Legal ambiguity (from Erica)

First: this is our 100th post! Congratulations to us!

Second: I just came across this article outlining a bill that's been introduced in the Utah legislature that increases the restrictions on women's access to abortions to include "reckless" in its descriptions of the "homicidal" behaviour (their language). The general problem (besides the frightening level of erosion of a woman's legal right to medical privacy) is that the language of the proposed law is so ambiguous about what constitutes reckless conduct that it could easily lead to the prosecution of women who miscarry after any number of activities while pregnant- whether or not those activities are proven to be the cause of the miscarriage.

There are a lot of things to be said about the law and abortions, including moral arguments on both sides of the issue. When you look at the law itself, however, it's frightening to see what's being created. The legal arguments in this country that make it okay for a state to interfere with a private medical decision and force a woman not to get an abortion are identical to the legal arguments that make it okay for a state to interfere with that same decision and force a woman to have an abortion. I know that sounds like an exaggeration, and to be fair, I'm not saying that the social climate is such that states are likely to start doing that (I hope). However, the legal framework for them to do so is most assuredly in place. And punitive laws like this one, that attack women in ridiculous ways and don't even glance in the direction of other people causing danger to her fetus (abusive partner? Reckless driver? Chef who undercooks her dinner?), aren't doing anything productive, positive, or good.

Gender in Entertainment (from Emily)

In this miserable time of midterms, economic crises, and transporting cats overseas (oh wait, that last one just applies to Erica) I thought it would be a nice time to do another entertainment post.

So, here are some interesting songs and videos that address gender issues, whether directly or indirectly:

First up, here's a song called "Empty Face". I apologize for the poor sound quality of this video; it was the best I could find on youtube. What makes this song interesting? Well, even though it presents a pretty standard stereotype of an unloved, unhappy young woman who dates scum bags, this song makes an interesting paradigm shift. When it first mentions "another successful scumbag seduction," it sounds like a scumbag is seducing her. As it goes on, though, it sounds more like she is going out of her way to seduce scum bags. Interesting. Very interesting.


You all know that the song "I Kissed a Girl" already addresses interesting gender concerns, but listen to  Max Vernon's version of the song. Rather than produce a mirror image of the song by singing about kissing a boy and hoping his girlfriend won't mind it, Max sings the song with most of the original lyrics about kissing a girl and hoping his boyfriend won't mind. But he changes the lyrics enough that it's clear he's still a man singing the song. It has a fascinating effect that makes it sound like a man from a homosexual world, who's singing about the horror and confusion of kissing the forbidden other gender.

Another example of  a man crossing gender boundaries in music is the Glee version of "Defying Gravity", sung by a gay character named Kurt. Personally, I prefer this version over most other versions I've heard, though I of course love Idina Menzel's version like any good Wicked fan. I wonder, though, how different the song would appear if they had chosen a heterosexual male character to sing it. Because "I kissed a girl" makes pointed references to gender, Max Vernon couldn't have escaped those associations if he's tried. But the writers of Glee went out of their way to drag gender into the equation. I wonder why?

Now, let's end on an upbeat note. This is a song for anyone who's ever felt discouraged about their romantic prospects: "Haven't Met You Yet" by Michael Buble. 

Question of the Day (from Emily)

Would you rather be beauty?
Or see beauty?

In the blogpsphere! (from Erica)

This will be quite brief- I'm tired after taking (and passing!) the social work licensure exam this morning and then working on my latest article for GoGirl Magazine (which you should all start reading, by the way). But before I head to bed, here are some articles I think you all might find interesting to read. Please do feel free to bring comments here and start a discussion about what you see/like/dislike about them!

First, there's a new book out that looks at how the criminal justice system- in particular incarceration- has had a disproportionate impact on African-American individuals, families, and communities and has essentially created a new system for Jim Crow.

Then, there's an interesting study that's finding widespread discrimination against Asian-Americans in undergraduate programs, especially elite schools in the northeast.

There's also a good post out from Apophenia, who points out the power disparities in equality advocacy- especially in terms of who we hear and why.

And last but not least, as always, the U.S. military makes headlines with its extraordinarily high rates of sexual assault. In this article, though, the subject isn't just that noteworthy topic- instead, it focuses on one former member of the Air Force who is using her experience to advocate for cultural change in the military and better prevention of sexual assault. Personally, I find this article fascinating, but that's also because sexual assault prevention and response in the military is likely to be my career for the next decade or so.

Anyway, enjoy!

Follow-up on Global Warming (from Emily)

I don't want to dwell on environmental issues too much, especially since I understand the frustrations of those who feel like climate change has been blown out of proportion, or that there are many more immediate problems to address. However, while I was procrastinating one of my papers (which deals with gender issues in writing, incidentally), I came across this clip from The Daily Show. If you have a distaste for crude humour, just skip straight to 3:40 or so. I'm posting this more out of a concern for logic than a concern over the environment. I think the way climate change naysayers have responded to the East Coast snow storm is just one example of ways that we all reinforce logical fallacies. As Sam B concludes in the end, if one dingo steals your baby, that must mean every dingo steals babies, right? NOT - that, my dears, would be a logical fallacy.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Unusually Large Snowstorm
www.thedailyshow.com
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PS - I apologize, dear readers, for my recent lack of eloquence. There's something about being stressed that makes me write tersely, but that's no excuse for making you suffer through inferior prose.

Interracial Dating - Invisible Dating (from Emily)

I went to a Valentine's Dance this weekend, and it was put on by church volunteers. Somehow the incredibly cheesy atmosphere made this one of the funnest events I've attended in a long time. They had things like poetry contests, pick up line games, etc. Aside from the organizers' ignorance to the fact that some people don't eat meat and would prefer not to have meat tossed in with every single dish (such as baked beans, for instance), it was just a great evening.

But then I saw a subtle and yet frustrating example of racism: there were several people dressed as cupids walking around the floor, holding their cupids arrows over couples in order to encourage them to either hug or kiss. For the most part they sought out couples while they were slow dancing, but they also went after people who were near each other during faster songs. A Madagascaran man was at the dance with a Caucasian woman, and it was pretty obvious that they were a couple. But when a cupid walked by, she held the arrow between the woman and a nearby casucasian man, even though this woman was talking to and standing much closer to the Madagascaran man.

Now, I know that I'm using the term "racism" pretty loosely here and that this cupid had no intention of hurting or discriminating against anyone. She was just having a good time and getting into the Valentine's Day spirit. Furthermore, it was an easy mistake that could have happened with any couple, regardless of race. But it still strikes me as more than coincidental that it didn't even occur to the cupid lady that a white woman would be on a date with a black man.

I know from having dated a black man in Utah that openly dating someone of a different race makes you stand out far more than it should. People give you funny looks and do double takes, and if you're a white woman with a man who isn't white, security guards are likely to keep an eye on him when they see you together, just in case you're at more risk than you realize. So I know just how much attention an interracial relationship can draw to itself. It had never really occurred to me before this dance, however, that the opposite sometimes occurs. That people sometimes are so unused to seeing interracial couples that they can't even see one when it's right in front of them.

Men Don't Get to Represent Humanity Anymore? (from Emily)

Here is a revealing clip from the Colbert Report. Colbert's guest, a former curator for art museums such as the Boston MFA, laments the decline in olympic art that celebrates the human as an individual. While there is some truth to his argument that today's posters seem more corporate than human, note how readily he assumes that male figures represent all of humanity. He's willing to contemplate the homoerotic implications of Nazi Olympic art, but even then he doesn't mention that more than half the world's population is left out of the equation by virtue of being women. Note also, how Colbert fails to draw this oversight to his guest's attention. It would have been easy to do, and it would have made for good comedy too, so I can only imagine that Colbert and his writers didn't notice the oversight.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
David Ross
www.colbertnation.com
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