Referee Michelle Campbell was told not to officiate a high school basketball game in Kansas by a official of St. Mary’s Academy:
The reason given, according to the referees: Campbell, as a woman, could not be put in a position of authority over boys because of the academy’s beliefs.
So far, so irritating religious-based sexism, of the kind that infuriates, but does not surprise. But what did surprise (and delight) me was that her male colleagues refused to cover the game:
Campbell then walked off the court along with Darin Putthoff, the referee who was to work the game with her.
Fred Shockey, who was getting ready to leave the gym after officiating two junior high games, said he was told there had been an emergency and was asked to stay and officiate two more games.
“When I found out what the emergency was, I said there was no way I was going to work those games,” said Shockey, who spent 12 years in the Army and became a ref about three years ago. “I have been led by some of the finest women this nation has to offer, and there was no way I was going to go along with that.”
The Kansas State High School Activities Association is now considering removing St. Mary’s Academy from its list of approved schools.
Now here’s something that everyone can enjoy, regardless of whether you care about U.S. politics or not:
http://www.kungfuelection.com
Obama’s “projectile attack” animation had me in stitches. BRILLIANT.
(And I also appreciate the fact that Hillary got a really, really awesome fighting outfit, too.)
September 20th 2007 is the Jena 6 Day of Action. Go here to find out how you can get involved and what you can do to help. They literally have everything from flyers you can print out and post in your neighborhood, to phone numbers you can call and a list of events that could be happening in your area.
Would you like to buy an amateur comic? Would you like to help stop domestic violence and sexual assault in Kenya?
Now you can do both at the same time!
My 38-page feminist cartoon romp, Rainbow Girl Stars in SEXY WAR, is now available for online purchase. It is an international grassroots fundraiser with all proceeds donated to Umoja Uaso Kenyan Women’s Village, a formidable group of women in Umoja, Kenya who are escaping and stopping domestic violence and sexual assault in their lives and community.
This wonderful post from LJ user pnkrokhockeymom articulates with clarity and passion exactly why responding to feminist critique of patriarchy by reassuring the writers that there are nice guys out there can be so very infuriating.
The thing is, it goes so far beyond any one man’s actions, good or bad. These really nice guys always show up–they’re well meaning but they don’t understand– they say, “But some of us are nice,” as if our reactions and internalized confusions are the result of irritating behavior by individual assholes, rather than institutionalized sexism we bear from all fronts simultaneously. The frustrating thing I always feel, and always want to say, is DUDE: FEMINISM IS NOT ABOUT MEN. This is not about you, individually. This is about a culture that treats me as a breeding machine whose sexuality and sexual activity is to be controlled, through any means necessary. No prince charming in feminist clothing (and believe me, I know they’re out there, I’ve loved them, I’ve fucked them, and I hope to find more of them in the future), simply by saying “Well, I like it that you are a sexual being, and I love you and respect you not despite it but for it and apart from it simultaneously,” can negate the impact of a lifetime as a member of the sex class.
Via Daegaer.
Merle Hoffman’s “Facing the Dragon: Reflections on Female Heroism” from the On The Issues archives examines the need for female heroes, and the shameful way the media approaches real life examples:
Along with posing questions about her physiology, The Angry Corrie, a Scottish fanzine, described Hargreaves as “driven, out of control, and greedy, ” as “gobbling up summits while she could” and becoming “perhaps too good of a climber.”
As a group of British women journalists noted, every news report about her accomplishments started with the words “mother of two.” When a male climber either summited or died in the attempt, the headlines never read “father of one killed on Everest.”
The 15th Carnival of the Feminist Sci-Fi and Fantasy Fans is up at Feminist SF – The Blog!
Dear Kirby,
I regret the delay between letters, but sometimes life gets in the way of correspondence and I had some important work-related issues to handle. We stumbled across a remarkable find in the North Centuria II site. Last month’s dig yielded evidence of a yearly festival held in this area known as “Wiscon.”
Yep, it’s the WisCon31 round-up: con reports, panel write-ups, and discussions inspired by WisCon31! But if that isn’t your bag, there’s also plenty of other great links. Fantastic as always.
Just some random cool links for the day:
The new 7 wonders of the world Pretty excellent choices, if you ask me. And while I’m the biggest history nerd in the world, I do think it’s nice that they chose from a wider variety of cultures, as well as choosing monuments and structures that are still mostly intact…as opposed to “Colossus of Rhodes! If it was still there…Hanging Gardens of Babylon! They’re still kind of here…somewhere…”
African women speak out against Bush’s abstinence-promoting HIV/AIDS policies courtesy of Feministe. AWESOME. The U.S. funding abstinence-only programs has failed a lot of people, and it’s hit African women in a HUGE way. These women are awesome for speaking out and calling attention to what is NOT working.
Mortifying moments in parenting Hosted at Flea’s blog. Laugh, cry and cringe!
Presidential Candidates in First Ever Gay Debate 2008 U.S. Presidential candidates will be debating solely LGBT issues. The event will be held August 9, and you can watch through a live streaming video on LOGOonline.com Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards and Chris Dodd have confirmed that they will participate.
Enjoy!
Two not-particularly-recent but still damn good articles on the X-Men:
In X-Men’s Last Stand: One for Patriarchy, Mekani Themba Nixon criticizes “the disempowerment and basic all around ‘girlification’ of X-Men leader Storm,” voicing many of my own misgivings about the movie version of the character.
In Beyond Children of the Atom: Black Politics, White Minds and the X-Men, Morpheus Reloaded examines the idea of X-Men as a metaphor for the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, in which Charles Xavier serves as an analog for Martin Luther King, and Magneto, for Malcolm X. He extends the metaphor further, as well, looking at characters and situations in X-Men as reflections of a frustratingly narrow white perspective on black people and politics in America.
Old But Great
Via Daegaer.
Merle Hoffman’s “Facing the Dragon: Reflections on Female Heroism” from the On The Issues archives examines the need for female heroes, and the shameful way the media approaches real life examples: