Interesting posts, weekend of 5/30/10

05/30/2010 at 2:27 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment
Tags: blogging, Feminism, news

Dear internet, beautiful weather this weekend. Even as I write there are many little critters & birds frolicking outside. I was working in the garden yesterday even though I hate gardening. I watched the series finale of Lost. What’s up with that show? I never watched it before, and here’s what I noticed: A bunch of cheap-looking sets with styrofoam props and lots of close-ups of people from the chest up. All those close ups made the scenes very disorienting to me. I couldn’t judge the distances between people and their relative locations or what was going on. The flash-sidesways bits didn’t help. And then it was over and I was like, “So it was basically a live-action version of Wolf’s Rain? Which the producers dragged on for six seasons instead of one or two?” Because I watched too many cartoons. It probably wasn’t a live-action version of Wolf’s Rain, but that was my first impression…

Don’t forget, I’m also on Twitter now. I think I’m starting to get the hang of Twitter now.

Did you all get to see the quasi-guest post with heavy contribution from Ms. Sexability this week? My plan right now is to do at least one more post in the same theme, a quasi-guest post with e-mail help from a BDSM blogger. If you don’t like the direction the blog has taken lately by talking about such a topic, don’t worry – My plan is for the post week of June 7  to return to academia & statistics. Sooner or later though I’d like to round out the BDSM stuff by talking about The Topping Book and topping while living with FSD. (Too bad I probably won’t have any more experience by then though! Well, actually, maybe… we’ll see.)

Friendly reminder: I am looking for Guest Posters. I want to hear more perspectives on the themes dealt with here at Feminists with Female Sexual Dysfunction. Because I am dealing with such a sensitive topic, I don’t think I can actively recruit new posters, since if I went onto someone else’s blog and said something like, “Hey u wanna write a post about your sexual health and/or feminism on a public forum?!” that would probably be very invasive. For this reason, Guest Posters requesting to remain anonymous will also be taken seriously.
At this time, criteria for inclusion is, “If you think you would fit in here, you probably would.” This may be subject to change but for now we’ll try that & see how it goes.
In an attempt to preemptively fight spam and rude comments, this blog’s email is private. Please leave a comment on this post if you want to write something. I’ll screen comments so you can remain anonymous if you want. That way I’ll have your email and we can collaborate.
Have something you’ve been working on? Send it my way.
Comments made by new e-mail addresses here are auto-screened before going live, so if you want to stay anon use an e-mail address that you haven’t used here before.

Now then, on with the weekly blog link roundup. Posts I found interesting over the last week. Share links if’n you got’em.

FDA considers endorsement of drug that some call a Viagra for women – Kind of a weird article from Washington Post about Flibanserin, which is the antidepressant-turned-possible-libido-booster. It’s weird because it’s got a lot of people talking about women but not much talking to women. Especially women with FSD. There’s like two short paragraphs with quotes by a woman who is clearly distressed by her level of sexual interest, surrounded by a bunch of quotes by professors and big pharma reps & people who probably have no idea what it’s like to live with that kind of distress. This article takes an anti-medication/anti-big pharma slant, so naturally Dr. Tiefer makes an appearance on page 2. Via Regina Lynn, whom I get the impression sees the potential for good from this medication. Regina’s post is short, but I think I know why she picked the picture of the unicorn and the narwhale :3 Ask and ye may receive an explanation.
Feministing covered this as well but I wasn’t that impressed with the post. Skip the comments, because some of the comments are even worse.

Good News – [Trigger warning] The American Academy of Pediatrics has redacted their recent statement on FGC in the US. Previously, the organization released an article which was read as supporting FGC. The idea was something like, offer this ritual nick in order to satisfy the need to go through a ritual. The AAP’s actions in rescinding the statement are more in line with their stance against any and all forms of FGC. Echidne covered this as well and the reason why a ritual nick may not have been enough anyway. Female Genital Cutting (FGC) And The American Academy of Pediatrics

Good Vibrations and the Clitoris Saving Alien Cult – Flora showed me this. It’s a really good summary and follow up to what’s been happening with Clitoraid, GoodVibes, sex-positive feminism, and white privilege.

Also related to sex toy retailer scandals, EdenFantasies has been called out for unethical linking practices. Although EdenFantasies offered link exchanges with several websites and blogs, they set up their links in such a way with JavaScript so as to not improve the linked-to sites Google page rank. Edenfantasys’s unethical technology is a self-referential black hole. Britni put together a blog link roundup of some other sites that are covering this story, and some more coverage herself.

There is going to be an anti-pornography conference in a few weeks by Stop Porn Culture. In response to this, Violet Blue is putting together a pro-porn response, Our Porn Our Selves. I wonder if she was aware that there is already a [somewhat NSFW] Blog of Pro Porn Activism?

Speaking of pornography, are you, or is someone you know, a person who likes web comics and porn by women for women? If so, you may be interested in Filthy Figments, [NSFW] which is set to go live in a few days. Here’s a Tumblr post by one of the contributors talking about it.

Ask Professor Foxy: How Do I Get Past His Not Cumming? – Something a little bit different – advice on a sexual relationship in which a man is having difficulty orgasming during partnered sexual activity.

The Carnival of Kinky Feminists – No post in particular; a new blog which will be having a kink-related carnival in a few days.

UK airs first-ever TV ad for abortion services – and the ad is embedded in the post.

When Teen Pregnancy Is No Accident – [Trigger warning] A lot of feminist blogs have been covering this article – it’s about reproductive coercion, a form of abuse. That’s when a relationship, a man forces his partner to become pregnant. Usually you hear the opposite narrative (ad nauseum), that women deliberately become pregnant to trap their partners into the relationship, but it doesn’t always work that way. Tihs article addresses that often cited as happening to a friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend story. (I’ve yet to hear that story happening to someone I know directly.)

How Many Straws? – Something my mom would appreciate.

Man Reported Police Sexual Assault Against His Girlfriend, Now Faces Deportation – [Trigger warning] Marcus Jackson did the right thing, and for that, he now faces punishment.

“No es crimen pasional—es asesinato, or, It’s not a crime of passion—it’s murder” [Trigger warning] – About violence against women and the legal system in Bolivia. Activists are urging the legal system recognize the term “Femicide” in part due to the victim-blaming and lenient sentences currently given to murderers of women.

Really, Urban Outfitters? – Shit shirt.
Your Daily Entertainment – It is entertaining.
What Tami Said can save you $8: My review of “Sex and the City 2” – Delivers what it promises.

Some more follow up on recent stories:

Out Iranian lesbian Kiana Firouz denied asylum by UK – Unfortunately Kiana Firouz’s application for asylum was not rejected. You can still sign a petition to support having that rejection overturned.

Send your support to Sr. McBride in Arizona – Sister McBride was on the team that approved a woman’s abortion at a Catholic hospital. For this, though the procedure likely saved the patient’s life, McBride was excommunicated.

Malawi: Breaking news – Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga pardoned – Follow up, a couple in Malawi (incorrectly identified as gay in spite of the fact that Tiwonge identifies as a woman) has been pardoned & released. However, they are still in danger.

Some blog carnival news:

A disability blog carnival is up at Barriers, Bridges, and Books. Disability Blog Carnival: Tell The Story! (With Additions!) Via Anna.

Dave Hinsburger’s blog will be hosting a carnival for June, theme is “Pride.”

I’m sure there’s more…