat.  Using the word rape in this way strips the humanity from those who have been raped, much like their rapists did, by making them equivalent to objects which lack everything that makes rape bad. 

So, you know, don’t say things like that!  

<3 Audrey

face-down-asgard-up:

subconciousevolution:

Breastfeeding Moms Stag “Nurse-In” Protest at Target Stores

(CBS) Should breastfeeding be allowed in public? The oft-debated controversy that pits moms against retailers and nosey onlookers reached a fever pitch yesterday when women across the country protested Target by holding “nurse-ins” at more than 100 stores in 35 states.

“Feeding your baby is nothing to be ashamed of,” North Texas nursing mother Angela Jackson told CBSDFW.com during a nurse-in. “I feel like asking someone to move to feed their baby is basically segregation.” 

The nationwide protests began because of an incident on Nov. 28, when Michelle Hickman of Houston sat on the floor of the women’s clothing department and began breastfeeding her infant who had just woken up hungry. Despite covering herself and the baby with a blanket, two female employees came over to her and asked her to move and threatened her that she’d get a ticket.

Hickman legally had a right to breastfeed in public, so when she called Target to voice her complaints, a representative told her despite her rights, Target is a “family friendly public place” with different policies than what’s legally permitted, and suggested Hickman shouldn’t “flaunt” her feeding publicly.

Hickman organized a nurse-in for December 28, 2011. At the 11th hour, Target replied that it has a long-standing policy in support of breastfeeding in stores, and that the company would work to educate its team members on the store’s policies.

The letter was too little too late in the organization’s mind, so the nurse-in went on as planned. From Houston - where the incident took place - to Philadelphia to San Jose, moms across the nation brought their babies to Target stores to feed them in public.

“It’s going to take a couple of generations before it’s a non-issue,” one nurse-in organizer, Kelly Roth, told Time. “Our ultimate goal is for people to not notice that anything is happening, just like with breathing or speaking or a baby taking a bottle.”

Read the Article here.

Know your state’s breastfeeding laws.

Cooler than this.  Although both very valid reasons to protest against Target.

alas-ihavesaiditagain:

It’s amazing how much misinformation is out there about the vagina. Given how fascinated our society is with the female body, you’d think we’d be a little more informed. But from what I discovered while soliciting questions for my book What’s Up Down There? Questions You’d Only Ask Your…

iamwhoiamandidontgiveadamn:

When people say this they are usually referring to the abortion debate. But I think of SO many other things when I hear this phrase. I think about how every day, there is SOMEONE telling me what to do with my body, how to see my body, how to feel about my body….

…

superstarlet-ce:

missworded:

yayponies:

It’s a time-honored tradition at Navy homecomings – one lucky sailor is chosen to be first off the ship for the long-awaited kiss with a loved one.
Today, for the first time, the happily reunited couple was gay.

The dock landing ship Oak Hill has been gone for nearly three months, training with military allies in Central America.

As the homecoming drew near, the crew and ship’s family readiness group sold $1 raffle tickets for the first kiss. Petty Officer 2nd Class Marissa Gaeta bought 50 - which is actually fewer than many people buy, she said, so she was surprised Monday to find out she’d won.

Her girlfriend of two years, Petty Officer 3rd Class Citlalic Snell, was waiting when she crossed the brow.

They kissed. The crowd cheered. And with that, another vestige of the policy that forced gays to serve in secrecy vanished.

By Corinne Reilly
The Virginian-Pilot
© December 21, 2011 

Sniff sniff.

Baawwwwwww D’:

thesexuneducated:

Very interesting article. I have yet to see the American version of the film, but am interested to see if any of this correlates. This film is very controversial, especially within a feminist context, as many of you know. I will definitely be reporting once I see it. What are any of your thoughts on Fincher’s “Girl With The Dragon Tattoo”?

I’ve seen the American version, but only about half of the Swedish film.  I still agree with this article’s criticism of the American portrayal of Lisbeth.  The final line sums it up nicely:
“The film was not made by men who hate women, but certainly by men who are more comfortable with women as love interests for male heroes”

<3 Audrey

(Source: marxsparty)

microaggressions:

The same type of gloves is marketed as “sniper gloves” to men but “texting gloves” to women.

(Source: mytransworld)

This is a vintage pinball machine, from the 70s I’d guess.  Can we talk about how the women’s waists are the same size as their arms?  And how the dudes are normally proportioned? 

Ok.

Audrey <3